Community Spirit - 27 East

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Community Spirit

Editorial Board on Sep 4, 2024
It was just over four months ago when a segment of the Sag Harbor community — mostly longtime locals — gathered upstairs at Baron’s Cove, with the goal of ultimately... more

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North Haven's Ballot

North Haven is a small village with remarkable energy, a deeply engaged electorate, and a government that is active and passionate about the 2.7-square-mile peninsula they call home. In recent years, it has been a political hotbed of sorts, and its elections are almost always contested — and interesting. This year is no exception. Two seats on the Village Board are up next Tuesday, June 17, and there are three candidates: incumbents Terie Diat and Peter Boody, and challenger Max Rohn. At a virtual debate on June 4, they didn’t disappoint — the three engaged in a substantive discussion aimed ... 11 Jun 2025 by Editorial Board

Preparation Saves Lives

An email to constituents last week contained an important message: As we start the 2025 hurricane season, it’s important to be prepared. The note, from U.S. Representative Nick LaLota, included contact information for a variety of important resources: the National Hurricane Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “As a lifelong Long Islander and your representative in Congress,” LaLota wrote, “I’ve seen how storms like Gloria, Bob, Irene and Sandy can devastate our communities. Preparation saves lives.” He’s absolutely right, on all counts. Except one. LaLota supports domestic funding legislation, and an administration in Washington, ... by Editorial Board

Community Service

Few people embody the spirit of community service better than Hampton Bays resident Robert Ross, who recently retired after decades of making his home a better place for its residents. Ross spent the last 42 years, before retiring from his position late last month as vice president of community and government relations at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, fighting for and giving back to an adopted community that he loved. His retirement came just as Stony Brook put the finishing touches on a standalone emergency room in East Hampton, a project that Ross, by all accounts, fought for and helped shepherd ... by Editorial Board

The Gift of Life

All local stories matter. They matter to some portion of readers, and they certainly matter to the journalists sharing them. But there’s always an article that hits home a little more than others. Bill Sutton, who is the managing editor of The Express News Group, was never comfortable being in the pages of our newspapers. But he agreed, because his story is so important — and can help so many others — because he needs a donor kidney. He’s not alone: There are some 100,000 people in the United States alone who need life-saving organ donations. It’s testament to modern ... 4 Jun 2025 by Editorial Board

A Place To Play

Shinnecock Hills and Tuckahoe make up a mecca for golfers, with four world-class golf courses shoulder to shoulder: Shinnecock Hills, the National Golf Links of America, Sebonack and Southampton. Sebonack is the new kid on the block, opened in 2006 and designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak, but it’s already developed an international reputation, hosted a Women’s U.S. Open and made the list of the nation’s 100 best courses. Nearby are The National, which dates to 1911, and Shinnecock Hills, founded in 1891, the celebrity courses that every golfer knows and dreams of playing. Southampton, though, is the overachieving ... by Editorial Board

Wall Magic

It’s often easy to slip up and wish someone a “Happy Memorial Day” — it is, after all, the first long weekend of warm weather and a time for family and friends to get together. Beyond the time off, though, is the solemn reason for the holiday: As the Veterans of Foreign Wars put it just a few days ago, “Memorial Day is, at its core, a day of remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation.” It’s a celebration, but one that should be filled with gratitude. This year on the South Fork, there ... 28 May 2025 by Editorial Board

Promises Kept

Some things are very much worth waiting for. It took a little longer than expected — though the scale of the project and the volatility of the times suggest that the earliest timetables were wildly optimistic — but the Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Emergency Department opened in East Hampton last week, just in time for the holiday weekend, typically a moment when emergency care becomes in even greater demand as the population swells and people get more active with warmer weather. The original plan was to have the facility open by late 2023. But the lingering impact of the pandemic ... by Editorial Board

Three Priorities

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 for Sag Harbor to have a functional shuttle to move people between parking areas and key spots in the downtown area. Last week, Jesse Matsuoka, the local restaurateur, handed the Village Board a proposal for a free shuttle bus that would operate as a pilot program for one year, using the Hampton Hopper and sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Village officials should drop everything and work out all the ... 27 May 2025 by Editorial Board

Standing Firm

Even South Fork residents who have issues with U.S. Representative Nick LaLota’s positions on some important issues should give credit where it’s due: In one respect at least, the Republican 1st District congressman has stuck to his guns on an issue that deserves bipartisan attention — the unfair cap on state and local tax deductions on federal tax returns. SALT, in short, has been a talking point for LaLota since he emerged as the GOP’s successor to Lee Zeldin for the House seat, even as much of his other rhetoric has toed the line drawn by Republican leaders in Washington, ... 21 May 2025 by Editorial Board

The Toll on Veterans

This Memorial Day, as we honor those who sacrificed all for the country, it’s also important to take stock of how well the nation cares for our living veterans. Cuts already made to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and further cuts that the Trump administration has floated, make clear that we are not giving our all, and perhaps not enough. In fact, the federal government under Donald Trump is running fast in the wrong direction. Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency saw to it that 2,400 probationary VA staff members were laid off, and the Trump administration set ... by Editorial Board