Montauk's only day care plans shutdown as scramble for solution starts

More than two dozen Montauk families could be left scrambling for day care this spring.

The Montauk Childcare Center — the only day care facility in the hamlet at Long Island's eastern tip — will close May 3 unless East Hampton Town can find a new operator to run it, according to town officials and parents.

What’s now a five-minute drive for some Montauk families to drop a child off at day care could turn into a half-hour or more if the facility closes, parents said.

The East Hampton Town Board adopted a resolution Thursday night to begin the process of finding another vendor to run the center after a handful of residents urged the board to find a solution.

The Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk Inc., a nonprofit that supports a variety of programs and has an overall budget of $30 million, announced this week it would stop operating the day care at the town-owned Montauk Playhouse Community Center due to mounting financial losses.

“We’re all a little shocked,” said David Piacente, 45, whose 2-year-old son goes to the day care.

The Montauk resident said his concern extends beyond his family to those who work at the health food store in the hamlet he co-owns, Naturally Good Foods. He said it puts a strain on businesses if local employees have no child care options.

Piacente, a father of three, said he’s banking on town leaders finding a way to keep the facility open. 

Adrian Fassett, president and CEO of the Economic Opportunity Council, said in an interview before Thursday's meeting that the day care has lost $1.4 million in the 17 years the nonprofit has operated the facility — including $240,000 last year — and those losses now are “overbearing.”

“We did not take it lightly at all,” he said of the decision to close.

The Economic Opportunity Council needs an average of 40 children there each day to break even, but attendance has averaged in the 20s, according to Fassett.

He cited inflation and high payroll costs to maintain staff on the East End as additional obstacles and said the nonprofit notified the town within six months of the May 3 date, as required in order to end its agreement.

East Hampton Town Councilman Tom Flight confirmed the town received an Oct. 26 notification and said in an interview that 29 children attend the day care.

The town doesn't charge the Economic Opportunity Council rent and the market value of that free rent at Montauk Playhouse is close to $100,000, according to the councilman.

Parents said there’s already competition to get spots in day care facilities farther west. They said the Montauk facility also is the only day care in East Hampton Town that takes children less than 18 months old.

Fallon Nigro, 30, a Montauk resident who works in real estate and has two children in the day care, said in an interview that she has the luxury of working from home at times, but not every parent does.

“If I have to make it work, I will,” she said of the center's possible shutdown. “It will be very stressful, but I can make it work.”

K.C. Boyle, 39, a Montauk resident who owns a local fishing company, held his 9-month-old son, Finn, on Thursday as he asked the town board to keep the day care open through year end to allow more time to find a replacement.

“If we’re thinking about staff retention, we’re thinking about the blue-collar families, I worry deeply that we’re going to be able to find an affordable operator, a competent operator and one that’s going to be able to maintain the quality we’re so fortunate to experience in Montauk,” he said.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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