Islands Without Cars

[music] (Kira) Coming up next on Islands Without Cars, we celebrate America's freedom to live loud and proud on New York's famed Fire Island, so come with us as we take part in an annual drag invasion, give new meaning to the idea of rocket fuel.

It's really good.

And hear me release my own inner diva.

[singing] [clapping] [opening theme music] (Kira) Hi, I'm Kira Cook, and it's my great pleasure to be your guide as we search for islands lost in time, places where cars are restricted, and whose inhabitants wouldn't have it any other way.

So, come with me on a journey that you won't forget.

[music] [music] [music] Summer's here, and if you're a New Yorker, that probably means a mad dash away from the ambient noise of car horns and toward the crash of ocean waves.

[music] Fire Island is a 32-mile long, quarter mile wide ribbon of sand protecting the South Shore of Long Island from the Atlantic Ocean.

There are about 4,000 homes on the island and a year-round population of about 400 residents, but that number swells to 20,000 during the summer months.

So, with a lot of people and without any non-emergency vehicles, the residents and tourists get around by foot, bicycle, water taxi, private boats, and little red wagons.

What are your favorite thing about Fire Island?

I really like how there's no cars because it creates a sense of community, so people get around by walking and biking, and it's very laid back.

People do things pretty slowly.

Everyone is pretty close and familiar with each other, so unlike the city, where you walk by, kind of, with your head down, everyone's very friendly, says hi to each other, and just hangs out at the beach.

[music] (Kira) Speaking of the beach, we're staying in Ocean Beach to soak up its picture-perfect seashore and small-town charm.

But there are a lot of rules, which are posted everywhere.

In fact, Ocean Beach is known around here as the "land of no".

I think the people who were attracted here kind of like rules, and I kind of like rules.

[laughing] And I like your honesty.

I love rules.

You know, it's there.

(Kira) When you moved here, what were your initial impressions of Fire Island?

(Shoshanna) Well, the name of your show says it all, Island without Cars.

Children are allowed to roam freely, adults, I think, also are a little more carefree.

[music] (Kira) A lot of tourists begin their carefree holiday here in Ocean Beach, but there are actually 17 very different and distinct communities on this strip of land including the famous gay and lesbian enclaves of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines.

Did the communities intermingle much, or do people pretty much, who live in one part, stay in that part?

(Shoshanna) There's a little of both.

There is a certain regionalism.

It's like, one high school having a rivalry against the other in a sports team.

It's not terribly different.

When there's something that polarizes us, usually, it's a problem, we band together, and we become one Fire Island.

[music] (Kira) A good example of that unifying problem was when Robert Mose, a man known as the master builder of mid-20th century New York, tried to build a bridge across the island in the 60's.

(Shoshanna) These communities, as we know them, would have disappeared, but a few smart minded people went to Congress.

They petitioned: we're unique, we're special, we could have a national seashore here.

(Kira) The residents prevailed, and in 1964, the Fire Island National Seashore was established to protect a 26-mile stretch of Fire Island from public roads and automobile traffic.

As a result, park facilities span the island, from the lighthouse to the federal wilderness preserve and all 17 communities in between.

Let's go check it out.

The current lighthouse is a stone tower built in 1858 to replace the original, which was less than half as high, but powered with an enormous first order Fresnel lens.

(Anthony) I really feel that this is the jewel of the island here.

Augustin-Jean Fresnel was French physicist and engineer who designed this back in 1821, manufactured entirely in Paris, France.

If you look here, the bullseye is the magnifier.

Around the actual lenses are the prism lenses.

And as this is turning, it gives the appearance of a flash at about every five and a half seconds.

[music] (Kira) More than a century after this fantastic work had been replaced, the then President of the Lighthouse Preservation Society stumbled upon it at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia.

(Gail) There was a little sign in front of this lens and it said, Fire Island, New York.

I flipped out.

I said, "I don't believe that."

So, I went to the custodian and I said, "How did you get this?"

And they told me they changed the lenses.

This was just too big and too different to operate for the size of the tower.

