The Peconic Baykeeper talks about water quality, what communities need to do to protect bays and why if we don’t start soon it could be too late.

It’s the start of the season and we have already discovered a case of biotoxin in shellfish meat in Sag Harbor Cove. Is this a grim foretelling of what is to come?

It is probably too early to say, but the fact that this has shown up for the first time in Sag Harbor Cove is concerning. We have certainly seen trends throughout the Peconics with both red and brown tides popping up. The south shore of Shinnecock Bay has had red and brown tides for five years running and now we have the same algae in Sag Harbor Cove. We have to take this very seriously.

Ultimately, what is harming our water so much?

It’s nitrogen. I think locally, groundwater is a significant contributor. A majority of the fresh water that enters our estuaries is coming from our groundwater, which has been impacted by the overdevelopment of this region. This kind of density with the use of cesspool systems has led to too much nitrogen in our waters. Another contributor, of course, is stormwater runoff and in Sag Harbor we have seen a perfect case of the kind of impact that can have at Havens Beach.

What can we do to change things in a substantive way?

Number one is we have to acknowledge that our waters are being threatened and are degrading. Second, we have to invest ourselves on many levels to make improvements in wastewater treatment. There are state-of-the-art wastewater treatment options available that significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen pollution entering our bays. We also have to make an investment in addressing stormwater discharge.

Sag Harbor is a waterfront destination with an economy very much tied to that attribute. What are some of the things you think this village can do to protect what is a valuable resource?

I think from a village level it is important they make the necessary investment into stormwater management. We have a plan for Havens Beach. It’s time to commit to implementing that plan for remediation.

Next week you will host a paddle race to benefit the Baykeeper organization. How does getting out on the water promote these causes?

When you utilize a resource it becomes harder to take it for granted.

So, ultimately, paddle boarding at Havens Beach is safe, right?

Yes. There is no subliminal plot to highlight Sag Harbor, but Havens Beach is an important resource that we hold dear. Outside of its recreational value, just think about the economic value the engine that is Sag Harbor Bay and the Peconic Bay is for our region. It will be a sad day if because of apathy we let those waters degrade to the point where we have to spend a tremendous amount of money to get them back. We are on a cusp now and we have to get on board quickly because five, 10 or 20 years out we will be in a far worse place if we are not paying attention and advocating for our waters.

The Stand-Up Paddle Race for the Baykeeper will be held on May 19 at 9:30 a.m. with registration starting at 8 a.m. Rentals will be available. For more information, contact 653-4804.

By Bryan Boyhan

After 50 years in journalism, what have you learned?

My specialty has been investigative reporting, and what I’ve learned is what I picked up way back, when I was an intern at the Cleveland Press. The Press was a hot bed of investigative reporting. It was founded by E.W. Scripps, who was a leader in muckraking, and in 1960 the culture he created was still there.

When people called in with a story, if it was a real story of inequality or injustice, he gave it to a crew of reporters. What I picked up was, when you actually expose an unfair situation, half the time there’s a resolution. Investigative journalism, muckraking, works.

Written over the door to the Cleveland Press is: “Give people the light and they’ll find their own way.” What I’ve found, when you give people the light — for example the proposed highway on Fire Island, or the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant — and give them straight information, they’re intelligent enough, fair minded enough, that there can be a resolution.

What is the biggest threat to journalism today?

I just did a piece on Rupert Murdoch. The press is supposed to be independent, and, as academics call it, a libertarian press is supposed to be a check on power. It shows how flexible the system is that, when big corporations started gaining so much power, the press took on corporations. The press now needs to be flexible enough to take on scientific and technical power.

Benjamin Franklin saw the role of the press as not just a stenographer, but something that would challenge government.

The challenge now is someone like Murdoch, who is so politically powerful. The guy is so extremely political. One of the problems with our system is, if you have the money you can buy into it. When someone like Murdoch gets in you can corrupt the system. That’s one threat.

A second threat is, when you have little competition, the media gets fat and lazy.

The third thing is, the biggest thing since the typewriter is the Internet. We’re having a media revolution. What concerns me is government’s attempt to squelch this great new media form.

