If you’re reading this online, you most likely already know what a blog is, and probably think this blog is a worthwhile undertaking. However, for my online-only readers I should explain that occasionally The Sag Harbor Express picks up a blog post from here and publishes it as an opinion piece in the print-edition of the paper. Many readers of The Express think of me as an occasional columnist for the paper, and are only marginally aware, if aware at all, that what they read in the paper has a separate life online. This post is for them. …
Posts in ‘2008’
Why Isn’t the Village of Sag Harbor Supporting the Sag Harbor Gateway Study?
It would seem, at first glance, to be a no-brainer. The Southampton Planning Department recently completed a study that recommends changing the zoning of a small area along the Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton Turnpike (the “Gateway” to Sag Harbor) from Highway Business to Hamlet Office. Since this area lies outside the Village’s borders, its zoning is under the control of the Town. …
Is There Poverty in the Hamptons?
I’m taking part in Blog Action Day, which is today, October 15, 2008. On this day, bloggers all over the world are writing on one topic: poverty. Most blogs have a theme — something that serves as the subject matter, or at least background — for all the articles in the blog. Some themes lend themselves more easily to a post on poverty than others. My theme, as you probably know, is the Hamptons, with a focus on Sag Harbor. Poverty, in any form, rarely comes to mind when one discusses the Hamptons, except perhaps as the antithesis of the Sag Hampton lifestyle. This makes writing about poverty a bit of a challenge for me, if I’m going to try to stick to my theme — which I mostly try to do.
So, I thought a little research might be in order to find out if there is any poverty in the Hamptons. Here’s what I found out: ..
Share the Road?
A few weeks ago I included an anecdote about bike paths in one of my posts here on Sag Hampton. It was just an anecdote in an article that was about something else entirely — but I made the point that a bike path could be beneficial in jump starting increased use of bicycles as a means of transportation, in addition to the way they’re mostly used — as a form of recreation. In that post, I did not develop the idea at any length, because — well, the article was about something else. This past weekend though, the need for more bike-friendly roadways was brought home to me in a very powerful way. …
A Simple Question with No Simple Answer
The other day a candidate for political office who lives in a different part of the Town, asked me to fill her in on issues important to Sag Harbor. Easy…many of these issues are among my daily obsessions: development, preservation of open space, protecting the environment, affordable housing, transportation issues, preserving the “character” of the area, and education. I may have missed one or two; feel free to remind me if I did. Anyway, all was going well until she asked me which one was most important. …
Knowing When to Say Maybe
I recently received an e-mail advising me of a meeting to discuss possible developments, including a convenience store, at the Harbor Heights Mobil station on Rt. 114 in Sag Harbor. This e-mail was the first I’d heard of this possibility, and I have not tried to verify any of the information in the message. For all I know the whole thing may be a rumor …
Blog Action Day, Oct. 15
Do you have a blog? If so, you may want to join the blog action day campaign, which will take place on October 15th. This year’s theme is poverty. (Last year’s was the environment.) The idea is to focus the conversation in as many blogs, video blogs and podcasts as possible on that day on the subject of poverty. So, for example, I’ll be writing a post about some aspect of poverty as it relates to Sag Hampton. The Blog Action Day organizers explain their motivation thusly:
Save Sag Harbor (Cinema)
Yikes! This is serious. The Sag Harbor Cinema is for sale. There’s nothing more iconic in Sag Harbor than the Sag Harbor Cinema, the art-house theater that’s been a part of the local scene for decades. Just look at all the fuss that arose when my fellow Sag Harborites thought they were losing the theater’s sign! Now, it seems, we may be in danger of losing the entire theater and …
Not Every Good Idea Is…Well, a Good Idea
Sometimes I get an idea, and at first blush it seems like a world beater. Fortunately, I’m a bit of a procrastinator, so I usually don’t act on these brilliant insights immediately. Usually, over the next few days, I’ll share this idea with friends or colleagues, and they gently (or sometimes not so gently) point out the the things I’ve …
Sag Harbor: Alive, Well and Still Kickin’
Observed in and around Sag Harbor recently:
- More Priuses per block than anywhere else I’ve been;
- Tibetan Monks running programs at the Unitarian Universalist Church and North Haven Village Hall;
- Heavy trunout for meetings of the various Village Boards;
- A rejuvenated public library with more visitors, circulation, programs and joi de vive than ever;
- An Alternative Energy Fair at the Whaling Museum, which also seems pretty spry…
