Invasion of the Money Managers...
MONTAUK, N.Y. — Ditch Plains Beach is the heart of the surf scene in Montauk, a two-mile stretch of dunes and sea at the tip of Long Island’s East End with views of sand cliffs to the east and west.
It is also where, on summer weekends, a group of longtime Montauk residents and vacationers gather to drink, smoke pot, toss Frisbees and dance till dark, as if staging their own mini Burning Man festival. The patch of beach where they congregate has a nickname among locals: Clown Town.
With its surfers and revelers, the scene recalls Montauk as it was more than two decades ago, before private equity executives, social media stars and other moneyed newcomers put their stamp on this formerly rustic beach town of dive bars and tackle shops. Those who settled in the area before real estate prices shot skyward now lament the passing of the scruffy outpost they used to know.
This summer, the major topic of conversation among many longtime Montauk residents and vacationers hasn’t been the waves, the weather or the problem of coastal erosion. Rather, they’ve been talking about the big house rising above Ditch Plains Beach. They wonder aloud about how big it will be once it’s completed. They speculate about who will live there.
In Montauk, Big Money Moves In On a Surfers’ Paradise
The acres overlooking a prize stretch of Long Island’s East End were empty for years. Now they’ve been sold in multimillion-dollar deals. It’s been the talk of the beach all summer.MONTAUK, N.Y. — Ditch Plains Beach is the heart of the surf scene in Montauk, a two-mile stretch of dunes and sea at the tip of Long Island’s East End with views of sand cliffs to the east and west.
It is also where, on summer weekends, a group of longtime Montauk residents and vacationers gather to drink, smoke pot, toss Frisbees and dance till dark, as if staging their own mini Burning Man festival. The patch of beach where they congregate has a nickname among locals: Clown Town.
With its surfers and revelers, the scene recalls Montauk as it was more than two decades ago, before private equity executives, social media stars and other moneyed newcomers put their stamp on this formerly rustic beach town of dive bars and tackle shops. Those who settled in the area before real estate prices shot skyward now lament the passing of the scruffy outpost they used to know.
This summer, the major topic of conversation among many longtime Montauk residents and vacationers hasn’t been the waves, the weather or the problem of coastal erosion. Rather, they’ve been talking about the big house rising above Ditch Plains Beach. They wonder aloud about how big it will be once it’s completed. They speculate about who will live there.
