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Cherry Grove, New York

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Cherry Grove
Flags on the Cherry Grove Dock.jpg
Nickname: 
The Grove
Cherry Grove is located in New York
Cherry Grove
Cherry Grove
Location within the state of New York
Cherry Grove is located in the United States
Cherry Grove
Cherry Grove
Cherry Grove (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°39′38″N 73°5′17″W / 40.66056°N 73.08806°W / 40.66056; -73.08806Coordinates: 40°39′38″N 73°5′17″W / 40.66056°N 73.08806°W / 40.66056; -73.08806
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CountySuffolk
TownBrookhaven
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (Eastern Time Zone)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00
ZIP Code
11782
Area code(s)631, 934
GNIS feature ID946512[1]

Cherry Grove (often referred to locally as The Grove) is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island, a barrier island separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay. The hamlet has approximately 300 houses on 41 acres (170,000 m2), a summer seasonal population of 2,000 and a year-round population of 15.[2]

Cherry Grove, along with nearby Fire Island Pines, is considered one of the most popular lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-accepting resort communities in the United States. The New York Times quoted one homeowner at Cherry Grove that, "this [is a] wonderful environment where you could be gay and open and hold hands and enjoy life...."[2]

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Brookhaven, New York

Brookhaven, New York

The Town of Brookhaven is the most populous of the ten towns of Suffolk County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located approximately 50 miles from Manhattan. It is the largest of the state of New York's 932 towns by area, and the second most populous after the Town of Hempstead.

Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,525,920 making it the fourth-most populous county in the State of New York, and the most populous excluding the five counties of New York City. Its county seat is Riverhead, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. The county was named after the county of Suffolk in England, from where its earliest European settlers came.

New York (state)

New York (state)

New York, often called New York state to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City, is a state in the Northeastern United States. With 20.2 million people enumerated at the 2020 United States census, its highest decennial count ever, it is the fourth-most populous state in the United States as of 2021, approximately 44% of the state's population lives in New York City, including 25% in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens; and 15% of the state's population is on the remainder of Long Island, the most populous island in the United States. With a total area of 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2), New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state by area. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to its south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to its east; it shares a maritime border with Rhode Island, east of Long Island; and an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to its north and Ontario to its northwest.

Fire Island

Fire Island

Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York.

Barrier island

Barrier island

Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen. They are subject to change during storms and other action, but absorb energy and protect the coastlines and create areas of protected waters where wetlands may flourish. A barrier chain may extend uninterrupted for over a hundred kilometers, excepting the tidal inlets that separate the islands, the longest and widest being Padre Island of Texas, United States. Sometimes an important inlet may close permanently, transforming an island into a peninsula, thus creating a barrier peninsula, often including a beach, barrier beach. The length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including tidal range, wave energy, sediment supply, sea-level trends, and basement controls. The amount of vegetation on the barrier has a large impact on the height and evolution of the island.

Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th-most populous in the world. The island begins at New York Harbor approximately 0.35 miles (0.56 km) east of Manhattan Island and extends eastward about 118 miles (190 km) into the Atlantic Ocean, with a maximum north-to-south width of 23 miles (37 km) between Long Island Sound and the Atlantic coast. With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,630 km2), Long Island is the 11th-largest island in the United States, the largest island in the contiguous United States, and the 149th-largest island in the world.

Great South Bay

Great South Bay

The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about 45 miles (72 km) long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches (1.3 m) and is 20 feet (6.1 m) at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island, a barrier island, as well as the eastern end of Jones Beach Island and Captree Island.

Fire Island Pines, New York

Fire Island Pines, New York

Fire Island Pines is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island, a barrier island separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay.

Lesbian

Lesbian

A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexuality or same-sex attraction. The concept of "lesbian" to differentiate women with a shared sexual orientation evolved in the 20th century. Throughout history, women have not had the same freedom or independence as men to pursue homosexual relationships, but neither have they met the same harsh punishment as homosexual men in some societies. Instead, lesbian relationships have often been regarded as harmless, unless a participant attempts to assert privileges traditionally enjoyed by men. As a result, little in history was documented to give an accurate description of how female homosexuality was expressed. When early sexologists in the late 19th century began to categorize and describe homosexual behavior, hampered by a lack of knowledge about homosexuality or women's sexuality, they distinguished lesbians as women who did not adhere to female gender roles. They classified them as mentally ill—a designation which has been reversed since the late 20th century in the global scientific community.

