"East Egg" Estate Demolished

"I spent my Saturday nights in New York, because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter, faint and incessant, from his garden, and the cars going up and down his driveway. One night I did hear a material car there, and saw its lights stop at his front steps. But I didn't investigate. Probably it was some final guest who had been away at the end of the earth and didn't know that the party was over."

F.Scott Fitzgerald; The Great Gatsby

Mansions of the Gilded Age: Lands End, Sands Point Demolished

Old Long Island: The End of Lands End

Gothamist: Faux Gatsby Mansion Faces Demolition

photo credit:  Gary Lawrance; Mansions Of The Gilded Age  

Any Day Now

Sagamore Yacht Club, Oyster Bay

Sagamore Yacht Club: website

Map

Stepping Stones Pier

Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors� eyes � a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby�s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.





And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby�s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy�s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that�s no matter � to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning .....



So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

F. Scott Fitzgerald; The Great Gatsby; 1925

Map

Great Neck Parks District: Sailing & Kayaking Programs

New York Times: Eyeing The Unreal Of Gatsby Esq.

West Pond

West Pond, Glen Cove, October, 2009



Map

Fair Winds, Nantucket Lightship

Some of you may remember a story I wrote last year about the Nantucket Lightship. I am happy to report that on Monday, May 10, she departed Jacobson Pier in Oyster Bay, and is presently bound for Boston to become a museum. Her days of floating in limbo appear to be over. I must admit, as pleased as I am that the lightship will be saved, there is a little part of me that is sad to see her go.

Lori at Jarvis House has put together an excellent photo essay of  the departure.

Jarvis House: Nantucket Lightship Departure

Soundbounder: Nantucket Lightship In Oyster Bay

WCVB5: Historic Lightship Returning To Boston 

Boston Globe: Oldest US Lightship Comes Home

Tugster: LV-112 Moves

photo credit: Jarvis House blogspot

Hot Fun In The Springtime

It seems like everyone is taking advantage of the weather. Calling this an early spring would be an understatement. Beaches and parks along the Sound have had plenty of activity this week with visitors enjoying the lovely spring summer temperatures. Even these two mallards in Oyster Bay Cove got in on the act, with their own version of Grazing In The Sand.

Sure hope it doesn't snow next week.



YouTube: Hugh Masekela: Grazing In The Grass

YouTube: Sly & The Family Stone: Hot Fun In The Summertime

YouTube: War: Summer

SOUNDBOUNDER: That First Day (Hammonasset)

Farewell To The Knickerbocker

The Knickerbocker Yacht Club is now vacant. The clubhouse with it's hipped roof and second story deck silently looks out over Manhasset Bay. Resembling a foreclosed home, several No Trespassing signs are now taped to the large bay windows. After hearing the news that the 135 year old club had closed, I stopped by this month for one last goodbye. A utility worker making a phone call in the parking lot was all that broke the silence.

Yacht Clubs certainly do not inspire any populist imagery, but stereotypes of Buffy and Thad sailing in white slacks while maintaining a stiff upper lip are not entirely accurate. On Long Island Sound, yacht clubs tend to fall into one of three categories:

There are the exclusive clubs that do their best to hold on to the Guilded Age. These are often easy to spot with their clubhouses resembling some gold coast mansion, and their staff dressed like butlers. At the other extreme would be the working clubs whose membership often includes a high percentage of firemen, teachers, and tradesmen. These are normally do-it-yourself places where members volunteer their time along with paying dues. When the grass needs to be cut, it is a member cutting the grass, not an employee or a landscaping company. The Knickerbocker belonged to a group that is somewhere in between these two extremes. These clubs often navigate a foggy channel between controlling expenses and maintaining a certain aura of exclusiveness. Members may own an expensive boat, but they also have tuition bills and a mortgage.

For years I belonged to a working club that was about a two hour sail from Manhasset Bay. I only sailed to the Knickerbocker a handful of times, but the visits were always special to me. I would motor my old banged-up 1968 Bristol 24 into the mooring field, hail a launch, and be welcomed to the club. It did not matter that my boat cost less than a used car, while the surrounding boats were priced similar to a starter home. I may have not met the financial or social requirements to be a member of the club, but I was accepted as a guest providing I followed their rules (proper attire in the dining room, no tank tops on the premises, no spitting).I could hobnob with the doctors and architects in a mahogany trimmed bar until I turned back into a pumpkin on Monday morning. Reciprocity between clubs was the great leveling field, if only for a weekend.

