Government

The East Hampton Town Trustees voted last week to authorize a special season for the taking of soft clams or razor clams by the method known as powering, or churning, on weekdays starting June 29.

The two Democratic candidates vying to challenge Representative Nick LaLota in New York’s First Congressional District did not criticize each other, but rather were in near-total agreement and pledged to work together in the midterm election campaign, in a sedate debate on June 8.

Two members of the East Hampton Village Board will face voters in the election on Tuesday, albeit without opponents.

Shortly after imposing a temporary restraining order that prevented East Hampton Town from moving forward with a planned acquisition of 13.5 acres at 549 and 550 Wainscott Northwest Road, Suffolk County Justice James F. Quinn lifted the order on June 4, and on Tuesday the town board authorized the purchase using nearly $3.98 million in community housing funds.

Looking for some napkins with your takeout order? Soon you may not find them in your bag in Sag Harbor Village.

Two Suffolk County Water Authority drinking wells near Cove Hollow Road and Montauk Highway have been contaminated by so-called “forever chemicals” from the nearby East Hampton Energy Storage Center, a civil suit alleges.

In 1976, for the bicentennial, the town had a committee that selected 25 locations where significant historical events occurred, from Long Wharf in Sag Harbor to Montauk Point, and commemorated them with bronze plaques. The twist in 2026? Two have been lost to time.

Interested in working in local government? There’s a job fair at East Hampton Town Hall on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

In a case that has been seemingly riddled with errors, omissions, and accusations, the Sag Harbor Village Zoning Board of Appeals closed the books on the latest chapter of 23 and 25 Washington Street by denying a request to undo the revocation of a building permit that was said to have been issued in error by a former building inspector.

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will sponsor a virtual debate between the Democratic candidates to represent New York's First Congressional District on Monday from 7 to 8 p.m. on SEA-TV's YouTube channel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a Secretarial Disaster Designation for Suffolk County following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s request to provide relief to the aquaculture industry. It allows affected farms here to apply for disaster assistance and low-interest emergency loans.

The National Weather Service has forecast a 55-percent chance of a below-normal season for the Atlantic basin, with three to six hurricanes, one to three of them major. The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season started on June 1 and continues through Nov. 30.

Suffolk County Justice James F. Quinn issued a temporary restraining order this week preventing East Hampton Town from closing on its controversial purchase of 549 and 550 Wainscott Northwest Road in Wainscott.

East Hampton Town Councilman Tom Flight and Francis Bock, the town trustees' presiding officer, endorsed Jerry Larsen's campaign for town supervisor on Sunday in Montauk, a potentially seismic event in a campaign that pits the incumbent supervisor, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, against the East Hampton Village mayor in the June 23 Democratic primary.

With less than a month before the primary that will provide the Democratic Party with its nominee for East Hampton Town supervisor, both candidates are similarly funded.

A two-year-old case about a crowing rooster in Springs has finally been dismissed, with prejudice. “If the town wants to prohibit (or otherwise regulate) noise from roosters, or any other livestock, they need to do so explicitly in their local code,” wrote East Hampton Town Justice David Filer.

The East Hampton Town Board unanimously supported the acquisition of 134 Second House Road in Montauk, better known as the Pathfinder Country Day Camp, earlier this month.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board will hold a public hearing Wednesday on the proposed Springs Brewery, at 847 Springs-Fireplace Road.

In the latest twist to a long-running dispute between East Hampton Town and Marc Rowan, who owns Duryea’s Lobster Deck in Montauk, a New York State Supreme Court judge has granted the town’s motion to vacate a 2019 stipulation of settlement with Mr. Rowan, and directed that the status quo be maintained pending determination of the various proceedings and appeals before the court.

Bamboo and cemeteries make terrible bedfellows, and Most Holy Trinity Cemetery on Cedar Street has a burgeoning bamboo problem.

Este, a 39-seat restaurant under construction adjacent to Offshore Montauk, was called back before the board to discuss discrepencies between what the board approved and what seems to be in the works based on an investment packet leaked to the press and the restaurant’s application to the New York State Liquor Authority.

One year to the day after an ivy-covered trellis fell over at Millstone Park, off Main Street in East Hampton Village, a plan to cover the side of the commercial building the trellis had obscured was revealed.

East Hampton Village officials will conduct a survey of stores on Main Street and Newtown Lane regarding the potential extension of the street parking limit from one to two hours, and ending that limit at 5 p.m. rather than the current 7 p.m. 

The implementation of a plan to reduce the flow of stormwater entering the 24-inch pipe that drains into Georgica Pond at the terminus of Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton Village was unveiled last week.

A beneficiary of the trust that controls 13.5 acres of land in Wainscott accused the East Hampton Town Board Tuesday of misrepresenting how the town would use the land after a proposed purchase. 

The Jewish Center of the Hamptons, after filing in court to annul a building inspector’s determination that essentially prevented it from enclosing two porches, was back before the village Z.B.A. earlier this month, seeking approval for what it initially asked for.

Mayor Jerry Larsen led a village board discussion on extending a ban on gas or diesel-powered leaf blowers last week. “The idea is to be consistent with the other municipalities,” he said.

After an East Hampton Town Board discussion this week on proposed employer-sponsored housing legislation, it was clear that changes would be made and another hearing would be needed on the proposed code changes.

In East Hampton Village residents with applications before land-use boards have received electronic communications purporting to be from the village and indicating that fees are due and must be paid. The messages, “however real they may appear, are not coming from the village and are not due or payable to the village,” the zoning board's attorney said.

The Town of East Hampton was awarded $7.04 million to build 16 houses at Cantwell Court on May 13, when the New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal met to authorize the grant.