East End Beacon

06/05/2026

Greenport Village Trustee Mary Bess Phillips writes in this week in rebuttal to Kelly Ferraro's opinion piece on parking in the village:

"Paid parking is not the cause of our challenges — those are structural and longstanding," she writes. "What paid parking does is ensure turnover, reduce congestion, and fund the infrastructure that keeps this village functioning for residents, workers, and visitors alike."

by Mary Bess Phillips Kelly Ferraro’s recent opinion piece raises concerns worth discussing, but many of its central claims are not supported by Greenport’s history, our data, or the lived reality of those who actually manage this village day to day. Because the article presents assumptions as c...

06/05/2026

This week's letters: How much polishing can a tree code require? ... and lessons from Port Jeff on paid parking.

We love letters! Email them to [email protected] with "LTE" in the subject line.

How Much Polishing Does A Tree Code Require? As with so much in Southold Town government, progress seems measured not in months but in years. I was encouraged to read "Southold Sets Zoning Priorities" in the June EEB and to learn that the town plans to update the zoning code in manageable pieces rat...

06/05/2026

Morning Bulletin: Greenport Parking, Dog Dock Diving, A Day for the Bay and History, Pancakes for Scholarships

Greenport Parking, Dog Dock Diving, A Day for the Bay and History, Pancakes for Scholarships Good Morning! • We're expecting mostly sunny skies today, with a high temperature near 90 degrees and a light and variable wind becoming west around 6 miles per hour. An air quality alert is in effect toda...

06/04/2026

Opinion: Greenport Can’t Park Its Way Into Prosperity

By Kelly Ferraro Greenport has long been one of the East End’s great small-town destinations. It has history, character, a working waterfront, restaurants, shops, galleries, the Shelter Island ferry, and the kind of walkable village center many communities wish they had. But charm is not a busines...

06/03/2026

Breaking Down Borders, For Birds and For People

North Fork Audubon has built a bridge this winter between its headquarters in Greenport and a preservation group in the mountainous Central American nation of Honduras, which is preserving the winter habitat of many birds you are hearing here today.

Photographer and wildlife biologist Mary Bertschi (pictured with Baltimore orioles!) documented their visit to Honduras this winter, and her photographs were unveiled at North Fork Audubon’s annual meeting Tuesday evening.

Find Out More at eastendbeacon.com (link in bio) or here: https://www.eastendbeacon.com/breaking-down-borders-for-birds-and-for-people/

06/03/2026

Riverhead Votes to Proceed with Science Center Condemnation

In a 3-1 vote Tuesday afternoon (Councilman Bob Kern abstained), the Riverhead Town Board voted to proceed with condemnation proceedings against a building owned by the Long Island Science Center adjacent to the planned Town Square on East Main Street. Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin cast the sole vote in opposition.

Read more at eastendbeacon.com (link in bio) or here: https://www.eastendbeacon.com/riverhead-votes-to-proceed-with-science-center-condemnation/

06/03/2026

Morning Bulletin: A Livable Downtown Greenport, Southold’s New Plan for Cochran Park, Calverton RAB To Meet Virtually June 9:

A Livable Downtown Greenport, Southold's New Plan for Cochran Park, Calverton RAB To Meet Virtually June 9 Good Morning! • We're expecting sunny skies today, with a high temperature near 82 degrees and a light and variable wind, becoming east around 5 miles per hour in the afternoon. It will be cl...

06/02/2026

After Not Receiving Grant, Southold Makes New Plans To Remove Cochran Park Hockey Rink & Add Bathrooms

After Southold Town missed the deadline to apply for a grant for major renovations of Jean Cochran Park on Peconic Lane, the town is now looking into a phased plan to refresh the park in-house — including the removal of a cracked, underutilized roller hockey rink, allowing more room for soccer fields, and the installation of a bathroom.

Read more at eastendbeacon.com (link in bio) or here: https://www.eastendbeacon.com/after-not-receiving-grant-southold-makes-new-plans-to-remove-cochran-park-hockey-rink-add-bathrooms/

06/02/2026

Greenport Architects Share Potential Future for Livable Downtown

This winter, a group of Greenport architects has embarked on a bold thought experiment — envisioning what this little village would look like if it made space for hundreds more people to live downtown.

This winter, a group of Greenport architects has embarked on a bold thought experiment — envisioning what this little village would look like if it made space for hundreds more people to live downtown. The group, organized by Greenport Affordable & Workforce Housing Committee member Frank Mackin, ...

06/02/2026

Morning Bulletin: Erosion and Our Future, Mosquito Spraying, Governments Get to Work

Erosion and Our Future, Mosquito Spraying, Governments Get to Work Good Morning! • We're expecting patchy fog before 7 a.m. today, with otherwise sunny skies, with a high temperature near 76 degrees and a northwest wind 5 to 11 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 21 mph. It will be partly cloudy...