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***

Welcome to budget time in Albany.

It’s just days before New York’s April 1st budget deadline, which apparently Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators won’t meet. Again.

Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that lawmakers are trying to hammer a deal on a roughly $260 billion budget, and it’s not dollars and cents holding them up so much as key policy differences.

Democratic Governor Hochul and the Democrat-controlled Legislature don’t appear terribly far apart on how much New York should spend on the 2026-27 fiscal year, which begins this coming Wednesday.

Here are some of the issues being debated:

Hochul proposes easing or suspending some environmental reviews when a project involves housing, child care or clean energy. She says the red tape of the state’s Environmental Review Quality Act (SEQRA) can add two years to a building completion. Builders and some unions like it. But it’s opposed by environmental groups and progressive Dems — and Republicans in the Legislature who say the way Hochul would cut red tape would override local zoning control. The governor says she wants to slow down the state’s target goals for transitioning off fossil fuels (a 70% reduction by 2030) because it is a key part of her "affordability" agenda.

The NYS Senate and Assembly has proposed raising tax rates on annual incomes of $5 million or more, while Hochul has been steadfast in opposing any income tax hikes.

Legislators will want to bump up Hochul’s $37 billion earmark for school aid, as they always do. They’ll also want to be more generous on child care (especially workers’ pay), prekindergarten and higher education. One area of financial turbulence is whether to boost state pension benefits for people hired in the last 15 years.

And Governor Hochul wants to ban counties from signing formal cooperation agreements with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. She wants to prohibit local police from transferring custody of people to ICE without a judicial warrant.

But immigration activists and progressive Dems are pushing for more. They favor the "New Yorkers For All" bill, which, among other things, would ban ICE agents from entering nonpublic areas of government-run locations like schools or motor vehicles agencies, ban local and state agencies from sharing information with ICE and prohibit local police from asking a person’s immigration status.

***

Thousands of people gathered Saturday at anti-Trump "No Kings" demonstrations across Long Island. The 16 rallies were among more than 3,000 protests scheduled nationwide, where participants decried what they called overreach of executive power, as well as ramped-up immigration enforcement and the emergence of a new Middle East conflict. Joseph Ostapiuk and Tara Smith report in NEWSDAY that Show Up Long Island, Engage Long Island, Long Island Network for Change and other grassroots groups organized Long Island's rallies.

Neither Nassau nor Suffolk County police departments reported any incidents or arrests at the protests.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that nearly 500 people gathered in Greenport’s Mitchell Park and then marched through the village in Saturday’s No Kings protest. A crew of singers (many involved with the North Fork Community Theatre’s current production of “1776”) led the crowd in folk songs. Prior to the march, a half a dozen or more speakers including New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni spoke to the crowd.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that demonstrators gathered in downtown Riverhead Saturday afternoon for their “No Kings” rally. The “No Kings 3″ event in Riverhead followed a march from Riverhead High School to Town Hall, where nearly 200 people gathered to express support for OLA of Eastern Long Island’s proposed legislation regarding public safety in the face of ICE activities.

And more than 1,000 protesters packed Lake Street in Patchogue this past Saturday. They were occasionally heckled by passersby, some of whom held Trump flags. NO KINGS demonstrators marched past Republican congressman Andrew Garbarino’s office, chanting, "Garbarino, do your job." Garbarino is chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Suffolk County Republican Committee chairman Jesse Garcia dismissed the demonstrations as "failed PR stunts" by Democrats that do little to influence political issues.

Alleging the protesters were paid, Garcia told Newsday the demonstrators merely "hoot and holler, make noise, disrupt intersections with identifying problems but with no real solutions."

Some demonstrators pushed back against claims that they were paid. Debbie Hooper, 73, of Greenport, joked that she hadn't yet received a paycheck.

"We do it for the love of our country," Hooper said

***

On the north fork this evening, Southold and Greenport officials will give updates about current affordable housing projects in Mattituck and Laurel at the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association’s monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Beach in Mattituck.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing to exempt a majority of new housing from state environmental reviews, arguing that sufficient safeguards are in place at the local level. Grace Ashford reports in THE NY TIMES that building in New York is infamously complicated, expensive and burdensome, in part because of a maze of required reviews and permits.

Now Gov. Hochul is pushing the state to adopt a different approach: getting out of the way.

In her budget proposal, Ms. Hochul has called for changing the 50 year old State Environmental Quality Review Act (known as SEQRA) to expedite new housing projects and major infrastructure, saying that substantive reviews are already being done at the local level.

The plan threatens to put the governor, a Democrat, on a collision course with environmentalists, particularly as she seeks to convince state lawmakers to use the state budget to weaken and delay the state’s ambitious climate goals. But as Ms. Hochul enters the final stages of budget negotiations, she has won the support from mayors and leaders in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Yonkers and New York City.

Governor Hochul, who is running for re-election this year, is aware of how she failed in 2023 to compel local governments to build housing. The governor’s current plan is deferential to local governments — in fact, it places nearly all of the authority for approving or denying a development in their hands by, for example, allowing local rulings on water and air quality to be final.

For communities that are eager to build, this change would allow them to do so. But it would do little to create new housing in places where communities are resistant, regardless of the need.