You’re reputation is as an investigative journalist. What do you think we should spend more time investigating?

The biggest horror stories, and we’re not doing it; Fukushima for example.

The stuff is hitting the California coast. There is a finding of mortality in the U.S. as a result of fallout over the past year. About 22,000 excess deaths they’ve found attributable to fallout since Fukusihima. This is a huge story, but the Washington Post said last week in an editorial that Fukushima was a non-catastrophe. I mean c’mon.

A 2009 study concludes the excess deaths from 1986 to 2004 as a result of Chernobyl were about 985,000. Dr.Alexey Yablokov, an author of that study, feels that Fukushima will be worse.

At Fukushima there were three reactors that went down. Dr. Yablokov, who was Gorbachev’s and Yeltisn’s consultant on the environment, estimates there will be more than a million deaths. Nobody’s writing about his.

We’re seeing the nuclear industry and people in government close to the nuclear industry saying people are not going to die from nuclear energy. In the U.S. we have the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approving one after another of the same type plant as in Fukushima. Scripps would have had a team of journalists on this.

It took decades for the truth to come out about the dangers of smoking. I’m afraid it’s taking decades for the truth to come out about nuclear energy. Show people the light.

What is your advice to young journalists?

There’s a concern among my students in terms of daily newspapers dying. I tell them there will always be an active and vibrant press. I encourage them all to go into new media and community newspapers. The press just seems to get bigger and bigger, media is becoming a greater force,

Keep your moral compass; it’s so damn important to democracy.

How are our local waters?

They’re pretty good, scallops are on the rebound. There has been lots of talk about bugs, and we have high hopes for this year. We do a scallop sanctuary project and seed heavily. We broadcast the spawners and keep them pretty dense; the closer together they are the more likely they are to fertilize the eggs.

Spat numbers have gone up each year since we started in 2008. We’re at 8416 percent over first year. So, barring any harmful blooms, our waters are in good shape.

The ocean waters help a lot in keeping the local waters clean, moreso than water further up west.

The past couple of decades have been challenging for shellfish in local waters; what have we learned about helping them?

We’re on the right track. Bayscaping, a program promoted by the Peconic Baykeeper, is helpful. We educate the public about fertilizer, hard top and runoff. The recent trend is to also make the people aware of their septic systems. There’s also talk of nitrogen removal systems.

What’s the biggest threat?

A combination of over harvesting and runoff. It’s what we put on the ground and in the ground. We’re all part of the watershed; it’s not just someone living on the water that’s a problem.

What techniques have made the greatest strides?

Just seeding year after year. We seed millions each year and seed the same areas. People know where to go. The town has bred the notata clam, which has a recessive gene leaving a red mark. The notata clam grows a little faster, and has the marking. You’ll see the red marking the clam, but it’s not something you should be concerned about.

How about the oysters?

They’re doing well; but we have some issues with people taking them under size. You can get a pretty penny for oysters: 50 cents maybe a dollar an oyster. It’s unfortunate we have a lack of enforcement, people are taking them early.

What do you look for in a good seeding area?

It depends on the species. We look for areas that were productive in the past. A hard bottom for oysters. We put them in an area of water flow; the faster they grow and get to a certain size it will allow them to survive better.

For scallops, the beauty is they don’t need eel grass to survive because the ones we’re seeding are larger; they get less of a problem from predators. In Napeague, for example, there are a lot of blue claw crabs; they will decimate almost an entire crop of smaller spat.

What should people get out of their visit to the hatchery?

We’re still trying to get the word out we’re doing what we’re doing.

Hopefully they’ll learn how we start from scratch, produce their food, and then seed them.

The interim head of the Ross School who will officially take over for current Head of School Michele Claeys when she leaves the position this July.

You’ve been in the admissions department at various private schools for many years, currently serving as dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. How easily do you see yourself transitioning into the role of interim head of school at Ross?

The things I did [as dean of admissions] — like changing the student composition and creating new summer programs to make it easier for new kids to transition into the school — those were systemic changes. I did these things in concert with lots of different issues, all really with the mind that I would eventually like to run a school one day.