He said then to me, "Listen, if you want it back on Fire Island, you can take it."

I said, "Are you kidding me?"

I said, "You got a deal."

(Anthony) This thing ran on whale oil initially, and they had to bring up an actual brass pail of oil and that would last about two to three hours.

And then they'd have to come down again, 182 steps, get more oil, and then go back up again with it.

What we have up in the lighthouse now are two Air Force-style beams, just like you see on aircraft carriers.

They go out to sea over 23 miles.

This went out to sea over 20 miles.

Now, let's think about this realistically here for a second.

This was actually thought about and engineered in 1821 running on whale oil.

This was way ahead of its time, and I am more impressed by this than I am by what's up there now.

(Kira) Back in the village of Ocean Beach, the summer vibe ranges from tourists slowly strolling past boutiques and gift shops to those with a slightly altered pace, compliments of a booze-infused smoothie they call, Rocket Fuel.

So, we are at CJ's, which is home of the Rocket Fuel.

(Robert) Yes, home of the Rocket Fuel.

AKA, a pina colada on steroids?

On steroids.

A little bit of heaven in a plastic cup.

(Kira) Oh my gosh, how do we make this heaven?

We are going to start with two cans of Coco Lopez.

Yep.

And do you always pre-batch it for the night?

Always pre-batch.

Okay.

There's no way to keep up when you have to make 30 of them at once.

(Kira) Yeah.

And add one can, a whole can of pineapple.

Okay.

This will probably yield about 30 Rocket Fuels.

(Kira) And how many a night do you sell, usually?

About 425.

(Kira) Whoa.

(Robert) That's your Rocket Fuel mix.

(Kira) Perfect.

Fill the blender with ice, then we got 151.

About a quarter of the blender is 151.

Roughly, about a shot and a half of 151.

Okay.

Per drink?

Per drink.

And 151 proof rum is like, what's a regular shot of rum?

(Rober) Ninety.

(Kira) Okay, so it's like, almost double?

-Yeah.

-Okay.

And then we blend.

(Robert) You want to do the honors?

(Kira) I would love to.

[laughing] (Kira) All right, so, these are for me.

(Robert) Look at that perfect pour.

(Kira) Oh, thank you.

I did go to bartending school, so.

We need a Rocket Fuel girl, you know?

You do?

You need another one?

Yeah.

I guess I got to stay.

[laughing] Okay.

And then?

-The amaretto.

-Okay.

(Robert) You top it with a four-count, which is a shot of amaretto on top.

And then you just got to garnish with a cherry.

(Kira) All right.

Great.

And that's it?

And that is it.

(Kira) How drunk am I going to be?

(Robert) A lot.

But you're not driving anywhere, so you're good.

No, I'm not.

Cheers to that.

Cheers.

Mmm.

Mmm.

It's really good.

(Kira) A short hike from Ocean Beach is the neighboring community of Ocean Bay Park, where the Travel Editor for CBS news invited us over for a chat about island life.

(Kira) You grew up on this island?

Since I was six months old.

What was it like?

What was it like to come here and have this island as your playground?

Well, when you grow up out here, you realize the bohemian nature of the island for people who are in the arts, Broadway stars, musicians, singers, authors.

So, when you're growing up out here, you're growing up with people like Joe Heller, Catch 22, or Herschel Bernardi, who was starring in Fiddler on the Roof, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, they wrote the original 2000 Year Old Man series, six blocks from here.

I used to go wagoning with Rob Reiner, and you don't know what wagoning is.

I could only guess.

I'm going to tell you.

You can make a lot of money when you're a kid.

You meet the ferryboat with your wagon, and for 25 cents, you take people's luggage to their house.

Fire Island is a great equalizer.

This is the Hamptons without the attitude.

This is not a place where people dress up to look casual to bump into people they don't want to see.

This is a place where I don't lock my door, where everybody knows me and I know them.

It seems like on most island communities they don't really want outsiders to come here because they want to protect the place they love.

If you had to sell the island, what would you say about it?