When the recession hit, it was easy to question my club's chances of survival. The rundown building, the old boats, and even older membership all suggest that the best days were at least 40 years ago. The Knickerbocker did not seem to have these problems. The model ships and half hulls adorning the walls seemed to suggest an immunity to changing times. But beneath the mahogany and cherry wood paneling, the Knickerbocker was struggling with the same difficulties as every other club. Higher expenses coupled with an aging and declining membership were a disturbing trend that every club from Watch Hill to Throgs Neck faced. The prosperity of the last 25 years helped suppress the symptoms, but the current financial crisis brought them to the forefront.

At one time or another, I think we have all secretly admired yet resented people in better places. A neighbor or colleague may be someone we desperately want to be, yet we begrudge their good fortune. When bad times strike, their failure becomes some sort of "moral to the story". But I felt no sense of schadenfreude when I walked along the empty dock at the Knickerbocker this month. The club had survived two world wars, the Great Depression, and September 11, but now it was gone. I thought to myself that if it could happen to the Knickerbocker Yacht Club, then it could happen to any of us. I leaned against the peeling white handrail, looked out over the harbor, and wondered "who's next?"



Map

The Baymen

Baymen is a regional term that refers to the small, independent, fishermen who make their living on the bays of Long Island. Usually associated with the shellfishermen of Great South Bay on the south shore of Long Island, they are also a common sight on the larger bays of Long Island Sound; Oyster and Huntington Bay in particular.
Using only manual tools, these two shellfisherman worked the West Harbor section of Oyster Bay last week. This photo was taken while looking south from Centre Island Village Beach.

Back To Baysics
Loving Long Island: Boating With The Baymen
NY Times: Proud Baymen Scraping Bottom
Keeping The Oyster In Oyster Bay
Map

TV Kings Pointer

The Kings Pointer is the flagship training vessel for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. Built in Tacoma, she was launched in 1983 and served as a surveillance ship for the U.S. Navy. She was converted to a training vessel when acquired by the academy in 1992. She is 224 feet long with a beam of 43 feet.

The forecast does not look very promising, but two smaller ships from the USMMA will be on display this weekend at the annual oyster festival in Oyster Bay. The Liberator and the Growler will be offering tours at the Oyster Bay Waterfront Center.

*

Kings Point Waterfront Blog

Wikipedia: Kings Pointer

Oyster Bay By William Jonas

I cannot recall when I first saw this painting, but I do know that I have always liked it. The slight hint of fall foliage; the sun low in the sky; I look at this and think a warm afternoon in early October. I read somewhere that the boat in this painting is the Clearwater. Oyster Bay holds it's annual Oyster Festival this time of year, so it could very well be her.



Born in Sea Cliff in 1948, William Jonas has lived in Oyster Bay for over 50 years. His portfolio includes many paintings of ships and boats along this part of the North Shore.



Oyster Bay Frame Shop: William Jonas

Oyster Festival: 2009 List Of Ships



image credit: N.... Authors

Garvies Point Preserve

Often, timing is everything. About a week after I visited Garvies Point Preserve I saw several news stories about bottlenose dolphins that were spotted along this section of Hempstead Harbor. Some of the video footage I saw looked as if it were filmed from this exact location. I didn't see any dolphins when I was here, but I did find a natural history museum, and 62 acres of wooded bluffs that lead down to a rocky shoreline.
I skipped the museum and instead walked a trail that winds it's way along the top of the bluffs. The woods and the meadows were still very wet from the recent rainfall, and my clothes became wet as well. Some areas of the preserve are significantly overgrown which limited the view and required a certain amount of bushwacking.
The property has been overrun by an invasive vine known as porcelain-berry. These vines have blocked sunlight and thwarted root growth for many of the native plants and trees. Garvies Point Preserve has been fighting a difficult battle, attempting to remove the vines and restore native growth.
I followed a wooden stairway that descended the bluffs and brought me to the rocky beach below. The sky was still overcast and it looked and felt as if it would start raining at any moment.
To the south I could see the hills of Sea Cliff, and to the north of me was Morgan Park. Across the bay in the distance, I could see some of the estates of Sands Point. I remember thinking to myself that this is most likely the least known piece of public shoreline in the area. At least it was before the dolphins arrived.

Garvies Point Museum And Preserve
Newsday: Dolphins' Local Swim A Good Sign
Sphere: What Does It Mean?
Huffington Post: Dolphins In LIS (video)
Map

Morgan Park In Glen Cove

"All yields its place and goes"