What’s one of the challenges you think a head of school faces these days?

Understanding what kind of curriculum is needed today. If you want to train doctors, lawyers and businessmen, then you know what to do. But what if we’re talking about graduating the people who are going to invent the next version of the Internet, or — who knows — interplanetary travel? You’re going to need a different kind of education, one that’s not so focused on set boundaries.

What’s one specific task you’ll have to tackle when you officially come onboard at Ross in July?

The school is now 20 years old, so one of the first things we’ll be doing is looking at the next decade, hopefully the next 100 years. It’s time to think about how the school can become sustainable over time.

The second priority is the boarding program. It’s brand new, so we’re looking to figure out how that boarding program can grow.

With the whole world at your fingertips, where do you even begin?

Strategically, we look at areas around the world that have an interest in boarding schools and have elementary and middle schools that can [prepare] kids leaving them [for boarding school abroad].

I know there are currently a lot of students from China. Do you try to balance where the students come from?

There is a disproportionate number of students at Ross from China. But, for one thing, Ross has just introduced a Mandarin program K-12, so it was the school’s initiative to get some kids who speak Mandarin on the campus. The other thing is that China is the newest big market for boarding schools.

You’ve alluded to the fact that a lot of boarding schools are taking in a lot of Chinese students. But, are they doing more than just filling their beds? A lot of them aren’t. Because Ross has a mission to create a sense of globalism, Chinese history is an active part of the academic curriculum.

Just this February, 100 kids from Ross actually went to China for M-terms.

At the end of the school year you’ll officially make the move from New Jersey to Long Island. Are you excited to move to the East End?

Thrilled! I don’t want to get on that bandwagon of dissing New Jersey, but… I’m interested in being in a location that’s naturally beautiful [laughs]. The clean air, the sunshine — it’s paradise!

By Claire Walla

The interim head of the Ross School who will officially take over for current Head of School Michele Claeys when she leaves the position this July.

You’ve been in the admissions department at various private schools for many years, currently serving as dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. How easily do you see yourself transitioning into the role of interim head of school at Ross?

The things I did [as dean of admissions] — like changing the student composition and creating new summer programs to make it easier for new kids to transition into the school — those were systemic changes. I did these things in concert with lots of different issues, all really with the mind that I would eventually like to run a school one day.

What’s one of the challenges you think a head of school faces these days?

Understanding what kind of curriculum is needed today. If you want to train doctors, lawyers and businessmen, then you know what to do. But what if we’re talking about graduating the people who are going to invent the next version of the Internet, or — who knows — interplanetary travel? You’re going to need a different kind of education, one that’s not so focused on set boundaries.

What’s one specific task you’ll have to tackle when you officially come onboard at Ross in July?

The school is now 20 years old, so one of the first things we’ll be doing is looking at the next decade, hopefully the next 100 years. It’s time to think about how the school can become sustainable over time.

The second priority is the boarding program. It’s brand new, so we’re looking to figure out how that boarding program can grow.

With the whole world at your fingertips, where do you even begin?

Strategically, we look at areas around the world that have an interest in boarding schools and have elementary and middle schools that can [prepare] kids leaving them [for boarding school abroad].

I know there are currently a lot of students from China. Do you try to balance where the students come from?

There is a disproportionate number of students at Ross from China. But, for one thing, Ross has just introduced a Mandarin program K-12, so it was the school’s initiative to get some kids who speak Mandarin on the campus. The other thing is that China is the newest big market for boarding schools.

You’ve alluded to the fact that a lot of boarding schools are taking in a lot of Chinese students. But, are they doing more than just filling their beds? A lot of them aren’t. Because Ross has a mission to create a sense of globalism, Chinese history is an active part of the academic curriculum.

Just this February, 100 kids from Ross actually went to China for M-terms.

At the end of the school year you’ll officially make the move from New Jersey to Long Island. Are you excited to move to the East End?

Thrilled! I don’t want to get on that bandwagon of dissing New Jersey, but… I’m interested in being in a location that’s naturally beautiful [laughs]. The clean air, the sunshine — it’s paradise!

by Emily Weitz

In the upcoming exhibition of your late husband, Michael Knigin’s, artwork at Temple Adas Israel, the question is asked: Can artwork depicting the past still reach us? What do you think?