Well, let's put it this way, I'm the Travel Editor for CBS news.

I travel 420,000 miles a year.

I've been to 151 countries, and the place I never write about is what we're talking about right now.

[laughing] [music] (Kira) Now, for a complete change of pace, we are headed to the loud and proud land over the rainbow, Cherry Grove and its neighboring community, the Pines, are famous LBGTQIA+ centric communities known as the Islands' Gayborhoods.

I'm your host, Miss Ariel Sinclair.

Who's ready to play some bingo?

[cheering] (Kira) While Drag Queen Bingo started out as an opportunity to raise money for Aids research, it is now prevalent across the US and includes a huge following of straight people who enjoy bingo fun without the church basement feel.

We like to sing the O's.

For instance, O73 O73 (Kira) Ariel Sinclair is a drag queen and performance artist who keeps the raucous fun moving in style.

(Ariel) We have a winner.

Come on up.

Now, we have a bingo.

[cheering] (Kira) A few hours after the last "bingo" has been called... [singing] (Kira) ...the effusive and generous, Ben Cameron, takes the stage at the Ice Palace.

The crowd gives him some love and gratitude for bringing Broadway stars like Paige Davis to the island.

Please welcome to the stage the incredible Paige Davis.

(Kira) Known for her turn as Roxy Heart in the Broadway musical, Chicago, and for hosting the hit design show Trading Spaces, Paige is one of Ben's Broadway Sessions regulars.

[singing] (Ben) Broadway Sessions is a show that I've been doing in New York City for 11 years, and a couple of years ago-- -Eleven.

Eleven, that's a long time.

That's a long freaking time.

We're running almost as long as Cats, I like to say, which I feel really good about.

And a couple of years ago, we brought the show out here.

We called it the Broadway Sessions Beach Party and I get to bring some of my talented Broadway friends out here on Monday nights, which is traditionally the dark night on Broadway and we get to come, have a free night on Fire Island and we have a hoot: we do showtune trivia and get the audience involved and do open mic and it's a lot of fun.

[singing] The wonderful thing about it is, especially being here in Cherry Grove on Fire Island, it's a destination that everybody, and I'm not going to mince words, there's a lot of gay folks in the Broadway community, and so this is someplace else they want to be anyway.

It's so special, it's so unique, it's so one of a kind.

[singing] (Paige) And he is the most amazing host.

He's the hostess with the mostest.

He's so quick witted.

He's so fun and funny, and he's very engaging.

The audience always falls in love with him.

Well, and what's wonderful about what we do-- I'll take my money later.

Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Have you met my agent?

[singing] (Paige) It's really, really fun, and it is.

It's like a grab bag.

You just never know what you're going to get, and there's even open mic part of it.

We're going to get you up there tonight.

Okay, I don't know about that.

Yes, it's happening.

We're very persuasive.

It's happening.

[applause] Tell everybody your name.

I'm Kira.

Everyone say, "Hi, Kira."

(Audience) Hi, Kira.

Kira, who's your favorite diva?

My favorite diva is Amy Winehouse.

[applause] Cherry Grove, you can do way more yessssing than that.

When somebody says Amy Winehouse, I need a much bigger yes.

Let's do that again.

Who's your favorite diva?

Amy Winehouse.

[cheering] (Ben) Sweet.

Meet you downstairs in a bar and heard Your rolled-up sleeves and your skull T-shirt (Kira) For those suffering from stage fright, Ben has a solution... or two... that works.

[coughing] Creative types have been drawn to Fire Island for over a century.

[horn blaring] But after the stock market crash of 1929 and a hurricane that brutalized the coastline with tons of seawater nine years later, an entire community transformed as mostly straight and cash-strapped homeowners sold and a mostly gay population bought.

These were creative types from Manhattan in the theater world, in the arts world.

They had disposable income, so they didn't have kids, at a time when there was little money to be had, they had the money to invest in rentals in purchasing, and the community took a new look and a new profile.

[music] (Kira) As a result, Cherry Grove became what is considered the first community in America where gays and lesbians could be freely open about their sexuality.

