Three Priorities - 27 East
logo logo logo logo

Opinions

Sag Harbor Express / Editorials / 1810384

Three Priorities

Former president Bill Clinton speaks with writers Mike Lupica and Ken Auletta.

Former president Bill Clinton speaks with writers Mike Lupica and Ken Auletta. DREW BUDD

Jerry O'Connell representing Montauk's Shagwong at the annual Artists and Writers Celebrity Softball Game.

Jerry O'Connell representing Montauk's Shagwong at the annual Artists and Writers Celebrity Softball Game. DREW BUDD

The annual tradition continues: Mike Lupica smashes a turnip.

The annual tradition continues: Mike Lupica smashes a turnip. DREW BUDD

The 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton once again made an appearance at the Artists and Writers Celebrity Softball Game at Herrick Park in East Hampton this past Saturday, August 21.

The 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton once again made an appearance at the Artists and Writers Celebrity Softball Game at Herrick Park in East Hampton this past Saturday, August 21. DREW BUDD

Bill Clinton spoke just before the start of the 73rd annual Artists and Writers Celebrity Softball Game this past Saturday, August 21.

Bill Clinton spoke just before the start of the 73rd annual Artists and Writers Celebrity Softball Game this past Saturday, August 21. DREW BUDD

Former president Bill Clinton and East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen share a laugh before the start of the game.

Former president Bill Clinton and East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen share a laugh before the start of the game. DREW BUDD

With Bill Clinton calling balls and strikes, artist Walter Bernard throws one of the first pitches of Saturday's game.

With Bill Clinton calling balls and strikes, artist Walter Bernard throws one of the first pitches of Saturday's game. DREW BUDD

Paul Winum was the starting pitcher for the Writers as Bill Clinton was calling balls and strikes for the first few innings.

Paul Winum was the starting pitcher for the Writers as Bill Clinton was calling balls and strikes for the first few innings. DREW BUDD

Editorial Board on Aug 25, 2021
With Memorial Day weekend looming, there are three things Sag Harbor Village must urgently consider adding to the mix to address summer parking woes. First, it’s imperative and long overdue... more

You May Also Like:

Commodity, Not Community

Last week’s Express Sessions event in Southampton Village, part of a five-part series called “Local Matters” — upcoming events will turn to Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Hampton Bays and Westhampton Beach — was largely dominated by a trio of interconnected issues: traffic, most significantly, but also affordable housing and the need for septic solutions. As it turns out, the three are so intertwined that you simply can’t discuss them individually, and no “solution” will slay this three-headed dragon alone. Still, there was a great deal to take away from this first conversation, and it impacts the entire South Fork, because ... 15 Oct 2025 by Editorial Board

A Day To Share

The three-day weekend just past is generally known as Columbus Day weekend, but in recent years the holiday has an alternate identity, Indigenous Peoples’ Day. More than four decades after the idea was first suggested in 1977 at a United Nations conference, former President Joe Biden issued a proclamation in 2021, making it a federal holiday alongside Columbus Day. President Donald Trump countered that proclamation with one of his own last week, restoring Columbus Day as the lone federal holiday, bringing it “back from the ashes,” in his estimation. This matters only symbolically, except for the federal holiday designation — ... by Editorial Board

Green Light

Sometime in November, it appears that some new traffic patterns will appear along County Road 39. They won’t be brand new — they are the result of a great deal of testing and trial-and-error this year, led by Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Charles McArdle. For the first time, though, they will become the full-time rules of the road. Generally, that could be beneficial. The ad hoc changes along the busy highway, particularly in the afternoon to try to deal with the outflowing westbound traffic, create confusion and probably add to slowdowns, at least at first. This way, drivers who regularly ... 8 Oct 2025 by Editorial Board

Paging King Solomon

Anyone who believes every local issue is cut-and-dried, and simple to resolve, should take a closer look at Poxabogue Field in Sagaponack, and at least acknowledge just how thorny a choice the Southampton Town Board faces. On the surface, it should be simple. The eight-plus-acre farm field would have become just another high-end subdivision, but the late Geri Bauer bought it in 1987 — a time before the Community Preservation Fund and other farmland preservation efforts had been born — to keep it in agriculture. In 2021, with the CPF firmly in place, she completed the task by selling it ... by Editorial Board

Price vs. Value

The price tag will create the first response among Sag Harbor School District residents — $35 million to $40 million is a hefty figure, even though any substantial renovation of a school building can be expected to come in at that price — but here’s hoping they take a moment to look beyond the bottom line. Pierson High School is already an outstanding institution of learning: The quality of young people who are graduating and going on to bigger and better things is truly remarkable, and their accomplishments while in high school are head-turning. The district regularly gives students with ... 1 Oct 2025 by Editorial Board

Free To Choose

Governor Kathy Hochul deserves credit for giving New York State residents a shot in the arm, figuratively and literally. The mess that is the federal Health Department has effectively muddied the waters on COVID vaccines. This is to be expected: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a vaccine critic and skeptic; he has stacked the department with like-minded pseudo-experts who are eager to look past most vaccines’ proven benefits to try to find hidden, lurking dangers. The damage is being done: Many people now are wary of vaccines, for themselves and their children, after trying to wade through the ... by Editorial Board

On the Waterfront

Visionary and groundbreaking legislation designed to protect commercial enterprises operating along the waterfront was signed into law, with deserved pomp and circumstance, by Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine earlier this week along the commercial docks in Greenport. The legislation sets aside an initial $9.5 million to purchase conservation easements on so-called “working waterfront” businesses, including commercial fisheries and marinas, protecting them form encroaching residential development. The easements would give the current business owners some breathing room in the face of eager developers who would turn the properties into sprawling waterfront McMansions. In an era of political divisiveness, it was refreshing ... by Editorial Board

Trash Collections

Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Charlie McArdle isn’t wrong when he says that his department shouldn’t bear the cost of emptying the sidewalk trash cans along the main street business districts in Hampton Bays, Bridgehampton, East Quogue and Water Mill. Quietly and abruptly removing those garbage cans on Tumbleweed Tuesday, however, resulting in piles of trash accumulating on the concrete pads where they used to stand, in an effort to draw attention to his complaint, lacked finesse on the highway superintendent’s part. For decades — longer than many can remember — the Highway Department has maintained the sidewalks along Montauk Highway ... 24 Sep 2025 by Editorial Board

A Wise Investment

The Southampton Town Board’s decision to spend $15 million in Community Preservation Fund revenue to purchase the 2.5-acre “Bridge House” property in North Haven is more than a land deal — it is a statement about values. At a time when prime parcels across the East End are snapped up for oversized private homes or luxury condominiums, the choice to protect a stretch of Sag Harbor Bay beach for public access is both bold and forward-looking. North Haven Village Mayor Chris Fiore put it plainly when he said the village wanted to “avoid another big glass cube.” Anyone who has ... by Editorial Board

Be Heard

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council is accepting comments until October 3 on its new striped bass management plan. As our fishing columnist, Mike Wright, urged last week: Every angler, both commercial and recreational, should take a few minutes to be heard about the future management of this crucial species. There might never be a more important time to speak up. Among the options on the table is “no targeting closures,” which means a complete ban on fishing for striped bass among recreational anglers, and potentially a complete ban, period, if the only fishing in the area is deemed to ... by Editorial Board