Broadway Bares To Return To Fire Island

From Broadway Cares:

The modern day burlesque Broadway Bares heads back to the beach this May, kicking off the summer season with a sizzling edition of Broadway Bares Fire Island. Once again, the sexy men and women of Broadway Bares will return to Fire Island Pines, NY, for two performances, produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. A more intimate version of the annual Broadway Bares performances in New York City, the Fire Island show on May 30, 2015, will feature an evening of new numbers directed by Michael Lee Scott. The show will be performed at 7 pm and 9 pm at Whyte Hall's Brandon Fradd Theater. Broadway Bares Fire Island will feature the Bares dancers performing on a runway jutting into the audience. The show will be followed by Bares' famous "rotation" where the performers freestyle dance for donations. All tickets to Broadway Bares Fire Island include free cocktails on the Albert Lepage Pavilion at Whyte Hall a half-hour before curtain

Video might not be work-friendly. Tickets at the link.

CHERRY GROVE: Fire Destroys Two Hotels, Gay Nightclub, And Several Residences

A massive fire swept through Cherry Grove's commercial district on Fire Island last night, destroying several private homes, the Holly House Hotel, and the Grove Hotel, the last of which was home to the famed Ice Palace nightclub. For decades the Ice Palace hosted the Miss Fire Island pageant and served as the kickoff location for the annual Fire Island Pines Drag Invasion. Local authorities say that the source of the blaze, which reportedly broke out on the nearby boardwalk, is unknown. About 80 firefighters were on the scene and two suffered injuries, but no residents were hurt, possibly because most of Fire Island is unoccupied at this time of year. Last night's fire was yet another in a recent string of disasters to strike Fire Island's two predominantly gay towns. The commercial district of neighboring Fire Island Pines was destroyed in a 2011 fire and both towns were flooded during 2012's Hurricane Sandy.

(Via Towleroad)

UPDATE: Contrary to the above-linked Newsday report that the Grove Hotel is a "complete loss," this news item says the Ice Palace nightclub portion of the complex suffered only minor damage.

Beefcake Fire Island Fashion Show

Not safe if you've got nosy neighbors in the next cube.

REPORT: NBC To Produce New Tina Fey Show Set In Fire Island

Deadline Hollywood reports that NBC has signed a deal for a new Tina Fey-produced show that appears to have its setting in a Fire Island bar.

The project, said to be in the vein of Cheers, is a character-driven workplace comedy where a young woman in search of reconnecting with her father finds a new home and family on Fire Island. This marks the first project from Fey’s Little Stranger production company under the four-year deal she inked with Uni TV last fall.

It should be noted that there are a dozen towns on Fire Island and that the two gay hotspots, Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove, are not mentioned in reports about the show. Still, this is Tina Fey, so...

Tweet Of The Day - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Morning View - Fire Island Superman

This life-sized Superman statue guards the front gate of one of the oceanside houses in Fire Island Pines.  The first time we walked past it, it was quite dark out and we thought somebody was going for some cosplay action.

Original Fire Island Pines Sign

Circa 1957.

Afternoon View - Fire Island Pavilion

This (I think) is the third Fire Island Pines Pavilion, which contains two bars, a nightclub, a gym, and several retailers. It's rainy and grey here today and most folks haven't yet ventured out of their houses.

At The 2013 Drag Invasion Of The Pines

Yesterday my pal Jerry accompanied me to the Invasion Of The Pines, the 37th annual marking of the day in 1976 when a drag queen was denied service at a restaurant in Fire Island Pines. Every Fourth of July since then, hundreds of drag queens board a chartered ferry in Cherry Grove and "invade" the Pines for a day exploding with glitter, feathers, and lots and lots of drinking.  I've posted about 150 photos from our day in chronological order of the madness. Lots of handsome men and hilarious drag at the link. You'll probably want to check out Paula Deen's full outfit....

FIRE ISLAND: Cherry Grove Community House Makes National Historic Registry

Fire Island's Cherry Grove Community House will be placed on the New York and national registries of historic places in recognition of its role in creating "America's first gay and lesbian town." Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand applauds via press release:

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced today that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service placed Cherry Grove Community House and Theater on the National Register of Historic Places. Last month, Senator Gillibrand urged the Chief of the National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program to designate the Fire Island site on the official list of the country’s historic places worthy of preservation. Located on Fire Island, this historic site provided one of the first settings for collective gay identity to openly appear in our nation’s history. “This is great news. The Cherry Grove Community House and Theater represents the first civic entity to integrate gay and lesbian interests into governance and social life,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I am thrilled that this historic site, the first civil rights organization for the LGBT community, is finally acknowledged for their contributions.”