After a successful career as a playwright in New York City, long-time resident, Warren Boyd Wexler, traded inventing worlds on paper for photographing nature on Fire Island.

When did you first come to the island?

(Warren) 1962.

Went out with a friend to Cherry Grove.

I'd heard about it.

We were, what in high school, then?

And came out here and it was like stepping into another world.

You step off the boat, and you were among a whole bunch of gay people who weren't hiding it.

That was important.

That meant so much to people to be able to be who you are, out there, and just carrying on.

It was wonderful.

It was this air of freedom, and it felt as if the air was saturated with freedom.

(Joan) Being gay and being here, being accepted, it was difficult.

Although, I will tell you when we first came here, this was more of a man's community than a woman's community, but we just slowly took our time in making friends, and, eventually, we were very embraced in this community as two women.

It was wonderful.

(Kira) Joan Van Ness has been a volunteer firefighter in Cherry Grove for 37 years.

(Joan) When I moved here 41 years ago, bought my home, I really wanted to give something back to the community.

And I thought, well, why couldn't I learn to be a firefighter?

(Kira) What brought you to Cherry Grove 41 years ago?

A very dear friend said, "This is a wonderful community.

You need to experience it."

So, we came out and, I guess, I just never really left and we came out, we rented a couple of summers and I said, "I think we ought to buy a house."

And that was the beginning.

As a lesbian living in Cherry Grove, do you feel more comfortable going about your life here than, say, on the mainland.

No, never have.

I've always been me.

My entire life, I have always been me.

So, it's comfortable here.

It's comfortable.

Wherever I am, I'm very comfortable with myself.

(Kira) Joan's partner, Lorraine Michaels, answers that question very differently.

As a lesbian, living on Cherry Grove, does your life feel different here than it does living your life on the mainland?

It feels different than it did when I was a closeted lesbian.

Coming here, meeting Joan, and having this immediate attraction, I felt the weight of the world just left and we could walk down the walk hand in hand and it was okay.

In New York City, we may occasionally hold hands but not as you would here because even those who are out every day of their life, unfortunately, we have that segment of society that "we're not okay" in their eyes.

Not in ours, I'm as everyone else.

We're all human.

Straight, gay, human.

(Kira) Rob Conlin is a landscaper who, 13 years ago, also joined the Cherry Grove all volunteer fire department, a nexus of sorts for the entire community.

What about Fire Island attracted you to quit your day job in Manhattan?

There's something special about Fire Island that I haven't found anywhere else on this planet.

There's a sense of comfort here.

People are friendly here.

There's a real sense of community here and because there's no cars, we walk around and that's probably one of the most important aspects of Fire Island.

You know, here, we interact as we're walking on the streets.

We're seeing our neighbors and our friends, and we're talking.

It's like a small town.

Well, the whole town is boardwalks.

No streets at all, and that affects almost everything.

Things like, the soundtrack.

The soundtrack is completely Hey, Steve.

Hey.

Hi, there.

Hey.

Soundtrack out here because there's no cars, you get the birds, wind.

You can hear the ocean, and that's it.

That is the soundtrack.

And it's very relaxing.

I think it's one of the reasons why everybody walks around looking like they're on happy dust.

[laughing] Yeah, and the boardwalks, the white strips, before they did that, every Saturday night at some point you would hear screams from people who were falling off the boardwalk.

That of a broken bone.

A few drinks and they're off.

That has saved so many people.

We're on an island that is 32 miles long, but it's just two blocks wide.

Now, the amazing thing about that is that within the two blocks, there's a good five separate ecologies.

It doesn't get old.

It changes from day to day.

So, every day's a show.

Yes, Thoreau said what better occupation for a man than to watch the seasons happen?

It's such an amazing place here.

You're right here with nature.

You know, when there's a storm, you know it, you know?

The beauty of the ocean and there's just so many reasons why people want to be here.

And I love looking out my living room doors and seeing naked people on the beach.

So, this is the clothing optional beach?

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah.

I feel disappointed I haven't seen one yet, though.

