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
There’s an irony that Southampton Town officials might have the least power when it comes to the travel plaza featuring tax-free gasoline that is going up on Shinnecock Nation property in Hampton Bays — but also might be most at fault for the current situation. Neighbors are incensed that the nation is building the gas station off Sunrise Highway with seemingly little oversight. The Environmental Protection Agency has stepped forward to provide a framework for the sovereign Shinnecock Nation’s project, but also has allowed the nation to proceed mostly on pledges to follow EPA rules. A new development with thousands ...
4 Dec 2024 by Editorial Board
Stop digging. That’s the best advice we can offer the Southampton History Museum. When you’re in a hole, recognize it and, if you do nothing else, don’t make it deeper. And there’s a hole, and it’s deep, and it’s time to think about climbing out of it. It was foolhardy to think evicting the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery from the North Sea site owned by the museum, near where English settlers first landed in 1640, wasn’t going to land with a thud. Perhaps the hatchery could be a better tenant — there is fair concern about the sometimes disheveled state ...
by Editorial Board
We are thankful for the ocean, so near to us here on the South Fork, and the serenity of nature surrounding us. Every year, people make the voyage to the East End, often from more urban dwellings, precisely because even as the human population encroaches more and more, there is a stubborn stillness surrounding us that is rejuvenating. The towns’ willingness to preserve open space and to prioritize environmental conservation shines through, even as the crush of development soldiers on. We give thanks that, to quote Van Morrison, this is a place where you can still “become enraptured by the ...
26 Nov 2024 by Editorial Board
Starting a new job is always stressful. But Leydy Renteria-Merced might deserve a spa day after accepting the role of executive director of Centro Corazón de Maria, a Hampton Bays-based immigrant advocacy group. Timing is everything, and Renteria-Merced arrives just as Donald Trump is preparing for a January 20 swearing-in that will be followed quickly by what might be a maelstrom for the community she serves. The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary founded the organization in 2002 as “a place of welcome and hope for underserved immigrants living on the East End of Long Island.” In taking up ...
20 Nov 2024 by Editorial Board
Budgeting is the most important task town officials have, and the brand new $134 million budget for 2025 will face a great deal of scrutiny. Taxpayers will note not only that it will pierce the state’s cap on tax levy increases and raise overall spending by 8.7 percent, and require 11 percent more in property tax revenues, but it adds 14 employees and hikes the salaries of those already on the payroll by $1 million. Compensation packages for the town’s 500 employees and retirees already make up more than $93 million of spending. It’s an acknowledgment that the town has ...
by Editorial Board
The Southampton Arts Center was filled with incredible talent, energy and generosity last Thursday — both on stage and in the audience, it was an all-star lineup of the men and (mostly) women who run the region’s nonprofit organizations. Having gathered for an Express Sessions conversation, it turned into a clarion call: Arts organizations, charities helping to feed families, groups focusing on aiding children, or animals, or historic preservation, or community health, or victims of domestic violence — they all had a unified message for the community — “we need help.” It must be said, the South Fork is a ...
13 Nov 2024 by Editorial Board
It’s refreshing: Bill Hillman doesn’t mince words. And Suffolk County’s top engineer, who officially retired last week, will be missed, if only for his candor. Speaking recently at a presentation on traffic challenges on the South Fork, the start of what is meant to be a comprehensive effort to find some solutions, Hillman came carrying a bucket of cold water. He not only splashed it in faces, he doused any smoldering hope for a moonshot solution to the gridlock that ails South Fork motorists and residents, in the summer and nowadays throughout the calendar. “We will tell you what works ...
6 Nov 2024 by Editorial Board
For the House Every single national election is important, but it’s not hyperbolic to say that this is an election like no other, and it requires a level of participation and engagement far beyond a typical November vote. It’s always important to have a healthy turnout, but in 2024 the nation’s future is on the ballot to a degree that we haven’t seen in recent history. This one will truly matter, for years to come. The bald truth is that Donald Trump is uniquely unfit to serve as president, considering character, demeanor and personal history. His four years in the ...
30 Oct 2024 by Editorial Board
South Fork voters will get to decide the outcome of three propositions this Election Day, November 5, including one that is statewide and one that is countywide. The third opportunity to weigh in will be different for Southampton Town and East Hampton Town voters, as hyperlocal measures are on the ballot in each town. Proposition 1, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment, is to amend the New York State Constitution to extend the guarantee of equal protection under the law to more groups. Currently, the State Constitution specifies that equal protection is afforded to people regardless of their race, ...
23 Oct 2024 by Editorial Board
Language is a great divider, and as the East End’s demographics have steadily evolved over the past two decades, finding ways to bridge that divide is essential. That’s particularly true for school-age children, who often find themselves immersed in a new culture without the skills to communicate. But Southampton School District recognized that the language gap is bad for the school community in general — and that it presents not just a challenge but an opportunity. Rather than focusing solely on Spanish-speaking students and their needs, the district’s dual language program, which is now in its 20th year, benefits all ...
16 Oct 2024 by Editorial Board
