27Speaks

Suffolk County's Septic Improvement Program grants and similar grants issued by Southampton and East Hampton towns to subsidize nitrogen-reducing innovative/alternative septic systems will no longer be subject to federal income tax, a change that provides long-awaited relief to grant recipients and perhaps encouraging more participation in the future. The IRS announced the move this month in light of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently determining that the grants should be exempt from income tax because they are primarily for the purpose of environmental protection. To discuss the history of the controversy and the implications of the outcome, senior reporter Michael Wright joins the editors on the podcast this week.

Crime is happening here on the East End, especially crimes involving the theft of luxury vehicles. But did you know that these thefts are occurring because owners are leaving their key fobs in the car? Common sense goes a long way in reducing opportunity. This week, police reporter Kitty Merrill and special guests Captain James Kiernan of the Southampton Town Police Department, Chief of Police Christopher Isola and Lt. Daniel Hartman of the Quogue Village Police Department, and (by text message) Det. Sgt. Herman Lamison of the Southampton Village Police Department join the editors to discuss how to avoid being a victim of this and other crimes and scams.

Jay Schneiderman, the current Southampton Town supervisor and a former Suffolk County legislator and East Hampton supervisor, has long had a passion other than politics: music. Recently, a song that Schneiderman wrote in collaboration with Grammy nominee Matt White debuted on an episode of “The Bachelorette” and was heard by some 25 million viewers of the ABC reality show. Schneiderman and White join the editors and reporter Kitty Merrill on the podcast to discuss their musical careers and how they came to work together, and they share a few original songs as well.

Listen to the 27Speaks podcast to whet your appetite for The Express Magazine before digging in to the new issue. It’s the holiday issue, and this week the editors discuss many of the articles and themes within it: heirloom cookie recipes, Greek pastries to raise funds for the Orthodox Church’s philanthropic initiatives, the secret to good gravy, cooking an extra turkey the night before the Thanksgiving feast so there are leftover ready to go for guests, and more.

Residents of the Sag Harbor School District approved, in a 638-521 vote on November 3, a plan to expend $3.28 million in capital reserve funds toward the purchase of five lots on Marsden Street for athletic fields directly across from Pierson Middle High School. But the deal also hinges on the Southampton Town Board agreeing to contribute $6 million from the Community Preservation Fund to the deal. In this week's podcast, the editors and reporter Cailin Riley discuss questions of whether it is an appropriate use of CPF money, why Sag Harbor needs more public recreational space and what would happen if the Town Board does not agree to allocate the funds. While the district has yet to make a decision regarding whether the athletic fields will be grass or artificial turf, the editors discuss the benefits of artificial turf as well as the concerns some parents have about their children using the playing surface.

A decade ago, Superstorm Sandy roared through the New York region. This week, the editors share what it was like to ride the storm out on the East End and share some thoughts on how infrastructure has improved in the region in the years since — or not.

Commuters who are subjected to snail's pace stop-and-go eastbound traffic on the South Fork in the morning and westbound traffic in the p.m. hours got some relief, sporadically, over the past few months with the introduction of blinking yellow light programs that allowed cars to flow through main arteries with fewer red lights to cause backups. Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Charlie McArdle joins the editors on the podcast this week to discuss the methods his department and partner agencies have used to alleviate traffic congestion and the challenges they must overcome to sustain these programs.

Doctors at some of the region's top health networks offered a promising diagnosis of the state and future of treatment for women's cancers on the East End at the first in a series of discussions about the changing face of health care. The Express News Group's Innovating Health Care on the East End series kicked off this month with "Gaining Ground: The Innovations in the Fight Against Women’s Cancers," a Zoom event with Peconic Bay Medical Center Chief of Breast Surgery Dr. Susan Lee, Stony Brook Cancer Center medical oncologist Dr. Jules Cohen, NYU Langone Health medical oncologist Dr. Frances Arena and Coalition for Women's Cancers President Susie Roden. On this week's podcast, the editors share the highlights from the discussion and offer additional context and insights.

The fate of the late Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck's Sag Harbor home hangs in the balance as it sits on the open market. However, an informal coalition of individuals and groups that want to preserve the home as a historic site and writers' retreat is endeavoring to raise the funds to purchase the waterfront property where Steinbeck wrote his final novel, “The Winter of Our Discontent," before a private buyer does. Nada Barry, the proprietor of The Wharf Shop, joins the editors on the podcast this week to share memories from her friendship with Steinbeck and to highlight the significance of his former home.

The massive 185-foot steeple of the First Presbyterian (Old Whalers’) Church in Sag Harbor was the tallest structure on Long Island when built in 1844. But the steeple came down in the Hurricane of 1938 — the victim of a well-intentioned but ill-fated attempt in the early 1900s to shore it up. Now, there’s a vision to rebuild the steeple, this time, with cell towers within that would help pay for its reconstruction and improve communication networks for miles around. Architect Randy Croxton, a member of the church’s Session, joins editors and reporter Stephen J. Kotz to talk about the church’s history, the need for improved cellular service on the East End and the vision for rebuilding the iconic steeple.