Editorials

There is irony in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s recently coming out in favor of free in-state tuition to New York’s public colleges and universities. In an era when his signature 2-percent tax cap is causing school districts to struggle to meet expenses, his support for a higher-education program estimated to cost $160 million in the first year of full implementation is, well, astonishing.

With East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen headed to retirement, a serious question faces the village board about who might replace him. Capt. Michael Tracey is to be appointed acting chief today, but it is not at all clear that he is interested in moving up. An issue is whether the village should seek candidates from among the members of its own force or go farther afield.

From an East Hampton perspective a baffling document from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation arrived last week, a draft policy paper designed to encourage natural, or “living,” shorelines, as opposed to hard structures, for erosion control.

We have long believed that limiting the size of new and renovated houses was a must if the South Fork’s beloved sense of place was to be protected. In this, we are, we think, joined by many of our friends and neighbors for whom what might be called Hamptonization is an affront.

We were excited to learn recently about plans for a small museum focused on paintings of old Long Island which is to be created at the historic Gardiner house on James Lane. The village, using money from the town’s community preservation fund, bought the property in 2014. Since then, an accessory structure has been removed and minor repairs done on the house.

East Hampton officials hope to take the battle over control of the town airport to the Supreme Court next year, a matter of unfinished business that tops the town board’s agenda for 2017. The to-do list is long and getting longer every day, but how to effectively limit noise remains a huge and pressing challenge, both locally and for federal regulators.

East Hampton Town officials, as well as residents of Windmill Lane and the surrounding area of Amagansett, are hoping to buy about 30 acres of farmland from the Bistrian family despite a more-than $10 million difference between what the town and the family believe the land is worth.

Friday’s devastating fire in Sag Harbor did more than destroy several buildings, including a beloved, if fusty, cinema lobby and facade, it struck at the very heart of the village’s identity. It also proved resilience and compassion among residents and business owners as well as the wider South Fork community.

Back in the 1970s when the East End towns and Suffolk County began paying the owners of farmland hefty sums in exchange for forgoing ever having any houses on the land, no one could imagine the changes in South Fork real estate that were to come. Today, some of these agricultural reserves are used, not for farming, but for lawns, stables, and low-property tax annexes for the wealthy. These uses are contrary to the original intention of the preservation programs, but are legal because the development rights deals crafted years ago did not require that the land be kept in crop production.

Across New York State, fire commissioners are elected on the second Tuesday in December. Five commissioners on each of the boards oversee the firefighters and emergency medical service personnel in their districts, and elections are coming up in Montauk, Amagansett, Springs, and Bridgehampton, which all serve residents in East Hampton Town.

Voters in two school districts will let their boards of education know what they think about plans for major projects next week. Although some residents argued that voting was inappropriate at this time of year, the votes, which are expected to be decisive, are scheduled for Tuesday in Bridgehampton and Wednesday in Sag Harbor.

The Maidstone Club has at last, it seems, gone too far, what with a spate of recent projects including a massive new irrigation system and with a proposal now for a new bridge over an upper reach of Hook Pond. The bridge has drawn the attention of no less formidable opponents than the East Hampton Ladies Village Improvement Society’s landmarks and nature trail committees, as well as well-known local environmentalists.

As the year draws to a close, it is worth reflecting on the ongoing success of the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund in East Hampton Town. As of this week — and with several deals pending — money from a 2-percent tax on most real estate transactions had saved 2,063 acres of land from development. The money went for environmentally significant parcels as well as historic sites and properties that provided public access, recreational opportunities, and helped link the town’s growing woodland trail system.

Sea level rise is the single greatest long-term threat to eastern Long Island, yet it is one that our towns and villages are least able to combat for practical and political reasons.

Two recent bits of news concerning the area’s citizens advisory committees have further added to our sense that the concept needs a little refining. Instances involving the Amagansett and Bridgehampton groups, while unrelated, indicate that they could be stepping beyond their intended role.

