Several boaters disrupted the Huntington Lighthouse Musicfest this weekend, organizers say, by tying up together and blasting loud music that at times drowned out the program’s scheduled entertainment.
Pam Setchell, president of the Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society, and others said more than 20 boaters complained about the noise, with some leaving the waters. Several boaters were “Furious! Some left and some moved their boats. But some were in a position where they had to stay and were disrupted for the entire day. It was a shame,” she said.
“This is the equivalent to going to a concert of any kind and having a cluster of 20 people in the audience that all of the sudden start to play their own music to drown out the sound of the concert and be disrespectful to others around them,” Setchell said. “What would happen? They would haul you out of the concert. If they wanted their own party with their own music, why wouldn’t they move somewhere in unoccupied waters? It was a flagrant act in my opinion.”
Because of jurisdictional issues, town bay constables were unable to resolve the problem because although the lighthouse is in town waters, the moored boats were in the Village of Lloyd Harbor waters. The Town of Huntington said that its constables asked one of the boaters to turn the sound down to avoid interfering with the musicfest, but he refused, and so the town had no authority to enforce it.
“Our director of Maritime Services, Ed Carr, spoke with the organizers of the lighthouse event and suggested a work-around for next year that would involve the lighthouse group getting an aquatic event permit from the Village,” the town said. “This would enable the Village to enforce a disruptive boater who is competing with an officially sanctioned event. Unfortunately, without an event permit, the Village had no legal means to order the boater to turn down the radio since the radio broadcast did not exceed the decibel level in the Village’s noise ordinance. In the absence of an event permit, the boater had just as much right to broadcast their competing music with the lighthouse.”
“The Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society is stunned, angered and saddened by the cavalier indifference of the people who caused this flagrant disruption. It was mean spirited. Volunteers work for months and boaters travel from all over to enjoy this unique concert and make it the close of season event for their family and friends. We take this as a personal affront.”
“People come from all over, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Westchester County,” for the musicfest, Setchell said.
The lighthouse is on the National Historic Register and has hosted the musicfest for 11 years.
I completely agree. It was beyond rude.
why would you plan such a large festival and not have a permit? and why are there no police , like the bay constable to referee this scene you describe…..and how about the attendees…did they not get involved? I am appalled..
The Marine police were called and visited the raft up over 5 times. This was Lloyd Harbor waters. Huntington has no jurisdiction unfortunately but we will make a change to that for next year. We had over 40 complaints that day. Lloyd Harbor did nothing and said they couldn’t. The future of a situation like this will be handled differently for next year. The authorities are already talking about it.
There were plenty of permits
Good story, Pam. That’s a shame. I paddled out to the musicfest on my paddleboard and really enjoyed it. Some bands had better acoustics than others. It’s a shame when a few people ruin it though:(
Thanks, Jamie, glad you enjoyed the performance!
There was not one town , village or state law or ordinance violation? I found that very difficult to believe. When in doubt call the Coast Guard, they will get you to regret ever having to come out. Those guys can fine a ham sandwich, and I mean that in a good way.
great idea…i forgot…call the Coast Guard…why are people so passive? call the cops of the sea!
My third time attending this event… i look forward to it every year…Such a blast. Much appreciation to all of those who put in their time to make it happen. Sorry to hear this group brought any negativity to such a positive event.
STEPHEN BARESE and his friends ruined the event for us and our friends. its a shame he has the ability to do whatever he wants without consequence.
Do I know you Lou? Maybe get the facts straight before you start popping off about me…
i just need say a big THANK YOU ti STEPHEN BARESE and his beloved friends. the irreverance you showed me and my friends as well as ALL the people who WERE enjoying the music and day. well does it feel good to flex those bully muscles. good because you just showed every one exactly who and what you are have a good day sir
David Persico, the music that you are complaining about was not coming from my boat nor did I have control of it or the volume. I don’t know where you or your friends were, the names of your boats or any of you. So why exactly are you and your boy Lou targeting me? How exactly was I flexing my muscles or bullying you? Did we have a conversation that day? Did you have engine troubles that day or was there not enough wind to sail your boat?…do you even own a boat? It appears that maybe you had a bad day and you are looking for someone to blame…maybe you should blame Trump….isn’t he to blame for everything?
