DAN'S PAPERS, May 22, 2009 Page 40 www.danshamptons.com
Fundraiser
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“The Tunnel sits on the sea bed. The subway to Foxwoods is 60 feet below the seabed. How did you link them?” “We built lots of escalators.” The tunnel is one of the two prides and joys of the Shelter Island Bridge and Tunnel Society (SIBTA), the other being the Sunrise Bridge to Sag Harbor. It was going to be difficult to broach this with the president for life of SIBTA, Arthur Bloom. “Where is it?” I asked. “What? The link?” “Yes.” “It’s on the seabed eight tenths of a mile north of the tunnel entrance at Shelter Island Heights.” Although the Hampton Subway and the
Stirling Memorial Tunnel do not exist, except in the imaginations of Bloom and this writer, (Bloom and friends had thought up SIBTA at the Dory Restaurant on Shelter Island in 2006; I had thought up Hampton Subway after writing about SIBTA), it nevertheless seemed a preposterous thing to have to tell him, that there was a subway entrance halfway through the two-lane car tunnel between Shelter Island and Greenport. How would people get to it? Walk? Have people take them in by car and drop them off? There is no place to pull over in there. The dinner on Shelter Island at the Chequit Inn was real, and I was greeted happily by Bloom in the lobby of the place. Half the island had turned out to raise money for
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C/O THE MAIDSTONE HOTEL, RESTAURANT & LOUNGE 207 MAIN ST. EAST HAMPTON, NY 11937 RESERVATIONS@THEMAIDSTONE.COM WWW.THEMAIDSTONE.COM F O R R E S E R VAT I O N S + 1 . 6 3 1. 3 2 4 . 5 0 0 6 1196837
the fire department. And as he was master of ceremonies for the occasion, he was in full tuxedo, which was a bit embarrassing, because I was not. Nor, I saw, when I peered into the dining room, was anybody else. In the lobby, next to the souvenir table — SIBTA hats, t-shirts, car stickers, etc. (I had brought the book One Year on the Hampton Subway) — Bloom told me a wonderful story involving the Chequit Inn and the Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Apparently, at around midnight last summer, a man called the inn wishing to make a reservation. On duty at the time was a young night clerk and so it was he who answered the phone. He took down the name, the date, the credit card number and so forth, at which time the caller asked if he could tell him directions to the bridge to get there. He was coming through Sag Harbor. “Bridge? I don’t think there is a bridge,” the young man said. “Well, it’s right on your website. There’s the ferry and the bridge.” “The only way I know is the ferry,” the young man said. “I don’t know about any bridge.” “Look, what is this? You have some ‘in’ with the bridge people? The ferry is round trip $12.50. The bridge is $2.50.” “I’m new,” the young man said. “This is my first year here.” “If you can’t tell me how to get to the bridge, then in the morning, I’m going to tell the owners of your hotel about how you are trying to steer business to the ferry.” “I’m sorry, sir.” In the morning, true to his word, the prospective visitor phoned Linda Ecklund and told her what the night clerk had told him. “Well, I’m sorry sir,” Mrs. Ecklund said. She, like everybody else, knows about the supposed bridge. “And yes, we do have a bridge. But you can’t use it anyway. It’s for residents only.” Bloom, resplendent in tuxedo, handed us a program to the event and ushered me and my wife into the hotel dining room where a band, Mambo Loco, was playing, people were dancing and some folks were already lining up with plates to begin to get food. As there was an open bar and the event was well underway by the time we got there, everybody was in a pretty happy mood. I hadn’t yet told Bloom about the hook up to the Stribling tunnel. The Chequit did lay out an excellent spread. There was salad, chicken wrapped in ham, wild rice and vegetables and asparagus. At a certain point, Bloom stood up and banged a knife onto a glass and began the short program he’d scheduled for the evening. He talked a bit about the new Bridge Street Trolley and Rail Delivery Service, (BSARDS), a subsidiary of the Shelter Island Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which should be open on the island before the Fourth of July. He then introduced Dr. Sue Hine, who spoke about her work as chief rodent mitigator and chef de cuisine for the Authority. Then His Most (continued on next page 42)