Fewer than 350 bills have passed both the Senate and Assembly, meaning that the Legislature will need to go into overdrive to come close to matching the roughly 850 bills passed in 2025.

There is always plenty blame to go around in Albany, but this year the clear culprit seems to be the glacial pace of budget negotiations with Gov. Kathy Hochul. Lawmakers finally passed the $269 billion budget last week, giving them only one week to advance their own agenda.

In theory, the Legislature could stay in Albany as long as it likes to pass bills. In practice, members have already made travel arrangements to their home districts, to see family and campaign for the June 23 primary.

That will put pressure on the Assembly speaker, Carl E. Heastie, and the Senate majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to prioritize the bills that have the best chance of passing without much debate.

Several issues vying for floor time this week include a moratorium on data centers, making redistricting easier in New York, an uncertain future in plastics, keeping surveillance out of pricing, and counteracting some Trump administration initiatives.

The artificial intelligence debate promises to continue throughout the fiscal year in New York and across the country. A.I. has transformed New York’s economy, while it has also begun to shape the state’s physical landscape through the data centers that power A.I.

But concerns about their environmental impact and energy consumption have led lawmakers in Albany to rally around a one year moratorium on new data centers.

Initially, the push had been for three years. But after conversations with stakeholders, Mr. Heastie said, the Legislature had come to a compromise on one year. “I think we’re comfortable passing that,” he said.

Over the next five years, the number of data centers across the nation is projected to triple, consuming more electricity than 28 million households, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Food & Water Watch.

***

For teen bands in the Town of Southampton, the musical calendar year revolves around one night: the annual Southampton Youth Bureau Battle of the Bands at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that this year is no different, as teenage bands, friends, family and peers will flock to the parking lot of Ponquogue Beach this coming Friday, June 5, to hear and cheer on their favorite young groups in the 23rd annual Battle of the Bands.

Gates open at 7 p.m.; those who arrive early will get to listen to a series of special guest opening acts for the first hour. This year’s slate features four local middle and high school students who have participated in the Youth Bureau’s annual “Hamptons Got Talent” event in the last two years.

The main event begins at 8 p.m., when the bands take the stage.

Like last year’s edition, this year will feature five competing bands. Each band will have 20 minutes to perform a set of three to four songs each. The winning band gets to come back on stage to perform an encore at the end of the show.

Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places. This year’s prizes have been donated by the event’s sponsors, including Dream Recording Studios, LTV Studios, Hampton Coffee Company and the Hampton Theatre Company.

The event will be emceed by three students from Westhampton Beach High School: juniors Elhani Armijos and Jennifer Santiago, and senior Kate Lynch.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the gate on Friday June 5.

For more information, visit southamptontownny.gov/youthbureau or call 631-702-2425.

***

The Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton invites you to join them for a wonderful Sunday afternoon of chamber music performed by Poetica Ensemble, a consortium of world class musicians led by artistic directors and local residents Song-A Cho and Christopher Shaughnessy. The ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Scorca Hall as well as other renowned concert halls throughout the greater New York area and beyond.

Registration required.

The performance is this coming Sunday, June 7, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Morris Meeting Room at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton.

For further info visit myrml.org.

Register for the event at rogersmemorial.librarycalendar.com/event/sunday-concert-80790

***

The Riverhead Town Board voted yesterday to move forward with eminent domain proceedings against the Long Island Science Center’s downtown property, adopting a findings statement that says acquisition of 111 E. Main St. is necessary to complete the town square project.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the resolution passed 3-1, with one abstention. Council Members Denise Merrifield, Joann Waski and Ken Rothwell voted yes. Supervisor Jerry Halpin voted no. Council Member Bob Kern abstained.

The resolution authorizes the Town of Riverhead to proceed under Article 2 of the state Eminent Domain Procedure Law to acquire fee title to the property, owned by A Place for Learning Inc., the nonprofit corporation that operates the Long Island Science Center.

The 111 E. Main St. building, the former West Marine store, has been slated for redevelopment as the science center’s new downtown home. The science center currently operates at Tanger Outlets.

Riverhead Town officials have argued that the building remains vacant and blighted and is a critical piece of the broader town square redevelopment effort. The findings statement adopted on Tuesday says the acquisition will serve a public purpose by removing blight and furthering the town’s economic redevelopment and revitalization plan.

The resolution says the property sits “directly on the Town Square” and forms the western border of the project. It states that the building has been in “blighted, deteriorating and substandard condition for over 20 years” and says the owner’s redevelopment plans have failed to move forward despite several years of ownership.

But residents opposed to the taking said before and during Tuesday’s meeting that the town has not identified a specific future use for the property, has not provided a cost estimate and has not adequately explained why condemnation is necessary.

Halpin said he believes eminent domain should be used only as a last resort and said he did not believe the town had reached that point.

“It’s a legal tool that should only be used as an absolute last resort,” Halpin said. “My opinion is that we’re not at that absolute last resort.”

Halpin said he understands the frustration of board members who expected the science center project to be farther along, but said he was “not ready” to use eminent domain.

The resolution directs the town clerk to publish notice of the findings in two successive issues of the News-Review beginning June 11 and directs special counsel Frank Isler to serve certified copies on the property owner and any other parties with an interest in the property.

***

One consequence of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s waiting so late to get a budget deal:

The State Senate might not have time to vote on all of her pending nominations for state agency commissioners, judgeships and other posts.

Yancy Roy reports in NEWSDAY that because budget negotiations consumed 18 of the 19 scheduled weeks of the 2026 legislative session, the Senate and Assembly have just this final week to approve all the hundreds of bills their rank-and-file members want before adjourning, either late tomorrow or Friday.

Meanwhile, Governor Hochul has submitted dozens of nominations for the Senate to consider, including several state agency commissioners, board members for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Corrections Commission and 28 judges, according to the Senate.

Customarily, the Senate acts on nominations before the final week of the legislative session. This year, however, the budget wasn’t agreed on and voted on till May 27, even though it was due April 1. The result is that the nominations now are competing with a flurry of bills lawmakers are seeking to approve this week, ranging from congressional redistricting to surveillance pricing to data-center moratoriums.

And the clock is ticking.

With the budget finishing so late, there is "limited time" to give proper vetting to the more than three dozen nominees, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said.

"If we have time to do them, we’ll do what we can," Gianaris (D-Astoria) told Newsday.

New York State legislators — especially Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) — have complained that Hochul drew out budget negotiations by throwing in a kitchen sink of non-budget policy items, such as climate and immigration laws. And that they had no time remaining for legislators’ own priorities.

But the uncertainty over Hochul’s nominees isn’t so much about pay back as lack of time, a source said.

Consequently, not all of the more than three dozen nominees might make it this week and, if so, would have to wait till the legislature reconvenes in January, following the fall elections.

***

The Riverhead Chamber of Commerce will host “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” a country-themed BBQ street fair at Grangebel Park in Riverhead tomorrow…the 4th of June…from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will feature live country music, BBQ food vendors, line dancing, cold drinks and kid zone family...]]>There are just a couple days left in New York’s legislative session in Albany — and the State Legislature has a lot of catching up to do.

Fewer than 350 bills have passed both the Senate and Assembly, meaning that the Legislature will need to go into overdrive to come close to matching the roughly 850 bills passed in 2025.

There is always plenty blame to go around in Albany, but this year the clear culprit seems to be the glacial pace of budget negotiations with Gov. Kathy Hochul. Lawmakers finally passed the $269 billion budget last week, giving them only one week to advance their own agenda.

In theory, the Legislature could stay in Albany as long as it likes to pass bills. In practice, members have already made travel arrangements to their home districts, to see family and campaign for the June 23 primary.

That will put pressure on the Assembly speaker, Carl E. Heastie, and the Senate majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to prioritize the bills that have the best chance of passing without much debate.

Several issues vying for floor time this week include a moratorium on data centers, making redistricting easier in New York, an uncertain future in plastics, keeping surveillance out of pricing, and counteracting some Trump administration initiatives.

The artificial intelligence debate promises to continue throughout the fiscal year in New York and across the country. A.I. has transformed New York’s economy, while it has also begun to shape the state’s physical landscape through the data centers that power A.I.

But concerns about their environmental impact and energy consumption have led lawmakers in Albany to rally around a one year moratorium on new data centers.

Initially, the push had been for three years. But after conversations with stakeholders, Mr. Heastie said, the Legislature had come to a compromise on one year. “I think we’re comfortable passing that,” he said.

Over the next five years, the number of data centers across the nation is projected to triple, consuming more electricity than 28 million households, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Food & Water Watch.

***

For teen bands in the Town of Southampton, the musical calendar year revolves around one night: the annual Southampton Youth Bureau Battle of the Bands at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that this year is no different, as teenage bands, friends, family and peers will flock to the parking lot of Ponquogue Beach this coming Friday, June 5, to hear and cheer on their favorite young groups in the 23rd annual Battle of the Bands.

Gates open at 7 p.m.; those who arrive early will get to listen to a series of special guest opening acts for the first hour. This year’s slate features four local middle and high school students who have participated in the Youth Bureau’s annual “Hamptons Got Talent” event in the last two years.

The main event begins at 8 p.m., when the bands take the stage.

Like last year’s edition, this year will feature five competing bands. Each band will have 20 minutes to perform a set of three to four songs each. The winning band gets to come back on stage to perform an encore at the end of the show.

Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places. This year’s prizes have been donated by the event’s sponsors, including Dream Recording Studios, LTV Studios, Hampton Coffee Company and the Hampton Theatre Company.

The event will be emceed by three students from Westhampton Beach High School: juniors Elhani Armijos and Jennifer Santiago, and senior Kate Lynch.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the gate on Friday June 5.

For more information, visit southamptontownny.gov/youthbureau or call 631-702-2425.

***

The Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton invites you to join them for a wonderful Sunday afternoon of chamber music performed by Poetica Ensemble, a consortium of world class musicians led by artistic directors and local residents Song-A Cho and Christopher Shaughnessy. The ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Scorca Hall as well as other renowned concert halls throughout the greater New York area and beyond.

Registration required.

The performance is this coming Sunday, June 7, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Morris Meeting Room at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton.

For further info visit myrml.org.

Register for the event at rogersmemorial.librarycalendar.com/event/sunday-concert-80790

***

The Riverhead Town Board voted yesterday to move forward with eminent domain proceedings against the Long Island Science Center’s downtown property, adopting a findings statement that says acquisition of 111 E. Main St. is necessary to complete the town square project.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the resolution passed 3-1, with one abstention. Council Members Denise Merrifield, Joann Waski and Ken Rothwell voted yes. Supervisor Jerry Halpin voted no. Council Member Bob Kern abstained.

The resolution authorizes the Town of Riverhead to proceed under Article 2 of the state Eminent Domain Procedure Law to acquire fee title to the property, owned by A Place for Learning Inc., the nonprofit corporation that operates the Long Island Science Center.

The 111 E. Main St. building, the former West Marine store, has been slated for redevelopment as the science center’s new downtown home. The science center currently operates at Tanger Outlets.

Riverhead Town officials have argued that the building remains vacant and blighted and is a critical piece of the broader town square redevelopment effort. The findings statement adopted on Tuesday says the acquisition will serve a public purpose by removing blight and furthering the town’s economic redevelopment and revitalization plan.

The resolution says the property sits “directly on the Town Square” and forms the western border of the project. It states that the building has been in “blighted, deteriorating and substandard condition for over 20 years” and says the owner’s redevelopment plans have failed to move forward despite several years of ownership.

But residents opposed to the taking said before and during Tuesday’s meeting that the town has not identified a specific future use for the property, has not provided a cost estimate and has not adequately explained why condemnation is necessary.

Halpin said he believes eminent domain should be used only as a last resort and said he did not believe the town had reached that point.

“It’s a legal tool that should only be used as an absolute last resort,” Halpin said. “My opinion is that we’re not at that absolute last resort.”

Halpin said he understands the frustration of board members who expected the science center project to be farther along, but said he was “not ready” to use eminent domain.

The resolution directs the town clerk to publish notice of the findings in two successive issues of the News-Review beginning June 11 and directs special counsel Frank Isler to serve certified copies on the property owner and any other parties with an interest in the property.

***

One consequence of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s waiting so late to get a budget deal:

The State Senate might not have time to vote on all of her pending nominations for state agency commissioners, judgeships and other posts.

Yancy Roy reports in NEWSDAY that because budget negotiations consumed 18 of the 19 scheduled weeks of the 2026 legislative session, the Senate and Assembly have just this final week to approve all the hundreds of bills their rank-and-file members want before adjourning, either late tomorrow or Friday.

Meanwhile, Governor Hochul has submitted dozens of nominations for the Senate to consider, including several state agency commissioners, board members for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Corrections Commission and 28 judges, according to the Senate.

Customarily, the Senate acts on nominations before the final week of the legislative session. This year, however, the budget wasn’t agreed on and voted on till May 27, even though it was due April 1. The result is that the nominations now are competing with a flurry of bills lawmakers are seeking to approve this week, ranging from congressional redistricting to surveillance pricing to data-center moratoriums.

And the clock is ticking.

With the budget finishing so late, there is "limited time" to give proper vetting to the more than three dozen nominees, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said.

"If we have time to do them, we’ll do what we can," Gianaris (D-Astoria) told Newsday.

New York State legislators — especially Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) — have complained that Hochul drew out budget negotiations by throwing in a kitchen sink of non-budget policy items, such as climate and immigration laws. And that they had no time remaining for legislators’ own priorities.

But the uncertainty over Hochul’s nominees isn’t so much about pay back as lack of time, a source said.

Consequently, not all of the more than three dozen nominees might make it this week and, if so, would have to wait till the legislature reconvenes in January, following the fall elections.

***

The Riverhead Chamber of Commerce will host “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” a country-themed BBQ street fair at Grangebel Park in Riverhead tomorrow…the 4th of June…from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will feature live country music, BBQ food vendors, line dancing, cold drinks and kid zone family activities. Organizers are promoting the event as a preliminary blast off to the summer season and America’s semiquincentennial celebrations.

That’s “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” an east end country street fair…happening tomorrow at Grangebel Park in downtown Riverhead from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information, email info@riverheadchamber.com.

***

This winter, a group of Greenport architects embarked on a bold thought experiment — envisioning what this little North Fork village would look like if it made space for hundreds more people to live downtown. The group, organized by Greenport Affordable & Workforce Housing Committee member Frank Mackin, an architect, shared design ideas for three story redevelopment of several major downtown properties at a community meeting last Friday in the Old Schoolhouse.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that these ideas, which are dependent on the Village of Greenport allowing three-story buildings downtown, included building up downtown. In the presentation, they highlighted three locations — 110 Front Street, a long, low building across from Mitchell Park that is currently mostly vacant and in probate; 204 Front Street, where a strip mall has been home to a convenience store and a Japanese takeout restaurant; and the Adams Street parking lot between First and Main streets, which was re-envisioned as a parking garage inside a new complex of shops.

“The architects were thinking about how we start a conversation about making our village better for housing, and finding ways to expand housing,” said Housing Committee Chair Dinni Gordon.

This volunteer “brain trust,” as she called it, includes architects Wayne Turett of the Turett Collaborative, Clay Coffey of Isaac Rae Studio, John Nastasi of Nastasi Architects and Robert I. Brown.

“The core question is how does our village thrive? How do we create a village that’s a self-sustaining, coherent year-round community,” said Mr. Coffey, who gave a detailed presentation on the group’s work,

The group described their report as “not a development proposal. It is a community investment.”

Mr. Coffey said the closure of 18 storefronts in Greenport this winter (some have since reopened) is a symptom of several other issues.

“The driving issue is declining population,” he said. “The median age is 51 years old, and it’s not being replaced by the birth rate. The cost of living is a huge issue.”

Just 16 percent of people in the village are under the age of 15, he added, and one in three houses in the village are vacant or used part-time.

“We are a full-time village with a part-time population,” he said.

Mr. Coffey said the median income in Greenport is $81,094, while the median house value is $961,200, making it nearly impossible for people who work here to afford to live here. In fact, he said, more than 60 percent of Greenport’s workforce commutes to work.

He said the federal Housing and Urban Development calculates a healthy “valuation to income” ration at 4:1.

“We’re at 12:1,” he said. “It isn’t going to happen. No one can do that.”

Mr. Coffey outlined how adding affordable apartments downtown would help the village’s demographic problems, and shared watercolor renderings of some ideas for solutions.

The architects’ proposal included four action steps, starting with restoring the three-story zoning. The second action would be to “adopt a two-track development strategy” for private and publicly owned property. They also recommended reframing the housing conversation around how it could add to the village’s tax base and leveraging the village’s Pro-Housing Community designation for grant funding.

Brianne Ledda reports in NEWSDAY that Gov. Kathy Hochul's office has touted the reforms as part of a broader affordability push in her recently passed budget, as Long Islanders and others across New York struggle with rising costs of living. The nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission estimates the changes could shrink premiums as much as 10%, saving at least $200 per individual annually, and as much as $2 billion for New York residents and businesses, without any additional state spending.

But while proponents have lauded the initiatives for tackling high premiums, others say the changes could prove harmful to injured crash victims. The measures take aim at high rates of insurance fraud that experts say have been driving up premiums, by strengthening penalties against fraudsters and tightening the legal definition of a "serious injury."

The reforms also ban using ZIP codes, occupation, education level or homeownership as primary rating factors — a change that could prove especially beneficial on Long Island, where some ZIP codes last year saw average six-month premiums soar as high as $2,460, said Beth Swanson, an insurance analyst at The Zebra, an insurance comparison company.

Historically higher premiums for Long Island "comes down to factors like rampant fraud, runaway litigation, high state minimums, brutal traffic congestion, and just a higher cost of living overall," Swanson said. The reforms take "direct aim at several of those root causes," she added.

In New York, insurance fraud and attorney representation in accident cases have played a significant role in driving up costs, said Tim Zawacki, an S & P Global Market Intelligence insurance analyst.

Opponents say the changes could prove financially harmful to injured crash victims.

***

OLA of Eastern Long Island has announced the recipients of its 2026 OLA Youth Scholarship, recognizing eight students from across the East End for their academic achievement, leadership and commitment to their communities.

Founded in 2002, OLA of Eastern Long Island, Inc. (Organización Latino Americana) is a nonprofit Latino-focused advocacy organization working in the five East End towns of East Hampton, Southampton, Riverhead, Southold, and Shelter Island.

As reported on 27east.com, OLA scholarship recipients this year are Ashley Buestan; Faith Welch; Santiago Solorzano; Shirley Jiang; Angie Castillo; Cristian Bernal; Bruce William Apolo; and Emmanuel Morales Gonzalez.

OLA’s youth scholarship program supports students pursuing two- and four-year college programs as well as specialized vocational training. The scholarships provide financial assistance for up to four years to help students continue their education while developing leadership opportunities within their communities.

According to OLA, its 2026 recipients plan to pursue careers in medicine, law, engineering, architecture, environmental advocacy and public leadership. Many also have backgrounds in robotics, athletics, theater, climate advocacy, volunteer firefighting, music and mentoring immigrant students.

“Ashley, Faith, Santiago, Shirley, Angie, Cristian, Bruce and Emmanuel each represent the extraordinary determination and brilliance that exists within our community,” said Minerva Perez, the executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island. “Their stories reflect not only academic excellence, but courage, leadership, compassion and the sacrifices of immigrant families who work every day to create brighter futures for the next generation.”

***

The Riverhead Chamber of Commerce will host “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” a country-themed BBQ street fair at Grangebel Park in Riverhead, this coming Thursday, the 4th of June, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will feature live country music, BBQ food vendors, line dancing, cold drinks and family activities. Organizers are promoting the event as a kickoff to the summer season and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Line dancing – Kids zone – Family fun!

The “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” country street fair is this Thursday at Grangebel Park in downtown Riverhead from 5 to 9 p.m.

For more information, email info@riverheadchamber.com.

***

The federal Education Department's investigation into the Connetquot school district has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, after the agency determined that the district violated civil rights law by complying with the state's Native American mascot ban. Darwin Yanes reports in NEWSDAY that in a letter dated May 29, the Education Department's assistant secretary for civil rights, Kimberly Richey, asked the U.S. Justice Department to "commence judicial proceedings" against the district.

"After the District changed its Native American mascot in response to a state regulation that [Office of Civil Rights] has determined to be discriminatory, Connetquot has not yet taken the steps necessary to come into compliance with federal civil rights law," Richey said in a statement. "It is neither fair nor lawful to permit certain national‑origin‑based names and mascots while erasing others, and we are now referring the matter to the Department of Justice for further enforcement."

Public school districts in New York State were given until June 30, 2025, to comply with a state regulation banning the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools.

Some Native American leaders have said that the mascots promote hurtful stereotypes and can have a negative impact on the mental health and self-esteem of Native youth.

But the federal Education Department has said the ban violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in federally funded education programs on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The agency's argument is that the ban does not allow the use of Native American mascots while permitting those "derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the 'Dutchmen' and the 'Huguenots.' "

The ban affected 13 districts on Long Island. Connetquot, which used the nickname the Thunderbirds, was among them.

Experts have told Newsday that the federal determination puts the Connetquot district in an "impossible" position of having to choose between complying with either state or federal officials.

JP O'Hare, a spokesman for the state Education Department, said in a statement yesterday that the department was "not concerned" by the referral of the Connetquot case to the Justice Department because "it does not impact" the settlement agreement between the state and the district.

He added that the federal Education Department "has made a similar referral in the past without effect."

The federal agency, after determining the state ban violated civil rights law, had also referred that case to the Justice Department.

***

After lagging behind other state regions for years, police in Suffolk County significantly increased enforcement against dangerous driving violations in 2025, new statewide data show. Meanwhile, in Nassau County, enforcement for those offenses dropped last year and is significantly below its pre-pandemic level.

Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that the Suffolk County Police Department handed out around 76,150 tickets for speeding, aggressive driving, impaired driving, distracted driving and seat belts in 2025 — a 26% increase from 2024 and the department's highest number in at least a decade. Several village and town police departments also increased ticketing for those core safety violations, according to official data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research at SUNY Albany.

But ticketing for those same categories declined in Nassau County in 2025.

The new ticketing data comes after Newsday reported last year that between 2016 and 2024, police in Suffolk County had issued significantly fewer dangerous driving tickets than other parts of the state when adjusted for traffic. However, the new data indicates Suffolk County caught up in 2025 and surpassed several other regions and Nassau, relative to miles driven.

***

Hamptons Pride will hit a five-year milestone this year with the nonprofit’s annual Pride Parade, which will return for another colorful march through East Hampton Village this coming Saturday, June 6.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that this year’s parade, the only pride parade on the South Fork, will start between the Presbyterian Church and Guild Hall on Main Street. Parade lineups will begin at 11 a.m.; the parade will step off at 12 noon. Those registered to march will make their way east on Main Street to Newtown Lane, Railroad Avenue and Lumber Lane.

The parade will end at Herrick Park, where there will be music and celebration until 3 p.m., with performances by the Bridgehampton School Marimba Band, DJ Watts and local singer-songwriter Inda Eaton, who will be joined by Jeff Marshall and Mila Tina.

The parade, which commemorates Pride Month, has grown into a major community event. Last year, the parade brought a crowd despite steady rainfall throughout the day.

That's the 2026 Pride Parade in East Hampton Village this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

***

They’re calling it a ringing success.

A majority of New York teachers reported huge classroom improvements after the state’s first phone-free school year — thanks to better student focus, less bullying and more kids just being kids.

Hannah...]]>Recently passed state auto insurance reforms could help lower car insurance rates as much as 10% for New York drivers, according to some estimates. That includes Long Island, where the cost to buy and maintain a vehicle is notoriously expensive.

Brianne Ledda reports in NEWSDAY that Gov. Kathy Hochul's office has touted the reforms as part of a broader affordability push in her recently passed budget, as Long Islanders and others across New York struggle with rising costs of living. The nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission estimates the changes could shrink premiums as much as 10%, saving at least $200 per individual annually, and as much as $2 billion for New York residents and businesses, without any additional state spending.

But while proponents have lauded the initiatives for tackling high premiums, others say the changes could prove harmful to injured crash victims. The measures take aim at high rates of insurance fraud that experts say have been driving up premiums, by strengthening penalties against fraudsters and tightening the legal definition of a "serious injury."

The reforms also ban using ZIP codes, occupation, education level or homeownership as primary rating factors — a change that could prove especially beneficial on Long Island, where some ZIP codes last year saw average six-month premiums soar as high as $2,460, said Beth Swanson, an insurance analyst at The Zebra, an insurance comparison company.

Historically higher premiums for Long Island "comes down to factors like rampant fraud, runaway litigation, high state minimums, brutal traffic congestion, and just a higher cost of living overall," Swanson said. The reforms take "direct aim at several of those root causes," she added.

In New York, insurance fraud and attorney representation in accident cases have played a significant role in driving up costs, said Tim Zawacki, an S & P Global Market Intelligence insurance analyst.

Opponents say the changes could prove financially harmful to injured crash victims.

***

OLA of Eastern Long Island has announced the recipients of its 2026 OLA Youth Scholarship, recognizing eight students from across the East End for their academic achievement, leadership and commitment to their communities.

Founded in 2002, OLA of Eastern Long Island, Inc. (Organización Latino Americana) is a nonprofit Latino-focused advocacy organization working in the five East End towns of East Hampton, Southampton, Riverhead, Southold, and Shelter Island.

As reported on 27east.com, OLA scholarship recipients this year are Ashley Buestan; Faith Welch; Santiago Solorzano; Shirley Jiang; Angie Castillo; Cristian Bernal; Bruce William Apolo; and Emmanuel Morales Gonzalez.

OLA’s youth scholarship program supports students pursuing two- and four-year college programs as well as specialized vocational training. The scholarships provide financial assistance for up to four years to help students continue their education while developing leadership opportunities within their communities.

According to OLA, its 2026 recipients plan to pursue careers in medicine, law, engineering, architecture, environmental advocacy and public leadership. Many also have backgrounds in robotics, athletics, theater, climate advocacy, volunteer firefighting, music and mentoring immigrant students.

“Ashley, Faith, Santiago, Shirley, Angie, Cristian, Bruce and Emmanuel each represent the extraordinary determination and brilliance that exists within our community,” said Minerva Perez, the executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island. “Their stories reflect not only academic excellence, but courage, leadership, compassion and the sacrifices of immigrant families who work every day to create brighter futures for the next generation.”

***

The Riverhead Chamber of Commerce will host “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” a country-themed BBQ street fair at Grangebel Park in Riverhead, this coming Thursday, the 4th of June, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event will feature live country music, BBQ food vendors, line dancing, cold drinks and family activities. Organizers are promoting the event as a kickoff to the summer season and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Line dancing – Kids zone – Family fun!

The “America 250: 4th Before the 4th,” country street fair is this Thursday at Grangebel Park in downtown Riverhead from 5 to 9 p.m.

For more information, email info@riverheadchamber.com.

***

The federal Education Department's investigation into the Connetquot school district has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, after the agency determined that the district violated civil rights law by complying with the state's Native American mascot ban. Darwin Yanes reports in NEWSDAY that in a letter dated May 29, the Education Department's assistant secretary for civil rights, Kimberly Richey, asked the U.S. Justice Department to "commence judicial proceedings" against the district.

"After the District changed its Native American mascot in response to a state regulation that [Office of Civil Rights] has determined to be discriminatory, Connetquot has not yet taken the steps necessary to come into compliance with federal civil rights law," Richey said in a statement. "It is neither fair nor lawful to permit certain national‑origin‑based names and mascots while erasing others, and we are now referring the matter to the Department of Justice for further enforcement."

Public school districts in New York State were given until June 30, 2025, to comply with a state regulation banning the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools.

Some Native American leaders have said that the mascots promote hurtful stereotypes and can have a negative impact on the mental health and self-esteem of Native youth.

But the federal Education Department has said the ban violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in federally funded education programs on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The agency's argument is that the ban does not allow the use of Native American mascots while permitting those "derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the 'Dutchmen' and the 'Huguenots.' "

The ban affected 13 districts on Long Island. Connetquot, which used the nickname the Thunderbirds, was among them.

Experts have told Newsday that the federal determination puts the Connetquot district in an "impossible" position of having to choose between complying with either state or federal officials.

JP O'Hare, a spokesman for the state Education Department, said in a statement yesterday that the department was "not concerned" by the referral of the Connetquot case to the Justice Department because "it does not impact" the settlement agreement between the state and the district.

He added that the federal Education Department "has made a similar referral in the past without effect."

The federal agency, after determining the state ban violated civil rights law, had also referred that case to the Justice Department.

***

After lagging behind other state regions for years, police in Suffolk County significantly increased enforcement against dangerous driving violations in 2025, new statewide data show. Meanwhile, in Nassau County, enforcement for those offenses dropped last year and is significantly below its pre-pandemic level.

Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that the Suffolk County Police Department handed out around 76,150 tickets for speeding, aggressive driving, impaired driving, distracted driving and seat belts in 2025 — a 26% increase from 2024 and the department's highest number in at least a decade. Several village and town police departments also increased ticketing for those core safety violations, according to official data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research at SUNY Albany.

But ticketing for those same categories declined in Nassau County in 2025.

The new ticketing data comes after Newsday reported last year that between 2016 and 2024, police in Suffolk County had issued significantly fewer dangerous driving tickets than other parts of the state when adjusted for traffic. However, the new data indicates Suffolk County caught up in 2025 and surpassed several other regions and Nassau, relative to miles driven.

***

Hamptons Pride will hit a five-year milestone this year with the nonprofit’s annual Pride Parade, which will return for another colorful march through East Hampton Village this coming Saturday, June 6.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that this year’s parade, the only pride parade on the South Fork, will start between the Presbyterian Church and Guild Hall on Main Street. Parade lineups will begin at 11 a.m.; the parade will step off at 12 noon. Those registered to march will make their way east on Main Street to Newtown Lane, Railroad Avenue and Lumber Lane.

The parade will end at Herrick Park, where there will be music and celebration until 3 p.m., with performances by the Bridgehampton School Marimba Band, DJ Watts and local singer-songwriter Inda Eaton, who will be joined by Jeff Marshall and Mila Tina.

The parade, which commemorates Pride Month, has grown into a major community event. Last year, the parade brought a crowd despite steady rainfall throughout the day.

That's the 2026 Pride Parade in East Hampton Village this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

***

They’re calling it a ringing success.

A majority of New York teachers reported huge classroom improvements after the state’s first phone-free school year — thanks to better student focus, less bullying and more kids just being kids.

Hannah Fierick and Alex Oliveira report in THE NY POST that about 600 public school teachers were polled and 76% of them gave high marks to the no-cellphone policy implemented in September, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced yesterday during a roundtable at Brooklyn’s PS 383 Middle School.

