Just in time for Labor Day, some residents of Sagaponack (the wealthiest Zip in the world, according to Forbes) are smoldering over plans for a new BBQ joint by Mark Smith and Toni Ross (owners of Nick & Toni’s), opening later this year. Reportedly called Town Line Barbeque, the 80-seater will serve meats slow-cooked in a smoker that will protrude out of the building and that neighbors like Jean Sinenberg are convinced will stink up the area. “There’s nothing around it to buffer the odor. There’s a golf course directly across the street. Do you like to play golf first thing in the morning smelling barbecue?” She continues: “They’re talking about running [the smoker] 24/7. They’re a big corporation with six facilities. Are they turning this into a meat-processing plant?” Smith says, “It’s not like I’m reinventing a type of cooking. No one has died from barbecue smoke. These people are reacting to some irrational fear.” Sinenberg counters, “It’s not that I’m against barbecue. I love barbecue.”

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Shana Liebman
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