Villages

This week, with Memorial Day fast upon us, what was known by 1950 as the "Liberty Pole" in honor of those who served in World War II is getting a cleaning and a fresh coat of white paint, courtesy of the Amagansett Village Improvement Society. The steeplejack doing the work, David Midgette of Medford, was planning to ascend the 120-foot pole in a crane on Tuesday, barring strong winds.

The American College of Surgeons certified that Stony Brook Southampton has the right equipment, resuscitative capabilities, blood bank protocols, and surgeons and emergency physicians who are trained in advanced life support and who commit to responding to severe cases within 30 minutes of a patient's arrival.

This image shows Lawrence Smith and Leander Arnold constructing the base of the veterans monument next to Ashawagh Hall in Springs. The monument was officially dedicated on Memorial Day weekend in May 1989.   

Facing a steep rent increase, the Hampton Chutney Co. eatery will soon be leaving the Amagansett Square space it has occupied for more than 20 years, Isabel MacGurn, an owner, said on Monday.

Following a solemn year in which all official parades were canceled locally, there will be parades in both East Hampton and Sag Harbor Villages on Monday. 

If, like most Americans, you have been waiting with bated breath for signs that the Covid-19 pandemic is winding down and that a return to normalcy has finally arrived, then you probably heaved a great sigh of relief at some point over the past two weeks as the Centers for Disease Control announced that vaccinated individuals could dispense with wearing masks in most settings. On May 19, New York followed suit and adopted the same guidelines, except where certain municipalities, businesses, schools, and settings such as hospitals or doctors' offices still require them.

Bayard Fenwick, a real estate agent with Saunders and Associates and an assistant captain in the Sag Harbor Fire Department, is vying for one of the two trustee seats up for a vote in Sag Harbor Village's June 15 election.

Missing movie theaters, getting used to masks, a six-foot sixth sense, the words "these uncertain times" -- what sounds like the most basic Covid starter pack to us now will one day sound outrageous to others, a storytelling opportunity that the East Hampton Library tapped with its initiative the Pandemic Project. 

A resounding "Mazel tov!" rang out at Temple Adas Israel on Sunday morning as members of the synagogue -- the oldest one on Long Island -- gathered to break ground on a $7 million renovation and expansion project, including the building of the Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder Center for Jewish Education.

It is that time of year again here on the East End of Long Island, when the phones in doctors' offices start to ring seemingly constantly with patients calling with questions about tick bites.

This is an original copy of a letter Robert Townsend, a Manhattan and Oyster Bay merchant, and his brother, Solomon Townsend, sent to two Charleston, S.C., merchants regarding an antislavery matter in 1787. 

Concerned Citizens of Montauk, joined by almost 40 volunteers, installed approximately 3,000 square feet of floating wetlands in Fort Pond. As the plants mature, their roots will take in excess nitrogen and phosphorus as food to reduce the nutrient load in the water.

East Hampton and Sag Harbor Villages will begin charging for some prime parking spaces in their commercial districts in the coming days, and both will use ParkMobile, a smartphone app-based payment service. 

After more than 14 months of darkened screens and empty seats, the East Hampton movie theater will reopen on Friday, May 21, according to Manhattan Skyline, the company that leases the building to Regal Cinemas. 

the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee tackled the subjects of litter and the profusion of signs when it met this week. The town should "rip out" the signs, one woman said of those at the beach. "If it looks nicer, people might treat it nicer."

Local officials and health professionals continue to expand access to Covid-19 vaccines on the South Fork. Stony Brook Southampton Hospital will hold a pop-up vaccination clinic at the Montauk Playhouse on Thursday to administer the Moderna vaccine and there is a pediatric vaccination clinic slated for next week in East Hampton for children 12 to 18, following the C.D.C.'s emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for that age group on Wednesday.

This photograph from the Springs Historical Society archive shows a group posing on the stairs at the ruins of Fort Tyler on Gardiner's Point Island. Gardiner's Point Island, a small 14-acre island, was connected to Gardiner's Island by a peninsula in Block Island Sound until 1888.

From liquor stores to landscapers, East End businesses are scrambling to staff up for the summer as an increase in job opportunities, beefed-up unemployment benefits, limited seasonal work visas, and the high cost of living are making it hard to find employees. 

Bay Street Theater's plans to build a new theater complex and develop other properties near the Sag Harbor waterfront received mostly harsh critiques from village residents at a public forum on Saturday. 

Change is afoot for people traveling to and from Shelter Island, as the South Ferry institutes a new requirement for those purchasing discounted commuter cards and the North Ferry seeks permission to raise its ticket prices.

After having spent more than a year following Covid-19 precautions, East End residents who are fully vaccinated are easing back into normal life with shopping trips, dinner parties, and family get-togethers. "The first thing I did was host three dinner parties in one week," one resident said. For another, a trip to supermarket "was like going to Saks Fifth Avenue."

Two hundred and thirty-eight years ago, on April 25, 1783, the Rev. Samuel Buell (1716-1798) reflected on the popular demand for his recent publication, which was actually a funeral sermon he preached for his daughter Jerusha Buell Gardiner Conkling.

Pandemic-related restrictions on restaurants, gyms, offices, casinos, and catered events, will be relaxed the coming weeks in New York, a direct result of improving Covid rates in the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, which oversees parishes across Long Island, has released a list of over 100 clergy accused of sexual abuse while serving in the diocese, including some who had not previously been identified. Eleven of the clergy on the list served on the South Fork from the late 1950s through as recently as 2000.

The shutdowns that came with Covid-19 were especially challenging for Debajo de las Palmas, an organization founded by Meaghan Guzman of East Hampton that provides nutrition and breastfeeding education, birth support, clothing, shoes, toys, education supplies, diapers, infant and toddler formula, mosquito nets, and much more to women and families in the Dominican Republic.

The idea behind the new 2/3 for the Birds campaign is simple: By planting two-thirds of one's property with native greenery and abstaining from the use of pesticides, homeowners can help local bird species make a comeback. Experts say it's a critical way to restore avian populations that have been dying off since the 1970s.

This photograph from the Carleton Kelsey Collection shows Dr. Morley Brown Lewis (1869-1955) and his wife, Mary Robina Law Ettershank Lewis (1870-1958). A notation on the reverse indicates this image was captured in 1947 while the couple enjoyed Thanksgiving in Westhampton Beach. Kelsey saved a letter with this image, which he received from their son Arnold Meredith Lewis (1904-1994), sharing details about Arnold's parents.

"This doesn't mean that it's going to be out on the streets for everyone; in fact, it'll be off the streets," Nicole Ricci, a board member of New York Small Farma told the crowd at a Tuesday rally in Sag Harbor in support of the state's marijuana legalization. The event addressed details of the law, and encouraged people to take an active role in developing local regulations for the use and sale of marijuana.

Last week, the news broke that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Drug Administration here in the United States had called for a pause in administration of the single-dose Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine following reports of blood clots after administration of this vaccine.

Customers and locals had plenty to say this week about the loss of the only spot in the village where one can grab lunch on a budget of $5 or less. The popular all-day, everyday convenience store is set to close on Friday, April 30, in a move stemming from a major Sag Harbor real estate shake-up involving Friends of Bay Street, the organization formed to help Bay Street Theater acquire, develop, and finance its new facility.