After most busy summer seasons where Sag Harbor feels more like Times Square than a sleepy, historic whaling village, it’s always the week after Labor Day, on HarborFest, when locals... more
The Hamptons International Film Festival typically takes up a lot of oxygen in the fall on the South Fork, but it’s worth celebrating a slightly smaller but just as vital event in late autumn: the Hamptons Doc Fest. Running this week for its 18th year, the festival of documentaries was founded by Jacqui Lofaro and has become an essential part of the region’s arts scene every year. It’s a 12-month undertaking for Lofaro and her staff, and the result is always a tantalizing buffet of outstanding filmmaking, not to mention unforgettable stories. The arrival of the era of streaming services ...
10 Dec 2025 by Editorial Board
East Hampton’s housing shortage is real; the town can’t afford to ignore any potential long-term solutions. But the recent — and now scrapped — plan for a large employer-run complex on Three Mile Harbor Road raises too many questions that haven’t been fully answered. The proposal, put forward by Kirby Marcantonio and an unnamed partner, would have created 79 units of employer-controlled housing, comparable to a project he has pitched on Pantigo Road. To make it happen, the East Hampton Town Board would have had to allow the project to sidestep the town’s 60-unit limit on affordable developments, and rezone ...
by Editorial Board
Overlay districts are a common zoning tool used by many municipalities. Southampton Town has used them to varying degrees of success — the aquifer protection overlay district has been a winner; a downtown overlay district in Hampton Bays less so — in various parts of the town. They essentially look at the existing zoning, then allow those rules governing what can be done on properties to be reconsidered if there’s a newer concern to be addressed. In a bid to clean up the process for creating more affordable housing, the Town Board is looking at a new overlay district that ...
by Editorial Board
When it comes to evaluating a complex development proposal, splitting up the application into separate parts may seem tempting, especially when environmental uncertainties loom. But in the case of Adam Potter’s plan for 7 and 11 Bridge Street, the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board should resist any temptation to segment the project for review. Potter’s attorney has asked the board to consider the gas ball property at 5 Bridge Street — a site that could provide the 93 parking spaces required for Potter’s 48 residential units and commercial spaces nearby — separate from the main development. The reason is understandable: ...
by Editorial Board
I was surprised to find out that the Betsy Ross flag is not an official flag of the United States. The case for the Betsy Ross flag’s legitimacy is one of inter-meshing legends — and it begins in Bridgehampton. Bridgehampton had a militia in 1775. John Hulbert, its leader, recruited 68 men. Congress ordered him to escort the British prisoners taken in the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga to Philadelphia, the Continental capital. Hulbert found himself in Philadelphia in late October or early November 1775. Hulbert’s flag had 13 six-pointed stars in a blue field, six stripes deep, in a diamond ...
8 Dec 2025 by Staff Writer
It would seem that Ed Surgan was somewhat taken aback by the dazzling array of letters from his neighbors castigating his views on the current administration, his acceptance of the methods being used to deport immigrants, and his need to regularly pontificate on his perception of Herr Trump’s brilliance [“Worthy of Debate,” Letters, December 4]. Because he (Surgan) is not exactly a stupid person, and has the ability to string together sentences that might be perceived as those of an educated man, despite their actual content and meaning, he condescends to preach to us as though we were all silly ...
by Staff Writer
Yes, Virginia, there is a “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” You need only peruse the episodic incidents in print of Ed Surgan to verify and isolate its local outbreak [“Worthy of Debate,” Letters, December 4]. To be clear, Virginia, you need not be afraid. The general public is immune to the disease, and likely to remain so. Luckily, as it turns out, as no vaccine will be made available for the next three years, when it is anticipated it will die out. A healthy diet of facts, memory, logic, skepticism, civility, and the ability to reason and think for yourself, along with ...
by Staff Writer
Although my elected position as Southampton Town Trustee has not officially started, I have already jumped in feet first. In my short time visiting the Trustees’ office, my observations of the environment have been of confidence, encouragement, optimism and poise, paralleled with the respect for and recognition of a significant transition. The employees have a level of patience and support that make me feel at ease, and I can recognize the dignity with which they are holding space for the outgoing board. Ed Warner and Scott Horowitz have, without a doubt, left a legacy with their work on the Board ...
by Staff Writer
Yes, we have a nitrogen problem in our waterways that is devastating the ecosystem we all depend on [“The Nitrogen Threat,” Suffolk Closeup, Opinion, December 4]. Blame it on farmers, blame it on food, when farmers add less nitrogen to groundwater than lawns do. Blame it on cesspools, which do, in fact, add to the problem. But before we continue debating the new septic tanks for years on end — ripping up soil and plants, exposing soil with heavy machinery, and only for those who can afford them — let’s talk about the unnecessary over-fertilization of the ever-present, over-abundant, environment-destroying ...
by Staff Writer
We owe an enormous thanks to the many, many generous people in the villages of Sag Harbor, North Haven and beyond who have contributed to the food drives for the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry over the past several weeks, starting with the drive organized by Temple Adas Israel, followed by the drive graciously coordinated by Jessica Soeffer and Deputy Mayor Claas Abraham and the Village of North Haven, continuing with the incredible drive organized by Shawn Sachs and his team at Kidd Squid, then the food drive at King Kullen on a rainy day enthusiastically manned by Sag Harbor ...
by Staff Writer