Euripides

It seems as if every cruising guide and article I have read about Glen Cove has included a paragraph about what used to be here. The famous Station 10 of the New York Yacht Club was situated on the grounds of this park along Hempstead Harbor's eastern shore. It was here that J.P. Morgan's CORSAIR and William Vanderbilt's ARA were moored in the early decades of the 20th century. Despite reading about this and sailing into Hempstead Harbor many times, I was never quite sure of the exact location. My visit to Morgan Park answered these questions.
Morgan Park is an attractive, 40 acre, landscaped parcel that is open to residents only from May through September. With the ground saturated from the recent storms, and more rain in the forecast, I was fortunate to find no one at the gate checking for residency requirements. A woman in a lawn chair with a clipboard looked at me twice with a suspicious eye, but then resumed her cell phone conversation.
Opened in 1932, the park was constructed and donated by John Pierpont Morgan in memory of his wife Joan. Like many parks bordering this section of the Sound, it maintains the feel of the 1920's in its design and layout. There are gazebos and a bandstand that contribute to that mood.
Just offshore, a mooring field still exists where the yachts of the New York Yacht Club once were. The former clubhouse (Station 10) once stood where a picnic pavilion is now located. When the park first opened, Station 10 was moved just south of here before being transported to Mystic Seaport in 1948, and eventually to Newport Rhode Island in 1999.
"Gone is the glitter from the Glen Cove yachting scene" writes A Cruising Guide To The New England Coast. The post war years were not kind to Glen Cove as development seemed to turn inward and away from the waterfront. The attractive village streets were carved up as well, with four lane thoroughfares lined with car dealerships and fast food replacing the downtown. Glen Cove's connection to the water became displaced.
I walked north along the shoreline eventually reaching a breakwater that extended to the west. The rocks remained wet from the recent rains and I concluded that walking them would be a poor idea. I continued north along a seawall that provided open views of the Sound. Despite the poor weather, a small sailboat race could be seen in the distance (lasers maybe?). A few small fishing boats drifted near the mouth of the harbor. Reaching the end of the seawall, I came to a walkway that climbed a small bluff overlooking the park.
Rather than climb the bluff for a better view, I turned around and retraced my steps. Unfortunately I was running out of time. It was late in the afternoon and I was due to meet someone at another famous piece of municipally owned waterfront land known as LaGuardia Airport.

Glen Cove Yacht Club: Station 10 Photo Gallery
New York Yacht Club: Station 10
Morgan Park: Summer Music Concerts
Map

credit: A Cruising Guide To The New England Coast; Robert F Duncan, W.W. Norton & Co 2002

Ida May Oyster Boat

The next project for the Oyster Bay Waterfront Center is the restoration of the 1925 oyster boat Ida May. She was donated by the Frank M Flower & Sons Inc shellfish company. The Waterfront Center hopes to restore her through donations, grants, and volunteer efforts as they did with the oyster sloop Christeen. The boat is presently located on the grounds of the Waterfront Center, just east of the main building.

Oyster Bay Enterprise-Pilot: Ida May To Undergo Restoration
Newsday: 1887 Frank M Flower Company Founded
Map
SOUNDBOUNDER: Oyster Sloop Christeen

Nantucket Lightship In Oyster Bay

To some, it may be just an obsolete hunk of steel that served it's purpose for almost fifty years. But for lovers of old ships and maritime history, viewing the Nantucket Lightship (LV-112) in Oyster Bay is one of mixed emotions. Something sad is happening here; like returning to a childhood home only to find it rundown and abandoned.
The Natucket Lightship (LV-112) served in the waters of Nantucket Shoals and was active from 1936 through 1983. She was built in Philadelphia and paid for by the White Star Line as compensation for the collision and sinking of an earlier lightship by the RMS Olympic (a sistership of the Titanic). She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
The National Lighthouse Museum had hoped to restore the lightship and make her a floating addition to their proposed Staten Island location. But funding has fallen short and politics has reared it's head. The lightship arrived at the Jackobson Pier in Oyster Bay several years ago for a temporary stay. It is still there, and is presently for sale, slowly rusting away.

Boston Globe: Lightship Can Be Had For One Dollar
New York Times: Mutiny In The Harbor
Nantucket Lightship LV-112
USCG Lightship Sailors Association: Remaining Lightships
Tugster: Nantucket Lightship WLV-612
Lighthouse Friends: Nantucket Lightship WLV-613
Lighthouse News: Lightship Deal Falls Through

Oyster Sloop Christeen

In an ideal world, other coastal towns would follow the example set by Oyster Bay and their magnificent Waterfront Center. The non-profit organization offers a slew of activities ranging from kayak and sailboat rentals, to educational programs, as well as providing coastal access to Oyster Bay Harbor.
The flagship of the Waterfront Center is the Christeen, a 40 foot gaff rigged oyster sloop. The Christeen was built in 1883 and is the oldest oyster sloop in North America. After surviving two sinkings and severe neglect, the Christeen was brought home to Oyster Bay in 1992 to undergo a seven year restoration. She is now available for harbor tours, sunset cruises, private charters, and educational sails.

