27Speaks

John Reilly, a physician assistant from Shelter Island, spent the first half of March on a medical aid mission to Ukraine. As a volunteer with Global Care Force, for two weeks Reilly was part of a medical team that traveled to small towns and tiny villages, delivering routine health care to Ukrainian citizens in the midst of the war with Russia. The experience deeply affected him, and this week, Reilly joined the editors and senior reporter Stephen J. Kotz to talk about what he witnessed during his time in Ukraine and share his insight into what he learned from his first-hand visit to the war zone.

Rock Steady Boxing is a non-contact, boxing-inspired fitness program for people with Parkinson's disease to improve balance, gait and quality of life. Michelle Del Giorno, the owner of Epic Martial Arts in Sag Harbor and the head coach at Rock Steady Boxing Sag Harbor, joins the editors on the podcast to share how, over the past seven years, more than 250 students have passed through the program, a national affiliate taught locally through Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s Center for Parkinson’s Disease at Del Giorno’s dojo and in Hampton Bays with Seth Greiner and Breahna Arnold, as well as on Zoom.

The first 2024 issue of The Express Magazine hits newsstands today. On this week's podcast, the editors and reporter Cailin Riley discuss the stories they worked on for this Home & Garden-themed issue.

To preserve both open space and the South Fork’s tradition of farming, East Hampton Town has made preserved farmland available to budding farmers at an affordable rate. Farmers Isabel Milligan and Nick Collins of Feathertop Farm and reporter Michael Wright join the editors on 27Speaks this week to discuss Feathertop Farm’s first growing season and the benefits of the town’s program.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently completed an $11 million project that widened the beach to protect Montauk properties from rising oceans. Dredging and dumping sand on beaches is expensive, and it’s only a temporary measure — but it remains the preferred strategy, despite the costs. This Express Sessions event on April 4 featured a discussion of beach nourishment, its application on beaches throughout the South Fork, the pluses and minuses, and how regular replenishment can be used both as a short- and long-term strategy, as well as buying time for other approaches, such as coastal retreat.

The Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays, the only wildlife hospital on Eastern Long Island, has a new executive director, Kathleen Mulcahy, the former mayor of Sag Harbor. Mulcahy joins the editors on 27Speaks this week along with rescue center board member Jane Gill and Director of Development Noelle Dunlop to talk about Mulcahy's new job there, the mission of the center and what some of the nonprofit center's needs are.

Giuseppe “Joe” Sciara, the namesake of Uncle Joe's Pizzeria in Hampton Bays, has sold his business — after more than half a century making pizza — to Tana Leigh Gerber and Scott Gerber of Hamptons Brands, who have reopened the Hampton Bays flagship location after an extensive renovation, rebranded a Wading Rover pizzeria as a second Uncle Joe's location and have plans to continuing expanding the Uncle Joe's brand at "red sauce joints."  The Gerbers join the editors on the podcast this week to share their vision for continuing Sciara's legacy.

The Hampton Bays School District has partnered with Teachers Federal Credit Union to launch the Baymen Financial Center at Hampton Bays High School. The financial center on school property will provide students with access to an array of resources, including financial literacy, banking services for savings, deposits and withdrawals, and possible career pathways. Hampton Bays Superintendent of Schools Lars Clemensen joins the editors on the podcast this week to discuss the benefits of bank access and financial literacy.

With 10 acres of tribe-owned land off Sunrise Highway being cleared for a possible travel plaza, which would feature a retail shop and tax-free gasoline pumps, the Shinnecock Nation continues forward with a list of economic development activities. Not far away are the two "monuments" — roadside electronic billboards bringing in advertising revenue. Little Beach Harvest recently opened the first nation-owned marijuana dispensary on Shinnecock territory. Other developments on the table include a cannabis growing facility, and perhaps a spa, as well as a gaming facility. Shinnecock business leaders speak on their vision of the future, and the impact the new revenue is having — and with local leaders speak on their response to a new era for the Shinnecock Nation.

Scammers are constantly changing their tactics and finding novel ways to rip people off. To alert South Fork residents about common scams — over the phone, via email and social media and more — Southampton Town Police Chief James Kiernan joins the editors and reporter Tom Gogola on the podcast this week.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently completed the bolstering of downtown Montauk’s oceanfront beaches with more than 500,000 tons of sand after just under three weeks of 24/7 work by crews aboard the giant hopper dredge Ellis Island and dozens of on-shore engineers. Reporter Michael Wright joins the editors to discuss the scope of the project and what to expect now that it's complete.

