Lawyer calls E. Moriches home, focuses on land use

Jim Gleason of East Moriches sits on the board of the East Moriches Property Owners Association and has lived between the village and New York City his entire life.

How long have you lived in East Moriches?
I know I was here when I was about 3 or 4 years old in my grandmother’s house, the house we currently live in. I was back and forth a lot, but we started being here 30 years ago. I practice law so we lived in Manhattan.

Why did you settle down here?
It was the place I knew. It seemed like the right thing to do.

What is unique of East Moriches?
East Moriches is a very small community. People care about the area and each other.
It’s the way people like it.

What changes do you see in the area?
If you ask people in this community if they want to change something, they say no first then think about it. That attitude is particularly in people that have moved in more recently. People take over a home and put money into the community. They like it the way it is. At the present time there is not a lot of need for change.

What keeps you in East Moriches?
A lot of what I do is with respect to land use. One of the projects that the East Moriches Property Owners Association was against was the use of 52 acres of land. We bought the land and the property is now preserved. In that area there is about 110 acres of land that is not to be developed. This is there for future generations to use.

How would you define the character of the town?
East Moriches is a small town and lots of people know each other. They care about each other. There is a lot of social activity that involves segments of the community.
A lot of it has to with the water, the proximity to the bay. If people want to fish, boat or swim it’s all right there.