The educators reported a noticeable improvement in student behavior and said they were more engaged in discussions and collaborated better with one another.

“They’re participating in class discussions, and teachers can finally teach,” Hochul told reporters Monday while discussing the responses. “We have finally kids talking to each other.”

Hochul was one of the leading proponents of the measure, which affected the nearly 1 million K-12 kids in the state’s public and charter schools by requiring them to place their phones in monitored bins, lockers or secured bags at the start of each school day.

Albany touted the measure — passed in May 2025 — as “one of the nation’s strongest phone-free policies,” and said it came largely from student pleas for freedom from the social pressures phones put on them during the day.

“‘You have to save us from ourselves,'” Hochul said one student told her. “I realized it was this addictive device that held their attention throughout the day, kept them engaged with it and disengaged from the teachers.”

Governor Hochul did not provide test scores to bolster the teacher accounts of improvements, but said it “makes sense” that positive results would begin to show within a few years — if not sooner.

“I feel very optimistic that we will see some improvement,” Hochul said. “But the main focus of this has always been their emotional development and trying to combat such negativity that they’re enveloped with throughout the school day.”

It was on May 28, 2025, that Long Island Rail Road locomotive engineers’ head Kevin Sexton, speaking at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, first warned of the potential for the first LIRR union strike in more than three decades. MTA managers would have to come to the table with an offer that "reflects the value, skill and sacrifice of the workers who keep the railroad running every day."

At the time, MTA chairman Janno Lieber largely dismissed the threat, saying, ‘We don’t see that happening in the near-term." He suggested the five unions, representing about half the LIRR’s 7,000-member organized workforce, would ultimately fall in line and take the same deal ratified by "other, larger Long Island Rail Road unions."

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that last month, less than a year later, on the third day of a work stoppage that sent tens of thousands of Long Islanders scrambling to get to work and back home with the nation’s largest commuter railroad shut down, Lieber stood beside Gov. Kathy Hochul as she announced a deal once widely considered unfathomable: Giving workers raises of 4.5% in a fourth contract year, with only modest concessions.

John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union — the MTA’s largest labor organization, representing more than 40,000 city bus and subway workers — called it "a big win" for the LIRR labor leaders, and for transit unions throughout the state who hope the new contract means bigger raises for them.

Some labor sources disputed the significance of the unions' achievement, noting some givebacks — including extending the term of the contract — dilute the value of the 4.5% raise in the last year of the four-year deal.

MTA officials have said they got a win in shining a light on the federally regulated LIRR collective bargaining process and that the agreed upon deal is affordable for Long Islanders.

***

Thousands of Long Islanders could start losing food assistance as soon as today because of the Trump administration’s changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Roughly 21,439 Suffolk County residents considered by the Trump administration to be "able-bodied" could lose access to the federal program, also known as SNAP, as a result of new work requirements to receive benefits.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in NEWSDAY that these people could be cut off from the program formerly known as food stamps, according to the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's December tally.

Last year, President Donald Trump signed a sprawling budget bill passed by Congress that made several changes to the SNAP program.

Among the key changes in the law were provisions regarding those considered "Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents," officials said. Those in that category are restricted to three months of SNAP benefits across three years if they don’t meet work or volunteer requirements, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

New York State previously held federal waivers so that people in that category could continue receiving benefits outside that time period, but most of those waivers have lapsed, officials said. The extensions ended March 1, starting the clock on the three-month timeline ending June 1st…today. The law also makes it harder for states to obtain the federal waiver, requiring an unemployment rate of above 10%. In April, New York had an unemployment rate of 4.6%, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The law also includes increasing the age limit of those who would have to follow the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents timeline. Previously, it was limited to those aged 18 to 54. Now, the law has raised the higher age limit to 64, the USDA said.

Who can be exempt, and what are the new work-requirement rules?

People considered to be Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents should meet several requirements, including working or volunteering, the state said.

The work rules also can be met by gaining a job skill, though it must be approved by the local department of social services and be for 80 hours a month, according to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The OTDA said there are several exceptions to the rules, including being pregnant or of Native American descent. Other exemptions may include not being able to work because of a physical or mental health disability, officials said.

The state also recommends reaching out to the Department of Social Services for Nassau or Suffolk for additional assistance for Long Island residents.

***

Those hoping to learn more about career opportunities within East Hampton town will soon have the chance.

Lisa Finn reports on Patch.com that the Town of East Hampton will host a job fair this coming Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the main meeting room at Town Hall, located at 159 Pantigo Road in East Hampton.

The job fair will give residents and prospective applicants an opportunity to learn more about employment opportunities with East Hampton Town, the civil service process, and the many ways local government serves the community, officials said.

Representatives from the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service will be on site, along with the town’s human resources department and representatives from the East Hampton town police, recreation, code and animal control, highway and sanitation departments.

No registration is required. Interested applicants are encouraged to stop by, meet department representatives, ask questions, and learn more about current and future employment opportunities with the Town of East Hampton.

***

This past Thursday, Riverhead Town Board members questioned the financial details and process behind Supervisor Jerry Halpin’s proposed early retirement incentive, after Halpin brought the proposal to a public work session for the first time following two prior executive session discussions and an earlier social media announcement and press release. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the proposal, still in conceptual form, would offer early retirement incentives to eligible CSEA, PBA and SOA employees. Riverhead Town Financial Administrator Jeannette DiPaola said the idea was explored after the town completed its 2025 annual financial report and found the general fund had a $5 million surplus due largely to higher-than-projected interest earnings on investments.

“I have to admit, at first I was skeptical, because I’m very conservative and don’t really want to let go of any money,” DiPaola said. “But I was asked to put the numbers together on paper, and when we did,” she said, the potential savings became clearer.

Council Member Ken Rothwell questioned why the interest earnings weren’t used to reduce the 2026 budget and tax levy.

“Because we never know. Interest can change tomorrow,” DiPaola said. “When I look back at how we budgeted for interest, we’ve always budgeted conservatively, because the market can tank,” she said.

DiPaola presented examples showing potential savings from replacing higher-paid employees with lower-paid new hires and moving employees from higher-cost retirement tiers to lower-cost tiers.

If every eligible PBA and SOA employee accepted an incentive, DiPaola estimated total savings at about $1.3 million to $1.4 million in the first year. She said the town currently has about $33.4 million in fund balance.

Riverhead Town Council Member Denise Merrifield said the public needs to understand that the proposal would require an incentive payment beyond the severance and benefits employees are already owed.

“Someone’s not walking out the door in early retirement without some incentive, and that incentive is money,” Merrifield said. “I need the public to understand what that is.”

***

Long Island allergy sufferers: the spring was as bad as you thought it was. Now get ready for summer.

This week, both tree and grass pollen are high as the seasons start to transition with longer, warmer days.

Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that the spring was particularly difficult because it did not ramp up gradually, said Erin McGintee, an allergist and immunologist at ENT and Allergy Associates in Southampton. The cold winter slowed down the early blooming trees while the late blooming trees started earlier as soon as the weather warmed up.

"With particularly cold winters and an early spring, everything sort of pops at once, so to speak," she said. "When everything's out all at once, for the people who suffer from tree pollen allergy, it can be really rough. And then, on top of that, grass starts in May. So you’re getting a double whammy."

That means more people struggling with runny noses, red, watery eyes and sneezing.

Tree season, which can start in February, usually runs through April and into May. Grass pollen kicks up in May and goes through June followed by the first weed pollen days in August.

In March, Newsday spoke with Long Island allergy experts who predicted an "intense tree pollen season" based on the amount of snow and rain over the winter.

In general, grass pollen season is lasting longer and is more intense, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America....]]>While falling short of the resounding victory some LIRR employees hoped for, the five railroad unions that went on strike two weeks ago surpassed many observers’ expectations — by securing raises higher than transit workers have seen in years, while giving up relatively little and cementing themselves as major players in New York’s labor relations landscape, union leaders, MTA officials and sources with knowledge of the negotiations said.

It was on May 28, 2025, that Long Island Rail Road locomotive engineers’ head Kevin Sexton, speaking at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, first warned of the potential for the first LIRR union strike in more than three decades. MTA managers would have to come to the table with an offer that "reflects the value, skill and sacrifice of the workers who keep the railroad running every day."

At the time, MTA chairman Janno Lieber largely dismissed the threat, saying, ‘We don’t see that happening in the near-term." He suggested the five unions, representing about half the LIRR’s 7,000-member organized workforce, would ultimately fall in line and take the same deal ratified by "other, larger Long Island Rail Road unions."

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that last month, less than a year later, on the third day of a work stoppage that sent tens of thousands of Long Islanders scrambling to get to work and back home with the nation’s largest commuter railroad shut down, Lieber stood beside Gov. Kathy Hochul as she announced a deal once widely considered unfathomable: Giving workers raises of 4.5% in a fourth contract year, with only modest concessions.

John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union — the MTA’s largest labor organization, representing more than 40,000 city bus and subway workers — called it "a big win" for the LIRR labor leaders, and for transit unions throughout the state who hope the new contract means bigger raises for them.

Some labor sources disputed the significance of the unions' achievement, noting some givebacks — including extending the term of the contract — dilute the value of the 4.5% raise in the last year of the four-year deal.

MTA officials have said they got a win in shining a light on the federally regulated LIRR collective bargaining process and that the agreed upon deal is affordable for Long Islanders.

***

Thousands of Long Islanders could start losing food assistance as soon as today because of the Trump administration’s changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Roughly 21,439 Suffolk County residents considered by the Trump administration to be "able-bodied" could lose access to the federal program, also known as SNAP, as a result of new work requirements to receive benefits.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in NEWSDAY that these people could be cut off from the program formerly known as food stamps, according to the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's December tally.

Last year, President Donald Trump signed a sprawling budget bill passed by Congress that made several changes to the SNAP program.

Among the key changes in the law were provisions regarding those considered "Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents," officials said. Those in that category are restricted to three months of SNAP benefits across three years if they don’t meet work or volunteer requirements, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

New York State previously held federal waivers so that people in that category could continue receiving benefits outside that time period, but most of those waivers have lapsed, officials said. The extensions ended March 1, starting the clock on the three-month timeline ending June 1st…today. The law also makes it harder for states to obtain the federal waiver, requiring an unemployment rate of above 10%. In April, New York had an unemployment rate of 4.6%, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The law also includes increasing the age limit of those who would have to follow the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents timeline. Previously, it was limited to those aged 18 to 54. Now, the law has raised the higher age limit to 64, the USDA said.

Who can be exempt, and what are the new work-requirement rules?

People considered to be Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents should meet several requirements, including working or volunteering, the state said.

The work rules also can be met by gaining a job skill, though it must be approved by the local department of social services and be for 80 hours a month, according to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The OTDA said there are several exceptions to the rules, including being pregnant or of Native American descent. Other exemptions may include not being able to work because of a physical or mental health disability, officials said.

The state also recommends reaching out to the Department of Social Services for Nassau or Suffolk for additional assistance for Long Island residents.

***

Those hoping to learn more about career opportunities within East Hampton town will soon have the chance.

Lisa Finn reports on Patch.com that the Town of East Hampton will host a job fair this coming Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the main meeting room at Town Hall, located at 159 Pantigo Road in East Hampton.

The job fair will give residents and prospective applicants an opportunity to learn more about employment opportunities with East Hampton Town, the civil service process, and the many ways local government serves the community, officials said.

Representatives from the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service will be on site, along with the town’s human resources department and representatives from the East Hampton town police, recreation, code and animal control, highway and sanitation departments.

No registration is required. Interested applicants are encouraged to stop by, meet department representatives, ask questions, and learn more about current and future employment opportunities with the Town of East Hampton.

***

This past Thursday, Riverhead Town Board members questioned the financial details and process behind Supervisor Jerry Halpin’s proposed early retirement incentive, after Halpin brought the proposal to a public work session for the first time following two prior executive session discussions and an earlier social media announcement and press release. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the proposal, still in conceptual form, would offer early retirement incentives to eligible CSEA, PBA and SOA employees. Riverhead Town Financial Administrator Jeannette DiPaola said the idea was explored after the town completed its 2025 annual financial report and found the general fund had a $5 million surplus due largely to higher-than-projected interest earnings on investments.

“I have to admit, at first I was skeptical, because I’m very conservative and don’t really want to let go of any money,” DiPaola said. “But I was asked to put the numbers together on paper, and when we did,” she said, the potential savings became clearer.

Council Member Ken Rothwell questioned why the interest earnings weren’t used to reduce the 2026 budget and tax levy.

“Because we never know. Interest can change tomorrow,” DiPaola said. “When I look back at how we budgeted for interest, we’ve always budgeted conservatively, because the market can tank,” she said.

DiPaola presented examples showing potential savings from replacing higher-paid employees with lower-paid new hires and moving employees from higher-cost retirement tiers to lower-cost tiers.

If every eligible PBA and SOA employee accepted an incentive, DiPaola estimated total savings at about $1.3 million to $1.4 million in the first year. She said the town currently has about $33.4 million in fund balance.

Riverhead Town Council Member Denise Merrifield said the public needs to understand that the proposal would require an incentive payment beyond the severance and benefits employees are already owed.

“Someone’s not walking out the door in early retirement without some incentive, and that incentive is money,” Merrifield said. “I need the public to understand what that is.”

***

Long Island allergy sufferers: the spring was as bad as you thought it was. Now get ready for summer.

This week, both tree and grass pollen are high as the seasons start to transition with longer, warmer days.

Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that the spring was particularly difficult because it did not ramp up gradually, said Erin McGintee, an allergist and immunologist at ENT and Allergy Associates in Southampton. The cold winter slowed down the early blooming trees while the late blooming trees started earlier as soon as the weather warmed up.

"With particularly cold winters and an early spring, everything sort of pops at once, so to speak," she said. "When everything's out all at once, for the people who suffer from tree pollen allergy, it can be really rough. And then, on top of that, grass starts in May. So you’re getting a double whammy."

That means more people struggling with runny noses, red, watery eyes and sneezing.

Tree season, which can start in February, usually runs through April and into May. Grass pollen kicks up in May and goes through June followed by the first weed pollen days in August.

In March, Newsday spoke with Long Island allergy experts who predicted an "intense tree pollen season" based on the amount of snow and rain over the winter.

In general, grass pollen season is lasting longer and is more intense, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Some of the most common varieties of grass that cause allergies are Bermuda, fescue, Kentucky blue, rye and sweet vernal

Climate change plus increasing carbon dioxide in the air is leading to longer growing seasons and higher amounts of grass pollen, the organization said.

"There hasn’t been much rain, so there is nothing to take the pollen down a notch," McGintee said. "The people who have grass pollen allergies will be miserable for the next two months."

***

The Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association hosts a presentation on “Ticks & Tick Borne Diseases” with guest speaker Scott Campbell of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services’ Arthropod-Borne Disease Lab this evening from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Veterans Park, on Peconic Bay Boulevard in Mattituck.

This evening’s event is Free.

Visit mattitucklaurelcivic.org for more details.

***

A Suffolk County school district has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly violating federal civil rights law with the controversial name change of its Thunderbirds mascot in response to a New York State ban on Native American imagery.

Alex Mitchell and Anna Young report in THE NY POST that the Connetquot Central School District in Bohemia, Long Island, was slapped with a letter Friday after a federal review conducted by the Office for Civil Rights found the district flouted Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when altering its Thunderbirds nickname for the “T-Birds.“

“After the District changed its Native American mascot in response to a state regulation that OCR has determined to be discriminatory, Connetquot has not yet taken the steps necessary to come into compliance with federal civil rights law,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said.

“It is neither fair nor lawful to permit certain national-origin-based names and mascots while erasing others, and we are now referring the matter to the Department of Justice for further enforcement.

“The Trump Administration remains committed to upholding equal treatment under the law,” she concluded.

The name change was made last year to comply with a 2023 New York state law banning Native American-inspired names, mascots and imagery. After a legal battle, Connetquot officials reached a compromise with state leaders in September to shorten the nickname to T-Birds. But federal officials argued the rebranding discriminates on the basis of national origin and race, saying the ban doesn’t apply the same standard to other racial and ethnic groups.

“Based on a review of publicly available information … OCR determined that the District is not in compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulation,” the letter sent to the Connetquot school district said. “The Department therefore requests and recommends that the DOJ commence judicial proceedings against the District for violating Title VI.”

The American Federation of Teachers’ president, Randi Weingarten, laid out the union’s proposals in a speech Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The AFT’s 1.8 million members includes about 130,000 New York State United Teachers members in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the union said.

Maura McDermott reports in NEWSDAY that the union’s recommendations include an immediate ban on screens, including computer-based assessments, for students in kindergarten through second grade, as well as prohibitions on the use of artificial intelligence in elementary schools and on so-called “social companion” AI chatbots for those under 16. Weingarten cited Jonathan Haidt’s widely discussed book “The Anxious Generation” as an inspiration for the proposals.

Students are “drowning in tech,” Weingarten said at the National Press Club. Educators and parents, she said, “cannot manage the tech juggernaut on our own.”

The use of technology in the classroom has been a hotly-debated topic around the nation, with some states exploring measures to limit students' use of digital devices or artificial intelligence.

Local educators have seen “very positive results” from the state's ban on students’ smart devices in schools, including better behavior and more interactions between students, and restrictions on in-class technology also would be welcome, said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association

“There's studies that show too much screen time is not good for the developing brain, so obviously we would support that,” he said. Plus, he said, “the use of artificial intelligence by students has to be closely monitored” to make sure the technology is being used in ways that are age appropriate.

However, Vecchio said it is important for local officials to maintain control over decisions such as which vendors to work with and what policies to implement, “as opposed to a one size fits all mandate.”

***

By early afternoon on a recent Tuesday, Greenport was bustling. Tourists sauntered between boutiques, friends caught up over coffee at sidewalk tables, music spilled from open doors.

But even against a busy backdrop, empty storefronts, "for lease" signs and dim windows are hard to miss as business owners and village officials grapple with a surge of downtown vacancies.

Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that as the summer begins, with day trippers trekking from western Long Island and tourists arriving on marina docks, business leaders are launching a plan to fill empty stores, ideally beyond the three-month sprint from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Nearly a dozen storefronts remain vacant, largely concentrated across the waterfront on Front Street. Though there are glimmers of hope as several new shops and restaurants plan summer openings, a publicly funded business district is pushing to bring a burst of new business to the North Fork village.

Rich Vandenburgh, the president of the Greenport Business Improvement District, described a “perfect storm” of challenges, including several retiring shopkeepers, coupled with rising rents, seasonal pressures and consumer trends.

“We’ll find ways to bridge the gaps and get good quality folks in there, and hopefully have them be there year-round," Vandenburgh said in an interview. “Unfortunately, some of the landlords are looking for rents that are Southampton, East Hampton kind of rents that are just prohibitive."

There are several vacancies on Main Street in Greenport, including a former candy store and pizzeria.

Among the most prominent vacancies is The Arcade, a longtime general store that closed in 2017. The sprawling landmark, founded in 1928, once sold everything from beach towels and toys to sewing kits and household goods.

Today, real estate posters fill the large windows of the 16,600-square-foot building. An online listing asks for a monthly rent of $27,667.

Residents are split over the right path forward as a debate brews. One former mayor favors more forceful tactics, such as seizing properties by eminent domain.

***

This Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton presents acclaimed pianist Olga Vinokur – who will return to the library for an afternoon of classical piano music. She has been praised by the New York Times for her “exquisite performance” and “the strength and consistency of her artistry.” From Great Romantics to American Favorites Sunday’s program will include pieces by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Gershwin among others.

Reservations required.

Visit the R.M.L. website at rogersmemorial.librarycalendar.com/event/olga-vinokur-piano-78124

That’s this coming Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Rd, Southampton, NY 11968

(631) 283-0774

***

Roughly a week after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new restrictions on federal immigration agents, including a mask ban, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made clear it was girding for battle.

Grace Ashford and Hamed Aleaziz report in THE NY TIMES that in an internal memo, the department’s general counsel assured agents that they were “not legally required to comply with state and local mask prohibitions while carrying out their official duties.”

The memo, dated May 15 and reviewed by The New York Times, added that officers should “freely perform their authorized duties without concern for state interference or fear of prosecution.”

The guidance signals that the agency has no intention of cooperating with a wave of legislation across the country that aims to curtail immigration enforcement.

New York is the latest to join the fray, enacting legislation that bans masks, allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to be sued for constitutional violations, and prohibits agents from searching “sensitive locations” like hospitals and schools without a warrant signed by a judge.

“If you are enforcing the law, you should not be hiding from it,” Jen Goodman, a spokeswoman for Governor Hochul, said in response to the news that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, was already preparing to disregard New York’s mask ban. “Any ICE agent who comes to New York and violates our laws will be held accountable.”

The state will also prohibit informal and formal arrangements, called 287(g) agreements, between counties and ICE that had allowed the federal agency to use local law enforcement and jails to arrest and detain people suspected of being in the country illegally.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it does not comment on leaked materials. But it called mask bans like New York’s “despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers,” arguing that agents wear face coverings only to protect themselves and that under the Constitution, state and local politicians “do not control federal law enforcement.”

“To be crystal clear: We will not abide by unconstitutional bans,” the statement said.

The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, said earlier this month that New York’s legislation would make his agency’s work “more dangerous and less efficient.”

“When I lose those 287(g) programs, I lose those jails, that means I’ve got to send more officers into the street to look for more people you released,” he said in an interview with The Washington Examiner.

Lawmakers and immigrant advocates say that New York’s legislation, which was included in the state budget formally passed Wednesday evening, does not go far enough. Even though informal agreements between ICE and local law enforcement are prohibited, there is nothing in the law explicitly preventing the police from calling immigration officials after, for instance, a traffic stop involving someone potentially subject to deportation.

Governor Hochul, who fought against creating a blanket rule to ban such calls, said yesterday that police officers still should not be calling immigration just because someone is speaking Spanish.

“Why would you call ICE in that situation?” she said. “That is not your job.”

***

More details are emerging about the death of Cesar Albarracin Guncay, a sixth-grade student from the Sag Harbor Union Free School District who died this week following a rafting accident during an annual school trip to the Poconos.

Kathryn G. Menu reports on 27east.com that according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a party of five boaters was traveling the Lehigh River in East Penn Township, Pennsylvania. The group was in an inflatable raft as part of a larger guided excursion when the vessel capsized, ejecting everyone on board. Guncay did not immediately resurface, prompting a search and rescue operation that eventually recovered the child. According to the commission, everyone else on the boat was recovered safely. Guncay was one of 74 students on the school trip.

A release issued by the Carbon County Coroner’s Office stated that emergency personnel were dispatched to reports of a drowning near mile marker 99 of the D&L Trail along the Lehigh River. The 12-year-old boy had already been removed from the water and was being transported by the Lehigh Fire Department Dive Team to an area known as “Marvin Gardens.”

Guncay was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. An autopsy was scheduled for yesterday. An ongoing investigation is being led by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat...]]>Schools should do more to limit technology in the classroom but calls from the nation's second-largest teachers' union to impose sharp new restrictions on computer use — including a ban on screens for the youngest students — go too far, several Long Island educators said this week.

The American Federation of Teachers’ president, Randi Weingarten, laid out the union’s proposals in a speech Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The AFT’s 1.8 million members includes about 130,000 New York State United Teachers members in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the union said.

Maura McDermott reports in NEWSDAY that the union’s recommendations include an immediate ban on screens, including computer-based assessments, for students in kindergarten through second grade, as well as prohibitions on the use of artificial intelligence in elementary schools and on so-called “social companion” AI chatbots for those under 16. Weingarten cited Jonathan Haidt’s widely discussed book “The Anxious Generation” as an inspiration for the proposals.

Students are “drowning in tech,” Weingarten said at the National Press Club. Educators and parents, she said, “cannot manage the tech juggernaut on our own.”

The use of technology in the classroom has been a hotly-debated topic around the nation, with some states exploring measures to limit students' use of digital devices or artificial intelligence.

Local educators have seen “very positive results” from the state's ban on students’ smart devices in schools, including better behavior and more interactions between students, and restrictions on in-class technology also would be welcome, said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association

“There's studies that show too much screen time is not good for the developing brain, so obviously we would support that,” he said. Plus, he said, “the use of artificial intelligence by students has to be closely monitored” to make sure the technology is being used in ways that are age appropriate.

However, Vecchio said it is important for local officials to maintain control over decisions such as which vendors to work with and what policies to implement, “as opposed to a one size fits all mandate.”

***

By early afternoon on a recent Tuesday, Greenport was bustling. Tourists sauntered between boutiques, friends caught up over coffee at sidewalk tables, music spilled from open doors.

But even against a busy backdrop, empty storefronts, "for lease" signs and dim windows are hard to miss as business owners and village officials grapple with a surge of downtown vacancies.

Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that as the summer begins, with day trippers trekking from western Long Island and tourists arriving on marina docks, business leaders are launching a plan to fill empty stores, ideally beyond the three-month sprint from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Nearly a dozen storefronts remain vacant, largely concentrated across the waterfront on Front Street. Though there are glimmers of hope as several new shops and restaurants plan summer openings, a publicly funded business district is pushing to bring a burst of new business to the North Fork village.

Rich Vandenburgh, the president of the Greenport Business Improvement District, described a “perfect storm” of challenges, including several retiring shopkeepers, coupled with rising rents, seasonal pressures and consumer trends.

“We’ll find ways to bridge the gaps and get good quality folks in there, and hopefully have them be there year-round," Vandenburgh said in an interview. “Unfortunately, some of the landlords are looking for rents that are Southampton, East Hampton kind of rents that are just prohibitive."

There are several vacancies on Main Street in Greenport, including a former candy store and pizzeria.

Among the most prominent vacancies is The Arcade, a longtime general store that closed in 2017. The sprawling landmark, founded in 1928, once sold everything from beach towels and toys to sewing kits and household goods.

Today, real estate posters fill the large windows of the 16,600-square-foot building. An online listing asks for a monthly rent of $27,667.

Residents are split over the right path forward as a debate brews. One former mayor favors more forceful tactics, such as seizing properties by eminent domain.

***

This Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton presents acclaimed pianist Olga Vinokur – who will return to the library for an afternoon of classical piano music. She has been praised by the New York Times for her “exquisite performance” and “the strength and consistency of her artistry.” From Great Romantics to American Favorites Sunday’s program will include pieces by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Gershwin among others.

Reservations required.

Visit the R.M.L. website at rogersmemorial.librarycalendar.com/event/olga-vinokur-piano-78124

That’s this coming Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Rd, Southampton, NY 11968

(631) 283-0774

***

Roughly a week after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new restrictions on federal immigration agents, including a mask ban, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made clear it was girding for battle.

Grace Ashford and Hamed Aleaziz report in THE NY TIMES that in an internal memo, the department’s general counsel assured agents that they were “not legally required to comply with state and local mask prohibitions while carrying out their official duties.”

The memo, dated May 15 and reviewed by The New York Times, added that officers should “freely perform their authorized duties without concern for state interference or fear of prosecution.”

The guidance signals that the agency has no intention of cooperating with a wave of legislation across the country that aims to curtail immigration enforcement.

New York is the latest to join the fray, enacting legislation that bans masks, allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to be sued for constitutional violations, and prohibits agents from searching “sensitive locations” like hospitals and schools without a warrant signed by a judge.

“If you are enforcing the law, you should not be hiding from it,” Jen Goodman, a spokeswoman for Governor Hochul, said in response to the news that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, was already preparing to disregard New York’s mask ban. “Any ICE agent who comes to New York and violates our laws will be held accountable.”

The state will also prohibit informal and formal arrangements, called 287(g) agreements, between counties and ICE that had allowed the federal agency to use local law enforcement and jails to arrest and detain people suspected of being in the country illegally.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it does not comment on leaked materials. But it called mask bans like New York’s “despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers,” arguing that agents wear face coverings only to protect themselves and that under the Constitution, state and local politicians “do not control federal law enforcement.”

“To be crystal clear: We will not abide by unconstitutional bans,” the statement said.

The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, said earlier this month that New York’s legislation would make his agency’s work “more dangerous and less efficient.”

“When I lose those 287(g) programs, I lose those jails, that means I’ve got to send more officers into the street to look for more people you released,” he said in an interview with The Washington Examiner.

Lawmakers and immigrant advocates say that New York’s legislation, which was included in the state budget formally passed Wednesday evening, does not go far enough. Even though informal agreements between ICE and local law enforcement are prohibited, there is nothing in the law explicitly preventing the police from calling immigration officials after, for instance, a traffic stop involving someone potentially subject to deportation.

Governor Hochul, who fought against creating a blanket rule to ban such calls, said yesterday that police officers still should not be calling immigration just because someone is speaking Spanish.

“Why would you call ICE in that situation?” she said. “That is not your job.”

***

More details are emerging about the death of Cesar Albarracin Guncay, a sixth-grade student from the Sag Harbor Union Free School District who died this week following a rafting accident during an annual school trip to the Poconos.

Kathryn G. Menu reports on 27east.com that according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a party of five boaters was traveling the Lehigh River in East Penn Township, Pennsylvania. The group was in an inflatable raft as part of a larger guided excursion when the vessel capsized, ejecting everyone on board. Guncay did not immediately resurface, prompting a search and rescue operation that eventually recovered the child. According to the commission, everyone else on the boat was recovered safely. Guncay was one of 74 students on the school trip.

A release issued by the Carbon County Coroner’s Office stated that emergency personnel were dispatched to reports of a drowning near mile marker 99 of the D&L Trail along the Lehigh River. The 12-year-old boy had already been removed from the water and was being transported by the Lehigh Fire Department Dive Team to an area known as “Marvin Gardens.”

Guncay was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. An autopsy was scheduled for yesterday. An ongoing investigation is being led by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, with assistance from the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency, East Penn Township Fire Department, Lehighton Fire Department, Bowmanstown Fire Company, Palmerton Ambulance, and Lehighton Ambulance.

On Thursday, Sag Harbor Village Police Chief Robert Drake confirmed his department is also participating in the investigation.

“I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the student’s family, the school community, and all those affected by this unimaginable tragedy,” Drake said in a statement.

School counseling staff will be available to students, said Sag Harbor District Superintendent Jeff Nichols.

He also encouraged members of the community to reach out to the Response Crisis Center and the Long Island Crisis Center if help is needed.

***

The Springs Historical Society hosts a new art show, “CLIMATE,” looking at climate through five distinct lenses: Cultural, Environmental, Social, Emotional, and Physical, with an opening reception at SPRINGS COMMUNITY LIBRARY this coming Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The show will be on view through July 12.