The only complaint I have on this Steve B. Is you didn’t include me! John W.
yes sir i get that but its irrevalent…..maby people picked your name outta a hat but i highly doubt it.. so all i know is our favorite time was spoiled by the “elite” in loydd harbor. and we arent targeting you, and if you could answer me one question why if with all your um influencw why didnt you end it before it got outta hand. so IF your name was dropped and the person who dropped it because he/she dosnt like you well then im sorry. but like i said i highly doubt it. and one last thing what does trump have to do with this? with your extensive and prestigious education i find it disturbing that you are so simple and ignorant. i feel bad for you. truly i do. i
I may be a lot of things but “simple and ignorant” I am not. You appear to be an angry person, for that, I feel bad for you… maybe lighten up a little. I do now remember you though…you came over in a rubber tube with your flippers on an blew the air horn and then proceeded to continuously give the middle finger to everyone including all the kids out there. That’s real classy…not exactly the best way for anyone to take you seriously. See you out there next year, maybe things will get better for you.
Mr. Baresse, I wasn’t far from this pathetic spectacle on my own boat. Your boat has a catchy name, “Lawyer Up.” It is a documented vessel and easy to make the connection to you. You were two boats from a very large boat named Statisfied. At times it was hard to figure out where the blaring music was coming from? I see you feel the need to state that the music wasn’t coming from your boat, but yet there was only one boat between you and Statisfied who apparently had a better quality stereo than you have. If I was on a raft up and someone was acting like a colossal moron and causing people to come over and ask that they stop, or had the bay constable visit the raft up more than 5 times, I WOULD HAVE PULLED OUT OF THE RAFT UP! So the way I look at it, you were as guilty as them! If you wanted to have your own concert, why didn’t you take your gig elsewhere in the bay – it was pretty empty! This disturbance was the fault of every owner of a boat on this raft up! You should be ashamed of yourself. Furthermore you were on a mooring for the boat Maverick. He was away and I will make sure that he is aware of the pathetic idiots that used his mooring.
Even if i wanted to leave my boat was in the middle of a 20 boat raft up so we couldnt pull out. i understand your displeasure of my friend’s music and i have heard all the name calling so you can move on to the other 20 boats tied up with us and voice your displeasure to the rest. So my boat is documented, what is your point? Nobody was doing anything illegal. The radio station did not come in clearly so he played his own music.Most people on the water had a good time that day, I’m sorry you didn’t. Since my boat is the only name that anyone could remember I’ll take the beating for everyone. We all had our families out there, we are all good people, none of which are morons. Everyone needs to relax…and by the way, Maverick was not away, he knew we were on his mooring, I know that because he was with us so you can save that rant about the pathetic idiots as you say.
Touro law school, trump supporter… making Huntington Bay great again!
A correction here- Yes I was on Steve’s stern platform for 5 minutes to say hello on my rib. First time I left my wife’s side since her heart surgery. I quickly left for two reasons, one was to get back home and the other was the music from the boat to starboard of Steve was blasting his own music so damn load I found it very offensive and had no interest in doing what I thought the authorities would take care of in putting a stop to it. Too old for confrontations with total strangers. I have done enough fighting in my life.
The boat to Lawyer Up’s right was named Statisfied, owned by Greg Sulger who seems to think everyone should just roll with it. Read his posting on a Facebook page I saw. The man that is usually on this mooring is very nice. I believe the posting previous to this was him. I witnessed not only the authorities but other folks going over to ask them to please stop as they were ruining it for so many people. Someone from my boat also paddled over and asked. He was ignored. I find it comical that Steve or anyone on this raft up would be concerned about the children onboard and what they saw, when they saw their “family and friends” ignore the repeated requests from the marine police AND surrounding boaters. I’m sure these kids have seen the bad behavior of their “family AND friends” on more occasions than this. Truly pathetic. People never cease to disappoint me. By the way, when they took a slight break now and again from their music blaring, we could hear the bands on the lighthouse very well. Perhaps they need hearing aids.
You people ( lou, david, suzanne and ed) need to RELAX……If the music coming from these boats was too loud and disrupting…..then you should have moved. Easy peasy…problem solved. No need for name calling. It was a great day! Thanks to all those volunteers who made the day so awesome!
Get off of my lawn!