Government

The offshore wind industry, despite a sustained campaign against it by the Trump administration, won another round on Jan. 15 when a United States District Court granted the developer of the Empire Wind 1 farm a preliminary injunction that allows construction of the 54-turbine, 810-megawatt project to resume.

East Hampton Town and Village along with Sag Harbor Village and Southampton Town all declared states of emergency ahead of Sunday’s snow and ice storm, mirroring actions by Suffolk County and New York State. Government offices and facilities will be closed on Monday, as will local schools.

“The recent actions from Jerry Larsen — encouraging voters to change their party enrollment solely to influence the outcome of a Democratic primary and sway the results in his direction — are deeply troubling,” the county chairman said. Mr. Larsen countered that it’s just democracy in action.

A popular beach access point to a surf spot known as the Ranch, used by generations of Montauk surfers and fishermen, could be jeopardized if a subdivision application introduced to the East Hampton Town Planning Board earlier this month is approved.

Because of the extreme weather forecast for the coming days, the sale of 2026 permits to park at East Hampton Village beaches has been postponed from Tuesday to Thursday, Jan. 29. The one-day, in-person sale for town residents will be held at the Emergency Services Building.

n a hearing that could have implications for multiple properties, the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals considered the Jewish Center of the Hamptons’ appeal of the building inspector’s interpretation of “residential property.” The center hopes to see driveways exempted a parcel’s coverage calculation.

The Sag Harbor Village Board held a public hearing on a proposed law that would require vacant storefront windows to feature a window display and, hearing no comment from the public, closed the hearing and quickly adopted the law.

There has been more movement in the East Hampton Town Building Department in recent weeks, though not in the direction the town had hoped for.

A public hearing on a proposed law that would extend the prohibition of dogs and trucks on East Hampton Village beaches from the current date of Sept. 15 to Columbus Day drew no comment from the public but sparked a debate among village board members.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez has named 15 inaugural members of a new Latino Advisory Committee. They represent a cross-section of skills, based on their professions, and many already have ties to town government.

East Hampton Village received an unmodified, or clean, opinion from its auditor, the annual audit demonstrating no material misstatements, significant deficiencies, or noncompliance, according to an official from the Satty & Partners accounting firm.

A new 16-foot-tall Ditch Plain dune now stands impudently, or perhaps daringly, maybe both, before the Atlantic, extending from just east of what’s known as the “dirt lot” parking area to a few hundred feet west of the Seaside Avenue parking lot.

Christopher Gallant, a non-politician from Amity Harbor who announced his bid last summer after John Avlon said he wouldn’t run again in 2026, seems to be emerging as the candidate to face Nick LaLota, and he has Mr. Avlon’s support.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez will once again be the Democratic candidate for supervisor come November, after placing first in votes at the Democratic Committee nominating convention Wednesday night.

The latest round in the struggle between offshore wind farm developers and the Trump administration went to the developers, as a federal judge ruled on Monday that construction of Revolution Wind can resume.

A majority of the 273 respondents to a survey about personal wireless communication in Sag Harbor Village support replacing two existing towers — that do not host commercial wireless service providers — with towers that can support them. Publicly owned properties and properties with nonresidential land uses are the preferred locations.

The East Hampton Town Trustees voted to re-elect Francis Bock as clerk, or presiding officer, and Jim Grimes and John Aldred as the deputy clerks. They also voted to maintain Christopher Carillo as their attorney.

The Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee emphatically endorsed a plan to mitigate noise from aircraft flying to and from East Hampton Town Airport, noting that “years of litigation and more than $9 million in legal fees” have brought no relief to beleaguered residents in the form of restrictions on aircraft operations.

East Hampton Village Hall will be closed to the public next week, starting on Monday and continuing through Jan. 19, when Martin Luther King’s Birthday is observed. Village Hall will reopen to the public on Jan. 20.

Republican Representative Nick LaLota of the First Congressional District cast a critical vote on Dec. 18 to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf outside of Alaska. The gray wolf was first listed as endangered under the act in 1974.

Days after Gov. Kathy Hochul and the governors of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts demanded that the federal government rescind the Trump administration’s pause of leases for five offshore wind farms under construction, developers of four of them sued the government in hope of reversing the latest move to kill the nascent industry.

Denise Savarese, the secretary for the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals for many years before being appointed to serve on the board in 2021, has been promoted from vice chairwoman to chairwoman.

Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez delivered the annual State of the Town address at Tuesday’s East Hampton Town Board meeting, focusing on successes from 2025 and the direction the town will take in 2026, and announcing the creation of a new Latino advisory committee.

Jeff Bragman, former councilman, will screen Saturday with the Democratic Committee as a candidate for town supervisor, potentially setting up a three-way primary with Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Jerry Larsen.

Councilman David Lys, who has served on the East Hampton Town Board since being appointed in 2018 before winning election in his own right, will now serve as deputy town supervisor. He is to be appointed at Tuesday’s town board organizational meeting.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and the governors of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have written to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to demand rescission of the Trump administration’s Dec. 22 pause of leases for five wind farms under construction off the Northeast coast.

A new petition started by a group calling itself Springs Residents Against Elite Towers seeks to stop a long-planned cell tower at the Springs Fire Department on Fort Pond Boulevard.

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday ahead of a storm expected to dump snow across the Long Island, New York City, and mid-Hudson regions starting Friday evening. 

One year after vetoing similar legislation, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, which will phase out the harvesting of the ancient species for bait.

For the seventh time, a governor of New York State has vetoed a bill that would have provided for reinstatement and acknowledgement of the Montaukett Indian Nation, a recognition lost 115 years ago in a ruling that former Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. has called one of the most racist decisions ever issued by a New York court.