New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor will retire at the end of his term, which means he will have represented the South Fork in Albany for just shy of 30 years when he's done. He also served time in office as Southampton Town supervisor and Suffolk County legislator. Thiele joins the editors and reporter Stephen J. Kotz on the podcast this week to discuss what he's accomplished during his time in public service and the challenges that the East End continues to face.

Real estate market analyst Jonathan Miller of appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. recently joined editors to discuss the state of real estate in the Hamptons and where it’s headed in 2024. Miller, the author of the Elliman Report for Douglas Elliman, has long watched the Hamptons market as well as New York City and many luxury markets across the United States. He noted trends seen nationally and on the East End specifically.

This school year, Pierson High School instituted a new cellphone policy that requires students to put their phones away in locked bags, called Yondr pouches, at the beginning of the school day. The phones stay in the pouches until the security team unlocks them at the end of the day. On this week's podcast, report Cailin Riley joins the editors to discuss how the policy is working out, what other school districts are doing, and the benefits and detriments of no-phone policies in schools.

More than a quarter million people crossed the southern border into the United States in December 2023, a new record. Among the volunteers who were on the American side to provide aid to new arrivals were Elissa McLean and Andy Winter of Noyac. This week, the editors talk to the couple to learn about their experience and interaction with migrants at the border.

The Express News Group hosted its latest Express Sessions live event, "Can the Winter Be Brisk for Businesses in East Hampton?" on February 1 at Rowdy Hall in Amagansett with East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, The Anchor Society founder Bess Rattray, Honest Man Restaurant Group owner Mark Smith and Hal Zwick, the director of commercial real estate at Compass Hamptons. Traditionally, merchants in East Hampton Town and its villages make their money in the busy summer season, then have various strategies for riding out the other half of the year — some stay open to serve locals, others close up shop altogether. But the town has a healthy full-time community, has become more of a year-round destination for part-time residents and the newly formed Greater East Hampton Chamber of Commerce has emerged to help serve and unite the town’s business community. Filling the empty storefronts in the winter could be good for shoppers — and possibly for business owners as well. ' Another part of this conversation is exploring new ideas to replace pulling up the stakes in winter, with a special focus on a new charitable organization, the Anchor Society, and its vision of creating “winter shops” in the typically vacant storefront spaces.

At least two dozen applications for cannabis licenses for retail dispensaries in Southampton Town, mainly along Route 27 and Country Road 39, have been filed with the New York State Office of Cannabis Management. Most of these locations are likely placeholders for applicants who don’t need to have a lease or own a prospective building in order to apply for a license. This week, the editors and reporter Tom Gogola discuss what it all means, what might happen next in the process and how many of these applicants might be successful in their efforts.

Brenda Simmons and Dr. Georgette Grier-Key of the Southampton African American Museum and reporter Cailin Riley join the editors on the podcast this week to discuss the Hamptons Civil Rights Back Story audio tour, which includes four “stops,” each with a narrated audio segment, as well as photos, exploring an aspect of Black history in the area. The project is available on the TravelStorys app.

A proposed senior center for the Town of East Hampton comes with a $31.6 million price tag, and the Town Board is considering exercising its right to exempt itself from zoning and move the senior center forward without regulatory review. Some skeptics have spoken up recently to urge the town to take a more measured approach, legally and financially, and make sure everything they are proposing is justifiable and done smartly. Reporter Michael Wright joins the editors on the podcast this week to discuss the project and where it stands.

Since 1963, a sprawling 84-acre stretch of Shinnecock Hills has had a college presence, first as Southampton College, then, starting in 2006, as the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University. Over the years, some things have stayed the same — the campus is a focal point for marine science and a bastion of the arts — but the vision for its future has varied. Today, Stony Brook has plans to build a new $300 million hospital on the site, which could spark a new era for the campus. In the meantime, the condition of some buildings have critics crying foul and worrying about Stony Brook's vision — or lack thereof. Several key leaders from the Stony Brook University administration joined Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., a key critic of the state of the campus, State Senator Anthony Palumbo, and former U.S. Representative Tim Bishop, a former Southampton College provost, to discuss the present and future of Stony Brook Southampton.