The Springs Historical Society (SHS) is pleased to welcome guest curators Beth Barry and Laurie Hall to the Springs Library.

In this curated showcase, Springs artists explore CLIMATE not merely as a meteorological phenomenon, but as a multi-dimensional force that shapes our existence.

The exhibit’s opening reception is this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at SPRINGS COMMUNITY LIBRARY, 1 Parsons Place, East Hampton, N.Y.

***

New York State lawmakers this week approved a more than $268 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, touching on a wide range of activities and programs with the aim of making the state more affordable for residents.

Parents, children, subway riders, seniors, college students, utility ratepayers, nicotine pouch users, farmers and food servers are among those who could be impacted by the budget.

Keshia Clukey and Yancey Roy report in NEWSDAY that Gov. Kathy Hochul yesterday signed the final spending bills, roughly eight weeks after the state’s April 1 budget deadline. The New York State Senate and Assembly approved the last measures late Wednesday night.

Here are some items in the state budget which might be meaningful to New Yorkers.

Income tax rates frozen

Utility rebate checks

No taxes on tips

More childcare, pre-K seats

Tax credit boost for parents, caregivers

No tuition hike, higher education help

Pension sweeteners for public workers

Bigger taxes on nicotine pouches

No property taxes for disabled vets

More police and barriers in the subway

Rent freeze for some seniors

Tariff relief for farmers

Vaughn Golden and Matt Troutman report in THE NY POST that watchdogs and experts praised some provisions in the budget, but blasted it for being dangerously bloated.

“Shortsighted spending choices abound,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-profit civic think tank and watchdog.

“The nearly two-month late budget agreement delivers meaningful policy wins but squanders the opportunity to shore up the state’s fiscal foundation.”

James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, warned the tax on secondary homes would hurt New York City, even as he praised several policy reforms – particularly delaying the state’s climate law.

“State spending increased nearly six percent this year and now stands over $268 billion – with tougher fiscal decisions awaiting state leaders down the road,” he said in a statement.

The right-hand lane of westbound traffic will remain open at all times, separated from the so-called “contra-lane” by cones that will be put down and picked up each morning.

The express contra-lane will run from the Flanders Road interchange to the intersection of Shrubland Road and County Road 39, where the buses will turn off and take Shrubland and Sebonac Road to the Shinnecock Hills G.C. property. The eastbound express contra-lane will only operate until 10 a.m. each morning, after which the dividers will be removed and both lanes on the north side of the median returned to westbound traffic for the remainder of the day.

In 2018, the remote parking lots for the U.S. Open Golf Championship were at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton. But because much of what was once vacant on the Gabreski property has now been developed, the USGA this year was forced to move its remote lots all the way to the Grumman property in Calverton.

Tournament directors said that in order to incentivize people to use the remote parking and the shuttle buses, they needed to find a way to cut down on the overall travel time from Calverton — otherwise more people might opt to try to drive and find parking around Southampton.

***

The Bridgehampton School announced yesterday that it has hired Dr. Brigid Collins as its new superintendent of schools.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that Dr. Collins had been serving as interim superintendent since February, filling the void left by former Superintendent Dr. Mary T. Kelly, who announced her retirement in January.

In a letter to parents in the district, Bridgehampton School Board President Jo Ann Comfort said that the board made the decision to hire Collins after a “thorough and competitive search process,” during which Collins emerged as the top candidate.

“We have also been fortunate to experience her leadership style while she has served as the interim superintendent, and the board unanimously concluded that Dr. Collins brings the vision, experience and leadership qualities needed to guide our district forward.”

Collins lives in Sag Harbor with her husband, Jim Stewart, who was a longtime teacher and coach in the East Hampton School District

Bridgid Collins has more than three decades of experience as an educator. Her career began in upstate New York. After graduating with a teaching degree from Union College, Collins did a one-year internship at Niskayuna High School and taught for two years at Oneida Middle School as an English and reading teacher.

Since then, she has moved to the east end where Dr. Collins has furthered her education and worked as teacher and administrator in East Hampton, Montauk, and Southampton…and now in Bridgehampton as that school district’s new superintendent of schools…no longer their interim leader.

***

Thanks to a collaborative effort from several different groups, the Sag Harbor Village Police Department now has an officer with four legs and a mission to reduce stress. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Gillies, a 17-month-old English Labrador, is now an official member of the department, serving as a therapy dog, after a special shield ceremony held at Village Hall in Sag Harbor this past Tuesday.

Gillies will play a key role in supporting officer wellness and overall well-being. In the few weeks he’s been with the department, he’s become something of a local celebrity. His handler, Sergeant Kelly Anderson, said people have come into the department on multiple occasions asking if Gillies is on the job, proving he’s already perfectly suited to one of his other job duties — serving as a connection between the department and the greater Sag Harbor community through outreach, events and overall public engagement.

Gillies is named after Clark Gillies, the New York Islanders 4-time Stanley Cup Hockey Champion who was highly respected as the team’s chief protector and enforcer. The young yellow Lab came to the department thanks to the Matt Martin Foundation and the Suffolk County Police Foundation. Those organizations teamed up to help fund the purchase of Gillies and pay for his training.

Veterinarian Dr. Teri Meekins will be taking care of Gillies, a service she is donating through the support of the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.

Martin, who used to own a home in Sag Harbor and regularly visits the area, played in the NHL for 16 years, with the Islanders, retiring last year. The Matt Martin Foundation prioritizes working with veterans and first responders, in particular raising and training service dogs for organizations that work with veterans and first responders.

***

The Hampton Classic Horse Show in Bridgehampton has been sued by its primary fast-food vendor after the show ended its contract and allowed another vendor to offer items similar to those on its menu, according to the lawsuit.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in NEWSDAY that G&L Gyro Concessions alleged in a lawsuit filed last week in state Supreme Court in Suffolk County it was not welcomed back to the 2026 event in August without prior written notice of dissatisfaction, despite an agreement the company would serve as the event's main fast-food provider through 2027.

The Bethpage-based business also said Citarella, a gourmet market with several locations on Long Island, ran a food concession right next to G&L at the show and was allowed to sell items that were only supposed to be sold by G&L.

The Hampton Classic Horse Show did not respond to Newsday’s request for comment, but court documents show the event’s executive director said in an email the event had received negative reviews of G&L and that it would have selected an alternative vendor whether or not Citarella was available or interested.

"The Hampton Classic did not find G&L Gyro Concessions' food service satisfactory and has therefore terminated the agreement," an email listed in court documents said.

For roughly 12 years, G&L had served as the primary fast-food vendor for the summer gathering, the lawsuit said. An agreement spanning 2023 to 2027 called for the company to operate a lemonade area, a Groom's Café and the main food hub within the Boutique Garden, court documents show.

In 2025, G&L said the Hampton Classic had told the company verbally it would not be asked to return in 2026, according to the lawsuit. G&L maintains the horse show had provided it "no written notice of deficiency, and no documented expression of dissatisfaction at any point during G&L's twelve years of service, or at any time during the term of the Agreement.”

***

Those hoping to learn more about career opportunities within East Hampton town will soon have the chance.

Lisa Finn reports on Patch.com that the Town of East Hampton will host a job fair on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the main meeting room at Town Hall, located at 159 Pantigo Road in East Hampton.

The job fair will give residents and prospective applicants an opportunity to learn more about employment opportunities with East Hampton Town, the civil service process, and the many ways local government serves the community, officials said.

Representatives from the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service will be on site, along with the town’s human resources department and representatives from the East Hampton town police, recreation, code and animal control, highway and sanitation departments.

No registration is required. Interested applicants are encouraged to stop by, meet department representatives, ask questions, and learn more about current and future employment opportunities with the Town of East Hampton.

***

A Sag Harbor Elementary School sixth grader died yesterday during a rafting trip in the Poconos.

John Asbury reports in NEWSDAY that Sag Harbor Superintendent of Schools Jeff Nichols sent a letter to parents last night announcing the death of Cesar Albarracin Guncay, who died during an annual class trip.

"There are no words to adequately express the depth of this loss," Mr. Nichols said. "Cesar was a cherished member of our school family, a child who mattered deeply to all who had the privilege of knowing him. His absence will leave an irreplaceable space in our classrooms, our hallways and our lives. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Cesar’s family and friends during this very sad time. We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers."

Cesar died while rafting on the Lehigh River in East Penn Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania after the raft overturned in the river.

The death is being investigated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

"On Wednesday, there was a large party of boaters on a raft on the Lehigh River in Carbon County, and that raft...]]>The United States Golf Association and New York State Department of Transportation will create an express lane along more than 3 miles of Sunrise Highway, solely for use by the shuttle buses ferrying spectators and volunteers from Calverton to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in June. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that over the last two weeks, construction crews have been building a paved crossover through the Sunrise median between the eastbound and westbound lanes just east of the interchange with Flanders Road that will allow shuttle buses to bypass the chronic crawl of trade parade traffic on 27 eastbound in the mornings. For the seven days of the tournament week — from Monday, June 15, through Sunday, June 21 — shuttle buses running between the remote parking lots at the former Grumman aircraft factory in Calverton and the S.H.G.C. will cross over into the nearest westbound lane to travel east.

The right-hand lane of westbound traffic will remain open at all times, separated from the so-called “contra-lane” by cones that will be put down and picked up each morning.

The express contra-lane will run from the Flanders Road interchange to the intersection of Shrubland Road and County Road 39, where the buses will turn off and take Shrubland and Sebonac Road to the Shinnecock Hills G.C. property. The eastbound express contra-lane will only operate until 10 a.m. each morning, after which the dividers will be removed and both lanes on the north side of the median returned to westbound traffic for the remainder of the day.

In 2018, the remote parking lots for the U.S. Open Golf Championship were at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton. But because much of what was once vacant on the Gabreski property has now been developed, the USGA this year was forced to move its remote lots all the way to the Grumman property in Calverton.

Tournament directors said that in order to incentivize people to use the remote parking and the shuttle buses, they needed to find a way to cut down on the overall travel time from Calverton — otherwise more people might opt to try to drive and find parking around Southampton.

***

The Bridgehampton School announced yesterday that it has hired Dr. Brigid Collins as its new superintendent of schools.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that Dr. Collins had been serving as interim superintendent since February, filling the void left by former Superintendent Dr. Mary T. Kelly, who announced her retirement in January.

In a letter to parents in the district, Bridgehampton School Board President Jo Ann Comfort said that the board made the decision to hire Collins after a “thorough and competitive search process,” during which Collins emerged as the top candidate.

“We have also been fortunate to experience her leadership style while she has served as the interim superintendent, and the board unanimously concluded that Dr. Collins brings the vision, experience and leadership qualities needed to guide our district forward.”

Collins lives in Sag Harbor with her husband, Jim Stewart, who was a longtime teacher and coach in the East Hampton School District

Bridgid Collins has more than three decades of experience as an educator. Her career began in upstate New York. After graduating with a teaching degree from Union College, Collins did a one-year internship at Niskayuna High School and taught for two years at Oneida Middle School as an English and reading teacher.

Since then, she has moved to the east end where Dr. Collins has furthered her education and worked as teacher and administrator in East Hampton, Montauk, and Southampton…and now in Bridgehampton as that school district’s new superintendent of schools…no longer their interim leader.

***

Thanks to a collaborative effort from several different groups, the Sag Harbor Village Police Department now has an officer with four legs and a mission to reduce stress. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Gillies, a 17-month-old English Labrador, is now an official member of the department, serving as a therapy dog, after a special shield ceremony held at Village Hall in Sag Harbor this past Tuesday.

Gillies will play a key role in supporting officer wellness and overall well-being. In the few weeks he’s been with the department, he’s become something of a local celebrity. His handler, Sergeant Kelly Anderson, said people have come into the department on multiple occasions asking if Gillies is on the job, proving he’s already perfectly suited to one of his other job duties — serving as a connection between the department and the greater Sag Harbor community through outreach, events and overall public engagement.

Gillies is named after Clark Gillies, the New York Islanders 4-time Stanley Cup Hockey Champion who was highly respected as the team’s chief protector and enforcer. The young yellow Lab came to the department thanks to the Matt Martin Foundation and the Suffolk County Police Foundation. Those organizations teamed up to help fund the purchase of Gillies and pay for his training.

Veterinarian Dr. Teri Meekins will be taking care of Gillies, a service she is donating through the support of the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.

Martin, who used to own a home in Sag Harbor and regularly visits the area, played in the NHL for 16 years, with the Islanders, retiring last year. The Matt Martin Foundation prioritizes working with veterans and first responders, in particular raising and training service dogs for organizations that work with veterans and first responders.

***

The Hampton Classic Horse Show in Bridgehampton has been sued by its primary fast-food vendor after the show ended its contract and allowed another vendor to offer items similar to those on its menu, according to the lawsuit.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in NEWSDAY that G&L Gyro Concessions alleged in a lawsuit filed last week in state Supreme Court in Suffolk County it was not welcomed back to the 2026 event in August without prior written notice of dissatisfaction, despite an agreement the company would serve as the event's main fast-food provider through 2027.

The Bethpage-based business also said Citarella, a gourmet market with several locations on Long Island, ran a food concession right next to G&L at the show and was allowed to sell items that were only supposed to be sold by G&L.

The Hampton Classic Horse Show did not respond to Newsday’s request for comment, but court documents show the event’s executive director said in an email the event had received negative reviews of G&L and that it would have selected an alternative vendor whether or not Citarella was available or interested.

"The Hampton Classic did not find G&L Gyro Concessions' food service satisfactory and has therefore terminated the agreement," an email listed in court documents said.

For roughly 12 years, G&L had served as the primary fast-food vendor for the summer gathering, the lawsuit said. An agreement spanning 2023 to 2027 called for the company to operate a lemonade area, a Groom's Café and the main food hub within the Boutique Garden, court documents show.

In 2025, G&L said the Hampton Classic had told the company verbally it would not be asked to return in 2026, according to the lawsuit. G&L maintains the horse show had provided it "no written notice of deficiency, and no documented expression of dissatisfaction at any point during G&L's twelve years of service, or at any time during the term of the Agreement.”

***

Those hoping to learn more about career opportunities within East Hampton town will soon have the chance.

Lisa Finn reports on Patch.com that the Town of East Hampton will host a job fair on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the main meeting room at Town Hall, located at 159 Pantigo Road in East Hampton.

The job fair will give residents and prospective applicants an opportunity to learn more about employment opportunities with East Hampton Town, the civil service process, and the many ways local government serves the community, officials said.

Representatives from the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service will be on site, along with the town’s human resources department and representatives from the East Hampton town police, recreation, code and animal control, highway and sanitation departments.

No registration is required. Interested applicants are encouraged to stop by, meet department representatives, ask questions, and learn more about current and future employment opportunities with the Town of East Hampton.

***

A Sag Harbor Elementary School sixth grader died yesterday during a rafting trip in the Poconos.

John Asbury reports in NEWSDAY that Sag Harbor Superintendent of Schools Jeff Nichols sent a letter to parents last night announcing the death of Cesar Albarracin Guncay, who died during an annual class trip.

"There are no words to adequately express the depth of this loss," Mr. Nichols said. "Cesar was a cherished member of our school family, a child who mattered deeply to all who had the privilege of knowing him. His absence will leave an irreplaceable space in our classrooms, our hallways and our lives. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Cesar’s family and friends during this very sad time. We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers."

Cesar died while rafting on the Lehigh River in East Penn Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania after the raft overturned in the river.

The death is being investigated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

"On Wednesday, there was a large party of boaters on a raft on the Lehigh River in Carbon County, and that raft capsized," officials said. "There was an active search for one missing member of that party, and that search has concluded." The rest of the class returned to Sag Harbor at 2 o’clock this morning.

Sag Harbor school officials said school counselors would be available for students and staff and also referred families to the Long Island Crisis Center, which has a 24-hour crisis hotline.

"This is an incredibly difficult time for our community, and it is important that we lean on one another for support and comfort. In the days and weeks ahead, students may have questions and concerns relating to death and are going to require your support at home and our continued support here at school as they work through their feelings and grief," Mr. Nichols said. "Please know that you are not alone, and we are here to assist you every step of the way."

Are weekends rainier than the work week?

If the question sounds preposterous, consider this spring: Including the sodden Memorial Day weekend we just experienced, it rained five of the last six weekends.

Nicholas Spangler and Anastasia Valeeva report in NEWSDAY that it rained on half, or 10, of 20 weekend days since the start of the season on March 20. By comparison, it rained on a mere one-third of the 46 workweek days.

Was this uneven distribution a function of chance? A cosmic conspiracy to ruin your golf game? Is there a scientific explanation?

"Really, this is not much more than a bit of a bad luck pattern," said Newsday meteorologist Geoff Bansen. "Look at the global jet stream," the bands of strong wind that generally blow from west to east all across the globe, affecting temperature and precipitation, he said. "The movement is very rhythmic, but no one bats an eye when these things happen during the week."

Finding a pattern to weekend rainfall, he added, would likely require sifting decades of climate data, not just a season’s worth.

A Newsday analysis of decades of precipitation data collected by the National Weather Service in Islip suggested Bansen was correct: Analyses of five, 10 and 40 years of data found rain was not more frequent on weekends than weekdays. It also found no statistically significant change in the overall occurrence of rain events. The analysis did find that, over the last five years, Thursday was the rainiest day, followed by Saturday.

A number of academic studies have analyzed historical precipitation data from other regions in search of weekly weather cycles, or what is sometimes called a "weekend effect." One hypothesis is that human activity that releases aerosols — tiny particles from smoke, dust or other sources that float in the atmosphere — could have meteorological impacts including on precipitation occurrence and amounts. Since that activity tends to increase during the week and decrease during the weekend, the thinking goes, it might be possible to discern cyclical variance.

But the results of these studies are mixed. A 2008 paper found that "both the average area and intensity" of rain events over the southeast United States were greater in the middle of the week than on weekends; the phenomenon was reversed over the Atlantic.

***

A forgotten baseball stadium that once drew thousands of fans — and one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history — has become the spark for a new community-driven effort to preserve Riverhead’s overlooked stories.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Riverhead Free Library librarians Joann White and Michael Ryan say the idea for the library’s new “Riverhead Remembers” local history project grew out of their astonishment upon learning that Satchel Paige once pitched at a long-vanished Riverhead venue called Wivchar Stadium, later known as Riverhead Stadium.

Neither librarian had ever heard of the stadium.

Then they discovered many longtime Riverhead residents had not heard of it either.

That realization led to a larger question: What else has Riverhead forgotten?

Now the library is asking residents to help answer it — by bringing in photographs, documents, personal correspondence and stories tied to life in Riverhead through the decades. The library will digitize all materials and return originals to their owners, while building a growing archive of community history.

“We really want to know their story,” White said. “A picture is great, but we need to learn a little bit about the story in the background.”

The effort is centered partly around the mystery of Wivchar Stadium itself — a short-lived sports venue that operated from roughly 1949 to 1951 near what is now the Pulaski Street sports complex and the Riverhead Central School District offices on Osborn Avenue.

Despite hosting professional-style events and drawing crowds reportedly exceeding 6,000 people, almost no photographic evidence of the stadium has surfaced.

The legendary Satchel Paige appeared there in a barnstorming game on July 21, 1950.

That game inspired the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame to install a historical marker at the site in 2022.

The Riverhead librarians say they are especially interested in stories that often go undocumented — including African American history, immigrant experiences and everyday community life.

For more information or to submit something for the Riverhead Remembers project, email RiverheadRemembers@riverheadlibrary.org.

***

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) located on the north shore of Long Island at the Nassau / Suffolk border since 1890…congratulates their Professor David Jackson, who has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Having the letters FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) tacked onto the end of one’s name is among the very highest honors a scientist can achieve. It’s a mark of elite distinction. Other Fellows of the Royal Society include Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking.

“David Jackson has been a cornerstone of CSHL’s historic plant biology program since he joined the faculty in 1997,” said CSHL President Bruce Stillman. “His research has advanced science’s understanding of plant stem cell regulation, with significant implications for crop yield and other traits of agricultural importance. I congratulate Professor Jackson on his well-deserved election to the Royal Society.”

Jackson came to CSHL after completing a fellowship funded by NATO and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among his most recent discoveries are specific stem cell regulators in maize, which Jackson’s lab linked to corn ear size and productivity.

For 136 years, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. Home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the private, not-for-profit Laboratory employs 1,000 people including 600 scientists, students and technicians. The Meetings & Courses Program hosts more than 12,000 scientists from around the world each year on its campuses in Long Island and in Suzhou, China. The Laboratory’s education arm also includes an academic publishing house, a graduate school and programs for middle, high school, and undergraduate students and teachers.

***

The gaseous power duo that is heating up the planet consists of carbon dioxide, which is the largest contributor to global warming, and methane, its fast-acting, hot-tempered sibling.

Hilary Howard reports in THE NY TIMES that carbon dioxide, which is mostly the result of burning fossil fuels, tends to get top-villain billing in climate policies. But in New York, methane — the stuff of cow burps, pipeline leaks and landfills — is getting its moment in the spotlight as legislators consider changing a metric for measuring greenhouse gases. It is part of an overhaul of the state’s 2019 climate law that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed.

The suggested metric, a common — and some say outdated — formula for counting emissions since the early 1990s, would play a crucial role in weakening what was once described as one of the most ambitious climate laws in the world. It would downplay the warming effects of methane, many scientists argue.

Methane can trap 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. So New York’s current climate law uses a metric that reflects this fact.

Unlike carbon dioxide, which can linger in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, methane disappears fast; half of its presence is gone after 12 years. This means its heat-trapping effects diminish over time — which is why, many scientists said, it’s important to measure its effects at shorter intervals. Over 100 years, for example, methane’s heat-trapping powers are reduced to being about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide’s.

Now, Ms. Hochul wants to adopt a 100-year time frame to measure the effect of methane on the climate. That would be a significant shift from the current policy, which evaluates methane’s impact over 20 years. Doing that would dilute measurements of the planet-warming damage of methane, scientists argue.

But it would also keep costs down by putting less pressure on waste management facilities, farmers and natural gas companies to reduce their methane pollution, an expensive undertaking that other New Yorkers could end up subsidizing through higher bills and prices, Ms. Hochul’s office argues.

Governor Hochul, a Democrat, is up for re-election this year and is embracing an affordability platform. She seems more amenable to New York trading in its trailblazing climate leader status for what other states are doing. Ms. Hochul has the support of some moderate members of her party, along with unions and business organizations.

***

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement this year has detained at least a dozen young people locally with a special immigration status that protected them from deportation. The men, all of whom are from Central American countries, were released after challenging their detentions in court. The agency last year deported 132 people nationally with this status. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications have exploded in recent years. Roughly 78,000 people under the age of 21 applied nationally during the last fiscal year, up from 11,500 in 2015.

Josefa Velásquez reports in NEWSDAY that across Long Island, young immigrants who came to this country years ago as children or teens — and believed the status would...]]>Here’s a question everyone around here has been asking the past couple days…

Are weekends rainier than the work week?

If the question sounds preposterous, consider this spring: Including the sodden Memorial Day weekend we just experienced, it rained five of the last six weekends.

Nicholas Spangler and Anastasia Valeeva report in NEWSDAY that it rained on half, or 10, of 20 weekend days since the start of the season on March 20. By comparison, it rained on a mere one-third of the 46 workweek days.

Was this uneven distribution a function of chance? A cosmic conspiracy to ruin your golf game? Is there a scientific explanation?

"Really, this is not much more than a bit of a bad luck pattern," said Newsday meteorologist Geoff Bansen. "Look at the global jet stream," the bands of strong wind that generally blow from west to east all across the globe, affecting temperature and precipitation, he said. "The movement is very rhythmic, but no one bats an eye when these things happen during the week."

Finding a pattern to weekend rainfall, he added, would likely require sifting decades of climate data, not just a season’s worth.

A Newsday analysis of decades of precipitation data collected by the National Weather Service in Islip suggested Bansen was correct: Analyses of five, 10 and 40 years of data found rain was not more frequent on weekends than weekdays. It also found no statistically significant change in the overall occurrence of rain events. The analysis did find that, over the last five years, Thursday was the rainiest day, followed by Saturday.

A number of academic studies have analyzed historical precipitation data from other regions in search of weekly weather cycles, or what is sometimes called a "weekend effect." One hypothesis is that human activity that releases aerosols — tiny particles from smoke, dust or other sources that float in the atmosphere — could have meteorological impacts including on precipitation occurrence and amounts. Since that activity tends to increase during the week and decrease during the weekend, the thinking goes, it might be possible to discern cyclical variance.

But the results of these studies are mixed. A 2008 paper found that "both the average area and intensity" of rain events over the southeast United States were greater in the middle of the week than on weekends; the phenomenon was reversed over the Atlantic.

***

A forgotten baseball stadium that once drew thousands of fans — and one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history — has become the spark for a new community-driven effort to preserve Riverhead’s overlooked stories.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Riverhead Free Library librarians Joann White and Michael Ryan say the idea for the library’s new “Riverhead Remembers” local history project grew out of their astonishment upon learning that Satchel Paige once pitched at a long-vanished Riverhead venue called Wivchar Stadium, later known as Riverhead Stadium.

Neither librarian had ever heard of the stadium.

Then they discovered many longtime Riverhead residents had not heard of it either.

That realization led to a larger question: What else has Riverhead forgotten?

Now the library is asking residents to help answer it — by bringing in photographs, documents, personal correspondence and stories tied to life in Riverhead through the decades. The library will digitize all materials and return originals to their owners, while building a growing archive of community history.

“We really want to know their story,” White said. “A picture is great, but we need to learn a little bit about the story in the background.”

The effort is centered partly around the mystery of Wivchar Stadium itself — a short-lived sports venue that operated from roughly 1949 to 1951 near what is now the Pulaski Street sports complex and the Riverhead Central School District offices on Osborn Avenue.

Despite hosting professional-style events and drawing crowds reportedly exceeding 6,000 people, almost no photographic evidence of the stadium has surfaced.

The legendary Satchel Paige appeared there in a barnstorming game on July 21, 1950.

That game inspired the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame to install a historical marker at the site in 2022.

The Riverhead librarians say they are especially interested in stories that often go undocumented — including African American history, immigrant experiences and everyday community life.

For more information or to submit something for the Riverhead Remembers project, email RiverheadRemembers@riverheadlibrary.org.

***

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) located on the north shore of Long Island at the Nassau / Suffolk border since 1890…congratulates their Professor David Jackson, who has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Having the letters FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) tacked onto the end of one’s name is among the very highest honors a scientist can achieve. It’s a mark of elite distinction. Other Fellows of the Royal Society include Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking.

“David Jackson has been a cornerstone of CSHL’s historic plant biology program since he joined the faculty in 1997,” said CSHL President Bruce Stillman. “His research has advanced science’s understanding of plant stem cell regulation, with significant implications for crop yield and other traits of agricultural importance. I congratulate Professor Jackson on his well-deserved election to the Royal Society.”

Jackson came to CSHL after completing a fellowship funded by NATO and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among his most recent discoveries are specific stem cell regulators in maize, which Jackson’s lab linked to corn ear size and productivity.

For 136 years, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. Home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the private, not-for-profit Laboratory employs 1,000 people including 600 scientists, students and technicians. The Meetings & Courses Program hosts more than 12,000 scientists from around the world each year on its campuses in Long Island and in Suzhou, China. The Laboratory’s education arm also includes an academic publishing house, a graduate school and programs for middle, high school, and undergraduate students and teachers.

***

The gaseous power duo that is heating up the planet consists of carbon dioxide, which is the largest contributor to global warming, and methane, its fast-acting, hot-tempered sibling.

Hilary Howard reports in THE NY TIMES that carbon dioxide, which is mostly the result of burning fossil fuels, tends to get top-villain billing in climate policies. But in New York, methane — the stuff of cow burps, pipeline leaks and landfills — is getting its moment in the spotlight as legislators consider changing a metric for measuring greenhouse gases. It is part of an overhaul of the state’s 2019 climate law that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed.

The suggested metric, a common — and some say outdated — formula for counting emissions since the early 1990s, would play a crucial role in weakening what was once described as one of the most ambitious climate laws in the world. It would downplay the warming effects of methane, many scientists argue.

Methane can trap 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. So New York’s current climate law uses a metric that reflects this fact.

Unlike carbon dioxide, which can linger in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, methane disappears fast; half of its presence is gone after 12 years. This means its heat-trapping effects diminish over time — which is why, many scientists said, it’s important to measure its effects at shorter intervals. Over 100 years, for example, methane’s heat-trapping powers are reduced to being about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide’s.

Now, Ms. Hochul wants to adopt a 100-year time frame to measure the effect of methane on the climate. That would be a significant shift from the current policy, which evaluates methane’s impact over 20 years. Doing that would dilute measurements of the planet-warming damage of methane, scientists argue.

But it would also keep costs down by putting less pressure on waste management facilities, farmers and natural gas companies to reduce their methane pollution, an expensive undertaking that other New Yorkers could end up subsidizing through higher bills and prices, Ms. Hochul’s office argues.

Governor Hochul, a Democrat, is up for re-election this year and is embracing an affordability platform. She seems more amenable to New York trading in its trailblazing climate leader status for what other states are doing. Ms. Hochul has the support of some moderate members of her party, along with unions and business organizations.

***

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement this year has detained at least a dozen young people locally with a special immigration status that protected them from deportation. The men, all of whom are from Central American countries, were released after challenging their detentions in court. The agency last year deported 132 people nationally with this status. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications have exploded in recent years. Roughly 78,000 people under the age of 21 applied nationally during the last fiscal year, up from 11,500 in 2015.

Josefa Velásquez reports in NEWSDAY that across Long Island, young immigrants who came to this country years ago as children or teens — and believed the status would protect them — are learning that security is eroding. The Trump administration last month announced changes to the program that no longer shields new applicants from deportation.

Newsday's analysis offers the first comprehensive look at how President Donald Trump’s immigration dragnet is capturing not just people attempting to follow the formal path to legal status, but the people doing so with what they thought was an explicit deportation protection, known as deferred action.

ICE agents arrested some of the 12 Long Island young people while they did mundane daily tasks: driving to work, walking to lunch, heading to a train, or simply being in the wrong place while agents looked for someone else.

The arrests are also drawing scrutiny from a Trump-appointed federal judge who questioned ICE's tactics as unconstitutional.

On Long Island, immigration arrests reached historic highs early this year, aided by Nassau County's partnership with ICE. Last week, state lawmakers approved a measure that would ban the agreement between localities and ICE. Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to sign the measure.

Rachel Davidson, who focuses on special juvenile status for the End SIJS Backlog Coalition at the National Immigration Project advocacy group, said young people with this protection "don’t know how to navigate the world anymore.

