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The Long Island Daily
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The Long Island Daily, formerly Long Island Morning Edition, with host Michael Mackey provides regional news stories and special features that speak to the body politic, the pulse of our planet, and the marketplace of life.
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Sag Harbor Village launches investigation into homophobic comment from Mayor Gardella
Mar 1200:10:01Tap to summarizeThe cost of energy in the NYC metropolitan area, particularly electricity, home heating oil and natural gas, rose in February compared with a year earlier as Long Islanders and others in our region tried to stay warm in the face of unusually cold temperatures. James T. Madore reports in NEWSDAY that energy prices are up substantially more this month as the cost of gasoline climbs in response to the war in Iran, economists said yesterday, adding that pump prices weren’t a factor last month. They were down 4.3% from February 2025.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported its energy index for the 25-county region, that includes Long Island, increased 5% in February compared with a year earlier. That’s a faster pace than January’s 2.7% but slower than December’s 6.1%. The economists said rising prices can cause consumers to reduce their spending, which in turn can hurt economic growth. Consumer spending accounts for roughly 70% of economic activity on Long Island and nationwide.The energy index, which is released with the consumer price index, tracks the cost of natural gas, electricity, home heating oil, kerosene, firewood and gasoline — but only the latter’s price is broken out, according to bureau economist Georgia Wright.Frigid temperatures and record snowfall are largely to blame for the energy index’s rise last month.The cost of fruits and vegetables also climbed 7.2% in February compared with a year earlier. Nonalcoholic beverages and household furnishings were up 7.1% and 4.8%, respectively, according to the statistics bureau.The increases were partially offset by declines in the cost of gasoline, recreation and used automobiles. Recreation was down 2.6% and used automobiles were down 3.5%.The overall price index for the New York-area rose 3.2% last month compared with February 2025. That was a faster pace than January’s 2.9%. The national index climbed at a slower rate: 2.4% in February and January, year-over-year.***The Village of Sag Harbor has launched an investigation into a comment by Mayor Thomas Gardella on social media that critics described as homophobic and for which he apologized on Tuesday.The comment was made on an Instagram video by Texas resident Rebecca Chavez, which shows her and her wife, Deanah, who has a short haircut, dancing to a song. Gardella posted a comment: “What’s that thing in the background ? A guy A girl? some creature ?” as written, appearing to refer to Deanah.After seeing Gardella’s comment, Chavez searched his name, found his status as mayor and posted a second video identifying him and encouraging people to send him emails. She told Newsday’s Alek Lewis that Gardella’s comment was "homophobic" and "horrific."Deputy Mayor Edward Haye, in a statement during Tuesday’s Sag Harbor Village Board meeting, said Gardella’s comment “disparaged members of the LGBT community."“Sag Harbor has long prided itself being a welcoming and a tolerant village, and those values deeply matter to us both as members of the village board and as residents,” Haye said. “While the comment appears to have been made on a personal social media account, it has understandably caused concern and hurt within our community.”Haye said the village board learned of Gardella’s comment on Monday. It will “be reviewed through the appropriate village processes so we … can address it thoughtfully, fairly and transparently.”After Haye’s statement, Gardella apologized. “I also would like to apologize for my many friends in the LGBT community who feel disappointed in me,” he added.“This administration holds a high standard of conduct and accountability and no one is above reproach, especially the mayor,” Gardella said.Gardella, a former village board member, was elected mayor of Sag Harbor in June 2023.Chavez said she and her wife are glad Gardella apologized and that his comments are being taken seriously by the village board through its investigation.***Join Peconic Baykeeper and Peconic Estuary Partnership for their fourth year of Winter Watershed Walk Series! This year’s series features four new and different locations around the Peconic Estuary. This coming Saturday, March 14 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. you may join them for free at Mashomack Preserve 79 S Ferry Rd on Shelter Island. The walk will be co-led with The Nature Conservancy.Driving instructions and parking details will be sent out prior to the walk. Please dress for your comfort, warm layers, hats and gloves are encouraged. Plan to meet at the trailhead and begin walks shortly after the given start time. If you are running late or can no longer attend a walk you have signed up for please let the organizers know. We will do our best to wait for all confirmed registrants.For further info and registration visit peconicbaykeeper.org***A Staten Island delivery driver was killed after the van he was driving eastbound on County Road 39 wandered into oncoming traffic last week, striking four other vehicles before colliding head-on with a large pickup truck. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the accident happened about 3:30 p.m. last Wednesday, March 4.Police have not said why they think 33-year-old Anasser Almontaser’s van strayed out of his lane as he rounded the sweeping curve in County Road 39 just a few hundred yards to the west of the Tuckahoe Road stoplight. None of the drivers of the other vehicles the van struck suffered significant injuries, they have said.The crash forced police to close the road for nearly four hours — mostly as detectives and emergency crews waited idly for a coroner from the Suffolk County medical examiner’s office to examine Almontaser’s body and record the circumstances of the crash before the deceased victim could be removed from his vehicle.By 4:30 p.m. a trip from anywhere east of Southampton Village to Hampton Bays took three hours or more.But it was not anything new.Similar commuter nightmares of somewhat varying degrees seem to grip the region several times a year following accidents on either County Road 39 or Montauk Highway. How long the gridlock lasts depends on how long it takes to clear the blocked roadway — with the delays typically taking an hour to two hours to shake out even after the roadway is opened again. When there’s a fatality involved clearing the scene can take even longer.Local officials are well aware of the problem and the nightmares it causes for commuters.Discussing the situation at this past Tuesday’s Southampton Town Board meeting produced just two lasting responses: that the town would post digital warning signs along Montauk Highway east of Bridgehampton to warn afternoon commuters of severe delays in hopes that fewer of them would wade into the crawl and worsen gridlock on backroads, and that the town needed to find a way to get around the need for a coroner from the medical examiner’s office to come all the way from Smithtown simply to record the circumstances of the death.***Two barges and four months later, the dredging of Montauk Harbor is now complete — and fishermen say passage in and out of the inlet has been easier since the completion of the operation. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that looming over Gosman’s Dock starting in December was Oyster Bay, a 144-foot-long dredge equipped with a 7-foot cutter head — a spiked rotating cone that breaks up underwater materials, like sediment and sand. Once the machine got moving, Oyster Bay could pump up to 10,000 cubic yards of sand per day.But the Oyster Bay did not last. Running into tough layers of sediment, the dredge suffered two major setbacks — one brought on by a fractured main shaft, the other due to a hydraulic failure. That took the dredge out of commission for several weeks and prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring in a second, much smaller dredge, the Scrod II.“There was only a small channel on the west side that was deep enough for the bigger boats to go through,” said Al Schaeffer, a commercial fisherman. “On the east side, the east jetty, it was so shallow that even a boat like mine that only draws 4.5 or 5 feet couldn’t pass over that.”But that has since changed.“I went away for three weeks, and I came back, and I’ve been in and out quite a lot,” said Schaeffer. “I went from the west side to the east side — and we had a lot of problems at the very end of the east side — that hump is gone, and in the whole place, I saw nothing less than 17 feet at any given time.”The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and East Hampton Town officials partnered to undertake the operation, which was 14 years in the making. In the fall, before the dredge arrived, the federal and local governments had earmarked $9 million and $1.5 million, respectively, but bids came in high, and the East Hampton Town Board moved to kick in an additional $1.1 million to see it through.The plan was to deepen the inlet to 17 feet, building on a 12-foot emergency operation undertaken in early 2025. The dredge, this time around, pumped sand from the surface of the inlet onto Sunset Beach, immediately to the west. Scrod II took over for Oyster Bay about halfway through.East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys said, “The main success is that the mariners and the fishing industry will see about the safety of the inlet. They’re telling me right now that they’re not seeing a place in there where the inlet is anything less than 17 feet deep.”***To celebrate the 20th annual Cutchogue St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the North Fork Chamber of Commerce and Cutchogue Fire D...
