‘Poor’ Greenport Wants Slice of a Preservation Bounty

Land prices have ballooned on the North Fork of Long Island, particularly since the Covid pandemic, adding to fears of “Hamptonization.” And these are felt in Greenport Village, long established as a fishing and boating burgh and in recent years as a foodie haven amid the fork’s surrounding farm and vineyard culture. (It’s also the ferry landing for trips to Shelter Island and on to the ritzy South Fork.) Greenport’s politics increasingly have revolved around anti-development stances to maintain the small-town feel. At the same time, however, Greenport is pleading poverty of a sort in seeking to gain a share of the funds Suffolk township (in which it sits) gets from the Community Preservation Fund–the massive kitty derived from a tax on residential transactions on Long Island’s East End. The CPF is mostly used to preserve open spaces but also has a water-quality mandate, and Greenport wants a chunk of the Southold share in order to rehabilitate septic and other facilities in old shore neighborhoods (while it draws on a separate fund for housing itself). An interesting twist is that, in making this demand, Greenport can cite its qualification as a New York State “Disadvantaged Community” as defined by the Climate Justice Working Group in 2023. Being (relatively) poor amid the splendor of eastern Long Island gets you a 10% meal ticket at the preservation buffet. Any morsel in a storm! –Jan. 3, 2026

Greenport Continues to Push Southold For CPF Funding