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***

Last Saturday, the Southampton High School robotics team – known as the Marinators — won first place at the FIRST Long Island Regional competition at Hofstra University. They are now eligible to compete at the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Texas next month, though they are waiting on the official invitation. Michelle Trauring reports on 27east.com that over the course of three days, the competition saw 24 total practice matches and 72 qualification matches, which placed the Marinators in 24th out of 50 teams, according to Assistant Principal Dr. Melissa Mitchell, who pioneered the Southampton robotics team in 2023. Then, the top eight teams picked the two teams that they wanted in their alliance for the final matches of the competition. The Marinators couldn’t believe when they heard their team number — 9646 — called by the Kings Park and Southold high schools.

The 35-member Southampton team earned the top spot by designing, engineering and operating a robot capable of performing multiple complex tasks, including shooting balls into a target, retrieving them from the ground and climbing to hang from a bar. They dedicated countless hours to building, testing and refining their robot, working under the guidance of adviser Eric Pflug, who has a background in engineering.

In the final match, the Marinators faced off against a formidable trio — Floyd Robotics from the William Floyd School District, Riptide Robotics from Long Beach High School, and Formosan Sika, a team from New Taipei City, Taiwan.

They snared the win in a stunning victory, scoring 475 points to 292, in just two minutes and 30 seconds.

“It was insane,” Dr. Mitchell said. “It’s like when you see someone win a Super Bowl, literally.”

After cheering on their robots, the three allied teams all celebrated together in the stands — united by their one common goal and a shared love of robotics.

“At that point, you’re one team,” Mitchell said. “That’s the beautiful thing about FIRST Robotics.”

***

There are several events this weekend across the east end you may be eager to join or avoid.

The No Kings movement, which began in June of 2025 as a series of rallies across the country coinciding with a military parade held on President Donald Trump’s birthday, is rallying across the country for the third time tomorrow. Local organizers are holding No Kings 3 events on the twin forks in Riverhead, Hampton Bays, Greenport, Sag Harbor and East Hampton. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that concurrently with the Greenport No Kings activities, Slow Food East End is organizing an ICE Cakes not People bake sale to benefit the Latino advocacy group OLA (Organización Latino Americana) of Eastern Long Island at the Hold Fast Stay True Studios at 216 Main Street in Greenport tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Meanwhile the 12th annual Jamesport St. Patrick’s Day Parade is scheduled for tomorrow stepping off at 1 p.m. from the Main Road in Jamesport beginning at Washington Avenue.

And the final East End St. Pat’s Parade of the season is in in Montauk this coming Sunday.

The 63rd Annual Montauk St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts Sunday at 12 noon on Edgemere Road. Organized by the Montauk Friends of Erin, they call their gathering a premier East End event, featuring marching bands, floats, and community members, drawing thousands to celebrate.

***

The Wall Street bonus pool soared to a record high of $49.2 billion last year, a mighty sum that nevertheless fell short of what New York City budget planners had predicted, the New York State comptroller said in a report yesterday. The growth of the pool came as profits surged on Wall Street and the cost of living soared in New York, where an affordability crisis powered the election of N.Y.C. Mayor Zohran Mamdani last year.

Liam Stack reports in THE NY TIMES that the office of the NYS comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, said Wall Street profits jumped 30 percent last year, to $65.1 billion, and the roughly 200,000 people employed in the securities industry were awarded an average bonus of $246,900 per person.

Ana Champeny, vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, estimated the shortfall in tax revenue from the bonuses would be between $100 and $200 million, but said that was just a drop in the bucket of the $18 billion the state collects each year in income tax.

The report on estimated Wall Street bonuses, which the comptroller’s office releases annually, is based on an analysis of personal income tax withholding trends. The office said the bonuses it tracks are both cash payments for work performed in 2025 and deferred bonuses from past years that have been newly cashed in.

The City of New York was counting on a 15 percent rise in bonuses to produce tax revenues to fill its budget gap. The actual increase was 9 percent, the NYS comptroller said. Rahul Jain, the deputy comptroller for New York City in the state comptroller’s office, told THE NY TIMES that he thought the softer-than-expected growth of the bonus pool would not be “a major problem for the city this year.” “There are other places they can get money from,” he said.

On the whole, Mr. Jain added, the report was “still pretty good news.”

“They were more optimistic about what that growth would be, and that will hurt a little bit.” he said. “But every dollar counts — especially right now.”

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***

Having twice received unfavorable rulings by White House-appointed mediators, the MTA is ready to discuss bigger raises for five Long Island Rail Road unions than what most other transit workers have accepted to avoid a commute-crippling strike, the head of the transit agency said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters following a Manhattan board meeting, Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO and Chairman Janno Lieber said officials met with union leaders Friday for the first one-on-one negotiating session since last summer, and made it clear "we are prepared to talk about" giving workers higher raises than have been previously offered.

But, Lieber said, the MTA wants the unions to help fund those raises through concessions, including productivity increases and work rule changes.

"But a strike that wastes big money for your members is not in anybody’s interest. It’s against both of our interests, just flushing money down the toilet," said the MTA CEO.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that last week, a Presidential Emergency Board of mediators sided for a second time with the unions in their contract fight with the MTA. The labor organizations, which represent about half of all Long Island Rail Road union members, including locomotive engineers and ticket agents, are seeking 14.5% in raises over four years. The MTA, until recently, had been sticking to its offer for a three-year contract totaling 9.5% in raises — the same terms already accepted by most MTA union workers. The MTA recently budged from its position, offering a fourth year at 3% and a $3,000 lump sum payment, but also calling for several concessions.