Unaccustomed lines were seen at some South Fork polling places on Election Day, but it would be hard to call the wait times long compared to those elsewhere in New York State. Various problems, especially in some parts of New York City, led to waits that appeared to New York Times reporters to be as long as five hours. Such delays for citizens simply trying to cast their ballots are a powerful argument for change, both within the separate county election boards and in state policy.

East Hampton Town officials and beach-driving enthusiasts celebrated this week as news spread of a court victory in a lawsuit brought by a number of Amagansett property owners seeking to end most four-wheel-drive use on two portions of Napeague oceanfront. However, the win does not mean that the fight is over. The residents who brought suit will probably appeal, and new conflicts are sure to arise.

The East Hampton School Board should push administrators and the district’s architects to look for a better solution for student transportation than the proposed $5 million bus barn planned for high school property near Cedar Street. The proposed maintenance building, fuel pumps, and parking have been gaining opposition almost by the day. It should be heeded.

Voters on eastern Long Island have gotten to know Hillary Clinton over the years, as first lady, as a senator from New York, as secretary of state, and as a summer renter. The latter is hardly a qualification to be president. However, having seen Mrs. Clinton up close, we, like many New Yorkers, can say with complete confidence that she is the best choice to lead the United States forward.

In the race for the New York First Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives, we support Anna Throne-Holst. Given the strong support her opponent, David Calone, had in the Democratic primary among those in local office, she may not be an ideal candidate, but she remains a far better potential representative than the incumbent, Lee Zeldin.

A proposition appearing on the back of Tuesday’s ballot that would add 20 years to the life of the community preservation fund and allow up to 20 percent of its future income to be used for water quality projects is almost sure to get a majority of “yes” votes. Multiple advocates have pushed hard for the measure, and many voters will have heard only that it will advance environmental protection and want to sign on.

Time was when the few weeks after Labor Day, the leaves magically changed into technicolor and blew down the street in a scratchy buzz, while otherwise there was mostly silence.

East Hampton Town and Southampton Hospital are moving quickly toward breaking ground on a emergency-care facility, possibly off Pantigo Road just east of Town Hall. Many questions remain, and we are concerned that in the eagerness to get moving, some of the numbers used to justify the roughly $40 million project are being overstated.

New York State has a big push under way to promote what is known as agritourism. On the East End, this is mainly the phenomena of drawing large masses of paying visitors to wineries, as is seen on the North Fork. And it also extends to breweries and distilleries. This week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a $2 million program to promote destinations and events. A mobile app backed by the state will be revamped to further pump up food and beverage travel.

One of the perennial problems in East Hampton Town is a kind of amnesia that falls on residents and policy makers alike once summer ends. The cool and quieter days of late September and early October wash away the high season’s many frustrations, and the torments that had marked July and August are forgotten.

Visitors who passed the green at East Hampton Town Pond on Columbus Day weekend may have been puzzled by its appearance. After an excavation that created several pools, new grass had just begun to appear, and the place almost had the look of an abandoned industrial site.

With every new outrage from Donald Trump, his support among Republicans dwindles. At press time, reporters around the country were describing a “civil war” within the G.O.P., as leaders of Mr. Trump’s own party threw up their hands in disgust and responsible members fled in droves. Yet Lee Zeldin, our first-term representative from the First Congressional District, is hanging tough in his support of the rogue nominee.

The East Hampton Town Board is expected to listen this evening to what the public has to say about a planned one-year moratorium on changes on most commercially used properties along Montauk Highway in Wainscott. As members consider the proposal, they should think about whether a similar building pause should be imposed in Montauk, where, if anything, the stakes and pressures are far higher.

Much as we like the Hamptons International Film Festival and the action it brings at this time of year, one aspect deserves more attention: Main Street in East Hampton Village.

It was doomed from the start. Anything with the word reformulation, even in 1960, must have been unlikely to inspire confidence, much less beat back the sea. But carry on the Army Corps of Engineers did — and for 53 years. Its effort to build erosion control and hurricane protection structures between Fire Island and Montauk Point was never going to work for a variety of reasons — reasons that should have been understood then, but most certainly are now.