Gay

Gay

Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.

Bisexuality

Bisexuality

Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, which is also known as pansexuality.

LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.

History

"Welcome to Cherry Grove" sign
"Welcome to Cherry Grove" sign

19th century

Cherry Grove dates its modern history to the 1868 purchase by Archer and Elizabeth Perkinson. They bought the land between Lone Hill (now Fire Island Pines) and the Cherry Grove Hotel from the ocean to the bay for 25 cents per acre and named the area for the black-cherry trees in the area.[3] The Perkinsons opened a hotel in 1880. According to local legend Oscar Wilde stayed at the Perkinson Hotel.[4]

20th century

In 1921, the Perkinson family sold all the land east of Duryea Walk to Lone Hill, and then divided what was left into 109 building lots. A lot 50 × 80 feet (24 m) could be purchased for $250 or less, and ocean-front lots cost no more than a dollar a front foot. Buildings from the newly deactivated Camp Upton in Yaphank, were ported over to form the core of the new colony. A post office was established in 1922 at the site of where "Tides" (formerly "The Monster") is today; the first boardwalks were built in 1929. In 1930, Duffy's Hotel replaced the original hotel and was the only place with electricity and a phone.

The 1938 Long Island Express Hurricane destroyed much of Cherry Grove and discouraged mainlanders from coming. In their stead a new generation started coming from Manhattan including Greta Garbo, Xavier Cugat, Paulette Goddard, Pola Negri, Arlene Francis, and Earl Blackwell Jr. (publisher of the International Celebrity Register).

Belvedere
Belvedere

In the 1950s, Cherry Grove became a "safe haven" or "LGBTQ mecca", one of three that included Provincetown, Massachusetts and Key West, where they "could only fleetingly enjoy a carefree, 24-hour-a-day queer life by running off to a handful of destinations comfortably removed from a homophobic America."[5] Only 60 miles from New York City, it was isolated because of its location off Long Island that required access by a ferry or, at the time, seaplane.[5] The gay aura of the town supposedly arose when Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden arrived dressed as Dionysus and Ganymede, carried aloft on a gilded litter by a group of singing followers.[6] The hamlet's major hotel and lounge in the 1950s was Duffy’s, which burned on September 27, 1956, and was replaced by the Ice Palace Hotel.[7] John Eberhardt, a developer who died in 2014, was credited for building the Belvedere Hotel and many other properties in the hamlet, from 1956 to the 1970s.[8]

21st century

The Grove is home to three massive homes: Cielo E Mar (an aria from the 1876 opera La Gioconda which translates to "Sky and Sea"), the Belvedere, and Bottom of the Garden. While the Grove has its charms, several residents in 2005 expressed concerns about the lack of any services and population in the winter, the high cost of food and beverages, some "disrespectful visitors who come to party ... 'Day trippers'" (especially on the 4th of July), over-regulation of zoning by the town of Brookhaven, and a large population of voracious deer who eat up both beach grass and private gardens.[2] A new generation of entertainers and socialites call Cherry Grove their summer home, including Hedda Lettuce, Michael Musto, Panzi, and Wanda Sykes and her wife and children.[9][10]

In 2013, the Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of only a few sites so far listed for their role in American LGBT history.[11]

A "pop-up" urgent care center opened in 2014, which is part of Northwell Health; a golf cart for emergency medical services was also purchased for the Grove, for the new 24/7 paramedic services.[12][13] Local residents "raised about $90,000 from donors to hire locally based paramedics, which have responded to more than 30 calls since May as of mid-August and will remain staffed through the end of September, when bustling crowds thin out at the beach."[13]

In the early morning hours of March 27, 2015, an epic fire of historic proportions "destroyed" the Grove Hotel, Holly House, and two residential homes nearby; 23 fire companies responded from Fire Island and the south shore of Long Island and three firefighters were injured.[14] The fire "engulfed" the surrounding properties, but the fire departments were able to put out the blaze, in this, "one of the most popular LGBTQ destinations."[15] According to its social media accounts, the Ice Palace, a famous nightclub, "had negligible damage", but was not destroyed along with the hotel. The hotel has since been rebuilt.

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Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts in "one of the first celebrity trials", imprisonment, and early death from meningitis at age 46.

