I’ve been struggling with the hostilities expressed over the Shinnecock Nation’s development of their Westwood’s area travel plaza, which include some insulting “I know best” recommendations from some members of our community about what the Nation should do instead to improve their economic circumstances. I also acknowledge the difference between tribal sovereignty and the Nation doing whatever they want. Therefore, I’m hoping negotiations will take place to achieve conflict resolution, and an optimal solution for all Indigenous and non-indigenous constituents — aka our community — without having to embark on a drawn out and costly lawsuit. A successful negotiation would ...
21 Jan 2025 by Staff Writer
I am trying to understand the thinking of the financial wizards in Southampton Town Hall. In a heartbeat they decided to spend $4 million to purchase the Casa Basso property [“Southampton Town Eyes Purchase of Casa Basso, Castle in Westhampton for Waterfront Park,” 27east.com, December 4]. In the same heartbeat they removed the portable toilet from Ponquogue Beach parking Lot. I don’t think it was in the budget. The town plans to make a park out of the Casa Basso property. That’s hard to understand since they recently cleaned up the Bel-Aire Cove Motel property to get it ready to ...
by Staff Writer
At its recent meeting in January, the Village Board of Trustees addressed the question of traffic flows on Somerset Avenue [“Southampton Village Board Looks at Options for Mitigating Cut-Through Traffic on Somerset Avenue After Accident There, 27east.com, January 14]. This question has vexed the residents of Somerset Avenue and its surrounding streets as traffic, frustrated by the congestion and delays on County Road 39, seeks short cuts to and from Hill Street through surrounding residential areas. The increased traffic flows have had the inevitable result of making these poorly lit residential streets dangerous for pedestrian traffic — a fact tragically ...
by Staff Writer
I just read the article in The Press about the Somerset Avenue traffic proposed fixes [“Southampton Village Board Looks at Options for Mitigating Cut-Through Traffic on Somerset Avenue After Accident There” 27east.com, January 14]. This is not the first time that this issue has come up. I do not remember the exact date that the road was blocked off with fencing, also at the same time Lee Avenue, Corrigan Street and Bishops Lane were listed as problem areas. And now, with the proposed fix for Somerset Avenue, Corrigan Street and Bishops Lane will have a bigger issue with the traffic. ...
by Staff Writer
2025 has already mugged me, repeatedly. I look forward to years that end in a zero or a five. They feel auspicious. One of my life’s numerical highlights was to have my high school graduation land on an ’0 year. Many of us partied extra hard at the turn of the millennium. After all, it was a ’000. I associate auspicious with superlatives like “great!” And so, despite all the signs, I was feeling hopeful, looking forward to 2025. I should have been looking backward for the kick in the butt. Let’s start with the fires ravaging my native Southern ...
by Carlos Sandoval
The Southampton Press lunch discussion, “A Year of CHF: Grading the Nascent Community Housing Fund,” on January 9 [“Express Sessions: Affordable Housing Funds Are Building, but the Challenges Are Towering,” 27east.com, January 14], raised questions about the program’s slow start and central focus. Before the CHF affordable housing plans are firmed up, we need to remember its reason-for-being in the first place. The purpose of the CHF is to finance affordable housing — for our critical workforce, too many of whom cannot afford to live here and are subject to very lengthy and costly commutes. Our critical workforce includes, at ...
by Staff Writer
Regarding the traffic on Magee Street and the Somerset Avenue area [“Southampton Village Board Looks at Options for Mitigating Cut-Through Traffic on Somerset Avenue After Accident There, 27east.com, January 14], it is so obvious to most of the residents of these areas that changing the “rules” has done nothing but added horrendous traffic to Magee Street and all the other neighboring streets. It takes a half-hour just to go from North Magee Street or South Magee Street to Route 27. Install a left turn signal on South Magee Street going west to 27, make three lanes (there is room) on ...
by Staff Writer
As an avid cyclist, I must call out another glaring example of favoritism toward wealthy donors at the expense of the Southampton Village community. Sheila Peiffer, a member of the environmental committee, recently raised a critical question to one of Mayor Bill Manger’s surrogates at this month’s Planning Commission meeting: Why are bike lanes on First Neck Lane, “off the table?” Her call for public discussion and compromise on this issue was met instead with a brick wall, an outright refusal to even consider the matter. The Village Comprehensive Plan explicitly calls for bike lanes, and while there are valid ...
by Staff Writer
Rohma Abbas on Aug 4, 2010