27Speaks

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...

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.