How much has Fire Island changed since then?
When I returned as a married grouper it was to Ocean Bay Park in the mid-1960s, when the ferry still came into Flynn’s and some people got no further than that in the course of the weekend. Everything seems far more structured now, probably because there are so many more people who come over that either order prevails or there is chaos. TIDE: Where have you lived on Fire Island and what were the prevailing issues when you first became a homeowner? We’ve always been in Ocean Bay Park except one year we rented in Saltaire. By 1970 our family group was up to four kids and we split up. We rented a house on Oneida Street from friends who were next door. After seven years or so they sold it to us at a good price and we fixed it up. We didn’t choose OBP, our friends were there and we followed. And stayed. The prevailing issues haven’t changed much. It’s always people who look on the island as a place to relax and get away from noise and commotion vs. people who see the island as a place to ma
