THE SURF LODGE: A Look Back To How We Arrived Here

I remember being sent to see the Surf Lodge before it opened in 2008. My editor wanted to know what was going to happen to the former Lakeside Inn. There were rumors of a $3M renovation. So down there I went, and I was told the new owners didn’t want any attention. Go away.

However, they did email me this; April 30, 2008 (New York, NY) – MCM Hospitality, in conjunction with Hospitality Consultant Steven M. Kamali, and Publicity Director Steve Kasuba, have announced the opening of THE SURF LODGE in the village of Montauk on the eastern end of Long Island, New York. The 32 room hotel, including restaurant, bar, boutique, and outdoor deck will open during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

At the Surf Lodge's grand opening Memorial Day weekend of 2008 they had Ziggy Marley playing live and drew quite a crowd. The next night I drove Carl Darenberg to have a peek of this new place after we had sang karaoke at what was then the nearby Harbor House. We sheepishly walked in unabated by doormen, security or long lines. The music was loud, there was no hassle to get in, not like nowadays on weekends. Once inside we saw something new — we saw the future.

At the inside bar there were lots of pretty young girls, many wearing expensive clothes with expensive handbags. Also there were groups of metrosexual males, some with purses, mulling about and staking out their spots. In the center people were dancing with themselves as well as groups of four, six, and even eight. It was a party. Outside as I reported that week for the Montauk Pioneer, “the parking outside looked like the Giants Stadium parking lots at the Meadowlands at game time except it was in Montauk.”

Over the years, the Surf Lodge became the stuff of legends, as even superstars like Hollywood’s Leonardo DiCaprio had to hang out there. That summer local business owners were pissed off. Their business was down — after all, 2008 was the summer when the real estate bubble burst and money was tight as home prices around the country dropped 30 percent instantly. The Montauk restaurants were quiet while the Surf Lodge was hopping. Gosmans, The Harvest and Dave’s Grille had no waiting times on Saturday nights. At a Concerned Citizens meeting I covered that summer the owner of a local restaurant stood and actually said, “The Surf Lodge is taking 300 settings from us all every Saturday night! Something has to be done.” So after that meeting during the Surf Lodge’s very first season the fire marshal was sent to close down the Surf Lodge for “overoccupancy”. I actually have a photo of the fire marshal and the Surf Lodge ownership at the front door that first night they were closed for overoccupancy. It was civil.

The next weekend there were doormen and security men keeping track of the occupancy. The fire marshal showed up and stayed waiting to issue a violation to close the place down but couldn’t. The doorman kept large numbers of bummed out millennials out in front waiting to get in, telling them they would not get in. As I remember, many went to Liar’s Saloon and Salavars. Those who did loved discovering that part of Montauk.

The towns next step to “contain” The Surf Lodge centered on issuing illegal parking tickets followed by limiting legal parking to the situation we have now; banning all road parking in front of The Surf Lodge on Edgemere Street on both sides.

In fairness there were safety issues with Surf Lodge patrons walking in between the cars and popping out into the street, some inebriated in unwalkable high heels. Between cars stopping to drop off or pick up folks and others slowing down to take a look, traffic on Edgemere was affected and this drove the locals wild.

At all town board meetings the chant was, “Something has to be done about the Surf Lodge.” So finally, perhaps reluctantly, the new activist East Hampton town board headed by Supervisor Larry Cantwell, (who have now closed down the Sloppy Tuna and Cyril’s Fish House by using existing East Hampton town laws) stepped in to retain order and safety and banned all parking near the Surf Lodge after the 2015 season ended last year. I am curious to see how this situation will be handled this year. Will there be buses from assigned parking areas? Long walking lines along Edgemere or massive taxi and Uber drop-offs? Only time will tell.

One side effect of the Surf Lodge situation is that now the East Hampton fire marshal is out and about Montauk and the rest of the East Hampton town every summer weekend night enforcing the occupancy laws and issuing $400 fines to almost every restaurant, bar and nightclub. The town has a new revenue source. The bizarre thing is at the last town board meeting I attended on airport issues, East Hampton Town Hall was over its legal occupancy — but the town was not fined.