The beginning of Michael’s artist’s statement asked the question, “Can art work, interpreting the dark past, still reach us in the hustle of our normalized life? He said, “I feel the responsibility of the artist, and any enlightened human being, is to continue to make us aware of the past, we cannot escape the horrible reality. We have a responsibility to face it and learn its lessons: We will never forget!”

I’ve found many examples of how Michael’s artwork is being used both nationally and internationally by educators and Holocaust memorial websites to teach the lessons of remembrance. One example is the story of 10th graders in Ohio who, each creating an image of their own, sent them to us in response to Michael’s sending the class a gift of his artwork, while they were using his images from the internet to learn about the Holocaust.
And, of course, there are the exhibitions of the past, including the permanent installation of images from his Anne Frank series at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the wonderful exhibition held at the Rumbaugh Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, in October 2009, shortly before Michael was diagnosed with lung cancer.

I wonder what Michael, who once defined his Holocaust Survivor series as “his legacy”, might say about the importance of remembering the Holocaust, through art and otherwise.

Michael always referred to his Remembrance Art Series as his legacy. He made sure that his website was linked to as many Holocaust memorial and museum sites as possible, thereby giving the world the opportunity to view his “legacy,” and to embrace his interpretive artwork as a tool to learn and to understand the lessons depicting the “dehumanization of mankind.” Of this, he said, “since childhood [he] was aware of personal liabilities, and the equality of all people being usurped by the law.”

How does Michael’s work give us the opportunity to remember?

In 1975-76, Michael worked for The Israel Museum and The Jerusalem Foundation. Overseen by Mayor Teddy Kolleck and the Ministry of Education and of Labor, he trained and educated a new generation of international printmakers at the first professional printmaking atelier in the Middle East. During his tenure, he was given the rare honor by Yad Vashem to reproduce photographs from its archives. And, he began meeting many holocaust survivors. Being deeply moved by their stories, instead of writing them down, he began creating pictures that told their stories.

Because Michael’s work is so visually powerful, and his creative talents exceed the boundaries of banality, the story each image tells brings increasing awareness of a dark period of human history that might get lost in time. Michael used his own visual language to impact the viewer in a new and visceral way. While the images may be disturbing, they are at the same time beautiful and incredibly designed. They are unique and complete. And, they tell the story passionately.

As Michael said, “I hope that my work will help people to remember the horror of the Holocaust and it will be in their consciousness when they interact with others.”

Executive Director of The Young American Writers Project at Stony Brook Southampton

What exactly is The Young American Writers Project (YAWP)?

The Young American Writers Project was created by the MFA program at Stony Brook by Southampton MFA Director Robert Reeves in the spring of 2009. The program is dedicated to mentoring high school students and middle school students in the art of writing, through whatever medium that might be. In part of the program we send out teams made up of MFA graduate students to various high schools and middle schools around the East End to lead writing workshops. But we also do school break workshops, summer workshops and retreats.

The next event coming up is YAWP Spring Workshop on Friday, April 9. What goes on at these workshops?

Well, the spring break workshop is a five day program dedicated to script writing for plays as well as film screenplays. Professional writers teach the students how to think visually, how to incorporate conflict and character, as well as develop a work in progress. By the end of the week the students will have completed a one-act play or one short scene of a movie.

Have there been any memorable pieces to come out of the YAWP program?

Something that jumps immediately to mind was one piece written during a high school program. This school was going through some budget cuts and one of the first departments to be cut was theater. A student in our playwriting classes wrote a play about lobbying a school board to restore funding to a theater program. That was just a really wonderful and powerful play that had a message that echoed beyond that evening. One of the important things about this program is that we don’t censor what the students write about. We ask them to write from their own experience and to write in their own words. That sometimes results in some eyebrow raising material.

Who are the teenagers who sign up for this writing course?

For the school break courses the students are already interested in writing and want to improve their writing skills. They are usually already interested in writing and want to experience a type of program that they could not get at school. What we are trying to do is cultivate voice. What we are really focusing on at the program is individual voice, what is important to say, and how it is said.

