Workers Feverishly Try to Save House in Montauk from Collapsing into Water

Work is underway on Tuesday to try to save  and combat the erosion that has left half of it without any foundation.

The Keith Grimes construction company has received emergency permits to back-fill the cliff that was eroded away in an attempt to push the house further back.

"They're going to try to save the house," said Montauk Fire Department Chief Robert Gosman after a visit to the location just east of Culloden Point. "From what I understand, they got access from the neighbor's house to the east" to work from with pay-loaders. "The main concern is to get fill under the house, to stabilize it." 

East Hampton Town Acting Supervisor Theresa Quigley, who is filling in for Supervisor Bill Wilkinson while he is away, confirmed on Tuesday that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued the necessary emergency permits. She said that the East Hampton Town Building Department will be issuing one as well that mirrors the DEC permit.

"There's a house moving company down there. Apparently, there's not much land on which the house moving company can move the house to. They're doing what they can," Quigley said, adding that the town does not want to be an impediment to the homeowners, but also wants to ensure that actions taken do not cause more harmful, unintended problems.

Gosman alerted police on Monday morning to the public safety hazard after he noticed about 40-percent of the house's foundation and bulkhead had been lost in the severe winter storm on Sunday night. Strong winds  just ripped at the shoreline on the north-side of Montauk, where erosion also occurred along West Lake Drive, near the town-owned parking lot next to Gosman's restaurant.

Erosion also ate away at other bulkheads near Culloden Point, but Gosman said no situation was as dire as the DeVito's house.

"Even since yesterday afternoon to this morning, I'd say the sand under the house was undermined another four to five feet," he added. "The deck is teetering quite a bit more."

He said Grimes had begun work on Tuesday morning, and will be bringing in "good hard fill," such as clay, rocks, and stones to make a temporary bulkhead. The concern, Gosman said, is that the vibrations from the trucks will compromise the house even more. "Hopefully, they are far enough away, but then again, close enough to be able to be able to dump fill and push it."

Gosman said, "This is going to be a big nut to crack first. Hopefully, they'll be successful. A lot of it just depends on Mother Nature."

John Lycke, the caretaker for the property, did not immediately return a call for comment. On Monday, he said the DeVito family was devastated by the potential loss of their beach house, which he said had been in the family for many years.