At the spearing tip of Long Island’s North Fork is the fishermen’s village of Greenport. I have been spending my summers here since my grandparents bought their small ranch to escape the summer heat of the city in 1992; essentially all my life. I’ve watched the village grow from a quiet, underdeveloped fisherman’s port to the thriving beach resort haven that it is today. I have seen what was once only jokingly referred to as a town (a small strip of broken down bait shops and affordable delis) turn into an aesthetically pleasing center for wealthy Manhattanites to splurge on tappas dining and international desserts while enjoying the beautiful view of the Long Island Sound. The wealthy are shipped into the town by bus and boat from New York City and the Hamptons, willing and able to  buy and spend on whatever’s offered. Businesses are booming but the local population can’t keep up with a cost of living that rises in respect with the town’s popularity. I’ve held many jobs in and around Greenport town and the nearby wine vineyards that originally put the North Fork on the map. This year I helped launch a frozen yogurt shop in the heart of the town. Exposed to the foot traffic of thousands from a business operator’s point of view, I managed to learn the ins and outs of the town through serving dessert with a smile. The village still shows and respects its nautical roots, but the struggle for local survival amidst an aggressively expanding real estate market and the town’s transition into a premier summer escape for the wealthy are just some of the angles I would like to cover on Greenport.