On Thursday, May 25 — just in time for Memorial Day weekend, and thus the start of “the season” — the ribbon will be cut on John Steinbeck Waterfront Park,... more
It’s an old adage that when voters — or newspaper editorial boards — are evaluating incumbents and challengers for elected positions, the real decision amounts to a simple question: Should the incumbents be fired? Certainly, there are times when an elected official is doing such a poor job that he or she deserves to lose it. And other times when a challenger is so strong by comparison that it makes sense to unseat the incumbent and give the newcomer a chance. The two competitive village races are perfect examples: Each of the candidates is well-qualified to serve and could well ...
12 Jun 2024 by Editorial Board
The verdict in the Hunter Biden gun possession case came less than two weeks after former President Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 charges in his New York hush money trial, where the jury determined he broke the law, many times over, by falsifying business records to cover up, amid his 2016 presidential bid, a sexual encounter he had with a porn star a decade earlier. Likewise, it is an example of equal justice under the law in the United States, but Trump is not accepting that and has called on the U.S. Supreme Court to annul the guilty ...
by Staff Writer
A few months ago, The Express News Group tackled a project to discuss the past, present and future of the college campus in Shinnecock Hills, now Stony Brook Southampton. One big conclusion: The college there has had its struggles ever since the first Southampton College opened its doors in the fall of 1963. Put another way: If it weren’t for bad luck, that college would have no luck at all. And so, in the late spring of 2024, comes the latest bit of bad news: Stony Brook University President Dr. Maurie D. McInnis will be leaving shortly to become the ...
5 Jun 2024 by Editorial Board
A good event gains steam quickly from year to year. But few events have the trajectory of the Hamptons Pride Parade, which began strong with more than 1,000 participants and spectators in 2022 and has only gotten bigger in the two years since, including Saturday’s parade in East Hampton. Tom House, the Bridgehampton School educator who is president of the nonprofit Hamptons Pride, has made it his mission to preserve the South Fork’s long history of tolerance and support for the LGBTQ+ community. The parade is a visible reminder, a party of sorts, but there’s a lot of hard work ...
by Editorial Board
There is something of a pact between residents and their school boards, and the annual budget vote — one of the few times when voters have a direct say in the day-to-day budgeting of their tax dollars — is where that pact is consummated. Credit school district voters: Last Tuesday, they all stepped up and held up their end of the bargain. It’s not always an easy vote. For some homeowners, their property tax bill, which is most significantly made up of school taxes, is one of their biggest expenditures if they’ve already paid off the mortgage and are on ...
29 May 2024 by Editorial Board
Imagine the want ad: “Unpaid position. Unpredictable hours. Extensive training required. Your life may be endangered at a moment’s notice. Must be on call 24/7. Your physical condition will be tested.” Most people wouldn’t get past the first two words. At a time when the demands of everyday life can be overwhelming, and just living full time in this part of the world is aspirational, it’s no surprise that volunteerism is waning. But as our recent visit to the Suffolk County Fire Academy showed, it’s not dead. In fact, there are men and women of all different backgrounds and age ...
by Editorial Board
GOLD STAR To Carolyn Munaco and a group of volunteers who went out early in the morning on a cold, rainy, blustery day to save horseshoe crabs that had been trapped while spawning at a beach in Hampton Bays. High water allowed the crabs safely onto the beach to lay eggs, but then the crabs found themselves blocked from returning to the water by an erosion control structure made of stone and wire. A “bucket brigade” of volunteers boosted the crabs up and over and back into the water. It was a great example of human beings causing a problem ...
21 May 2024 by Editorial Board
Last week was the final Express Sessions event of the season; a dozen live events brought together panelists and community members to discuss a variety of topics of importance to the community. As the break for a busy summer arrives, the question arises: Does it make a difference? The topic for the event last week in Sag Harbor focused on that village’s readiness for climate change and the perils it will bring — but, like other topics from throughout the fall, winter and spring, it was relevant for other villages and hamlets on the South Fork. Rising waters and worsening ...
15 May 2024 by Editorial Board
When it comes to changing the world, some things are easier to do than others. The region has done some sweeping things with an eye toward the environment. After a few false starts, Southampton Town and East Hampton Town helped lead the way with a ban on plastic grocery bags, which eventually spread to Suffolk County, and, in 2020, to all of New York State. For a while, the idea that people might stop relying on free plastic bags and — horrors! — bring their own reusable bags to the grocery store seemed unreasonably ambitious. Today, it’s an afterthought for ...
8 May 2024 by Editorial Board
The eight stations on the Montauk Branch between Speonk and Montauk generally, on a weekday, will see 10 trains stop throughout a 24-hour period. The problem: Only half are between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., presumably when most people might actually use the train to ride from local stop to local stop. The South Fork Commuter Connection went a long way toward improving the usefulness of the LIRR for a daily commute, making sure there were reasonable morning and afternoon options for east-west commuters, and adding in shuttle buses to get workers from the buses to their ...
by Editorial Board
