Unsafe And Unsound

The ironies pile up quickly, starting with the name of the event, “Safe & Sound,” which had plenty of the latter and not nearly enough of the former. There’s the headlining act, the Chainsmokers, whose name feels oddly out of sync in a time when a virus is attacking vulnerable bodies via the lungs. There’s the opening act — which featured a talented drummer who happens to be the Southampton Town supervisor charged with leading the local response to COVID-19, playing to a crowd exemplifying behavior that’s exactly the opposite of what’s required.

This weekend’s fundraising concert in Water Mill was a disaster, plain and simple, for so many reasons. And none of that even touches on the potentially worst effect: bringing together young concert-goers from throughout the metropolitan region, who were willing to shell out four and even five figures for “drive-in concert” tickets, and stirring them in a giant petri dish. In two weeks, we might begin to find out society’s price for that folly.

The saddest irony is that New York State in general, and this region individually, have been a guiding light in the COVID-19 epidemic. Safe practices have kept the pandemic in check, better and for longer than many experts expected. As so much of the nation is in free-fall, the South Fork — a natural destination this time of year for so many — has avoided a loss of momentum, and the numbers of new cases have been contained. We should be an example to follow.

Instead, once again, “The Hamptons” has become an international symbol of American cluelessness in the wake of a crisis. Local business owners in particular must be beside themselves: At a time when officials have been preaching fortitude in the face of danger, despite the costs, Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman himself could peer down from the stage at a sea of young people gleefully ignoring social distancing. It’s like a $25,000 ticket allows access to a different world than the one we all are forced to live in today.

The COVID-19 crisis is a marathon, not a sprint, and there’s little time to wring our hands about poor decisions made along the way — it’s important to learn the lessons, repair the damage and put better practices in place, immediately.

In this case, fingers pointed at the party’s organizers, In the Know Experiences and JAJA Tequila. But, as always, it’s ultimately up to Southampton Town to assure safe events — and that responsibility is paramount in a time of pandemic. There should be repercussions for the event planners if they failed to follow through on promises. But when a concert these days includes a “VIP section” where partiers mingle openly with each other, mask-free and with no distance between them, fines after the fact are hardly effective. These are not simple code violations — they are public health matters.

If the town isn’t able to effectively monitor an event of this magnitude, and immediately intervene, such an event can’t be held right now, no matter how exciting the headliner or good the cause — period. That’s the lesson to learn moving forward. With a state investigation underway, the town might learn it in a harsh way.

It’s notable, too, that on the same weekend, another drive-in concert (two shows, in fact) was held nearby in Westhampton Beach, on the Village Green, staged by the Performing Arts Center. A different crowd, to be sure, older and more responsible. But it was a dynamic show with an energized crowd — that stayed responsible, stayed masked and stayed apart.

“Safe & Sound,” as it turns out, is possible after all.