Wealth Erosion Pits Rich Against Fisherman

Today I took the train into the city from Pelham, just like thousands of other commuters, with my friend Tom Bricker. Tom totes a skateboard to make the last mile a little easier. He works at a top-notch ad agency and their office is full of incredibly talented graphic designers, flash experts and copywriting wiz kids. He's the senior man, at 50, all of the other workers are decades younger. It's fun to see where someone spends their days, after knowing them for many years.

I read the WSJ at an expensive breakfast joint across from Grand Central. A story titled "Wealth Erosion" told the story of rich Nantucket summer residents who face erosion of the cliffs right next to their multi-million dollar homes on Siasconset's Beach. So the rich folks have pooled $23 million to perform their own private beach restoration project. But they face the wrath of fishermen like Josh Eldridge, who say that sucking up sand will ruin the rocks and gravel that make up a prize striped bass habitat. It's the classic battle, that I remember so well when I spent many, many days out on that Rock, 29 miles at sea.

The rich on Nantucket aren't just rich. They're Big Time Rich. Eldridge: "These people have enough money to move their houses or buy another one. If I lose my fishing business, I lose my house and it's my only house. Unlike these other people, I don't have a ski chalet in Aspen or a place on Palm Beach."

Another fisherman I know was also unmoved by the plight of the 'Sconset millionaires. Said Bob DeCosta: "These are people who are used to getting their way. They love their houses and I don't blame them for wanting to save them. But it's not worth the cost to Nantucket."