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Particle pollution in New York City decreased significantly since congestion pricing tolls went into effect in January and had a "spillover" benefit to Long Island, researchers at Cornell University found — a result that proponents cited as a significant success for the program. The effects were found not just within the congestion zone below 60th Street in Manhattan, but in all five boroughs and, to a lesser extent, the surrounding metropolitan region. Timothy Fraser, the lead author of the study, told Newsday that particle pollution on Long Island declined by nearly 10% as drivers changed their routes or took public transportation. That improvement in air quality was almost exactly the same as in the outer boroughs.

Tracy Tullis reports in NEWSDAY that New York City was the first in the United States to introduce tolls to reduce gridlock and air pollution and raise funds for its public transportation agency, a strategy that has been implemented in London, Milan, Stockholm and Singapore. The rules went into effect in January after decades of study and in spite of vigorous opposition from officials in suburban New Jersey and Long Island. Opponents have argued that the toll — $9 for most vehicles driving in the zone during peak hours — would add an additional expense for a region struggling with its high cost of living. Contrary to expectations, the tolls have not diverted car and truck traffic, and their emissions, to the outer boroughs.

Congestion pricing has faced opposition from the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation which rescinded federal approval for it earlier this year. But a federal judge in June imposed a preliminary injunction keeping the program alive.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a press event yesterday that the program has been "wildly successful." Since the program began, 20 million fewer cars have entered the zone, Hochul said. For those who do drive, she added, "coming from Long Island and the Hudson Valley, your ride is faster."

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A New York State Supreme Court Justice has sided with a Greenport hotel that had been denied an application for a 14-room expansion by the Southold Town Zoning Board of Appeals. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that North Road Hotel LLC, the owners of the property doing business as the Hotel Moraine on Route 48 in Greenport, filed an Article 78 proceeding on May 20, 2025 against the Town of Southold’s Zoning Board of Appeals, stating the April 2025 denial of their application for a lot area variance and special exception permit for the additional rooms was “illegal, arbitrary and capricious.” The hotel had been planning to build a new building, which would contain ten of the units, and expand an existing building by four units. This project was exempt from a townwide moratorium on new hotel development in effect through June of 2026. In his Nov. 17 decision, Justice James F. Matthews agreed that the ZBA’s determinations “were arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion due to the lack of evidentiary basis to support its findings, which are internally inconsistent in numerous respects.” The town appealed the decision on Nov. 19, and on Dec. 2, the Southold Town Board approved the hiring of the firm Devitt, Spellman, Barrett, LLP to act as Special Counsel in its appeal.

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The North Fork Community Theatre Holiday Concerts are this weekend on Saturday at 6:30 pm and Sunday at 2:30 pm with free admission to these performances. The North Fork Community Theatre is on Old Sound Avenue in Mattituck.

The public is welcome to join NFCT for a free holiday concert and open house tomorrow and Sunday.

Following the open house and family activities, Dina Mondello will lead a talented group of musicians to bring you seasonal and...

Three years ago, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended New York join most of the rest of the country by closing a gap in state law that advocates say permits drugged drivers to walk free. At a Manhattan symposium yesterday, prosecutors and state lawmakers said 2026 could be the year.

Nicholas Spangler reports in NEWSDAY that New York is one of just four states — the others are Alaska, Florida and Massachusetts — to require law enforcement to name the drug and for it to be on a statutorily established list of controlled substances before they can charge someone with driving under the influence.

While alcohol remains the leading cause of impaired driving, drugged driving is a growing threat, according to the NTSB. State data showed about a quarter of Long Island’s fatal crashes had a “drug-involved driver” in 2023. Authorities in Nassau and Suffolk and across New York have called the state’s current approach unwieldy as law enforcement officers encounter drivers under the influence of synthetic drugs like bromazolam, xylazine and propofol, along with hundreds of more obscure varieties that are created every year.

