Editorials

All the work and expense that the United States Army Corps of Engineers will pour into the project to save the downtown Montauk oceanfront is nothing more than buying time.

Some years ago we realized that the best way to shake off the dreary midwinter doldrums is to force yourself to do something you haven’t done before.

It would be good for us all if the TV and online weather offerings gave equal time to news, like the fact that 2023 was the hottest year worldwide in more than 150 years.

It was time for East Hampton Town Hall to join many other New York municipal governments in hiring a professional administrator to oversee both budgetary and day-to-day functions.

A letter writer this week floated the idea that this newspaper sponsor a contest for the best business district holiday decorations next December.

Among all of the fund-raisers that go on here, not one makes so much money in so little time as the Jan. 1 “polar” plunges.

The language-learning app Babbel this month released its annual list of the most-mispronounced words of 2023.

Non-standard motorized vehicles have been a big problem in resort locations for a long time.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did something of huge importance this week when she signed a bill that could lead the way for the state to make reparation payments to the descendants of the state’s enslaved people.

Sometimes all you want in life is a little something that makes you happy, tiny tweaks to public spaces that would make your life better. Are you listening, State Highway Department or Department of Public Works?

The town restrooms are a big problem.

With the estimated costs of the plans for a new senior citizens center in Amagansett made public for the first time recently, it’s hard not to question whether the chosen design is the best one for the money.

The incoming East Hampton Town Board has a opportunity to make local government better in the form of filling a vacancy created by Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez moving to the supervisor’s post.

’Tis the season to be jolly, whether you like it or not, and East Hampton’s overheated (and occasionally silly) civic discourse on holiday lights has arrived right on time. 

One of the surprises coming out of the ongoing controversy over the Maidstone Gun Club land lease from East Hampton Town is what else has gone on there other than shooting and gun education.

The brawl over the black paint job at Rowdy Hall reminded us this week how aesthetic taste isn't just totally subjective, but shifts with the passing of years.

For the first time in more than a decade, the official map of plant growing zones has changed — and it affects Long Island.

For many of us, the holidays can be a time of shortened tempers, sadness, or feeling like not getting out of bed. But there are ways to brighten up the days, if only a little.

The mission of any chamber of commerce is to promote and strengthen local business, but how can the chamber here do that at a time when locally owned businesses are fewer and farther between?

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s veto of a bill that would have jump-started an overdue effort to right a wrong done to the Montaukett people was disappointing and part of a long string of similar rejections coming from successive New York governors.

With lots of Thanksgiving cooking about to take over kitchens, it is a good time to take another look at gas stoves, for health reasons and for the environment.

It is time to ask whether the daily responsibilities of town board members may serve to maintain the status quo and prevent adequate forward thinking.

Builders seem driven by an investment mind-set, one that dismisses any sense of continuity and community scale in favor of more bedrooms, more square footage, and more amenities. Now a cross-section of East Hampton residents is demanding new limits.

We are always pleased to see women in greater roles in government, and Tuesday night’s results on the East End bode well for where the country may be headed.

Kathee Burke-Gonzalez will probably cruise into the supervisor’s office, David Lys will most likely hold onto his spot on the town board, and Tom Flight is the standout among the other candidates. But to provide constructive dissent, the G.O.P. must step up its game.

David Filer can help guide Town Justice Court over the next four years as the community continues to change. For town trustee, two new faces in particular, Celia Josephson and Patrice Dalton, deserve election.

Ann Welker for County Legislature has been a strong advocate for the environment. For county executive, Ed Romaine should be a steady hand.

Though county government can seem at a distance from the needs of the South Fork, we depend on it for a range of services, from environmental protection to keeping harbor inlets navigable.

Israel is in an impossible position following the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Amid a fuss about whether or not a certain restaurant should be allowed to paint its facade the way it wants, one key idea may be overshadowed: the essential role the members of a community’s appointed boards play in maintaining a sense of place at a time of great development pressure.