Transcribe →Westhampton Beach St. Patrick's Day Parade this Saturday
Mar 1100:10:10Tap to summarizeThe owners of Montauk Inlet Seafood said they've seen fewer boats fueling up at the dock they own that juts into the Block Island Sound on the east end of Long Island.The cause: Higher fuel costs spurred by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.With New York’s layered fuel taxes — although commercial fishermen can apply for refunds — it’s often cheaper and easier to fuel up in Rhode Island, said Amanda Jones, director of operations at Inlet Seafood, a fisher co-op that ships from 12 to 18 million pounds of fish per year. “Fuel is our largest operating costs, so we’re already seeing smaller margins,” Jones told NEWSDAY. “What I predict that we’ll soon see is that New York is going to see a steady decline in fish being packed [in the state].” Brianne Ledda and Victor Ocasio report in NEWSDAY that a barrel of crude oil sold for roughly $70 a barrel before the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran at the end of February — but has soared since then. Oil prices again swung sharply this week as markets continued reacting to the war, highlighting how quickly instability in global energy markets can ripple through Long Island’s economy. On Monday, crude oil spiked to nearly $120 per barrel — the highest mark since at least 2022 — before falling back to around $90 a barrel, where it remained yesterday.But the relatively high price and ongoing volatility is still creating uncertainty for fuel-dependent industries here, including fishing, farming, trucking and food distribution, according to Newsday interviews with business owners and industry leaders. Rising oil prices have a direct impact on the production and price of gas, from the regular gas that fills most cars to the diesel fuel that heavy-duty commercial vehicles, boats and farm equipment typically run on.The average price of diesel on Long Island reached $4.83 a gallon yesterday, up 90 cents compared to when the war broke out Feb. 28, according to data from AAA’s online fuel price tracker compiled by Newsday's library. The average price for regular gas on Long Island hit $3.39 yesterday, up 54 cents from $2.86 on Feb. 28. Locally, between Southampton and Bridgehampton prices ranged from $3.09 to $3.49 per gallon for unleaded regular on Tuesday.***With global conflicts, flight disruptions and travel advisories making headlines in recent weeks, some Long Islanders planning trips are taking a closer look at travel insurance.But experts say many travelers misunderstand what policies actually cover, particularly when it comes to major events like geopolitical conflict.Carissa Kellman reports in NEWSDAY that most standard travel insurance policies do not cover cancellations related to acts of war or fear of travel, and flexible upgrades like "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage are generally not available to New York residents.Travel insurance is designed to protect travelers from unexpected costs that can arise before or during a trip. The exact coverage depends on the policy, but most comprehensive plans include several common protections.These can include trip cancellation coverage, which reimburses prepaid, nonrefundable expenses if a traveler cancels for a covered reason such as illness or severe weather. Trip interruption coverage may help pay for the unused portion of a trip and the cost of returning home early if plans change unexpectedly.Policies often include trip delay coverage, which can reimburse travelers for meals, lodging or other expenses if flights are significantly delayed.Many plans also include medical coverage while traveling, payment for doctor visits, hospital stays or other treatment if a traveler becomes sick or injured. Some plans also offer emergency evacuation coverage, which can pay for transportation to the nearest adequate medical facility if needed.Travel insurance may also reimburse travelers for lost, stolen or delayed luggage, including the cost of essential items while waiting for bags to arrive.Because of New York State insurance regulations, Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage is generally not available to New York residents, meaning Long Islanders typically rely on standard travel insurance plans.Those policies can still provide protection for covered situations such as illness, injury, severe weather or certain travel disruptions, but they do not offer the same flexibility as CFAR.***It’s one of the most beloved and time-honored traditions in Westhampton Beach. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Westhampton Beach this coming Saturday, March 14, 2026, will be celebrating its 58th year, stepping off at 12 noon at the corner of Mill Road and Oneck Lane, by the Westhampton Beach Middle School, and proceeding down Mill Road, through the traffic circle near Hampton Coffee Company and the Sunset Theater, and down to the smaller traffic circle near the Westhampton Beach Post Office and Flora, then heading onto Main Street, and down Main Street to the parade finish just past Mitchell Lane.The Westhampton Beach St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1968, regularly features many bagpipe bands, as well as several school marching bands, plus many other marchers including fire departments from across Suffolk County.The Westhampton Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has chosen Allyson Barone Scerri as their 2026 Grand Marshal.And the weather forecast for this coming Saturday of mostly sunny skies, high near 47 and breezy, is suitable for enjoying a St. Paddy’s Day parade. ***A revised version of a proposed local law aimed at public safety during federal immigration enforcement activity is now circulating among local municipalities. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island, or OLA, says the latest draft reflects input from East End municipal officials and attorneys gathered since the proposal was first presented publicly in Riverhead last month. But while OLA says it has met with every other East End town and village leadership team and their lawyers, Riverhead did not attend a Feb. 26th ZOOM meeting on the proposal and has yet to engage in any substantive public discussion about it.OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez again urged the Riverhead Town Board to open a dialogue when she addressed members at their meeting last week, following what she said was additional ICE activity in Riverhead on Feb. 28, including near public schools.On Monday, Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin told Riverheadlocal he has not met individually with OLA and that no meeting has been scheduled, but said he was not ruling one out.Halpin also said Riverhead Police Chief Ed Frost “went to great lengths” to investigate reports tied to a video posted online after the Feb. 28 incident near a Riverhead public school. Police interviewed the parents and one of the children involved, reviewed the video and identified the man seen speaking with children outside the school, Halpin said. According to Halpin, the man was a member of the general public and not a federal agent or affiliated with law enforcement.Riverhead Town Council Member Denise Merrifield said recently she has always supported the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions.Council Member Ken Rothwell said yesterday that he would have “no trouble meeting with” OLA. But he also said the group appears to be “creating a narrative that, quite frankly, does not exist in Riverhead.”“From what I’ve seen or read, they [ICE agents] have picked up wanted felons,” Rothwell said. “I support that work.”Rothwell acknowledged that he has not read the revised draft of OLA’s proposal, but said “most of those things” in the first draft “are already being handled by our police department.”“I think our officers right now are doing a great job,” he added.***Suffolk County lawmakers advanced a bill to set a boundary for demonstrators around places of religious worship "to protect public safety and the right to religious freedom." Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the bill restricts protesters from standing within 35 feet of the entrance or driveway of the place of religious worship or within 10 feet of people as they enter or leave for services.Legis. Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport), the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation mirrors what was recently approved in Nassau County. Similar legislation is being proposed in New York City and New York State.The Suffolk County Legislature held a public hearing on the legislation at yesterday’s general meeting and no one spoke for or against the bill. The legislature can adopt the bill at its April 21 general meeting.Bontempi said she views the bill as a protection of free speech and freedom of expression."It's just to keep that safe distance so that nobody feels threatened or concerned about sharing their opinion or practicing their religion," she said.If passed, violators would face a $250 fine, up to 1 year in jail or both, according to the legislation which sets the penalty as a misdemeanor.Within that 35-foot boundary, the bill bars anyone "to demonstrate, picket, protest, distribute literature, display signs, engage in oral advocacy or other forms of expression or symbolic conduct."Suffolk County police or another local law enforcement agency would first issue a "verbal, written or other communicative or expressive instruction" to the demonstrator, according to the bill.County Executive Edward P. Romaine, a Republican, said he supports the bill, according to spokesman Mike Martino."Houses of worship are a sacred respite for anyone practicing their faith a...
