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Government

A Mix of Gloom and Hope for Democrats

East Hampton Town’s Democratic Party candidates launched their 2025 campaign on Monday with a gathering marked by gloomy assessments of Democrats’ status at the national level mixed with encouraging signs of resistance. At home, they enjoy a supermajority on the town board and among the town trustees, with some incumbents running unopposed for re-election.

Jun 26, 2025
Budget Approved, With ‘a Lot of Cushion’

The East Hampton Village Board voted to approve a $30.7 million budget for the next fiscal year that includes a tax increase of 1.28 percent for village residents.

Jun 26, 2025
Noise Over New Village Contractor Laws

The East Hampton Village Board was criticized at its meeting last week for not doing enough to communicate two new laws that have been ensnaring landscapers and contractors since the middle of May. One requires service workers to register annually with the village at a cost of $250. The other, a noise ordinance, shortens hours for certain landscaping and construction activities between May 15 and Sept. 15.

Jun 26, 2025
Trustees Support a Georgica Cove Land Buy

The East Hampton Town Trustees will write a letter to the town board supporting the purchase of two parcels fronting Georgica Cove by the Peconic Land Trust, which is at present in contract, and the simultaneous sale of an easement to the town and to East Hampton Village to ensure their preservation in perpetuity.

Jun 26, 2025
Village Weighs Shorter Terms for Appointed Boards

The East Hampton Village Board has posted new dates for public hearings on a plan to trim term limits for the zoning board of appeals and the planning board from five years to three. Those hearings will now be held on July 2.

Jun 26, 2025
Water Warning at Ditch Plain Beach

While conditions had improved by Monday, last weekend, the Surfrider Foundation’s Eastern Long Island chapter, which partners with Concerned Citizens of Montauk and the Peconic Baykeeper in sampling and analyzing local waters, canceled an International Surfing Day meetup that was to happen that day at Ditch Plain Beach, citing alarmingly high levels of Enterococcus bacteria in the water.

Jun 26, 2025
Court Orders Beach Privileges Returned

The Suffolk County Supreme Court on June 12 ruled against East Hampton Village, ordering it to reinstate a Main Beach parking permit and beach locker to David Ganz after they were revoked a year ago by Marcos Baladron, the village administrator.

Jun 19, 2025
Onward, Amagansett Lighting

The East Hampton Town Board will likely issue a bond covering increased engineering costs in connection with a new lighting plan for Amagansett’s Main Street, a project which has been at least five years in the works.

Jun 19, 2025
Sage Advice: Prepare Before the Disaster

County emergency personnel lay out where to go, what to do and have ready, and officials to call in the event of inevitable natural disasters here.

Jun 19, 2025
‘No Kings’ Rallies Were Festive but Anxious

Hefty crowds showed resolve at the “No Kings” rallies in East Hampton Town and Sag Harbor Village on Saturday, a protest against the Trump administration that coincided with a parade ostensibly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Continental Army, Flag Day, and the president’s 79th birthday.

Jun 19, 2025
An Ivy ‘Emergency’ on Main Street

East Hampton Village will spend $61,634 to repair the ivy-covered trellis in Millstone Park on Main Street after it fell over during a storm last month. 

Jun 12, 2025
Fishing Group Renews Effort to Stop Empire Wind

The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association is among the groups calling for a renewed halt to the construction of the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm, which was the subject of a stop-work order in April that was lifted just a month later. 

Jun 12, 2025
Local Officials Address ICE Rumors

While rumors abound, and a real "if there's smoke there's fire" sense descends across the East End, so far, "We have no confirmation of any formal ICE activity within our jurisdiction," East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said in a statement Thursday.

Jun 12, 2025
No Kings Day Brings a Raft of Actions Here

As the pace of events in Los Angeles quickens this week, with the Trump administration and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California facing off over the former’s deployment of National Guard and United States Marine troops to quell protests against immigration enforcement actions, East Hampton Town and municipalities throughout the country will see what is being called a nationwide day of defiance. 

Jun 12, 2025
Sag Harbor Elections on Tuesday

Elections for Sag Harbor Village mayor and two village trustees will take place on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Sag Harbor Fire Department headquarters off Brick Kiln Road, but in each case, incumbents are running unopposed. 