What have you learned looking at the writing of these YAWP students?

Kids go out on limbs and take chances when they write.  We have had plays about discrimination, plays about abuse, plays about substance abuse, as well as essays and poetry about just being different. This program gives the teenagers an opportunity to write about how they truly feel.

To find out more about YAWP or the upcoming workshops please call 632-8000.

The senior environmental analyst with the Town of East Hampton talks about why business will benefit from a business energy forum hosted by the town next week, what kind of business strategies businesses can use to save money and reduce its carbon footprint and why we all have to do our part to create a more sustainable environment.

Where did the idea of the business energy forum originate?

The idea came out of a Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Energy Efficiency Conference in February. I attended the conference and I thought this would be great information to get out to the East End. After discussing it with a representative from LIPA it was agreed this would be a valuable forum, so that is how we got here. (East Hampton Town) Supervisor Bill Wilkinson has been very supportive about the idea of the town looking at ways to support renewable energy and energy efficiency throughout the town and Michael Hervey’s efforts at LIPA and was happy for us to bring this into East Hampton.

Who is involved? What kinds of energy efficiency strategies will we be talking about?

We will have a representative from LIPA, of course, but we will also have a representative from TRC Engineering, as well as Lime Energy and Energy Tax Savers. They will all give a brief, 10-minute presentation regarding LIPA’s energy efficiency programs and the Small Business Direct Install (SBDI) program, which effectively offers business owners the ability to retrofit non-efficient lighting. TRC Engineering is a consultant that works with LIPA to offer businesses free energy assessments. What they do is assess a business and offer suggestions on where they can improve their energy efficiency, whether it’s lighting, or through the heating and air conditioning systems – anywhere that they can see an upgrade where it would be a benefit to the business and that business owner could save money in the long term is something they will suggest. Often it can be an efficiency that will pay for itself in as little as seven years. Energy Tax Savers will offer information on federal and state tax incentives to upgrade your business based on energy efficiencies that reduce the wattage of your business so that it requires less per square footage. It will be a comprehensive conference for business owners.

As an environmental planner, how much saving can a business achieve by adopting some of these practices.

The Town of East Hampton is currently in contract for seven Small Business Direct Install programs in its own buildings. In one of those cases, at 260 Springs Fireplace Road, the cost of the project is $8,564. LIPA will cover $5,995, so the town will pay $2,569. We will lower our lighting bill by 51-percent monthly with a 70-percent utility incentive and will see payback 10 months. It’s a no brainer. This is savings in the long run.

The town is developing its own comprehensive energy plan. What are some of the things the town is working on to make itself more energy efficient?

We are working on an overall reduction on non-renewable energy levels within the whole of the town, although it is in the very nascent stages. Electrical engineering is the easiest fruit to pick off the branch, but we can start to look at everything. It will all be on the table from transportation to heating fuel. We would not just like it to be a municipal vision, but a vision for the whole town. We view this as being a leader by example.

Is there legislation planned for this comprehensive energy strategy?

We will look at legislation that accomplishes encouraging new or reconstructed properties to look towards energy efficiency. We will look at a town-wide policy and consider code changes, whether that is Energy Star compliance or LEED (Leadership in Energy or Environmental Design). Right now we do have an energy conservation code required for compliance, but there honestly has not been a lot of new construction to tell us how that is working. It would be nice to see any new construction or renovations have to comply with Energy Star or striving for LEED status.

How meaningful, from an economic perspective, is it for businesses to adopt some of the energy efficiency models you will present next week?

The lighting retrofits offered are a no-brainer and as a business owner you will save money within a year and as a property owner you are talking about a capital improvement to your property. After two years, you are making money.

What is the environmental benefit?

Every watt that we can reduce in usage we are reducing the amount of non-renewable energy resources that are being expended. Even if you reduce your use by one watt of power, every little bit counts in my mind. When it comes to clean air, it is ephemeral. Whether you’re impacted simply depends on which way the wind blows.

East Hampton Town’s Energy Saving Forum will be held on Monday, April 2 at 10 a.m. at Town Hall on Pantigo Road. For more information, contact Joel Halsey at 324 2178.