Transcribe →Trump directive could cause severe understaffing for LI school bus drivers
Mar 600:09:50Tap to summarizeLong Island’s school bus industry, already suffering from a driver shortage, will lose hundreds more drivers because of a Trump administration directive preventing immigrants with temporary residency from obtaining, or renewing, commercial driver’s licenses, officials said. Alfonso A. Castillo and Darwin Yanes report in NEWSDAY that the recent announcement by the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles that its commercial driver’s license program for temporary residents is "indefinitely paused, including renewals," could have a cascading impact across Long Island. Bus companies said it will put decades-long bus drivers out of work and, in a worst-case scenario, push school districts to delay bell times so that buses could serve multiple schools with a depleted roster of operators."It’s tough right now. It’s just going to get a little tougher," said Thomas Smith, chief operating officer of Suffolk Transportation Services, the county’s largest school bus provider, which stands to lose about 150 of its 1,600 drivers because of the licensing change. "It’s sad. These are great people doing great work for the community."The DMV’s move came in response to changes made late last year by the federal government barring most immigrants with temporary visas from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses, even while in the United States legally.The change followed a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit saying that New York, and other large cities led by Democrats, were regularly renewing immigrant drivers' commercial licenses even after their temporary statuses expired. Federal officials ordered New York to immediately revoke every license illegally issued to "foreign drivers" and discontinue its immigrant CDL program, or they'd lose federal highway funding.DMV officials said every applicant's legal status is verified and that they followed federal regulations, but have suggested they have no choice but to comply with the federal order.The Trump administration has sought to target so-called "non-domiciled" CDL programs following a series of high-profile truck crashes involving immigrant drivers. President Donald Trump brought up the issue at his recent State of the Union address, calling on Congress to bar "any state from granting commercial licenses to illegal aliens."Leaders of Nassau and Suffolk superintendent organizations said they are closely monitoring the situation but stressed that student safety and transportation are top priorities for districts.***Attorneys for pop star Justin Timberlake secured a temporary restraining order yesterday to block the release of police body camera footage of the actor-musician's 2024 drunken driving arrest, court records show. Robert Brodsky reports in NEWSDAY that the order by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti gives the Village of Sag Harbor until April 9 to submit documentation detailing why it should be permitted to release footage from the former *NSYNC frontman's traffic stop and arrest on June 18, 2024, as part of a Freedom of Information Law request by members of the media.In the interim, the village cannot release the footage without a court order, Farneti said.On Monday Timberlake, citing privacy concerns, filed suit against the Village of Sag Harbor, its police department and police Chief Robert Drake seeking a court order to block the footage's expected release.Release of this footage, according to Timberlake attorney Michael Del Piano, "would cause severe and irreparable harm to petitioner's personal and professional reputation, subject petitioner to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest in understanding the operations of government. Disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion of petitioner’s personal privacy."Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Jed Painter, general counsel to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, weighed in on the dispute, asking Farneti to uphold a 2024 protective order issued in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court that prevented the public release of any footage from Timberlake's arrest.“Our interest is limited to the important institutional and public policy considerations implicated by the potential erosion of judicial protective orders,” Painter said. “We take no position on the privacy interests asserted by the petitioner. Rather, we focus upon the order underlying the criminal case that is presently before the court, and which has never been rescinded.”The eight hours of footage, attorneys said, contain the initial traffic stop, the officer's questioning of Timberlake, field sobriety tests and the pop star's subsequent arrest.On Sept. 13, 2024, Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace sentenced Timberlake to 25 hours of community service for the nonprofit of his choice and ordered him to pay a $500 fine, along with a $260 surcharge. Irace also ordered him to issue a public safety announcement.***Graduating high school students who live in the Southampton or Tuckahoe school district are invited to apply for the 2026 Milton Enstine Memorial Library Scholarship. Applicants are asked to submit an essay describing the Rogers Memorial Library of the future. The writer is expected to address the role of the Rogers Memorial Library not only generally, but also specifically in his or her own life.Over the years, students have received scholarships ranging from $500 to $2,000 each. Funding for the scholarships comes from corporate and private donors in the community, the Friends of Rogers Memorial Library, and the Rogers Memorial Library Foundation.Application deadline is March 13.For more information and an application, students at Southampton High School should contact the school’s Counseling Office at 631-591-4610.Students graduating from other public or private high schools may come into the Library’s Administration Office or download an application here. If you require any further information, you may contact R.M.L. at 631-283-0774 ext. 500.***Billionaire Stefan Soloviev has proposed a 148-acre conservation subdivision along Oregon Road in Mattituck and Cutchogue.Nicole Wagner reports in THE SUFFOLK TIMES that he’s the latest deep-pocketed land owner looking to change the North Fork landscape.The project, filed by Soloviev-owned Crossroads Atlantic LLC on Feb. 27 under the title “Cole Harbor Conservation Subdivision,” would add 13 beachfront homes along the Long Island Sound while preserving 87 acres of farmland.The proposal comes on the heels of another Soloviev bid — the 372-acre “Colusa Conservation Subdivision” across Cutchogue and Peconic that would create 47 new residential lots — along with last month’s record-setting $23.5 million sale of shoreline property in East Marion to Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, the priciest land deal in North Fork history.The latest Soloviev plans include 13 beachfront residential lots along the Long Island Sound ranging from 0.83 acres to 3.17 acres, one 87-acre conservation lot and one 0.42-acre beach access lot, according to planning documents. A road would extend northwest from Oregon Road through the conservation lot to serve the residential lots at the shore line.Roughly 124 acres of the property are already used for agricultural purposes, according to planning documents. There are no moderate income family dwellings proposed in the application. The Soloviev Group has also proposed a separate 372-acre conservation subdivision across Cutchogue and Peconic that would create 47 new residential lots while preserving 267 acres of surrounding farmland.The Cole Harbor plans have been in the works since April 30, 2025, when developers met with the Planning Board for a presubmission conference and Land Preservation Committee. Conservation subdivisions, which preserve a majority of acreage while allowing development on a portion of the land, were codified by the Southold Town Board in 2006 with the goal of preserving agricultural lands while protecting landowners’ equity.Crossroads Atlantic LLC, founded in 1999, operates on 400,000 acres producing crops across Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas and New York. As of September 2019, Mr. Soloviev owned more than 1,100 acres of land on the North Fork.A separate $23.5 million, 103-acre land sale along the Long Island Sound shore in East Marion — including 69 acres of land protected by Peconic Land Trust easements — was recently finalized by Marc Rowan, who has an estimated net worth of more than $10 billion. Plans for the East Marion land have not been publicized.***Suffolk County's leadership has said repeatedly that police are not cooperating with federal immigration agents who are carrying out the Trump administration's deportation campaign.So, the sight of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in three Suffolk County Police Department precincts in recent months has triggered an outcry in the Latino community, even as the department seeks to reassure them its policy has not changed.Bart Jones and Michael O'Keeffe report in NEWSDAY that the issue came to a head on Sunday when activists filmed at least a dozen ICE agents in the parking lot of the 2nd Precinct in Huntington. It was the third time in three months they have seen ICE there, they said. The ICE vehicles were spotted seven months after the federal government ended a consent decree aimed at improving the department's ties with the Latino community and after police officials say they have made efforts to reach out. Now the dep...
Transcribe →Major traffic on South Fork caused by fatal crash on County Rd 39
Mar 500:10:04Tap to summarizeCounty Road 39 was closed in both directions between Shrubland Road and Tuckahoe Road in Southampton yesterday afternoon and evening for about 4 hours due to a fatal multiple-vehicle accident that occurred shortly before 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, just as the afternoon rush hour was beginning.As reported on 27east.com, Southampton Town Police said that the accident was caused when the delivery truck driver who was killed in the collision strayed from the eastbound lane of travel and sideswiped three westbound vehicles before striking a fourth vehicle head-on.Three people from the other vehicles involved were taken to Stony Brook Southampton by ambulances from the Southampton Volunteer Ambulance for treatment of minor injuries.The accident left debris and construction equipment strewn across the roadway, police said, and required a detailed investigation to determine the sequence of the incident.The Southampton Fire Department’s heavy rescue unit was called in to extricate the body of the deceased driver from the vehicle. The body has been turned over to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office for examination.Southampton Town Police have identified the man killed in yesterday’s crash as Anasser Almontaser, age 33, of Staten Island. They had previously said that he was driving a 2014 GMC commercial van and was heading east into Southampton when the crash occurred.Conty Road 39 was reopened at about 7:30 last night but the lagging traffic backups were still leading to long lines of traffic in much of downtown Southampton Village as late as 9 p.m.***A Southampton flight instructor crash-landed a small plane that experienced engine trouble into the Hudson River in total darkness on Monday night near New Windsor in upstate New York — a feat that other experienced pilots said was a masterful display of flying skill. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that New York State Police say that two people were aboard the plane when it crashed: the pilot, Liam D’arcy, 31, and a 17-year-old flight student whom they did not identify.FAA records indicate that the plane, a single-engined 1978 Cessna 172, is owned by American Airman Inc., which operates a flight school based at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma.D’Arcy is also a lifeguard who worked for many years at Gurney’s Montauk Resort.The plane had taken off from MacArthur shortly before 7 p.m. Monday and flown north to New York Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, where it landed briefly and then took off again, according to the flight tracking app Flight Aware.After heading southeast again back toward Long Island for a short period the plane did an about-face and headed back toward Stewart Airport.State Police said the pilot reported experiencing engine trouble.A local pilot who is familiar with the incident said that the engine lost oil pressure and started to stall. The plane was only at an altitude of 2,500 feet and the pilot realized the plane was not going to be able to glide back to the airport and deliberately turned back out over the river where it would be safer to make a crash-landing.“This is where he displayed amazing aeronautical decision-making — he knew continuing toward the airport was a bad idea because it was too far away … and between him and the airport was just residential homes and dense forested hills,” said Kathryn Slye, a veteran pilot from East Hampton who knows D’arcy from East Hampton Airport.“He was talking to Stewart tower [air traffic control] who did an excellent job giving him all the right information and coordinating how best to rescue him — including reminding him of the Newburgh Bridge, which Liam saw and turned back away from.”Another pilot who said he knows D’Arcy from flying out of East Hampton Airport in recent years said that he’d found him to be knowledgeable and professional around aircraft.“He always struck me as a good, responsible pilot and a great instructor. He is just generally a smart guy,” the pilot, who asked not to be named, said. “You can tell from this he remained calm under difficult circumstances. That had to be scary, just incredibly stressful, to say the least, but it seems he kept his cool. I’m glad they both came out of it okay.”***The East End Food Hub, at the site of the former Homeside Florist on the busy corner of Route 25 and Route 105 in Riverhead, is reopening its doors to the public this weekend for a pop-up fair connecting residents with farmers that offer Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions. The fair begins a series of upcoming public events at the site, including the return of the East End Food Market on March 21.Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the CSA Fair this coming Saturday, March 7, will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the intersection of Route 25 and Route 105 in Riverhead. It’s a chance for “families to meet local farmers offering up shares of seasonal produce, chat with local farmers and find the right fit to enjoy the best of the East End harvest all season long,” according to an announcement from East End Food.CSAs are subscription services in which members sign up and pay at the beginning of a growing season for a share of the farmer’s harvest throughout the year. Since the late 1980s, these types of farm businesses have provided farmers with much-needed seed capital at the beginning of a growing season, and provided consumers with a stake in the farmer’s success.The Food Hub is also organizing several upcoming events in partnership with Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, which “will focus on learning opportunities to support the region’s farming community.Several evening educational sessions this spring will focus on tax preparation for farmers. A full listing of events is at eastendfood.org/calendar.***Riverhead Town officials are ready for a fresh start at Enterprise Park at Calverton after a NYS Supreme Court justice threw out all but one claim a venture aerospace company alleged against the town in a lawsuit over the canceled $40 million sale of the property.In the Feb. 27 ruling, Justice David Reilly dismissed 16 of 17 claims in the complaint filed by Calverton Aviation & Technology, which sought to transform the 1,643-acre site into a high-tech aviation and industrial hub.Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the decision dismantles the company's effort to force Riverhead to close the deal and clears the town of allegations of breaching contracts, fraud and other claims. But litigation will continue as Reilly's ruling clears the path for a trial on a surviving claim of tortious interference.Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin called the decision a “win” for residents and said he wants to explore ideas big and small for the site.“It’s an opportunity to create a brighter future,” Halpin told NEWSDAY. “It’s time to get busy and start putting that property to work for the taxpayers.”Ronald Rossi, a Manhattan attorney representing Calverton Aviation & Technology, said CAT plans to proceed to trial on that tort claim and appeal the dismissals.A notice of a pending lawsuit remains in place on the EPCAL site, limiting Riverhead Town’s options for the property until the legal issues are resolved.But local lawmakers and residents are envisioning the future of the site, where Grumman once built F-14 jets. After the plant closed, in 1998 the U.S. Navy sold the property to Riverhead for $1, intending it be used for economic development to offset 4,000 lost jobs and tax revenue.John McAuliff, coordinator of the community group EPCAL Watch, said the Town of Riverhead should conduct a "serious investigation” into the best long-term uses based on resident feedback and development specialists.***Gas prices on Long Island jumped 10 cents overnight Wednesday, with the average price of regular gasoline across Nassau and Suffolk counties hitting $3 a gallon, and industry experts warning of the war in Iran's potential to drive up consumer costs at the pump and beyond.Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that a gallon of regular gasoline on Long Island was $2.90 on Tuesday, an increase of roughly 3 cents from Monday, according to AAA’s online fuel price tracker.The ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which started Saturday has driven up crude oil prices and severely impacted oil refinery operations in the Middle East, AAA Northeast said yesterday.Long Island gas prices are up 14 cents from a week ago, the roadside assistance nonprofit said.Nationally, gas prices jumped 9 cents from Tuesday into Wednesday and were up to $3.19 a gallon, 22 cents higher than they were last week.Crude oil prices were $75.67 a barrel in late-day trading Wednesday. By comparison, prices per barrel were about $65 last week before the war began, Robert Sinclair Jr., senior manager of public affairs at AAA Northeast, told Newsday."Long Island is catching up with other markets," Sinclair said, adding that Nassau and Suffolk counties have traditionally enjoyed a lower price at the pump due to efficiencies in gas distribution. Although gasoline pricing on the south fork of Long Island is usually higher than the national average...especially east of Southampton Village. "Retailers are coming to the obvious conclusion that this is something that is going to affect everybody," he said.Reaching $3 a gallon marks a significant "pain point" for many drivers, particularly for lower income families, he added.According to a national 2022 survey, 40% of respondents said $3 or more per gallon would be the po...
Transcribe →Bridgehampton residents push back against proposed horse farm
Mar 400:10:13Tap to summarizeResidents of Bridgehampton last week assailed a proposal before the Southampton Town Planning Board to create a new horse farm with more than 70,000 square feet of structures, including three four-bedroom houses, on a swath of open land that Southampton Town bought the development rights to more than two decades ago. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that neighbors said that the developer’s representatives are misrepresenting the allowances of covenants placed on the Lumber Lane property when it was made an agricultural reserve area in 2001; are stretching the legal definitions that allow horse farms to be considered agricultural uses; and are being disingenuous about the scope of the project’s impacts on the land to avoid a more in-depth environmental assessment.But the developer’s attorney said that the 2002 preservation deal allowed for the property to be used for equestrian purposes, which carries with it the implicit right to build related equestrian structures and, by extension through NYS agriculture law, housing for agriculture employees.The property is expected to employ as many as 15 people, attorney Wayne Bruyn told members of the Southampton Town Planning Board at a public hearing on the application last Thursday, nodding to the housing shortage for low- and middle-income workers in the region.The project’s would-be developer is Gabi Morris, the equestrian enthusiast daughter of a New Jersey housing developer, who has an agreement to purchase the land from the current owner, Steven Klein.The opposition to the project is being led by a new citizens group formed by neighbors of the Klein property, the Bridgehampton Conservation Alliance, which itself has lined up a team of attorneys to attack the legal details of the proposal.Members of the Bridgehampton Civic Association, a residents’ group, urged the Planning Board to stand up for the spirit of the preservation agreements and not let the threat of legal fights sway them.The Southampton Town Planning Board said it would hold the public hearing open for another opportunity for residents to speak on the application before proceeding with its technical review.***A former Sag Harbor PTA official accused of stealing more than $10,000 from the organization was charged with third-degree grand larceny on Tuesday, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said. Michael O'Keeffe reports in NEWSDAY that Hope Livingston, 50, surrendered to the district attorney’s office yesterday and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment before Riverhead Town Justice Sean M. Walter later Tuesday.D.A. Tierney said in a statement, "The allegations in this case represent an egregious betrayal of the trust the residents of Sag Harbor placed in this defendant, and my office will continue to hold accountable those individuals who unlawfully enrich themselves at the public’s expense."Justice Walter ordered Livingston released without bail. Under New York State law, prosecutors cannot ask a judge to set bail for third-degree grand larceny, Tierney said.Livingston was represented at the arraignment by the Legal Aid Society.Livingston served as the co-treasurer of the Sag Harbor Elementary School PTA from July 2021 to June 2022, Tierney said. She served as vice president from July 2022 through June 2024. She had access at that time to a debit card for the PTA’s bank account, which she was only to use for PTA-related purchases.When the PTA bank account was turned over to new board members in September 2024, officials learned Livingston had used PTA funds for personal expenses, including purchases from Costco, Amazon, Target, Lululemon and Sag Harbor businesses, according to the statement. The D.A.’s office said Livingston also withdrew, and stole, cash.The investigation was conducted by the district attorney’s Public Corruption Squad with assistance from Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Matthew Matz.***In celebration of Women’s History Month, the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & North Fork invites LWV members, prospective members and interested residents of the Shelter Island and North Fork communities to a program titled “LWV: History, Mission and Future” this Thursday…that’s tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m. at Peconic Landing in Greenport.Held in the Peconic Landing auditorium, at 1500 Brecknock Road in Greenport, tomorrow’s event offers an opportunity to explore the rich, over 100-year legacy of the League and discover how to become an active participant in democracy.As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, the League welcomes people with diverse perspectives and ideas to attend, for an evening of education and civic engagement, complemented by light refreshments.“LWV: History, Mission and Future” is tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m. at Peconic Landing in Greenport.For information about the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & North Fork, visit its website at lwvhsinf.org ***The village of Sag Harbor, N.Y., said yesterday that it would delay releasing footage of the singer Justin Timberlake’s 2024 drunk-driving arrest after he sued to prevent making the footage public. Ashley Southall reports in THE NY TIMES that law enforcement had planned on Tuesday to release eight hours of footage from a camera worn by officers showing Mr. Timberlake’s arrest on June 18, 2024, in Sag Harbor. Mr. Timberlake filed a lawsuit before that release, arguing through his lawyers that releasing the footage was an unwarranted invasion of privacy that would only serve to humiliate him.“The harm from public exposure — stigma, harassment, reputational injury, and the permanent loss of privacy — is immediate and irreparable,” his lawyers said.According to the lawsuit, the police department in Sag Harbor told Mr. Timberlake’s defense lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., on Sunday that it planned to release the video of his arrest with appropriate redactions in response to a public-records request filed around the time of the incident. Mr. Burke objected in writing, but police officials said they were going to release it anyway. Mr. Timberlake sought an emergency order against the police department to halt the release in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County. However, the judge handling the case did not act on the request during a court meeting on Monday, according to lawyers for Sag Harbor.However, the Law Office of Vincent Toomey, which represents Sag Harbor Village, said the disclosure of the video was on hold while officials tried to work out a resolution with Mr. Timberlake and his lawyers.The singer pleaded guilty in September 2024 to a low-level charge of driving while impaired, avoiding a more serious charge. He agreed to pay a $500 fine and serve 25 hours of community service at a charity of his choosing.Officials did not indicate how much of the footage they planned to release, nor did they state what portions would be redacted.Brendan J. O’ Reilly, the digital editor of The Express News Group, one of many media organizations who requested the video, wrote on 27east.com that the police were scheduled to release it last Friday. However, at the last minute, officials delayed the disclosure citing “technical difficulties.”It was the second time that officials had agreed to release the footage, only for Mr. Timberlake’s lawyers to intervene, he said.Mr. O’Reilly, in a statement, said the footage should be made public “so that the public can assess whether police handled the traffic stop and investigation appropriately. This latest delay tactic further obstructs the public’s right to know.”***Peconic Bay Community Housing Funds, funding programs for affordable housing in four of the five East End Towns, have taken in $79.1 million between April of 2023 and the end of 2025, reported New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni yesterday. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the programs, known locally as CHF, can be used for land acquisition, affordable and workforce housing developments, loan and grant programs for accessory dwelling units and first time homebuyers, in addition to other housing-related purposes spelled out by Community Housing Plans in each of the towns.The CHF programs, administered separately in each of the four towns, are funded by a .5 percent real estate transfer tax paid by buyers of property.This funding mechanism is similar to the Community Preservation Fund, a 2 percent real estate transfer tax that has generated more than $2.5 billion for land preservation on the East End since its inception in 1999.Community Housing Funds are in place in East Hampton, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold towns, and like the Community Preservation Fund, significantly more money is collected in the towns with the most land and highest property values and frequency of real estate transactions.Southampton Town has taken in the greatest amount of Community Housing Fund revenue since the program began to be funded in April of 2023 — nearly $45.7 million. East Hampton Town took in nearly $25.2 million in that time period, while Southold took in a total of just over $6.7 million and Shelter Island took in just over $1.5 million, according to Mr. Schiavoni.“The Community Housing Fund is necessary to address the severe housing shortage that we face here on Eastern Long Island,” said Mr. Schiavoni of Sag Harbor. “I can’t emphasize enough that this housing is for our children. The people who are going to be living in these places are going to be, by and large, the people who already live here, people who have grown up here or who work here. We need all of them to be here.”Mr. Schiavoni added that local funding, like that created b...