Jun 12, 2025
The Tallest of Them All

The tallest structure in East Hampton Town, a 352-foot tower near the intersection of Abraham’s Path and Springs-Fireplace Road, could soon be removed, and there are no plans right now to replace it. 

Jun 12, 2025
Town Set to Preserve Mile Hill Road Parcel

The East Hampton Town Board passed a resolution last Thursday to hold a public hearing on July 3 on a planned $16 million community preservation fund acquisition at 43 Mile Hill Road in the Northwest area of East Hampton. 

Jun 12, 2025
Updated Brewery Plans Still Irk Neighbor

Updated plans for the proposed Toilsome Farm Restaurant and Brewery are circulating at the East Hampton Village Design Review Board, and a neighbor who has already sued over the proposed project is raising alarms again. 

Jun 12, 2025
As Hurricane Season Arrives, Are We Ready?

The Atlantic hurricane season officially started on Sunday, and with predictions of an above-average year amid substantial staffing and budget cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, East Hampton Town, like the entire East Coast, enters a perilous six-month span. 

Jun 5, 2025
Picking Over Sag Harbor Parking Rules

As paid parking in Sag Harbor Village has begun for the season and will continue in many lots until the fall, it’s time to take a closer look, particularly at the lot off Meadow Street and the gas ball lot, where payment is newly required.

Jun 5, 2025
Sag Harbor Tree Case Nearing Resolution

A Sag Harbor property owner, the first to run afoul last year of a new village law aimed at protecting trees of a certain diameter, had her case back in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court on Tuesday, and this time progress was made toward a resolution of the case. 

Jun 5, 2025
Subdivision Proposed at Montauk Airport

An application to subdivide the privately held Montauk Airport on East Lake Drive into four residential lots is making its way through the East Hampton Planning Department and could get an initial airing before the planning board in early July. 

Jun 5, 2025
East Hampton Officials Rattled by Sanctuary List

A United States Department of Homeland Security webpage published Friday to "expose sanctuary jurisdictions" included East Hampton among more than 500 other municipalities, Suffolk County among them. It caught local officials off guard and prompted swift response from immigrant advocates. It was removed by Monday morning.

Jun 2, 2025
Ambitious Renovation Plan Moves Ahead at Devon

Despite holdouts, there are comfortable majorities on both the East Hampton Town Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals that favor allowing the 108-year-old Devon Yacht Club, at 300 Abram’s Landing Road in Amagansett, to proceed with its plans to renovate and reconstruct its buildings and amenities.

May 29, 2025
Good News and Bad for Two Osprey Pairs

It’s been a bad news/good news month for at least two pairs of ospreys that had nests under construction removed, one likely by a homeowner, the other by PSEG Long Island.

May 29, 2025
Homeowners Say FEMA Made Them Do It

An application to raise an oceanfront house in the Beach Hampton section of Amagansett nearly 10 feet, ostensibly to meet FEMA regulations, was met with circumspection at the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals last week.

May 29, 2025
More Pan Potter Plan in Sag Harbor

Opponents of Adam Potter’s proposed mixed-use building at 7 and 11 Bridge Streets in Sag Harbor lined up to denounce the project during a village planning board hearing Tuesday, repeating complaints voiced last month about flooding, parking, traffic, and contamination from incomplete environmental remediation at the site.

May 29, 2025
On Village Budget, Taxes, Parking

A resolution to schedule a June 18 public hearing on a $30.7 million village budget was passed Friday at a meeting that saw sniping about tax rates levied on village residents by the town.

May 29, 2025
50 Ways to Leave Their Litter

The East Hampton Town Litter Action Committee offered several recommendations for how littering could be reduced: an anti-litter campaign, a code amendment that would strengthen rental registry trash-hauling requirements, engaging with the State Department of Transportation about improving litter removal along Route 27, and adding temporary signage, in English and Spanish, near recently cleaned areas and at the town transfer stations.

May 22, 2025
A Puzzle Over Surf Lessons at Ditch Plain

At an otherwise quiet East Hampton Town Board meeting, a decision about a special permit for surfing lessons in Montauk drew the most attention.

May 22, 2025