"They came here seeking protection, they went through all these steps, they did everything right," she said. "They thought the government was committing to protecting them, and what they’re seeing is the opposite of that."

***

The new beach pavilion at Cupsogue Beach County Park in Westhampton is opening this coming Friday, May 29, nearly 13 years after fire destroyed the previous pavilion in September of 2014.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the new 3,000-square-foot pavilion will have bathrooms and changing rooms plus a lifeguards’ locker room and is surrounded by decks with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean and Moriches Bay.

It will also have a full-fledged restaurant, with an outdoor bar and seating as well as indoor seating for the restaurant, which will be called Beach House.

The new pavilion was constructed entirely in-house by Suffolk County Department of Public Works staff, starting last fall, County Legislator Ann Welker said this week, at a cost of about $4.1 million.

The restaurant and concessions at the new pavilion will be run by a group that Welker said have run concessions at other county facilities in the past. The Beach House began advertising this week for waiters and bartenders and other service staff.

Welker said there will be live music at the pavilion on certain nights this summer, similar to the hugely popular entertainment nights at Meschutt Beach County Park in Hampton Bays.

***

The United States Department of Agriculture has issued a Disaster Designation for Suffolk County shellfish farmers due to this winter’s heavy snowfall and multi-week severe freeze, which significantly impacted the county’s oyster aquaculture industry this February — an estimated combined $2.4 million loss.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the Disaster Designation now allows affected farms to apply for disaster assistance and low-interest emergency loans. It is separate from another federal fishery disaster declaration also being sought by elected officials.

“Early last month, I urged the USDA to take swift action to declare Suffolk County a disaster area and help our aquaculture growers get the assistance they need to recover and move forward,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a press release yesterday. “With this Secretarial Disaster Declaration, the producers who have seen economic loss can now take advantage of low-interest loans to help ensure they’re able to sustain their operations.

Prolonged freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall, and extensive ice formation in Long Island’s coastal waters this February prevented oyster farmers from accessing their shellfish farms, while farmers documented that ice accumulation caused extensive damage to aquaculture gear, vessels and farm infrastructure.

A survey conducted by industry leaders and Suffolk County earlier this spring found that many growers are facing a more than 30 percent loss in production and those that reported damage to racks, lines, and vessels are facing estimated repair and replacement costs totaling $2,396,500.

“This is great news as those who make their living on the water in Suffolk County are committed to seeing their industries flourish,” said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romain in the governor’s press release. “These funds will help our oyster growers recover from a brutal winter that destroyed costly equipment. The shellfishing industry is part of Suffolk County’s history, and we all have to do all we can to keep this important business viable and growing.”

Farmers can contact their local FSA office here.

U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota is also calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare a federal fishery disaster for the industry on Long Island.

Anthony Rieber reports in NEWSDAY that seats for the first Knicks home game in the Finals — which will be Game 3 on June 8 — are listing for well over $3,500 on most online resale sites.

And that’s for the nosebleed seats. The priciest tickets that were on StubHub on Sunday night were a pair listed for more than $104,000 each. The seats, which are in the first row at center court, include a complimentary buffet, plus champagne and beer.

On SeatGeek, the cheapest ticket for Game 3 on Sunday night was listed at more than $3,700, with the same $104,000 seats also being listed.

TickPick had center-court seats — not in the front row — being offered for more than $177,000. Gametime maxed out at more than $103,000 for its top offerings.

The Eastern Conference champion Knicks, who have not played in an NBA Finals since 1999, will host Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary) in the Finals regardless of whether Oklahoma City or San Antonio is their opponent. The two teams in the Western Conference Finals, which is tied at two games apiece, both had better regular-season records than the Knicks, and that is how home-court advantage is determined in the Finals.

Prices for Game 4, which is scheduled for June 10, are along the same lines as Game 3 on the resale sites.

The lowest-priced tickets for Game 6, which is scheduled for June 16, were listed for more than $4,200. Expect that number to skyrocket if the Knicks are up 3-2 and have a chance to clinch their first NBA title since 1973.

Some Knicks fans probably already are looking to attend Game 1 either in Oklahoma City or San Antonio to save a few bucks.

On StubHub, Game 1 tickets to a potential June 3 game in San Antonio could be had for about $1,500. And for Oklahoma City? Just over $1,100 a seat.

***

Jack Curio’s legacy at the Brentwood school district lives on through the Junior Olympics and Leader Corps programs he helped found.

And now, the legacy of the longtime physical education teacher at Southwest Elementary School, who retired in 2006, will extend another two centuries — through a tree planted in his honor.

Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the Brentwood School District partnered with Suffolk County for its Planting It Forward to 2276 Program as part of the county’s yearlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. For the past month, residents have been planting trees to create a Living Legacy Tree Registry that will be preserved through the county clerk's office.

The county provided free red oak seedlings to anyone interested late last month at county parks.

Participants receive a Suffolk 250 Living Legacy certificate of registration. The goal is to plant 2,500 red oak trees by June 1, “connecting generations for the next 250 years,” according to the county, which has encouraged residents to dedicate their tree in honor of a loved one, family member or future generations.

“What better way to celebrate a community than planting a tree,” Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said during a news conference last month to kick off the program on Arbor Day. “Years from now, the tree that you planted that hopefully will grow high and tall will remind people about the history of Suffolk County.”

The United States of America celebrates its semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026.

***

The New York Blood Center is urgently calling on New Yorkers to donate blood this week as the region faces dangerously low blood collections at the start of the summer “trauma season.” Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that there are numerous local blood drives across the East End through the next few days.

To register for this or other NYBC blood drives click here.

Tuesday, May 26

Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital, 201 Manor Place, Greenport. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27

Hampton Bays High School, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Southampton High School, 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Box Pickleball, 605 Old Country Road, Riverhead. Noon to 6 p.m.

Thursday, May 28

Pierson Middle/High School, 200 Jermain Ave., Sag Harbor. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mattituck Lions Club at the Mattituck Fire Dept., 1000 Pike Street, Mattituck. 1 to 7 p.m.

***

The fleet of drones used to scan for sharks in the shallow waters off Long Island beaches will grow this summer, as will the number of pilots, officials said. Nicholas Spangler reports in NEWSDAY that the fleet, now at 30, will add 16 machines, and the number of operators will grow from 47 to 67, according to a news release from Gov. Kathy Hochul's office. The operators are mostly staffers of the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation who are federally licensed but trained by the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

“We started in 2021 with lifeguards who volunteered their drones, and we have evolved to the point where we are using top-of-the-line drones with better cameras and wind resistance,” George Gorman, Long Island regional director for parks, told NEWSDAY Friday on the Jones Beach boardwalk.

As he spoke, a State Park Police pilot launched a DJI Matrice 300 RTK. Its four rotors made the sound of a swarm of angry bees, and the thing darted up to hover about 60 feet overhead. The Matrice can stay airborne for up to 55 minutes. This particular specimen cost $40,000 and was equipped with night vision, thermal imaging and a powerful zoom lens, making it useful not just for wildlife scans but also in searches for swimmers in distress, said Park Police Capt. Rishi Basdeo. The fleet’s cheaper models cost closer to $6,000.

“In the past, we’d use marine assets,” basically, officers in a boat, Basdeo said. “It was line of sight. Because the drone is three-dimensional, it’s more efficient, more cost-effective, to survey a large area.”

Expansion of the program will support drone patrols three times daily at state beaches — early mornings before swimmers arrive, in the afternoon and before beach closure, Gorman said. Operators will add patrols if they spot baitfish, a strong indicator that feeding sharks may also be present.

Parks works with state Department of Environmental Conservation biologists to confirm potential shark sightings. Swimming is not permitted for at least one hour after a confirmed sighting, and lifeguards, park police and park staff continue monitoring the water.

About 18 million people visit Long Island beaches each summer.

***

A two-story restaurant with a rooftop, Este, is currently under construction near the entrance to downtown Montauk — but the owner is facing scrutiny from East Hampton Town officials and the public over fears of what the site could become once up and running.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Marley Dominguez, the managing director of Enduring Hospitality, got approval last fall for a 39-seat restaurant. On the first floor, under those approvals, there would have been eight couches and a bar area with coffee, while the second floor would host 16 seats across eight tables and no bar. The rooftop would have had 23 seats across 11 tables with a service bar. This complex, located on Montauk Highway just down the street from the IGA in Montauk, will clock in at 22,100 square feet.

But two applications and an investor packet have come to light that have called into question whether Dominguez planned to comply with those approvals and move forward with simply a restaurant — and not an operation more akin to a nightclub.

Dominguez was tasked, in an unusual meeting with the East Hampton Town Planning Board last Wednesday, with explaining the conflicting applications and either convincing the board he would move forward with the current approvals or submit revised plans. In the exhaustive meeting, Dominguez largely wrote off the discrepancies between his approvals and the new supporting documents as misunderstandings or miscommunications and said the thought of making the space a club never crossed his mind.

The East Town Planning Board agreed that Dominguez should answer supplemental questions from town officials and confirm the use outlined in a narrative submission from last fall or submit revised plans that outline what the use would actually be.

***

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman dared New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to try and stop him from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in defiance of new sanctuary bills largely barring local cops from working with federal immigration authorities.

The Democrat-passed package of bills would ban the Blakeman-brokered partnership with ICE that gives the agency space in Nassau County’s jail.

Brandon Cruz and Matt Troutman report in THE NY POST that Blakeman, who’s running against Hochul as the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, had a blunt response to the governor’s threats to have state Attorney General Letitia James force Nassau County into line with their anti-ICE laws.

“Make my day,” said Blakeman.

“We will not comply with the law limiting our ability to cooperate with (ICE),” Blakeman said, adding that he intends to sue the state over the new laws.

The taunt imparted exclusively to The Post could put Blakeman and Hochul on a collision...]]>Scoring a 130 to 93 victory last night while finishing a four game sweep of the Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Knickerbockers now advance to the National Basketball Association championship round - the NBA Finals for the first time this century and the ticket-buying frenzy on the secondary market for the Knicks’ first Finals home game at the Garden next month already has begun.

Anthony Rieber reports in NEWSDAY that seats for the first Knicks home game in the Finals — which will be Game 3 on June 8 — are listing for well over $3,500 on most online resale sites.

And that’s for the nosebleed seats. The priciest tickets that were on StubHub on Sunday night were a pair listed for more than $104,000 each. The seats, which are in the first row at center court, include a complimentary buffet, plus champagne and beer.

On SeatGeek, the cheapest ticket for Game 3 on Sunday night was listed at more than $3,700, with the same $104,000 seats also being listed.

TickPick had center-court seats — not in the front row — being offered for more than $177,000. Gametime maxed out at more than $103,000 for its top offerings.

The Eastern Conference champion Knicks, who have not played in an NBA Finals since 1999, will host Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary) in the Finals regardless of whether Oklahoma City or San Antonio is their opponent. The two teams in the Western Conference Finals, which is tied at two games apiece, both had better regular-season records than the Knicks, and that is how home-court advantage is determined in the Finals.

Prices for Game 4, which is scheduled for June 10, are along the same lines as Game 3 on the resale sites.

The lowest-priced tickets for Game 6, which is scheduled for June 16, were listed for more than $4,200. Expect that number to skyrocket if the Knicks are up 3-2 and have a chance to clinch their first NBA title since 1973.

Some Knicks fans probably already are looking to attend Game 1 either in Oklahoma City or San Antonio to save a few bucks.

On StubHub, Game 1 tickets to a potential June 3 game in San Antonio could be had for about $1,500. And for Oklahoma City? Just over $1,100 a seat.

***

Jack Curio’s legacy at the Brentwood school district lives on through the Junior Olympics and Leader Corps programs he helped found.

And now, the legacy of the longtime physical education teacher at Southwest Elementary School, who retired in 2006, will extend another two centuries — through a tree planted in his honor.

Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the Brentwood School District partnered with Suffolk County for its Planting It Forward to 2276 Program as part of the county’s yearlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. For the past month, residents have been planting trees to create a Living Legacy Tree Registry that will be preserved through the county clerk's office.

The county provided free red oak seedlings to anyone interested late last month at county parks.

Participants receive a Suffolk 250 Living Legacy certificate of registration. The goal is to plant 2,500 red oak trees by June 1, “connecting generations for the next 250 years,” according to the county, which has encouraged residents to dedicate their tree in honor of a loved one, family member or future generations.

“What better way to celebrate a community than planting a tree,” Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said during a news conference last month to kick off the program on Arbor Day. “Years from now, the tree that you planted that hopefully will grow high and tall will remind people about the history of Suffolk County.”

The United States of America celebrates its semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026.

***

The New York Blood Center is urgently calling on New Yorkers to donate blood this week as the region faces dangerously low blood collections at the start of the summer “trauma season.” Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that there are numerous local blood drives across the East End through the next few days.

To register for this or other NYBC blood drives click here.

Tuesday, May 26

Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital, 201 Manor Place, Greenport. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27

Hampton Bays High School, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Southampton High School, 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Box Pickleball, 605 Old Country Road, Riverhead. Noon to 6 p.m.

Thursday, May 28

Pierson Middle/High School, 200 Jermain Ave., Sag Harbor. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mattituck Lions Club at the Mattituck Fire Dept., 1000 Pike Street, Mattituck. 1 to 7 p.m.

***

The fleet of drones used to scan for sharks in the shallow waters off Long Island beaches will grow this summer, as will the number of pilots, officials said. Nicholas Spangler reports in NEWSDAY that the fleet, now at 30, will add 16 machines, and the number of operators will grow from 47 to 67, according to a news release from Gov. Kathy Hochul's office. The operators are mostly staffers of the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation who are federally licensed but trained by the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

“We started in 2021 with lifeguards who volunteered their drones, and we have evolved to the point where we are using top-of-the-line drones with better cameras and wind resistance,” George Gorman, Long Island regional director for parks, told NEWSDAY Friday on the Jones Beach boardwalk.

As he spoke, a State Park Police pilot launched a DJI Matrice 300 RTK. Its four rotors made the sound of a swarm of angry bees, and the thing darted up to hover about 60 feet overhead. The Matrice can stay airborne for up to 55 minutes. This particular specimen cost $40,000 and was equipped with night vision, thermal imaging and a powerful zoom lens, making it useful not just for wildlife scans but also in searches for swimmers in distress, said Park Police Capt. Rishi Basdeo. The fleet’s cheaper models cost closer to $6,000.

“In the past, we’d use marine assets,” basically, officers in a boat, Basdeo said. “It was line of sight. Because the drone is three-dimensional, it’s more efficient, more cost-effective, to survey a large area.”

Expansion of the program will support drone patrols three times daily at state beaches — early mornings before swimmers arrive, in the afternoon and before beach closure, Gorman said. Operators will add patrols if they spot baitfish, a strong indicator that feeding sharks may also be present.

Parks works with state Department of Environmental Conservation biologists to confirm potential shark sightings. Swimming is not permitted for at least one hour after a confirmed sighting, and lifeguards, park police and park staff continue monitoring the water.

About 18 million people visit Long Island beaches each summer.

***

A two-story restaurant with a rooftop, Este, is currently under construction near the entrance to downtown Montauk — but the owner is facing scrutiny from East Hampton Town officials and the public over fears of what the site could become once up and running.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Marley Dominguez, the managing director of Enduring Hospitality, got approval last fall for a 39-seat restaurant. On the first floor, under those approvals, there would have been eight couches and a bar area with coffee, while the second floor would host 16 seats across eight tables and no bar. The rooftop would have had 23 seats across 11 tables with a service bar. This complex, located on Montauk Highway just down the street from the IGA in Montauk, will clock in at 22,100 square feet.

But two applications and an investor packet have come to light that have called into question whether Dominguez planned to comply with those approvals and move forward with simply a restaurant — and not an operation more akin to a nightclub.

Dominguez was tasked, in an unusual meeting with the East Hampton Town Planning Board last Wednesday, with explaining the conflicting applications and either convincing the board he would move forward with the current approvals or submit revised plans. In the exhaustive meeting, Dominguez largely wrote off the discrepancies between his approvals and the new supporting documents as misunderstandings or miscommunications and said the thought of making the space a club never crossed his mind.

The East Town Planning Board agreed that Dominguez should answer supplemental questions from town officials and confirm the use outlined in a narrative submission from last fall or submit revised plans that outline what the use would actually be.

***

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman dared New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to try and stop him from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in defiance of new sanctuary bills largely barring local cops from working with federal immigration authorities.

The Democrat-passed package of bills would ban the Blakeman-brokered partnership with ICE that gives the agency space in Nassau County’s jail.

Brandon Cruz and Matt Troutman report in THE NY POST that Blakeman, who’s running against Hochul as the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, had a blunt response to the governor’s threats to have state Attorney General Letitia James force Nassau County into line with their anti-ICE laws.

“Make my day,” said Blakeman.

“We will not comply with the law limiting our ability to cooperate with (ICE),” Blakeman said, adding that he intends to sue the state over the new laws.

The taunt imparted exclusively to The Post could put Blakeman and Hochul on a collision course outside the ballot box in November.

***

They know they are not going to get much sympathy. Who, after all, feels sorry for politicians?

Especially in New York, where members of the Senate and the Assembly pull in $142,000 a year, making them the highest paid state lawmakers in the country.

But since April 1, none of the New York State 63 senators and 150 Assembly members have gotten paid — a direct casualty of the delayed state budget, now more than seven weeks late. For some lawmakers, the pay stoppage has brought financial challenges familiar to many New Yorkers who live paycheck to paycheck.

Grace Ashford reports in THE NY TIMES that Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, a democratic socialist representing Greenpoint and South Williamsburg in Brooklyn, has had to defer student loan payments and borrow from family to pay rent. Other lawmakers have traded tips on how to borrow against their pensions.

And instead of swapping songs at karaoke night near the Capitol, lawmakers have been brainstorming ideas on how to stretch the $200 travel per diem as far as rules will allow.

If the budget is officially approved this week as some expect, it will be the latest that has happened in nearly two decades. In practice, that will mean that four pay periods would have come and gone as day care, student loans and grocery bills pile up.

Nearly every lawmaker interviewed acknowledged the poor optics of complaining about their own pay when so many New Yorkers were struggling. And it is true that some lawmakers are wealthy thanks to spouses with lucrative private sector jobs, or family money.

But many others — particularly parents, and members living in New York City, where the cost of living is much higher than the rest of the state — have had to tighten their belts.

The lack of pay is particularly irritating to lawmakers because Gov. Kathy Hochul and her team continue to get paid as long as leaders in Albany pass the budget extenders that allow state government to continue operating.

The delay is part of Ms. Hochul’s not-so-secret strategy to extract as many of her policy priorities from the Legislature in the budget as possible. The approach has roiled lawmakers who see it as erosion of their power.

Lawmakers insist that they have made no concessions because of the missing pay; the deputy Senate majority leader, Mike Gianaris, quantified the effect at “zero.” (Lawmakers will receive retroactive pay when the budget passes.) Still, they are increasingly unhappy with the process.

The NYS Legislature could pass a bill that would allow them to continue getting paid — like the governor herself — as budget negotiations continue. Or they could pass legislation requiring the governor also to go unpaid while talks drag on. Any legislation though would need the governor’s signature to become law.

PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — have been used in thousands of industrial and consumer products, from nonstick pans to artificial turf to fast food wrappers. There are tens of thousands of PFAS compounds, very few of which are regulated, and they do not easily break down — thus the term "forever chemicals." They enter groundwater when they are washed down the drains of ordinary households and when they leach from landfills where such products are dumped. High concentrations flow from industrial sites such as airports and firefighter training facilities.

When PFAS leach into soil and water they poison wildlife and farm animals; they also accumulate in the tissues of humans when they ingest them in water or food.

Researchers have found long-term exposure to PFAS, even in tiny amounts, increases the risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, developmental problems in infants and children and other health problems.

Many districts across Long Island have been installing filtering systems to remove the chemicals, which are highly effective but costly.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the former congressman from Shirley, Long Island, defended the proposed rules during an event at EPA headquarters in Washington on Monday, where he argued the Biden administration regulations were "rushed out the door." He said water suppliers across the country, particularly in rural areas, were raising concerns about meeting the original compliance deadline.

"The water systems were given deadlines that many of them have communicated to us that they were going to have trouble meeting, and we left the rule open to be struck down in court," Zeldin said at a roundtable on PFAS where he was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The New York State legislature is considering a bill that would codify the regulations that the Trump administration seeks to roll back.

***

Riverhead Town Board members repeatedly defended a proposed eminent domain taking of the former Swezey’s building Wednesday night during a contentious public hearing that exposed sharp divisions over the future of downtown redevelopment, the town square project and the Long Island Science Center’s stalled plans for the property.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the nearly three-hour hearing on the proposed condemnation of 111 E. Main Street in Riverhead frequently blurred the line between public testimony and board debate, with board members openly rebutting critics, questioning speakers and arguing the merits of condemnation from the dais.

Riverhead Town officials argued the long-vacant building is a critical piece of the town square project and must be brought under town control to ensure proper flood mitigation and “activation” of the downtown public space. Opponents countered that the town had failed to identify a specific public use for the property and accused officials of using eminent domain powers to advance broader redevelopment interests.

“This is not about the science center,” Council Member Joann Waski said during the hearing. “This is about 111 East Main Street.”

The hearing was held under New York State’s Eminent Domain Procedure Law, which requires municipalities to hold a public hearing before condemning private property. No decision was made Wednesday on whether to proceed with condemnation. The board voted at the end of the hearing to close oral testimony while leaving the record open for written comments for 10 days.

The property was purchased in 2020 by A Place for Learning Inc., a nonprofit corporation that operates as the Long Island Science Center, for a proposed downtown science center and planetarium project. Town officials initially supported the plan enthusiastically as part of the broader downtown revitalization effort.

Under New York State law, the Riverhead Town Board will have up to 90 days after the hearing record closes to decide whether to move forward with condemnation proceedings.

***

Southold Town Historian Amy Folk will discuss “What Happened in Southold During the American Revolution” at a 10 a.m. talk tomorrow morning at the East Marion Community Association’s annual meeting in the East Marion Firehouse.

Amy Folk serves as the official Town of Southold Historian. She oversees the town's historical records, assists with genealogical research, and manages various local archival collections. Her passion for North Fork history has led her to compile rich stories of local participation in the American Revolution. Everyone knows how American patriots fought the British and won during the American Revolution. But do you know what happened in Southold during the war?

Join Amy Folk tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the East Marion Firehouse where she’ll discus “What Happened in Southold During the American Revolution” Admission is free.

***

Sag Harbor will be commemorating the 249th anniversary of the Meigs Raid by American Continental Army forces on the village, which was then occupied by the British, throughout this weekend, with reenactments of the raid by the Third New York Regiment centered on the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum. Tomorrow’s event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum at 200 Main Street.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the Meigs Raid (also known as the Battle of Sag Harbor) was a military raid by American Continental Army forces, under the command of Connecticut Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, on a British Loyalist foraging party at Sag Harbor, New York on May 24, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. Six Loyalists were killed and 90 captured while the Americans suffered no casualties. The raid was made in response to a successful British raid on Danbury, Connecticut in late April that was opposed by American forces in the Battle of Ridgefield.

On Meigs Raid Weekend, The Whaling Museum will be invaded by a host of Revolutionary War reenactors. Members of the Third New York Regiment, Long Island’s premier reenactment group, will be encamped on the museum grounds and conduct demonstrations of drill and musket firing throughout the day. This 18th Century encampment, including canvas dining fly, troop tents and officer’s quarters, Continental Army soldiers, their wives, and other camp followers dressed in period clothing will transport visitors back centuries for an experience not to be missed. The camp is interactive and open to the public from the opening of the Museum to closing.

Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the Sag Harbor Historical Museum, Preservation Long Island and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation are also teaming up for a day of fun on Saturday. Their event - “Revolutionary Days” – is at the Custom House, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., right next door to the Whaling Museum in Sag Harbor.

***

Men’s recreational outdoor soccer leagues in Latino communities have flourished on Long Island over the last few decades. But this year a pall is hanging over the fields as the federal government's immigration crackdown has made many players afraid to come out for games, organizers said.

Bart Jones and Gregg Sarra report in NEWSDAY that some teams are folding for lack of numbers, while some leagues have postponed the starts of their seasons. Even fans are staying away.

"They’re scared to come to the soccer fields," said Miguel Flores, who has been running the Brentwood Soccer League since 1990. Other than the COVID-19 pandemic, when they had to shut down entirely, he’s never seen anything like it, he said. "All the leagues are suffering."

In Riverhead, which usually has 14 teams, the league is down to nine, said its president, Paul Villafranco, who called the drop "a big hit."

Some leagues have lost entire teams or delayed the starts of their seasons because of low numbers.

The decline in participation is lamented by organizers who contend the hugely popular soccer leagues provide a healthy outlet for young men, offer a family-oriented weekend activity and even serve as a lynchpin for communities when tragedy hits.

"It's bad, because a lot of young men are staying home instead of being in a park and enjoying soccer," Hempstead Soccer League President Robinson Barralaga told Newsday in Spanish.

While immigration agents have conducted numerous raids and arrests in Brentwood over the past year, according to advocates, they have not raided the soccer fields, Flores said. But many players are still suffering from what he called "the fear factor." Many worry they will get stopped at checkpoints on the way to games. They often travel together in vans or other vehicles, making them feel particularly vulnerable as a target, he said.

***

Shelter Island Friends of Music presents Junction Piano Trio performing music by Dvorak, Zorn, and Beethoven this coming Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

Admission Free.

There will be a post-concert reception...]]>The Environmental Protection Agency this week announced a long-anticipated proposal to rescind federal limits on certain toxic "forever chemicals" in drinking water, established two years ago by the Biden administration, a move New York has sought to neutralize. Tracy Tullis and Laura Figueroa report in NEWSDAY that the Trump administration plans to roll back restrictions on four types of these chemicals, known as PFAS. Another proposed rule would allow water suppliers to request two more years to comply with limits on two other PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFOA. Water suppliers were initially given until 2029 to meet the standards under the Biden-era plan, but they will now be eligible for an extension to 2031.

PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — have been used in thousands of industrial and consumer products, from nonstick pans to artificial turf to fast food wrappers. There are tens of thousands of PFAS compounds, very few of which are regulated, and they do not easily break down — thus the term "forever chemicals." They enter groundwater when they are washed down the drains of ordinary households and when they leach from landfills where such products are dumped. High concentrations flow from industrial sites such as airports and firefighter training facilities.

When PFAS leach into soil and water they poison wildlife and farm animals; they also accumulate in the tissues of humans when they ingest them in water or food.

Researchers have found long-term exposure to PFAS, even in tiny amounts, increases the risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, developmental problems in infants and children and other health problems.

Many districts across Long Island have been installing filtering systems to remove the chemicals, which are highly effective but costly.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the former congressman from Shirley, Long Island, defended the proposed rules during an event at EPA headquarters in Washington on Monday, where he argued the Biden administration regulations were "rushed out the door." He said water suppliers across the country, particularly in rural areas, were raising concerns about meeting the original compliance deadline.

"The water systems were given deadlines that many of them have communicated to us that they were going to have trouble meeting, and we left the rule open to be struck down in court," Zeldin said at a roundtable on PFAS where he was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The New York State legislature is considering a bill that would codify the regulations that the Trump administration seeks to roll back.

***

Riverhead Town Board members repeatedly defended a proposed eminent domain taking of the former Swezey’s building Wednesday night during a contentious public hearing that exposed sharp divisions over the future of downtown redevelopment, the town square project and the Long Island Science Center’s stalled plans for the property.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the nearly three-hour hearing on the proposed condemnation of 111 E. Main Street in Riverhead frequently blurred the line between public testimony and board debate, with board members openly rebutting critics, questioning speakers and arguing the merits of condemnation from the dais.

Riverhead Town officials argued the long-vacant building is a critical piece of the town square project and must be brought under town control to ensure proper flood mitigation and “activation” of the downtown public space. Opponents countered that the town had failed to identify a specific public use for the property and accused officials of using eminent domain powers to advance broader redevelopment interests.

“This is not about the science center,” Council Member Joann Waski said during the hearing. “This is about 111 East Main Street.”

The hearing was held under New York State’s Eminent Domain Procedure Law, which requires municipalities to hold a public hearing before condemning private property. No decision was made Wednesday on whether to proceed with condemnation. The board voted at the end of the hearing to close oral testimony while leaving the record open for written comments for 10 days.

The property was purchased in 2020 by A Place for Learning Inc., a nonprofit corporation that operates as the Long Island Science Center, for a proposed downtown science center and planetarium project. Town officials initially supported the plan enthusiastically as part of the broader downtown revitalization effort.

Under New York State law, the Riverhead Town Board will have up to 90 days after the hearing record closes to decide whether to move forward with condemnation proceedings.

***

Southold Town Historian Amy Folk will discuss “What Happened in Southold During the American Revolution” at a 10 a.m. talk tomorrow morning at the East Marion Community Association’s annual meeting in the East Marion Firehouse.

Amy Folk serves as the official Town of Southold Historian. She oversees the town's historical records, assists with genealogical research, and manages various local archival collections. Her passion for North Fork history has led her to compile rich stories of local participation in the American Revolution. Everyone knows how American patriots fought the British and won during the American Revolution. But do you know what happened in Southold during the war?

Join Amy Folk tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the East Marion Firehouse where she’ll discus “What Happened in Southold During the American Revolution” Admission is free.

***

Sag Harbor will be commemorating the 249th anniversary of the Meigs Raid by American Continental Army forces on the village, which was then occupied by the British, throughout this weekend, with reenactments of the raid by the Third New York Regiment centered on the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum. Tomorrow’s event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum at 200 Main Street.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the Meigs Raid (also known as the Battle of Sag Harbor) was a military raid by American Continental Army forces, under the command of Connecticut Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, on a British Loyalist foraging party at Sag Harbor, New York on May 24, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. Six Loyalists were killed and 90 captured while the Americans suffered no casualties. The raid was made in response to a successful British raid on Danbury, Connecticut in late April that was opposed by American forces in the Battle of Ridgefield.

On Meigs Raid Weekend, The Whaling Museum will be invaded by a host of Revolutionary War reenactors. Members of the Third New York Regiment, Long Island’s premier reenactment group, will be encamped on the museum grounds and conduct demonstrations of drill and musket firing throughout the day. This 18th Century encampment, including canvas dining fly, troop tents and officer’s quarters, Continental Army soldiers, their wives, and other camp followers dressed in period clothing will transport visitors back centuries for an experience not to be missed. The camp is interactive and open to the public from the opening of the Museum to closing.

Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the Sag Harbor Historical Museum, Preservation Long Island and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation are also teaming up for a day of fun on Saturday. Their event - “Revolutionary Days” – is at the Custom House, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., right next door to the Whaling Museum in Sag Harbor.

***

Men’s recreational outdoor soccer leagues in Latino communities have flourished on Long Island over the last few decades. But this year a pall is hanging over the fields as the federal government's immigration crackdown has made many players afraid to come out for games, organizers said.

Bart Jones and Gregg Sarra report in NEWSDAY that some teams are folding for lack of numbers, while some leagues have postponed the starts of their seasons. Even fans are staying away.

"They’re scared to come to the soccer fields," said Miguel Flores, who has been running the Brentwood Soccer League since 1990. Other than the COVID-19 pandemic, when they had to shut down entirely, he’s never seen anything like it, he said. "All the leagues are suffering."

In Riverhead, which usually has 14 teams, the league is down to nine, said its president, Paul Villafranco, who called the drop "a big hit."

Some leagues have lost entire teams or delayed the starts of their seasons because of low numbers.

The decline in participation is lamented by organizers who contend the hugely popular soccer leagues provide a healthy outlet for young men, offer a family-oriented weekend activity and even serve as a lynchpin for communities when tragedy hits.

"It's bad, because a lot of young men are staying home instead of being in a park and enjoying soccer," Hempstead Soccer League President Robinson Barralaga told Newsday in Spanish.

While immigration agents have conducted numerous raids and arrests in Brentwood over the past year, according to advocates, they have not raided the soccer fields, Flores said. But many players are still suffering from what he called "the fear factor." Many worry they will get stopped at checkpoints on the way to games. They often travel together in vans or other vehicles, making them feel particularly vulnerable as a target, he said.

***

Shelter Island Friends of Music presents Junction Piano Trio performing music by Dvorak, Zorn, and Beethoven this coming Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

Admission Free.

There will be a post-concert reception with the musicians.

Comprised of violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Jay Campbell, and pianist Conrad Tao, the Junction Trio is known for its adventurous spirit and electrifying ensemble chemistry. Their performances combine intellectual rigor with expressive warmth, offering audiences programs that range from the classical core to daring new works.

That’s Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

For further info visit: sifriendsofmusic.org/

***

Scheduled plans for commemorating Memorial Day this coming Monday have been posted by Beth Young in EAST END BEACON. Here are events scheduled for the north and south forks. All on Memorial Day - Monday, May 25, 2026.

• Orient’s Memorial Day Parade starts at the Orient Firehouse on Route 25 at 7 a.m., and goes down Tabor Road, Orchard Street, Navy Street, Village Lane and then back up to Route 25 and the firehouse for refreshments.
• Greenport Scouts host their Memorial Day Parade starting at 8 a.m. from the Adams Street Parking Lot, down Main and Front streets to the commercial fishing dock on Third Street for a memorial service.
• The Riverhead CVA Memorial Day Parade begins at 9 a.m., traveling from Osborn Avenue and Pulaski Street, to the World War I monument on the corner of Court Street and West Main Streets, then eastward on Main Street to East Avenue, north to St. John’s Cemetery, then to the Civil War monument in Riverhead Cemetery, concluding at the at the World War II Monument at Pulaski Street School.
• Sag Harbor American Legion Chelberg and Battle Post 388 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9082 will observe Memorial Day with their annual parade to honor our Nation’s fallen. The parade, which will step off at 9 AM from the World War I Memorial at Otter Pond at the corner of Main Street and Jermain Avenue, where the poem, In Flanders Fields, will be read among the Memorial Field of Poppies planted by the Auxiliary. The parade will proceed north through the village, stopping at war memorials, the Main Street Firehouse, and the Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter Veterans’ Memorial Bridge, where wreaths will be placed, before concluding at Marine Park, where wreaths are thrown into the bay for those lost at sea.
• The Sag Harbor Community Band will perform. Veterans, Scouts, the American Legion Auxiliary, and public officials are expected to participate. A reception will follow at the American Legion on Bay Street. All are welcome!
• East Hampton Memorial Day Services & Parade are planned for 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.
• For ” Lost at Sea” Ceremony. Participants meet at East Hampton American Legion Post #419 at (0800) before 0900 beach ceremony. Memorial Day Parade IMMEDIATELY following “Lost at Sea” ceremony, all participants flow to parade start point (David’s Lane & Rt 27 by church) for a 10 a.m. step off. Memorial Day Remarks and “Missing Man” Ceremony. at 1100 after parade on Windmill Green Vet’s Memorial. Social activities to follow after ceremonies at American Legion Post 419 in East Hampton Village.
• North Fork Memorial Day Parade in Mattituck starts with a ceremony at the monument at Pike Street and Wickham Avenue at 9:30 a.m., followed by 10 a.m. parade. Starting line up on Pike Street and march west on Pike Street, left onto Pacific Street, left onto Route 25 and left onto Wickham, ending back at the Fire Department.
• Southampton Village Memorial Day Service & Parade begins with a short parade at 10:30 a.m. from the First Presbyterian Church at 2 South Main Street down Jobs Lane, into Agawam Park for an 11 a.m. ceremony. Presented by Village of Southampton Commission on Veterans Patriotic Events.
• And on Monday afternoon the Calverton National Cemetery Memorial Day Service is scheduled for 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

The majority of school districts in Nassau and Suffolk will get more funding from the state for the next school year, according to aid runs published yesterday, the day after Long Island voters approved 118 local budget proposals. Five failed and one district had not yet released results as of last night.

The districts that are to see the highest jumps in state aid in Suffolk County are Amagansett (35.58%) and Montauk (23.62%). Five Suffolk districts are expected to see a dip in funding: Eastport-South Manor (-2.06%), Rocky Point (-1.71%), and Connetquot (-1.35%).

Dandan Zou and Michael R. Ebert report in NEWSDAY that school officials said the latest aid figures did not come with any big surprises as most districts had anticipated receiving at least a 2% increase. However, they wished the news had arrived sooner.

The NYS budget was due April 1 but lawmakers did not begin voting on budget bills until yesterday. School districts, meanwhile, had to present their budgets to voters on Tuesday, requiring them to guesstimate how much revenue they would get from the state.

“We finally know what our state aid package is the day after our communities voted on our budgets. It's insane,” said Tim Eagen, president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association. “Thankfully it landed where we had anticipated it would.”

Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, said the 2% increase is better than the 1% jump that Gov. Kathy Hochul had proposed in January but still isn’t enough.

Total school aid for Long Island districts will grow by $230 million, or 4.35%, but Vecchio said that funding increase includes an additional $54 million in universal prekindergarten grants, as well as reimbursements for building projects. Foundation aid, the single largest source of state financial support for public schools, is considered "new money," he said.

Foundation aid will rise to nearly $4 billion — a 3.51%, or $134 million, increase for 2026-27 from the current school year.

In Nassau and Suffolk counties, 80 out of 121 districts would receive the minimum 2% increase in foundation aid. (Sagaponack and Wainscott districts receive funding under a different formula; New Suffolk is non-instructional.)

***

Firefighters from multiple departments were on the scene yesterday to put out a fire at Dockers Waterside Marina and Restaurant on Dune Road in East Quogue.

The East Quogue Fire Department was the first department on the scene at 3:53 p.m. after those at the restaurant, which was closed Wednesday, smelled smoke, according to Dockers owner Larry Hoffman. Members of the Hampton Bays, North Sea, Quogue, Southampton and Westhampton Beach fire departments, as well as the Hampton Bays and Southampton Village ambulance, soon arrived. The fire was deemed under control 30 minutes later.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that the fire was contained and a majority of the damage was limited to the interior, with exterior damage occurring on the eastern facing side, according to Southampton Town Chief Fire Marshal John Rankin. A firefighter said that the kitchen and bar areas were heavily damaged. Nobody was injured.

The cause of the fire has not been determined yet and an investigation is underway, according to East Quogue Fire Department Chief Glenn Bullock.

***

Shelter Island Friends of Music presents Junction Piano Trio performing music by Dvorak, Zorn, and Beethoven this coming Sunday, May 24 at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

Admission Free.

There will be a post-concert reception with the musicians.

Comprised of violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Jay Campbell, and pianist Conrad Tao, the Junction Trio is known for its adventurous spirit and electrifying ensemble chemistry. Their performances combine intellectual rigor with expressive warmth, offering audiences programs that range from the classical core to daring new works.

That’s this Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

For further info visit sifriendsofmusic.org/

***

Like it or not, the summer season is here — and the new traffic patterns on County Road 39 in Southampton are about to be truly tested.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the Town of Southampton last fall embarked on a still somewhat experimental redesign of the travel lanes along notoriously congested County Road 39, known on maps as the “Southampton Bypass,” in particular between the intersections with North Main Street and Tuckahoe Lane.

The new patterns are meant to mimic — in part — the experiment from the spring of 2025, in which the town turned off some County Road 39 traffic signals which allowed traffic to flow freely. The effort was perceived as successful at moving traffic west much faster than the usual crawl.

But it was far too expensive, costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 a week for the four hours each weekday the lights were turned off and intersections were manned by police and Highway Department staff to ensure safety.

So two of the lights — Magee Street and Tuckahoe Road — have returned to their usual red-yellow-green cycle. But to allow the town to keep the light at the Sandy Hollow Road merge green for both cars coming off Sandy Hollow and the County Road 39 traffic approaching from the east, the town has restriped lanes on both roads to create single lanes of westbound traffic that can come together without having to alternate who proceeds west.

As was done with cones last spring, the town convinced Suffolk County Department of Public Works to restripe County Road 39 west of the North Sea Road intersection, just west of the Burger King, to force traffic to merge from two lanes down to one.

That has caused a new congestion — though whether it is any worse than what was there before is a matter of debate.

The traffic on County Road 39 between North Sea Road and North Main Street has also been restricted to a single lane recently, to reduce the clog of cars rushing into the area ahead of the Burger King merge with each green light cycle.

But that constriction has worsened the back-ups at the eastern end of County Road — the junction of 27 and 27A {“the turn”} where Montauk Highway and Flying Point Road feed onto the bypass — which have extended on some days through the intersection and east on Montauk Highway as far as back as Hank’s Pumpkintown, and sometimes Head of Pond Road in Water Mill.

The effort has trade-offs, Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Charlie McArdle conceded, and he said the town is still making adjustments as they learn what impacts come with which changes and working with the county on ways to make small improvements where they can.

***

More Long Island schools were named to the Advanced Placement honor roll for 2025, and the number of schools that earned the highest ranking rose by one-third, according to the College Board, which administers the tests.

Lorena Mongelli and Michael R. Ebert report in Newsday that across Nassau and Suffolk, 110 schools received either platinum, gold, silver or bronze awards — up from 107 in 2024. Eight earned spots on the honor roll for the first time.

And of the 110 on the list, 23 schools notched platinum awards, compared with 17 the year prior, according to a Newsday analysis.

Some Long Island educators said they have expanded course offerings and sought to make classes more accessible for all students. They argued that the advanced coursework remains relevant, despite a move away from standardized testing — with the state poised to drop its Regents graduation requirement in 2027, and many colleges making SAT and ACT scores optional for admission. AP exams, they said, offer students a less expensive way to potentially earn college credit, while the rigorous coursework prepares them for higher learning.

Studies have found that taking AP coursework helps students excel at four-year colleges.

But some experts say low-income students and students of color are not equally represented in the program.

***

The Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum will host a Colonial Village Living History Festival this coming Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate America250 and commemorate the historic Meigs Raid, also known as the Battle of Sag Harbor, when Continental Army forces raided British Loyalists occupying Sag Harbor during the American Revolution. You’re invited to join a free, family-friendly, immersive experience as the 3rd New York Regiment recreates an 18th century Continental Army encampment and conducts military drills throughout the day. Watch and interact with historic tradespeople dressed in period clothing as they demonstrate trades and crafts such as...]]>State aid to Long Island schools is expected to total $5.5 billion for the 2026-27 school year, with most districts receiving at least a 2% increase in foundation aid, according to a Newsday analysis of state data.

The majority of school districts in Nassau and Suffolk will get more funding from the state for the next school year, according to aid runs published yesterday, the day after Long Island voters approved 118 local budget proposals. Five failed and one district had not yet released results as of last night.

The districts that are to see the highest jumps in state aid in Suffolk County are Amagansett (35.58%) and Montauk (23.62%). Five Suffolk districts are expected to see a dip in funding: Eastport-South Manor (-2.06%), Rocky Point (-1.71%), and Connetquot (-1.35%).

Dandan Zou and Michael R. Ebert report in NEWSDAY that school officials said the latest aid figures did not come with any big surprises as most districts had anticipated receiving at least a 2% increase. However, they wished the news had arrived sooner.

The NYS budget was due April 1 but lawmakers did not begin voting on budget bills until yesterday. School districts, meanwhile, had to present their budgets to voters on Tuesday, requiring them to guesstimate how much revenue they would get from the state.

“We finally know what our state aid package is the day after our communities voted on our budgets. It's insane,” said Tim Eagen, president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association. “Thankfully it landed where we had anticipated it would.”

Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, said the 2% increase is better than the 1% jump that Gov. Kathy Hochul had proposed in January but still isn’t enough.

Total school aid for Long Island districts will grow by $230 million, or 4.35%, but Vecchio said that funding increase includes an additional $54 million in universal prekindergarten grants, as well as reimbursements for building projects. Foundation aid, the single largest source of state financial support for public schools, is considered "new money," he said.

Foundation aid will rise to nearly $4 billion — a 3.51%, or $134 million, increase for 2026-27 from the current school year.

In Nassau and Suffolk counties, 80 out of 121 districts would receive the minimum 2% increase in foundation aid. (Sagaponack and Wainscott districts receive funding under a different formula; New Suffolk is non-instructional.)

***

Firefighters from multiple departments were on the scene yesterday to put out a fire at Dockers Waterside Marina and Restaurant on Dune Road in East Quogue.

The East Quogue Fire Department was the first department on the scene at 3:53 p.m. after those at the restaurant, which was closed Wednesday, smelled smoke, according to Dockers owner Larry Hoffman. Members of the Hampton Bays, North Sea, Quogue, Southampton and Westhampton Beach fire departments, as well as the Hampton Bays and Southampton Village ambulance, soon arrived. The fire was deemed under control 30 minutes later.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that the fire was contained and a majority of the damage was limited to the interior, with exterior damage occurring on the eastern facing side, according to Southampton Town Chief Fire Marshal John Rankin. A firefighter said that the kitchen and bar areas were heavily damaged. Nobody was injured.

The cause of the fire has not been determined yet and an investigation is underway, according to East Quogue Fire Department Chief Glenn Bullock.

***

Shelter Island Friends of Music presents Junction Piano Trio performing music by Dvorak, Zorn, and Beethoven this coming Sunday, May 24 at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

Admission Free.

There will be a post-concert reception with the musicians.

Comprised of violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Jay Campbell, and pianist Conrad Tao, the Junction Trio is known for its adventurous spirit and electrifying ensemble chemistry. Their performances combine intellectual rigor with expressive warmth, offering audiences programs that range from the classical core to daring new works.

That’s this Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

For further info visit sifriendsofmusic.org/

***

Like it or not, the summer season is here — and the new traffic patterns on County Road 39 in Southampton are about to be truly tested.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the Town of Southampton last fall embarked on a still somewhat experimental redesign of the travel lanes along notoriously congested County Road 39, known on maps as the “Southampton Bypass,” in particular between the intersections with North Main Street and Tuckahoe Lane.

The new patterns are meant to mimic — in part — the experiment from the spring of 2025, in which the town turned off some County Road 39 traffic signals which allowed traffic to flow freely. The effort was perceived as successful at moving traffic west much faster than the usual crawl.

But it was far too expensive, costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 a week for the four hours each weekday the lights were turned off and intersections were manned by police and Highway Department staff to ensure safety.

So two of the lights — Magee Street and Tuckahoe Road — have returned to their usual red-yellow-green cycle. But to allow the town to keep the light at the Sandy Hollow Road merge green for both cars coming off Sandy Hollow and the County Road 39 traffic approaching from the east, the town has restriped lanes on both roads to create single lanes of westbound traffic that can come together without having to alternate who proceeds west.

As was done with cones last spring, the town convinced Suffolk County Department of Public Works to restripe County Road 39 west of the North Sea Road intersection, just west of the Burger King, to force traffic to merge from two lanes down to one.

That has caused a new congestion — though whether it is any worse than what was there before is a matter of debate.

The traffic on County Road 39 between North Sea Road and North Main Street has also been restricted to a single lane recently, to reduce the clog of cars rushing into the area ahead of the Burger King merge with each green light cycle.

But that constriction has worsened the back-ups at the eastern end of County Road — the junction of 27 and 27A {“the turn”} where Montauk Highway and Flying Point Road feed onto the bypass — which have extended on some days through the intersection and east on Montauk Highway as far as back as Hank’s Pumpkintown, and sometimes Head of Pond Road in Water Mill.

The effort has trade-offs, Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Charlie McArdle conceded, and he said the town is still making adjustments as they learn what impacts come with which changes and working with the county on ways to make small improvements where they can.

***

More Long Island schools were named to the Advanced Placement honor roll for 2025, and the number of schools that earned the highest ranking rose by one-third, according to the College Board, which administers the tests.

Lorena Mongelli and Michael R. Ebert report in Newsday that across Nassau and Suffolk, 110 schools received either platinum, gold, silver or bronze awards — up from 107 in 2024. Eight earned spots on the honor roll for the first time.

And of the 110 on the list, 23 schools notched platinum awards, compared with 17 the year prior, according to a Newsday analysis.

Some Long Island educators said they have expanded course offerings and sought to make classes more accessible for all students. They argued that the advanced coursework remains relevant, despite a move away from standardized testing — with the state poised to drop its Regents graduation requirement in 2027, and many colleges making SAT and ACT scores optional for admission. AP exams, they said, offer students a less expensive way to potentially earn college credit, while the rigorous coursework prepares them for higher learning.

Studies have found that taking AP coursework helps students excel at four-year colleges.

But some experts say low-income students and students of color are not equally represented in the program.

***

The Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum will host a Colonial Village Living History Festival this coming Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate America250 and commemorate the historic Meigs Raid, also known as the Battle of Sag Harbor, when Continental Army forces raided British Loyalists occupying Sag Harbor during the American Revolution. You’re invited to join a free, family-friendly, immersive experience as the 3rd New York Regiment recreates an 18th century Continental Army encampment and conducts military drills throughout the day. Watch and interact with historic tradespeople dressed in period clothing as they demonstrate trades and crafts such as blacksmithing, basket weaving, bread making, cooking, spinning, embroidery, medicine making, children’s games, period music, native regalia and jewelry making, wampum making, and more!

For more info regarding this weekend’s “Revolutionary Days” celebration in Sag Harbor visit Sagharborhistoricalmuseum.org.

***

Suffolk County police are using a new drug-testing kit to determine whether drivers may be impaired by cannabis and other drugs. John Asbury reports in NEWSDAY that police are using three of the saliva-testing kits, known as SoToxa, in a pilot program to test drivers with a swab to determine the recent use of marijuana, opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and opiates.

"It's everywhere around the roads ... I think that makes people nervous, and it should, because that means that there are people out there in their cars smoking marijuana, and therefore, very likely impaired," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said yesterday. "Our ability to determine that is hampered by the fact that there is no legal level of marijuana intoxication or impairment, so until that's established, it's very difficult for police in general to make an arrest in a case like that."

Suffolk County is one of the first downstate departments to use the technology.

The police department has been training its highway officers to use the swab kits, which can give an indication of "recent use" of certain drugs within about 10 minutes. Police can then call a trained drug recognition expert to determine if a driver is impaired in order to make an arrest.

Police said the test is voluntary, and unlike a drunken-driving arrest, rejecting a test without a warrant does not lead to an automatic driver’s license suspension.

Catalina and district attorney officials said the new saliva test would help identify impaired drivers and the department would explore buying more testing kits.

Nassau County police said they were testing the saliva kits, but they were not deployed with officers.

Defense attorneys have argued against the saliva tests, contending the roadside tests are not admissible in court until they are confirmed by a lab or with a blood test.

The Suffolk County district attorney’s office called on state legislators to pass a provision in the NYS budget known as the "Deadly Driving Bill." It would expand the number of drugs that could be prosecuted under impaired driving laws.

Also in Suffolk, Bayport-Blue Point, Islip and South Country failed. The districts were three of seven on Long Island seeking a tax cap override, meaning they needed a 60% supermajority to pass.

Voters greenlit the proposals in Greenport and Shelter Island which had also sought to pierce their tax caps.

With a result of 398-153, Greenport had a 72% passage rate.

Greenport Superintendent Beth Doyle thanked voters in a statement last night: “This budget allows us to continue supporting our students while taking important steps toward long-term fiscal stability.”

Shelter Island’s budget was approved by a vote of 549-256. Voters last year rejected the Shelter Island tax cap override request but approved it this year with a 68% passage rate.

“We deeply appreciate the trust placed in the District as we work to balance fiscal responsibility with maintaining the high-quality educational opportunities our students deserve,” stated Shelter Island Superintendent Brian Doelger.

***

It appears all east end school districts passed their budgets yesterday.

On the south fork, long time local teacher Margaret “Midge” H. Fowler ousted incumbent Germain L. Smith in a 601-342 vote for one seat on the Southampton School Board.

As reported on 27east.com, Southampton School District voters approved, 722 to 211, a $84.5 million budget with a nearly $65.5 million tax levy.

Voters also passed all of the propositions, which will authorize a number of capital projects, including capital repairs and technology upgrades.

The last six propositions will authorize the district to contract with The Water Mill Museum for $125,000, the Parrish Art Museum for $461,700, the Southampton History Museum for $290,000, the Southampton Youth Association for $500,000, the Southampton Arts Center for $175,000 and the Southampton African American Museum for $125,000, and levy taxes for the 2026-27 school year.

In neighboring Tuckahoe, Sam Kelly – a Southampton High School Class of 2000 graduate - beat longtime incumbent Bob Grisnik in the Tuckahoe Common School District Board of Trustees election, 142-58. Grisnik will finish his 40th year as trustee in June.

Voters also approved the Tuckahoe School district’s nearly $26.4 million budget in a 157-54 vote. An additional three propositions also passed, which will authorize a number of capital projects and levy funds for the Southampton Youth Association and the Parrish Art Museum.

***

Tonight - County Road 39 in Southampton will be closed to through traffic between Tuckahoe Lane and Shrubland Road from 8 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. tomorrow for the construction of the pedestrian bridge linking the Stony Brook Southampton college campus and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the U.S. Open next month.

Starting tonight at 8 p.m. westbound traffic will be detoured south on Tuckahoe Lane to Montauk Highway and eastbound traffic will be detoured north onto Shrubland Road and Sebonac Road to get around the closure.

Residents and employees of businesses between the detour points will be allowed to use the closed stretches of roadway but will not be able to pass Tuckahoe Road where the construction is taking place at any point.

***

With the LIRR strike settled on Monday night, South Fork Commuter Connection service was set to resume its normal schedule today. The South Fork Commuter Connection {SFCC} is a coordinated train and bus service offered on weekdays on the Long Island Rail Road’s Montauk Branch where upon exiting at stations between Montauk and Speonk, riders board buses to and from nearby businesses.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that many in East Hampton Town government, and in the private sector in town, use the SFCC. In April alone, the service carried over 2,100 passengers over 22 days of service, said East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.

"It just demonstrated how much our community and our town government depend on reliable public transportation, as we had a number of folks battling the traffic and others working remotely from home," Burke-Gonzalez said at a Town Board work session yesterday.

Meanwhile, MTA and union sources told NEWSDAY on Tuesday that the agreement reached between managers and LIRR labor leaders to end the strike represented a middle ground between the sides' long-held negotiating positions. The final deal pays workers 4.5% in raises in the fourth year. It also extends the contract six weeks…so it won’t expire until August 2027…less than a year and a half from now.

The agreement still has to be ratified by union members and the MTA Board.

LIRR President Rob Free during a press conference Tuesday morning said, “Through negotiations we were able to find a common ground to come to an agreement,” Free said. “A contract they feel [union members] can ratify and something we know wouldn’t cause a financial burden to the taxpayers and the riders.” He also said there were “factors within the contract that were worked on to make it more affordable.”

***

At least five Long Island school budget proposals failed to garner enough voter support yesterday while 115 others won approval, according to early returns last night.

Results for the remaining four districts were still pending by midnight.

It appears all east end school districts passed their budgets yesterday.

As reported by NEWSDAY staff, voters on Tuesday also weighed in on about 90 propositions, mostly for capital projects to improve school facilities. A total of 358 candidates were also running to fill 257 school board vacancies. Fewer than half the districts — 51 — had contested races.

This year’s budget season was marked by widespread cuts. A Newsday analysis found a third of the spending proposals called for reductions in staffing or programs. Officials have cited rising costs — in some areas double-digit spikes — among reasons for the cuts. Only a few Long Island school districts said they would add programs or jobs.

***

The New York Blood Center is urgently calling on New Yorkers to donate blood ahead of Memorial Day weekend as the region faces dangerously low blood collections at the start of the summer “trauma season.” Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that there are numerous local blood drives across the East End in the upcoming week, including one today from 1p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hampton Bays Public Library.

Here are the upcoming NYBC blood drives across the East End in the week ahead. To register for these or other blood drives, visit NYBC’s Blood Drive Locator.

Tuesday, May 26

Stony Brook ELIH, 201 Manor Place, Greenport. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27

Hampton Bays High School, 88 East Argonne Road, Hampton Bays. 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Southampton High School, 141 Narrow Lane, Southampton. 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Box Pickleball, 605 Old Country Road, Riverhead. Noon to 6 p.m.

Thursday, May 28

Pierson Middle/High School, 200 Jermain Ave., Sag Harbor. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mattituck Lions Club at the Mattituck Fire Dept., 1000 Pike Street, Mattituck. 1 to 7 p.m.

***

After a messy public fight between New York transit officials and five Long Island Rail Road unions whose three-day strike shut down the nation’s busiest passenger rail service, both sides are claiming victory.

Stefanos Chen and Grace Ashford report in THE NY TIMES that Gov. Kathy Hochul struck a conciliatory note when announcing the deal that ended the strike at a Monday night news conference in front of the Manhattan headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad.

“I always believed we could reach a good, fair compromise that achieved two principles,” Ms. Hochul said. “Protecting affordability for Long Islanders and commuters, while giving fair wages to the employees.”

Kevin Sexton, the national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the striking unions, also celebrated the deal on Monday, though he said he wanted to discuss the specifics with his members before sharing more details.

Ms. Hochul said the agreement, which includes a wage increase for the current year and a retroactive raise for the past three years, would not result in higher fares or state taxes — a key consideration for the governor ahead of her November re-election bid.

But the new contract could set a new precedent for the M.T.A.’s dealings with more than 80 unions, with repercussions that could be felt for years to come.

“There are no winners in a strike,” said William Dwyer, an associate professor at Rutgers University and a former labor negotiator for management at the utility company PSE&G in New Jersey.

The acrimonious dispute has eroded trust between the railroad’s workers and leadership, Mr. Dwyer said, noting that the two sides must negotiate their next contract in just a year…Monday’s agreement expires in August 2027.

And it is unclear how much the deal will cost the M.T.A. in the long run, as it prepares to engage with other unions that are likely to now seek higher wage increases than those the agency has...]]>At least five Long Island school budget proposals failed to garner enough voter support yesterday while 115 others won approval, according to early returns last night. As reported by NEWSDAY, in Suffolk County, Three Village failed to win a simple majority, meaning more than 50% of voter support Tuesday. The outcome was 2,051-2,340 in Three Village. Results for the remaining four Long Island school districts were still pending by midnight.

Also in Suffolk, Bayport-Blue Point, Islip and South Country failed. The districts were three of seven on Long Island seeking a tax cap override, meaning they needed a 60% supermajority to pass.

Voters greenlit the proposals in Greenport and Shelter Island which had also sought to pierce their tax caps.

With a result of 398-153, Greenport had a 72% passage rate.

Greenport Superintendent Beth Doyle thanked voters in a statement last night: “This budget allows us to continue supporting our students while taking important steps toward long-term fiscal stability.”

Shelter Island’s budget was approved by a vote of 549-256. Voters last year rejected the Shelter Island tax cap override request but approved it this year with a 68% passage rate.

“We deeply appreciate the trust placed in the District as we work to balance fiscal responsibility with maintaining the high-quality educational opportunities our students deserve,” stated Shelter Island Superintendent Brian Doelger.

***

It appears all east end school districts passed their budgets yesterday.

On the south fork, long time local teacher Margaret “Midge” H. Fowler ousted incumbent Germain L. Smith in a 601-342 vote for one seat on the Southampton School Board.

As reported on 27east.com, Southampton School District voters approved, 722 to 211, a $84.5 million budget with a nearly $65.5 million tax levy.

Voters also passed all of the propositions, which will authorize a number of capital projects, including capital repairs and technology upgrades.

The last six propositions will authorize the district to contract with The Water Mill Museum for $125,000, the Parrish Art Museum for $461,700, the Southampton History Museum for $290,000, the Southampton Youth Association for $500,000, the Southampton Arts Center for $175,000 and the Southampton African American Museum for $125,000, and levy taxes for the 2026-27 school year.

In neighboring Tuckahoe, Sam Kelly – a Southampton High School Class of 2000 graduate - beat longtime incumbent Bob Grisnik in the Tuckahoe Common School District Board of Trustees election, 142-58. Grisnik will finish his 40th year as trustee in June.

Voters also approved the Tuckahoe School district’s nearly $26.4 million budget in a 157-54 vote. An additional three propositions also passed, which will authorize a number of capital projects and levy funds for the Southampton Youth Association and the Parrish Art Museum.

***

Tonight - County Road 39 in Southampton will be closed to through traffic between Tuckahoe Lane and Shrubland Road from 8 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. tomorrow for the construction of the pedestrian bridge linking the Stony Brook Southampton college campus and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the U.S. Open next month.

Starting tonight at 8 p.m. westbound traffic will be detoured south on Tuckahoe Lane to Montauk Highway and eastbound traffic will be detoured north onto Shrubland Road and Sebonac Road to get around the closure.

Residents and employees of businesses between the detour points will be allowed to use the closed stretches of roadway but will not be able to pass Tuckahoe Road where the construction is taking place at any point.

***

With the LIRR strike settled on Monday night, South Fork Commuter Connection service was set to resume its normal schedule today. The South Fork Commuter Connection {SFCC} is a coordinated train and bus service offered on weekdays on the Long Island Rail Road’s Montauk Branch where upon exiting at stations between Montauk and Speonk, riders board buses to and from nearby businesses.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that many in East Hampton Town government, and in the private sector in town, use the SFCC. In April alone, the service carried over 2,100 passengers over 22 days of service, said East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.