Kevin Sexton, a spokesperson for the coalition of LIRR unions, said, "The MTA has the financial capacity to reach a fair agreement that maintains employees’ standard of living without unneeded concessions," said Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. "The question is not ability — it is willingness."

Without a settlement, the unions could legally walk off the job as early as mid-May, potentially stranding 250,000 daily LIRR commuters. It would be the first LIRR strike in 32 years.

Lieber said the MTA is "planning for" a strike, and would likely adopt a contingency plan similar to that outlined previously, which included limited shuttle bus service between three railroad stations on Long Island and two subway stations in Queens.

Lieber said yesterday that the MTA is "determined to try to provide transit to essential workers," but expects that most commuters could work remotely.

Even a three-day strike would "wipe out" a significant portion of the wage increases workers are fighting for, Lieber said.

***

The incidence of the tick borne ailment called alpha-gal syndrome appears to be growing significantly across the country including in Suffolk County, Long Island.

Joseph Goldstein reports in THE NY TIMES that once regarded as a rarity, the disease, which involves an allergy to red meat that develops after a tick bite, has emerged as a significant health menace, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that as many as 450,000 people nationwide may have had it in the past 15 years. And that is probably an undercount, said Dr. Scott Commins, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine who helped solve the mystery of alpha-gal syndrome about two decades ago.

In recent months, an even more lethal portrait of the disease has emerged.

The allergy has been identified as a potential cause of wide-ranging health woes leading to several recent deaths. Doctors are finding that alpha-gal syndrome may explain gastrointestinal problems in some patients diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. Other physicians speculate that it may contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Most alpha-gal cases in the United States are believed to begin with a bite from the lone star tick. Named for the signature white spot on the back of adult females, the tick is an aggressive hunter, with an unusually long mouth. The resurgence of the white-tailed deer, the tick’s most important host, is one factor driving the rising prevalence of the allergy.

The ticks’ saliva contains a sugar molecule called alpha-gal. The bite can trigger an overactive immune response, causing an allergic reaction when alpha-gal is next encountered. That same sugar molecule is in the tissue of many mammals, though not humans. That’s why red meat poses a risk.

In Suffolk County, between 3,800 and 18,000 people had alpha-gal from 2010 to 2022, based on C.D.C. estimates. That corresponds to as much as 1.2 percent of the population.

In some pockets, that is probably an undercount. On one L-shaped block in Farmingville, Long Island full of swimming pools and encroaching deer, three neighbors said they have alpha-gal syndrome, all diagnosed within the last two years.

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​***

Gas prices on Long Island, which have seen daily increases since the war with Iran began in late February, are up a dollar from the same time a month ago, according to online pricing data from AAA. Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that the average per gallon price of regular gasoline on Long Island reached $3.87 yesterday, up from the $2.86 per gallon the motorist club reported on Feb. 24. Here in Southampton the Shell station on County Road 39 was charging $3.76 Tuesday morning and the Speedway in Water Mill $4.00 per gallon as of last night.

The rapid increase in price is not the norm for this time of year and is reflective of the soaring price of crude oil caused by the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran, said Robert Sinclair Jr., senior manager of public affairs at AAA Northeast.

Traditionally, gas prices on Long Island, like in the rest of the Northeast, begin to slowly increase in early spring due to the seasonal switchover from winter blends to summer blends of gasoline at refineries across the country, he said.

“The summer changeover usually is responsible for a 25-to-35 cent per gallon increase under normal circumstances,” Sinclair said.

But that slight increase is a far cry from the more than dollar bump that local drivers are experiencing at the pump.

Steven Kent, chief economist for the Long Island Association business group, said high gas prices have a direct impact on consumers and the economy.

While prices are higher, they are still below record prices set less than four years ago on Long Island.

Gas prices hit a record high of $5.04 on Long Island in June 2022 following the U.S. decision to levy sanctions against Russian oil exports after the country invaded Ukraine early that year.

To save money on trips to the pump, experts recommend that drivers make sure their vehicles are well-maintained, and that drivers try using new spark plugs and fuel injectors to get more efficiency out of their truck or car.

Long Island drivers also should consider filling up their tanks on Sunday, as it is the most affordable day of the week to buy gas.

***

Anyone who has ever carted young children to the post office to apply for passports understands it can be a stressful process.

For those without children, finding time in the day for a trip to the post office, during its normal business hours, to complete a passport application can also be a challenge. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that for many people preparing for a trip abroad, the local library has been the better option for obtaining a passport. For years, many local libraries have offered passport services to their patrons, offering more extended hours than most post offices, and a more welcoming environment for families with young children.

It’s a service libraries have been doing for many years.

However, last month many libraries throughout the country, and across the East End, lost the ability to process passport applications after the U.S. State Department said that association or nonprofit libraries would no longer be allowed to provide the service. Instead, only libraries that are part of a municipal government entity can continue providing the service.

Most of the libraries on the East End are association or nonprofit libraries, sometimes known as “free” libraries. There are 21 nonprofit libraries in Suffolk County, and 17 of them were offering passport processing services before the federal government took away that ability officially on February 13 of this yea

Mara Zonderman, head of reference and adult services at the Westhampton Free Library said that in January the library got an email from the State Department saying it had to cease accepting passport applications, based on a law, which is not new, that declares only state or local governments or the postal service can collect passport fees.

Ms. Zonderman said the library is pushing back against the change for several reasons.

