Villages

The completion of a second phase of renovation at Second House in Montauk, one of the oldest structures in the Town of East Hampton, coincides with a move toward historical landmark designation, the town board was told this month.

The Montauk Historical Society's popular lighting of the Lighthouse on the Saturday after Thanksgiving is on hold this year, not only because of the pandemic but because the tower on the 1796 structure is in the midst of a much-needed $1.3 million restoration.

About 10 years ago, when Averill Geus discovered a reel of nitrate film in her barn, her son warned her that it could combust and burn the whole place down at any minute. She donated it to LTV, which learned recently that it contained never-before-seen footage of a 1915 Independence Day celebration in East Hampton.

The encampment site was chosen because of its proximity to two Shinnecock billboards, one unfinished, that have become symbols of contention between tribespeople and the town and state governments. The Shinnecocks say that the tribal land the billboards sit on is exempt from local, county, and state regulation, but the town and state have argued otherwise. 

One point of information included in a press conference by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday may come as a surprise to many in East Hampton: The Covid-19 positive test rate here was 4.41 percent that day, less than .2 percent lower than the average daily rate in Riverhead, which is under new restrictions as of Monday.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has instituted limitations on restaurants, houses of worship, and schools in Riverhead and Hampton Bays, the two East End communities that crossed a line on Monday into higher Covid-19 infection rates.

Parts of Suffolk County are on track this week to become a yellow micro-cluster zone according to New York State’s Covid-19 focus area system. In a yellow zone, mass gatherings, both indoors and outdoors, would be limited to 25 people, houses of worship are limited to 50 percent capacity, and there would be a four-person limit at tables in both indoor and outdoor dining.

With coronavirus infection rates far higher in Hampton Bays and Riverhead than in other parts of Suffolk County, the county is increasing the number of testing sites in those communities to understand why, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said on Thursday. 

Hoping to add some East End flair to the holiday season, Valerie Smith, the owner of the Monogram Shop on Newtown Lane in East Hampton, decided she wanted a window display of gingerbread houses with a classic cedar shingle architectural style. She commissioned Brenda Nibley, a Utah resident and the owner of gingergiddy.com, a company that makes gingerbread house kits, to bring her vision to life.

The pandemic has caused an ongoing surge in people seeking assistance from East End food pantries and other social services organizations, their directors said this week.

With Thanksgiving next week, my thoughts turn to the things for which I am grateful. There are many items on this list, particularly what I am grateful for as a physician, but right now, so many of them are related in some way, shape, or form to Covid-19.

With coronavirus infections surging in Suffolk County primarily because of small indoor gatherings, traditional Thanksgiving celebrations could pose a significant health risk, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone warned on Tuesday.

Citing an “alarming spike in new Covid-19 cases” over the last week, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced on Friday the immediate deployment of enforcement teams comprising a county fire marshal and an official from the county’s Division of Consumer Affairs that will supplement ongoing compliance efforts.

As soon as Monday, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy will conduct geotechnical assessments that will involve soil borings and measurements of the sea floor off the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott.

Items such as a nearly $500,000 police communications van, a $1.3 million tower ladder fire truck, and nearly $5 million for the purchase of public works vehicles and infrastructure improvements are on the lisst to be included in the village's five-year capital plan. 

Coronavirus infections are surging in Suffolk County and people are primarily contracting the virus at small indoor gatherings. Based on the timing of the surge and contact tracing efforts, "We think the current spike is related to Halloween parties," County Executive Steve Bellone said this week.

Golfers in the know already know the East End has several gems among its greens, but Golf magazine has made it official once again.

Their fishing trip in Gardiner's Bay on Monday may not have yielded the blackfish they were after, but Aidan McCormack and Mark Deckman came away with quite a tale to tell.

A reconfiguration of East Hampton Village government in which Marcos Baladron, the new village administrator, relinquished the post's former duties of clerk and treasurer, and Pamela Bennett, the deputy clerk, and Dominique Cummings, the deputy treasurer, assumed those offices respectively, was approved by the village board last Thursday. 

Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott, a group formed in opposition to the plan to land the proposed South Fork Wind farm's export cable at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in that hamlet, shared its views with the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee on Saturday.

This week, Veterans Day honors the sacrifices of all veterans, and this leaflet from the Red Cross, titled "When You Get Home," captures many of the bureaucratic challenges and struggles experienced by our returning veterans, even today.

With the number of Covid-19 cases in New York growing at a faster rate than at any point since the spring, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday that all New York State Liquor Authority-licensed establishments and gyms must close at 10 p.m. and that private gatherings in residences, whether inside or out, will be limited to no more than 10 people.

Suffolk County's Covid-19 positive rate has been creeping upward in recent weeks, and on Sunday hit 3.8 percent, the highest seen in months, with 324 people testing positive for the virus. 

Shortly after 9, many East Enders felt an earthquake that rumbled about nine kilometers off the coast of Massachusetts. Facebook posts reflected their experience from Montauk to Sagaponack to Sag Harbor and Shelter Island.

Charlotte Egerton-Warburton has been busy during the Covid-19 pandemic with a project that helps the world in two ways. Charlotte, 10, makes and sells beaded necklaces that are handy to keep one's mask around the neck. She is using the sale as a fund-raiser for research into ADNP syndrome, also known as Helsmoortel-Van Der Aa Syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that affects her younger brother, Rowland.

Trevor Edward Hudson, a son of Pamela and Michael Hudson of East Hampton, and Kimberly Lynn Plank, a daughter of Lisa Plank and Christopher Plank of Harrisburg, Pa., were married on Aug. 8 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Philadelphia. A reception will be held next year when it is safe to do so.

The Bay Street Theater said on Friday that it will create a new home at the site of the West Water Street Shops in Sag Harbor with multiple theaters and educational facilities in addition to outdoor and dedicated public space to be completed in 2023.

For those who need help coping with the pandemic, or applying for food stamps, or finding a mental health professional, or handling any life crisis, really, the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor has a valuable new resource.

Bonnie Michelle Cannon, the executive director of the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, donned a hard hat on Saturday and pulled a plank of siding off the old farmhouse that was originally part of the center. The symbolic moment kicked off a nearly $3 million project to erect a new building for the ever-evolving child care program.

Alanah Johnson, Tiffany Gilliam, Sharon Gilliam, and Betty Gilliam are all graduates of the Bridgehampton School. They can share stories of cheerleading for the Killer Bees at different points in history, and now they have a new story to tell in a history-making election year.