logo logo logo logo

Opinions

Sag Harbor Express / Editorials / 2208465

Building Community

Editorial Board on Oct 10, 2023

This September presented a busy few weeks in Sag Harbor with Labor Day giving way to HarborFest and, more recently, the Sag Harbor American Music Festival. A village that has seen its fair share of divisive issues in the last few years, and following one of the busiest summer seasons in recent memory, the bustling festival season provided Sag Harbor’s mixed bag of longtime locals and newer residents the chance to come together and bond as a community, enjoy the healing power of live music and remember, once again, what makes this village so special in the first place.

Without doubt, these are changing times locally and in a much bigger picture with troubling national and international news dropping in our laps on an almost daily basis. Here on the East End, the skyrocketing cost of living has led to staff shortages that make running a small business a bigger grind than ever before. Simply surviving the months of July and August, when many businesses must put away enough funds to get through a long offseason, now takes an around-the-clock effort from business owners and managers.

We applaud the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce for moving HarborFest back a week, giving these businesses and the community at large a moment to break following the Labor Day holiday. The festival this year seemed fresh and invigorating. There were more whaleboat teams, more opportunities to celebrate Sag Harbor’s history and crowds that are symbolic of the village’s population demographics. Not present was any sign of “us versus them” — locals against second homeowners, workers against tourists, the affluent against our working class. People came together to celebrate at a festival that remains unique and tied to the region’s important history as a maritime economy that also includes a long and successful period as a whaling port.

The Sag Harbor American Music Festival was also moved back a week this year and had to contend with some inclement weather before a beautiful culminating Sunday afternoon to close out the festival. We at The Sag Harbor Express were thrilled with the return of our alley stage next to our Division Street offices. Marine Park and the freshly landscaped Steinbeck Park were bursting with activity all weekend long, and businesses, especially restaurants, were packed to the gills.

One of the great aspects of both HarborFest and the music festival is they are both supported by businesses — HarborFest through Chamber of Commerce memberships, and the music festival through sponsorships — and both have a reputation for delivering crowds that pour into those same local businesses just as the offseason is getting set to begin. It’s a symbiotic relationship that is the basis for a strong community foundation, and we applaud the organizers, almost all of whom are volunteers, for putting forth the effort.

These festivals are a big part of what makes Sag Harbor so great. And they go a long way to keeping us united, despite what the world throws at us to keep us apart.

You May Also Like:

The Urgency of Real

The Hamptons International Film Festival typically takes up a lot of oxygen in the fall on the South Fork, but it’s worth celebrating a slightly smaller but just as vital event in late autumn: the Hamptons Doc Fest. Running this week for its 18th year, the festival of documentaries was founded by Jacqui Lofaro and has become an essential part of the region’s arts scene every year. It’s a 12-month undertaking for Lofaro and her staff, and the result is always a tantalizing buffet of outstanding filmmaking, not to mention unforgettable stories. The arrival of the era of streaming services ... 10 Dec 2025 by Editorial Board

Hitting Pause

East Hampton’s housing shortage is real; the town can’t afford to ignore any potential long-term solutions. But the recent — and now scrapped — plan for a large employer-run complex on Three Mile Harbor Road raises too many questions that haven’t been fully answered. The proposal, put forward by Kirby Marcantonio and an unnamed partner, would have created 79 units of employer-controlled housing, comparable to a project he has pitched on Pantigo Road. To make it happen, the East Hampton Town Board would have had to allow the project to sidestep the town’s 60-unit limit on affordable developments, and rezone ... by Editorial Board

Proceed With Caution

Overlay districts are a common zoning tool used by many municipalities. Southampton Town has used them to varying degrees of success — the aquifer protection overlay district has been a winner; a downtown overlay district in Hampton Bays less so — in various parts of the town. They essentially look at the existing zoning, then allow those rules governing what can be done on properties to be reconsidered if there’s a newer concern to be addressed. In a bid to clean up the process for creating more affordable housing, the Town Board is looking at a new overlay district that ... by Editorial Board

The Whole Picture

When it comes to evaluating a complex development proposal, splitting up the application into separate parts may seem tempting, especially when environmental uncertainties loom. But in the case of Adam Potter’s plan for 7 and 11 Bridge Street, the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board should resist any temptation to segment the project for review. Potter’s attorney has asked the board to consider the gas ball property at 5 Bridge Street — a site that could provide the 93 parking spaces required for Potter’s 48 residential units and commercial spaces nearby — separate from the main development. The reason is understandable: ... by Editorial Board

Sign the Ban

Pity the poor horseshoe crab. It is, without question, a survivor almost beyond compare. Consider this: There are fossils of the creature dating back 445 million years. Dinosaurs arrived about 200 million to 250 million years ago — which means the time between us and dinosaurs is equal to the time between dinosaurs and the earliest horseshoe crabs. And they’re still here, nearly unchanged. But they finally may have met their match. The American horseshoe crab has “vulnerable” status, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The population faces a whole series of challenges, including sea-level rise, coupled ... 3 Dec 2025 by Editorial Board

Gold Stars and Dunce Caps

⭐️ : To Cami Hatch, for reminding everyone why learning to swim and lifeguard training are important. The East Hampton graduate, now a University of Tennessee student, has been studying in Italy and was visiting Malta recently when she heard a fellow beachgoer whistling. “That whistle unlocked a new mode in my brain. For lifeguards, when you hear a whistle it means, ‘Heads up — get ready to go,’ as Big John and Johnny Ryan have instilled in us over the years,” she said, shouting out her lifeguard instructors. She dove in and saved a foundering Englishman, who was in ... 26 Nov 2025 by Editorial Board

Landmark Status

At the Sag Harbor Cinema on Saturday, a group of admirers came together to pay ... 19 Nov 2025 by Editorial Board

Behind the Masks

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions are taking place across the United States, and not just in urban areas, as we discovered on the South Fork last week. But the most alarming thing about ICE raids is the aggressive nature, and the lack of transparency. Many ICE agents are making arrests while wearing masks — they will say it’s because agents have been harassed personally when they’re identified by the public. But the masks are symbolic of the entire process, which is markedly different from most police actions. When agents from New York City swept through gathering places on November ... 12 Nov 2025 by Editorial Board

Stop the Hunger

Setting aside politics for a moment, the federal government shutdown, now in its fifth week, is having significant consequences. A Washington Post story last week estimated that it will cost the economy up to $14 billion. The Congressional Budget Office says up to 750,000 federal workers are being furloughed or required to work without pay. The impact on air traffic controllers is starting to affect travel just as the holiday season begins. But none of that is as worrisome as the impact on the poorest among us, who are about to see the challenge of simply putting food on the ... 5 Nov 2025 by Editorial Board

Expect Delays

Anyone who commutes east and west on the South Fork daily, or who needs goods or services that come by truck — so, really, everyone — endured several days of stress. New York State and Suffolk County officials were able to find a higher gear than normal to repair Sunrise Highway at the Shinneock Canal, which limited the pain, and for that they are to be commended. By now, everyone is aware: Heavy rains last week caused erosion along the bridge abutments on the northeast side of the canal. Two westbound lanes of the highway were closed for days, with ... by Editorial Board