“We now have synthetic drugs, created in labs, continually being changed and peddled on our streets,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told those gathered for Wednesday’s symposium including families of people killed in crashes with drugged drivers. A bill now in the NYS Legislature, introduced last March but amended this week, would expand the legal basis of intoxication from alcohol to other drugs, including those not on the state list or those not able to be identified.

Hundreds of new drugs are created every year, Tierney said. “There is no list that could hope to keep up.”

The proposed legislation would update state law on field testing for drugged driving to include the use of tests that screen for multiple types of drugs and make refusal to take a test a traffic infraction.

Earlier versions of the bill failed to pass in the 2021-22 and 2023-24 legislative sessions.

Tierney said the current version, sponsored by state Sen. Christopher Ryan, a Democrat, who represents a district outside Syracuse, includes “safeguards” that could ease passage this time. They include an exception to the bill for drivers having a medical emergency or allergic reaction and a provision requiring collection of data on the number of stops, arrests and convictions made under the bill, along with demographic data, which Tierney said would be analyzed to determine whether minority motorists are subject to an inordinate number of traffic stops.

The bill also includes a five-year sunset clause, which Tierney said would give lawmakers an opportunity to review its effectiveness.

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The Pierson High School doors were opened to parents and residents on Tuesday night for a community forum meant to inform them about an upcoming vote on a bond referendum, scheduled for January 22, 2026, that would fund a large-scale $40 million facilities improvement project. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that if approved, the bond will allow the district to greatly enhance multiple learning environments at the school and create new ones for students, while also presenting new opportunities for the community at large.

The projected average monthly cost to Sag Harbor homeowners is $7.37 over the life of the 30-year bond. The project would allow for the building of a new high school gymnasium, to replace the current gym, which has not been upgraded since it was built in 1967; a new and improved space for the school’s Robotics Club, which is currently housed in a windowless basement room that was formerly a closet; a brand new marine science lab, a facility that has been present for years at nearby schools like Southampton and Westhampton Beach; additional classroom space for musical instruction, which is currently lacking; an...

In a second try vote yesterday Montauk School District residents voted to approve renovations to Montauk School by passing a pair of referendums – one for a $34.8 million bond, the other for a $2.9 million savings expenditure. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the former passed in a vote of 508-262, and voters approved the latter in a vote of 546-160, both of which mean turnout was about 100 voters higher than in the spring, when the community sunk a $38 million bond in a vote of 361-318 and the same $2.9 million savings expenditure in a vote of 342-334. When that measure failed earlier this year, school district officials regrouped and ironed out the more modest $34.8 million plan, which they said was a better overall plan, even outside the cost reduction. Now passed, district officials have the green light to pursue a string of renovations, which will entail a new gymnasium, HVAC upgrades and the removal of a set of portable classrooms – essentially double-wide trailers – that date back to the 1970s and are at least 20 years past their expected lifespan. Next will be the planning phases, and Montauk School District Superintendent Josh Odom said the community will continue to be involved in that conversation, which will see officials work out the nuts and bolts of the renovations before they send plans up to the state for approval. Then the project will go to bid, and during a series of workshops in the weeks leading up to the vote, Odom said he hopes to see construction begin in advance of the school’s 100th anniversary in 2027, with completion ideally coming in 2028.

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Heavy tree-clearing equipment rolled onto the roughly 4.13-acre lot on Marsden Street in Sag Harbor last week to prepare the site for the construction of four houses proposed by developer Matthew Pantofel and approved by the Sag Harbor Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review earlier this year.

Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that Pantofel bought the property right across the street from Pierson High School, which had already been subdivided into four lots, from its owner, Pat Trunzo, after voters turned down a proposal to purchase the land for the Sag Harbor School District in May 2023. He and his representatives appeared before the board several times over several months, tweaking the designs of the four large houses he wanted to build on the site. In the end, despite the objection of several neighbors, the board approved all four houses, as well as a landscaping plan for the entire site that allowed Pantofel to remove virtually every tree on the property in exchange for replanting with trees and shrubs. Sag harbor Village Mayor Tom Gardella said he “was horrified about what happened” when he drove past the site last week. He added that his daughter had seen a large number of squirrels running around the property “in a panic” after numerous trees were knocked down. But he added that the development of the property was largely a done deal after Southampton Town backed away from a plan to spend $6 million from the Community Preservation Fund to purchase the property with the school district, and voters rejected a referendum that the school district put up on its own. “What was the alternative?” he asked. “What did they think was going to happen?”