Transcribe →Justin Timberlake files suit against Village of Sag Harbor
Mar 300:10:01Tap to summarizeOfficer patrols, police dogs, drones and a helicopter are being deployed as security precautions in Nassau County to avoid potential local retaliation over the United States' and Israel's ongoing bombing of Iran. Matthew Chayes and Maureen Mullarkey report in NEWSDAY that local measures are focused on houses of worship, popular gathering spots, and places of mass gatherings, particularly last night at Jewish institutions celebrating the holiday of Purim, as well as at mosques and Islamic schools, according to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who spoke at a news conference yesterday about the county's security efforts."People sometimes lash out in different ways that's not anticipated," Blakeman said. "Whether it's Christian, Muslim or Jewish, Sikh, whatever, we will be out doing stops at all of those institutions to make sure that we have a presence and that we keep them informed."As is typical when an international conflict could reverberate locally, authorities across Long Island, New York City and beyond said they have stepped-up security to deter, detect, and combat terrorism and other violence.There are no known credible local threats, officials have said.Michael Martino, a spokesperson for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, cited a statement over the weekend from Romaine and the county’s police force that patrols were being stepped up at government buildings, "critical infrastructure" and religious institutions.In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the NYPD and other agencies were "taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution."Stepping up patrols and putting into place other counterterrorism measures involves hundreds and potentially thousands of police officers, according to John Miller, the police department's former deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism who as a journalist once interviewed Osama bin Laden. Miller noted that there are finite resources, and ordinary policing doesn't stop."That also means there’s a city of eight and a half million people that still needs policing. People will still call 911, there will still be emergencies, there will still be nonemergencies where people expect a response," he said. "And that’s the kind of thing where, when you start to scrape the bottom of your personnel numbers you just have to account with overtime."***A single-engine plane that took off from Long Island MacArthur Airport last night with two people on board later crashed in the Hudson River north of upstate New Windsor, according to a spokesperson for the Town of Islip. The pilot of the Cessna 172 and a passenger survived the crash with injuries not considered life-threatening, said Caroline Smith, the town spokesperson, in an email to Newsday. Islip Town owns MacArthur Airport.Zoe Hussain reports in THE NY POST that data from Flightradar24 showed that the privately owned plane left from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma around 6:55 p.m. Monday and crashed into the major waterway about an hour later. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the safe rescue of the two people “another miracle on the Hudson,” in a post on X last night. “Thank God both the pilot and passenger of a single-engine plane that performed an ice landing near Newburgh have been located with only minor injuries,” she wrote. New York Rep. Pat Ryan also posted on X that his office has been closely monitoring reports of the crash. “I’m in touch with officials on the ground, who have shared that both passengers are safely out of the water & have been evacuated by EMS,” he said.New York State Police from Troop F, headquartered in upstate Middletown, responded to the crash. Trooper Jennifer Alvarez told NEWSDAY, "We are still investigating, and more information will be released as it becomes available."***The Greenport Civic Association celebrates its first anniversary with its First Annual Membership Meeting this evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 768 Main Street, Greenport. Guest speakers will be Southold Town Board member Alexa Suess and Southold Town Trustee Liz Gillooly, both of whom are Greenport residents. Greenport School Superintendent Beth Doyle will also join the conversation.“The Greenport Civic Association connects residents to discuss and address pressing local issues. Our initiatives emphasize inclusivity, education and advocacy.”Tonight’s Greenport Civic Association forum starts at 6 p.m. in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 768 Main Street, Greenport, N.Y. 11944Further info available online here.***Interview rooms with handcuff bars, holding cells and weapon storage areas are among the extensive renovations proposed to turn Internal Revenue Service office space in Holtsville into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing and detention center, according to architectural drawings submitted to the Town of Brookhaven. Sandra Peddie reports in NEWSDAY that Brookhaven Town officials, who said they weren't aware of the plans' extent until Newsday contacted them, said yesterday they are rejecting the plans because holding cells are illegal under the town code for buildings zoned for office use."It’s not a permitted use," Town Attorney Annette Eaderesto said. "That’s not an office."The Town of Brookhaven’s decision does not stop the project, however. Eaderesto said the applicant must now try to secure a zone change or use variance for the Barretts Avenue property, which is privately owned and leased to the federal government. Both requests would require public hearings. Attorney Keith Archer, of Melville, who represents the applicant, 5000 Corporate Holdings DE LLC, did not respond to calls or an email from NEWSDAY.The Town of Brookhaven’s rejection appears to be the first time a local municipality has exercised oversight of an ICE expansion plan on Long Island. The Holtsville proposal needs town approval because the U.S. government doesn't own the property.“If the federal government was to buy this property, the town would have no say,” according to Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico.Coming just weeks after ICE leased space in Woodbury for 40 attorneys, the plans further signal ICE’s efforts to grow Long Island operations, immigration advocates say."The expansion of ICE operations is a valid fear," said Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island, a nonprofit Latino advocacy group.Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), who represents Holtsville and chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement he'd been in touch with ICE and "there are currently no plans" for a Holtsville detention center. His office didn't respond to NEWSDAY requests for clarification, given the town's confirmation of the submitted plans.The proposed ICE facility would be located in the same building that also houses U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes applications for legal immigration. ICE agents have arrested people showing up to the building for routine appointments before moving them to cells inside the federal courthouse in Central Islip.Suffolk County spokesman Michael Martino said in a statement: "Suffolk County is not involved in any decision related to ICE."Suffolk does not have an ICE cooperation agreement, and the county sheriff does not honor ICE administration warrants or detain individuals for ICE. Suffolk County is still in litigation over a $112 million lawsuit regarding the jailing of immigrants, sheriff's office spokeswoman Vicki DiStefano said in a statement.***Justin Timberlake has filed suit against the Village of Sag Harbor, its police department and police chief to prevent the release of body camera footage from the pop star's 2024 drunken-driving arrest, with the actor and musician arguing it would "devastate" his privacy, according to newly released court filings. Robert Brodsky reports in NEWSDAY that Timberlake and his attorneys are seeking a temporary restraining order from a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge to block the release of the footage, captured by police during his traffic stop and arrest on June 18, 2024, as part of a Freedom of Information Law request by members of the media, according to the March 2 court filing.The footage depicts Timberlake "in an acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement, capturing intimate details of petitioner’s physical appearance, demeanor, speech, and conduct during field sobriety testing, the subsequent arrest, and petitioner’s confinement following arrest over the next several hours," the filing states.Release of this footage, according to Timberlake attorney Michael Del Piano, "would cause severe and irreparable harm to petitioner's personal and professional reputation, subject petitioner to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest in understanding the operations of government. Disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion of petitioner’s personal privacy."Timberlake pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired by alcohol, a noncriminal lesser charge, and was sentenced to 25 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $500 fine.On Sunday, Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke Jr., wrote to Sag Harbor Police Chief Robert Drake asking him not to fulfill the FOIL request on the basis that it would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.On Monday, Sag Harbor village special counsel Vi...