“This is a very valuable service we’re able to provide our patrons, and another revenue stream, and [library] funding is constantly being threatened,” she said. “In a public library, every penny counts.”

Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton Village is another library affected by the change.

Beth Gates, the reference department supervisor, said that Rogers has been processing passport applications for eight years, and does roughly 100 a year. Five of the librarians serve as passport agents.

“The vast majority of people who come are families, because kids need to have their passports renewed every five years,” Gates said. “It’s great for them, because we’re set up for families at the library. We also serve a lot of adults who either never had a passport or haven’t gotten one in years and need a little extra hand-holding. We’ve also helped a good amount of new Americans, people who recently became citizens and are getting passports for the first time, and I think they have trust in us.”

Liz Burns is the director at R.M.L. and has been a library director for 30 years. She described the situation as “disheartening.”

“As a public library, we’re here to help people,” she said. “We’re in a helping profession and a service profession. With this, we’re being told we can’t help people, and that’s really hard for us as librarians.”

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***

Across the East End, the threat of further crackdowns by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement teams is concerning to the region's agricultural businesses. Many are now preparing for more intense work schedules as spring approaches, in greenhouses, in the fields and at farm stands. Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that the isolated crackdowns across Long Island are playing out against higher-profile campaigns targeting migrant workers across the country with the toll on workforces becoming more evident as the Trump administration deportation efforts enter their second year.

At family-owned Pindar Vineyards in Peconic, the work continued through winter, and pruning must get done in advance of budbreak on the vines that takes place in April and May. Pindar, as of early March still had 50 acres to prune. Pindar had two of its workers apprehended by I.C.E. last month in Greenport and they have not returned.

"Of course, we’re very concerned," said Bill Zalakar, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, noting that many farms are just now beginning to ramp up spring work schedules. Zalakar, former general manager for a large greenhouse grower on Long Island, knows the importance of a seasonal workforce, the pressures of losing workers and facing the uncertainty of a workforce shortage.

The Farm Bureau estimates that upward of 65% of the Long Island agriculture and related workforces are seasonal migrants, a force that Zalakar said numbers as many as 2,000 people. Pay for the workers starts at the minimum wage of $17, he said, but the more experienced can make $20 to $25 or more an hour.

Pindar Vineyards General Manager Pindar Damianos told NEWSDAY that the most frustrating part of all is that the workers, many from Guatemala, are extremely good at their work, are paid a fair wage and there is no one else to do it.

"I don’t think we’ve ever had an American work in the vineyard," he said, certainly not a local high-schooler seeking employment.”

Anthony Sannino, who heads the family-owned Sannino Vineyards in Cutchogue, has had three workers pruning through the winter, with breaks for the weather, and he’s been looking for two more as the work opens up. He hasn’t been impacted by enforcement actions.

"None of my guys are concerned," he said.

Sannino said he’s on the Southold Town Agriculture Advisory Committee and thus far hasn’t heard of a labor shortage impacting farmers.

Zalakar, of the farm bureau, said farmers and their advocates are walking a very fine line. "We're all cautious with what we'll say because right now they haven't really targeted the local farms. What we’re faced with is if we start screaming about this, they could easily turn around" and target the farm industry’s seasonal workforce.

Zalakar said he holds onto the hope that the federal government will "separate out the agriculture reform process and don’t lump it in with everything else because there are so many variables."

"We're all on board with immigration reform," he said. "We all realize it's such a large controversial issue, but the agriculture industry is so reliant on immigrants and workers that we'd hope that the federal government would pull out the agriculture aspect and work on it separately to help the industry." Zalakar added, "It’s still a little bit early...you’ll see a lot happen in the next 30 days. Most greenhouses are just ramping up now, but most of the workforce really starts toward the end of March."

***

The pharmaceutical companies testing out a new Lyme disease vaccine said yesterday they plan to seek approvals from the federal government even though the latest clinical trial results were not as successful as they had hoped. Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that Long Island, with its large tick population, has been a hot spot for Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness in the nation. Suffolk County had the highest number of Lyme disease cases in New York State in 2024.

This is the first time in more than a decade that a Lyme disease vaccine could be rolled out to the public. The vaccine was developed by Manhattan-based Pfizer Inc. and Valneva SE, which is based in France. It is designed for people 5 years old and up.

The companies said the vaccine was 73% effective in reducing the rate of Lyme disease 28 days after the fourth dose and 75% effective in reducing that rate one day after the fourth dose.

But in a statement, Pfizer said “fewer than anticipated" Lyme disease cases were reported over the study period and a statistical criterion was not met.

Instead of hitting their goal of showing the vaccine had a 95% to 20% “confidence interval,” or effective rate, it resulted in 95% to almost 16%.

Pfizer said other trials have met the 20% threshold and it is “confident in the vaccine’s potential and is planning submissions to regulatory authorities.”

Lyme disease is caused by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Not all blacklegged ticks carry the disease, which results in a bacterial infection. Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a rash that sometimes takes the form of a bullseye.

If caught in time, it can be treated with antibiotics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said over 89,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported in 2023, the most recent numbers available. They said some estimates show the actual number of people diagnosed and treated may be closer to 476,000.

In New York State, 21,632 cases of Lyme disease were reported in 2024. The highest number of cases was found in Suffolk, with 3,152. Nassau reported 521 cases.

Dr. Andrew Handel, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital who has a focus on tick-borne illnesses said it may not be clear how effective the vaccine is until there are larger studies or it comes to market and people start using it.