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The Peconic Baykeeper and the Peconic Estuary Partnership host their monthly Watershed Walk at the Seal Haul Out Trail at Montauk Point this coming Friday at 10 a.m. You’re invited to join Peconic Baykeeper and Peconic Estuary Partnership for their fourth year of the Winter Watershed Walk Series! Friday’s walk features four new and different locations around the Peconic Estuary. This is a great chance to learn more about the coastal habitats in the watershed. Walks are open to all ages, please register ahead of time so we may contact you in the event of a cancellation or rescheduling. This event is...

U.S. tariffs on imports of artificial Christmas trees have led to higher retail prices and more consumers reusing the artificial trees they already have at home or buying real trees, which generally are cheaper than artificial trees, retailers said. The retail costs of artificial trees and other holiday décor have increased by 10% to 15% this year, according to Jami Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association. There is a 30% tariff on imports of artificial Christmas trees from China, which accounts for 87% of the artificial trees sold in the United States, she said.

The price of a small, basic artificial tree will range from about $60 to $100 this year, while a standard artificial tree, at 6½ or 7 feet tall, will be $150 to $250.

A pre-lit artificial tree with realistic foliage, fullness or extra features will run from $250 to $500, Warner said.

Tory N. Parrish reports in NEWSDAY that most of the Christmas trees Americans purchase — 83% — are artificial.

Most real Christmas trees sold in the United States are grown here, with Oregon being the top-producing state, said Marsha Gray, executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board, a Michigan-based promotional group funded by Christmas tree growers in North America.

It’s too soon to know whether there will be a huge surge in sales of real trees due to the tariffs on artificial trees, she said.

"I think a lot of my industry is hopeful that they see that ... but until the numbers are really crunched, it’s hard to know. But I think our industry is prepared for a strong season," she said.

But wholesale tree growers have indicated that they don’t intend to raise prices this year.

A survey of 43 wholesale growers, representing at least half the U.S. real Christmas tree market, found that 84% do not plan to raise wholesale prices for the upcoming season, according to the Real Christmas Tree Board's annual survey released in September.

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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is set to announce his bid for New York governor today — facing off against Rep. Elise Stefanik for the GOP nomination. Craig McCarthy and Vaughn Golden report in THE NY POST that Blakeman is expected to formally declare his candidacy this morning, following weeks of speculation over whether the Long Island pol, a longtime friend of President Trump, would take the fight to Stefanik, a prominent White House ally.

“Bruce will focus on making Empire State more affordable and safer while putting New York first,” a source told THE POST.

Speculation has been swirling over whether Trump will weigh in on the race and endorse a Republican nominee in next year’s primary to face off against Democrat incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Asked if he’d support either one of his allies, Stefanik or Blakeman, yesterday, Trump stayed neutral.

“She’s great. He’s also great,” he said.

“Well, I’ll think about it,” Trump added when asked whether he would endorse either gubernatorial hopeful.

“He’s great and she’s great. They’re both great people. We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party,” Trump said. Congresswoman Stefanik has been scrambling to consolidate support amongst party bigwigs since Blakeman first publicly revealed he was seriously considering throwing his hat in the ring after he handily won reelection as Nassau County executive last month.

Early polling shows that Stefanik is a clear early favorite over Blakeman in a GOP primary. Stefanik’s team immediately went on the offensive last night, accusing the Nassau exec of working with Democrats and running to stroke his ego. “Bruce has no shot and is putting his raging ego first and New Yorkers last as he blows up the best opportunity in a generation to Save New York,” Stefanik campaign spokesperson Bernadette Breslin wrote in a statement.

