Government

Another discussion of a years-in-the-making plan to replace streetlight fixtures in Amagansett’s historic district turned heated at the hamlet’s citizens advisory committee meeting this week. The latest iteration is encountering stiff opposition.

The Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation and the Peconic Land Trust are urgently appealing to “several high-end donors” to raise $15 million toward the $36 million purchase price of 38.3 acres of the Wainscott Commercial Center.

The pervasive repudiation of Republicans is striking even in left-leaning New York State, where the State Legislature will see an even more lopsided Democratic majority when it reconvenes for its 249th legislative session on Jan. 6.

What should stay and what should go at Este Restaurant? Should closets remain in bathrooms? Should occupancy remain at such a high number of seats? Should music be prohibited on a planned rooftop deck? And, perhaps most important, should the already-constructed building be lowered to meeting zoning requirements?

With a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board increased the money available to the accessory dwelling unit construction assistance program from $1 million to $2.3 million following a robust response to a pilot program established this summer.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation will host a public meeting on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Montauk Downs State Park at which officials will update residents about imminent tree-cutting projects in Napeague State Park. 

Liz Vail has announced her resignation from her position as Sag Harbor Village attorney, which she has held for eight years. She has worked with Southampton and East Hampton Towns going back more than 20 years.

After a handful of “small cell” wireless poles that sprang up in Northwest Woods and Wainscott proved controversial, and with more than 150 more planned within a year, the East Hampton Town Board decided on Tuesday to change course. 

A councilman since 2023, he says “residents of this town could be better served,” calling the town board “not effective,” while he looks to “close out some big projects” in what remains of his term.

The personal income-tax credit available to volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers in New York State just quadrupled.

One year ago, The Star reported on Melania Trump’s threat to sue the author and journalist Michael Wolff for $1 billion if he did not retract and apologize for statements linking her to the late financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Here’s an update.

The words “suburban” and “mall-like” may not have been what the owners of the buildings at 2 Main Street and 22 Long Island Avenue had in mind when they brought redevelopment plans to the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board last week.

The owners of the proposed Este Restaurant, at 666 Montauk Highway in Montauk, are still wrestling with the East Hampton Town Planning Board a year after they received approval for a 39-seat eatery.

Spurred by the arrival of more retail chains and disappointment at how they were changing the face of the village, Sag Harbor commissioned a study on what a “formula store” is and how to control them.

A $1 million stormwater mitigation project at the Montauk Highway rest stop on the northern edge of Georgica Pond is imminent.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez was re-elected by a wide margin on Tuesday, prevailing over a write-in campaign for East Hampton Mayor Jerry Larsen, who had challenged her in a Democratic Party primary election in June. 

Days before Tuesday’s midterm elections, Democrats were cautiously hopeful about their prospects when they met for a get-out-the-vote event at Ashawagh Hall in Springs. Early-voting numbers were encouraging, they said.

Early voting continues through Sunday, and Election Day is Tuesday, when polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The 1895 bridge, declared structurally deficient, was closed to all traffic in July 2023 but is finally set to be replaced. “The problem was truckers ignoring the weight restrictions,” said Stephen Lynch, the East Hampton Town highway superintendent.

Speaking from the Get Out the Vote operation this week, Michael Koegler, the newly minted chairman of the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee, had more on his mind than just electoral numbers.

The nor’easter that struck here last month caused significant shoaling at the entrance to Three Mile Harbor and damaged the rock jetty on its eastern side. Peter Mendelman, who operates marinas there, gave the town trustees an assessment and recommended heavy machinery.

It’s tough to figure out where these things are going to go. Of course, no one wants them within sight of their house, and suddenly it feels like there’s 200 square pegs in a town of round holes.

The proposed modification of the approved plans for the store do not include demolishing the second story, the owners’ attorney told the East Hampton Town Planning Board this week, saying that part of the proposal was submitted in error.

East Hampton Town’s chief building inspector, Richard Normoyle, will receive a bump in pay in 2027, part of a larger focus strengthening the department and increasing its funding.

“You can use this for the next 10 years and beyond, hopefully, to start to check off some of the things that are priorities for the community,” Noah Levine of BFJ Planning told the East Hampton Village Board as it reviewed a draft comprehensive plan.

As the leaves began to fall, a dozen East Hampton Town residents appeared at a town board meeting to call, once again, for a year-round ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.

In East Hampton, early voting is at Windmill Village on Accabonac Road from Saturday through Nov. 1.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and her challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, came out swinging in their only debate on Oct. 13, the governor repeatedly tying Mr. Blakeman to President Trump and ICE actions, while he hammered her on taxes and the cost of living.

Republican candidates may be facing political headwinds nationally, but here on Long Island polls suggest the two G.O.P. congressional incumbents will win re-election, and that goes for the two Democratic incumbents, too.

The East Hampton Village Board voted unanimously to approve a stipulation of settlement between the village and David Ganz, who successfully sued the village for revoking his permit to park in one of the lots at Main Beach and ordering him to empty his locker at the Main Beach pavilion following a June 2024 incident there.