The 404 new converts to Catholicism in the Diocese of Rockville Centre this year is the highest figure in nearly 40 years, church officials said. Church experts cite a range of reasons, including the diocese’s evangelization efforts, people’s hunger for deeper meaning, effective use of social media, the first American pope and a welcoming environment, especially for Hispanic immigrant families. The converts will officially become Catholics at Easter Vigil Masses throughout the diocese on Saturday night. Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that the Long Island numbers mirror a nationwide trend with many dioceses seeing high and even record numbers of converts. The converts go through a process that can last a year or more before becoming officially Catholic.

The new high on Long Island comes nearly a year after the church elected its first American pontiff, Pope Leo XIV. While church officials said that may be a small factor for the growth, there are probably many others, including simply the mystery of faith.

“More than any program or initiative of ours, God does the calling and God allows the growth,” said the Rev. Eric Fasano, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre which serves Catholics across Nassau and Suffolk counties..

The 404 new members will receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Holy Eucharist at Easter Vigil Masses tomorrow night throughout the diocese. It is the highest number since 1988, the last year for which the diocese has readily available records, Fasano said. The second-highest number of conversions was last year, with 320 new Catholics. The number has nearly doubled in the last seven years, rising from 208 in 2020, according to diocesan data.

While the converts include many Latinos — the fastest growing group of Catholics in the United States and on Long Island — there are also other ethnicities coming into the religion, though there was no demographic breakdown, Rev. Fasano said.

Converts who were not raised Catholic but become one as an adult, make up about 8% of the 32 million Catholics in the United States, according to a June 2025 Pew Research Center report. Long Island is home to 1.2 million baptized Catholics, according to the diocese.

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Two people have been charged with receiving bribes in the East Hampton Town Building Department, as part of an investigation conducted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Public Corruption Squad that stretched back into 2024. Ryan Benitez and Evelyn Calderon, both suspended Building Department staffers, were arraigned in Suffolk County Criminal Court yesterday. Both were released on their own recognizance, as the charges are not bail-eligible. This comes on the heels of what has been a turbulent year for the East Hampton Town Building Department, as town officials have sought to work through a backlog and boost efficiency within a department plagued by turnover, lawsuits and now a pair of indictments.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Benitez and Calderon, in a joint indictment, were charged with 10 counts each. Five of those counts are for bribe receiving in the third degree, a class D felony. The remaining five are for official misconduct, a class A misdemeanor. Adding up the total amount in the indictment puts the number at $16,100 accepted or planned bribes across the five counts. The pair face two and a third to seven years in prison, if convicted of the top count.

A grand jury in Suffolk County indicted the pair, who surrendered to the D.A.’s office on Thursday morning April 2 and were then arraigned by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei. Alyssa Constantino from the Suffolk D.A.’s Public Corruption Bureau is prosecuting the case. Benitez and Calderon are due back in court on May 21.

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The Long Island Oyster Growers Association is hosting a “Peconic Oyster Dregs Hunt” tomorrow — a chance for the community to help oyster farmers collect ghost oyster gear and other winter debris washed up on the shoreline after this winter’s devastating deep freeze. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that you show up on Saturday morning between 9 and 11 a.m. at the Greenport Harbor Brewery in Peconic, Ram’s Head Inn on Shelter Island, or Kidd Squid Brewing Company in Sag Harbor, and the organizers will point you toward a beach that needs some love.

After the Cleanup, haul your collected debris to the nearest designated drop-off point (trucks and trailers recommended). If you do not have a vehicle, pile the debris neatly near the road for later pickup. When you drop off your haul, we will reward you with a token good for two drinks (beer or wine) and oysters compliments of LIOGA at either Greenport Brewery location on the North Fork, Ram’s Head Inn Shelter Island , or Kidd Squid East Hampton.

For further info visit the Long Island Oyster Growers Association website.

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The whine of chain saws and sudden thinning of woods have become a familiar — and jarring — backdrop to life on the South Fork. Towering oaks and dense thickets that buffer homes and define the region's rural feel are being cleared for luxury homes. The trend has fueled unease among residents who say their neighborhoods are changing in real time. Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that currently, most properties in Southampton Town can be cleared and regraded without restriction. But town officials say they are looking to change that with a bill that will ensure large trees, vegetation and habitats are not removed unnecessarily during the construction process. The Town of Southampton issues thousands of building permits annually, including 184 last year for new homes and 695 for renovations.

The proposal would require the town's land management department to review and issue permits for any major clearing, regrading, or excavation, save for several exceptions. Clearing more than half a property would require the planning board's approval.

“The sheer physical beauty of the land and the water [on the East End] is extraordinary. And yet, if we continue to cut down mature trees, that character of various hamlets [and] communities start to disappear on us,” Mark McIntyre, co-chair of the town’s sustainability committee, told Newsday. “It's part of what makes the South Fork so special." Those activities are already restricted in other South Fork communities, including the Town of East Hampton as well as the villages of Sag Harbor and Southampton. In those municipalities, a permit or building department approval is typically required to remove trees and clear land.

Trees and vegetation are an “integral and irreplaceable part of” Southampton’s character, the proposed bill states. Their removal is harmful to wildlife habitat and means there are fewer trees that can capture greenhouse gases, which can worsen the effects of climate change, said Councilman Michael Iasilli, one of the bill's sponsors.

But opponents say the proposal would give the town too much control over private property and could lead to delays in real estate deals and construction timelines. Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, the board’s only Republican, opposes the measure. She said it will bring “more red tape" and is "another permit to get" for residents and contractors. The requirement could cause delays for contractors and strain the department's staff, she said.

Southampton Town officials will incorporate revisions based on comments from the public, Iasilli said.

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Home improvement giant Home Depot is looking to open a large warehouse and distribution center in Yaphank, with the help of tax breaks. Celia Young reports in NEWSDAY that Brookhaven Logistics Center, an affiliate of Kansas City-based NorthPoint Development, applied in March to bring in Home Depot as a subtenant for a proposed $157 million building. Home Depot has requested tax breaks from the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency to equip the facility, according to Brookhaven Logistics Center’s application to the IDA.

If the deal is approved, Atlanta-based Home Depot would lease the yet-to-be-built, 414,000-square-foot building for 15 years, according to the application.

The new development would sit on 50.64 acres on the northern end of a massive swath of land south of the Long Island Expressway, slated to become a warehouse development under a 2021 deal with the Brookhaven Town IDA.

The developer behind the warehouse project, another NorthPoint affiliate, already secured 15 years of tax breaks for the overall warehouse project, which run through 2037, according to a 2021 IDA resolution and the IDA's 2024 annual report.

The project is part of Home Depot’s "larger, multiyear North American supply chain expansion plan," according to the application, and comes as the company looks to grow its business to serve larger contractors as well as individual consumers.

If approved, the new center would create an estimated 200 jobs, with salaries ranging from $97,702 per year to $191,127 per year and hourly wages ranging from $23 to $24.50, according to the application.

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You are invited to join the 10th Annual Greenport Egg Roll presented by the Greenport Business Improvement District tomorrow morning. Bring the family to Mitchell Park in Greenport for a Saturday morning of egg hunting and magic! Magic show at 10:30AM, Egg Hunt right after, followed by free carousel rides until 1:30PM!

That’s tomorrow starting at 10:30am at Mitchell Park on Front Street in Greenport.

Also tomorrow is Hampton Library’s Annual Egg Hunt from 10am – 11am at the Bridgehampton Museum – Corwith House, 2368 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, NY. Find all the ...