Camp Upton

Camp Upton

Camp Upton was a port of embarkation of the United States Army during World War I. During World War II it was used to intern enemy aliens. It was located in Yaphank, New York in Suffolk County on Long Island, on the present-day location of Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Boardwalk

Boardwalk

A boardwalk is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge. Such timber trackways have existed since at least Neolithic times.

1938 New England hurricane

1938 New England hurricane

The 1938 New England Hurricane was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The storm formed near the coast of Africa on September 9, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island on Wednesday, September 21. It is estimated that the hurricane killed 682 people, damaged or destroyed more than 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at $306 million. Multiple other sources, however, mention that the 1938 hurricane might have really been a more powerful Category 4, having winds similar to Hurricanes Hugo, Harvey, Frederic and Gracie when it ran through Long Island and New England. Also, numerous others estimate the real damage between $347 million and almost $410 million. Damaged trees and buildings were still seen in the affected areas as late as 1951. It remains the most powerful and deadliest hurricane in recorded New England history, perhaps eclipsed in landfall intensity only by the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635.

Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state of New York. Located near the southern tip of New York State, Manhattan is based in the Eastern Time Zone and constitutes both the geographical and demographic center of the Northeast megalopolis and the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. Over 58 million people live within 250 miles of Manhattan, which serves as New York City’s economic and administrative center, cultural identifier, and the city’s historical birthplace. Residents of the outer boroughs of New York City often refer to Manhattan as "the city". Manhattan has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, and hosts the United Nations headquarters. Manhattan also serves as the headquarters of the global art market, with numerous art galleries and auction houses collectively hosting half of the world’s art auctions.

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic characters, and her subtle and understated performances. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on its list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

Arlene Francis

Arlene Francis

Arlene Francis was an American actress, radio and television talk show host, and game show panelist. She is known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, on which she regularly appeared for 25 years, from 1950 to 1975, on both the network and syndicated versions of the show.

Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it constitutes the City of Key West.

New York City

New York City

New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States and more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. New York City is located at the southern tip of New York State. It constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world.

Christopher Isherwood

Christopher Isherwood

Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include Goodbye to Berlin (1939), a semi-autobiographical novel which inspired the musical Cabaret; A Single Man (1964), adapted as a film by Tom Ford in 2009; and Christopher and His Kind (1976), a memoir which "carried him into the heart of the Gay Liberation movement".

Dionysus

Dionysus

In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus is the god of the grape-harvest, wine making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. The Romans called him Bacchus for a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia. As Dionysus Eleutherios, his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His thyrsus, a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.

Ganymede (mythology)

Ganymede (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Ganymede or Ganymedes is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals and tells the story of how he was abducted by the gods to serve as Zeus's cup-bearer in Olympus.[Ganymedes] was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and thereforethe gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus' wine-pourer,for the sake of his beauty, so he might be among the immortals.

Neighborhoods

Map including the names of the two major walks (Bayview and Lewis), which are generally parallel to the beach, and 16 minor walks (Ivy, Sumner, Maryland, Aeon, Gerard, Greene, Duryea, Doctors, Main, Ocean, Holly, Surf, Beach, Sea, East, and West), which are generally perpendicular to the beach. (South Walk is between Surf and Beach.)
Map including the names of the two major walks (Bayview and Lewis), which are generally parallel to the beach, and 16 minor walks (Ivy, Sumner, Maryland, Aeon, Gerard, Greene, Duryea, Doctors, Main, Ocean, Holly, Surf, Beach, Sea, East, and West), which are generally perpendicular to the beach. (South Walk is between Surf and Beach.)

The entire community has a single seasonal post office, on Bayview Walk near the main dock, open from May 1 to October 31, which is a popular place to congregate. Full services, such as money orders, are available at the Sayville, New York, post office, reachable from the ferry.[16] The ZIP Code is 11782.

Despite the small size of the hamlet, at about 41 acres, the community is further divided into three or four neighborhoods, from west to east:

  • The quiet, residential West End, where the few year-round residents live in about 100 houses marked by stone chimneys, runs across the island from West Walk to Holly Walk. This was formerly the home of artist Paul Cadmus.
  • The central business district, or Town, from Holly Walk to Doctor's Walk, and the beach to the bay, includes the Fire House, Community Center/Arts Project, The Ice Palace Resort, a clinic, and the public ferry dock, as well as a few cooperatives, bars, grocery stores, art galleries, realtors, and restaurants. It is more densely settled than the rest of the hamlet. Several major structures in the center were "destroyed" by a large fire in March 2015, including the Grove Hotel (since rebuilt) and Holly House.[14]
  • The residential East End, from Doctor's Walk to Ivy Walk, and south of Bayview Walk, consists exclusively of about 100 private homes, almost all of which are seasonal. The northeastern section of the East End, north of Bayview Walk, has a few private homes and the Belvedere Guest House for Men; some properties also have their own private docks. Once connected to Fire Island Pines, erosion and rising waters caused a collapse of the northeastern extension of Bayview Walk. Most of Bayview Walk was reconstructed in spring 2014.

