Government

The Town of East Hampton has won a $5.6 million award from New York State for a planned affordable housing project on a 14.2-acre parcel on Three Mile Harbor Road. 

The news on Monday of a "major reopening" of New York State came not a moment too soon for the South Fork's caterers and restaurateurs, for whom the pandemic represented an unprecedented disruption of business but who now must move swiftly to book and prepare for summer events while keeping an eye on state guidance that remains fluid.

An East Hampton Town advisory committee convened last year to address beach matters has recommended a cautious approach to the looming summer season and the continuation of protocols established last year, affecting entrance, egress, and activity on beaches, as well as parking and comfort stations.

The East Hampton Town Board voted on Tuesday to appoint Kevin Cooper, a 32-year veteran of the New York Police Department and New York City Transit Police, as director of code enforcement.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, flanked by Democratic and labor leaders, announced her candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination for New York’s First Congressional District on Monday.

Citing continuing downward trends in New York State’s Covid-19 infection and hospitalization rates and seven million of its residents being fully vaccinated, an upbeat Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Monday “a major reopening of the state” on May 19. 

Sag Harbor Village residents weighed in on Bay Street Theater's plan for a new theater, the departure of the 7-Eleven, and proposed restrictions on waterfront development at a public hearing held in John Steinbeck Waterfront Park last week. "We cannot control who can buy what, we can't control who can sell what, but what we can do is control the use, the size, the scale, and most importantly, the character of what is put on any property," said Mayor Kathleen Mulcahy.

President Biden's announcement on Earth Day that the United States will cut greenhouse gas emissions to 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade was hailed by South Fork activists this week as commensurate with the urgency of the climate crisis.

As downtown Montauk continues to wait for a long-promised federal government effort to protect its eroded ocean beaches, the Army Corps of Engineers has delayed the project to 2023. This has spurred Concerned Citizens of Montauk to gather almost 1,200 signatures on a petition demanding the project start this year, as the Army Corps had previously signaled it would.

The solar array is to be situated at the North Sea Transfer Station, a former landfill. The town announced the request last Thursday, Earth Day.

Following C.D.C. guidance, New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to wear masks outdoors, "except in certain crowded settings and venues," and to make it easier to get the vaccine, the state is opening all of its mass vaccination sites to walk-ins. 

The developers of the South Fork Wind farm filed an Environmental Management and Construction Plan for the proposed installation with the New York State Public Service Commission on Tuesday.