Can't Happen

It’s “silly season,” and that includes visits to the region by political candidates of all stripes to tap the rich vein of campaign cash that can be mined in gatherings at private estates, with canapes and liquid refreshments for which a king’s ransom is paid.

Charitable benefits are held throughout the season, and any inconvenience they create — particularly for neighbors and people driving nearby — is tolerated, because it’s all “for a good cause.” These fundraisers? It’s a little harder to be charitable about them, regardless of your political slant, or theirs.

One thing is clear: The catastrophe that occurred when former President Donald Trump visited recently cannot be repeated. A melange of factors made it a worst-case scenario: the timing, a busy Friday night; the route, which was circuitous and sprawling from Gabreski Airport to Bridgehampton; and the policy of closing roads for extended periods instead of utilizing the more typical rolling roadblocks, driven most likely by concerns for Trump’s well-being in the weeks after an assassination attempt.

This is not about politics: Trump has visited the region several times, even as president, without much disruption. President Joe Biden’s recent visit happened to be on a Saturday and involved helicopter travel, limiting the disturbance. There is a way to pay a lucrative visit; August 2 and the resulting traffic fiasco simply showed how not to do it.

There is no charitable way to say it: a candidate charging guests six figures for an event stuck the community with the bigger bill — taxpayers, small-business owners, people with tickets to events and dinner reservations. Nobody will be reimbursed for the endless time they sat on a crippled road system, in some cases well into the late evening.

“We have one road going east and one road going west, and we can’t just close it,” Southampton Town Police Chief James Kiernan said afterward. “They’re just going to have to understand in the future that our infrastructure doesn’t allow closures.”

It really is that simple. In the future, campaigns should be told: If you’re coming, motorcades must be limited. Use the airspace instead. This is a unique place, and not just because of its wealth. It’s also inhospitable to such intrusions. If you can’t make it work without paralyzing the region — there’s always Manhattan.