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Students, civic groups,...

During his daily commute to Ronkonkoma over the years, Melville resident Jeff Redelman has seen a steady rise of drivers speeding, following too closely and weaving between lanes. But he said he hasn't seen enough drivers pulled over. "There's never any enforcement," he said, adding he notices far more police whenever he travels upstate to visit his daughter in Binghamton. Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that experts generally agree police enforcement is an essential part of ensuring traffic safety, along with better infrastructure, road design and education. A Newsday analysis found for years, police in Suffolk County have issued significantly fewer dangerous-driving tickets than other parts of New York when adjusted for traffic, though their numbers have been rising. Commissioner Kevin Catalina of the Suffolk County police — the largest police department in the county, whose roughly 2,500 officers patrol the five western towns — said he has made traffic enforcement a priority since taking the lead of the department earlier this year. He's expanded the highway patrol 30% and told all officers that traffic enforcement is important for career advancement, he said. Suffolk regularly leads the state in total traffic fatalities, and although deaths have been falling after surging during the pandemic, total crashes have remained roughly steady and serious injuries have increased, both in Suffolk and statewide. Catalina said he doesn’t believe Newsday’s comparison of ticketing in Suffolk to other areas is appropriate because every place has a unique roadway system and a different balance between traffic safety and broader public safety needs. “I think what we need to do is compare Suffolk County to Suffolk County,” he said, adding that his department's year-to-date ticketing numbers in 2025 are up more than one-third above the same period in 2024 for speeding and aggressive driving. "I think we're certainly going in the right direction."

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The Suffolk County Water Authority has deemed itself exempt from local review of its proposed North Fork Pipeline, as Southold Town officials announced Tuesday that the town plans to hold its own “Monroe Balancing Test” on whether the easternmost portion of the project should be subject to local review. A Monroe Balancing Test is a nine-point test to determine whether a large project should be exempt from review by local land use boards. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the Town of Riverhead has already conducted its own Monroe Balancing Test on Phase 1 of the project, an 8.5-mile stretch of pipeline under roads that are primarily in Riverhead Town, and found in October that the project was not exempt from local review, setting the town in direct conflict with the Water Authority’s position. The Suffolk County Water Authority found in favor of itself in its own Monroe Balancing Test on Nov. 20, issuing a resolution that “SCWA is immune from zoning and land use regulations, including, but not limited to the towns of Southampton, Riverhead and Southold in connection with the project,” according to a resolution posted on its North Fork Pipeline webpage. “The Suffolk County Water Authority has adopted a Monroe determination confirming that the North Fork Water Main Project is not subject to local zoning,” according to a statement provided to The Beacon by the Water Authority yesterday. “Public authorities are specifically designed to carry out critical infrastructure work efficiently and without municipal obstruction and imposing local zoning requirements can delay a project that directly affects public health and water reliability. SCWA, in performing its essential governmental function, has clear statutory authority to construct and operate water supply facilities, and longstanding case law supports this position. We are moving forward to ensure the delivery of reliable, high quality drinking water to our customers on the North Fork.”...

Over 15,000 cubic yards of sand later, the Ditch Plains dune restoration in Montauk approaches completion this week. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that a highly anticipated project, the dune restoration is the second of a two-phase undertaking that began last year intended to rebuild the area’s dune after chronic erosion and storms dwindled the beach and the dune to the point of near-nonexistence.

“The beach itself was reduced down to what everybody calls the hard pan, the clay lens that is part of the geologic formations out there,” said Assistant Town Planning Director Brian Frank. “So, you had a thin veneer of sand left, and if that area were left to recover naturally, I’m not really sure how long it would take, if ever.”

The first phase, completed last year, saw the placement of 5,800 cubic yards of Department of Environmental Conservation-approved white sand intended to provide a safe recreational beach for the summer.