Cherry Grove is accessible via two major walks (Bayview and Lewis), which are generally parallel to the beach, and sixteen minor walks (Ivy, Sumner, Maryland, Aeon, Gerard, Greene, Duryea, Doctors, Main, Ocean, Holly, Surf, Beach, Sea, East, and West), which are generally perpendicular to the beach. South Walk (not shown in the map at right) is parallel to the beach and extends between Surf and Beach Walks.

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Post office

Post office

A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional services, which vary by country. These include providing and accepting government forms, and processing government services and fees. The chief administrator of a post office is called a postmaster.

May Day

May Day

May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, crowning a May Queen, and setting up a Maypole, May Tree or May Bush, around which people dance. Bonfires are also part of the festival in some regions. Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, the Gaelic festival Beltane, the Welsh festival Calan Mai, and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has also been associated with the ancient Roman festival Floralia.

Halloween

Halloween

Halloween or Hallowe'en is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

Money order

Money order

A money order is a directive to pay a pre-specified amount of money from prepaid funds, making it a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.

Sayville, New York

Sayville, New York

Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,853 at the time of the 2010 census.

ZIP Code

ZIP Code

A ZIP Code is a postal code used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Introduced on July 1, 1963, the basic format consisted of five digits. In 1983, an extended ZIP+4 code was introduced; it included the five digits of the ZIP Code, followed by a hyphen and four digits that designated a more specific location.

Paul Cadmus

Paul Cadmus

Paul Cadmus was an American artist widely known for his egg tempera paintings of gritty social interactions in urban settings. He also produced many highly finished drawings of single nude male figures. His paintings combine elements of eroticism and social critique in a style often called magic realism.

Cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically controlled by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors. Cooperatives may include:businesses owned and managed by the people who consume their goods and/or services businesses where producers pool their output for their common benefit organizations managed by the people who work there businesses where members pool their purchasing power multi-stakeholder or hybrid cooperatives that share ownership between different stakeholder groups. For example, care cooperatives where ownership is shared between both care-givers and receivers. Stakeholders might also include non-profits or investors. second- and third-tier cooperatives whose members are other cooperatives platform cooperatives that use a cooperatively owned and governed website, mobile app or a protocol to facilitate the sale of goods and services.

Recreation and sites of interest

"Downtown" Cherry Grove, Fire Island
"Downtown" Cherry Grove, Fire Island

The Community House, located near the intersection of Holly and Bayview Walks, provides a wide variety of public services to the Grove. Generally speaking, gay couples and activities are the norm. In 2013, the Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre was named to the National Register of Historic Places for "the enormous role it played in shaping what gradually evolved into America’s First Gay and Lesbian Town."[17][18]

Outdoor activities

The main outdoor attraction is the beach and the surrounding protected portions of the Fire Island National Seashore.[19] Clothing-optional sunbathing is common at the beach.[20] The hamlet's easternmost dunes have been nicknamed the "Meat Rack".[21][22]

Entertainment and dining

There are at least six restaurants that operate within Cherry Grove, varying from pizza and breakfast to seafood and fine-dining. Also, there are at least four entertainment venues hosting plays, art shows, dancing, underwear parties, drag shows, and various community events.

The restaurants located in Cherry Grove are Cherry Lane, Top of the Bay, Island Breeze, Sand Castle, Floyd's, and Cherry Grove Pizza. Sand Castle on the Ocean is the only oceanfront dining establishment within Cherry Grove and one of two on Fire Island.[23]

As of 2005, there were five bars,[2] but one closed during the Great Recession of the late 2000s. The bars/clubs in Cherry Grove are Cherry's on the Bay and the Ice Palace.