We'll stay here longer.

Naked people come here.

Come on.

Come on.

Let's go already.

[music] (Kira) It should be noted most of the beaches here are part of the Fire Island National Seashore, and so, not nude, but Cherry Grove beach and a few others are considered private property.

And so, sunbathers are free to, well, be free.

I got to say, it's very refreshing to meet someone who's so happy in their life.

Year-round happiness?

The island gives happiness, and on top of all of the luck that I've had, all of these blessings, you have the careers, the photography, the playwrighting, being in a place like this, on Fire Island, I've been able to share all this with my mate, Dick, and we just celebrated our 37th anniversary.

Happy Anniversary.

Thank you.

You did it.

Oh, I'm happy for you.

[music] (Kira) During the summer of 1976, when the Pines was more conservative, a restaurant denied entry to a visitor in drag.

When friends and neighboring Cherry Grove heard what had happened, they too dressed up in drag and stormed into the Pines.

That invasion has been repeated annually ever since on Independence Day.

[siren] (Thom) I was the first homecoming queen of Cherry Grove in 1976.

Nine of us got together in a boat and all dressed in drag or the women in leather, and we went over to High Tea in the Pines to say... but they loved us when we arrived.

It became an event.

So, the second year, we decided to do it again, and we had 27 people.

And this year, we're expecting 400.

I've done it every year since 1976.

[music] (Kira) Panzi, otherwise known as Thom Hanson, is a business person and activist, MC and coordinator, and has been working hard to make the drag invasion of the Pines, the spectacular happening it has become.

Hundreds of drag queens from both Cherry Grove and the Pines gather at the Ice Palace bar in Cherry Grove and parade to a chartered ferryboat to sail into Pines Harbor.

Let's get on that boat.

(Kira) Panzi got us a ride on the British invasion ferry.

This year's motto, God save the queens.

So, I am doing a very unconvincing Mick Jagger.

I believe it.

Keith Richards.

That's a little bit more solid.

[laughing] We have Sir Elton John.

Hello.

And, of course, there is her majesty.

The queen.

We've got The Beatles, Sgt.

Pepper.

And we've got David Bowie.

(Kira) David Bowie.

And we have Freddy Mercury.

Amazing.

Moniker...

Sweaty Mercury.

Sweaty Mercury.

It's very, very hot.

[cheering] (Kira) Is it your first time?

No, this is my 3rd?

Yeah.

What brings you back?

Community, really.

It's bringing a bunch of like, weirdos over to the Pines and celebrating that diversity.

I've wanted to do the drag invasion for years, and I figured why not.

It's the moment right now.

Yeah, exactly, and this is your time to experience the invasion.

And what impression of-- Well, the only impression I've had so far is being surrounded by these wonderful people dressed in fantastic costumes and clothing and just electric energy, so I'm having the time of my life.

(Kira) As each drag invader leaves the ferry and marches onto the dock, Panzi's job morphs from producer, coordinator, boat cop, to mistress of ceremonies, as she announces every entrant.

In a rare moment of rest, in the middle of the party, we caught up with this year's homecoming queen, Victoria Falls.

Being on Fire Island, especially Cherry Grove, is so much more special because everyone says, hi, hello, how are you.

They stop and chit chat.

That's why I come here because there's no cars.

You're not driving by people.

You're stopping and saying hello to your neighbor and you're talking.

Sometimes you can get stuck for hours talking to people, and your whole itinerary for the day is like, it's just, you can't have one.

That's the beauty of it.

It's like, an amazing place to live in and make friends and make new friends.

That's why I love it.

[music] (Kira) Long after the last drag queen sashays down the red carpet, this all out celebration of freedom, fun, and pride continues with dance parties throughout the day, and is crowned that night by a spectacular fireworks display.

[music] Bye, Fire Island.

Happy Birthday, America.

I'm proud to be the citizen of a country where individuality, freedom of expression, and choice are ongoing values for all of us.

[music] [music] [music] (Kira) For more information about our series, visit our website at IslandsWithoutCars.com.