"It just demonstrated how much our community and our town government depend on reliable public transportation, as we had a number of folks battling the traffic and others working remotely from home," Burke-Gonzalez said at a Town Board work session yesterday.

Meanwhile, MTA and union sources told NEWSDAY on Tuesday that the agreement reached between managers and LIRR labor leaders to end the strike represented a middle ground between the sides' long-held negotiating positions. The final deal pays workers 4.5% in raises in the fourth year. It also extends the contract six weeks…so it won’t expire until August 2027…less than a year and a half from now.

The agreement still has to be ratified by union members and the MTA Board.

LIRR President Rob Free during a press conference Tuesday morning said, “Through negotiations we were able to find a common ground to come to an agreement,” Free said. “A contract they feel [union members] can ratify and something we know wouldn’t cause a financial burden to the taxpayers and the riders.” He also said there were “factors within the contract that were worked on to make it more affordable.”

***

At least five Long Island school budget proposals failed to garner enough voter support yesterday while 115 others won approval, according to early returns last night.

Results for the remaining four districts were still pending by midnight.

It appears all east end school districts passed their budgets yesterday.

As reported by NEWSDAY staff, voters on Tuesday also weighed in on about 90 propositions, mostly for capital projects to improve school facilities. A total of 358 candidates were also running to fill 257 school board vacancies. Fewer than half the districts — 51 — had contested races.

This year’s budget season was marked by widespread cuts. A Newsday analysis found a third of the spending proposals called for reductions in staffing or programs. Officials have cited rising costs — in some areas double-digit spikes — among reasons for the cuts. Only a few Long Island school districts said they would add programs or jobs.

***

The New York Blood Center is urgently calling on New Yorkers to donate blood ahead of Memorial Day weekend as the region faces dangerously low blood collections at the start of the summer “trauma season.” Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that there are numerous local blood drives across the East End in the upcoming week, including one today from 1p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hampton Bays Public Library.

Here are the upcoming NYBC blood drives across the East End in the week ahead. To register for these or other blood drives, visit NYBC’s Blood Drive Locator.

Tuesday, May 26

Stony Brook ELIH, 201 Manor Place, Greenport. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27

Hampton Bays High School, 88 East Argonne Road, Hampton Bays. 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Southampton High School, 141 Narrow Lane, Southampton. 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Box Pickleball, 605 Old Country Road, Riverhead. Noon to 6 p.m.

Thursday, May 28

Pierson Middle/High School, 200 Jermain Ave., Sag Harbor. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mattituck Lions Club at the Mattituck Fire Dept., 1000 Pike Street, Mattituck. 1 to 7 p.m.

***

After a messy public fight between New York transit officials and five Long Island Rail Road unions whose three-day strike shut down the nation’s busiest passenger rail service, both sides are claiming victory.

Stefanos Chen and Grace Ashford report in THE NY TIMES that Gov. Kathy Hochul struck a conciliatory note when announcing the deal that ended the strike at a Monday night news conference in front of the Manhattan headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad.

“I always believed we could reach a good, fair compromise that achieved two principles,” Ms. Hochul said. “Protecting affordability for Long Islanders and commuters, while giving fair wages to the employees.”

Kevin Sexton, the national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the striking unions, also celebrated the deal on Monday, though he said he wanted to discuss the specifics with his members before sharing more details.

Ms. Hochul said the agreement, which includes a wage increase for the current year and a retroactive raise for the past three years, would not result in higher fares or state taxes — a key consideration for the governor ahead of her November re-election bid.

But the new contract could set a new precedent for the M.T.A.’s dealings with more than 80 unions, with repercussions that could be felt for years to come.

“There are no winners in a strike,” said William Dwyer, an associate professor at Rutgers University and a former labor negotiator for management at the utility company PSE&G in New Jersey.

The acrimonious dispute has eroded trust between the railroad’s workers and leadership, Mr. Dwyer said, noting that the two sides must negotiate their next contract in just a year…Monday’s agreement expires in August 2027.

And it is unclear how much the deal will cost the M.T.A. in the long run, as it prepares to engage with other unions that are likely to now seek higher wage increases than those the agency has budgeted.

Labor historian Josh Freeman called the end result a “strong win” for the workers.

“The governor realized she was in an uncomfortable position when the strike began,” said Freeman, a professor emeritus at the CUNY Graduate Center. “The strike put her in a difficult position.”

Governor Hochul, who is up for re-election in November, had repeatedly said she would not sign off on a deal that raised taxes or fares.

As reported in THE NY POST, riders exiting the train at the Ronkonkoma station last night were hard pressed to believe the governor’s guarantee. “She’s going to say that for the time being, you know, until that changes,” said Gianna G. while Ryan, who did not want to give his last name added, “I don’t know about that. I have to see it to believe it.” Ultimately, riders were glad that the railroad — which carries about 270,000 people a day — was back on track. “Definitely, definitely,” said city government worker and Queens resident Michelle, 55, as she left Penn Station. “The last few days getting into work was a nightmare.”

As reported by Newsday Staff, the agreement reached shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, provides relief to the tens of thousands of harried and frustrated Long Islanders who saw their commutes double or even triple during the first workday of the dispute.

"I want to thank New Yorkers, Long Islanders, particularly, who made all the accommodations; who had to work from home; who sacrificed; who had to put up with inconveniences," Hochul said at a news conference last night.

Hochul declined to answer questions about the terms of the deal, including about wages and work rules, but said MTA negotiators reached the deal without having to raise fares or taxes.

LIRR president Rob Free said service will resume on the four electrified branches — Port Washington, Huntington, Ronkonkoma and Babylon — at noon today. All other branches will resume service at 4 o'clock this afternoon using normal weekday schedules, he said.

The deal was reached on the third day of the strike, which brought service on the nation's busiest commuter rail system to a grinding halt and after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the leaders of the five LIRR unions representing about half the railroad's 7,000-member workforce restarted talks early yesterday.

An MTA spokesman said there will be no morning service today on the LIRR given how long negotiations had continued.

"We're looking forward to our members getting back to work and doing what they do best, which is serving the region," said Kevin Sexton, vice president of the locomotive engineers union.

MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said shuttle buses will operate in the morning, just as they did Monday.

"We had to find a deal that gave people fair raises, but didn't put the hit on the riders; the taxpayers; that didn't blow up the MTA budget, which would have bad consequences for everybody," Lieber said.

***

Long Island voters today will decide whether to approve the budget proposals of 124 school districts, with seven taking the risky move of attempting to pierce their tax cap.

Dandan Zou reports in NEWSDAY that if all budgets pass, spending across Nassau and Suffolk public schools would total nearly $16.9 billion in the 2026-27 academic year, a 3.26% increase over the current year. Local property taxes would rise 2.5%, to $10 billion Long Islandwide.

The spending increase is on par with the latest Consumer Price Index of 3.8%, as of April.

This year’s budget season was marked by widespread cuts.

A Newsday analysis found a third of Long Island districts have adopted budgets calling for reductions in staffing or programs. Only a few said they would add staff or programs. School officials across the region have cited skyrocketing costs, driven in part by inflation, among reasons for the cuts.

“Inflation impacts us as homeowners, but it also impacts school districts and to some extent to a greater degree because of the size of our budgets,” said Tim Eagen, president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association.

Another challenge districts faced this year was the uncertainty posed by the delay of the state budget, which was due April 1 but had yet to be finalized as of yesterday. Without an approved state budget, districts did not know exactly how much state aid their schools would receive next school year.

Most were anticipating a minimum 2% increase in their foundation aid, as opposed to the 1% laid out in the budget plan unveiled by Gov. Kathy Hochul in January, said Eagen, also superintendent of the Kings Park district.

“We have the most unusual and bizarre task of putting together a budget not fully knowing what our revenue is,” he said. “Albany's got to do better.”

***

Greenport’s East End Seaport Museum is holding a reopening celebration for the season this coming Friday, May 22 with revamped gallery space and a new major installation by nationally recognized Shinnecock artist Courtney M. Leonard.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the museum’s other gallery spaces have also been refreshed for the new season, with the main gallery featuring “Stories from Our Working Waterfront,” curated by Paul Kreiling.

The museum has also revamped its Children’s Discovery Area with a new experience, All Hands on Deck, where young visitors can explore the sea through microscopes, interactive touchscreens, a restored boat helm, and a rope and knot station. The museum’s gift shop has also been fully renovated and restocked with all-new merchandise for the season.

Friday’s festivities start with an exclusive first look for museum members from 5 to 6 p.m., and the galleries will open up to the public at large from 6 to 8 p.m.

East End Seaport Museum is at 100 Third Street in Greenport, New York.

***

Cantwell Court has received a $7 million boost from the State of New York, which establishes and plots out a clear course for the future of the long-awaited 16-unit affordable housing development set to pop up in the coming months between East Hampton Village and Amagansett.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that initial bids for development at Cantwell Court came in high, at around $600,000 per unit from Habitat for Humanity, which prompted the move toward more affordable, alternate options — ultimately leading town officials to lean on the state for a helping hand.

The $7 million, which is part of a $19 million package spread out throughout the state, will support the installation of 16 CrossMod homes, which are so-called because they are essentially a cross between a traditional site-built house and a manufactured home, at Cantwell Court.

The idea behind the CrossMod homes, which will be installed via the state’s MOVE-IN NY program, is to provide the benefits of a prefab house — speed of installation at a fraction of the cost — while still resembling a more traditional single-family house.

Spokesman Patrick Derenze said East Hampton Town officials plan to meet with officials from Housing and Community Renewal later this week to iron out the details, like how much the houses will cost and when move-in is expected to occur.

Installation, however, is on track to take place on a speedy timeline, with the expectation being that the homes will be sited on the 7-acre property by this summer.

Cantwell Court is on Montauk Highway between East Hampton Village and Amagansett.

“All these programs, we should remember ourselves, are taxpayer supported and paid for, so it’s great to see our tax dollars coming back to East Hampton,” said Councilwoman Cate Rogers.

But the bottom line is that East Hampton Town officials, with a helping hand from the state, will be moving forward, at a reduced cost, on an affordable housing development that is years in the making and that will provide homes to 16 individuals or families — despite the wait time.

***

Residents in Long Island's more than 120 school districts can decide on board candidates, budgets and propositions by voting today at their local school district polls.

Meanwhile, Stefanos Chen and Ashley Southall report in THE NY TIMES that transit officials and unions representing Long Island Rail Road workers agreed to a new contract last night, ending a three-day strike that shut down the nation’s busiest passenger rail service and wreaked havoc on commutes between Long Island and New York City.

Details of the new contract were not immediately clear, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said the deal would not lead to an increase on fares or state taxes.

Even with a deal reached yesterday, this morning’s commute was disrupted as the M.T.A. moved trains into place to restart regular service. Rob Free, the president of the L.I.R.R., said hourly train service would begin at 12 noon today on the four main electrified branches — Port Washington, Huntington, Ronkonkoma and Babylon — and full service would return to all lines by 4 o’clock this afternoon, in time for the evening rush.

Workers for the five striking unions, which represent about half the railroad’s work force, had not received a raise since 2022. They had been seeking a raise of up to 5 percent in 2026, in addition to three years of retroactive raises.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state transit agency that runs the railroad, had balked at the workers’ demands, arguing that the wage increases could jeopardize their negotiations with dozens of other unions and force them to raise fares or cut service.

This strike shut down the entire service for 3 days, which carries an average of more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City. It was the first strike on the railroad since 1994, when a similar...]]>A deal to end the historic Long Island Rail Road union strike was reached late last night, with riders expected to see a resumption of rail service by noon today, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

As reported by Newsday Staff, the agreement reached shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, provides relief to the tens of thousands of harried and frustrated Long Islanders who saw their commutes double or even triple during the first workday of the dispute.

"I want to thank New Yorkers, Long Islanders, particularly, who made all the accommodations; who had to work from home; who sacrificed; who had to put up with inconveniences," Hochul said at a news conference last night.

Hochul declined to answer questions about the terms of the deal, including about wages and work rules, but said MTA negotiators reached the deal without having to raise fares or taxes.

LIRR president Rob Free said service will resume on the four electrified branches — Port Washington, Huntington, Ronkonkoma and Babylon — at noon today. All other branches will resume service at 4 o'clock this afternoon using normal weekday schedules, he said.

The deal was reached on the third day of the strike, which brought service on the nation's busiest commuter rail system to a grinding halt and after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the leaders of the five LIRR unions representing about half the railroad's 7,000-member workforce restarted talks early yesterday.

An MTA spokesman said there will be no morning service today on the LIRR given how long negotiations had continued.

"We're looking forward to our members getting back to work and doing what they do best, which is serving the region," said Kevin Sexton, vice president of the locomotive engineers union.

MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said shuttle buses will operate in the morning, just as they did Monday.

"We had to find a deal that gave people fair raises, but didn't put the hit on the riders; the taxpayers; that didn't blow up the MTA budget, which would have bad consequences for everybody," Lieber said.

***

Long Island voters today will decide whether to approve the budget proposals of 124 school districts, with seven taking the risky move of attempting to pierce their tax cap.

Dandan Zou reports in NEWSDAY that if all budgets pass, spending across Nassau and Suffolk public schools would total nearly $16.9 billion in the 2026-27 academic year, a 3.26% increase over the current year. Local property taxes would rise 2.5%, to $10 billion Long Islandwide.

The spending increase is on par with the latest Consumer Price Index of 3.8%, as of April.

This year’s budget season was marked by widespread cuts.

A Newsday analysis found a third of Long Island districts have adopted budgets calling for reductions in staffing or programs. Only a few said they would add staff or programs. School officials across the region have cited skyrocketing costs, driven in part by inflation, among reasons for the cuts.

“Inflation impacts us as homeowners, but it also impacts school districts and to some extent to a greater degree because of the size of our budgets,” said Tim Eagen, president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association.

Another challenge districts faced this year was the uncertainty posed by the delay of the state budget, which was due April 1 but had yet to be finalized as of yesterday. Without an approved state budget, districts did not know exactly how much state aid their schools would receive next school year.

Most were anticipating a minimum 2% increase in their foundation aid, as opposed to the 1% laid out in the budget plan unveiled by Gov. Kathy Hochul in January, said Eagen, also superintendent of the Kings Park district.

“We have the most unusual and bizarre task of putting together a budget not fully knowing what our revenue is,” he said. “Albany's got to do better.”

***

Greenport’s East End Seaport Museum is holding a reopening celebration for the season this coming Friday, May 22 with revamped gallery space and a new major installation by nationally recognized Shinnecock artist Courtney M. Leonard.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the museum’s other gallery spaces have also been refreshed for the new season, with the main gallery featuring “Stories from Our Working Waterfront,” curated by Paul Kreiling.

The museum has also revamped its Children’s Discovery Area with a new experience, All Hands on Deck, where young visitors can explore the sea through microscopes, interactive touchscreens, a restored boat helm, and a rope and knot station. The museum’s gift shop has also been fully renovated and restocked with all-new merchandise for the season.

Friday’s festivities start with an exclusive first look for museum members from 5 to 6 p.m., and the galleries will open up to the public at large from 6 to 8 p.m.

East End Seaport Museum is at 100 Third Street in Greenport, New York.

***

Cantwell Court has received a $7 million boost from the State of New York, which establishes and plots out a clear course for the future of the long-awaited 16-unit affordable housing development set to pop up in the coming months between East Hampton Village and Amagansett.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that initial bids for development at Cantwell Court came in high, at around $600,000 per unit from Habitat for Humanity, which prompted the move toward more affordable, alternate options — ultimately leading town officials to lean on the state for a helping hand.

The $7 million, which is part of a $19 million package spread out throughout the state, will support the installation of 16 CrossMod homes, which are so-called because they are essentially a cross between a traditional site-built house and a manufactured home, at Cantwell Court.

The idea behind the CrossMod homes, which will be installed via the state’s MOVE-IN NY program, is to provide the benefits of a prefab house — speed of installation at a fraction of the cost — while still resembling a more traditional single-family house.

Spokesman Patrick Derenze said East Hampton Town officials plan to meet with officials from Housing and Community Renewal later this week to iron out the details, like how much the houses will cost and when move-in is expected to occur.

Installation, however, is on track to take place on a speedy timeline, with the expectation being that the homes will be sited on the 7-acre property by this summer.

Cantwell Court is on Montauk Highway between East Hampton Village and Amagansett.

“All these programs, we should remember ourselves, are taxpayer supported and paid for, so it’s great to see our tax dollars coming back to East Hampton,” said Councilwoman Cate Rogers.

But the bottom line is that East Hampton Town officials, with a helping hand from the state, will be moving forward, at a reduced cost, on an affordable housing development that is years in the making and that will provide homes to 16 individuals or families — despite the wait time.

***

Residents in Long Island's more than 120 school districts can decide on board candidates, budgets and propositions by voting today at their local school district polls.

Meanwhile, Stefanos Chen and Ashley Southall report in THE NY TIMES that transit officials and unions representing Long Island Rail Road workers agreed to a new contract last night, ending a three-day strike that shut down the nation’s busiest passenger rail service and wreaked havoc on commutes between Long Island and New York City.

Details of the new contract were not immediately clear, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said the deal would not lead to an increase on fares or state taxes.

Even with a deal reached yesterday, this morning’s commute was disrupted as the M.T.A. moved trains into place to restart regular service. Rob Free, the president of the L.I.R.R., said hourly train service would begin at 12 noon today on the four main electrified branches — Port Washington, Huntington, Ronkonkoma and Babylon — and full service would return to all lines by 4 o’clock this afternoon, in time for the evening rush.

Workers for the five striking unions, which represent about half the railroad’s work force, had not received a raise since 2022. They had been seeking a raise of up to 5 percent in 2026, in addition to three years of retroactive raises.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state transit agency that runs the railroad, had balked at the workers’ demands, arguing that the wage increases could jeopardize their negotiations with dozens of other unions and force them to raise fares or cut service.

This strike shut down the entire service for 3 days, which carries an average of more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City. It was the first strike on the railroad since 1994, when a similar shutdown lasted for two days.

***

County Road 39 in Southampton will be closed to through traffic between Tuckahoe Lane and Shrubland Road from 8 p.m. on Wednesday night, May 20...that's tomorrow at 8 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. the following morning for the construction of the pedestrian bridge linking the Stony Brook Southampton college campus and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the U.S. Open Golf Championship next month.

Starting at 8 p.m. tomorrow westbound traffic on County Road 39 will be detoured south on Tuckahoe Lane to Montauk Highway and eastbound traffic will be detoured north onto Shrubland Road and Sebonac Road to get around the closure.

Residents and employees of businesses between the detour points will be allowed to use the closed stretches of roadway but will not be able to pass Tuckahoe Road where the construction is taking place at any point.

***

Think someone gouged you for a ride during the just concluded Long Island Rail Road strike? The state attorney general’s office wants to know.

Newsday has written about skyrocketing fares since the strike began Saturday, including an instance of a ride-hailing company trying to charge someone $297 to get home from the airport.

Yesterday, NYS Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert warning about ride-hailing companies potentially price gouging and providing a way to report incidents.

"As New Yorkers face a complete shutdown of LIRR service, many are counting on rideshares, rental cars and other services to help them commute," James said in a statement Monday afternoon, about five hours before the strike ended.

"This strike is no excuse for companies to unfairly raise prices on New Yorkers," she said. "We will not tolerate price gouging, and I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and report illegal price hikes to my office."

Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that A.G. James noted New York’s price gouging law covers vendors, retailers and suppliers, and includes essential goods and services that are necessary for the health, safety and welfare of consumers or the general public. "Transportation options" are covered, her office said.

Penalties can run up to $25,000 per violation.

Consumers may report incidents by calling the AG’s hotline, 800-771-7755, or by reporting online here.

As reported in NEWSDAY, Long Islanders arrived in Queens by the trickle early today, riding shuttle buses mobilized to replace LIRR trains.

The shuttle bus that left Ronkonkoma at 4:05 a.m. arrived at 179th Street in Jamaica at 4:58 a.m. It carried 58 passengers, including the driver.

An MTA employee stood at the bus door as passengers exited, handing out placards of the shuttle map and answering questions.

The MTA said multiple customer ambassadors will be at each of the shuttle bus locations to take questions from confused commuters. They will probably be very busy.

Here is the info on shuttle buses:

They will run until 9 a.m. this morning from these Long Island locations to the subway stations in Queens and then back to Long Island from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Bay Shore LIRR station to the Howard Beach-JFK Airport stop on the A train.

Huntington LIRR station to the Jamaica-179th Street stop on the F train.

Ronkonkoma LIRR station to the Jamaica-179th Street stop on the F train.

In addition, shuttle buses will run until 9 a.m. from these three locations: Hempstead Lake State Park and the Hicksville and Mineola LIRR stations to the Howard Beach-JFK stop on the A train. But there will be no return buses in the afternoon.

There is no separate charge for the bus. Tap and ride with phone, credit, debit or OMNY card and you will transfer.

No substitute service is being provided east of Ronkonkoma.

If you haven’t already, take a minute to bookmark mta.info/lirr strike for details or dial 511.

Stefanos Chen reports in THE NY TIMES that five unions representing more than 3,500 workers — including engineers, signalmen and machinists — walked off the job shortly after midnight on Saturday, after yearslong negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad, fell apart.

The strike has shut down the entire service, which carries an average of more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City. The M.T.A. is providing free bus service which began this morning from six locations on Long Island to two subway stations in Queens, and in the opposite direction during the evening rush. Police officers and members of the L.I.R.R. work force who are not on strike are expected to help direct passengers to buses at the stops.

But the M.T.A. said the shuttles would not be able to accommodate all the riders who rely on the railroad, and encouraged people to work from home if they can.

Yesterday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that she had made major investments in the M.T.A. to stabilize its finances, and that she would not agree to a deal that could force the agency to raise fares.

“I worked hard to do that and don’t want that undone — I will not let that be undone,” she said.

A spokesman for the unions said in a statement on Sunday that their wage proposal was reasonable and that two federal review panels had sided with them.

“We remain ready to negotiate a fair agreement at any time and get back to work on behalf of Long Island commuters,” the statement said.

The National Mediation Board, a federal agency that oversees such disputes, summoned both sides to a meeting last night to continue negotiations. Negotiations continued past 1 a.m. with no resolution. Talks were set to pick up again this morning at 7:30 a.m.The unions represent about 3,500 workers - roughly half the LIRR’s workforce - who have not had a raise since 2022.

Both sides have agreed on retroactive raises of 3% for the first two years of the contract as well as 3.5% for the current year. But they clashed over the union’s demand for a 5% pay hike in 2026. The MTA has offered a lower amount and wants to increase the amount newly hired employees would pay for healthcare.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told the striking workers yesterday she values their labor and believes they deserved a fair wage and benefits but that the MTA cannot agree to a contract “that would raise fares as much as 8% and risk hiking taxes for Long Islanders.”

Early this morning, Matt Hollis, national president of the Transportation Communications Union, posted an update on social media saying the union “gave the MTA every opportunity to avoid this. Instead, heading into a busy workweek, MTA leadership once again demonstrated that it does not value either the riding public or in the hardworking men and women who keep this railroad moving.”

***

While the Long Island Rail Road made history this weekend with its first strike in over 30 years, train history buffs can learn more about the famous commuter railroad’s history tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. at Peconic Landing in Greenport, where Donald Fisher of the Railroad Museum of Long Island will speak as part of Peconic Landing’s America 250 lecture series.

Celebrating 192 Years of Railroading on Long Island. Greenport, the Reason for the Long Island Rail Road.

In 1995, with twenty-three years of audio-visual and technical theater experience, Mr. Donald Fisher joined the all-volunteer Railroad Museum of Long Island to serve as an electrician and exhibit designer. By 1998, Mr. Fisher had been appointed Assistant Site Manager for the Museum’s Greenport, Long Island campus and a major rehabilitation of the exhibit hall was underway.

Since October 2008, Don Fisher has served as President of the Railroad Museum of Long Island and continues to lead the restoration process on Locomotive #39.

Registration is required for Tuesday evening’s free presentation and will be strictly capped at 60 persons.

Click here to register and for further info.

***

Agriculture is an important business in Suffolk County, the top New York producer of many ornamental plants and vegetables.

Cows or hogs, not so much.

So a maverick stance by Rep. Andrew Garbarino for humane livestock conditions is befuddling his local farm bureau.

Billy House reports in NEWSDAY that the Bayport congressman was one of just three House Republicans out of 212 to vote against the GOP’s Farm Bill, which passed last month in a 224-200 vote. Garbarino objected to language that would overturn anti-confinement laws emerging in other states that mandate strict minimum space requirements for breeding pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens.

"We were a little disappointed and somewhat puzzled," said Bill Zalakar, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau. He noted Garbarino’s vote was initially curious because of the bill's importance to Suffolk County, which ranks fourth out of the 62 New York counties in terms of overall agriculture production.

But Congressman Garbarino has an established record on federal animal welfare policy, notably through his work with animal protection caucuses. He is co-chair of the Congressional Zoo and Aquarium Caucus, which bills itself as a conduit from zoos to Congress of "valuable expertise and resources in animal care and welfare."

He also has a track record of co-sponsoring bills to improve the treatment of animals or combat wildlife trafficking. As recently as last month, he was among a handful of Republicans to persuade party leaders to postpone a planned vote on a bill that critics said would impair and overhaul the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

"Long Islanders believe in treating animals humanely and respecting the right of states to set standards that reflect their values," he said. "That’s why I voted ‘no.’ ”

Garbarino represents New York's 2nd congressional district which stretches along the south shore of Long Island and includes parts of Suffolk County and a small portion of southeastern Nassau County.

Along with threatening state-level animal welfare standards, Garbarino also said the farm bill as passed by the House raises "serious concerns about federal overreach that could impact everything from New York’s pest and disease prevention safeguards to its public health, food safety and consumer protection laws."

***

East End Police Departments will participate in the statewide May 2026 “Click It or Ticket”/“Buckle Up New York” campaign, beginning today through Sunday, May 31.

During the two-week mobilization, officers will be conducting fixed and roving safety restraint details focused on seat belt and child restraint compliance, according to police.

Under New York State law, all front-seat occupants must be properly secured regardless of age. Since Nov. 1, 2020, all rear-seat passengers — both over and under age 16 — must also be properly secured, police said.

Police also remind drivers and caregivers of New York’s child passenger safety requirements, including that children up to age 4 must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat, and that backseat passengers under age 2 must be restrained in a rear-facing child restraint.

For more information, residents can visit www.safeny.ny.gov.

***

As the U.S. Open returns to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the United States Golf Association, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Golf Association and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, is launching a wide-ranging community engagement initiative designed to deliver lasting impact across Eastern Long Island.

“Bringing the U.S. Open to a community is an opportunity to create impact that extends...]]>The first Long Island Rail Road strike since 1994 has rolled into a third day and the start of the workweek. Negotiations between MTA and union leaders are expected to resume at 7:30 this morning.

As reported in NEWSDAY, Long Islanders arrived in Queens by the trickle early today, riding shuttle buses mobilized to replace LIRR trains.

The shuttle bus that left Ronkonkoma at 4:05 a.m. arrived at 179th Street in Jamaica at 4:58 a.m. It carried 58 passengers, including the driver.

An MTA employee stood at the bus door as passengers exited, handing out placards of the shuttle map and answering questions.

The MTA said multiple customer ambassadors will be at each of the shuttle bus locations to take questions from confused commuters. They will probably be very busy.

Here is the info on shuttle buses:

They will run until 9 a.m. this morning from these Long Island locations to the subway stations in Queens and then back to Long Island from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Bay Shore LIRR station to the Howard Beach-JFK Airport stop on the A train.

Huntington LIRR station to the Jamaica-179th Street stop on the F train.

Ronkonkoma LIRR station to the Jamaica-179th Street stop on the F train.

In addition, shuttle buses will run until 9 a.m. from these three locations: Hempstead Lake State Park and the Hicksville and Mineola LIRR stations to the Howard Beach-JFK stop on the A train. But there will be no return buses in the afternoon.

There is no separate charge for the bus. Tap and ride with phone, credit, debit or OMNY card and you will transfer.

No substitute service is being provided east of Ronkonkoma.

If you haven’t already, take a minute to bookmark mta.info/lirr strike for details or dial 511.

Stefanos Chen reports in THE NY TIMES that five unions representing more than 3,500 workers — including engineers, signalmen and machinists — walked off the job shortly after midnight on Saturday, after yearslong negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad, fell apart.

The strike has shut down the entire service, which carries an average of more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City. The M.T.A. is providing free bus service which began this morning from six locations on Long Island to two subway stations in Queens, and in the opposite direction during the evening rush. Police officers and members of the L.I.R.R. work force who are not on strike are expected to help direct passengers to buses at the stops.

But the M.T.A. said the shuttles would not be able to accommodate all the riders who rely on the railroad, and encouraged people to work from home if they can.

Yesterday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that she had made major investments in the M.T.A. to stabilize its finances, and that she would not agree to a deal that could force the agency to raise fares.

“I worked hard to do that and don’t want that undone — I will not let that be undone,” she said.

A spokesman for the unions said in a statement on Sunday that their wage proposal was reasonable and that two federal review panels had sided with them.

“We remain ready to negotiate a fair agreement at any time and get back to work on behalf of Long Island commuters,” the statement said.

The National Mediation Board, a federal agency that oversees such disputes, summoned both sides to a meeting last night to continue negotiations. Negotiations continued past 1 a.m. with no resolution. Talks were set to pick up again this morning at 7:30 a.m.The unions represent about 3,500 workers - roughly half the LIRR’s workforce - who have not had a raise since 2022.

Both sides have agreed on retroactive raises of 3% for the first two years of the contract as well as 3.5% for the current year. But they clashed over the union’s demand for a 5% pay hike in 2026. The MTA has offered a lower amount and wants to increase the amount newly hired employees would pay for healthcare.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told the striking workers yesterday she values their labor and believes they deserved a fair wage and benefits but that the MTA cannot agree to a contract “that would raise fares as much as 8% and risk hiking taxes for Long Islanders.”

Early this morning, Matt Hollis, national president of the Transportation Communications Union, posted an update on social media saying the union “gave the MTA every opportunity to avoid this. Instead, heading into a busy workweek, MTA leadership once again demonstrated that it does not value either the riding public or in the hardworking men and women who keep this railroad moving.”

***

While the Long Island Rail Road made history this weekend with its first strike in over 30 years, train history buffs can learn more about the famous commuter railroad’s history tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. at Peconic Landing in Greenport, where Donald Fisher of the Railroad Museum of Long Island will speak as part of Peconic Landing’s America 250 lecture series.