Transcribe →Archaeology at Sylvester Manor reshaping understanding of slavery
Mar 200:10:05Tap to summarizeWhen Long Island school officials learned they would not have to make up for missing class last Monday — after a historic blizzard dropped about 2 feet of snow on the region — some breathed a sigh of relief. Lorena Mongelli reports in NEWSDAY that it meant meticulously planned school calendars could remain intact. Even districts that had depleted their limited snow days would not need to scramble to meet the state's required 180 days of instruction — which could result in a loss of state aid if they fell short. It was "a welcomed decision because safety of our students and staff is paramount first, and no district wants to be in a position of making a decision about instructional days and the potential of losing state aid,” said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. This winter's severe weather — which has included two major snowstorms in as many months — highlights the challenges educators face as they develop their school calendars for the year. School administrators must balance contractual obligations, an increasing number of religious and cultural holidays and constraints imposed by the state. Some districts have responded by limiting the number of snow days built into their calendars. With recent winters being on the milder side, this has not been an issue. But this year's snowstorms have forced some school officials on Long Island to choose between canceling classes now and taking back vacation days later in the year, or offering virtual learning, which has had mixed reactions from parents.School districts in New York State must have 180 instructional days in their calendar every year. Educators said the year cannot extend past the last Regents exam at the end of June and often does not begin prior to Sept. 1, because state aid does not kick in until then.Some districts have added new holidays to their calendars in recent years, including Diwali, Eid al-Adha and Lunar New Year, which was designated an official public school holiday in 2023. “Some people think a school calendar is an easy thing to navigate but between mandated holidays, traditional breaks, it gets very difficult,” Vecchio said.***A State Supreme Court justice has dismissed all but one of Calverton Aviation & Technology’s claims in its lawsuit against the Town of Riverhead, the Riverhead Community Development Agency and the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency over the planned sale of 1,643 acres at the Calverton Enterprise Park. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that in a 19-page decision and order filed late Friday afternoon, Justice David Reilly granted the town’s motion to dismiss 16 of the 17 causes of action in CAT’s complaint. But the judge let one claim proceed: CAT’s claim against the town for tortious interference with contractual relations.On Saturday, Supervisor Jerry Halpin said, “This is a WIN for the Riverhead taxpayers. The 1,643-acre EPCAL property belongs to the taxpayers and is literally our most valuable real estate asset. I look forward to exploring all ideas — big and small — and hearing from taxpayers about what they think would be the best fit for the future of EPCAL. I also want to thank our Town Attorney’s office, who under the leadership of Erik Howard, successfully navigated the Town through this case,” he said.Friday’s decision came 15 months after attorneys for both the town and CAT argued the town’s motion to dismiss before Justice Reilly on Nov. 21, 2024 and more than two years after CAT first filed its complaint.***The 2026 “I BIRD NY” challenge began yesterday. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s annual “I BIRD NY Challenge” asks birders of all ages and experience levels to identify 10 wild bird species anywhere in New York State.As posted on Riverheadlocal.com, the 2026 challenge runs from March 1 through Nov. 1, with entries due to DEC by Nov. 18. Participants who complete the challenge receive a commemorative patch and a completion certificate and are entered into a prize drawing, DEC said. Two youth and two adult winners will be selected, with an extra prize entry available for those who submit a photo documenting their challenge experience.To complete the challenge, participants identify any 10 wild bird species and submit a challenge sheet to DEC. The agency said more than 1,600 birders completed the challenge in 2025.Challenge sheets can be submitted online via SurveyMonkey or sent by email or mail, according to DEC. Entry forms are available in several languages un addition to English, including Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French and Urdu. The program as a low-cost or no-cost way to get outside and connect with nature, the DEC said. Many birds can be identified without specialized gear, though binoculars can help, the agency said. New York’s range of habitats supports more than 450 bird species throughout the year.For people looking for places to go, DEC points birders to the New York State Birding Trail, a statewide network of birding locations across multiple regions. ***Long Island and other key New York congressional representatives Saturday were divided along party lines over the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran and President Donald Trump’s call for the Iranian public to seize control over their Islamic leadership.Billy House reports in NEWSDAY that Republicans rallied behind Trump and his “Operation Epic Fury,” while Democrats were largely critical of his unilateral action without first making a case to the American people or obtaining approval from Congress, a route some branded as unconstitutional.Here in Suffolk County, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said he supported the action as “a necessary step to defend American lives and interests and to confront a regime that has long funded the killing of Americans from Beirut in 1983 to more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Congressman LaLota...who represents the east end... said the operations are geared to holding Tehran accountable “for its decades of destabilizing conduct and attacks on U.S. forces,” to make clear that America will not tolerate a nuclear-armed theocracy and to empower the Iranian people “by creating conditions for them to reclaim their destiny and build a future rooted in liberty and engagement with the world.”Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said, “America stands with our military. America stands with Israel.” He added: “The Iranian regime is the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism and has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans.”Garbarino noted the congressional standoff over a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that has frozen some of that agency’s operations in a fight over immigration enforcement tactics. “As we face a heightened threat landscape” amid hostilities with Iran, Garbarino said “it is more important now than ever” the department gets its funding and operates at “maximum readiness.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate — which was away from Washington during the weekend — should quickly return to session “and reassert its constitutional duty by passing our resolution to enforce the War Powers Act.” He is referring to a separate bipartisan resolution to block Trump from the use of U.S. military forces against Iran without congressional authorization.“Iran must never be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon, but the American people do not want another endless and costly war in the Middle East when there are so many problems at home,” Schumer said.New York’s junior senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, said no one disputes that the Iranian regime is a “brutal dictatorship” or that it is a destabilizing threat to the United States and its allies. But she said “no one should be comfortable with Congress giving President Donald Trump a blank check for war at taxpayers’ expense.”“Congress should return to session immediately to vote on a war powers resolution,” Gillibrand added. “The president lacks the constitutional authority — and in my opinion, the temperament and judgment — to act in such a reckless fashion."***This winter's severe weather left many schools without traditional snow days, forcing them to go to virtual instruction or risk falling short of the state's instructional minimum mandate. Failing to meet the state's 180-day instructional requirement could mean losing a portion of state aid that school districts said is vital. School officials said developing academic calendars, including incorporating snow days plus meeting other obligations, is challenging. Lorena Mongelli reports in NEWSDAY that Hampton Bays schools Superintendent Lars Clemensen…who recently served as President of the New York State Council of School Superintendents…said administrators need to respect the religious and cultural customs of students and their families. “While we're looking for regional consistency...we also acknowledge holidays and recognize them, particularly when there's significant areas in the community who are represented by that cultural religion," he said.Clemensen said his district built in two snow days this school year. Officials there are saving one, in case unforeseen circumstances arise. "Emergency days are not just for snow. If a pipe burst or something else unexpected happened and we had to close school, that's what those days are for," he said.Schools are also bound by employee contracts, which can include how many days staffers must work.Failing to meet the 180-day instructional requirement can have serious consequences for a district. For every day lost, districts risk losing a ...