Started last month, the second phase addresses the dunes, which protect the surrounding neighborhood from breaches, flooding and damages to infrastructure, and entailed the placement of up to 20,000 cubic yards of sand along approximately 2,200 feet of shoreline. Having come in with a bid of $1.21 million in October, Bistrian Materials is conducting the work. A substantial portion of the total cost was covered by state grants.

“It is supposed to protect the structures behind there,” said East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys. “It is a barricade. It is not the cure-all.”

For the past few weeks, trucks lined the beach, as one shuttled sand on the beach, which others then formed into the mold of the engineered dune, and as of Monday, Bistrian Materials had laid down 15,000 cubic yards of sand.

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Tonight at 7 p.m. is the holiday lighting of The Big Duck in Flanders. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that you should get there early if you want to find a parking spot for this event that brings out the whole community, with caroling, warm refreshments and the ever-anticipated arrival of Santa Claus via a Flanders Fire Truck.

The Big Duck is a ferro-cement style building in the shape of a duck, located in Flanders. It was originally built in 1931 by duck farmer Martin Maurer and used as a shop to sell ducks, dairy, and duck eggs. It was added to both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1997. It is a principal building on the Big Duck Ranch, listed on the NRHP and NYSRHP in 2008.

Once again tonight at 7 p.m. the annual ceremony to light the Holiday Big Duck happens in Flanders featuring carolers, refreshments, and the Flanders Fire Truck delivery of Santa Claus!

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The Village of Westhampton Beach will host its annual Christmas Tree and Menorah Lighting Celebration on the Village Green this coming Saturday evening, December 6, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. As posted on 27east.com, at 6 p.m. Saturday, the Westhampton Beach Fire Department will escort Santa to the Green, joining decorated fire trucks from neighboring departments in a festive parade of lights down Main Street. The trucks will leave the Westhampton Beach firehouse at 5:45 p.m., travel south on Sunset Avenue to Hansen Place and then left onto Potunk Lane before proceeding to Main Street toward the Village Green, where Santa will greet children of all ages from Westhampton Beach and beyond.

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Some East End residents rallying behind a woman arrested after trying to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from detaining a man in Westhampton say they have a message for her: We’ve got your back. Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that the residents started an online fundraising campaign that has raised thousands of dollars. They also are sending messages of solidarity to Tamara Mayorga-Wong, 57, who faces charges of obstructing a federal...

President Donald Trump’s order to pause all asylum applications will hit Long Island especially hard because the region has among the largest number of applicants nationwide, immigration attorneys told Newsday yesterday, calling the move an attack on a fundamental American tradition of welcoming the persecuted. Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that Trump ordered the pause after the shooting of two National Guard troops — including one who died — on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan national who received asylum in April. The president also said he would permanently pause immigration from certain countries.

"I’m tremendously disturbed by what’s going on," Patrick Young, an immigration law professor at Hofstra Law School, said of President Trump’s asylum order.

While acknowledging the shooting of the National Guard troops was "horrible," Young said there are "hundreds of thousands of people in the New York area who have asylum who've not engaged in this type of abuse, have not engaged in murder or assassination. To simply tie all of them together and to prevent them from pursuing their rights under both U.S. law and also international law is very, very concerning."

Trump made the asylum announcement on Thursday, a day after the shootings.

All immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications from Afghanistan also were put on hold by the administration.

Lauris Wren, head of the Asylum Clinic at Hofstra Law School, said Trump’s pause is "heart-wrenching" for her clients, who were already facing delays in their cases of as many as eight years.

"The vast majority of asylum seekers are law-abiding people desperately trying to find safety," Wren said. "It’s not right for the actions of one man to stop the entire asylum process."

Long Island is among the top 10 areas in the country for asylum applicants, Young and Wren said. The highest numbers come from El Salvador and Honduras, but there are others from Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela in Latin America alone, Wren said. Her clinic also has clients from Angola, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Mali and other countries.

While there are no hard numbers, there are probably tens of thousands of current asylum applicants on Long Island, according to Wren and Ala Amoachi, an immigration attorney based in East Islip. Many migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization apply for asylum, Amoachi said.

