The Downtown Montauk Emergency Stabilization Project, which seeks to combat flooding, erosion and oceanfront property damage via excavating the the beach and planting sand-filled geotextile tubes, has undoubtedly become one of the most passionate and important discussions on the East End this year. The controversial plan has received heaps of attention from not only concerned citizens on the East End, but also a handful of national media outlets and enviro-advocates in the surfing community (including Kelly Slater).
In an effort to make sure everyone is aware of the plan, as well as informed enough to form an opinion — and more importantly — provide constructive feedback, we’ve compiled a few of the most enlightening sources of coverage available to the general public.
1. Whalebone’s Insta-Interview with Montauk Photographer James Katsipis. As part of our Instagram’s ongoing interview series, we had Montauk lensman, James Katsipis, hop on the gram and answer some pressing questions regarding the latest happenings — including an organized paddle-out, human-chain and the ramifications of asking, “why?”. You can read the interview in its entirety here in the comment section of our Instagram post.
2. The Post Seen around the World. East Coast legend and 11x World Tour Champion surfer, Kelly Slater, weighed in on the situation this week, adding some thoughtful remarks to the environmentally-questionable debate. “I’m not sure why humans want to control nature,” Kelly wrote. “It’s incredible that taxpayer money gets used to protect private homes/condos from natural environmental problems.” You can check out Kelly’s full post here on his Instagram.
3. Surfer Magazine’s News Coverage. Surfer Magazine’s website, as well as Surfline, have also featured comprehensive write-ups on the situation. There’s a wealth of quotes and photos from both sides, as well as a solid amount of photos you aren’t likely to find anywhere else. Head over to their site by clicking pretty much anywhere on this sentence.
Photo: Nate Best.
4. Concerned Citizens of Montauk’s Facebook Page. Other than a few comments here and there, there isn’t a whole lot of discussion on this page — but there should be. CCOM is an incredible resource backed by people that have the future of Montauk in mind. If this link to their Facebook should serve any purpose, let it be to start a forum for intelligent discussion on the matter.
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