PHOTO: Kalyanaraman Bruce Weis, a computer professional, one of the new faces of City Island.
		The bumper sticker on Jacqueline Kall's Pontiac Sunbird reads, "Preserve NYC's Nautical Community." Kall is an active member of the City Island Historical Society, an organization that seeks to conserve the island's nautical traditions. "I am a City Islander," she said. "We all have boats." Kall is a third-generation realtor, and although she sells condos and houses, she opposes too many new constructions on the island. A developer offered her $2 million for her seaside house a few years ago, wanting to build 27 houses there. Kall says she couldn't imagine so many houses fitting where her house is, so she refused. She would prefer for more retired people to move here. "This is a lovely little island," she said. Many residents here want the island's quiet ambience to be preserved. So they are seeking changes in City Island's special zoning laws. Barbara Dolensek, the secretary of the island's civic association, says the existing laws limit the height of any new construction to 33 feet. But that only prevents tall buildings from being built; it doesn't control the number of new buildings. Dolensek said re-zoning should be contextual—new buildings should fit in the scenery and match the style of the other constructions around. She also believes that developers should not be permitted to tear down a single family house and replace it with larger units. Work on the new legislation has been going on for three years, according to Dolensek, and she expects the city council to pass the new laws in about six months. "These laws will preserve the aesthetics of the island," she said.

Newcomers Change Face of City Island By Kalyanaraman

ruce Weis didn't really care where he moved when he and Beatrice Galinat, his fiancée, were looking to buy a house. Galinat, a flight attendant with Delta Airlines who was living on Manhattan's Upper West Side, had read about City Island in a newspaper. She had grown up in a town near the sea in France, and it was her decision to buy a house on the island, Weis said.

Galinat and Weis, a systems consultant for Guardian Life Insurance Company, moved into City Island four years ago.

For Weis, who is active in the neighborhood residents' association, City Island is a nice, quiet place to live by the sea. He prefers toying with computers over venturing out on a boat.

City Island, once a bustling seaport with a predominantly blue-collar population, is now a residential neighborhood. Older residents here are now afraid that in the future City Island might become a more crowded, up-market neighborhood, a summer residence for the very wealthy.

ohn Persteins, 60, is one of the old-timers who remembers a different City Island. Persteins, who has lived on the island all his life, has seen the various changes that have taken place. He recalls the minesweepers that were built during World War II. Even today, he associates the island's streets with the shipyards.

Persteins runs a boat rental company, the Boat Livery, one of the few boat businesses still left on the island. All the major yacht yards have closed.
The City Island yards died out because they did not adapt fast enough to changes in boat building technology.

Persteins's first business, a second-hand marine equipment company, failed because the new boats were made of fiber glass and not wood.

"There were no more bronze bolts and nuts which could be re-used. No corking the planks," said Persteins in his low gruff voice.

Eleven years ago, Persteins started the Boat Livery. He faces different problems this time around.

"The island has become very expensive," he said. "The labor is expensive and the taxes are high."

PHOTO: Kalyanaraman

John Persteins says he will not sell his boat rental to a real estate developer.

Weis said the old seaman population is "going further and further into history." Though Weis doesn't love the sea, he said he loves the island and its people. He recalled that two years ago the residents organized a party for the 100th birthday of the City Island Bridge. "They had a small party and they even cut a birthday cake," he said. "People always keep a friendly eye on each other here. They have a real sense of community. In Manhattan, they snarl at you."

Last summer, he and Galinat went on a five-day vacation to Toronto and forgot to lock the door and turn on the burglar alarm. When they returned, they found that nothing had happened to their home. His neighbors told him it wasn't an unusual thing on City Island.

ven Weis is worried about the island's future. His house is a private one-family house dating from the 1920s, and Weis is worried about new luxury condos being built around him. He hopes that the city council will soon pass a re-zoning legislation for City Island and prevent hundreds of condos from coming up.

"Otherwise City Island might become a Nantucket in the future," he said.

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