The Sag Harbor Cinema fire of December 16, 2016 left a deep wound in a village where generations of locals, summer people and visitors had fond memories of its old-fashioned... more
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
On behalf of the Sag Harbor Lions Club, I want to publicly thank Chief Andrew Blodorn and his crew at the Sag Harbor Fire Department for helping to make our annual Easter Egg Hunt a special day for the community, and for dramatically and safely delivering the Easter Bunny (Vee Bennett) to the park! It is much appreciated! Mark Haslinger President Sag Harbor Lions Club
28 Apr 2025 by Staff Writer
Denunciation by recitation would not stand up in court, nor should it in the court of public opinion. Without the strengths of context, evidence or sources, Carol Scott’s Letter to the Editor [“Bad for Southampton,” Letters, April 24] unfairly maligns Gordon Herr and, indirectly, the elected officials he has supported over the years. This prime example of poor opinion-shaping requires a response. Higher taxes: Reports from various local news sources inform that pension and health costs challenge public budgets in all five East End towns. Note: Past Democratic supervisors received high marks and lower bond rates from credit rating agencies ...
by Staff Writer
I’d like to respond to Andi Klausner’s recent letter [“Beware of Grudges,” Letters, April 24], in which she assumed the role of grifter Gordon Herr’s “henchwoman.” Andi, you’re not the henchwoman — you’re the patsy. Andi’s letter got me thinking: Why would a well-respected activist, mother, wife, Housing Authority commissioner and vice chair of the Democratic Committee lie to Southampton voters about the existence of a cross-party endorsement deal admitted to and corroborated by both the Republicans and Conservatives? The answer? She wouldn’t — she isn’t a liar. Then, the epiphany came: Like the rest of the committee, Andi didn’t ...
by Staff Writer
Another growing season is starting, as potato planting on the East End gets underway. From year to year, farmers have no way of knowing when that first day of planting will begin. Everything depends upon the weather. Finally, the time is right to have potato seed cut and ready to go into the ground. And so the ritual of spring planting begins again. We see plows turning over furrows of dark, rich soil, followed by the potato planter putting the seed pieces into the ground. The hope is that, by Mother’s Day, the sprouts from the potato eyes will break ...
by Staff Writer
The news of the death of Pope Francis this week caused me to reflect on his extraordinary message of compassion. He challenged how we solve the enormity of our societal and economic problems while maintaining our compassion and humanity. We are troubled in this country by an unregulated, disorganized immigration policy. It must be changed to benefit American citizens. However, we cannot solve the problem without compassion for those who are coming here simply to seek a better life. Policy changes will require nuance and care, while ensuring enforcement. We want to encourage a free market system, which has allowed ...
by Staff Writer
Nothing new from our liberal Press columnists last week. Karl Grossman took aim at our former congressman and current EPA head, desperately making the typical climate argument that the sky is falling [“Much Less Green,” Suffolk Closeup, Opinion, April 24]. In spite of every extreme prediction proving to be woefully short of an extinction event, Mr. Grossman is outraged that Lee Zeldin has turned off the spigot of wasted taxpayer money flushed down the rabbit hole of wishful thinking that has helped divert billions of dollars in productivity away from our energy industry. The war on fossil fuel consumption has ...
by Staff Writer
It is encouraging, during Earth Week, to know that the Town of Riverhead is committed to renewable energy. It is moving ahead with a smart battery storage system using the latest fire protection technology and design. This is a great improvement over the older systems, three of which caught fire two years ago, inciting frightened opposition and causing many towns to back off battery commitments. Note that none of those fires caused personal or property harm outside the batteries themselves. Anti-battery groups, like fossil fuels-funded Protect Our Coast, are spreading lies, feeding on people’s misunderstandings, and tying them to offshore ...
by Staff Writer
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
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