Awareness and reporting of Lyme disease have grown significantly recently. In December, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to focus federal attention and resources on the disease. During his 2025 confirmation hearings, Kennedy said he would work hard for treatments or vaccines for Lyme disease.

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***

An Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a Port Authority fire truck after landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing the plane’s two pilots, injuring dozens and shutting down all flights at the airport until at least 2 p.m. today, officials said. As reported in THE NY TIMES, the disruption at one of the United States’ busiest domestic airports was expected to ripple across the region and the nation at the start of the workweek, with hundreds of flights canceled as of this morning. New York City officials urged drivers to avoid the area around LaGuardia, warning of road closures and traffic delays.

As reported in NEWSDAY, two pilots have been killed in the crash between a regional Air Canada plane and a firefighting vehicle late last night on a LaGuardia Airport runway. The crash happened at about 11:40 p.m. Sunday, when a Jazz Aviation flight, operating on behalf of Air Canada, struck a Port Authority firefighting and rescue vehicle that had been responding to a separate incident, the Port Authority said in a statement. In addition to the two pilots, who were killed, 41 people aboard the plane were hospitalized in the crash between the Air Canada plane and the Port Authority vehicle, according to the Port Authority's executive director Kathryn Garcia. Thirty-two people have been released, Garcia said. In addition to the 41, a sergeant and a Port Authority police officer are in stable condition, she said.

Terminal B was quieter than usual just after 6 o’clock this morning, as its usual bustling check-in and security lines were nonexistent.

Dozens of tired travelers sat on benches surrounded by their luggage, unsure of their next move.

As of 5:30 a.m., more than 500 flights into and out of LaGuardia have been canceled today, according to the website FlightAware.

There are roughly 1,000 flights a day, according to statistics posted by the Port Authority, which runs LaGuardia and the region's other major airports.

***

The lobster shacks are still closed for the season in the Hamptons, and the privet hedges are still nestled in their winter burlap. But calendars are filling up fast for private chefs catering to the millionaires and billionaires who descend in summer. Dionne Searcey reports in THE NY TIMES that Licia Householder, a private chef based in Sag Harbor, has started reaching out to Hamptons clients who may be craving her exquisite dishes to let them know she is already booked for nearly every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

“Winter has been so rough, everyone is clamoring to be out here,” said Ms. Householder, who will be cooking for dinner parties, birthday bashes and meals over long weekends for clients headed to the South Fork of Long Island.

The rich are getting even richer in America, and in the Hamptons, where home prices have hit record highs, the wealthy want workers who can trim the hedges, clean the pools and tidy the guesthouses.

And outsourcing much or all of the cooking has become a staple in the area, where privacy is paramount, traffic is terrible and for those who do dare to venture out, tables at even midrange restaurants are booked solid.

“When the season rolls around on the east end, it turns into an ultracompetitive environment where everyone wants the same thing at the same time,” said Jacob Frisch, co-founder of FF Global, an advisory firm that manages the luxury lifestyle demands of ultrahigh-net-worth individuals and their families.

“It’s like the hunger games for private chefs,” he said.

Staffing agencies and chefs alike say the demand to secure a cook this year seems to have started particularly early.

Rates vary, depending on the chef and the type of work. Some chefs can earn $50,000 for the season. Some with their own business charge around $175 an hour or more, plus the price of groceries.

Housing for chefs who aren’t local and aren’t offered a room can be complicated because summer rents are sky-high. Some staffing agencies offer shared housing. The work itself can be stressful, with clients making last-minute changes to menus and late additions of extra dinner guests, both of which can require exasperating trips to grocery stores on traffic-clogged roadways.

Dana Minuta, a chef who works in the Hamptons and other wealthy enclaves, said chefs must be friendly without being nosy. Nondisclosure agreements are common.

“When you’re in a kitchen in a billionaire’s home, you have to know how to be quiet and how to behave,” said Ms. Minuta, the author of “The Billionaire Kitchen: Secrets from the World’s Most Exclusive Tables.”

Kitchens must be spotless, and the operation must be meticulous.

***

An energy and technology company on Shinnecock Indian Nation land has formed a joint venture with a Canadian telecommunications firm to launch a broadband center to offer low-cost internet access, service and manufacturing, officials said. Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that Shinnecock-based Waa Nee Shee Energy LLC formed the venture in February with Mage Networks of Calgary, Alberta, to launch the center, which promises to share technology, manufacturing and workforce development as the partnership pursues broadband internet throughout the region, including beyond the tribal territory which is between Southampton Village and Hampton Bays. It’s Mage’s first entry into the New York market.

Phil Brown, president of Waa Nee Shee Energy, said his hope is to bring the center to the nation’s territory and employ up to a dozen Shinnecock members to work there. He estimated the cost of the service at between $40 and $60 a month. Brown also serves as housing director for the Shinnecock Nation, which is not affiliated with his private company.

The venture would make Waa Nee Shee Energy an internet service provider, or ISP, integrating equipment for use at some of the more than 700 homes that could sign up to receive the signals with tribal government approval, which remains pending. Brown said the plan, which still requires initial grant funding of about $500,000, is to base the center on the nation's territory, but eventually to offer the service to surrounding underserved communities.

The service also would operate as an intranet, linking Shinnecock members within the community, and provide for a range of telecom, internet and streaming services, if the Shinnecock government approves such a relationship.

It also would provide workforce training and employment for both Shinnecock members and those from surrounding communities, Brown said.

