For Fire Island’s Kismet, outrageous house names spell good times

By Tom Schlichter Special to Newsday

Updated May 17, 2023 4:20 pm

Getting around in Kismet really isn’t hard. Just step off the ferry and head south toward the ocean until you see Pasta Sunday. From there, make a right and continue until spotting Island Hopper. Turn right and you’ll pass Forbidden City before making another right at Come What May. Now, a left immediately before The Kismet Taj Mahal sends you back toward the ferry dock and center of town.

These are just some of the “addresses” you’ll find along the handful of streets in Kismet, one of Fire Island’s 17 communities that, combined, have roughly 430 year-round residents. Kismet itself boasts 53 families. These names won’t show up in a GPS. Instead, you can find the names of 250 of the 265 houses on a colorful map illustrated by a local artist and sold to help raise funds for the fire department.

“As you might guess from the house names, there’s a ton of fun to be found in Kismet,” said Sam Wood, 63, a full-time resident who moved to Kismet with his family at age four and owns the home Wood Stock. “There’s also a lot of history.”

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