27Speaks

In this episode of the Express News Group's 27Speaks: Behind the Headlines podcast, host Joe Shaw is joined by reporters Cailin Riley, Jack Motz, Hope Hamilton and Dan Stark to discuss the week's latest East End news.

In this episode of the Express News Group's 27Speaks: Behind the Headlines podcast, host Joe Shaw is joined by reporters Michael Wright and Jack Motz, Features Editor Michelle Trauring and Editor-in-Chief Bill Sutton to discuss the week's latest East End news.

In this episode of the Express News Group's 27Speaks: Behind the Headlines podcast, host Joe Shaw is joined by reporters Cailin Riley, Jack Motz, Michael Wright and features editor Michelle Trauring to discuss the week's latest East End news.

Patricia McCormick is an acclaimed author of young adult novels. Her 2006 book, "Sold," tells the story of a 13-year-old Nepalese girl who is sold into sexual slavery by her stepfather. Despite being named a National Book Finalist, in 2025 "Sold" was the most banned book in the country, according to the American Library Association. In this installment of "The Follow Up," McCormick, who lives in S...

In this episode of the Express News Group's 27Speaks: Behind the Headlines podcast, host Joe Shaw is joined by reporters Cailin Riley, Jack Motz, Michael Wright and features editor Michelle Trauring to discuss the week's latest East End news.

In this first episode of the Express News Group's 27Speaks: Behind the Headlines podcast, host Joe Shaw is joined by reporters Cailin Riley and Jack Motz, as well as editors Drew Budd and Annette Hinkle to discuss the week's latest East End news, from an eye-opening forum on human trafficking to a new girls' flag football team.

In a move that became official at a Section XI meeting a few weeks back, the high school football programs at Hampton Bays and Southampton will merge in 2026 to become one. Hampton Bays, which has recently seen a strong resurgence of the sport after taking two years off to rebuild, will be the host school, welcoming Southampton students who would like to play. Despite the two schools legendary riv...

In March, Sag Harbor Mayor Tom Gardella found himself in hot water after leaving a transphobic comment on a video posted by an Instagram user in Texas with more than 22,000 followers. The post gained traction and became the focus of numerous news stories far beyond the South Fork. Though he apologized for the incident, more reports of concerning social media behavior soon surfaced, including from...

Ice and Accountability: East End Municipalities Weigh OLA Proposal Organizacíon Latino Americana (OLA) of Eastern Long Island recently proposed a law that seeks accountability and transparency regarding federal immigration action. It was first introduced for consideration by OLA and director Minerva Perez in February to East End municipalities that have their own police departments. Written so tha...

Last week, Long Island Rail Road crews began installing new track sidings at the Southampton Village station, which local officials celebrated as a step toward improving limited train service on the South Fork. When completed, the project will accommodate the longer trains that LIRR runs in the summer months. While the MTA has not yet announced any plans for new scheduling, the hope is that additi...

Mark Parash and Anthony Meras, whose parents owned Sip’n Soda in Southampton and Star Confectionery in Riverhead, respectively, have known each other since they were kids. Recently, Parash and Meras teamed up to revive a family tradition by making chocolate Easter bunnies using the same nearly 100-year-old metal molds that their relatives worked with decades ago. The chocolate bunnies (and baskets...

This is the time of year when changes are afoot on the East End as new businesses open, old ones close and still others look to relocate. This year is no different, but already it seems as if more changes than usual are coming to Sag Harbor’s business district in the months ahead. From “Miracle,” a new restaurant expected to open at 29 Main Street in early May, to GeekHampton, the Hamptons only au...

Animal welfare advocates from across the region came together last week for the latest Express Sessions event, hosted at Union Burger Bar in Southampton Village, to discuss the challenges they face in caring for both wildlife and domestic animals, the issues they’re dealing with currently and the best ways for the community at large to help.

As a teacher, high school coach and athletic director, Kathy Masterson has shepherded a lot of student-athletes through high school sports programs over the years, beginning with her own alma mater, Southampton High School, in the mid-1990s. From there, positions followed at Shelter Island and Westhampton Beach — where she worked as a physical education teacher for several years before being named...

Last year, Crescent Duck Farm on the North Fork was hit by a devastating outbreak of avian influenza and had to cull its entire flock of Pekin ducks. The farm is now rebuilding its stock. But the latest strain of the disease, known as H5N1, is back. It’s now raging through its fourth winter season and is proving deadly to a broad swath of wild birds. This year, it's wild waterfowl — especially Can...

East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen is currently backing a herculean push to unseat nearly all 38 sitting members of the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee and replace them with committee members favorable to him, part of a purported effort to reshape the local party in his image. He’s also launching a Democratic primary challenge against incumbent East Hampton Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonz...

At a public hearing hosted by the Southampton Village Board on February 12, residents and some board members voiced opposition to a proposal that would extend the terms of office for the mayor and trustees from two to four years. The proposal would be subject to a mandatory referendum. It was recommended by the village’s Planning Commission, which argued that longer terms would save the village mo...

On January 26, as residents hunkered down in their warm homes to watch snow from a massive storm pile up outside, Sag Harbor’s Marit Molin and several volunteers from Hamptons Community Outreach headed out into the elements. With temperatures well below freezing, the group trudged through the South Fork’s wooded areas in search of the homeless who ride out winter in rudimentary shelters. The goal...

​The Hamptons real estate market saw its median home sales price breach $2 million for the first time in 2025, and for the first time in history, 70% of transactions were above $1 million. To make sense of the numbers, ​Jonathan Miller​,​ the president and CEO of real estate appraisal and consulting firm​ Miller Samuel Inc., ​joins the editors for a discussion of what influenced sales in 2025 and...

More than 100 community members came together at The Church in Sag Harbor on another frigid winter night to discuss the future of Sag Harbor’s downtown, everything that’s at stake, and how to protect it at an Express Sessions event titled “The Evolution and Preservation of Downtown Sag Harbor.” The panel for the conversation, which was moderated by Express News Group Consulting Editor Joseph Shaw,...

As costs rise, taxes increase and budgets are stretched, small school districts across the region face the daunting task of providing robust programming to their students with fewer resources. Compounding the challenges on the East End are decreases in state aid, overall falling student population numbers and unaffordable housing costs that are driving families from the area. This week, the editor...

On Thursday, January 15, Westhampton Beach residents, business owners, elected officials and others gathered at Fauna in the village for the latest edition of the Express Sessions series “Local Matters,” providing those in attendance with a chance to discuss and debate the most pressing issues facing the community. The afternoon conversation ranged from new regulations that will require beachfront...

Last year, Hampton Coffee Company took over a roadside cafe in a quiet corner of Hampton Bays. Over decades, the building, a former farm stand, had been expanded and transformed into a small eatery with bathrooms, a kitchen and walk-in refrigerators. The neighbors love having the cafe nearby. The problem is, all those expansions were done sans permits. So in an effort to bring everything up to dat...

Southampton Town is weighing using its Community Preservation Fund to purchase a Meadow Lane mansion — and the land it sits on — for nearly $26 million. The town would then raze the mansion and remove the accompanying pool to install a new parking lot where town residents could access a stretch of beach in Southampton Village. The property is located next to a Town Trustees 4x4 access road that is...

In late December, Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill that would formally recognize the Montaukett Nation. This, despite the fact that there was broad support for the legislation, which passed the State Assembly unanimously and the State Senate in a vote of 59-1. The bill sought to reinstate recognition to the Montaukett Nation by reversing a 1910 court ruling that improperly stripped it away by i...