Government

Supporters of the campaign to transform the Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck’s Sag Harbor waterfront property into a writers’ retreat got some good news last week: Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. has nominated the project to receive a state grant of $500,000 toward its purchase.

What was once unthinkable now looks increasingly possible, as the airport that many residents say has vastly exceeded its historical function and is destroying their quality of life may finally be grounded, perhaps permanently.

There were 533 takeoffs and landings at East Hampton Town Airport — and 1,265 complaints about them made to just one of the two systems to register such complaints — between May 26 and May 30.

New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of 10 bills aimed at reducing gun violence on Monday. Her key challenger, Representative Lee Zeldin of New York’s First Congressional District, said at a campaign event last month that a raft of laws regulating possession of guns should be overturned.

Legislation to increase and protect access to water supply, sponsored by State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., has been approved by both the Assembly and the Senate, and is awaiting the governor’s signature.

The East Hampton Town Board voted to allow for adjudication of code violations by an administrative bureau established last year to expedite the processing of minor violations. The town is seeking a director for the bureau, a prerequisite for putting it into effect.

After putting its seaplane service from New York City to Sag Harbor on hold last week, the helicopter and seaplane company Blade Air Mobility resumed service to Sag Harbor on Tuesday.

Blade, the helicopter and seaplane operator, was forced to cancel its seaplane service to Sag Harbor Thursday after the village complained of misrepresentations in Blade’s advertising.

Citing the threat of erosion, the Devon Yacht Club on Gardiner's Bay in Amagansett is looking to move its clubhouse, bath house, and sailing center away from the water.

The Hero Beach Club, a Montauk resort at the westernmost entrance to the hamlet, will finally be able to offer food to its guests, pending a June 22 public hearing before the East Hampton Town Planning Board.

Serendipity may be responsible for bringing the “fastest growing sport in the world,” Padel, a racket sport that is often described as a mix between pickleball and squash, to East Hampton this summer.

Air traffic to and from East Hampton Airport was typically brisk over the Memorial Day weekend, the temporary restraining order granted by a New York State Supreme Court Justice having halted the town board’s plan to briefly close the airport last month and reopen it as a private facility with advance permission required for takeoffs and landings.