Montauk Residents Complain Weekend Crowds Are Too Rowdy

MONTAUK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Montauk has become too wild on the weekends, some residents say.

A public hearing on Tuesday drew hundreds of people who say Montauk, a hamlet in the town of East Hampton, has been overtaken by drunken party crowds, 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reported. They complain that young visitors hitting the bars and beaches are regularly responsible for excessive noise and public drunkenness.

The problem has gotten so bad, residents say, that it's changed the character of the normally quaint East End fishing village.

"The families aren't coming here anymore," one 30-year resident told WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs. "It's kids and hipsters and that, and the family-oriented stuff that's been here for years, they've stopped coming."

Frans Preidel, a longtime homeowner who is sandwiched between the ocean and a rowdy bar, said on some nights he might have "a hundred" people urinate on his property.

"I'm in purgatory," he told Rivera. "I've got heaven on one side where the ocean is. I've got hell on the other."

Others such as B.J. Wilson said a crackdown on rowdy bars and visitors is needed.

"We have to fight for our town back," he said. "There's nothing but a drunken circus."

Responding to the complaints of angry residents, the Town Board has authorized additional overtime funding for police and code enforcement.

"The unacceptable behavior of visitors to Montauk July 4th weekend and at other times is outrageous and clearly requires prompt and forceful action," Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said in a statement.

Cantwell said the town will actively enforce occupancy limits at businesses and hinted it might be time to ban alcohol consumption on beaches and outdoor amplified music at establishments.

Some in Montauk, however, are more understanding, saying it's the price of progress.

"You had to ask for it, and they got it," one man said.

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• Montauk