Newsday notes that the structure was built in 1945 across the bay in Sayville and floated on a barge to Fire Island. More from their story:

In the conservative climate of the mid-1940s, the community provided a rare sanctuary, where "the integration and self-affirming presentation of homosexual men and lesbians in Cherry Grove's social life" gave it "exceptional historic significance," according to the application. The community house was built in Sayville because construction resources were tough to come by on Fire Island after World War II, Yaeger said. The theater was added in 1948, and Yaeger believes it's one of the oldest "continuously used gay theaters in the United States, and probably in the world."

Fire Island Bans Nude Sunbathing

In response to reports of public sex and other actually serious crimes, park rangers with the National Seashore authority have banned nude sunbathing on all of Fire Island, which comprises 17 residential communities along the barrier island off of Long Island. The main trouble spot appears not to be the popular gay communities of Cherry Grove and The Pines.

The surging popularity of Lighthouse Beach in particular has led to increased complaints and observations of assault, sex, masturbation and prostitution, said Fire Island chief ranger Lena Koschmann. On some summer days, as many as 4,000 people descend on the narrow strip of land east of Robert Moses State Park Field 5, in the shadow of famed Fire Island Lighthouse. "We've been struggling to make it work because Fire Island has a history of that type of use and people have been coming there for years," Koschmann said. "The more we talked about it and researched it, the more we realized that that use wasn't compatible with an area like Lighthouse Beach."

The ban was also prompted, in part, by the decimation of sand dunes by Hurricane Sandy, meaning that nude sunbathers are now more visible to tourists. A spokesman for the National Seashore also complains that rowdy partiers at Lighthouse Point have been setting up mobile DJ stations. She adds that invitations to public sex at the parties have been posted on social media networks. The disappointed co-founder of Young Naturists and Nudists America says that her group will now relocate to New Jersey's Gunnison Beach.

Fire Island Devastated By Sandy

Fire Island, which is arguably the most famous gay vacation destination in the world, was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The damage is so severe that the spokesman for the National Seashore believes that at least one new permanent inlet between the bay and the ocean has been created, effectively dividing Fire Island into two separate islands. Steve Weinstein has the story at Edge:

The Pines may have experienced at least one extensive breach on its eastern end, with another even more severe breach just east of the Pines, according to Jay Pagano, who heads the local property owners assocation. In an email statement, Pagano said that pools and decks of houses fronting the ocean along a wide swath of the Pines were extensively damaged.  In a later email, he reported that flooding is "quite extensive," with "debris and trees down throughout the community." Many of the boardwalks that are Fire Island’s sidewalks are destroyed, as are all of the Pines’ stairs that lead from the boardwalks to the beach, Pagano reported.

Much more serious is the destruction of the dunes "along the length of the community." The dunes are the front line of protection. The Pines has been involved for several years in expensive dune restoration. [snip] In an telephone interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Karen Boss described the Pines Harbor as "completely submerged." Photos of the harbor show water going well onto land. In addition, there are reports that many of the bulkheads along the bay built have been destroyed. The bulkheads, built on community and privately owned property, serve to protect the island from erosion. But they couldn’t withstand the surging onslaught of water caused by Sandy’s high winds. This is the second year in a row that a mid-fall natural disaster devastated the Pines. Last year, a fire swept through the downtown harbor area. The destruction encompassed much of the commercial property, including the town’s main bar and nightclub.

Many photos of the destruction can be seen here and here.

Grindr Is Killing Fire Island!

Complaints about hook-up sites and their effect on the gay social scene have existed since before the launch of Manhunt. This week New York Magazine claims that Grindr is destroying Fire Island's legendary see and be seen culture.

Log in to Grindr on Fire Island, as you would anywhere else, and you’ll see a grid of 100 smiling faces and headless muscled torsos, a catalogue of men accessible from the comfort of your summer share’s living room. (Although cell-phone service on the island can be spotty, most houses are equipped with Wi-Fi.) The app has been called a “virtual bathhouse” and been pegged by some as a reason for the decline of the gay bar, but in a place like Fire Island, it may be especially destructive.

