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  • Local Matters: Westhampton Beach | The Sessions Report

    Local Matters: Westhampton Beach | The Sessions Report
    Jan 30 2026
    On Thursday, January 15, Westhampton Beach residents, business owners, elected officials and others gathered at Fauna in the village for the latest edition of the Express Sessions series “Local Matters,” providing those in attendance with a chance to discuss and debate the most pressing issues facing the community. The afternoon conversation ranged from new regulations that will require beachfront communities like Westhampton Beach to start paying a portion of federal beach replenishment costs, to the continued vacancy of prominent storefronts, and challenges related to the sewer district expansion, parking and more. Several options and ideas were explored, with input not only from those living and working in the immediate village area, but also from stakeholders in surrounding villages like Quogue and West Hampton Dunes. The panel included Westhampton Beach Village Mayor Ralph Urban and Deputy Mayor Kimberly Monsour; West Hampton Dunes Village Mayor Irwin Krasnow; Quogue Village Mayor Robert Treuhold; Jennifer Sperber, owner of Mixology and a member of the Westhampton Beach Chamber of Commerce; Larry Jones, a preservation consultant and trustee of the Westhampton Beach History Museum; and Aram Terchunian, a coastal geologist and president of First Coastal Consulting.
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    22 Min.
  • A Brewing Issue in Hampton Bays

    A Brewing Issue in Hampton Bays
    Jan 29 2026
    Last year, Hampton Coffee Company took over a roadside cafe in a quiet corner of Hampton Bays. Over decades, the building, a former farm stand, had been expanded and transformed into a small eatery with bathrooms, a kitchen and walk-in refrigerators. The neighbors love having the cafe nearby. The problem is, all those expansions were done sans permits. So in an effort to bring everything up to date, Hampton Coffee Company’s owners Jason and Theresa Belkin filed a change of tenancy notice with Southampton Town Building Department to officially convert the certificate of occupancy from a farm stand to a take-out restaurant. Now the town is telling the Belkins they must go to the Planning Board for a proper assessment of what the building has become. This week, the editors discuss the conundrum the town faces as it considers legalizing a beloved business in a residential zone while also pondering what sort of precedents it might set down the road in other similar situations.
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    40 Min.
  • Oceanfront Mansion May Be Razed To Make Way for a New Public Access to the Beach

    Oceanfront Mansion May Be Razed To Make Way for a New Public Access to the Beach
    Jan 22 2026
    Southampton Town is weighing using its Community Preservation Fund to purchase a Meadow Lane mansion — and the land it sits on — for nearly $26 million. The town would then raze the mansion and remove the accompanying pool to install a new parking lot where town residents could access a stretch of beach in Southampton Village. The property is located next to a Town Trustees 4x4 access road that is popular with beach drivers. Reporter Michael Wright joins the editors on this week's podcast to discuss the motivations behind the purchase.
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    32 Min.
  • A Veto, Again: The Montaukett Recognition Battle

    A Veto, Again: The Montaukett Recognition Battle
    Jan 15 2026
    In late December, Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill that would formally recognize the Montaukett Nation. This, despite the fact that there was broad support for the legislation, which passed the State Assembly unanimously and the State Senate in a vote of 59-1. The bill sought to reinstate recognition to the Montaukett Nation by reversing a 1910 court ruling that improperly stripped it away by ignoring an earlier U.S. Supreme Court decision under which the nation would have qualified for recognition. It was the seventh time in recent years that such a bill has died on the New York governor’s desk. This week, the editors are joined by reporters Michael Wright and Jack Motz as well as Montaukett Executive Director and Government Affairs Officer Sandi Brewster-walker, who has worked extensively over the past decade to gain state recognition, and State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, the bill’s co-sponsor, to talk about why this has been such an uphill battle for the Montauketts.
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    42 Min.
  • Last Deadline: A Pair of Newsroom Legends Sign Off

    Last Deadline: A Pair of Newsroom Legends Sign Off
    Jan 8 2026
    Two of The Express News Group’s most enduring newsroom fixtures decided that 2025 would be the year they finally stepped away from journalism. At the end of December, photo editor Dana Shaw and reporter Stephen J. Kotz officially filed their last stories. For more than three decades, Shaw was a constant presence at the region’s most important moments — from protests and public meetings to wildfires and parades. And for over 30 years on the East End, Kotz — who also had stints as a news editor — chronicled the villages, towns, people and personalities of the South Fork with relentless curiosity and determination. This week, the editors sit down with Shaw and Kotz for a candid “exit interview,” filled with unforgettable anecdotes, hard-earned wisdom, and reflections on a lifetime spent chasing the story.
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    1 Std.
  • 2025 South Fork Year in Review: The Top 10 Stories

    2025 South Fork Year in Review: The Top 10 Stories
    Jan 1 2026
    The editors share the South Fork's top 10 stories of 2025.
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    1 Std. und 22 Min.
  • Less Screen Time, More Green Time

    Less Screen Time, More Green Time
    Dec 18 2025
    What happens when kids put down their phones and step into the wild? Jen Skilbred knows firsthand. She’s the assistant director for environmental education at Group for the East End, where her job often means leading students off the pavement and into forests, fields and shorelines to discover the region’s plants and wildlife. Last year alone, Group for the East End reached more than 2,270 students across the East End. So earlier this year when Governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide ban on student cellphone use during the school day, Skilbred saw an opportunity to extend that phone-free time beyond the classroom by getting kids outside and reconnecting them with nature. This week, the editors are joined by Skilbred to talk about what happens when young people discover the magic of the natural world. “Let’s make real life more interesting than screens,” Skilbred says. “We live on the East End, and there are so many beautiful outdoor spaces.” CHRISTOPHER SCOTT PHOTO
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    46 Min.
  • A New 27east and More Big Changes for The Express News Group

    A New 27east and More Big Changes for The Express News Group
    Dec 11 2025
    The Express News Group is launching a brand-new 27east.com this month, a major step forward for local news coverage on the South Fork. The upgrade comes during the same month that longtime Executive Editor Joseph P. Shaw steps back to a consulting editor role while Bill Sutton steps up to become the ninth editor-in-chief in the history of both The Sag Harbor Express and The Southampton Press. In addition, Brendan J. O’Reilly assumes the newly created digital editor role. In this week's podcast, the editors and co-publishers discuss these and other changes as well as the better reader experience that the new website will provide.
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    45 Min.