Oyster Bay Waterfront Center
Christeen: Video Clip
New York Times: A Link To The Past
Thomas Cardone: Paintings
Map

Stepping Stones Lighthouse

Stepping Stones Lighthouse, September 2007
First Lit: 1877

Lighthouse Friends (Map)
Long Island Lighthouses
Birds & Beacons
Lighthouses of Long Island
New York Times: In Search Of A Suitor

Cedarmere

As familiar as I am with Bryant Park, I never once gave thought to who it was named in honor of. William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was a poet, journalist, and an editor for the New York Evening Post. From what I have read, he was a man of many varied interests, and maintained an eclectic group of friends. His most lasting legacy may be his role in supporting the creation of Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum Of Art.
His country estate known as Cedarmere, overlooks a narrow stretch of Hempstead Harbor in Roslyn. The house serves as a museum, which has limited hours during the winter months, but the grounds are accessible year round. There are 7 acres that consist of lawns, footpaths, and a pond.
When not writing about political and civic issues, Bryant was known for his poetry that used nature as a metaphor. It does not take much stretch-of-the-imagination to think many of his words may have been written right here.

The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year
Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.
Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead
They rustle to the eddying gust,and to the rabbits tread;
The robin and the wren are flown,and from the shrubs the jay,
And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.

The Death Of The Flowers

William Cullen Bryant: Poems
Cedarmere: Photos at Old Long Island
Kindred Spirits (painting)
Map

Leeds Pond Preserve

Years ago, when I was looking to anchor in Manhasset Bay, I would often drop the hook in about ten feet of water off of Leeds Pond. My rule of thumb in locating the anchorage was to motor south of the yacht club mooring fields, and look for a stretch of shoreline that was heavily wooded, and was void of any waterfront homes. Manhasset Bay is a busy harbor, but this anchorage provided calm from activity ashore and afloat.
Leeds Pond is a 35 acre preserve that includes a wetlands trail that winds along the pond and a freshwater marsh. The preserve is also the home of the Science Museum Of Long Island. The museum sits on a hill that provides views of the lower section of the bay. There are gardens and an interpretive center on the grounds as well.
The highlight of my visit was a walk along North Plandome Road, that separates Leeds Pond from Manhasset Bay. From this location, I could watch the waters of the pond fall into a spillway and pass an old mill, before making their way across tidal flats and into the bay.
Scenic and peaceful, as it normally is.

LEEDS POND PRESERVE: WebAlbum
Map

Sea Cliff

I was first introduced to Sea Cliff about a decade ago when I embarked on my old Bristol 24 for my first overnight cruise aboard. It was my first summer with the boat, and most of my time aboard had been spent daysailing or just puttering around. Sea Cliff was a sensible destination that weekend. Despite having visited nearly every harbor on the North Shore over the years, I had never been to Hempstead Harbor. Also, Sea Cliff was a short sail from my mooring on City Island, which made it a safe choice for a first solo overnight cruise. Upon arrival, I remember thinking to myself what an excellent choice this was.

I have since sailed to Sea Cliff many times, but I have never visited by land, or in the off-season, until this year. It is a great walking town. The hillside that separates the waterfront from the business district is filled with Victorian, and other century-old homes that look over the harbor. West of the Sea Cliff Yacht Club is a walkway with a sitting area that skirts the shoreline. At the top of the hill, Memorial Park (Hippie Park) provides sweeping views of the harbor and Long Island Sound. In my opinion, it is one of the best views in the western portion of the Sound. The park is a popular spot to watch the sunset. Sea Cliff Avenue has some shops, as well as a market and a few restaurants.

The most unique feature in Sea Cliff is the layout itself. There are a network of stairways that climb the hilly neighborhood from the shoreline. Combined with the winding, narrow roads, they form a sort of Chutes And Ladders pattern as you make your way up or down the hill. You will certainly get a workout, but the views are worth it.

SEA CLIFF: WebAlbum
MAP

Shore Road Walkway Along Hempstead Harbor

I always like when I stumble across something I was not even looking for. North of Tappen Beach is a simple walkway with benches that skirts along Hempstead Harbor, connecting Sea Cliff to Glenwood Landing. It does not appear on any maps I have looked at, and is not mentioned on any park website. It does not appear to even have an official name. A helpful worker at Tappen Beach told me that it is sometimes called The Walkway, or the Shore Road Walkway. Whatever the name may be, it provides unobstructed views of Hempstead Harbor and the Sound beyond.
Although I did not measure the distance, the walkway appears to extend about a mile-and-a-half. A string of park benches run along the seawall.
There is no parking allowed on Shore Road or Prospect Avenue. Your best bet is to park in Sea Cliff, past the north end of the path, or at Tappen Beach during the off-season. If you happen to discover the official name, be sure to let me know.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!