Sea Cliff people: Jane McConnachie

Editor’s note: Amanda Ostuni strolled around Sea Cliff Tuesday profiling folks in the community as part of newsday.com's Town Focus series.

Jane McConnachie and her 6-year-old daughter Kate love to come into the main area of the village of Sea Cliff on beautiful summer days. The two rode into town on their bike and planted themselves on the steps of the Sea Cliff Library to read Kate's library book.

How long have you lived in Sea Cliff and what brought you to the village?

We've been here two years. We came because we wanted a small community to live in and Sea Cliff was just what we were looking for.

How did you hear about Sea Cliff?

We stumbled upon it. My husband grew up in Port Washington and a friend of ours told us to look here.

How would you characterize the town to others?

It's a great place for a family and I know there's a lot of different kinds of people who live here too that aren't families. For us, the school was amazing and we like the smallness of it.

Where did you live before moving to Sea Cliff?

We were in Manhasset.

How would you compare those places. What is better about Sea Cliff?

I think it was just the smallness and we really liked the school.

What school is that?

Sea Cliff Elementary [where Kate attends]... There's three classes of 18 each [in kindergarten at her school], so she gets a lot of care, they get a lot of attention.

What about the town do you particularly like?

What we love about the town is we were at our house and we rode our bike into town and went to the library. She checks out her book, we sit on the steps. We're going to ride home and on the way we'll go to get something at the deli and we'll stop by the park. It's very unique. It's a great place to raise kids. If your kid is doing something they shouldn't, someone will tell you when they see you. I'm from the Midwest and people said this was like Mayberry, and it is. It's very charming.

What is there to do with Kate in Sea Cliff?

Kate does a camp down at the Sea Cliff Yacht Club by the Sea Cliff Beach... There's a lot to offer and it feels much more — I think what I like about it is I like to be close to the water, I like that we can just ride down to the beach and the kids can jump in and there's so many kids and people around all summer long.

Is there a local hot spot for adults?

Yeah, there's a restaurant here that's new, the Oak Room [Tavern], and there's the Metropolitan Bistro.

What's your favorite place to eat?

Jane: I think the Metropolitan Bistro. It's just so good.
Kate: The pizza place [Il Villagio] and the deli [Arata’s].

Is it easy to see your friends?

Yeah, Kate has a friend that she can walk through to her house, they are very close. We have friends all over.

Has anything changed in the town since you've lived here?

Not really, the Oak Room [Tavern] is new and there's a new restaurant coming in across from the library.

What are you doing in town today?

Our goal is to ride our [tandem] bike every morning, so it's been so fun to go out and do that. And then, Kate's reading: If she reads 50 books she gets a trophy, so they [the library] does little things like that]. Miss Anne is the librarian there and she runs all the programs and she does like a really cute job. If Kate reads 25 books she gets a medal and 50 books she gets a trophy [by the end of the summer] so we're trying to do that. We just started today [with a Henry and Mudge book].