Three Priorities - 27 East
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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

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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

The Bounty That Surrounds Us

When the Community Preservation Fund gets its well-earned accolades for the good it has done for the East End in the past quarter century, the focus often is on the preservation of land, keeping it from being developed and thus protecting the region from becoming too intensely suburban. Without question, that effort to maintain the region’s rural appeal is a significant, historic accomplishment. But sometimes we forget the importance of the CPF in keeping agriculture alive as a major contributor to the region’s agroeconomy, which has quality-of-life benefits of its own for both farmers and those who live among their ... 14 May 2025 by Editorial Board

'Solving' the Traffic

It’s not fair to suggest that the last two weeks, when Southampton Town, with Suffolk County’s blessing, tested some various strategies for managing the flow of traffic westward in the afternoon rush hours, will be enough to “solve” anything. This is a Gordian knot, but Charlie McArdle is no Alexander the Great, sword in hand, ready to cut the snarl free. At best, the town’s highway superintendent is diligently picking at various parts of the heap, hoping to loosen it a tiny bit. Suffolk County officials were active participants this time, which is helpful, and they will be sitting down ... 7 May 2025 by Editorial Board

The Downtown Dilemma

Last week, an Express Sessions event in Sag Harbor focused on the village’s shopping district and explored a puzzle: If last summer was the busiest ever, and the streets of Sag Harbor were, by all accounts, packed on most every day and evening, why were the owners of shops on Main Street and elsewhere in the business district reporting a down year? The answers are elusive, complicated — and, in many ways, universal to every downtown shopping district on the South Fork, from Montauk to Eastport: Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Quogue, Westhampton Beach, Water Mill, Amagansett, East Hampton, Quogue, Hampton Bays. ... 30 Apr 2025 by Editorial Board

Shining Examples

A glimpse back in time to the 19th century would reveal, in most of the East End’s hamlets and villages, small general stores, often containing a local post office, where people living in the neighborhood could purchase groceries and necessary supplies — and, later on, gasoline for a growing number of automobiles. Over the years, many of those general stores disappeared, making way for larger business districts and developments, especially as the South Fork grew into a flourishing tourist destination. Big-box stores eventually arrived, challenging even those downtown shopping destinations. But it was those general stores, mixed with a thriving ... 23 Apr 2025 by Editorial Board

Staying Alive

And, in the same vein, Sag Harbor Village’s holiday weekend “Keep It Local” shopping event was a success, and it’s a model that should be repeated more frequently in the village — and in every other village and hamlet shopping district on the South Fork. It was the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce that undertook the very simple campaign to encourage people not just to walk the streets of Sag Harbor but to cross the threshold and actually spend some money. Because the village has no issue with foot traffic these days, but its merchants are struggling. That’s the theme ... by Editorial Board