Curtain Raised on Sag Harbor's Steinbeck Waterfront Park - 27 East

Sag Harbor Express

Curtain Raised on Sag Harbor's Steinbeck Waterfront Park

icon 10 Photos
Sag Harbor Mayor Jim Larocca.   FILE PHOTO

Sag Harbor Mayor Jim Larocca. FILE PHOTO

Sag Harbor Mayor Jim Larocca welcomes the crowd to the opening of John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday.   DANA SHAW

Sag Harbor Mayor Jim Larocca welcomes the crowd to the opening of John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday. DANA SHAW

The crowd at the opening of John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday.  DANA SHAW

The crowd at the opening of John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday. DANA SHAW

Students from the Sag Harbor Elementary After School Chorus sing the National Anthem.  DANA SHAW

Students from the Sag Harbor Elementary After School Chorus sing the National Anthem. DANA SHAW

Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni.    DANA SHAW

Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni. DANA SHAW

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman.  DANA SHAW

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman. DANA SHAW

Landscape Architect Edmund Hollander, who designed John Steinbeck Waterfront Park, gives the keynote address at the opening of the park on Thursday, May 25.  DANA SHAW

Landscape Architect Edmund Hollander, who designed John Steinbeck Waterfront Park, gives the keynote address at the opening of the park on Thursday, May 25. DANA SHAW

Members of Scout Troop 455 raise the flags for the first time in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday.   DANA SHAW

Members of Scout Troop 455 raise the flags for the first time in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday. DANA SHAW

Members of Scout Troop 455 raise the flags for the first time in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday.   DANA SHAW

Members of Scout Troop 455 raise the flags for the first time in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday. DANA SHAW

Members of Scout Troop 455 raise the flags for the first time in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday.   DANA SHAW

Members of Scout Troop 455 raise the flags for the first time in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday. DANA SHAW

authorStephen J. Kotz on May 26, 2023

Hundreds of people converged on John Steinbeck Waterfront Park on Thursday morning, May 25, to mark its official opening in a ceremony presided over by Mayor Jim Larocca.

The mayor, who made the completion of the park a priority of his administration, said the acquisition of the land and its transformation into Sag Harbor’s newest green space was due to the efforts of many people.

“It is said success has a thousand parents,” he said, “but it is also true, in a small village, that is probably about the right number, because everybody who has worked with us over this period of time has had a hand in this outcome.”

The ceremony, on a bright and clear day, began with the raising of the American and village flags on a newly installed flagpole by members of Boy Scout Troop 455. The Sag Harbor Elementary School choir sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” Later, the duo of Brad Beyer and Dan Koontz performed “This Land Is Your Land.”

Larocca cited the efforts of everyone from Bruce Tait, who originally called for a promenade along Sag Harbor’s waterfront, to Molly Dougenis, who used to stand near the property with a poster that stated, “Make It a Park.”

He added that numerous elected officials who have come and gone, from mayors Brian Gilbride, Sandra Schroeder and Kathleen Mulcahy, to several village trustees, two Southampton Town supervisors and several Town Board members, all had helped advance the park.

But the mayor saved special praise for the landscape architect Ed Hollander, who not only donated the design work but made the largest financial donation to the project.

Hollander also solicited donations large and small from various landscaping firms to provide much of the material and labor needed to turn the 1.25-acre parcel from the site of two derelict buildings and debris into a rolling lawn with rain gardens, newly planted oak trees, and a small amphitheater, which came in handy for members of the audience, as Larocca and other officials spoke from a waterfront deck.

“He has given more to this project than many of us put together,” Larocca said of Hollander.

“Of all the things I’ve ever done professionally, this may be my favorite,” Hollander said. “And all I can say is it was a pleasure and an honor for me to be able to be part of this and create this space for everybody in the Village of Sag Harbor.”

Hollander said what was opened to the public was just the first phase of a continued development of the property and linking it to Long Wharf by way of a walkway under the Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge and along Windmill Beach.

Acknowledging Sag Harbor’s reputation for having an opinionated population, Hollander said he had received plenty of comments about his design. “Most of them were positive, and most of them were helpful,” he said.

He added that after the sod was laid, the park was fenced off, and people were asked to stay off the grass to allow it to take root. “For three weeks, everybody in Sag Harbor actually did what they were asked to do,” Hollander quipped, “which is probably the greatest accomplishment ever.”

Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni said creating Steinbeck Park was one of the first things he worked on after being elected in 2017. He cited the passion that residents had for the village and its draw on natives and newcomers alike.

He praised State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who was unable to attend, and former State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, “who had the vision to give the town the ability to make such purchases” through their sponsorship of the Community Preservation Fund legislation a quarter century ago.

“It was the community that called for this park,” Schiavoni said. “This summer, when you are sitting on these benches watching the sun set over Bay Point, please know that this park, that this public space, was born out of the energy and passion of the people of Sag Harbor.”

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman praised Larocca for his efforts. “He was like a dog with a bone when it came to this park when he was a trustee and also as mayor,” Schneiderman said.

He lamented that Thiele was unable to attend because of his work in creating the CPF and said that early on it was hard to imagine what the park would be like when the site had a pair of derelict buildings and the design was yet to be executed.

“You try to imagine it unfolding over time,” he said, “It’s really not until it’s filled with people that you get the sense of the true park. It’s just not complete without the humanity of it.”

Schneiderman alluded to the challenges Sag Harbor has been through recently. The community has been divided over Bay Street Theater’s plans, a proposed affordable housing and commercial development, and a proposal by the school district to buy property on Marsden Street, which fell short, in a recent vote.

“I wonder what Steinbeck would have written about this moment,” he said. “I just feel his voice would have recognized the humanity of the difference of opinions.

He called on village residents to share the park and “celebrate this extraordinary author who was in our midst and part of our community.”

As people arrived at the park for the dedication ceremony, a beaming Bruce Tait, the former longtime chairman of the village’s Harbor Committee, was among those in the crowd. Asked when the idea for the waterfront park was first developed, Tait shook his head. “I don’t really remember,” he said, “but I had brown hair.”

You May Also Like:

Has the Market Peaked for Older Pickleball Players?

Pickleball used to be referred to as the “geriatric Sun Belt sport.” Most of its ... 8 Jul 2025 by Scott Green

Sag Harbor Little League's 10U Baseball All-Stars Fall to North Shore in District 36 Playoffs

A 7-5 loss to the North Shore National Little League All-Stars eliminated the Sag Harbor ... by Drew Budd

An Alternative to the Crowds

Are you looking for an outdoor adventure in the Hamptons where you won’t experience a ... by Marianne Barnett

Timber! Tree Case Settlement Falls by Wayside in Sag Harbor

A proposed settlement in the first case involving a tough tree protection code adopted last ... by Stephen J. Kotz

The Climate-Friendly Fitness Routine

“Live simply so that others might simply live” — Mahatma Gandhi The first time I ... by Jenny Noble

Melon Envy

The ants come out of the tub drain like they do every summer. I know why this happens, and it does not alarm me. The colony parades across the porcelain swath, up the 90-degree incline of the basin and over the edge. Those with wings make for the window that’s open with its screen removed. The wingless descend to the floor: a crack in the grout, the entrance to a tunnel that takes them to the cinder block “freeway” beneath my house. The most numerous creature on earth — who am I to stop them here? News of the $400 ... by Marilee Foster

Gardella Shakes Up Review Boards in Sag Harbor

During an otherwise perfunctory organizational meeting on Monday, July 7, Sag Harbor Village Mayor Tom ... by Stephen J. Kotz

Southampton July 4th Parade Delights Crowd

The Southampton July Fourth parade was held on Friday morning and did not disappoint with ... 7 Jul 2025 by Staff Writer

Come and Tell Us

When Tim Bishop was our congressman, he held numerous town hall meetings with his constituents. They were raucous affairs. Those were the days of the Tea Party, and its members were outraged that the federal government was expanding health care insurance to millions of Americans. And they let Congressman Bishop know it. Usually loudly and sometimes rudely. They seemed unmoved that thousands of their fellow Americans were being driven to bankruptcy by medical debt. They were unconcerned that thousands were dying prematurely due to their lack of access to affordable health care. Many I spoke to seemed more worried that ... by Staff Writer

A Shared Past

American history is beneath your feet, in archaeological sites of all sizes across Long Island. Such sites represent a cultural snapshot, an opportunity to stop for a moment and contemplate the generations that stood on that same ground, leaving not only their material footprint behind but also the convictions that affect our culture today. These places hold, within their parameters, a moment in time. Few of us, in Sag Harbor now, experience a shared past, having come from all parts of the world, traditions and societies; yet, choosing to be here, we now share a culture. Sag Harbor embodies a ... by Staff Writer