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| The former BookHampton Sag Harbor |
Well it was long rumored and now it’s true… Bookhampton in Sag Harbor is now a memory. I actually just noticed it gone yesterday but sadly it’s been gone for awhile. Blame it on Kindle or Ibooks but the
fact remains, retail is hard in the Hamptons. I just wonder how long before all of Main Streets are entirely empty, then I have no doubt some of the villages will have no choice but to allow some of the larger chain stores to move onto the block.
Perhaps the biggest reason I was slow to figure out that there was a retail shuffle in Sag Harbor was due to the fact that I was out of town (the other that I have Netflix on my Ipad and I’m slowly becoming an illiterate slob). I was on Cape Cod in Provincetown, MA. Now, while there are many great things about P-twon as it’s called, the restaurants, the beaches and the abundance of really unattractive drag queens, my favorite thing was the amazing bike trails! The beautifully maintained National Seashore Bike Trails contain miles of challenging and motor vehicle free biking! They feature views of dunes, forest, ponds and even the ocean and are one of the bigger and popular attractions on “The Cape.” Now, my question is why don’t we have this in the Hamptons!?!
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| Imagine bike trails here!! |
With more accidents in the Hamptons than ever before, no doubt due to drivers being distracted by their smart phones, the time is now for the east end to create some safe areas for bikers. This is perhaps the reason why one employee at a local bike shop told me, “anyone who rides after 10 am on a weekend is asking for trouble.” If you have any doubt about this, go to any of the villages on a weekend. It’s crowded beyond belief and nobody is watching where they go! Yeah, I know it’s important stuff they’re doing like checking Facebook or Foursquare or texting about the next Soulcycle class.
So here’s my idea, someone talk to LIPA about a good will gesture that if they execute, I will forgive them the 2 weeks I spent in the dark after Sandy (It was horrible, I had no Netflix). They take the area under the high tension wires on the East End, you know the ones they refused to bury and pave bike trails underneath. These things go for miles (look on Google Earth) and a bike trail from Southampton to Montauk could easily be created (IMHO) and hopefully encourage folks to bike to the village instead of taking their Escalades and Hummers. It’s a win win for everyone! It might even help alleviate some of the fist fights in the parking lot of those spin studios. Imagine, bicycling to a spin class! So how do we get this done?!
OVERHEARD: While standing in line at the Red Horse Market deli counter in East Hampton. After ordering a pound and a half of smoked turkey breast the customer asks the employee, “Can you count those, I need to know how many slices I have there!?” Only in the Hamptons.