Stony Brook Medicine will open a freestanding emergency department in East Hampton, the only ER between Southampton and Montauk. First responders expect the emergency department will make it easier to help patients in a timely fashion. in the summer, East Hampton's population swells from fewer than 30,000 year-round residents to more than 100,000 people, according to the town supervisor’s office. Montauk Highway, the area's main road, is often clogged with traffic, making it hard to get anywhere fast — especially in an emergency. Lee Meyer reports in NEWSDAY that emergency medical technicians on the East End — most of whom are volunteers — often navigate those delays to get patients to Southampton Hospital, or in more severe cases, Stony Brook University Hospital. The influx of seasonal residents adds to emergency call volume and response times.

The new emergency department, a freestanding facility located at 400 Pantigo Place in East Hampton that will be operated by Southampton Hospital, is awaiting approval from the NYS Department of Health. Officials expect it to open later this spring.

It was conceived to improve access to emergency care and reduce ambulance response and travel times in a community where people now have to drive 30 minutes or more to reach the nearest ER.

By comparison, a 2024 report commissioned by New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) found that the statewide average for EMS call time — the duration from 911 call to hospital admission — was about 14 minutes.

The idea for the facility was proposed by Southampton Hospital a decade ago, according to the Southampton Hospital Foundation. After securing town approval, the hospital launched a capital campaign in 2019. That effort was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foundation ultimately raised $30 million from more than 500 donors and received a $10 million state grant, according to a foundation spokesperson. Construction began in 2023 and finished late last year.

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Sag Harbor Village Mayor Tom Gardella reminds village residents and visitors alike that new paid parking regulations have gone into effect for two parking lots in the Village of Sag Harbor. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that the new rules adopted by the Village Board late last year will require non-residents to register with the ParkMobile app and pay to park in the lots at 5 Bridge Street, which is commonly known as the “gas ball” lot, and in the lot at 51 Meadow Street, which is just south of the village post office lot. The first hour of parking is free, but the second and third hour cost $4 each. The fourth hour is $6, and the fifth hour is $8. Sag Harbor Village residents or those who own property in the village will be eligible to apply for two free parking permits that will waive the new fees and allow them to park for as long as four hours in either lot. People who live outside the village, but in the Sag Harbor Fire District and School District, will be eligible to purchase up to two passes for $15 each that will also waive the fees. Both Sag Harbor Village residents and those who live in the fire and school districts will be able to purchase one additional permit for $15. “It’s going to start to be enforced,” Mayor Gardella said. “I’m not going to say they will be out there every day, but we are going to start to enforce it on a discretionary basis.” Regular enforcement will likely begin around Memorial Day weekend when traffic control officers are working regular shifts, he said.

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Tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. Ellen K. Pikitch, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University will present her lecture “What lies beneath: unveiling changing biodiversity in New York’s First Hope Spot during more than a decade of restoration”.

This Lecture will take place in-person in Duke Lecture Hall, which is located inside Chancellor’s Hall on the SBU Southampton campus. This event is free.

Dr. Pikitch will discuss the long-term fisheries study that reveals the impact of direct restoration efforts on the broader ecological community.

These studies provide robust evidence that the restoration of water quality and habitat have had strong, positive impacts on the diversity, abundance and trophic structure of the fish community of Shinnecock Bay

That’s tomorrow at 7pm in Chancellor’s Hall on the SBU / Southampton Campus. Admission is free.

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Long Island residents were scrambling yesterday to get a REAL ID, or an enhanced license, permit, or nondriver ID card, which allows holders to also cross land and sea borders from the United States into Mexico, Canada and some Caribbean nations. DMVs in Bethpage, Garden City and Massapequa were showing virtually no openings Monday through the end of August. Suffolk was only slightly better with the Hauppauge, Huntington, Medford and Riverhead DMV locations listing a handful of openings over the next four months. Robert Brodsky and Lorena Mongelli report in NEWSDAY that to date, about 6.9 million New Yorkers — or about 45% of the state's population with a permit, license or nondriver ID — now have a REAL ID compliant document, said Tim O’Brien, a spokesman for the DMV.

