The New York State governor gets into the office late and leaves early, puts friends in key posts, and uses campaign donations to pay for dinner at Le Cirque. What's the problem?

Governor Paterson's public relations team lost no time in preparing a rebuttal, sending out a combative missive at 1:20 in the morning, well before most Times readers had even cracked their copies. 

Peter E. Kauffmann, the guv's director of communications put it this way: "The New York Times – in trying to deliver a spectacular expose about the Paterson Administration that would somehow meet the expectations of weeks of over-hyped media intrigue – has instead produced a gossip-laden, subjective, and poorly-sourced narrative."

The defense recounts trying to sell The Times their own v ... Read More »

New York is offering cash rebates for old appliances through Sunday, Feb. 21.

     I’ve decided to become a pop culture warrior. And not just because I thought it about it hard this morning over my coffee, but because – and I swear this is true - only an hour later I read my horoscope and it said: “You may be a spear-carrying culture warrior.”

On a birding outing during the weekend, my husband and I layered up and headed out to Ponquogue Bridge, Hampton Bays. A few lonely black ducks dotted the shoreline. As the bay was frozen, there was little chance of seeing any more wading birds so we headed down Dune Road.

There is something so austere about birding in the winter in an otherwise bustling summer town. Only one or two cars passed us along the strip. Houses stood abandoned for the season, boarded up, forbidding. There was seemingly nothing going on until we caught a fleeting glimpse of the "Gray Ghost." This elusive being is not easy to come by and when it does, you don't forget it.

The adult male harrier, also known as the gray ghost because of its ashen feathers, is a stunning bird of prey. It hunts in marshes, looking for rodents and other tasty treats. Its face has the look of an owl with a lean, slender body. A distinct white patch on the rump and ... Read More »

    An interesting set of comments has been posted about Leigh Goodstein's story on a subdivision plan for the old Joshua Bennett Edwards place on Atlantic Avenue in Amagansett.  The objections, and they are strong ones, are to the property owner's statement that the main house on the 10-acre lot could be demolished. Captain Josh, as he was known, was from one of East Hampton's earliest and more prominent families, and local residents, myself included, count him among their ancestors. He was my great-great grandfather on my father's side, the father of Everett J. Edwards, with whom he took the last adult right whale captured from a shore-launched boat. Captain Josh led a long and interesting life, and I have planned to write a book about him and his times.

  The following comes from three members of the Edwards family and pretty much sums up how many p ... Read More »

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