Waa Nee Shee officials foresee construction of a 10,000-square-foot building on the territory to start operations and envision additional locations outside the reservation. It is partnering with Ignite Long Island, a nonprofit manufacturing trade group, to help secure funding for the operation, Brown said.

The Shinnecock nation has already been awarded a federal grant of about $8 million to bring high-speed fiber connections to tribal facilities and homes on the reservation. Brown said that with the new wireless internet service, the center could save the nation money by building out the fiber optic network and using Mage’s signals for wireless connections to individual homes without disturbing ground.

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***

Riverhead residents are seeing spikes on their tax bills after a judge ordered the town to pay $6 million to refund the owner of the Friar's Head golf course. The judgment includes $1.6 million in accrued interest. Last year, Riverhead Town residents were on the hook for nearly $2.8 million in tax refunds. This year's total was $7.2 million — the lion's share of which stems from the Friar's Head refund. The Town of Riverhead valued the course property as high as $34 million in 2015. A judge lowered the appraisal to $11.6 million.

Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the tax dispute dates back nearly two decades after the course's owner filed a lawsuit challenging the town’s assessment of the 350-acre property. The land includes an 18-hole championship golf course, clubhouse, three guest cottages and a helipad, according to court documents.

Some residents opening their tax envelopes this year were surprised to see a 160% jump in the “New York State Real Property Tax Law” line without any explanation. The line, featured on all Suffolk tax bills, is used to cover tax refunds across each of the county's 10 towns.

Laverne Tennenberg, who chairs Riverhead’s board of assessors, acknowledged the chargeback is having an impact on tax bills this year. The town made its case for valuing the 85 acres, where there was potential for new housing, she said. Riverhead officials said a developer could subdivide that property to create up to 55 residential lots, a move that would significantly increase the property's overall value. But a judge rejected that argument since the golf course never sought to subdivide the land or build housing there.

“We presented a methodology about the excess land. The judge didn’t want to hear it,” she told NEWSDAY. “There’s nothing we can do about it.” She did not say what the average impact will be on residents’ tax bills, noting it depends on individual property values.

Riverhead, like most towns in Suffolk, has not conducted a townwide reassessment since 1980, Tennenberg said. The Town of Riverhead has a population of more than 36,000, according to recent U.S. Census data.

Just two Suffolk towns, Shelter Island and Southampton, have reassessed since 1980, according to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Southampton's last reassessment was in 2019, while Shelter Island's was in 2025.

***

There are a couple of local events tomorrow that allow us to affordably celebrate the first weekend of Spring 2026.

They're free and all are invited.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that Greenport Village holds its annual Earth Day Early Spring Cleanup in Moore’s Woods Saturday morning…that’s tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 12 Noon. Meet at the Moore’s Woods Trailhead at the dead end of Webb Street, or at Monsell Trail and North Street. Bring gloves, tick spray, wagons, or grabbers. For further info visit https://villageofgreenport.gov/event/annual-moores-woods-clean-up-event/

In Hampton Bays tomorrow, The Hampton Bays Hibernians will hold their annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, stepping off from Ponquogue Avenue at 11 a.m.

The Hampton Bays St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been a cherished tradition since its first march in 2006. From the very beginning, one of the group’s main goals has been to create a hometown St. Patrick’s Day Parade that honors Irish heritage and brings the community together.

Tomorrow’s parade starts at 11 a.m. near the Hampton Bays American Legion Post 924 and proceeds to Montauk Highway then west through the center of the hamlet. Spectators are expected to line the route to watch pipe bands, school marching bands, community organizations, local businesses, fire departments and colorful floats.

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***

The number of cars hitting deer on Long Island rose 75% over eight years to the highest level on record, a consequence of what biologists say is severe overpopulation of deer on the East End and Suffolk County North Shore that's spreading west.

Southold Town Highway Department worker Fred Friedberg, a 42 year veteran, has seen the aftermath firsthand — he's had to remove an increasing number of dead deer, as many as six a day. More than 220 deer, roughly one per mile, were killed on north fork roadways in a single year, according to Southold Town Police.

"It can be nasty, gruesome," said the 61-year-old maintenance mechanic who lives in Cutchogue.

"The deer are literally running into cars," said Jean Thatcher, the mayor of Lloyd Harbor, a village in the Town of Huntington that also has a large deer population. "It's an extremely serious problem of public safety, public health and environmental degradation."

Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that around 570 deer strikes were reported in 2016, increasing to about 1,000 in 2024, according to data from the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, which goes back to 2009. Crashes are most common in Suffolk County, but in Nassau, deer strikes rose from just 11 in 2016 to nearly 70 in 2024. All the figures may be undercounts, since drivers are only required to report deer-vehicle crashes when there is significant property damage or injury, and even then, they don't always do so.

Biologists say that with the elimination of their natural predators, and suburban landscapes providing plenty of food, the ungulates likely number in the tens of thousands across Long Island — though no one knows the exact number because there is no large-scale census, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The increase in deer strikes is not explained by changes in traffic volume or worsening driving behaviors alone. Over the same period that deer-vehicle crashes rose 75% on Long Island, the cumulative miles driven stayed roughly steady. Meanwhile, the total number of non-deer crashes did rise, but only by about 21%.

Drivers are advised to use precautions such as driving slowly. But biologists say the most effective way to reduce deer crashes is through hunting and deer culls, though some say restrictions have reduced culling's effectiveness. Deer crashes are most common during mating season, when they are most active, from October to December — especially around sunset.