Accommodations

Fourth of July fireworks over Cherry Grove, Fire Island
Fourth of July fireworks over Cherry Grove, Fire Island

Accommodations in Cherry Grove are The Belvedere Guest House (Men Only), Dune Point and The Ice Palace Resort (formerly the Grove Hotel).

Civic activities

Civic activities in the Grove include charity events and an Awards Night, during which votes are taken and titles bestowed upon residents and local businesses. The Arts Project of Cherry Grove hosts a flea market, drag shows, and a gala dinner and dance in late September.

There is a sense of civic virtue in The Grove; people volunteer at CGFD, the Cherry Grove Community Association, on environmental projects, and even painting the edges of the boardwalks.[2]

Annual events

A big event on the Cherry Grove social calendar is the Fourth of July weekend "Invasion of the Pines",[21] which dates back to July 4, 1976, when a resident of the Grove showed up wearing drag in Fire Island Pines and was refused service. In the 1970s, the Pines was a more-conservative, more-heterosexual community than the Grove.

There are two annual drag show contests in Cherry Grove: the Homecoming Queen show over Memorial Day weekend, and the Miss Fire Island the longest running contest the weekend after Labor Day.

Deer grazing in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York.
Deer grazing in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York.

Fauna and flora

The ecosystem of Cherry Grove is primarily pine barrens; however, there are several microclines and ecological niches.

Deer are common and quite tame on Fire Island. As noted, some residents consider deer to be a nuisance, while others enjoy seeing wildlife close to their summer homes.

Racoons, foxes, and many species of birds can be seen throughout the summer.

Cherry Grove is named for the many wild cherry trees that bloom each June in the area.

Discover more about Recreation and sites of interest related topics

Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre

Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre

The Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre is a historic building in Cherry Grove, New York. It played an important part in the development of Cherry Grove as an LGBT town.

Fire Island National Seashore

Fire Island National Seashore

Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) is a United States National Seashore that protects a 26-mile (42 km) section of Fire Island, an approximately 30-mile (48 km) long and 0.5-mile (0.80 km) wide barrier island separated from Long Island by the Great South Bay. The island is part of New York State's Suffolk County and the Outer Barrier.

Drag show

Drag show

A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag artists impersonating men or women, typically in a bar or nightclub.

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America.

Invasion of the Pines

Invasion of the Pines

During the summer of 1976, a restaurant in Fire Island Pines, New York, denied entry to a visitor in drag named Terry Warren. Fire Island Pines is a beach community on Fire Island east of New York City with a gay majority population that was at the time more affluent and conservative than the population of nearby Cherry Grove. When Warren's friends in Cherry Grove heard what had happened, they too dressed up in drag, and, on July 4, 1976, with Cherry Grove's 1976 Homecoming Queen Thom Hansen in the lead, sailed to the Pines by water taxi. The boatload of drag queens that stormed into the Pines that day—to a surprised but exuberant welcome—was the first "invasion," an event now repeated each year.

United States Bicentennial

United States Bicentennial

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memory of the American Revolution. The Bicentennial culminated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Founding Father delegates of the Second Continental Congress.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. From 1868 to 1970 it was observed on May 30.

Labor Day

Labor Day

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. The three-day weekend it falls on is called Labor Day Weekend.

Pine barrens

Pine barrens

Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barrens area to North Americans is the New Jersey Pine Barrens. "Pine barrens" are generally pine forests in otherwise "barren" and agriculturally difficult areas. Such pine forests often occur on dry, acidic, infertile soils, which also include grasses, forbs, and low shrubs. The most extensive pine barrens occur in large areas of sandy glacial deposits, lakebeds, and outwash terraces along rivers.

Microcline

Microcline

Microcline (KAlSi3O8) is an important igneous rock-forming tectosilicate mineral. It is a potassium-rich alkali feldspar. Microcline typically contains minor amounts of sodium. It is common in granite and pegmatites. Microcline forms during slow cooling of orthoclase; it is more stable at lower temperatures than orthoclase. Sanidine is a polymorph of alkali feldspar stable at yet higher temperature. Microcline may be clear, white, pale-yellow, brick-red, or green; it is generally characterized by cross-hatch twinning that forms as a result of the transformation of monoclinic orthoclase into triclinic microcline.

Ecological niche

Ecological niche

In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors and how it in turn alters those same factors. "The type and number of variables comprising the dimensions of an environmental niche vary from one species to another [and] the relative importance of particular environmental variables for a species may vary according to the geographic and biotic contexts".

