LI resorts eye post-storm silver lining

Hotels and restaurants saw customers and profits blown away by Irene, but the Labor Day weekend looks far brighter.

On the East End, a number of hotels, motels, inns and resorts said they're either completely booked or have few rooms left.

On Fire Island, some estimates peg the lost weekend's business in just one community at close to $1 million. But the holiday will be brighter for business owners and workers on the island with 500 year-round residents and about 100,000 at the peak of summer season.

"We're not that busy compared to normal," said Bryan Maroney, 26, of East Islip, a server at Maguire's Bar and Restaurant in Ocean Beach. "Lunch was slow, dinner reservations are decent. But tomorrow we're back to [seasonal] normal."

At Gurney's Inn in Montauk, chief executive Paul Monte said starting Thursday he has a waiting list for the entire Labor Day weekend -- a big difference from last Saturday and Sunday, when only 40 percent of the rooms were occupied.

Gurney's beach bar and restaurant took some damage during the storm, but it's already been repaired, Monte said.

But Monte said he won't regain last weekend's losses, noting that August weekends usually are big moneymakers.

Moke McGowan, president of the Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau in Hauppauge, said he's expecting good news for Long Island hotels over the Labor Day weekend.

"We are all very positive that we'll have a very strong Labor Day weekend," McGowan said. "We've had a very good summer through July and the beginning of August."

Harvey Levine, owner of four Ocean Beach vacations spots, said Irene hurt business, but business is returning. "We make money on people coming and going. Irene disrupted everything, but I believe we're back to normal. We've been very lucky with property here. It's like it never happened."

Fire Island Ferries president Tim Mooney said business was returning to normal, and like other Fire Island businesses, he hoped the Labor Day weekend would be a boost.

"Like most businesses on Fire Island we survived Irene and we are back and ready for business," he said in an email. "We hope that everyone takes advantage of the great weather and comes down to enjoy our little piece of paradise during the last weeks of summer."

James Mallott, owner of The Albatross Restaurant and Ocean Beach's village mayor, estimated Irene cost him $70,000 in lost business Friday through Monday and that village businesses overall "lost more than $1 million."

At the Southampton Inn in Southampton, owner Dede Gotthelf said she's sold out through Sunday but still has some rooms available for Sunday and Labor Day -- a far cry from early last weekend when only about 50 of the inn's 90 rooms were occupied for awhile. The situation changed quickly when evacuees from Quogue and Bridgehampton began arriving.

"We were completely filled," Gotthelf said. "It was a challenging . . . weekend, but all of our guests were wonderful sports."

Gotthelf said the inn was not flooded and did not lose power as Irene pounded the East End.

The White Sands Resort hotel in Amagansett expects a successful Labor Day weekend. Last weekend, Irene took its toll at the hotel, sending the ocean up into the courtyard but causing no damage.

"We closed on Saturday, and we opened on Monday," said Alfonso Navarro, a White Sands employee. "This weekend we are mostly booked. We have three bedrooms open."

With William Murphy