New York Times Article About Greenport
Exploring the Long Island of Pre-Expressway Days
By LOUISE TUTELIAN
Published: September 2, 2005
RICH FIEDLER paid for college by harpooning swordfish with his father, a lifelong commercial fisherman in Greenport, N.Y., just as his father had been before him. They made a good living and loved the seagoing life. Those low-tech days have waned, said Mr. Fiedler, now 60, as he greeted visitors to the Main Street art gallery that bears his name. "The swordfish industry went down the tubes with long-lining," he lamented. "Greenport is a tourist area, not really a fishing town any more."
That may be, but visitors will still find the undeniable look, feel and scent of a fishing town in Greenport, a village of 4,000 on Peconic Bay at the far eastern end of Long Island's North Fork. There are two busy docks, an operating boat-building yard, dozens of vessels of all sizes moored in the harbor, and flocks of seagulls soaring overhead and perched on pilings. A whiff of fried clams wafts through the air. Even Mr. Fiedler's finely detailed paintings of dories, ketches and rock-strewn beaches bear testament to the town's maritime history. Deciding his full-time fishing days were over, he became a graphic artist and turned his grandmother's lobster shack into a studio in 1970. While his acrylics sell briskly, he still clearly pines for bygone days. "Here's me at 12, spotting swordfish for my dad," he said enthusiastically, pointing to a framed black and white photograph. "I'm the one up on the mast."
Fishermen once harpooned whales, not swordfish, out of Greenport, which has a deepwater harbor, 90 feet down in many places. In the early 1800's, Greenport, with Sag Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor and Port Jefferson, made Long Island a rival to Nantucket and New Bedford as a whaling center, said Zachary Studenroth, director of the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum. "We estimate that at the height of whaling there would have been close to 140 whaling ships sailing out of these towns, with about 25 men per crew," he said.
When whaling faded, fishing took over. As late as the 1950's, Greenport supported large-scale oystering and commercial fishing, with a dozen 120-foot "bunker boats" with 22-member crews operating out of the harbor. Today, a few hardy commercial fishermen share the harbor with sport fishermen, day-trippers and sailors.
The commercial district, centered on Front and Main Streets, is a good starting point in Greenport. To get your bearings, stop in at North Fork Press at 132 Front Street to pick up a walking tour brochure. Interesting stops downtown are the Arcade Department Store at 14 Front Street - a 50's-era five-and-ten-cent store with a wooden floor, beach toys, hardware and enough nautical knickknacks to fill a whaling ship - and boutiques with names like Now and Zen, the Velvet Elvis and Land Shark.
At the far end of Main Street is the Main Street Dock, the center of tourist activity. Schooners await passengers for harbor cruises, and low-key restaurants offer lobster and fried clams. The area feels tidy, modest and casual.
S. T. Preston's, which once provisioned the yachts of Vanderbilts and Astors, is an engaging emporium that combines high-tech boating gear with an eclectic assortment of seaworthy clothes and gifts. The book section in the back offers "Moby-Dick" and "The Long Island Seafood Cookbook."
From the dock you can see a 25-foot sculpture of an osprey, titled "Morning Call." Made of welded bronze wire by the artist R. J. Bessim, it depicts the bird alighting on a perch fashioned from beams salvaged from the World Trade Center. It was dedicated in 2002. For a closer look, walk over to the ancient (with the rust to prove it) Greenport Yacht & Shipbuilding Yards; the sculpture is at the end of its dock.
To see what Greenport's original whalers saw when they sailed into its harbor, spend some time at sea. Several options are offered at the Main Street Dock. On one recent 45-minute cruise, David Berson, captain of the battery-powered fantail launch Glory recounted harbor history, pointed out prime pieces of real estate on the shore and made minor course corrections for 6-year-old Connor Murtagh of East Northport, N.Y., who was taking turns steering the boat with his 5-year-old brother, Aidan. Children on these trips routinely take the helm, wearing Captain Dave's cap.
For a longer cruise, try the Mary E, a 75-foot schooner. Or take an easy hop on the Shelter Island Ferry, which leaves from the Visitors Dock (also called the Ferry Dock) for a pleasant passage to Shelter Island, 10 minutes away.
In the old days, some unsavory characters plied their trade here: the rum runners and bootleggers who delivered liquid cargo during Prohibition. Bill Claudio, proprietor of Claudio's, a landmark restaurant on Main Street that was founded in 1845, encouraged a visitor to sit at his magnificent 30-foot mahogany and marble bar and sip local wines while he told tales of those heady days. "The bootleggers pulled their boats right under the restaurant's dock to unload bottles through a trap door," he said, and pointed it out, still behind the bar.
FROM the Main Street Dock, walk back up Main to Front Street and turn left. When the village's vintage carousel at Mitchell Park comes into view, cut across the park until you see a small boardwalk, which will take you to the Visitors Dock at the end of Third Street. Two commercial boats, the Margaret Rose and the Jersey Cape sat at anchor there one recent summer day, awaiting their next outings. "These days, the fleets go for squid or bottom-bouncing for flounder," said Rich Pirro of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, who was on duty on the dock at the East End Seaport Museum & Marine Foundation, in the former Long Island Rail Road station. Cornell is involved in a project to restore the scallop population.
In the museum are a dozen models of brigantines, schooners and other ships, ranging in sizes from a few inches to a few feet long, including some scale models of individual ships. Also on view are scrimshaw samples and tanks of the sea robin, porgy and puffers found in local waters. When it's time for a break from summer crowds, walk away from the center of town toward the colonial-style and Victorian houses remaining from the prosperous seafaring days of the 1800's. Go back up Third Street and turn right on South Street. After South crosses Main, it becomes Bay Avenue, which, with Central Avenue, has some of the best examples. The Victorian Lady Bed & Breakfast at 151 Bay, in Queen Anne style, is worth a look, as is the Italianate home at 163 Central Avenue, built in 1875 by a ship painter. Between the picturesque Victorians are modest saltbox houses, some with garden gnomes sporting sailor caps.
For your last deep breaths of sea air, drive out of town to Orient Beach State Park, nine miles down Route 25. The park has four miles of beach with views of Gardiners Bay and Shelter Island Sound, and several hiking trails that wind through the interior. Designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980, it is home to a rare maritime red cedar forest, prickly pear cactus, and protected birds like the piping plover and osprey. Bike, beach towel, hiking boots and binoculars all make useful accessories.
From here, it's easy to imagine the era when three-masted whaling ships sailed these waters and harpoons weren't just relics mounted on museum walls.
A Vintage Port on the East End
FROM the end of the Long Island Expressway at Riverhead, follow Route 58 east toward Greenport-Orient Point. Turn left onto Route 43, drive to its end and turn right onto Sound Avenue. After about 18 miles, turn right onto Route 25 and continue east to Greenport.
The Long Island Rail Road from New York City drops passengers near the Visitors Dock at Third Street. Nearby, the East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation (631-477-2100, www.eastendseaport.org) is open daily except Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September. Admission is free.
The Glory (631-477-2515, www.greenportlaunch.com) departs from Preston's Dock Friday to Monday through September; the fare is $15 for adults and $5 for children ages 12 and under. Cruises through the end of October on the schooner Mary E (631-369-0468, www.schoonermarye.com) are $30 for adults and $12 for children under age 15. The ferry to Shelter Island (631-749-0139, www.northferry.com) is $1.
For a briny taste of the sea, try Claudio's (111 Main Street, on the harbor; 631-477-0627) for oysters harvested five miles away in East Marion. Orient Beach State Park (631-323-2440) is about nine miles from Greenport off Route 25.