AAA advises drivers to be extra vigilant, use high beams when appropriate and remember that deer travel in groups — so if you see one, expect others.

***

Two East End towns are taking steps to spur new accessory apartments in the hopes of alleviating the region's affordable housing crisis.

Alek Lewis and Tara Smith report in NEWSDAY that East Hampton is weighing a package of zone changes and financial incentives to encourage more accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, apartments that share property with a single-family home, either within the home or in a detached structure such as a garage.

The Town of East Hampton is looking to eliminate a ban on second homeowners from creating ADUs. Officials also plan to lower minimum lot size requirements so more properties are eligible to build the apartments.

On Tuesday, the Town of Riverhead overhauled its ADU rules, streamlining the permitting process and abolishing the approval requirement of a review board. The new law increased the townwide cap of ADUs to 500. In East Hampton, ADUs can be up to two bedrooms and between 300 and 1,200 square feet. In Riverhead, they can have no more than one bedroom and must be between 400 and 1,000 square feet. In both towns, ADUs cannot be used for short-term rentals.

Interest in ADUs has jumped on Long Island, Newsday has reported. For homeowners, the apartments can mean extra income or a separate living space for a family member.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to launch tools to support ADU development. Some Long Island governments have rejected calls over worries about increased traffic and stress on public services.

East Hampton officials see ADUs as valuable for increasing housing stock on the South Fork, where home prices have climbed to record levels and affordable housing options are limited.

In East Hampton, ADUs are considered affordable housing and must be rented at or under prices established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In Riverhead, the ADU permit process will now be handled entirely by the town's building department. Previously, a now-defunct review board oversaw the approval process.

The law increases the allowed maximum size of ADUs. The town continues to require that the principal dwelling unit of a property with an ADU be owner-occupied. There are around 130 ADUs in Riverhead Town, officials said.

***

As Riverhead-area farmers head into the growing season, a war half a world away is threatening to drive up the cost of the fertilizer and fuel they depend on most, adding fresh pressure to an industry already squeezed by the high cost of farming on Long Island. The concern is not so much that local growers will be unable to get fertilizer this spring, but that they will have to pay more for it — and for the freight and fuel costs that ripple through nearly every aspect of farming.

Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Middle East tensions have rattled fertilizer markets just as many U.S. farmers are making or finalizing spring purchases.

That global market turmoil is landing at an especially difficult time for local farmers, said Bill Zalakar, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau.

“Most farmers probably do not have their fertilizer on hand as of right now,” Zalakar told Riverheadlocal on Tuesday. “Most farmers will start buying that in the next month or so as the weather starts to warm up a little bit.”

Zalakar said the impact here may extend beyond fertilizer itself.

“Probably even bigger than the fertilizer is just going to be the fuel and transportation cost,” he said, noting that farmers rely on diesel for tractors and other equipment and that shipping costs affect nearly everything that comes onto — and leaves — Long Island.

AAA’s Nassau-Suffolk metro average for diesel on March 17 was $5.207 a gallon, up from $3.933 a month earlier.

For a farming region like Riverhead, where agricultural heritage remains a defining part of the community even as suburban development has steadily reduced farmland, the latest spike in input costs is a reminder of how vulnerable local agriculture remains to forces far beyond the East End.

In a scathing opinion, a federal judge has overturned the arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of a Long Island man and criticized the agency’s actions amid a mass deportation campaign as "a proverbial recipe for disaster." Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that Eastern District Judge Gary R. Brown on Monday ruled that ICE agents broke the law when they arrested an immigrant from El Salvador in Suffolk County in February since he had a valid juvenile immigrant visa and a work permit.

Brown said the arrest of William Enrique Sanchez Alfaro, 25, of Coram, by three experienced ICE agents called into question their training and the policies the agency was following as President Donald Trump pursues the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. "While the facts elicited about the arrest and detention of Petitioner are brutal and unacceptable, the evidence highlights a more systemic concern: the officers who testified — all sworn to uphold the law — proved unaware of and oblivious to the requirements of the law," wrote Brown, a Trump-appointed judge.

"Importantly, these officers were not ‘rookies’ — each had more than a decade’s experience in immigration enforcement," he wrote. "The combination of the officers’ lack of training and preparation and the extraordinary pressure to exponentially increase the number of immigration arrests results in a proverbial recipe for disaster."

Judge Brown gave ICE 21 days to return to court to show it is taking steps to "ensure that future ICE enforcement actions within the Eastern District of New York shall be conducted in a lawful manner."

In a previous ruling, Brown lambasted an ICE holding cell in Central Islip as cold, "putrid and cramped."

Sanchez Alfaro arrived in the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2018 and was granted a Special Juvenile Immigrant Status visa in 2022, according to court papers.

Sanchez Alfaro has no criminal record, was working in his family’s welding business, paid his taxes and was a "model citizen," according to sworn statements submitted to the court.

Patrick Young, a professor of immigration law at Hofstra Law School, called Brown’s ruling an important move toward reining in the agency.

"This is not just about one case, but this is about the entire procedure of ICE here on Long Island," Young said.

***

The next No Kings nationwide mobilization is scheduled for Saturday, March 28. As posted on MoveOn.org, “Last June, three million of us came together for the first No Kings. Then, 7 million in October. And now, March 28 is on track to be the largest No Kings mobilization yet and the largest nonviolent demonstration in U.S. history.”

