Southampton Town met with Shinnecock Nation about gas station construction

Long Island Morning Edition

Former President Donald Trump vowed to make Ground Zero a national monument, while painting a bleak picture of Long Island and New York City as overrun with Central American migrants during a raucous rally last night at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. As reported in NEWSDAY, Trump spoke for nearly 90 minutes before a packed crowd inside the 16,000-seat coliseum. Many of his supporters camped overnight outside the Uniondale arena, as the 45th president attempts a feat no Republican has accomplished in 40 years — to win solidly blue New York State.

"It hasn’t been done in a long time," Trump said, "but we are going to win New York."

Speaking to a sea of Long Islanders sporting largely red Make America Great Again swag, from hats and pins to flags and T-shirts, Trump vowed to lower inflation, increase wages and defend American jobs while cutting interest rates and insurance costs. He offered few details on his policies.

Trump credited the U.S. Secret Service for stopping an apparent attempt on his life on Sunday in Florida — the second assassination attempt on him in recent months — and vowed to rebuild the nation’s bridges, subways and highways while increasing tariffs on products made in China and other nations.

And 23 years after the nation’s worst terror attack, Trump said he would make Ground Zero in lower Manhattan a national monument maintained by the federal government.

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Democrat Kamala Harris continues to lead Republican Donald Trump by 13 points in New York, with the race virtually unchanged here since Harris entered the race last month, according to a Siena College poll released today.

The Siena survey also found that U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand commands a generous lead in her reelection bid, a proposed "Equal Rights Amendment," which covers abortion rights, enjoys overwhelming support and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s popularity continues to slip.

Yancey Roy reports on Newsday.com that the poll of 1,003 likely voters in New York said Vice President Harris is favored by 55% of those surveyed while Trump is favored by 42%. That is essentially unchanged from the 14-point lead Harris held in August, when she replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket.

The poll was conducted Sept. 11-16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points, meaning the answers to any question can vary by that amount.

While Harris’ lead in the state isn’t threatened, it isn’t as big as posted by previous Democratic presidential candidates, Siena poll spokesman Steve Greenberg said.

"New York remains solidly blue, but perhaps not as deep blue as it has been in the last several presidential cycles," Greenberg said in a statement. "In the six presidential elections this century, Democrats have carried New York by at least 18 points, and at least 22 points in five of the six. President Biden won here by 23 points in 2020."

A U.S. presidential candidate has not won New York State since 1984 when President Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale with 53.84% of the popular vote over Walter Mondale with 45.83%, a victory margin of 8.01%.

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To celebrate and recognize Hispanic Heritage Month a Latin Dance Night, hosted by the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will be staged at the Bridgehampton Community House this coming Friday…that’s tomorrow evening from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that this year’s Latin Dance Night will follow the same format as it has from its inception in 2022. Attendees will participate in a half-hour salsa dance class taught by Scott Trevor from Touch Dance Studios — which hosts weekly classes at the community house — and after that will participate in two hours of live music and dancing. Dayton, Ritz and Osborne has agreed to cover the cost of tickets for attendees once again this year, and chips and salsa will be donated by Sabrosa. Participants are not required to bring a partner but can if they want. It’s an adults-only event (18 and older) and alcohol is not permitted. While the event is free, the library is asking attendees to sign up ahead of time. Tickets are available on the Hampton Library website calendar at myhamptonlibrary.org or through Eventbrite.

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Southampton Town officials met last week with Shinnecock Nation leadership to discuss the nation’s ongoing construction of a gas station on land it owns in Hampton Bays — a move that has drawn months of outrage and demands from their neighbors for action by the town to somehow halt the work.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the day after the September 9 meeting, members of the Southampton Town Board said they were encouraged that the tribe seemed willing to work with the town to allay some concerns. But, at the same time, the board also approved hiring a Washington, D.C., attorney who specializes in federal land use issues.

Supervisor Maria Moore declined to discuss whether the town is preparing a legal challenge to the tribe’s gas station project. Councilman Michael Iasilli, who cast the lone vote against even hiring an attorney, said that the town should not embark on a lawsuit because it would be both expensive and divisive.

Residents of the neighborhoods that border the tribe’s 77-acre property, known as Westwoods, have been calling on the town to step in and halt the construction since contractors working for the tribe started clearing the 10-acre gas station property in the middle of the night last winter. They have said the town should be taking steps to block construction vehicles from accessing the property and have talked about staging protests themselves in an effort to halt the work.