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The December 2024 indictment of Southampton contractor Robert Terry and his Riverhead-based company, Terry Contracting & Materials on prevailing wage law violations and related charges has been dismissed in its entirety by Suffolk County Supervising Judge Richard Ambro. Denise Civiletti reports on RIVERHEADLOCAL.com that Terry and his company were indicted for Willful Failure to Pay the Prevailing Wage Rate, and other related charges, for allegedly misclassifying his employees’ work categories on certified payrolls, shorting workers more than $83,000, on a public works contract for the Davis Park Marina Improvement project in the Town of Brookhaven. Ambro ruled in a decision signed Oct. 16.

Terry’s attorney. Michael Cornacchia, said it is significant that Judge Ambro found there was a lack of evidence to prove that Bob Terry, or his company committed any crimes or had any intent to do so. “My family and I always believed in our system of justice, and our belief was borne out by Judge Ambro’s decision,” Terry said in a statement released last week. “We are thankful that the truth has finally come out that my company and I did not commit any crimes and are innocent of the now dismissed charges. We are grateful to our many clients, employees and friends who stood by us during this challenging period. We look forward to continuing to serve our community as a reliable and principled employer,” he said.

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The East Hampton...

As New Yorkers scroll, surf and search their way to digital deals on Cyber Monday they have certain unique protections.

Last month, New York became the first state to enact a law targeting a practice, typically called personalized pricing or surveillance pricing, in which retailers use artificial intelligence and customers’ personal data to set prices online.

Tim Balk reports in THE NY TIMES that the law aims to prevent retailers from ripping off unwitting customers by abusing their data: jacking up the price of jeans for a shopper with a history of buying expensive pants, say, or lifting hotel prices for a traveler who already splurged on airline tickets.

Enacted through the NYS budget, the law requires retailers that use personalized pricing to post the following disclosure: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.”

The law attracted criticism and litigation from the start. Some business interests say it is far too broad and will cause confusion. And some consumers’ rights groups, who sought an outright ban of the practice, which is also called algorithmic pricing, worry the law is too narrow to meaningfully protect all shoppers from price-gouging.

But just about everyone seems to agree that the law…which in October survived a challenge in federal court…is a significant step in the nationwide push to regulate how businesses use their customers’ data.

There are bills pending in at least 10 states that would either ban personalized pricing outright or require disclosures, like New York. State lawmakers in California, a hotbed of A.I. development and regulation, and federal lawmakers in Washington are considering broad bans on the practice.

The push comes as technological advancements have drastically changed the internet and digital marketplace.

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A Riverhead man is facing a DWI charge following a crash on County Road 104 Saturday night, Southampton Town Police said yesterday. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Southampton Town Police and New York State Police responded to a motor vehicle collision with injuries Saturday at about 7:45 p.m., according to a Southampton Town Police press release. Responding officers found three vehicles involved in the crash, resulting in multiple people being injured.

Four people were transported by ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center and a fifth person was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash. Police did not provide information about the nature of the injuries. Ambulances from Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance, Westhampton Beach Ambulance and East Quogue Fire Rescue responded, along with the Flanders Fire Department to assist the injured and safeguard the collision scene. Southampton Police detectives and the New York State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit and Forensic Identification Unit responded to investigate the crash, police said. The road remained closed in both directions until shortly after midnight.

Police said that Erik A. Yatvelasquez, 22, of Riverhead, had been arrested and is being charged with Driving While Intoxicated.

The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the Southampton Town Police Department Detective Division at 631-702-2230, police said.

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Get ready for a magical holiday moment like no other! The Village of East Hampton has confirmed with the North Pole that Santa Claus is making his grand entrance at Herrick Park—by helicopter!

You are invited to be there this coming Saturday on December 6th at 11:00 AM as Santa touches down in style to spread Christmas cheer. Bring your family and friends to watch this exciting arrival and kick off the holiday season with fun and festivities! This is a FREE event, and all are welcome!

Holiday Treats for Kids

Festive Music...