By Claire Walla

At the tender age of 24, the Southampton native is the new organist for the Old Whalers’ Church in Sag Harbor. He discusses his 10-year career and what it’s like to play the oldest organ on Long Island.

Q: Usually, it seems to be little old ladies who play church organs. It’s quite a contrast to you, who started playing church services when you were just 13.

Yeah, people would be so surprised to see me at the organ in church, and when people saw how little I was, they were like: Wow, that’s incredible that you can do that!

Q: Where did you first start playing?

I was the organist for the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Bridgehampton when I was 13. Then I played at the Methodist Church right across the street. It was funny, all my friends were working other jobs in the summer and I was playing the organ year-round. That was my job.

Q: When you went away to college, how did your friends there react when they found out you played the organ?

They were completely baffled. Like, “Why do you play the organ?” But, they were also impressed, because it is a strange talent; not a lot of people play the organ.

Q: Yeah, I imagine it’s kind of a dying art. Have you come across many other young people who play the organ?

No, the majority of organists are older. This is why I thought it was important to get my sister [now a high school junior] to learn to play the organ. I taught her when she was even younger than I was when I learned, because I knew how in demand it was. She’s actually now at the Lutheran Church [in Bridgehampton], and she took over at the Methodist Church when I went to college.

Q: You currently live and work in New Jersey. How did you end up here, as the resident organist for the Old Whalers’ Church?

I came out here to sub for two weeks, and Pastor Mark kind of made a joke about having me full time, then I told him I was looking for full-time work. I had never really considered Long Island because it is such a commute — it takes me about two hours to get out here. But, running everything through my head, it was like: I grew up here, and I could be with my family instead of being in New Jersey. So the combination of everything just worked out.

Q: How did the organ initially make its way into your life?

I started playing the piano when I was around 4. Then, when I was 10, I started taking piano lessons from Ray Duvlas, who was the organist at Southampton Methodist, and he very quickly asked me if I wanted to learn the organ.

Q: Before you began to play, what was your concept of the organ? Was it something that you saw solely as a church instrument?

Yeah, more or less; I really had no concept of it.

Q: You didn’t have visions of the Phantom of the Opera, or anything?

[laughs] No, no, not really. It was just very foreign to me.

Q: Can you explain how an organ works?

For this organ, you have the Swell keyboard and the Great keyboard, and then you have these Stops — [large wooden pegs at the sides of the keyboards] — which all have different sounds. So, for example, if I pull this out… [the notes changed pitch]. And then for every verse you pull out more Stops.

Q: And you have a series of pedals below your feet. What do they do?

You couple them with the keyboard; it’s like adding a bass guitar to a band. That’s what I love about the organ, it’s every instrument: you’re playing flutes and bass…

Q: This is very complicated.

Yeah, it is… Especially on an organ that was built in 1845.

Q: Right, I heard that this is technically the oldest organ on Long Island.

Yeah, it’s really cool. I feel honored to be able to play an instrument like this, which has been maintained for that long — and I think it sounds beautiful.

Q: Because it’s so huge and rather immobile, the pipe organ seems like an instrument that’s integrally linked to the church.

Yeah, it’s not something that you just pick it up and start learning. You really need to have the connections.

Also, there’s the art of playing for a church service. You need to know when to come in on the cues, when to stop playing, what intros to play, when to stop playing. That’s something that I don’t really think can be self-taught, because it’s not just about playing the music, it’s following the methods and the flow of the service.

Q: How long did it take you to figure that out?

A long time! When I first began playing, my teacher would stand behind me with his hands and say: If you falter I’m going to jump in and start playing.

Q: During the service?

Yeah, during the service. I just remember shaking… it took a long time to learn. People in the choir would help me when I first began, because it is really difficult to follow all the cues from the pastor.

Q: Were there ever any moments when you started playing out of turn and it became very awkward?

Yeah, last Sunday!

Emily J Weitz

You’ve been with Bay Street since the beginning. How has it changed over the past 20 years?

