timwferguson

Chicken or Egg: A Farm May Disturb Hamptons-Adjacent Rusticity

It’s a conceit on the East End of Long Island, N.Y., that the agricultural character of the area should be preserved. Attempts to do that go back half a century, to when land values rose to the point that farm families wanted to sell out to subdividers. But the gloss of today’s version–mostly vineyards andContinue reading “Chicken or Egg: A Farm May Disturb Hamptons-Adjacent Rusticity”

Big Part of Phone Costs Is In the Small Text

Recently I succumbed to replacing my mobile phone. Though I chose one of the simpler Android models, and avoided nearly all add-on accessories, the price jumped up as I got to checkout. The reason: New York’s voracious taxing authorities. Whether it be on monthly usage bills or on purchases of the devices, governments have seizedContinue reading “Big Part of Phone Costs Is In the Small Text”

The (Unwanted) Bridges of Suffolk County

The nowadays Quixotic notion of bridging Long Island Sound surfaced in the news this week, with Newsday picking up on such a flare in the Connecticut legislature. The scheme in question would link Bridgeport with Kings Park, N.Y., and the Sunken Meadow Parkway through western Suffolk County. It would have a ballpark cost of $50Continue reading “The (Unwanted) Bridges of Suffolk County”

Hamptons Pivot: Preserve Land or the Landless?

Call it an inflection point: One of the two news weeklies on the South Fork of Long Island, N.Y., propounds, “[I]t’s time to turn the page on land preservation as a priority and begin to think about preserving something else: a workable, livable community.” For decades under previous and current ownership, the Southampton Press withContinue reading “Hamptons Pivot: Preserve Land or the Landless?”

Why the Hamptons Can’t Have (Many) Nice Sewers

One hair-trigger topic of land use on the South Fork of Long Island, now that “the Hamptons” have mostly been built out, is the construction of sewage or water treatment plants. This early February story in the Southampton Press, subsequently picked up in Newsday, concerns plans to put such a facility on 6 wooded acresContinue reading “Why the Hamptons Can’t Have (Many) Nice Sewers”

Foothold for a Future Trader Joe’s in the Hamptons?

Progress toward a major distribution center for retailer Trader Joe’s may increase the chances of one or more of the budget-gourmet stores finally reaching the East End of Long Island, NY. To date, most parts of the “Hamptons” are 40 or more miles from the nearest outlet. Other economical shopping choices are also in shortContinue reading “Foothold for a Future Trader Joe’s in the Hamptons?”

Checking Hamptons’ Building Bent, From the Ground Up

Growth controls on luxury housing may be coming to the town of Southampton, N.Y., after earlier moves in East Hampton township and Southold town on the North Fork of Long Island. Southampton councilman Michael Iasilli, a young Democrat with a progressive bent, is taking a slightly different tack in legislation he’s adapting for formal introduction.Continue reading “Checking Hamptons’ Building Bent, From the Ground Up”

A Peek Into Special-Ed Primacy

Before the smart phone disrupted American classrooms (a disruption that is now being contained) the earlier great change in recent decades was what is broadly called “special ed.” Programs designed to address a range of learning disabilities have shifted resources across U.S. schools, for better or otherwise. The subject is an extremely sensitive one forContinue reading “A Peek Into Special-Ed Primacy”

Echoes of the ’70s in a Changed Sag Harbor

As the village of Sag Harbor, N.Y., sought fitfully in the 1970s to renew itself, two young men from west of the Shinnecock Canal–a symbolic divide in the Hamptons real-estate game, which is mostly to the east–came to play notable roles. One was Ted Conklin, who purchased the American Hotel on Main Street—a hostelry andContinue reading “Echoes of the ’70s in a Changed Sag Harbor”

‘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 theContinue reading “‘Poor’ Greenport Wants Slice of a Preservation Bounty”