Government

“With this new, even-year election law, I am going to start campaigning for 2026, starting tomorrow,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez told her supporters on election night, after winning an uncontested race.

Now a locally designated historic landmark owned by East Hampton Town, the Carl Fisher House will celebrate its centennial next year with a massive facelift, courtesy of about $3.7 million in community preservation funds.

The Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging project in Lake Montauk to restore safe navigation to the inlet there starts this week. The Oyster Bay, a mechanical dredge and barge, and supporting equipment have arrived, marking the start of mobilization.

The uncertainty surrounding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits — whether beneficiaries would receive half of their monthly benefit in November, the full amount, or none at all — has volunteers at East Hampton Town’s food pantries “tamping down the panic.”

Interior renovations have begun at the Bridgehampton Commons Target store, which is taking over the space occupied by Kmart for 25 years. Construction workers were digging rectangular pits into the ground last week, with work lights mounted to metal framework above them. The store is expected to open next fall.

The turmoil of President Trump’s second term has reached even East Hampton Town, where the author and journalist Michael Wolff is proving to be more of a gadfly than ever.

Both incumbent Democrats on the East Hampton Town Board, Cate Rogers and Ian Calder-Piedmonte, held onto their seats Tuesday night, warding off a challenge from J.P. Foster on the Republican line. Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez ran unopposed for her second term.

The East Hampton Town Board has appointed Russell Young, an ordinance enforcement officer in the Code Enforcement Department since 2022, to be the department's new director.

The two westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway over the Shinnecock Canal Bridge reopened in time for evening rush hour Tuesday, according to a statement released by a spokesman for the New York State Department of Transportation. Additional work will continue Wednesday.

Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, and some voters in East Hampton will cast ballots in a new location — at the East Hampton Library.

Proposal 1 has to do with new ski and biathlon trails in upstate forestland. Proposal 2 addresses Suffolk County term limits vis-a-vis the state’s even-year election law.

Democratic incumbents and Republican challengers ponder East Hampton’s waterways and environment.

To paraphrase James Carville’s famous advice to then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton, when it comes to discussing the application for Toilsome Farm Restaurant and Brewery in East Hampton Village, “It’s the noise, stupid.” 

The East Hampton Town Planning Board reviewed and applauded a “substantially revised site plan” for Project Most’s headquarters that saves the historic Neighborhood House on Three Mile Harbor Road rather than demolishing it, as previously planned. 

A swearing-in, two promotions, one retirement, and a cautionary tale of the hazards of transportation via e-bike occupied the East Hampton Village Board when it met last week. 

It’s big, it’s controversial, it’s before the town planning powers that be.

The East Hampton Town Board authorized an emergency appropriation of $30,000 to local food pantries, due to the continued shutdown of the federal government and the impending loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

“We want folks to know that we’re listening, and we want to work with the community to improve the system,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said at a town board work session last week, in a discussion about ways to efficiently process building permits. 

The opening of scallop season in state waters is Nov. 3. In town trustee waters the date is Nov. 9. But the harvest may not be very good.

Monday’s Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee meeting saw an appeal for support from a resident of Further Lane whose new neighbor at number 370 has planted a double hedge along the lane, blocking a cherished vista. ACAC members were sympathetic.

The East Hampton Town Board reported that work was imminent on two long-awaited projects in Montauk: the Ditch Plain dune reconstruction and the dredging of the Lake Montauk Inlet.

It’s been nearly a year since East Hampton Town asked builders to submit proposals to design and build houses for the affordable housing subdivision called Cantwell Court. All the estimates they got back were too expensive.

From the Building Department to the senior center, contrasts were drawn between the town board’s Cate Rogers and Ian Calder-Piedmonte, incumbent Democrats, and J.P. Foster, their Republican challenger. 

In Suffolk County, early voting runs from Saturday to Nov. 2, locally at Windmill Village on Accabonac Road.

East Hampton Town’s projected cost of renourishing the sandy beach created by the Fire Island to Montauk Point coastal storm risk management project will be about $28 million over 30 years, according to a project partnership agreement discussed by the town board this week.

At long last, Harry Macklowe has received variance approval from the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals for illegal improvements made to his Georgica Pond-fronting property years ago.

The New York State Supreme Court authorized the Maidstone Gun Club to begin steps to "demolish the rifle range, conduct environmental remediation, and engage in safety measures," according to the East Hampton Town attorney.

Representative Nick LaLota took questions from callers in an Oct. 8 “tele-town hall” during which he repeatedly blamed Senate Democrats for the government shutdown, defended provisions in the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill, and ignored a Jeffrey Epstein question.

“I am going to run for town supervisor,” East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen told a room full of supporters last week at Si Si, the restaurant at the EHP Resort on Three Mile Harbor, not only confirming his 2026 candidacy but also revealing a key part of his strategy. 

“People have a perception of me as a fighter, but my way of tackling a problem is to bring as many voices as possible to a table. I love a big table. I look at the science behind issues and spend time analyzing data and trends," said East Hampton Town Councilwoman Cate Rogers, who is running for re-election.