Celebrating 192 Years of Railroading on Long Island. Greenport, the Reason for the Long Island Rail Road.

In 1995, with twenty-three years of audio-visual and technical theater experience, Mr. Donald Fisher joined the all-volunteer Railroad Museum of Long Island to serve as an electrician and exhibit designer. By 1998, Mr. Fisher had been appointed Assistant Site Manager for the Museum’s Greenport, Long Island campus and a major rehabilitation of the exhibit hall was underway.

Since October 2008, Don Fisher has served as President of the Railroad Museum of Long Island and continues to lead the restoration process on Locomotive #39.

Registration is required for Tuesday evening’s free presentation and will be strictly capped at 60 persons.

Click here to register and for further info.

***

Agriculture is an important business in Suffolk County, the top New York producer of many ornamental plants and vegetables.

Cows or hogs, not so much.

So a maverick stance by Rep. Andrew Garbarino for humane livestock conditions is befuddling his local farm bureau.

Billy House reports in NEWSDAY that the Bayport congressman was one of just three House Republicans out of 212 to vote against the GOP’s Farm Bill, which passed last month in a 224-200 vote. Garbarino objected to language that would overturn anti-confinement laws emerging in other states that mandate strict minimum space requirements for breeding pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens.

"We were a little disappointed and somewhat puzzled," said Bill Zalakar, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau. He noted Garbarino’s vote was initially curious because of the bill's importance to Suffolk County, which ranks fourth out of the 62 New York counties in terms of overall agriculture production.

But Congressman Garbarino has an established record on federal animal welfare policy, notably through his work with animal protection caucuses. He is co-chair of the Congressional Zoo and Aquarium Caucus, which bills itself as a conduit from zoos to Congress of "valuable expertise and resources in animal care and welfare."

He also has a track record of co-sponsoring bills to improve the treatment of animals or combat wildlife trafficking. As recently as last month, he was among a handful of Republicans to persuade party leaders to postpone a planned vote on a bill that critics said would impair and overhaul the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

"Long Islanders believe in treating animals humanely and respecting the right of states to set standards that reflect their values," he said. "That’s why I voted ‘no.’ ”

Garbarino represents New York's 2nd congressional district which stretches along the south shore of Long Island and includes parts of Suffolk County and a small portion of southeastern Nassau County.

Along with threatening state-level animal welfare standards, Garbarino also said the farm bill as passed by the House raises "serious concerns about federal overreach that could impact everything from New York’s pest and disease prevention safeguards to its public health, food safety and consumer protection laws."

***

East End Police Departments will participate in the statewide May 2026 “Click It or Ticket”/“Buckle Up New York” campaign, beginning today through Sunday, May 31.

During the two-week mobilization, officers will be conducting fixed and roving safety restraint details focused on seat belt and child restraint compliance, according to police.

Under New York State law, all front-seat occupants must be properly secured regardless of age. Since Nov. 1, 2020, all rear-seat passengers — both over and under age 16 — must also be properly secured, police said.

Police also remind drivers and caregivers of New York’s child passenger safety requirements, including that children up to age 4 must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat, and that backseat passengers under age 2 must be restrained in a rear-facing child restraint.

For more information, residents can visit www.safeny.ny.gov.

***

As the U.S. Open returns to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the United States Golf Association, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Golf Association and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, is launching a wide-ranging community engagement initiative designed to deliver lasting impact across Eastern Long Island.

“Bringing the U.S. Open to a community is an opportunity to create impact that extends well beyond championship week,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan.

Focused on strengthening access to the game, enhancing public golf facilities and creating new opportunities for young people, the U.S.G.A. promotes its continued commitment to ensuring the championship leaves a meaningful legacy in its host community.

Shinnecock Hills President Brett Pickett states, “Nothing about hosting a U.S. Open is more satisfying than the opportunity to spotlight and help constituents of our local community…We are incredibly grateful to the USGA for its leadership, and the MGA for its partnership, in continuing the legacy of community investment around our national championship.”

Four Suffolk County public golf courses — Indian Island Golf Club, Timber Point Golf Club, Bergen Point Golf Club and West Sayville Golf Club — will receive targeted support aimed at enhancing course conditions and improving the overall player experience.

In addition, a key component of the community giveback initiative will support youth programming within the Shinnecock Nation, building on existing efforts to introduce the game to young people in the community.

The partnership will enhance programming at the Shinnecock Nation Boys & Girls Club, expanding access to golf instruction, equipment and playing opportunities, while continuing to integrate cultural education and community-based activities.

“The USGA has been a long-time supporter of the Shinnecock Nation and we have seen the impact that support has on our youth over the years,” said Lisa Goree, chairwoman of the Shinnecock Council of Trustees. “We’re excited about this next chapter and look forward to welcoming back the U.S. Open.”

Arriving here 4 weeks from now, the 126th U.S. Open is scheduled for June 18–21, 2026, at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York. As the national championship of golf, it features a 156-player field competing for the title, with the final round traditionally concluding on Father's Day.

It will be the sixth Open hosted at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club...dating back to 1896.

If commuters didn't have enough anxiety over the possible Long Island Rail Road strike, service to Penn Station was “extremely limited” this morning due to yesterday’s track fire.

There are no eastbound trains leaving from Penn Station and “there will be reroutes, cancellations and delays,” according to the MTA’s TrainTime app.

As reported by Newsday Staff, a 12-hour negotiation session yesterday between MTA managers and five LIRR unions ended last night without a deal, and with the two sides “very far apart,” according to one labor leader.

The talks broke shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday and are expected to reconvene at 10 o'clock this morning — just 14 hours before a strike deadline.

Asked if he thought a deal could be made with such little time left on the clock, Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said “I hope so.”

"What I can say is, at this point, the parties are very far apart,” Sexton said upon leaving the MTA’s Manhattan headquarters with other union leaders. "But we look forward to meeting with them tomorrow, and we'll take it from there.”

Earlier in the day, the two sides noted incremental progress during yesterday’s marathon negotiations.

***

The Petrocelli hotel plan got a warm reception from members of the Riverhead Town Board yesterday and is headed for a public hearing next month on the site plan and special permit application.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that officials reviewed the proposed 94-room downtown hotel from town square master developer J. Petrocelli Riverhead Town Square, a limited liability company whose managing members are Joe and John Petrocelli.

Joe Petrocelli and other representatives of the development company presented plans for the five-story hotel proposed for 117–127 E. Main St., adjacent to the planned town square and East End Arts campus, during the Riverhead Town Board’s morning work session.

The revised proposal increases the hotel room count from 76 to 94 rooms while removing the previously planned 12 condominiums. The fifth floor will now be built out as 14 suites with balconies or terraces instead of the condominium dwelling units, VHB environmental planner Christiana Kastalek told the board.

The proposal calls for construction of a 69,738-square-foot mixed-use building on an approximately half-acre site. The building will contain:

• a 116-seat restaurant with bar and outdoor terrace,

• a coffee shop,

• nearly 2,900 square feet of retail space,

• hotel lounge and fitness facilities,

• and 94 guest rooms, including 14 suites. Developer Joe Petrocelli described the project as critical to maintaining momentum for the broader downtown redevelopment effort.

The Riverhead Town Board is expected to schedule formal public hearings on the hotel site plan and special permit applications for June 10. Project representatives said they are also seeking a foundation permit to allow construction work to begin as soon as approvals are obtained. “We’re ready to go,” Petrocelli told the board.

***

East End Police Departments will participate in the statewide May 2026 “Click It or Ticket”/“Buckle Up New York” campaign, which runs from this coming Monday, May 18 through Sunday, May 31, police have stated in a media release.

During the two-week mobilization, officers will be conducting fixed and roving safety restraint details focused on seat belt and child restraint compliance.

Police cited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics indicating seat belt use has saved more than 345,000 lives since 1975, and that in 2024 there were 9,758 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes. The national seat belt use rate in 2024 was 91.2%, police said.

Under New York State law, all front-seat occupants must be properly secured regardless of age. Since Nov. 1, 2020, all rear-seat passengers — both over and under age 16 — must also be properly secured, police said.

Police also remind drivers and caregivers of New York’s child passenger safety requirements, including that children up to age 4 must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat, and that backseat passengers under age 2 must be restrained in a rear-facing child restraint.

For more information, residents can visit www.safeny.ny.gov.

***

Ticks take over lawns and yards across Long Island in the warm spring and summer months and stick around into the fall. And like many of us, they enjoy dining al fresco.

Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that many homeowners have turned to professional pest control companies to spray their yards to eliminate or at least control the tick population. Others prefer to tackle it on their own with store-bought tick killers and repellents.

While not all tick bites cause diseases, such as Lyme disease, or trigger the red meat allergy known as alpha-gal syndrome, public health experts urge Long Islanders to be wary of these hearty arachnids, many of whom survived this past winter under the cover of snow.

"I think most people come in contact with ticks in their yards ... and yards can be risky areas," said Scott Campbell, Suffolk County’s chief entomologist, who oversees tick surveillance. "People have a tendency to take precautions if they are going for a hike, but not if they are in their backyards."

The first step is figuring out if you have ticks in your yard and where they are.

"Not everyone has to spray," Campbell said. "You really have to assess the problem."

Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an entomologist based in Babylon and associate director at Cornell University’s Integrated Pest Management program, suggested a simple DIY approach. Take a light-colored piece of flannel and attach it to something like a broom handle and sweep it across the grass to look for ticks.

"The flannel is really a perfect substance, because the tick is kind of tangled up in there, and they don't fall off easily," she said.

***

Nancy Remkus, who grew up in Sag Harbor and has been minister at the First Presbyterian (Old Whalers’) Church in Sag Harbor over the last five years was chosen recently to receive a Suffolk County “Champion of Diversity” Award.

Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker chose Remkus as the “Champion of Diversity” award recipient for Suffolk County’s District 2. Remkus opted to receive recognition at this coming Sunday’s service at 10 a.m. in the Old Whalers’ Church.

Welker and her assistant, Cheryl Rozzi, will be on hand to present the award. The church will host a reception following the service downstairs in the social hall.

Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Nancy Remkus was a beloved teacher at Sag Harbor Elementary School for more than 30 years. She created the school’s popular morning program, where students and their families start each school day by gathering in the gymnasium and singing a selection of songs.

***

Two weeks before the unofficial start of summer — traditionally the season of high water use across Long Island — the state has issued a drought warning for Nassau and Suffolk counties.

"Dry conditions and below-normal precipitation on Long Island have prompted DEC to ... issue a drought warning in Nassau and Suffolk counties," Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said in a statement yesterday. "We are encouraging all Long Islanders to practice water conservation to protect the region’s valuable sole source aquifer water supply."

Both counties had been on a drought watch; a drought warning is the second of four ranks, from watch to warning to emergency to disaster.

Long Island has received 4 inches less rain than normal over the past three months and 9 inches less than normal over the past six months, per the NYSDEC statement.

Tracy Tullis reports in NEWSDAY that abnormally low precipitation depletes the groundwater and the surface waters, such as streams and lakes, that are fed by groundwater.

Long Islanders use on average 140 gallons of water a day, per person, about 55% more than the national average of about 90 gallons, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Last August, during a drought watch, water use did not decline significantly even as the Suffolk County Water Authority pleaded with its customers to conserve water.

A drought warning doesn’t carry mandatory restrictions. But water suppliers are asking residents to take extra care with their water consumption in the coming weeks.

"With Long Island under a drought warning, Suffolk County Water Authority is urging all customers to be mindful of their water use and take the preservation of our water resources seriously," authority spokesman Daniel Dubois wrote to Newsday yesterday. "Outdoor lawn watering is one of the biggest drivers of demand on our system," he said. Customers should observe the odd/even watering schedule, he added.

Other suppliers encourage residents to use "smart" sprinklers, which monitor the soil for moisture before watering, and observe the ban on watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when much of the sprinkler water evaporates before reaching the lawn.

Outside of a slight chance of showers this morning, rain is not in our east end forecast until next Thursday morning when a 40 percent chance of showers is indicated.

The MTA, however, is relying on a lump-sum payment to meet some of the unions' demands. A union source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, said the unions would not accept a deal made up of a one-time payment.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that progress in the talks, acknowledged by both the MTA and the unions representing about half of the LIRR’s 7,000-member organized labor force, came as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged both sides to "find a middle ground" to avoid disrupting the commutes of 270,000 daily railroad riders. A strike could begin as early as 12:01 a.m. this Saturday if no deal is reached.

Following a Manhattan bargaining session, MTA chief negotiator Gary Dellaverson offered new details of management’s latest offer at a news conference at the authority's headquarters. He said the compensation package worth — $133,788,000 — is "the exact same amount" as a proposal recommended by White House mediators.

That recommended settlement would have paid workers 4.5% raises in the fourth year of their contract. The unions have demanded 5%, but Dellaverson said the unions, for the first time in recent negotiations, "actually made a move" at Wednesday’s bargaining session.

"All of the money that was requested is now on the table," Dellaverson said. "I believe firmly that a deal is present. It’s available. It’s doable. And we should reach it tomorrow."

In the event of a strike, the MTA is encouraging commuters to work from home if possible. Those who can’t will have to drive to work or rely on limited public transportation options, including shuttle buses running between six locations on Long Island and two subway stations in Queens.

***

The public will get its first look this morning at long-anticipated plans for the Petrocelli hotel proposed for the Riverhead town square.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Riverhead Town Board members are expected to review plans for a 94-room hotel filed by J. Petrocelli Riverhead Town Square LLC at today’s work session at 10 a.m. in Riverhead Town Hall.

The application calls for construction of a five-story, 69,738-square-foot hotel building at 117–127 E. Main St., adjacent to the planned town square and East End Arts campus.

Plans submitted to the town show the project would include a 116-seat restaurant with bar and outdoor terrace overlooking the riverfront, a coffee shop, nearly 2,900 square feet of retail space, hotel lounge and fitness facilities and 94 guest rooms, including 14 fifth-floor suites with balconies or terraces.

The “Peconic River Hotel” proposal replaces an earlier concept reviewed during the town’s downtown revitalization environmental review process that included 76 hotel rooms and 12 condominium units.

The plan represents one of the most significant vertical development projects tied to the town’s broader downtown redevelopment initiative, which includes construction of a new public town square, flood mitigation improvements and a planned parking garage.

Among the most significant are questions involving sewer and water system capacity.

Parking and traffic operations are also expected to be key discussion points during this morning’s Riverhead Town Board work session.

***

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Southold Flotilla holds its annual National Safe Boating Week event in Greenport’s Mitchell Park this coming Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Activities to promote safety on the water will include paddlecraft & safety equipment, knot tying, and life ring toss. Free vessel safety checks will be given on the water in Greenport Harbor.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that U.S. Coast Guard statistics show drowning was the reported cause of death in three out of every four recreational boating fatalities in 2024, and that 87 percent of those who drowned were NOT wearing life jackets.

The NY State Annual Report reflects that the most common cause of accidents is collision between boats. “With over 60,0000 registered recreational vessels in Suffolk County, boaters must be constantly aware of what is happening,” said Andrew Tarantino, Division Commander, Eastern Long Island. “Auxiliary safety classes point out the changes in the laws, as well as best practices to keep boating safe and fun.”

Learn more as the U.S. Coast Guard celebrates Safe Boating Week in Greenport’s Mitchell Park this Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

***

Tired of delay, an Amagansett property owner has sued the East Hampton Town Building Department after five months of waiting for a building permit to construct a house on Bendigo Road.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the East Hampton Town Building Department has been in the spotlight for much of the past year, having battled a backlog, a handful of lawsuits and staff turnover — all as the district attorney’s office conducted a bribery investigation, and ultimately, charged two staffers.

Highly credentialed Principal Building Inspector Richard Normoyle, who came on board with the Town of East Hampton after 30 years of experience in municipal building operations last September, has looked to right the ship and told the Town Board this week that he has a one-year plan for cutting down the backlog, which right now stretches back to September.

The goal is to cut the wait time down to three months by January 1 and reduce the wait time for smaller, accessory permits down to two weeks. By May 1 of next year, Normoyle is targeting a four-to-six-week wait for permits. Staffers are wrapping up applications from September; they are about to dive into October, November and December, which they plan to have worked through by mid-July.

“We’re all aware of the challenges we’re facing, and this board has been tremendously supportive of rebuilding this department,” Normoyle told the Town Board at a work session on Tuesday.

But the department is now faced with another lawsuit, this time concerning that very same application backlog that has been the subject of much scrutiny.

Dominating the conversation about moving forward, is expanding the department with extra staffing, which Normoyle says will be critical for getting additional eyes on applications and keeping pace with the rate of applications. East Hampton Town officials have been working with Suffolk County Civil Service on that, with the current ask being two new plans examiner positions.

Normoyle has also been quick to sing the praises of the new staffers. “The department is expanding and changing and growing…The more we expand, the more we train, the more we deal with the architects, the faster things move, and this only increases our momentum as we continue down this path,” said East Hampton Town’s Principal Building Inspector Richard Normoyle.

***

The Long Island Rail Road, America’s busiest passenger rail service, will be forced to shut down on Saturday if transit officials and workers cannot come to terms on a contract and avert a strike.

Stefanos Chen reports in THE NY TIMES that five unions representing more than 3,500 workers — including engineers, signalmen and machinists — about half of the LIRR’s unionized work force - are preparing to walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, if they don’t receive bigger raises than they are currently being offered. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad, has said such an increase could lead to higher fares, higher state taxes or service cuts.

A strike on the Long Island Rail Road, which carries more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City, on average, could cause chaos for travelers with few other options. Many commuters cannot work remotely and rely on the service.

The threat of a strike comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, seeks re-election later this year. The governor, who lost Long Island in the last election, is being challenged by the Nassau County executive, Bruce Blakeman, a Republican with close ties to the region.

Ms. Hochul said at a news conference yesterday that she did not want a strike, but that the unions’ salary demands could jeopardize the M.T.A.’s finances at a time when the authority is finally on stable ground.

“I’m not willing to ask Long Islanders to pay unnecessary fare hikes or higher taxes,” she said. “So we have to be ready for whatever happens.”

"Both sides must continue to negotiate in good faith toward a deal at the table. Now, I've directed the MTA to do just that, to negotiate in good faith, and they are," Hochul said. "But they need a partner."

Following a Manhattan bargaining session yesterday, MTA chief negotiator Gary Dellaverson offered new details of management’s latest offer at a news conference at the authority's headquarters. He said the compensation package worth — $133,788,000 — is "the exact same amount" as a proposal recommended by White House mediators.

Dellaverson said the MTA’s latest offer, which has been revised several times in the last week, would be the same financial outlay in the fourth year of workers’ contracts as mediators recommended. But because it would consist of lump-sum payments, rather than wage increases, it would be more affordable for the MTA in the long run, and not a precedent for negotiations with other, larger transit unions, he said.

A...]]>The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's lead negotiator said yesterday a deal to avoid a commute-crippling Long Island Rail Road strike was within reach, as the transit agency put a $134 million offer on the table that would pay workers "all of the money that was requested," and that the unions have budged from their previous demands.

The MTA, however, is relying on a lump-sum payment to meet some of the unions' demands. A union source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, said the unions would not accept a deal made up of a one-time payment.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that progress in the talks, acknowledged by both the MTA and the unions representing about half of the LIRR’s 7,000-member organized labor force, came as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged both sides to "find a middle ground" to avoid disrupting the commutes of 270,000 daily railroad riders. A strike could begin as early as 12:01 a.m. this Saturday if no deal is reached.

Following a Manhattan bargaining session, MTA chief negotiator Gary Dellaverson offered new details of management’s latest offer at a news conference at the authority's headquarters. He said the compensation package worth — $133,788,000 — is "the exact same amount" as a proposal recommended by White House mediators.

That recommended settlement would have paid workers 4.5% raises in the fourth year of their contract. The unions have demanded 5%, but Dellaverson said the unions, for the first time in recent negotiations, "actually made a move" at Wednesday’s bargaining session.

"All of the money that was requested is now on the table," Dellaverson said. "I believe firmly that a deal is present. It’s available. It’s doable. And we should reach it tomorrow."

In the event of a strike, the MTA is encouraging commuters to work from home if possible. Those who can’t will have to drive to work or rely on limited public transportation options, including shuttle buses running between six locations on Long Island and two subway stations in Queens.

***

The public will get its first look this morning at long-anticipated plans for the Petrocelli hotel proposed for the Riverhead town square.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Riverhead Town Board members are expected to review plans for a 94-room hotel filed by J. Petrocelli Riverhead Town Square LLC at today’s work session at 10 a.m. in Riverhead Town Hall.

The application calls for construction of a five-story, 69,738-square-foot hotel building at 117–127 E. Main St., adjacent to the planned town square and East End Arts campus.

Plans submitted to the town show the project would include a 116-seat restaurant with bar and outdoor terrace overlooking the riverfront, a coffee shop, nearly 2,900 square feet of retail space, hotel lounge and fitness facilities and 94 guest rooms, including 14 fifth-floor suites with balconies or terraces.

The “Peconic River Hotel” proposal replaces an earlier concept reviewed during the town’s downtown revitalization environmental review process that included 76 hotel rooms and 12 condominium units.

The plan represents one of the most significant vertical development projects tied to the town’s broader downtown redevelopment initiative, which includes construction of a new public town square, flood mitigation improvements and a planned parking garage.

Among the most significant are questions involving sewer and water system capacity.

Parking and traffic operations are also expected to be key discussion points during this morning’s Riverhead Town Board work session.

***

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Southold Flotilla holds its annual National Safe Boating Week event in Greenport’s Mitchell Park this coming Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Activities to promote safety on the water will include paddlecraft & safety equipment, knot tying, and life ring toss. Free vessel safety checks will be given on the water in Greenport Harbor.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that U.S. Coast Guard statistics show drowning was the reported cause of death in three out of every four recreational boating fatalities in 2024, and that 87 percent of those who drowned were NOT wearing life jackets.

The NY State Annual Report reflects that the most common cause of accidents is collision between boats. “With over 60,0000 registered recreational vessels in Suffolk County, boaters must be constantly aware of what is happening,” said Andrew Tarantino, Division Commander, Eastern Long Island. “Auxiliary safety classes point out the changes in the laws, as well as best practices to keep boating safe and fun.”

Learn more as the U.S. Coast Guard celebrates Safe Boating Week in Greenport’s Mitchell Park this Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

***

Tired of delay, an Amagansett property owner has sued the East Hampton Town Building Department after five months of waiting for a building permit to construct a house on Bendigo Road.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the East Hampton Town Building Department has been in the spotlight for much of the past year, having battled a backlog, a handful of lawsuits and staff turnover — all as the district attorney’s office conducted a bribery investigation, and ultimately, charged two staffers.

Highly credentialed Principal Building Inspector Richard Normoyle, who came on board with the Town of East Hampton after 30 years of experience in municipal building operations last September, has looked to right the ship and told the Town Board this week that he has a one-year plan for cutting down the backlog, which right now stretches back to September.

The goal is to cut the wait time down to three months by January 1 and reduce the wait time for smaller, accessory permits down to two weeks. By May 1 of next year, Normoyle is targeting a four-to-six-week wait for permits. Staffers are wrapping up applications from September; they are about to dive into October, November and December, which they plan to have worked through by mid-July.

“We’re all aware of the challenges we’re facing, and this board has been tremendously supportive of rebuilding this department,” Normoyle told the Town Board at a work session on Tuesday.

But the department is now faced with another lawsuit, this time concerning that very same application backlog that has been the subject of much scrutiny.

Dominating the conversation about moving forward, is expanding the department with extra staffing, which Normoyle says will be critical for getting additional eyes on applications and keeping pace with the rate of applications. East Hampton Town officials have been working with Suffolk County Civil Service on that, with the current ask being two new plans examiner positions.

Normoyle has also been quick to sing the praises of the new staffers. “The department is expanding and changing and growing…The more we expand, the more we train, the more we deal with the architects, the faster things move, and this only increases our momentum as we continue down this path,” said East Hampton Town’s Principal Building Inspector Richard Normoyle.

***

The Long Island Rail Road, America’s busiest passenger rail service, will be forced to shut down on Saturday if transit officials and workers cannot come to terms on a contract and avert a strike.

Stefanos Chen reports in THE NY TIMES that five unions representing more than 3,500 workers — including engineers, signalmen and machinists — about half of the LIRR’s unionized work force - are preparing to walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, if they don’t receive bigger raises than they are currently being offered. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad, has said such an increase could lead to higher fares, higher state taxes or service cuts.

A strike on the Long Island Rail Road, which carries more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City, on average, could cause chaos for travelers with few other options. Many commuters cannot work remotely and rely on the service.

The threat of a strike comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, seeks re-election later this year. The governor, who lost Long Island in the last election, is being challenged by the Nassau County executive, Bruce Blakeman, a Republican with close ties to the region.

Ms. Hochul said at a news conference yesterday that she did not want a strike, but that the unions’ salary demands could jeopardize the M.T.A.’s finances at a time when the authority is finally on stable ground.

“I’m not willing to ask Long Islanders to pay unnecessary fare hikes or higher taxes,” she said. “So we have to be ready for whatever happens.”

"Both sides must continue to negotiate in good faith toward a deal at the table. Now, I've directed the MTA to do just that, to negotiate in good faith, and they are," Hochul said. "But they need a partner."

Following a Manhattan bargaining session yesterday, MTA chief negotiator Gary Dellaverson offered new details of management’s latest offer at a news conference at the authority's headquarters. He said the compensation package worth — $133,788,000 — is "the exact same amount" as a proposal recommended by White House mediators.

Dellaverson said the MTA’s latest offer, which has been revised several times in the last week, would be the same financial outlay in the fourth year of workers’ contracts as mediators recommended. But because it would consist of lump-sum payments, rather than wage increases, it would be more affordable for the MTA in the long run, and not a precedent for negotiations with other, larger transit unions, he said.

A union source told NEWSDAY that workers wouldn't accept a lump sum payment alternative.

***

The Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association - BIDMA - is rolling out a new branding and marketing strategy aimed at positioning downtown Riverhead as a year-round destination centered on arts, culture, walkability and its waterfront character.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the effort announced publicly this week, includes a new mission statement, updated branding language and a marketing strategy focused on attracting visitors, businesses and investment to the downtown district.

The BIDMA’s new mission statement promotes downtown Riverhead as “the nexus of the East End” and emphasizes its “historic character and arts culture” along with “sustainable economic investment,” “authentic community experiences” and “year-round vitality.”

BIDMA Executive Director Melissa Martin recently described downtown Riverhead as “the authentic soul of the East End” and “a walkable riverfront junction where craft culture meets historic grit.”

The BIDMA oversees the downtown business improvement district, which includes portions of Main Street and surrounding downtown areas of Riverhead.

More information is available at downtownriverhead.org.

***

The final Express Sessions event for spring 2026 focused on what the Southampton Town Board’s recent approval of the purchase of land to anchor a sewer system for the Hampton Bays business district could mean for the future of the hamlet — for better and worse.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the panel compiled for last week’s discussion included Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore, Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, Town Planning and Development Administrator Janice Scherer, Hampton Bays Chamber of Commerce President Christine Taylor, Hampton Bays Civic Association Vice President Michael McCullough and Hampton Bays community activist Gayle Lombardi.

The panel and members of the sold-out audience at Cowfish restaurant offered competing views about what a sewer system would or could mean for downtown Hampton Bays and ranged widely to discussions about the hamlet business district’s broader woes and a wide range of possible other ways to boost the economic prospects of the hamlet.

Supervisor Moore and the other Southampton Town officials defended the town’s purchase of a 31-acre property next to the town’s Jackson Avenue campus and its plans to use about 6 acres of the land to construct a sewage treatment and water discharge system. The plan is the subject of a lawsuit by the property’s sole neighbor.

The proposed location, adjacent to the town’s transfer station and separated from residential neighborhoods, had been one that many in Hampton Bays had called for years ago. Councilwoman McNamara acknowledged that she’d thought it was a poor choice because of the distance from the business district, but when engineers looked closely at the details they determined it was actually very well suited for a sewer system plant.

Critics have said that freeing downtown properties from the current constraints of Suffolk County Health Department wastewater limits could lead to an explosion of new development. Supporters say they hope that is exactly what will happen.

Making it possible for new development to grow in the downtown is crucial to sustaining Hampton Bays vitality and keeping it a desirable place to live, proponents of the sewer plan say.

Chamber of Commerce President Taylor said that without a major boost to the business climate in the downtown, it is doomed to gradual deterioration even from what it is now. “Hampton Bays is not the Main Street you’re going to walk down just to window shop. People go to the hardware store and leave. The stores are struggling,” Taylor said. “A lot of our business owners are over 55 years old. They’re tired. They’re looking for younger blood to come in and revitalize.”

Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that the Long Island Rail Road transports more than 270,000 weekday riders each day, and a strike would disrupt the local economy and create ripple effects on businesses that rely on rail access, business leaders and economists said. Businesses, from restaurants and hospitals to retail, construction and tourism, could stand to lose tens of millions in economic activity, experts said.

“The LIRR is an economic lifeline for Long Island and a critical artery for the entire downstate economy,” said Stacey I. Sikes, acting president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group. “A strike could create immediate disruptions for hundreds of thousands of commuters and employees.”

Steven Kent, chief economist for the Long Island Association said, “We on Long Island have not experienced this kind of disruption for a very long time,” said Kent, an associate professor of economics at Molloy University’s School of Business. The LIRR last went on strike in June 1994. The next LIRR strike could start this coming Saturday at 12:01 a.m.

While businesses in certain professional services, such as accounting, the legal field, or IT support, have tools in place for remote work following the pandemic, many industries, including construction and retail don't, Kent said. Many workers will still need to travel within Long Island or to the city "whether the railroad is working or not."

As a result, Long Island's highways may become even more gridlocked, leading to lost productivity even for businesses with local staff, Kent said.

Kristen Porciello, vice president of operations at the Hotel Indigo in Riverhead said the loss of any modes of transportation ahead of Memorial Day weekend posed a risk to hotel stays. Industry officials said it could also slow the collection of hotel and motel taxes.

“This is our busy season. This is the season that people come out for,” Porciello said. “Anything that could stop that could hurt bookings.”

***

Gasoline prices on Long Island and in the metropolitan area overall rose a whopping 33.9% last month compared with a year ago as the war with Iran continued to disrupt oil production and transportation.

That was the fastest rate in nearly four years — and followed March’s 18.2% increase in the cost of gas.