Prunus serotina

Prunus serotina

Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Prunus. Despite being called black cherry, it is not very closely related to the commonly cultivated cherries such as sweet cherry, sour cherry and Japanese flowering cherries which belong to Prunus subg. Cerasus. Instead, P. serotina belongs to Prunus subg. Padus, a subgenus also including Eurasian bird cherry and chokecherry. The species is widespread and common in North America and South America.

Transportation

Entrance to board the ferry to Cherry Grove, Fire Island
Entrance to board the ferry to Cherry Grove, Fire Island

Cherry Grove is only accessible by water with most residents and visitors using a passenger ferry or private water taxi. A small marina is also available. There are no private vehicles in this part of Fire Island, although police and service vehicles are seen on the beach from time to time. The Grove has no paved roads and the cottages and beach are only accessible using a series of wooden boardwalks.[2]

Sayville Ferry

Cherry Grove can be accessed via the Sayville Ferry Service departing from Sayville, New York, across the Great South Bay. The Long Island Rail Road connects Sayville to New York City.

Passengers connecting between the Sayville LIRR Station and the Sayville Ferry service can pay for a shuttle van or taxi ride, or may walk or ride their bicycle the mile and a half distance. People driving cars may park in large, gravel parking lots across the street from the ferry dock.

Fire Island Water Taxi

Visitors arriving by car may park at the Robert Moses State Park “Field Five” parking lot. After reaching the Fire Island Lighthouse, the Fire Island Water Taxi will ferry paying customers to the Grove. A water taxi provides short-distance transportation for those moving from place to place along the coast of Fire Island. The fare and schedule for the taxi service varies by season.

Emergency services

Fire department

The Cherry Grove Fire Department (CGFD) is an all-volunteer department,[2] that has an Insurance Services Office (ISO) class 3 rating. Adjacent each of the community’s 18 fire hydrants are “hose houses” (sheds) containing firefighting hose, hydrant adapters, and appliances that would be needed by the members to suppress a fire; this is due to the unique nature of Cherry Grove. There are no roads, only 6 foot wide boardwalks that change with the island’s topography, and a typical fire engine would exceed the boardwalk’s weight rating. If a fire or emergency is spotted, one should call 911. A fire siren is activated, which along with pagers, alerts the members to respond.

CGFD is a Basic Life Support First Response (BLSFR) agency, and as such has New York state certified emergency medical technicians that operate in conjunction with Cherry Grove EMS[24] and the Suffolk County Police Department’s marine bureau officers, to mitigate medical emergencies and patient transport. CGFD receives assistance from both neighboring Fire Island fire departments as well as mainland departments via ferry or fire boat (such as Sayville Fire Department) in case of large fires, as happened in March 2015 when a fire destroyed several commercial properties in the business district.[14]

Health care

Northwell Urgent Care on Fire Island (Locations in Ocean Beach and Cherry Grove)
Northwell Urgent Care on Fire Island (Locations in Ocean Beach and Cherry Grove)

Northwell Health operates two urgent care facilities on Fire Island (one in Cherry Grove and the other in nearby Ocean Beach). These centers operate during the summer from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and are open for walk-in patient visits seven days a week from 9 to 11 AM and 4 to 6 PM. If patients require medical treatment outside of those hours, the Immediate Care Center's physician can be reached on call by contacting local police.

Good Samaritan Hospital, South Shore University Hospital, and Long Island Community Hospital are located across the Great South Bay from Fire Island in the Long Island hamlets of West Islip, Bay Shore, and East Patchogue, respectively. A heliport for medevac helicopter use is adjacent to Good Samaritan Hospital. Specially equipped boats provided by the Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau docked at the various communities on Fire Island provide emergency transportation to individuals in need of dire medical care. In many cases, Long Island based ambulances will meet the boats once they cross the Bay (roughly 4.5 miles) and then drive individuals the short distance to one of the three hospitals. Also, one emergency access road connects Long Island (West Islip) to Fire Island (Kismet). However, the road ends there and does not extend the full length of the island into the other communities.

Discover more about Emergency services related topics

Insurance Services Office

Insurance Services Office

Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics, is a provider of statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims information and analytics; compliance and fraud identification tools; policy language; information about specific locations; and technical services. ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents and brokers, insurance regulators, risk managers, and other participants in the property/casualty insurance marketplace. Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, the organization serves clients with offices throughout the United States, along with international operations offices in the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, India and China.

