Montauk

Montauk is colloquially known among Long Island residents as “The End” because it’s the last neighborhood on the South Fork, but for many people it can feel like a new beginning. After all, Montauk is not like other neighborhoods on Long Island. After the city suburbs of the Five Towns, after the state parks of Jones Beach and Fire Island and after the ritz and traffic of the Hamptons, you arrive at the end of the South Fork that is Montauk. As the residence of rock stars, playwrights and artists, there’s a mystique about Montauk. Pro surfers turn up here to ride waves at Ditch Plains Beach right before hurricanes hit and fishermen still dump their daily catch on the docks like they did 100 years ago. “Montauk is a little bit of everything,” says Fallon Nigro, a local real estate agent with Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International and a native of Montauk. “It’s still more of a fishing village than anything else. There’s the town, Ditch Plains and the dock area. The population goes from 30,000 people in the summer to 5,000 in the winter. My graduating class at Montauk Elementary had 56 students.”

Except in this fishing village, there’s a trailer park where manufactured modular homes are selling for $5 million. But with two bedrooms and two baths, new interior amenities and views of the best surfing beach in the Atlantic Northeast, the homes at Montauk Shore Condominiums are a step up from your average manufactured home. In this and many other ways, Montauk can be a lot like Malibu in California, which is has a similarly eccentric mix of residents, world famous surfing and one of the nicest mobile home parks in the country. “Real estate can be expensive,” says Nigro, “but it’s not unattainable.” Inland toward the Long Island Sound, you can find small one-bedroom condos in a lovely old prewar landmark such as Montauk Manor for under $500,000. However, buyers should expect homeowners association fees to be substantially higher in older buildings than in newer developments. Cheerily painted and well-kept ranch-style homes made of brick housing three bedrooms and two baths are listing for under $1.5 million. Classic New England Cape Cods of similar size with wooden shingles and painted shutters are selling in the range of $2 million. Palatial contemporary modern beachfront masterpieces with up to seven bedrooms and saltwater pools can be found in the range of $10 million. “The market was crazier during COVID,” says Nigro, “but Montauk lacks inventory, so it’s still a seller’s market. However, a lot of new inventory should be coming on the market soon because the rental market is oversaturated.”

Montauk is surrounded by water on three sides. “Fort Pond Bay is better for young kids,” says Nigro. “But there are lifeguards at almost all the beaches. The Town of Easthampton has an excellent junior lifeguard program.” Aside from the many beautiful beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound, much of Montauk is covered with three nature preserves: Napeague State Park, Hither Hills State Park and Preserve and Camp Hero State Park, which is the site of a famous lighthouse. Hither Hills State Park allows camping and the other two are open for hiking, birdwatching and picnicking. As Montauk has become more popular, new restaurants and stores have added to the sleepy charm of established businesses. “Fisherman still bring in their daily haul to send to the rest of America but a lot of it stays here, so you have the freshest seafood in the area,” says Nigro. For seafood, Nigro recommends the Clam and Chowder House at Salivar's Dock, Harvest on Fort Pond for rustic Italian-American food and the Point Bar & Grill for party people. You’ll also find a ton of cool shops and eateries in the walkable area surrounding The Plaza in the center of town, or “The Green” as locals call it. You can have a pint at Montauk Brewing Company, browse the surfboards at Air & Speed Surf Shop and then grab tacos at El Taco Ole without getting into your car. Farmers markets and art fairs pop up here all summer.

Montauk Public School serves elementary and middle school students in the community. Niche gives it an A minus for overall performance, an A plus for its teachers and ranks it in the top 10% of public elementary schools in the state. Children of high school age in Montauk may attend Easthampton High School, which has a student-teacher ratio of 12 to 1 and received a score of 8 out of 10 for student progress on Great Schools. Montauk is the last stop on the Long Island Rail Road, which takes roughly three hours to arrive at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn or Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. It takes a special kind of person to live at “The End” of Long Island. But modern Montauk is a far cry from the rustic outpost it once was. You can still find rustic, if that’s what you’re looking for here, but you can also find pretty much all the same stores, restaurants and interesting people you might find in one of the hipper neighborhoods in West Brooklyn. As Nigro says, “Montauk has a little bit of everything.”

Photography Contributed By

Anthony Costa

Video By

Jonathan Bradley