Cover photo – Supervisor Panico (podium) speaks out against Bellport’s actions regarding Ho-Hum Beach (Credit – Matt Meduri)
The Town of Brookhaven has entered into a contentious fray with the Village of Bellport over access to Ho-Hum Beach.
Town Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Center Moriches) was joined by NAACP activists, members of the North Bellport community, as well as Brookhaven Town Councilmen Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) and Neil Manzella (R-Selden), and Deputy Supervisor Neil Foley (R-Blue Point) at Town Hall on Tuesday morning to condemn the Village’s alleged gatekeeping of the Fire Island summer destination.
Ho-Hum Beach is only accessible by boat and while the beach is maintained by the Village, Panico argues that Bellport is making a concerted effort to keep residents from the beach, even going as far as to allege discrimination against the hamlet of North Bellport’s predominantly black and Hispanic population.
North Bellport, according to U.S. Census data, is 15% white, 60% black, and 30% Latino, while the Village of Bellport is 95% white and less than 2% black.
Since Ho-Hum Beach is only accessible via boat through the Great South Bay, the only regular mode of transportation, outside of private boat ownership, is through the Village-owned and operated ferry.
At his inauguration speech in January, Panico vowed to revitalize the North Bellport area, claiming it had been overlooked for far too long. Panico made the case to the Village to expand beach access outside of Village lines.
“I am open to meaningful conversations, I will take away every excuse,” Panico told the press. “This is a reprehensible action.”
Panico says he had been working with the Village throughout the summer to expand access to Ho-Hum Beach, but was met with logistical concerns, such as possible damage to the flora and fauna from additional ferries, restroom capacities, and lifeguard staffing. Panico offered to Bellport Mayor Maureen Veitch to have the Town defray the costs by chartering a separate water taxi that would allow twenty-five people who booked online an 11:00a.m. to 3:00p.m. trip to Ho-Hum Beach on a weekly basis. Riders would be charged a non-resident fee.
“The mayor agreed and brought it to her board,” said Panico. “What happened after that, you’ll have to ask the mayor.”
Panico also calls the aforementioned logistical concerns “specious arguments” against letting residents from the surrounding area enjoy Ho-Hum Beach.
However, the impetus for such a heated press conference was the actions of a Bellport Village trustee. When Panico examined the twenty-five bookings for the water taxi’s first trip to the beach on Sunday, he noticed that multiple bookings were made using the same email: [email protected].
The email, according to one of the names associated with it from booking records, was Steve Mackin, a Village Trustee currently serving his fourth term.
Mackin made several reservations on the water taxi, allegedly with no intention of utilizing the service.
“Quite frankly, I don’t think any elected representative would have unmitigated gall to pull a trick like this,” said Panico, alleging that Mackin made the bookings specifically to close out slots.
“Less people showed up than possible because they [the multiple reservations] closed out the list,” added Panico.
One name to which the [email protected] address was attached was a juvenile play on words: “Mike Hunt.”
The Messenger reached out to Mr. Mackin and Mayor Veitch for comment, but did not hear back.
Mayor Veitch did send a statement to media outlets.
“Panico chooses media stunts over coordinating with Village leadership and has not responded to my attempts to reach him to meet and work out a path forward,” said Veitch. “We routinely welcome non-resident guests to the beach in a planned and safe manner, such as the 40 members of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Bellport Area who visited the beach last week. Bellport’s limited docks are not set up to accommodate commercial taxi companies. When the Supervisor paid to bring water taxis to Bellport docks this past Sunday without notifying the Village in advance, he did not know that we had a paddleboard event that morning and young sailors out on the bay nearby. Panico is putting politics over people and safety.”
Veitch has also added that it would be “illegal” for the Village to “give away” taxpayer amenities.
The press were then invited by the Bay Constable to Ho-Hum Beach to tour the facilities themselves. One beachgoer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the beach’s facilities can’t handle more people and suggested that non-Village residents utilize nearby Davis Park or Watch Hill.
The beachgoer also said that he does not believe that there is “any discrimination” against the minority community of North Bellport.
“If I had my own water taxi company and I wanted to go over to Davis Park, do you think that’s legitimate?” said the beachgoer. He also said that he “knows” that the Town did not coordinate the water taxi pickup with Bellport.
“I speak to them [Village trustees] a lot,” said the beachgoer. “Watch Hill has ten times the resources we have over here.”
The beachgoer also declined to comment on the allegations against Trustee Steve Mackin and his bookings of multiple water taxi slots, saying that he can’t “tell” what “someone else’s intention is.”
He also added that Panico is sometimes referred to as “clown-ico” within the Village of Bellport.
The Town brought in former Supervisor Mark Lesko (D-East Setauket), who in 2021, served as Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division and for the Eastern District of New York.
Lesko said that the Town will reach out to Attorney General Letitia James (D) to see if she wants to conduct a review of the matter.
“We believe this [investigation] is warranted. We believe serious constitutional issues are implicated here,” said Lesko.
