Villages

Before there was the Covid-19 pandemic, there was the drug epidemic — a health and social battle that was ongoing when the virus arrived — and experts say that Covid-19 has worsened the problem of substance abuse.

Social justice advocates are hoping to turn a case of racist vandalism in Montauk into a conversation starter toward positive change.

This photograph shows farm buildings at Dune Alpin Farm in East Hampton sometime after 1934 and before 1960. The date is estimated based on the appearance of the farm's owner, Abraham Katz, at the right side of the image.

The property was originally owned by Blanche B. and George L. McAlpin, who bought it in 1906. The name was inspired by a sand dune on the land along with the family surname. The McAlpins owned the Hotel McAlpin on Broadway and 34th Street in Manhattan, which was the largest hotel in the world at the time it opened in 1912. The family sold it in 1938.

Several medical studies have shown the power of gratitude. I am grateful for every single nurse, certified nursing assistant, technician, sanitary worker, cafeteria worker, and staff member in the hospitals where I work who did not give an inch in this fight, who offered me weary smiles and kind words after long shifts.

"The effects of climate change are obvious and go beyond scallops," Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences said in a lecture last week. "Locally, things are collapsing." Excessive nitrogen loading, too, poses a threat to both coastal ecosystems and human health.

Single moms, who are among those hit hard by the pandemic, have a lot on their plates. To help them out, the organization There's Some Good News is donating wholesome meals from Honest Plate and providing individualized support to mothers under stress. 

Was it life as we knew it upended by a pandemic, or a rediscovery of the joys of the printed page that accounted for last year's eye-popping statistical changes at the Amagansett Library? Probably both, Lauren Nichols, the library's director, said this week

In unusual times, mothers, nurses, midwives, and doulas are facing preganancy and birth under circumstances that sometime demand the exact opposite of the intimacy that is part and parcel of the experience.

A yearlong study of Sag Harbor Bay has found its water quality to be good over all, but also has detected high nitrogen or bacteria levels at several trouble spots, among them Havens Beach. The level of fecal coliform bacteria in water emanating from a drainage ditch there was 100 times higher than the state's standard for safe shellfishing, and the level of enterococcus bacteria was 10 times higher than the standard for safe swimming.

Local catering companies are walking a dangerous edge. Another season like last year and some say they are sure to go out of business. That is the main point that they are trying to drive home with state lawmakers. And time is running out for them to take on work in the summer of 2021.

This Map of the Village Green is from the Ladies Village Improvement Society's archives. The map was drawn by Wallace H. Halsey, using a survey completed in September 1928. The plan includes the roads, light posts, cemetery, and Town Pond. Town Pond is currently undergoing an extensive project to excavate sediment and dredge it, in part due to the pollutants that drain from Town Pond into Hook Pond.

New Yorkers 30 and older will be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine starting on Tuesday, and everyone 16 and older will be eligible on April 6, the state announced Monday. At the same time, the number of East End vaccination sites seems to be keeping pace with increased eligibility.

Para quienes desean vacunarse contra Covid-19, el primer desafío -no menor, por cierto- es el de cumplir con los requisitos establecidos por el Estado de Nueva York. Después, hay que conseguir una cita, un proceso que puede ser complejo y lento, sobre todo si uno tiene acceso limitado a internet. A continuación presentamos algunas recomendaciones y links, fruto de nuestra investigación, que pueden ayudar.

As St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Amagansett prepared to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its building this week, longtime members spoke about the "small congregation with a big heart," a tight-knit group that has weathered the Covid-19 pandemic through virtual worship while continuing a mission to help the less fortunate and welcome all.

Many people who are now vaccinated are curious as to how it changes their lives in terms of day-to-day activities. What can you do once you are vaccinated that you couldn't do before? 

Seeking to address food insecurity and weaknesses in the local food system that have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the East End Food Institute and the City University of New York Urban Food Policy Institute launched an effort on Tuesday to develop a plan to improve the system with the help of farmers, food workers, and others. 

One great thing about hearing women talk about working in historically male-dominated professions is that it seems like the most natural thing in the world to them. As Women's History Month comes to a close, a ferry captain, train conductor, sound engineer, architect, landscaper, and auto repair business owner shared stories of life on the job.

New York State residents age 50 and above will be eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines starting on Tuesday. The state is also encouraging houses of worship to sign up as vaccination sites.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming presented Marit Molin, the founder and executive director of Hampton Community Outreach, with the award in recognition of her service to the community over the past year.

More than a year after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic caused a boom in East End real estate sales and rentals, industry professionals said the market is still going strong even as the end of the pandemic may be drawing near.

The Hamptons Neighborhood Group's goal seems simple: amicably help the Shinnecock Indian Nation find a different location for its casino, one the group deems "more suitable" than the tribe's territory on Montauk Highway. But it's fair to say the surrounding issues are more complex, when set against a backdrop of centuries of persecution of Indigenous people. 

Anthony Daunt of Springs barely got any sleep for four and a half days straight not long ago, but it wasn't his infant daughter, Mila, who was keeping him up, but rather the Moab 240, an ultra race in Utah.

Dell Cullum, the founder of Wildlife Rescue of East Hampton, and a team of volunteers recovered nine turtles, dozens of fish including two koi, and a large bullfrog from Town Pond in East Hampton during a two-week effort to extricate wildlife from the pond prior to the completion of a planned dredging.

The rate of Covid-19 vaccinations among New York State's Black and Latino residents continues to lag far behind that of their white counterparts, according to data from the state. South Fork community leaders say the discrepancy is due primarily to a lack of access to the vaccine. 

A new, ad-hoc committee called the Hamptons Neighborhood Group — consisting of more than 140 property owners and "interested parties" — will hold a Zoom meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to discuss the Shinnecock Indian Nation's proposed casino.

"Right now, our plans are all systems go, but we recognize that anything could still change," said Marty Bauman, the show's communications director.

Joseph Hand writes to Nathaniel Huntting (1793-1863) on April 3, 1813, describing the sighting of British ships off Montauk Point.

LTV's Channel 20 public access content will soon begin broadcasting to Southampton, via that town's new channel, SunTV. In the future, the plan is for SunTV to add content of its own and handle most of Southampton Town's programming.

As federal supplies of Covid-19 vaccines begin to tick upward, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has once again expanded eligibility for the vaccines, announcing on Tuesday that people ages 60 and over will be able to get shots starting Wednesday morning.

After much lobbying by local officials, a state-run site for Covid vaccinations will soon be opening on the campus of Stony Brook Southampton.