New York State’s plan to prioritize giving cannabis licenses to operators with low-level marijuana convictions in their past is illegal, a federal appeals court has ruled. The U.S. Second Circuit Court, located in Manhattan, ruled the state’s "scheme" for giving first dibs to certain business owners is a "protectionist" measure that violates the federal commerce clause. The 2-1 ruling was handed down this past Tuesday.

Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that it wasn’t clear if the ruling, which could be appealed, would have an immediate impact on the about 450 licensed cannabis retail shops in the state. But it certainly could alter licensing going forward in New York and elsewhere.

A spokeswoman for the state Office of Cannabis Management declined to comment, saying the agency was reviewing the court decision. The governor's office also is reviewing the decision and monitoring the situation, a spokeswoman said. Approximately 60 Long Island retailers had been granted licenses by the state through the priority initiative as part of the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary program, as of a February 2024 update published on the OCM website.

The lawsuit was filed by a company called Varisite NY Four and Varisite NY Five, two limited liability companies majority owned by California residents, who claim putting some New York applicants at the head of the licensing queue violates the dormant Commerce Clause, which essentially blocks states from giving preferential treatment to instate residents.

New York lawmakers wanted to give preferential treatment to applicants with previous marijuana convictions or below certain income thresholds as a "restorative justice" initiative after marijuana was legalized in the state.

The federal judges agreed, however, with Varisite.

The federal court ruling is the latest blow for what’s been a troubled rollout of the state’s cannabis program.

Earlier this month, OCM told more than 80 shops to close because the agency itself had misinterpreted the law about how close they could be to a school grounds, as opposed to a school building. Gov. Kathy Hochul has indicated the NYS Legislature might amend statutes to correct the error and avoid closures or relocations.

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Attorneys for Southampton Town have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior’s listing of the Shinnecock Nation’s land in Hampton Bays on a federal list of tribal lands — which the tribe has said proves it is sovereign land that is free from regulation by Southampton Town or New York State.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the suit stems from a memo in January by an assistant secretary at the agency that instructed Bureau of Indian Affairs staff to list the tribe’s Westwoods property in federal records as “restricted fee” land, a designation usually applied to sovereign territory occupied by Indigenous tribes since before the arrival of European settlers.

The memo used terminology seemingly chosen deliberately to provide legal weight to Shinnecock claims that their Hampton Bays land is sovereign territory and free from oversight of local zoning and building regulations.

The town has questioned the process by which the new designation of the land was reached, and the legal weight of simply changing the terminology back. The Town of Southampton asked a U.S. Department of the Interior appeals board to review the designation. But the appeals board declined to examine the matter, made in the last days of the Biden administration, so the town’s attorneys last week asked a federal court to weigh the power of the administrative action.

The suit relies on the claim that Westwoods property is simply land the Shinnecock own simple title to, as though it were bought on the real estate market, and not sovereign territory free from local oversight.

The tribe has said the land is sovereign and cannot be regulated, freeing them to pursue development that would not conform to town zoning or state regulations — like the electronic billboards the nation constructed in 2019, the gas station it began building last year, and the 200-room hotel and convention center, and eventual casino, that it has said it plans to build on the bluffs overlooking Peconic Bay.

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Riverhead High School teacher Lindsay Lindenbaum has been named Suffolk County’s 2025 High School Health Education Teacher of the Year by the state’s professional organization for health and physical education educators.

Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Ms. Lindenbaum will be honored on Nov. 4 at the Suffolk Zone conference of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. The organization’s awards committee selects recipients each year across the elementary, middle, and high school levels in the fields of health education, physical education, adapted physical education and dance education.

“I truly appreciate it. It’s a very nice gesture to be thought of; it’s an incredible gesture to be granted,” Lindenbaum said yesterday. “I don’t know that I do anything that’s so phenomenal that so many other teachers don’t do. We’re all in this crazy job together just trying to do the best we can for the kids.”

Lindsay Lindenbaum was hired by the Riverhead Central School District in 2006 to teach health at the middle school and has also taught at Pulaski Street Intermediate School, she said. Four years ago, she was assigned to the high school, where she has been ever since.