Transcribe →Vigils for Justice to be held tonight at 6pm
Feb 2700:10:05Tap to summarizeSchool districts across New York State and Long Island could see some relief in the state budget as legislative leaders discuss ways to help schools that are struggling to make the transition to emission-free buses by a 2035 deadline. Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that State lawmakers in 2022 passed a law requiring new buses sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2027 and all buses on the road to be zero-emission by 2035 in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change. Zero-emission buses can include battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses. Much has since changed since then, with rising costs from federal tariffs, delays to some of the state’s clean energy projects by the Trump Administration and cuts to federal aid promised under the Biden Administration that would have helped pay for buses and charging stations."We have to deal in the reality," Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, told Newsday. "We’re flexible because we understand the world has changed with this administration." "We’re talking about how to manage this, yes," Hochul said, when asked if help for districts would be discussed as she and state legislative leaders negotiate the state’s $260 billion budget. The budget is due by April 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year.The discussion comes after Hochul last year delayed a state mandate requiring new buildings to be "all-electric." She is now reportedly eyeing changes to the state’s climate law, citing the need for affordability.And all 213 legislative seats and the governor’s seat are up for election in November, increasing political pressure to deliver for constituents. Lawmakers could also opt to do nothing on controversial items, saving them for a nonelection year.School leaders and education advocates say funding would help with the cost of buses and charging infrastructure. But for some districts, money won’t fix the problem as they face a slew of different challenges including concerns over battery life on long routes and power grid capacity. Education leaders and advocates say lawmakers should push back the 2035 deadline or rethink the mandate."We’re not at a point right now where that’s realistic or possible for way too many districts," Brian Fessler, chief advocacy officer for the New York State School Boards Association said. "Districts are hoping something is going to be done because they can’t move forward."Environmental advocates say the state should stay the course."We really need to move forward on this policy to make sure that kids and bus drivers and communities are safe and healthy getting to school," Liz Moran, New York policy advocate for Earthjustice, told Newsday. Exposure to toxic diesel bus fumes can lead to a host of health problems including childhood asthma, she said.***Riverhead Town officials are sounding the alarm about an email phishing scam targeting local residents. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that scammers are emailing residents who’ve had some interaction with the town planning or zoning board, bogusly copying official Riverhead Town correspondence, and advising recipients that they must wire funds to the sender to cover fees associated with their application. The fake documents bear the Town of Riverhead’s official seal and are accompanied by an email message that purports to be from a town official. Scammers appear to be targeting individuals who have pending applications before the planning or zoning board, perhaps scraping information that appears on board agendas and application documents posted on the town’s website, officials said. At least one individual received an email message purporting to be from Zoning Board of Appeals Chairperson Otto Wittmeier, with attachments including an invoice for $4,000 and an “itemized breakdown of application approval fee,” detailing the services for which the fees are being charged. The Town of Riverhead does not use wire transfers to collect fees of any kind from applicants, Riverhead Senior Planner Matt Charters said during a Town Board works session discussion yesterday. “We’re never going to ask you for a wire transfer for anything like that,” Charters said. “If you get a suspicious email for a planning department application, always call [the planning department],” Charters said. The department’s number is 631-727-3200 ext. 240, he said. Always carefully check sender's email address: townofriverheadny.gov is the town's only legit email.Similar scams are also being reported in the Town of Southold. ***A Southampton resident and ironworker attended the 2026 State of the Union address on Tuesday night as a personal guest of U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that Aleshandra Fernandes is a member of the Local 361 ironworkers' union, which represents ironworks from New York City to Montauk. She has worked on the South Fork Wind project led by Ørsted, where she spent weeks at sea working on the turbines.Fernandes grew up in Southampton where her father was a contractor, and she would spend time on job sites with him. Years later, while attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, she took a renewed interest in construction and ironworking.In a press release, Schumer…the senate minority leader…called out President Trump for his administration's attacks on offshore wind projects.“Dedicated union workers like Aleshandra have been faced with extreme job uncertainty as Trump has ramped up his attacks on offshore wind projects,” he wrote. “His repeated attempts to halt fully permitted, under-construction offshore wind projects risks permanent harm, including increasing electricity costs for families, job elimination, and weakened electric grid reliability in New York and across the country.”***Vigils for Justice in the wake of ICE raids conducted without warrants will be held this evening at 6 p.m. at East Hampton Town Hall, Sag Harbor, Quogue, and Westhampton Beach Village Halls, Southampton, East Hampton and Riverhead Town Halls, the Shelter Island Legion Hall and Greenport’s Mitchell Park. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that an ICE Out protest party with community, coffee, donuts and a march will be held tomorrow at Riverhead Town Hall from Noon to 2 p.m.Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats in the state Legislature agree that they want to limit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to partner with local law enforcement.The question is how far the state will go to achieve that goal.Steve Hughes reports in NEWSDAY that Governor Hochul has proposed a three-year ban on local cooperation agreements with ICE, while the legislature is advancing a bill that would permanently bar the agreements. And on the periphery is a third bill, NY For All, that would offer even more protections for undocumented immigrants.While they might not agree on the details, it’s clear that Democrats who control both legislative houses in Albany are poised to act this year on an issue that has exploded since President Donald Trump ordered a crackdown on immigrants. Hochul has latched on to immigration as a useful cudgel in the governor's race against her Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.Nassau County is one of nine counties in the state with a cooperation agreement with ICE, and Blakeman has been largely supportive of the search for immigrants who have committed crimes after entering and / or remaining in the U.S. illegally. ***Jeremy Allen, the East Quogue man who was convicted last month of first-degree murder for the 2024 hacking death of a “friend” in his backyard, has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. As reported on 27east.com, Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei issued the life sentence in a Riverside courtroom yesterday.Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney applauded the state’s harshest sentence being rendered for the conviction of its most serious, and relatively rarely applied, criminal charge.“Christopher Hahn deserved better than to have his life violently taken by someone he once trusted,” Tierney said of the Hampton Bays man who Allen beat with a baseball bat repeatedly over several hours and left to die on his home’s deck in September 2024. “For torture such as occurred here, a life sentence without parole is the only appropriate sentence,” stated the D.A.Allen and Hahn, 43, had been friends since high school and had spent the day of September 28, 2024, drinking at local watering holes before returning to Allen’s house on Oakville Avenue in East Quogue shortly before midnight.At trial in January prosecutors used security camera footage from Allen’s house to illustrate the case to the jury the depravity of Allen’s assault on Hahn.After completing his hours long killing, Allen called a handyman he knew to come clean the house, which had been splattered with blood by the initial beating. Upon arrival at the bloody scene, the handyman fled and called police, who arrested Allen at his home.***The Village of Greenport announced yesterday that it has been awarded a $25,000 grant from New York State Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation to involve the community in its plan to expand Greenport’s historic district on New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that if successful, the nomination would expand the boundaries of Greenport’s historic district, which now contains around 290 buildings, by about 225 buildings, at the state and national level, according to Greenport Village.Properties listed on the State and Nationa...
Transcribe →Recent blizzard makes history as one of top 3 biggest snowstorms to hit the East End
Feb 2600:10:17Tap to summarizeThe Blizzard of '26 which buried the South Fork under as much as 30 inches of snow in some places appears to be firmly in the top three biggest snowstorms to hit the East End since official record keeping began in 1963, the National Weather Service said.Snow plows and excavators were still hard at work on Wednesday morning, some 72 hours after the first flurries started falling on Sunday to get side streets, parking lots and sidewalks cleared of snow, and many residents still have only the smallest peeks out of their driveways and drifted-in yards.Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the snowfall overnight Sunday and through most of the morning on Monday — and whipped by hurricane-force wind gusts — rivaled the January 2015 nor’easter that left 33 inches in parts of the South Fork.The highest snowfall amount reported to the NWS on Monday was 28.1 inches in Montauk, shortly after noon, when light snow was still falling.“There were areas of southern Connecticut that recorded 30 inches of snow, so it’s safe to say you could have had that much out there in the Hamptons also,” NWS meteorologist Dave Stark said from the agency’s regional headquarters at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island.For residents digging out from the white onslaught this week, the faint differences in the record books were inconsequential.“It’s the most I have ever seen in my lifetime,” said Mike O’Connell, while getting groceries on Tuesday in Bridgehampton. “My back is never going to be the same.”And there’s still some east end digging to be done including right here in Southampton Village where the superintendent of public works, Steve Phillips, said that crews have worked to get the downtown business district cleared of the snow piles that block parking spots and are laboring to get packed icy spots cleared to the blacktop in the face of a shortage of road salt. Walking across some Southampton Village sidewalks is perilous, too.7:06am - 7:07:30amSuffolk County Police have arrested a Riverhead man in connection with the death of his mother, whose body was found earlier this month in a wooded area in Manorville, police said.Curtis Trent Jr., 36, of 61 Forge Road, Riverhead, was arrested yesterday and charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Kathleen Harrison Trent, according to a Suffolk County Police Department press release.Kathleen Harrison Trent, 63, of the same address, had been reported missing to Riverhead Town Police on Jan. 29, police said. Her body was discovered Feb. 11 at about 3:21 p.m. in a wooded area on Connecticut Avenue, south of River Road, in Manorville, police said. Seventh Precinct patrol units searching the area found the body, according to the release.Police previously said detectives believed the death was criminal in nature. The cause of death remains under investigation, police said.Trent Jr. was arraigned Wednesday at Riverhead Town Justice Court, police said.Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives ask anyone with information about the case to call 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted through the P3 Tips app or at www.P3Tips.com.***Seatuck’s Long Island Natural History Conference, which each year brings together naturalists to discuss all the work they’re doing to understand the natural world here, will be held tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 27 at Stony Brook University’s Charles B. Wang Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that among the discussions this year relevant to the East End are right whale stewardship, wetland protection and identification programs, tracking tiger salamanders and horseshoe crabs, building screech owl boxes and wildlife passages.The Long Island Natural History Conference is the largest regional forum for the exchange of information about Long Island’s natural history. The annual event brings together Long Island’s leading naturalists to exchange current information, identifies research and management needs, and encourages collaborations and a greater region-wide interest in Long Island’s natural history.The Conference was established by the Long Island Nature Organization (LINO) in 2012 to support education and research about the natural history of Long Island. The conference resulted from the vision and dedication of Mike Bottini, Tim Green, John Turner and the late James Monaco.***Community members gathered Tuesday night at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead for a solemn service marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war that was triggered by the invasion grinds on. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that for Ukrainian-American parishioners of the Riverhead church, the war brutalizing their ancestral land is very personal. Some who worship there are refugees of the war. Many have family members living there who are directly affected by the war. Among them is Pastor Bohdan Hedz. He is an immigrant, with family in Ukraine, including his mother. The small church sanctuary was crowded for a candlelight memorial service Tuesday night, a service Hedz has held annually since 2023. The pastor chanted and prayed aloud in both Ukrainian and English. The air was thick with incense and burning candles. “I welcome you to this memorial service commemorating the fourth year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.” “But as I always remind myself and everybody around me, truly, this year marks the 12 anniversary of war that Russia is waging against Ukraine,” Hedz said, referring to the outbreak of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted in early 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. He spoke directly to community members from outside his church who attended the service, singling out Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin, whom Hedz called a “vocal supporter.” Hedz thanked the town government for its support and the larger community for its support. “I want to express my gratitude on behalf of our Ukrainian community for your open hearts, for your sincere help that you still provide,” Hedz said. “You have not grown idle.”St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead continues to accept donations of humanitarian aid to ship to Ukraine and to fundraise to aid war victims and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. For information about the church’s ongoing efforts and information on how to help, visit the church’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/sjbucc***The buses started arriving at the State Capitol by late morning yesterday, from scattered locations mostly across New York City, carrying people of different ages and circumstances, all driven by the same impulse: to tell New York Governor Kathy Hochul to tax the rich.In all, about 1,500 people from across the state filled the old Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, N.Y., where a succession of union organizers, democratic socialist elected officials and Zohran Mamdani fans fired up the crowd before a march to the State Capitol.Benjamin Oreskes reports in THE NY TIMES that speakers invoked Mr. Mamdani’s N.Y.C. mayoral victory as evidence that a more progressive vision for the state was possible. Recent polling from Siena University found that nearly two in three voters across the state favored making child care universal and also backed increasing taxes on those earning more than $1 million a year.The speakers took turns bashing Governor Hochul’s reluctance to raise taxes. She has said often that she worries that such a move would hurt the state’s business climate. That was not a concern of the attendees yesterday.“New York is the wealth capital of the country,” said Rafaella Abeo, a local organizer with the United Auto Workers. “We can also be the state that leads the nation in economic justice. The money is here. The question is, Governor Hochul: Do you have the courage to collect it?”Ms. Hochul, who was in New York City on Wednesday, has committed billions of dollars to expanding child care and supporting N.Y.C. services. Her office declined to comment on the rally.Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan think tank, said there was a clear consensus that the city and state governments were not delivering enough for New Yorkers. But he questioned the wisdom of raising taxes when, he said, the state is already the highest-taxed place in the country per capita.“We are chipping away at the competitive foundation of the state when we raise them,” he said.“We have a ton of money,” he added. “We need to be using that money well to deliver what New Yorkers need.”***Southampton Town and the Suffolk County Office of Multicultural Affairs honored Southampton Town Fire Department Chief Polis Walker with its 2026 Black History Month Celebration proclamation for outstanding leadership and Walker’s decades of public service and commitment to the safety and well-being of the Southampton community. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that Walker has been a Southampton Fire Department firefighter for 19 years and was recently elected by the department’s volunteers to serve a third 2-year term as the department chief.In January, Walker and a Southampton Town Police officer dashed into a burning building to rescue a disabled man. Walker, 60, lifted the man over his shoulder carried him out of the house and down a flight of stairs to safety.Southampton Town Board member Tom Neely proclaimed, “Chief Walker’s volunteerism exemplifies the dedication and integrity that define true public service in our community, and we thank him...