Since early summer, work has been ongoing on the construction of a long access road connecting the large area that will hold the 30 gas and diesel pumps and a convenience store to Newtown Road in Hampton Bays, even though the Shinnecock have said their plans are to have the gas station accessed primarily from the westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway, which runs just yards away from the edge of the land the tribe has cleared.

Hampton Bays Civic Association Director Gayle Lombardi said that the town’s inaction on the gas station work has left many in the hamlet feeling that they are being “dumped on” by the town.

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A Riverhead Town proposal would require landlords to rent homes to a single family or a "family equivalent" to cut down on overcrowding — but housing advocates say the bill could lead to discrimination against immigrants. Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the bill would require landlords to rent to people who are "one family" or comprise the "functional equivalent" of one. A group that shares a common living space and household expenses would qualify under the town's rental code.

The proposal also sets maximum occupancy limits for rental homes. The changes also set new guidelines for driveway widths and ban more than two commercial vehicles from being parked on a single driveway.

The measure would limit the number of bedrooms to two in a basement in a single family home rental. Bedrooms in attics or third floors also would be prohibited in all rentals.

Riverhead Town officials say the changes are needed to prevent large numbers of people from occupying a single rental home and parking on narrow neighborhood streets. But housing advocates say the changes unfairly target people in shared living spaces, including immigrants. The high cost of housing on the East End often forces friends and co-workers into communal living spaces.

At a public hearing Tuesday at Riverhead Town Hall, housing and immigration advocates opposed the plan. Enforcing the law could lead to invasive inquiries about tenant relations, they said.

The Town of Riverhead has 1,900 rentals and receives 10 to 15 complaints of overcrowding each month, Downs said.

The penalty for violating the proposed rental laws range from $500 to $6,000 or 15 days in jail.

In Riverhead, the median rent is $1,833, according to U.S. census data.

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The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork will hold a public information meeting on “How to Confront Misinformation and Build Trust in the 2024 Election” next Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in the LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Road in Wainscott. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the speakers will be Professors Don Waisanen and Sonia Jarvis of Baruch College/CUNY. A panel discussion will be moderated by Andrea Gabor and will include Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreation Center Executive Director Bonnie Cannon and OLA of Eastern Long Island Executive Director Minerva Perez.

Next Tuesday’s program will explore the role of a trustworthy news media in a democracy, and how to identify and combat mis- and dis-information on the internet, digital platforms, and via AI.

New, original research survey findings will also be presented showing how much “trust in elections” U.S. citizens have in 2024, and what might be done to build civic connections and legitimacy in this environment.

League of Women Voters volunteers will be at the meeting to register voters and provide information and answer questions about this year’s election.

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The owners of the Tuckahoe building that for decades has played host to a series of popular nightclubs — most recently, Club Ultra — have proposed converting the property into a retail cannabis shop.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the proposal has been hesitantly supported by neighbors who, while expressing outrage at the chaotic and slovenly conditions that have swirled around Club Ultra in recent years, said they would welcome the property being converted to a use that has strictly limited hours and security protocols as pot shops do in the State of New York.

“This puts us in the uncomfortable position of either supporting this venture or agreeing to continue with the situation as it stands,” said Maia Yedin, who lives in the Southampton Point development across Tuckahoe Lane from the nightclub property which is just south of County Road 39 next to the only Carvel in Southampton. “[Co-owner John Flanagan] and his team do not deserve this license … but the residents of Southampton Point do. We deserve the peace and quiet and security that the trappings of having a licensed cannabis dispensary across the street promised us. We deserve the increased enforcement that this automatically ensures.”

Yedin and other residents of Southampton Point told stories of the noise from the club shaking their homes in the wee hours of the morning, of sprawling brawls drawing large police responses — including a recent one in which officers drew their guns out of concern about the violence of a fight — and of drunken clubgoers wandering into their neighborhood, using their yards and gardens as bathrooms, breaking windows and even one instance of a bloodied vandal cleansing his wound in the community swimming pool, forcing the cancellation of a 5-year-old’s birthday celebration the next day.

The neighbors told of pleading with the owners of the property — who ran the Tavern nightclub there in the 1990s and early 2000s but have leased it to other operators for the last 15 years.

“Their stance has been: We were here first, too bad for you,” Yedin said.

The New York State Office of Cannabis Management sets firm regulations on the licensing and operation of the nonmedical retail shops — including that they must close by 9 p.m. and must have in-store security.

The Southampton Town Planning Board closed the hearing on the pre-submission conference and will offer guidance to the business at a future meeting.