Northwell Health

Northwell Health

Northwell Health is a nonprofit integrated healthcare network that is New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with more than 81,000 employees.

Ocean Beach, New York

Ocean Beach, New York

Ocean Beach is a village in the southern part of the Town of Islip, on Fire Island, within Suffolk County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 79. Known for its strict local ordinances, the village is nicknamed "The Land of No".

West Islip, New York

West Islip, New York

West Islip is a hamlet and CDP founded roughly in 1683, located in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Situated on the South Shore of Long Island, the population of the CDP was 27,048 at the time of the 2020 census.

Bay Shore, New York

Bay Shore, New York

Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 census.

East Patchogue, New York

East Patchogue, New York

East Patchogue is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 22,469 at the 2010 census. The CDP is a proximate representation of the East Patchogue hamlet used for statistical purposes of the Census Bureau.

Suffolk County Police Department

Suffolk County Police Department

The Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) provides police services to 5 of the 10 Towns in Suffolk County, New York. It is one of the largest police agencies in the United States, with approximately 2500 sworn officers.

Kismet, New York

Kismet, New York

Kismet is a hamlet in the town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is the westernmost beach community on Fire Island, immediately west of Saltaire and east of the Fire Island Light. Kismet is accessible by road or on foot via Robert Moses State Park to the west, or by ferry from Bay Shore on Long Island.

Source: "Cherry Grove, New York", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 18th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Grove,_New_York.

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References
  1. ^ "Cherry Grove". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Greenfield, Beth (July 15, 2005). "Weekender: Cherry Grove, N.Y." The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  3. ^ Skinner, Jeanne G. (July 10, 1918). "Cherry Grove: Before and After the Great Hurricane of 1938". Fire Island News. Fireislandqnews.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  4. ^ ""History Cherry Grove", Fairharbor.com, Retrieved November 1, 2007". Archived from the original on February 15, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Henning, Bill. "These Vintage Cherry Grove Photos Will Make You Miss Queer Beaches". Out. No. May–June 2020. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  6. ^ Ester Newton, Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years in America's First Gay and Lesbian Town, 1995, Beacon Press, ISBN 0-8070-7927-8
  7. ^ "Fire Island Chamber of Commerce Cherry Grove History". Fireislandcc.org. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  8. ^ "John Henry Eberhardt". Palm Beach Daily News. March 22, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  9. ^ Levine, Robert (June 3, 2017). "ROSE'S VIEW – CHERRY GROVE". Fire Island News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  10. ^ Levine, Robert (May 26, 2019). "CHERRY GROVE: ROSE'S VIEW". Fire Island News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  11. ^ Eltman, Frank (July 3, 2015). "Cherry Grove On Fire Island Gains Historic Federal Designation As Gay-Rights Landmark". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  12. ^ MacGowan, Carl (August 6, 2014). "Cherry Grove upgrades emergency medical services, an 'asset' to Fire Island hamlet". Newsday. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Bolger, Timothy (August 18, 2014). "Cherry Grove EMS Offers New Lifeline in Far-flung Area of Fire Island". Long Island Press. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  14. ^ a b c Valente, John (March 27, 2015). "Officials: Blaze destroys club, hotel in Cherry Grove". Newsday. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  15. ^ Morgan, Joe (March 27, 2015). "Fire Island blaze engulfs and destroys buildings in gay area". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  16. ^ Collins, Andrew. "U.S. Post Office, Cherry Grove". About.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  17. ^ "Fire Island Community Theater Gains Historic Landmark Status / Queerty". Queerty.com. July 3, 2013. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  18. ^ "Cherry Grove Community House & Theater". Nps.gov. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  19. ^ "Map of the Fire Island National Seashore". Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  20. ^ Collins, Andrew (n.d.). "Gay Beach at Cherry Grove". About.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  21. ^ a b 2011 Damron Men's Travel Guide. Damron. 2010. p. 320.
  22. ^ "The Meat Rack Est. 1950's". Fire Island Pines Historical Society. March 3, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  23. ^ "Sand Castle on the Ocean". Sand Castle on the Ocean. 2017. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  24. ^ Bolger, Timothy (August 18, 2014). "Cherry Grove EMS Offers New Lifeline in Far-flung Area of Fire Island". Long Island Press. Schneps Media. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
Further reading (most recent first)
External links
Preceded by Beaches of Fire Island Succeeded by

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