Archives
Preparing. Preserving. Protecting.
For more than 30 years, the Fire Island Pines Seashore Defense Fund has provided an essential service to the community: protecting the beach that protects the Pines. Created after the devastating 1992 Nor’easter, the SDF funds emergency response, beach restoration, dune protection and education. Powered by donors, volunteers and community partnerships, its mission remains simple: prepare, preserve and protect the Pines for generations to come.
Pines Profile - Gil Neary 1957-2024
Gil Neary was one of the Pines’ most beloved. His life was defined by joy, generosity, and unapologetic pride. A visionary real estate broker and community builder, he helped shape Fire Island Pines into the vibrant haven it is today through his warmth, charisma, and boundless embrace of people. He championed gay life and culture with unashamed exuberance, celebrating every moment to the fullest. There is no doubt, Gil made the world brighter, bolder, and better.
Pines Profile - Hal Rubenstein (b. 1950)
Hal Rubenstein is a rare talent. His career stands as proof of what’s possible when ability meets opportunity and courage. A formidable and deeply creative presence, his command of language, spoken and written, allows people to connect with his ideas almost viscerally. Over time, he has become an interpreter of glamour, a custodian of culture, and an agent of change, reshaping how people think not only about fashion and dining, but about life itself. Check out: https://thehappygrownup.substack.com
The Story of FIPPOA (est. 1953)
For over seventy years, the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association (FIPPOA) has been a driving force in the transformation of the Pines from a rustic beach enclave into one of the most celebrated and glamorous gay communities in the world. Guided by a board of elected, unpaid volunteers, FIPPOA has spearheaded the development of the Pines’ physical infrastructure, while carefully navigating its cultural evolution from homophobic origins to a modern gay mecca.
Trailblazers Park (est. 2022)
Fire Island Pines has always sought to be a place of welcome. It has also benefitted from the work of LGBTQ+ trailblazers, some of whom never set foot on its boardwalks. Trailblazers Park is a visible celebration of these people and a symbol that all people are welcome. Public art, Trailblazers Park’s biggest role is to keep the conversations alive about who are trailblazers were and who is blazing a trail today.
Pines Profile - The Pines Liquor Shop (Est. 1964)
Few institutions in Fire Island Pines are so deeply woven into the fabric of the community that life without them feels unimaginable. The Pines Liquor Shop is one such place. Though its beginnings were modest and sometimes uncertain, it soon took root and grew into far more than a purveyor of spirits. Through good times and bad, it has stood as a steady presence, always supportive of community activities and responsive to the needs of its neighbors. Straight owned and operated in the world’s premier gay resort, it has become recognized by liquor distributors as a harbinger of taste on the East Coast. Today it is a community hub, resource center and always a place of welcome.
Pines Profile - Eric L. Sawyer (b. 1954)
“Eric is a true hero. What he did – and still does -- the sacrifices he makes and what he has accomplished for our community, is simply remarkable.”
- Jim Pepper, Former Board Member GMHC, and Founder of Stonewall Community Foundation.
Pines Profile - Jay Pagano (b. 1945)
For more than 50 years, including more than 25 on the FIPPOA Board, Jay Pagano helped move the Pines forward. Through good times and bad, he worked tirelessly to ensure it remained a place of freedom, beauty, connection and love. His example, and the values he embodies, will stand among his most enduring legacies to a community he loves dearly.
The Off-Season
In the fall, the Pines takes on a new rhythm. The days shorten, the breezes become crisper, and the sun moves to set over the ocean. In this seasonal shift, the community transforms, gearing down to a period with fewer residents and many empty houses. But if you think in this”Off-Season” the Pines is dormant, think again.
Gaying the Pines
Today, Fire Island Pines is known as a Gay Mecca. LGBTQ+ people from around the world flock to enjoy its beaches, homes and entertainment in the full knowledge they can safely be their authentic selves here. But it wasn’t always that way. In a previous article Keeping The Gays Out: The Pines in the Late 1950s FIPPOA Board member and long time Pines resident Gary Clinton described the extensive efforts taken by some community members to keep gay people out of the Pines. As he noted, those efforts died down in 1959 after the largely gay population in Cherry Grove flocked to help the Pines fight the Memorial Day fire that destroyed the Botel. In this article, Gary describes when the shift occurred in the Pines and gays came to be in the majority.
Keeping Out the Gays: The Pines in the late 1950s
Gary Clinton has been on the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association Board for twenty of the past twenty-five years. Since early 2023 he and his Board colleague, Russell Saray, have been organizing, digitizing, and researching FIPPOA’s records going back to 1953, which they have dubbed “The FIPPOA Papers.”
Based on that research, Gary has written “Keeping Out the Gays: The Pines in the late 1950s” for the Fire Island Pines Historical Society.
Pines 70th Anniversary (1953-2023)
In 2023, the Pines celebrated its 70th anniversary with a series of cultural events to reflect on the rich cultural heritage of the community. The capstone event was a FIPPOA-sponsored beach celebration featuring a live band, fashion show, and sunset performance by DJ Lina Bradford.
Fire Island Pines People - Alan Brockman 1931-2004
Alan Brockman was a longtime former president of FIPPOA (Fire Island Pines Property owners Association). Under Brockman’s leadership, FIPPOA experienced a sustained period of growth and evolution and Fire Island Pines was largely defined as the community we know today.
Pines People- Ron McKenna
Ron McKenna was a community minded person, and when he found Fire Island Pines he knew he had to be part of the communities fabric, and so he became deeply involved. In the best way. Because of his relatability he created a bond with the town of Brookhaven where the decision making happened about who could do what in the Pines. With this he became revered and relied upon in the community. It was the legacy he left that has never been replaced…
The Pines Care Center Est. 1984
With being isolated on a island there was a need for medical aid in case of a accident or emergency. FIPPOA answered this call with the establishment of Pines Care Center in 1984.
A Dual in the Sun. The Rockefeller/Ron Martin home Est. 1965
Designed by Architect Harry Bates at the height of his Fire Island Career. 607 Shore Walk remains an intact example of Bates style as well as classic 60’s architecture. Built in 1965 by Walter Reich for Alan Morton, the two simple glass boxes that are the main house and a separate cottage inspired the house’s original name “Dual in the Sun.”
Our Pines Party 60th Anniversary 2013 Idea…
In 2013 we were celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Pines community being established. As an historical organization we thought we would throw our hat in the ring for concepts and ideas about how we could celebrate this great anniversary with a Pines Party concept…
The Seaplane history
One of the fastest and most glamorous ways to get to Fire Island was and still is the Seaplane. Becoming more popular and visible in the 1960’s through today it was the only way to arrive. For celebrities it was not only fast, but indiscreet. Slightly soggy, but glamorous just the same. With the advent of the dock you could really arrive in style…