Transcribe →Some LI towns forced to use reserve funds to deal with snow and cold
Feb 2500:09:16Tap to summarizeA relentless spate of snowstorms and freezing cold has stretched Long Island town snow budgets, forcing some to dip into their reserves. Earlier in February, the Town of Brookhaven was $2 million over budget. The figure is expected to double after the blizzard from Sunday through Monday. Some villages say they have exceeded their snow removal budgets, too — in large part due to labor costs. Officials said their annual snow budgets are based on seasonal trends over a period of several years. They were not financially prepared, they noted, for a record-setting storm that dumped about 29.1 inches of snow at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma and 28.1 inches in Montauk.Alek Lewis and Carl MacGowan report in NEWSDAY that some town and village officials said they expect to draw down more of their reserves and seek state disaster aid. East Hampton village trustees recently approved a $60,000 boost to the snow budget, which will be used to hire contractors to help employees remove snow, Village Administrator Marcos Baladrón said. They truck snow from the village’s business district and major roads to Two Mile Hollow Beach, where it’s left to melt, he said.Riverhead Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said his salt supply is now “comfortable.” He recently ordered another 300 tons after a $100,000 budget transfer from reserves.“Safety to me is paramount,” Zaleski said yesterday. “Whether the money is there or not, the job’s got to get done. We’ll find a way to pay.”***Most east end schools have announced a two hour delayed opening today, several are still closed with classes moved to remote learning. Schools and government office were closed Monday and Tuesday after the Blizzard of '26. Here are some snow accumulation totals posted across our eastern Suffolk listening area following the Sunday / Monday storm. You may consider them unofficial but close enough.Central Islip: 31 inchesMontauk: 28.1 inchesRemsenburg-Speonk: 27.5 inchesOrient: 26.5 inchesQuogue: 26 inchesShinnecock Hills: 25 inchesSouthampton: 24 inchesMattituck: 23.3 inchesFlanders: 23 inchesRiverhead: 22.5 inchesShelter Island: 21.1 inchesUpton: (NWS Office and B.N.L.) 19.8 inchesEast Hampton: 18.8Jamesport: 18.3 inchesHampton Bays: 17.3***The African American Educational Cultural Festival will hold a forum on “America and the Black Vote” this evening at 5 p.m. in the Riverhead Free Library.Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the non-partisan event “brings together civic leaders, attorneys, and advocates to discuss Black political participation and its impact on American democracy,” according to the organizers.This evening’s event is free.“The forum will explore the historical significance of the Black vote, current challenges to voter participation, and the role of civic engagement in strengthening democratic institutions,” according to the organizers, who say it “is intended to foster open dialogue and promote understanding across diverse communities.”This evening’s forum, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., will be held in the lower level meeting room at the Riverhead Free Library, 330 Court Street, Riverhead. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required, through this Eventbrite link. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/america-and-the-black-vote-forum-set-for-feb-25-in-riverhead-registration-1982596770310?aff=oddtdtcreatorThe African American Educational Cultural Festival seeks to build a strong foundation for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in underserved and disadvantaged communities. It provides resources for children and families in education, housing, health, employment, entrepreneurship, and advocacy.***A proposed law drafted by Organización Latino Americana and former NYS Assemblyman Fred Thiele of Sag Harbor, which seeks to foster transparency and accountability during federal immigration enforcement actions in local towns and villages, is being pushed across the East End. What the five-page resolution calls for, primarily, is the establishment of a series of procedures and training programs that would stymie the impersonation of federal officers and the adoption of local requirements for reporting enforcement activity. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that it would require local police to approach those claiming to be ICE agents, who are often masked, and ask to see some form of identification, as part of an effort to hinder potential ICE impersonators. Officers then would send the information learned up the chain to local leadership.OLA plans to meet with leaders of East End municipalities tomorrow to further discuss the proposed law.The intent of the proposed law is to carve out the space that local governments and police departments can occupy in the event of an ICE raid.Thiele and OLA looked at how other municipalities around the country, including in San Jose, California, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are responding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, presence when drafting the law.“My hope is that the enactment of consensus legislation will be a peaceful and powerful catalyst to ending ICE excesses that threaten community safety and local control in our community,” Thiele said.Still to come is tomorrow’s meeting with East End leaders where OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez plans to walk through the adaptability of the law, as each village or town will be responsible for the specific implementation plans. The involvement of law enforcement in the law, though, is nonnegotiable.Before adoption, the law will go through the normal processes, town by town and village by village, with the plan being to have the law appear at a work session and then at a public hearing, prior to finalization.***Coming out of Monday’s record snowfall and with more unsettled weather expected this week, the state Attorney General’s Office is advising that New Yorkers who rent know their rights. Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that in an announcement released yesterday, NYS Attorney General Letitia James advised renters across the state to recognize that their landlords have certain legal responsibilities when it pertains to maintaining access to heat and hot water.Coping with freezing temperatures and record snowfall can be a major pain for homeowners, but for renters on Long Island dependent on landlords, it can be a matter of legal rights and entitlements, local tenant advocates said. In recognition of potential issues with heating and hot water access, the attorney general's office is advising New Yorkers that the law is on their side.“Landlords are legally required to provide heat and hot water and to ensure that common areas and building entrances are safe and accessible,” James said. “No New Yorker should be left in the cold or forced to navigate dangerous, icy conditions. My office is urging tenants to know their rights and to speak up if those rights are not being respected.”Under state law, property owners are required to provide heat between Oct. 1 through May 31, a period known as “heating season,” according to the attorney general’s office.During those months, landlords must ensure that interior temperatures are at least 68 degrees between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. if the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees. At night, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., inside temperatures must be at least 62 degrees regardless of how cold it is outside, James’ office said.***The “America and the Black Vote” program scheduled for this evening at Riverhead Free Library has been postponed due to weather conditions, organizers announced this morning. “Safety is our top priority, and unfortunately the current weather conditions make it unsafe to proceed as planned,” African American Educational and Cultural Festival President Marylin Banks-Winter said in a text message. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the Black History Month program, scheduled for 5 to 7:30 p.m. today at the Riverhead Library, featured a panel discussion on the topic of “Elevating Black Voices in Democracy” with Long Island community leaders gathered for “a nonpartisan conversation on Black political participation, representation, and civic engagement.”“This event is very important to us and we are committed to making it happen. We will be in touch shortly to check your availability for a rescheduled date...We are reminded that Black History is not limited to one month, but 365 days a year,” Banks-Winter wrote. “Thank you for your understanding.”</...
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