Per nokings.org, this Saturday’s demonstrations are supposed to be, “…a nonviolent national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that local organizers are holding events across the twin forks in Riverhead, Hampton Bays, Greenport, Sag Harbor and East Hampton.

The Greenport protest begins the day’s events, from 10 a.m. to Noon in Mitchell Park, with speakers, protest artists and music followed by a march through the village.

Riverhead NoKings organizers are planning a two-mile, one-hour march beginning at 12 noon Saturday at Riverhead High School led by Riverhead and Greenport students who organized anti-ICE walkouts from their high schools in January. The march is expected to go from Riverhead High School to Town Hall and then to the Suffolk County Supreme Court building at 235 Griffing Avenue in Riverhead with a culminating rally at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday’s Sag Harbor event will be held at Steinbeck Park from 11 a.m. to noon. The East Hampton event will be held on the front lawn of East Hampton Town Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Organizers are asking attendees to carpool due to limited parking at East Hampton Town Hall and no street parking. Free shuttle buses will run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Atlantic Beach.

The Hampton Bays event, organized by Indivisible Long Island, will be held from Noon to 2 p.m. on Montauk Highway between The Atrium and Good Ground Cemetery. It will include an optional march to Ponquogue Avenue and back. Indivisible Long Island is also organizing a rally at the Riverhead County Center (300 Center Drive in Riverside) at 9 a.m. Saturday — this is a separate event from the downtown Riverhead afternoon rally.

WLIW-FM gives us something to believe in. If you’re enjoying this podcast, consider a donation today, during our Spring Fund Drive.

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***

Two years after sailing into history, Long Island native Cole Brauer...who grew up in Springs...is most at home in motion — whether blasting through the ocean or traveling in the van she lives out of: the “Silver Vixen.”

Brauer, a 31-year-old, 2012 East Hampton High School graduate and world-famous ocean racer, has kept busy since making history as the first American woman to circumnavigate the globe solo in a sailboat. She's been working at marinas and making professional speeches and has written a memoir.

Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that Brauer completed a 130-day, 27,000‑mile solo circumnavigation of the globe as part of the Global Solo Challenge. She placed second in a race against more than a dozen male sailors. She left from the northwest tip of Spain on Oct. 29, 2023, and completed the treacherous trip on March 7, 2024.

“It was an amazing opportunity to be able to go around the planet,” she told NEWSDAY during a recent trip back to East Hampton.

By the time she crossed the start line, Brauer had logged enough miles to have circled the globe twice. She rebuilt her boat around her own needs, knew every tool on the vessel, and completed extensive medical and safety training.

Brauer documented the journey on Instagram, where she has amassed close to a half million followers.

Her memoir, “First Light,” chronicles her Bonac upbringing, the beginning of her sailing career and her historic trip. The book is scheduled to be released in September.

Brauer, who is 5-feet-2-inches and weighs 100 pounds, hardly fit the stereotype of an ocean racer, she said. “It’s a super male-dominated sport,” she said.

“You have to be competing at the exact same level — if not higher — if you want to be able to compete against [men], and I find that challenge amazing and wonderful,” she said.

The book discusses the “trials and tribulations of what it was like being a woman in a very male, older, white [sailing] community and everything that comes with that,” she said.

Randi Cherill, who was an athletic trainer at East Hampton High School when Brauer was a student, followed the trip on social media. She said she is fortunate to have played a role in Brauer’s journey as an athlete.

“What she was able to accomplish, and what she was able to do, is astounding,” Cherill said. “That’s what we like to see with our athletes and our former athletes, and who they grow up to be.”

***

The long-term parking lot in East Hampton Village is getting a gated entry, an electric vehicle charging station and 26 new spaces as part of its first face-lift in years, which started earlier this month. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that as part of the work, East Hampton Village officials plan to combine the long-term lot with the neighboring smaller lot to create one facility. At the entrance will be a parking booth and gate. The East Hampton Village Board approved the renovations in a flurry of three resolutions, totaling over $1.4 million, in February.

“It’s kind of a blind spot in the village that we want to tighten up, and we want to make more efficient, both for public safety and for enforcement,” said Village of East Hampton Administrator Marcos Baladron.

He said the lot will always remain free because the village needs the lot for spillover parking, which allows downtown employees to park during the work day.

Village officials, per Baladron, are also in the early planning stages of building a new playground at Herrick Park, and he said the new parking lot will help prepare for the additional parking that may be needed.

Also onsite is a new firehouse barn that village officials plan to use for storing and displaying antique firetrucks, of which the East Hampton Fire Department has many. The building will double as a means of filling a public safety blind spot.

“It’s going to be used for recruitment, and it’s going to be where the public can kind of go see those antiques and enjoy it, number one,” Baladron said. “Number two, it gives us the ability to have internet access in that area, which is kind of far away from many of our other buildings.”

This will allow for additional security, Baladron said, in an area where many East Hampton Village employees, currently, have to walk back to their cars in the dark at the end of the work day.

“It’s kind of needed that face-lift anyway,” he said. “If we weren’t merging the two lots, we probably would have just fixed it anyway, so we’re doing that as well. On an improvement level, it’s better. On a safety level, it’s better. I think it’s just going to be a better, more efficient lot.”

The work will continue throughout this month and into April. The long-term lot is currently closed, but the lot immediately to the west, which will be combined with the long-term lot, is open for parking in East Hampton Village.