Timing Is Everything

When a village used to very few changes gets a new administration with energy, friction is inevitable. That’s the nature of inertia: After years of remaining at rest, and getting used to it, East Hampton Village is now solidly in motion. That can be a little worrisome for a languid community used to bodies solidly at rest.

That said, inertia also involves rolling forward — until something stops it. And, sometimes, cooler heads need to prevail. Forward motion is generally good, but discretion does come into play now and again.

Mayor Jerry Larsen’s agenda has been ambitious, and there are many positive signs. He opted to take on parking, a stubbornly tricky issue, and he’s been willing to revise his thinking on a paid system for East Hampton Village that might have caused a great deal of chaos this summer. Meanwhile, his administration quietly began offering a shuttle from the long-term Reutershan lot to Main Street, which makes it a much more convenient option for workers who previously were taking up valuable spaces to be used by actual shoppers. It’s potentially a simple step that can have a notable impact, especially if it’s expanded as word gets around and, with luck, demand increases.

But another idea — switching the southern end of Newtown Lane to diagonal parking, adding 12 spaces — is an example of momentum getting the better of the village. It’s an idea, but the potential cost is significant: It removes a second southbound lane of travel on Newtown Lane at a key point. That very well may increase congestion in a stretch already known to be a chokepoint.

The timing of the move is the biggest issue. June is not the time to experiment in such a fundamental way with the flow of traffic through the center of the village. The idea was opposed by two trustees, Tiger Graham and Rose Brown, and there’s no reason to think politics was the issue — their concerns about the idea were sincere, and their contention that such a move should wait till the end of summer, not the start of it, was sensible.

Mayor Larsen’s counterpoint — that Sag Harbor and Southampton both have diagonal parking, with no issues — ignores the unique challenges of making a change to the dynamics of Newtown Lane, and doing it at the worst possible moment. Timing is everything, and this is a clear example of the adage.

In fact, one problem with the move: It’s not such a crazy idea that it should be dismissed out of hand. But, at the same time, the chaos that’s likely to come this month as the experiment is forced on summer crowds all but dooms it to failure. It’s a better project for fall.

Momentum is a powerful thing, but sometimes it pays to be patient.