There was a wonderful café cattycorner to where Bay Street is now, and [Steve Hamilton and Emma Walton Hamilton and I] looked across the street and said “wouldn’t that be a wonderful theatre?” It had been empty – it was the Black Hole of Calcutta, but it had the bones, as they say. It was like ignorance is bliss. Off we started, and Emma and Steve’s very good friend Murphy Davis came on very quickly.

If I look back, it’s laughing a lot, being dirty, painting, music playing all the time. I remember shouting at Murphy one day, saying “enough Judy Garland!” Our first play was ‘Men’s Lives,’ which was timely and was [about an issue] happening as we were putting on the play. Steve had read the book and said, ‘I think there’s a play here’…  Joe Pintauro was [writing] the play, and Emma was a huge help with him and [the play] was this wonderful little gem which belonged to the East End.

I feel, although 20 years have gone, I still have a sense of sadness that I never did Chekhov or Shakespeare. We did Terrence McNally, Edward Albee, all the great American playwrights. But Chekhov is my favorite of all time — I think he was part Welsh [she laughs].”

We achieved so much of what we set out to achieve: we’ve taken chances, and very few I regret. We did Mamet’s “Romance” and that was like “Oh my God, dare we?”  We got a bit of mail but not much. The word of mouth was extraordinary. Christopher Durang was very hairy — no theater across the country dared touch it. Murphy and I said “no way, no way,” and then we did it. And we got more unpleasant mail than usual. But a lot of people said “Oh my God, we laughed.” We have taken huge chances, huge.

How do you envision the theater growing over the next 20 years?

It will be exciting to watch. Number one: Where will we be? And how the programming grows will always be interesting. Murphy and I agree 99 percent of the time, but we’ll see what happens. I trust Murphy. And Bay Street, for such a tiny organization, is amazing. It’s the hardest working group of low paid people in the area, but it’s worth it. We love it. We know it’s important. I grew up in Wales and when my parents died, when I was 15, I moved to Northampton in England, and there was weekly repertory theatre. From age 15 to 18, I saw 52 plays a year. Since I’ve been here, I’ve always hoped the young people realize how lucky they are that they have this wonderful jewel of a theater down the street. The arts are imperative in your life. When all else fails, the arts are what surfaces.

How important is it to you that Bay Street remains in Sag Harbor?

Very important. [Landlord] Pat Malloy has been kind to us. He’s misunderstood. Although the rent is fantastically high for us, he could have gotten more. But it is what it is. Where we are on that corner with that little courtyard and the lobby and the water and the windmill — it is a joke. Actors come out here and they are speechless. It’s the prettiest lobby I’ve been to anywhere in any theatre, in London, L.A., anywhere. My only issue is I wish the seats were red. I’ve been like a dog with a bone about that since the beginning. I always wanted red seats.

But I think it’s extraordinary. Even things that are strange about it — the dressing rooms behind the bar — it’s fun.

So, can you catch me up on the latest news? Is Bay Street going to stay in the building?

We just don’t know. We’ve investigated different options, like the school, but it just wouldn’t work. We’ll never find anything as sweet as this. In the summer on the weekends, I love to walk towards the theater, and see the magnet of people going down Main Street towards that building. It would make me so sad to see that disappear from the community. We were hoping someone would set up a campaign, but I don’t think anything has happened. We’re hoping to reopen conversations with Malloy.

What does Bay Street mean to the Sag Harbor community? What does it mean to have a small theater in this community?

I believe it’s made a huge difference, I gather, from the restaurants. When we first opened, Friday and Saturday nights the shops weren’t open. I don’t remember such a vibrant Main Street. I know some of the actors can’t believe this town. Most actors when they come out of the theater, town is dead. But Sag Harbor is full of activity. People eating ice cream on the benches. It’s a unique town.

Anything you’d like to add?

If you asked me, I wouldn’t be able to say the five best shows we’ve done. But the thrill for me — I always sit at the back of the theater, and to sit there when it’s full, and to watch the faces of 299 people, watching this play, and to know I chose the play. It’s not an ego trip, it’s just — it’s a bloody good play. That’s been exciting. From the word go, I’ve said “I live in paradise, and I work in the theater, and New York’s down the road.”