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 the size of a gumball, the gem most likely came from a batch of clams dug in Mattituck, according to Bryan Gosman, a co-owner of the fish market, who hopes to raffle it off to raise money for the Montauk Food Pantry.

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. 

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.

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.

Most holiday-themed events are virtual this year, but the East Hampton Historical Society is offering two on-site events to celebrate the season.

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. 

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.

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.