James T. Madore reports in NEWSDAY that the surge in pump prices led to higher inflation overall in the metro area and nationwide last month with the consumer price index rising at its quickest pace in three years. The index was released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The acceleration of war with Iran which began Feb. 28, has reversed the year-over-year decline in the cost of gas seen in January and February, as well as in much of 2025.

Prices on Long Island have continued to climb this month. The average price of a gallon of unleaded was $4.53 yesterday, up from $4.35 on May 1, according to AAA.

Economists predicted more of the same at least in the short term, with some saying inflation will peak next month.

"Shoppers face a costly summer ahead," said John A. Rizzo, an economist and Stony Brook University professor, adding the higher gas prices coincide with the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods.

"Businesses are passing on the import taxes directly to customers. At the same time, high oil prices and summer gas fees are making it pricier to ship food and store goods," which leads to increases in retail prices, Rizzo said.

The overall consumer price index for the 25-county region, including Long Island, rose 4.6% last month compared with April 2025. That was the fastest pace in three years.

***

Riverhead High School’s honor music students returned home from Philadelphia with some of the top honors awarded at the Music in the Parks festival earlier this month. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the R.H.S. wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, chamber orchestra and chamber choir all earned superior ratings at the regional competition, with the wind ensemble and jazz ensemble each being named best overall in their categories.

The wind ensemble captured first place and Best Overall Concert Band, while the jazz ensemble earned first place and Best Overall Jazz Ensemble honors. The chamber orchestra also took first place with a superior rating, and the chamber choir earned second place with a superior rating.

Two Riverhead High School students also received individual recognition for their performances. Senior Christian Seymour was named Best Overall Jazz Soloist and junior Jarell Gilliam earned Best Overall Vocalist honors.

“This trip was an extraordinary experience for all involved, one that showcased the dedication, talent and hard work of our student-musicians,” said jazz ensemble director Crystal Crespo.

***

The Town of East Hampton yesterday adopted legislation barring its police from cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement.

Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the East Hampton Town Board voted unanimously to approve the bill during its meeting on Tuesday. The new law prohibits town police from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in civil immigration enforcement. The measure allows town police to cooperate in criminal cases or when officers are presented with a judicial warrant.

East Hampton Town officials framed the measure as a step to strengthen public safety by reinforcing trust between members of law enforcement and immigrant communities. About 27% of the town's population is Hispanic or Latino, and about 23% are foreign-born, according to U.S. census estimates. The percentage of "documented" foreign born East Hampton residents has not been officially published.

Advocates have said the threat of deportation can deter residents from reporting crimes or cooperating with police. The legislation bars the Town of East Hampton from entering into 287(g) agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which allows police departments to partner with ICE on immigration enforcement. Such agreements have been used in Nassau County, where local detectives have been deputized to assist federal agents.

Latino and immigrant neighbors are “part of the fabric of East Hampton,” Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said before the vote. “I want them to hear this clearly: You are not alone and you belong here. You should not have to choose between your health and your fear.”

In response to East Hampton Town’s adoption, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to Newsday that ICE has had “tremendous success” when working with local law enforcement.

“Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country…When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with ICE, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” the I.C.E. spokesperson said. “Seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE.”

The new East Hampton Town legislation follows a period of heightened illegal immigration enforcement nationwide by the Trump administration including on Long Island.

New York State lawmakers are looking to ban municipalities from entering 287(g) agreements statewide. President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has threatened to “flood the zone” with immigration agents if New York passes those bills.

***

Two of the most prominent commercial real estate properties in downtown Sag Harbor Village are officially under new ownership. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the U-shaped building at 2 Main Street — sometimes referred to as “Fort Apache” — which is currently home to K-Pasa and Yummylicious, and 22 Long Island Avenue, the former home of the 7-Eleven, were purchased last week by Mavik Capital, a New York City-based real estate investment firm.

Mavik is now the sole owner of the properties, but has been involved in them for several years. Mavik was one of the original lenders when developer Jeremy Morton purchased both properties in 2024 for a total of $30 million.

After making the purchase, Morton presented grand plans for the properties to the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board, looking to extend an existing second floor at both buildings.

But the fate of those buildings has been in flux for months, after the news, earlier this year, that Morton had defaulted on more than $5 million in loans, many that he had personally guaranteed, and had failed to pay various local contractors as well.

Mavik closed on a deal last week to assume full control of the two properties. While details of the company’s plans for the buildings have yet to be released, the company has hired local attorney Denise Schoen of Adam Miller Group and local architect Chris DiSunno, signaling a desire to engage in a thoughtful way with the community.

A press release sent from Adam Miller Group outlined the approach the company plans to take in its ownership of the buildings.

“As the gateway assets to the Village, Mavik is focused on delivering a thoughtful, community-focused approach by engaging local expertise to help shape the project’s vision,” the release stated. “Mavik has confirmed it will...]]>A potential Long Island Rail Road strike could have a “catastrophic” impact on local economy and employees’ ability to get to work sites, shops and offices. The region could see a daily loss of $70 million in economic activity, according to past analysis adjusted for inflation. Local employers, both large and small said they are weighing contingency plans on how to get employees to job sites.

Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that the Long Island Rail Road transports more than 270,000 weekday riders each day, and a strike would disrupt the local economy and create ripple effects on businesses that rely on rail access, business leaders and economists said. Businesses, from restaurants and hospitals to retail, construction and tourism, could stand to lose tens of millions in economic activity, experts said.

“The LIRR is an economic lifeline for Long Island and a critical artery for the entire downstate economy,” said Stacey I. Sikes, acting president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group. “A strike could create immediate disruptions for hundreds of thousands of commuters and employees.”

Steven Kent, chief economist for the Long Island Association said, “We on Long Island have not experienced this kind of disruption for a very long time,” said Kent, an associate professor of economics at Molloy University’s School of Business. The LIRR last went on strike in June 1994. The next LIRR strike could start this coming Saturday at 12:01 a.m.

While businesses in certain professional services, such as accounting, the legal field, or IT support, have tools in place for remote work following the pandemic, many industries, including construction and retail don't, Kent said. Many workers will still need to travel within Long Island or to the city "whether the railroad is working or not."

As a result, Long Island's highways may become even more gridlocked, leading to lost productivity even for businesses with local staff, Kent said.

Kristen Porciello, vice president of operations at the Hotel Indigo in Riverhead said the loss of any modes of transportation ahead of Memorial Day weekend posed a risk to hotel stays. Industry officials said it could also slow the collection of hotel and motel taxes.

“This is our busy season. This is the season that people come out for,” Porciello said. “Anything that could stop that could hurt bookings.”

***

Gasoline prices on Long Island and in the metropolitan area overall rose a whopping 33.9% last month compared with a year ago as the war with Iran continued to disrupt oil production and transportation.

That was the fastest rate in nearly four years — and followed March’s 18.2% increase in the cost of gas.

James T. Madore reports in NEWSDAY that the surge in pump prices led to higher inflation overall in the metro area and nationwide last month with the consumer price index rising at its quickest pace in three years. The index was released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The acceleration of war with Iran which began Feb. 28, has reversed the year-over-year decline in the cost of gas seen in January and February, as well as in much of 2025.

Prices on Long Island have continued to climb this month. The average price of a gallon of unleaded was $4.53 yesterday, up from $4.35 on May 1, according to AAA.

Economists predicted more of the same at least in the short term, with some saying inflation will peak next month.

"Shoppers face a costly summer ahead," said John A. Rizzo, an economist and Stony Brook University professor, adding the higher gas prices coincide with the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods.

"Businesses are passing on the import taxes directly to customers. At the same time, high oil prices and summer gas fees are making it pricier to ship food and store goods," which leads to increases in retail prices, Rizzo said.

The overall consumer price index for the 25-county region, including Long Island, rose 4.6% last month compared with April 2025. That was the fastest pace in three years.

***

Riverhead High School’s honor music students returned home from Philadelphia with some of the top honors awarded at the Music in the Parks festival earlier this month. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the R.H.S. wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, chamber orchestra and chamber choir all earned superior ratings at the regional competition, with the wind ensemble and jazz ensemble each being named best overall in their categories.

The wind ensemble captured first place and Best Overall Concert Band, while the jazz ensemble earned first place and Best Overall Jazz Ensemble honors. The chamber orchestra also took first place with a superior rating, and the chamber choir earned second place with a superior rating.

Two Riverhead High School students also received individual recognition for their performances. Senior Christian Seymour was named Best Overall Jazz Soloist and junior Jarell Gilliam earned Best Overall Vocalist honors.

“This trip was an extraordinary experience for all involved, one that showcased the dedication, talent and hard work of our student-musicians,” said jazz ensemble director Crystal Crespo.

***

The Town of East Hampton yesterday adopted legislation barring its police from cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement.

Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the East Hampton Town Board voted unanimously to approve the bill during its meeting on Tuesday. The new law prohibits town police from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in civil immigration enforcement. The measure allows town police to cooperate in criminal cases or when officers are presented with a judicial warrant.

East Hampton Town officials framed the measure as a step to strengthen public safety by reinforcing trust between members of law enforcement and immigrant communities. About 27% of the town's population is Hispanic or Latino, and about 23% are foreign-born, according to U.S. census estimates. The percentage of "documented" foreign born East Hampton residents has not been officially published.

Advocates have said the threat of deportation can deter residents from reporting crimes or cooperating with police. The legislation bars the Town of East Hampton from entering into 287(g) agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which allows police departments to partner with ICE on immigration enforcement. Such agreements have been used in Nassau County, where local detectives have been deputized to assist federal agents.

Latino and immigrant neighbors are “part of the fabric of East Hampton,” Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said before the vote. “I want them to hear this clearly: You are not alone and you belong here. You should not have to choose between your health and your fear.”

In response to East Hampton Town’s adoption, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to Newsday that ICE has had “tremendous success” when working with local law enforcement.

“Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country…When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with ICE, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” the I.C.E. spokesperson said. “Seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE.”

The new East Hampton Town legislation follows a period of heightened illegal immigration enforcement nationwide by the Trump administration including on Long Island.

New York State lawmakers are looking to ban municipalities from entering 287(g) agreements statewide. President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has threatened to “flood the zone” with immigration agents if New York passes those bills.

***

Two of the most prominent commercial real estate properties in downtown Sag Harbor Village are officially under new ownership. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the U-shaped building at 2 Main Street — sometimes referred to as “Fort Apache” — which is currently home to K-Pasa and Yummylicious, and 22 Long Island Avenue, the former home of the 7-Eleven, were purchased last week by Mavik Capital, a New York City-based real estate investment firm.

Mavik is now the sole owner of the properties, but has been involved in them for several years. Mavik was one of the original lenders when developer Jeremy Morton purchased both properties in 2024 for a total of $30 million.

After making the purchase, Morton presented grand plans for the properties to the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board, looking to extend an existing second floor at both buildings.

But the fate of those buildings has been in flux for months, after the news, earlier this year, that Morton had defaulted on more than $5 million in loans, many that he had personally guaranteed, and had failed to pay various local contractors as well.

Mavik closed on a deal last week to assume full control of the two properties. While details of the company’s plans for the buildings have yet to be released, the company has hired local attorney Denise Schoen of Adam Miller Group and local architect Chris DiSunno, signaling a desire to engage in a thoughtful way with the community.

A press release sent from Adam Miller Group outlined the approach the company plans to take in its ownership of the buildings.

“As the gateway assets to the Village, Mavik is focused on delivering a thoughtful, community-focused approach by engaging local expertise to help shape the project’s vision,” the release stated. “Mavik has confirmed it will transition to a new architect and has engaged Christopher DiSunno, a Sag Harbor/East Hampton native with a deep understanding of the town’s character.”

***

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Southold Flotilla holds its annual National Safe Boating Week event in Greenport’s Mitchell Park this coming Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Activities to promote safety on the water will include paddlecraft & safety equipment, knot tying, and life ring toss. Free vessel safety checks will be given on the water in Greenport Harbor.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that U.S. Coast Guard statistics show drowning was the reported cause of death in three out of every four recreational boating fatalities in 2024, and that 87 percent of those who drowned were NOT wearing life jackets.

The NY State Annual Report reflects that the most common cause of accidents is collision between boats. “With over 60,0000 registered recreational vessels in Suffolk County, boaters must be constantly aware of what is happening,” said Andrew Tarantino, Division Commander, Eastern Long Island. “Auxiliary safety classes point out the changes in the laws, as well as best practices to keep boating safe and fun.”

Learn more as the U.S. Coast Guard celebrates Safe Boating Week in Greenport’s Mitchell Park this Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

***

Long Islanders have been feeling the sting of rising grocery prices since annual average grocery inflation in the New York metro area, including Nassau and Suffolk, hit a 48-year high of 10.2% in 2022. Price growth slowed afterward, but grocery inflation has recently accelerated to levels not seen in years. Tory N. Parrish reports in NEWSDAY that from March to April, inflation for groceries, or "food at home," in the NYC metro area was 1.5%, the biggest monthly increase since July 2022, when it was 2.5%, according to data published yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Grocery inflation in April compared to the same month last year was 5.9%, the biggest annual increase since April 2023, when it was 6.1%.

War with Iran, as of Feb. 28, has disrupted fuel shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and is the biggest factor in recent grocery price hikes, said Adam Kamins, senior regional economist at Moody’s Analytics, an economic research provider in Manhattan.

Diesel fuels the trucks that transport food and the machinery used on farms, while petroleum byproducts are used to produce fertilizer.

“I expect that what we’re seeing now, it may not be the new normal [in terms of prices], but it’s pretty close at least for the rest of this year,” Kamins said.

Among the different food categories, fruits and vegetables had the biggest year-over-year price growth in April, 11.8%, in the metro area.

That is partly due to extreme cold weather in Florida and other parts of the United States this past winter into spring, which reduced crop production, said Tom Jackson, economics manager at S&P Global Market Intelligence, a market information provider based in Manhattan.

Higher labor costs and fewer workers at farms due to heightened immigration enforcement were other factors, he said.

Overall grocery prices in the New York metro area are now 26% higher than they were in April 2020, the month after the COVID-19 pandemic began leading to temporary business shutdowns and home quarantines.

Despite higher grocery prices, farmers are not seeing increased profits due to rising expenses. About 5.8 cents of every dollar spent on groceries goes to farmers, down from 7.4 cents in 2014 according to Faith Parum, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.

Peter Gill and Alfonso A. Castillo report in NEWSDAY that shutting down the Long Island Rail Road, if a possible strike becomes a reality this coming Saturday, and sending at least a portion of the 270,000 daily weekday riders to their cars is expected to put a serious strain on roadways connecting Long Island and the city.

Robert Sinclair, of AAA Northeast, said the strike has the potential to make roadways between the city and Long Island "extremely crowded."

"All the roads going west are [already] jammed during a normal rush hour — and this is going to be extremely abnormal," he said.

Commuters and transportation experts see a potential gridlock situation. However, they say, the impact can be difficult to predict and could be less severe if people adjust commute times, to avoid peak rush hour, or work from home.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s strategy to survive a potential LIRR strike next week relies on most commuters working from home, and those who can’t making do with limited options to get between New York City and Long Island, including buses and their own cars.

The MTA will have shuttle buses going from six LIRR stations — including Bay Shore, Huntington, and Ronkonkoma in Suffolk to and from Queens locations.

MTA chief financial officer Jai Patel said between 165 and 275 buses could be secured for the contingency plan, costing the MTA $325,000 to $550,000 per day.

Still, MTA officials have acknowledged the shuttles won’t be able to accommodate all riders of the busiest commuter railroad in North America, so they have been encouraging employers to allow workers to telecommute.

***

Gov. Kathy Hochul said yesterday she’s committed to getting LIRR workers a "deal that is going to prevent a strike" just five days away.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that Governor Hochul, in Manhattan Monday, said she and her team are "immersed in the details" of the ongoing labor negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and five unions representing nearly 3,500 LIRR workers. If unresolved, the unions have said they will go on strike beginning Saturday, shutting down the nation’s largest commuter railroad and displacing about 270,000 daily riders.

"I am involved," said Hochul, who oversees the MTA and appoints many of its board members. "We just want to make sure that New York is affordable for everyone and make sure, as they negotiate, that they get the deal that is going to prevent a strike. I’m committed to that."

After failing to reach a deal at a pair of negotiating sessions last week, both sides returned to the bargaining table in Bethpage yesterday for negotiations overseen by the National Mediation Board.

A union coalition spokesman said Monday's bargaining session ended with no settlement and little progress made. He said both sides are set to meet again Wednesday.

In a statement, the MTA said it made "a revised proposal" during yesterday's talks, but offered no details of the latest offer.

Yesterday, Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, said the MTA strategy is to "deflect, distort, dither and denigrate" even as the strike date grows nearer.

"It’s time for management to get serious about negotiating wages," Sullivan said in a statement.

Hochul said among the issues her office is tracking is "what can be afforded" and "what sets the pattern for other unions."

***

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has endorsed incumbent East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez in her ongoing Democratic primary race with challenger Jerry Larsen, the mayor of East Hampton Village, according to a release sent out by East Hampton Democrats. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Burke-Gonzalez and Larsen have been locked in a heated contest for the Democratic Party ballot line, the winner of which will be decided in the primary election on June 23. Since the local Republican Party has not put forth a candidate for East Hampton Town supervisor ahead of the filing deadlines for the November election, the winner of this year’s primary will have a straight shot at the town’s top office.

Intrigue has surrounded the race from the outset, as Larsen has challenged the established local Democratic Party by backing a separate slate of candidates for seats on the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee and drawn the ire of Suffolk County Democratic Committee officials.

Governor Hochul’s announcement yesterday endorsing Kathee Burke-Gonzalez stated in part, “Kathee knows how to work with partners at every level of government and bring resources home for the people she serves…I’m excited to keep working with Kathee to build on that progress and deliver even more for East Hampton and for New York.”

***

The man who was shot and killed by Southampton Town Police officers on Sunday had slashed and stabbed his mother more than 40 times inside her Northampton home before he was shot, Town Police Chief James Kiernan said at a press conference yesterday. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the 28-year-old, identified as Steven Eastwood, had already stabbed his mother multiple times when three officers arrived at the well-kept Topping Drive home on Mother’s Day.

When officers entered the home, they found Eastwood standing over his mother with a knife. He ignored their orders to drop the knife and began walking toward the officers, who Chief Kiernan said backed away from him in an effort to draw him away from his mother and deescalate the situation.

But, instead, the son suddenly turned back toward his mother and began stabbing her again.

“Faced with an ongoing, deadly assault, officers discharged their service weapons, striking Mr. Eastwood, and immediately stopping the attack,” Kiernan said. “Emergency medical services personnel from Flanders Northampton Ambulance responded to the scene and pronounced Mr. Eastwood deceased.”

Kiernan said that more than one of the officers fired their guns, but did not say how many shots were fired. He has not identified the officers by name, but said all three are receiving trauma counseling.

The victim, whom police have not named, was taken by Suffolk County Police medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she underwent surgery. She remains in serious condition and has not regained consciousness, Kiernan said, as of the last update shared with police.

The victim had called police at 2:43 p.m. Sunday and said that her son was at the home, highly intoxicated and acting violently. Police officers were already en route to the address when the woman called 911 again and said that her son was threatening her with a knife.

Chief Kiernan said that the officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras and that the footage from the incident will be released at a future date. The shooting is being investigated by the New York State attorney general’s office, as is protocol for all officer-involved shootings.

This appears to be the first time a Southampton or East Hampton Town police officer has shot and killed anyone.

***

A code change that would link employment and housing underwent public debate last week as a string of speakers came out in force to question an East Hampton Town Board move that would, if passed, establish and enumerate the standards for employer-owned housing developments. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that all such developments, if the code were approved as currently written, would have to be built in both an affordable housing overlay district and a limited business overlay district, which would ensure proximity to workplaces. Units would go to moderate-income families or individuals — that is, those who earn within 130 percent of the area median income, which is around $142,000 for a single person. Rent also would be capped at 130 percent of fair market rent.

Such developments would require a special permit. Tenants also would have all rights and protections provided by New York State’s tenant laws.

These proposed changes came on the heels of a pitched 79-unit decentralized, condominium-style workforce development on Three Mile Harbor Road that popped up late last year — and quickly fizzled out in the face of firm opposition from the public and an East Hampton Town Board that questioned the oversight structure.

This shadow loomed last Thursday as the Town Board unveiled the set of workforce housing code changes. The crux of the legislation, on top of what is listed above, would mandate that a third-party management company come in to oversee the units.

What this code change would do, practically, is pave the way for private developer Kirby Marcantonio’s 47-unit, condominium-style plan for workforce housing on Pantigo Road. Units will cost $700,000 to build, so the cost for businesses to buy would end up being north of that number. Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, for one, has been outwardly supportive of this development.

Next steps will have the East Hampton Town Board return the code changes to a work session for further discussion. There, town officials will likely discuss whether to make any changes to the draft code and whether the board’s support weathered the public hearing.

***

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork will welcome Andrea Goldsmith, president of Stony Brook University, as guest speaker at its 49th annual meeting this coming Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. at Rogers Memorial Library in...]]>Every day on average, half a million vehicles cross the Queens-Nassau border on the region's major highways — the Long Island Expressway, the Northern State and Southern State parkways.

Peter Gill and Alfonso A. Castillo report in NEWSDAY that shutting down the Long Island Rail Road, if a possible strike becomes a reality this coming Saturday, and sending at least a portion of the 270,000 daily weekday riders to their cars is expected to put a serious strain on roadways connecting Long Island and the city.

Robert Sinclair, of AAA Northeast, said the strike has the potential to make roadways between the city and Long Island "extremely crowded."

"All the roads going west are [already] jammed during a normal rush hour — and this is going to be extremely abnormal," he said.

Commuters and transportation experts see a potential gridlock situation. However, they say, the impact can be difficult to predict and could be less severe if people adjust commute times, to avoid peak rush hour, or work from home.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s strategy to survive a potential LIRR strike next week relies on most commuters working from home, and those who can’t making do with limited options to get between New York City and Long Island, including buses and their own cars.

The MTA will have shuttle buses going from six LIRR stations — including Bay Shore, Huntington, and Ronkonkoma in Suffolk to and from Queens locations.

MTA chief financial officer Jai Patel said between 165 and 275 buses could be secured for the contingency plan, costing the MTA $325,000 to $550,000 per day.

Still, MTA officials have acknowledged the shuttles won’t be able to accommodate all riders of the busiest commuter railroad in North America, so they have been encouraging employers to allow workers to telecommute.

***

Gov. Kathy Hochul said yesterday she’s committed to getting LIRR workers a "deal that is going to prevent a strike" just five days away.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that Governor Hochul, in Manhattan Monday, said she and her team are "immersed in the details" of the ongoing labor negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and five unions representing nearly 3,500 LIRR workers. If unresolved, the unions have said they will go on strike beginning Saturday, shutting down the nation’s largest commuter railroad and displacing about 270,000 daily riders.

"I am involved," said Hochul, who oversees the MTA and appoints many of its board members. "We just want to make sure that New York is affordable for everyone and make sure, as they negotiate, that they get the deal that is going to prevent a strike. I’m committed to that."

After failing to reach a deal at a pair of negotiating sessions last week, both sides returned to the bargaining table in Bethpage yesterday for negotiations overseen by the National Mediation Board.

A union coalition spokesman said Monday's bargaining session ended with no settlement and little progress made. He said both sides are set to meet again Wednesday.

In a statement, the MTA said it made "a revised proposal" during yesterday's talks, but offered no details of the latest offer.

Yesterday, Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, said the MTA strategy is to "deflect, distort, dither and denigrate" even as the strike date grows nearer.

"It’s time for management to get serious about negotiating wages," Sullivan said in a statement.

Hochul said among the issues her office is tracking is "what can be afforded" and "what sets the pattern for other unions."

***

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has endorsed incumbent East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez in her ongoing Democratic primary race with challenger Jerry Larsen, the mayor of East Hampton Village, according to a release sent out by East Hampton Democrats. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Burke-Gonzalez and Larsen have been locked in a heated contest for the Democratic Party ballot line, the winner of which will be decided in the primary election on June 23. Since the local Republican Party has not put forth a candidate for East Hampton Town supervisor ahead of the filing deadlines for the November election, the winner of this year’s primary will have a straight shot at the town’s top office.

Intrigue has surrounded the race from the outset, as Larsen has challenged the established local Democratic Party by backing a separate slate of candidates for seats on the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee and drawn the ire of Suffolk County Democratic Committee officials.

Governor Hochul’s announcement yesterday endorsing Kathee Burke-Gonzalez stated in part, “Kathee knows how to work with partners at every level of government and bring resources home for the people she serves…I’m excited to keep working with Kathee to build on that progress and deliver even more for East Hampton and for New York.”

***

The man who was shot and killed by Southampton Town Police officers on Sunday had slashed and stabbed his mother more than 40 times inside her Northampton home before he was shot, Town Police Chief James Kiernan said at a press conference yesterday. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the 28-year-old, identified as Steven Eastwood, had already stabbed his mother multiple times when three officers arrived at the well-kept Topping Drive home on Mother’s Day.

When officers entered the home, they found Eastwood standing over his mother with a knife. He ignored their orders to drop the knife and began walking toward the officers, who Chief Kiernan said backed away from him in an effort to draw him away from his mother and deescalate the situation.

But, instead, the son suddenly turned back toward his mother and began stabbing her again.

“Faced with an ongoing, deadly assault, officers discharged their service weapons, striking Mr. Eastwood, and immediately stopping the attack,” Kiernan said. “Emergency medical services personnel from Flanders Northampton Ambulance responded to the scene and pronounced Mr. Eastwood deceased.”

Kiernan said that more than one of the officers fired their guns, but did not say how many shots were fired. He has not identified the officers by name, but said all three are receiving trauma counseling.

The victim, whom police have not named, was taken by Suffolk County Police medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she underwent surgery. She remains in serious condition and has not regained consciousness, Kiernan said, as of the last update shared with police.

The victim had called police at 2:43 p.m. Sunday and said that her son was at the home, highly intoxicated and acting violently. Police officers were already en route to the address when the woman called 911 again and said that her son was threatening her with a knife.

Chief Kiernan said that the officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras and that the footage from the incident will be released at a future date. The shooting is being investigated by the New York State attorney general’s office, as is protocol for all officer-involved shootings.

This appears to be the first time a Southampton or East Hampton Town police officer has shot and killed anyone.

***

A code change that would link employment and housing underwent public debate last week as a string of speakers came out in force to question an East Hampton Town Board move that would, if passed, establish and enumerate the standards for employer-owned housing developments. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that all such developments, if the code were approved as currently written, would have to be built in both an affordable housing overlay district and a limited business overlay district, which would ensure proximity to workplaces. Units would go to moderate-income families or individuals — that is, those who earn within 130 percent of the area median income, which is around $142,000 for a single person. Rent also would be capped at 130 percent of fair market rent.

Such developments would require a special permit. Tenants also would have all rights and protections provided by New York State’s tenant laws.

These proposed changes came on the heels of a pitched 79-unit decentralized, condominium-style workforce development on Three Mile Harbor Road that popped up late last year — and quickly fizzled out in the face of firm opposition from the public and an East Hampton Town Board that questioned the oversight structure.

This shadow loomed last Thursday as the Town Board unveiled the set of workforce housing code changes. The crux of the legislation, on top of what is listed above, would mandate that a third-party management company come in to oversee the units.

What this code change would do, practically, is pave the way for private developer Kirby Marcantonio’s 47-unit, condominium-style plan for workforce housing on Pantigo Road. Units will cost $700,000 to build, so the cost for businesses to buy would end up being north of that number. Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, for one, has been outwardly supportive of this development.

Next steps will have the East Hampton Town Board return the code changes to a work session for further discussion. There, town officials will likely discuss whether to make any changes to the draft code and whether the board’s support weathered the public hearing.

***

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork will welcome Andrea Goldsmith, president of Stony Brook University, as guest speaker at its 49th annual meeting this coming Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. at Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton.

Goldsmith, appointed president in August 2025, will discuss the university’s vision, provide updates on programs at the Southampton campus, and speak about the new “Future Scholars” initiative involving five local school districts.

An engineer and telecommunications researcher, Goldsmith previously served as dean of engineering and applied science at Princeton University and spent more than two decades on Stanford University’s engineering faculty. In 2020, she became the first woman to receive the Marconi Prize for telecommunications research.

Sunday’s meeting will also include the League’s annual business session, election of officers, adoption of the 2026-27 budget and presentation of the Betty Desch Student Leadership Award and the Carrie Chapman Catt Award.

RSVPs are being accepted by email, lwvhsinf@gmail.com.

That’s this Sunday at 2 p.m. in Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton.

***

More than a decade after southern pine beetles were first discovered in Long Island’s forests, hundreds of thousands of conifers have died — a sight that has become vivid this spring as deciduous trees have leafed out and greened up. Tracy Tullis reports in NEWSDAY that roughly 5,000 acres of pine barrens, a globally rare ecosystem, have been infested, according to foresters at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, dramatically altering the landscape.

While foresters fear some of the pine forest will be lost for good, they also are finding reasons for guarded optimism. In Rocky Point, a pilot program started five years ago to thin the pines provides a strategy for slowing the beetles' spread.

"For all the damage it's doing, I think it's finally making people realize that these forests need to be managed," said Kathy Schwager, an ecologist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, which is surrounded by pine forest. The pine beetle crisis demanded better forestry practices, Schwager said, especially targeted thinning and burning, which mimic the natural cycles of wildfire that sustained the pine barrens for hundreds of years. Over time, those efforts should make these ecologically sensitive woodlands "more resilient to the southern pine beetle."

Long Island’s pine barrens — about 50,000 acres of relatively intact pine and mixed pine and oak woodlands — had grown dense after decades of fire suppression. That density, experts say, provided a tempting target for the beetles.

The tiny insects — each about the size of a single chocolate sprinkle, as DEC forester John Wernet described them — feed on the inner bark of pines and the fungi the beetles bring with them, and they use chemical signals called pheromones to call others to a healthy food source. Where trees are closely spaced, the signals are more easily received, bringing reinforcements in such huge numbers that the tree cannot fight the infestation.

In a more open woodland, pheromones disperse and the insects lose their way. Each tree also has fewer near neighbors with which to compete for sunlight, nutrients and rain, leaving them healthier and more able to defend against pests.

Fire policy began to shift by the 1990s, and when the pine beetle started ravaging the area in 2014, state foresters began spot suppression — cutting infested trees — as well as thinning healthy trees to open the canopy and slow the spread. And they began setting prescribed fires to clear some of the dense understory.

Over time, though, forests in Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge in Shirley and elsewhere in Suffolk will most likely be dominated by oaks, and some parts of Long Island’s thousand-year heritage of rare pine barrens will disappear. experts tell NEWSDAY.