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A proposed Suffolk County bill will allow the county to cut off funding to landlords receiving rental payments through the Department of Social Services if the homes fail to comply with building and zoning codes. Lawmakers say they aim to crack down on overcrowding and unsafe conditions that imperil people housed through programs like Temporary Housing Assistance, which supports people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the county already has the power to withhold public assistance if the housing is "dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to life or health," according to the code. The legislation adds additional language if there is noncompliance with zoning code and building code requirements. "We’re putting people’s lives in jeopardy and we’re aware of it," Legis. Nick Caracappa (C-Selden), a lead sponsor of the bill, said. "Taxpayer money shouldn’t be going to funding homes that are putting people in jeopardy." While proponents of the bill say it’s a necessary step to address growing quality-of-life issues in neighborhoods like Mastic Beach and Coram — citing examples like a home with a Charbroil grill in place of an oven, homes with mazes of extra walls and strained wastewater systems due to overcrowding — housing advocates say it could curtail an already limited inventory of housing for a vulnerable population. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico told Newsday the rentals have been a "longtime concern" of his, saying DSS placements throughout the town have "had a very negative effect on the quality of life of those neighborhoods."

The Suffolk County Legislature held its second public hearing on the bill last week and the bill now goes back to committee later this month.

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A proposed 40-unit housing development with 3,000 square feet of retail space on Flanders Road just south of the Riverside traffic circle could be the beginning of the long-awaited redevelopment of this blighted area. “I want to be in Riverside, because I want to be the catalyst that gets it done,” said David Gallo of affordable housing developer Georgica Green Ventures (GGV) at this past Tuesday’s public hearing on whether Southampton Town should spend $2.4 million from its Community Housing Fund to help GGV purchase the property. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that a major factor in the lack of investment in Riverside is its environmental sensitivity, alongside the Peconic River, and the lack of sewage treatment there. Southampton Town expects to receive grant money to begin work on its Riverside Sewage Treatment Plant in September, which would enable the redevelopment of the hamlet, said Southampton Town Planning & Development Administrator Janice Scherer at the hearing.

The proposal to use CHF funding to purchase the property includes a clause that would have title to the property revert to Southampton Town if the sewer is not built, added town Director of Housing and Community Development Kara Bak. Southampton’s Community Housing Fund, paid for through a .5 percent real estate transfer tax paid by buyers, has accumulated $30 million since its inception two years ago, she added. That funding has enabled the town to ensure the affordability of 41 single family homes and 168 apartments since that time, she said, adding that the majority of those units are east of the Shinnecock Canal. The Southampton Town Board closed Tuesday's public hearing, and Ms. Bak said a resolution approving the use of CHF funding for the purchase of the property will be ready for the board’s Aug. 26 meeting.

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The Southampton Town Board this week formally accepted the application for a 34-unit affordable housing complex off Majors Path in North Sea that the owner has pitched as a development geared toward local young professionals who can afford to pay rents upward of $2,500 a month but still struggle to find quality housing east of the Shinnecock Canal. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the project, which would be privately funded by the property owner, Zach Epley, will need the Southampton Town Board to approve a zone change, from 5-acre single-family residential to a multifamily residential zone.

Board members said that accepting the application and starting the first steps of the review process will allow the developer to formulate a more detailed plan and help the town answer questions or concerns by residents in the North Sea community about the project. The 8.6-acre parcel is on the east side of Majors Path near the intersections with Mary’s Lane and Straight Path and sits between the Southampton Youth Services recreational facility and North Sea Community Park and a 50-unit housing development approved in 2005.

Southampton Town Board members unanimously approved the resolution to advance the review of the project on Tuesday, which was added to the agenda just hours before the meeting, and said it puts the ball in the developer’s court entirely now — knowing that there is some local opposition and likely further investment necessary.

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The first phase of a multiyear study and intervention facilitated by Yale University revealed common ground between the Southampton School District and the Shinnecock Nation — an agreement in the need for improved communication, though they differed on the road to get there.

Michelle Trauring reports on 27east.com that the researchers, Dr. Christopher Cutter and Dr. Mark Beitel, presented their recent findings from a community needs assessment, which also examined each group’s impression of the district climate. Cutter and Beitel, who are both psychologists, compiled data from over 60 interviews with members of both groups into short-, medium- and long-term goals. For the district’s perspective, those include changes to curriculum and increased professional development, though there was a small subset of people who said, “make no changes at all, things are just going well,” Beitel said. The nation emphasized the need for increased cultural awareness and teacher diversity, Shinnecock inclusion and representation, increased parent involvement, and better academic support and post-secondary planning. Looking ahead, by October, the researchers said they aim to design community and culturally competent teacher and mental health staff training, which includes a series of intervention construction meetings with the Shinnecock community. “I want to reinforce that this is not just Indigenous health,” Cutter said. “This is for community health.” Once the “very strong, lasting” intervention design is approved, training begins, Cutter said. “Training is typically a difficult process. We do a lot of mentoring near us with a lot of clinicians and a lot of teachers…To do an intervention quite well, there has to be sustainability on it and the training has to feel that it was interesting and important.”