Aside from the beach, a large part of the attraction of the Pines scene is the opportunity to rub shoulders, and maybe sleep, with attractive and powerful gay men. “Not long ago, you’d walk around here and everybody would be cruising each other, not anonymously, but face to face,” said Sal Occhipinti, a tanned 43-year-old, at a recent afternoon “high tea” dance party in the Pines harbor. A few feet away, on the largely empty patio of the Blue Whale, a group of three men were busily typing on their devices next to the bar. According to Occhipinti, even the Meat Rack, the notoriously cruisy wooded area between the Pines and Cherry Grove, has been taken over by glowing iPhone screens.

(Via JMG reader Dave)

HomoQuotable - Tom Bianchi

“You can’t write a book about the maiden voyage of the Titanic without mentioning that there’s an iceberg lurking ahead. The book is a nostalgic remembrance of what was lost. When AIDS hit, the Pines was dead center, ground zero. It would happen within the space of a summer. If there was a house that had six friends, come spring you would discover that everyone in the house had died. I would take a walk on the beach, and every friend I encountered would say ‘Have you heard about…?’ It was followed with someone in the hospital or someone that died." - Noted photographer Tom Bianchi , on his new book of Polaroids snapped at Fire Island Pines parties in 1975. Note: The linked source may not be work-friendly. (Via - Andrew Belonsky)

Photo Of The Day - Fire Island Damage

More photos here. (Via -Towleroad)

Married After 58 Years

Fire Island News managing editor Michael Lavers tips us to yesterday's wedding of Robert Scherffius and Victor Alfieri, who met 58 years ago.

Multiple Washovers On Fire Island

Several communities on Fire Island experienced washovers during Hurricane Irene. Generally considered one of the worst case scenarios for any barrier island, a "washover" is when ocean waves overcome the dunes and mix with bay water on the mainland side.

Ian Levine of the Ocean Beach Fire Department told The News that the water went from the ocean to the bay on Cottage Walk in Ocean Beach, Corneille Estates and Fire Island Summer Club, Atlantique, Saltaire and Field 5 at Robert Moses, where there is 12 to 18 inches of water. Additional washhovers occurred at Sail and Nautilus Walks in Fire Island Pines and on Whalebone Walk in Davis Park. Two transformers have reportedly come down, while the bay saw a storm surge of 4 to 5 feet. There were 22 foot waves on the ocean during the height of the storm. Fire Island experienced a peak wind gust of 71 mph, while sustained winds averaged between 35 - 60 mph during the storm. Sayville reported a 91 mph wind gust at 7:02 a.m., while East Moriches reported a 71 mph wind gust at 6:20 a.m.

According to the above-linked report, the gay village of Fire Island Pines experienced one washover and water there has already receded. It adds that the access road to the Sayville ferry terminal is presently under "four to five feet of water." All of Fire Island remains under a mandatory evacuation order until at least Tuesday and the power may not be restored until then.

UPDATE: A Twitter user reports "the ocean met the bay on Nautilus and Sail walks in Fire Island Pines."

RELATED: During the Great Hurricane of 1938, a washover permanently split the New York barrier island at Hampton Bays, creating the Shinnecock Inlet.

To The Extreme

Hurricane forecasters have raised the threat level for the NYC area to "extreme," although the most reliable model shows the storm making landfall somewhere around mid-Long Island. Fire Island residents are standing by for word of evacuation orders. In related news, my mom is emailing me hurricane preparedness tips. From Florida.

TRAILER: Half-Share

Fire Island Ferries To Be Suspended

I'm being told that Fire Island's ferry service will be suspended at 3pm tomorrow and will resume sometime on Saturday. Tough break for those hoping to get out there after work tomorrow. But stay tuned, they may change their minds again.

UPDATE: You might still be able to get to the Pines and Cherry Grove if you get there quick enough after work. For now.

Fire Island Ferries will suspend service from Bay Shore at 3 p.m. tomorrow. It said ferries would resume early on Saturday, Sept. 4, once conditions improve. The Sayville Ferry Company told the News the 7 and 8 p.m. ferries to the Fire Island Pines tomorrow night are canceled. Ferries to Cherry Grove remain unaffected as of this posting. Ferries to Sailors Haven and Watch Hill have also been cancelled, and the campground in Watch Hill will remain closed tonight and tomorrow night. Davis Park-bound ferries will continue to run (at least for the time being). “We’re going to try and run as many ferries as we can,” said an operator at the Davis Park Ferry Company.