Air travel passengers will still be able to use their passports for identification Wednesday and beyond.

But travelers who show up at one of the region's airports beginning tomorrow without a REAL or enhanced ID, or a valid passport — including TSA PreCheck passengers — could face "delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint," Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lisa Farbstein warns.

After applying for the REAL or enhanced ID, individuals will receive a temporary document that, combined with an old driver's license, can be used for travel, Farbstein said.

It takes about two weeks for the permanent document to arrive in the mail.

While there is no cost to get a REAL ID — an enhanced ID will set you back $30 — there are added fees potentially associated with early license renewal, along with other transactional costs, such as a Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District Fee.

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After structural flaws in the Ponquogue Bridge over Shinnecock Bay in Hampton Bays were found earlier this year, the weight limit on the bridge was lowered substantially, requiring local fire departments to put in place alternative plans for what to do if a fire happened on the barrier island along Dune Road. Firefighters from Hampton Bays and East Quogue put their plans to work Sunday morning as they responded to a vehicle fire near the public fishing access site just south of the bridge just after 5:30 a.m.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the plan, which was put into action Sunday, called for the Hampton Bays Fire Department to use an old brush truck to respond to the fire, establishing a water source from a nearby hydrant. The East Quogue Fire Department was called into service by dispatchers simultaneously to respond from the west as a supplemental force, according to a news release from Southampton Town.

Suffolk County, which is responsible for maintaining the Ponquogue Bridge, is working on a long-term plan to ensure the structural stability of the bridge, after cracked concrete, rusted steel and water damage were found in a New York State Department of Transportation inspection in October of 2024.

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The Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce and David Falkowski of Open Minded Organics will team up with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department to present a free Narcan training program at the Sag Harbor Firehouse on Brick Kiln Road at 10 a.m. next Monday, May 12.

The training will be led by Investigator Sergeant William Weick, who has held similar programs in the past.

Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that narcan is used to counter the effects of an opioid overdose, and all attendees will receive a Narcan kit to bring home with them.

In addition, any business that brings at least two people to the training session will receive a LifeVac anti-choking device.

Space is limited and reservations are required. To sign up, go to Eventbrite.com/e/we-stand-aware-sag-harbor-narcan-training-tickets-1347997138729.

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The state will pay off a more than $6 billion pandemic-era debt to the federal government that’s been a burden on employers and has blocked an increase in unemployment insurance benefits to laid-off workers, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced yesterday.

She said the state’s takeover of the federal debt will be part of a state budget expected to be voted on this week.

John Asbury and Michael Gormley report in NEWSDAY that employers have been paying an added cost for their share of unemployment insurance since 2023. The cost has typically been about $450 per year for each employee into the state Insurance Fund. Employees also pay a share of unemployment insurances through their wages.

Under law, the state was barred from increasing the benefit for workers hit with layoffs until the debt was paid. The maximum benefit is $504 per week, which hasn’t changed since 2019. When the debt is paid, the benefit can rise to $860 per week next year, which was set under a previously passed measure.

Supporters of paying the debt this year noted that many economists are warning of a potential recession that would drive more New Yorkers to apply for unemployment benefits. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in November that the state’s $504 maximum payment was lower than the maximum in 42 states and just 42% of the typical weekly wage in New York City.

Business operators have complained for years that the vast majority of states had already paid off the special unemployment insurance debt to the federal government. The Biden administration provided the loan to states to deal with the spike in unemployment claims when the pandemic forced most businesses to shutdown to limit spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said the decision will involve $8 billion in state funding — $6 billion to pay off the federal debt and more to keep the fund "solvent" and healthy enough for paying future benefits to workers.

He said, however, that the agreement doesn’t raise total spending in the budget. He said the action is, in fiscal accounting terms, a "transfer" of state funds to another state fund, rather than an increase in spending.