Town of Islip to receieve nearly $2.1 million to improve MacArthur Airport

Long Island Morning Edition

The credit card surcharge has crept into daily life like rust on a tractor — appearing so slowly that customers hardly notice it until it is, seemingly, all over. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the little signs on cash registers announcing, or acknowledging, that a surcharge of up to 4 percent will be added to the price of any transaction that is paid for with a credit card bother some consumers more than others, but everyone has noticed them.

The card surcharges have become most common at places like delis and small markets and modestly priced retail stores. They’re less common but not unheard of at some restaurants and pizza places. No large grocery or department store chains tack them on — yet — and few of the high-end shops on the main streets of South Fork’s hamlets bother with them.

It is “legal” for stores to charge credit card fees to customers — in case you were wondering, or thought otherwise — and has been for more than a decade.

But last winter, the New York State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul approved a new law requiring that merchants do so in a very different way than almost any stores do currently.

“There’s two things at the heart of the rule: merchants and vendors can’t charge more of a surcharge than they are being charged by the credit card companies themselves, and the other is this idea that the consumer has to be aware before they decide to purchase the item what the total price, including the surcharge, would be,” said NYS Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who ultimately voted in favor of the bill.

“The debate over the law at the time was between the consumers’ right to know the full price of what they are paying for and not be surprised afterward, and the burden put on small businesses by this mandate.”

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The Springs Historical Society hosts its fourth annual benefit art show and celebration, “Arts & Archives 2024” this weekend beginning today through Sunday. The event features more than 50 contemporary artists from Springs, a curator’s forum, historic tour and opening reception.

The show, organized by the historical society’s Arts & Archives Committee, supports the Springs Community Library, Elizabeth Parker Anderson’s former home donated to the historical society for use as a library to serve the Springs community.

Curated by Teri Kennedy, this exhibition is the only major invitational exclusively for Springs artists. This year’s showcase is inspired by James Brooks’ 1973 Fisherman’s Fair poster from the Springs Historical Society’s archival collection. It features more than 50 contemporary artists from Springs, working in a variety of mediums, from paintings to ceramics, jewelry to glassworks, on display today through Sunday at Ashawagh Hall at 780 Springs-Fireplace Road.

The exhibition “explores the works borne from the unique environment Springs fosters and its creative partnerships that shape a home and artistic legacy,” according to the historical society.

The exhibition will be on view to the public today from 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A reception for Springs Historical Society members will be held today from 5 to 7 p.m. and a public reception will be held tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m.

For more information about this weekend’s activities and how to support the Springs Historical Society and Community Library, visit springshistoricalsociety.org.

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Shelter Island Friends of Music welcomes back award-winning pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner tomorrow at 6 pm in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. Sanchez-Werner previously played for Shelter Island Friends of Music to a standing-room only crowd at the Presbyterian Church in February 2023. The brilliant virtuoso will perform the music of Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven and Gershwin.

Admission is free; donations are appreciated.

A reception with the musician follows the concert.

That’s tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM in the

Shelter Island Presbyterian Church

32 North Ferry Rd.

Shelter Island, NY

11964

For more info visit shelterislandfriendsofmusic.org

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Gibson Lane Beach, the quiet, unassuming ocean beach off Gibson Lane in Sagaponack Village, has, for many years, been accessible to anyone with a Southampton Town full-season beach parking permit. That has meant that it has not only been enjoyed by residents of Sagaponack, but also many families and individuals who reside in nearby hamlets and villages. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the beach is cherished by those who are not deterred by the lack of lifeguards or public bathrooms, those who have been happy to do without those amenities for a quieter, more relaxed experience.

But next summer, that dynamic is poised to change, as the Sagaponack Village Board of Trustees voted, 3-1, at a meeting in July to take back control of the beach, which it owns, from the Town of Southampton.

When the Village of Sagaponack incorporated in 2005, it could have taken over control of the beach at that time, but instead entered into an intermunicipal agreement with the Town of Southampton to have the town oversee the beach, essentially ceding that control in exchange for the town providing services like maintenance and garbage removal.

Sagaponack Village Mayor Bill Tillotson said earlier this week that he’s heard from many residents that they often cannot find a parking space at the beach, and he also added that the town has not done as good of a job maintaining the beach as he believes the village can do.

“The town has done nothing to keep it up,” he said. “They pick up the garbage, but it’s not enough. It overflows on the weekends.”

A lack of benches and bike racks, as well as overgrown vegetation are other problems Mayor Tillotson said the village can and will address when it takes back control of the beach from the town.

He also pointed out that non-village residents will not be prevented from going to the beach, but they simply won’t be able to park there unless they have a non-resident pass, if those are offered.

“It’s really about providing access for the people of Sagaponack,” he said. “And to make it look better.”

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The Town of Islip will receive nearly $2.1 million in federal funding for improvements at Long Island MacArthur Airport, per an announcement yesterday. John Valenti reports in NEWSDAY that the money earmarked for MacArthur will be used for taxiway signage and lighting rehabilitation, snow removal equipment access, holding bays and reconstruction of the airport de-icing system, according to a statement from U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

The funding is part of nearly $60 million for improvements at more than two dozen airports around New York State.

At Long Island MacArthur, $1.35 million will be used for holding bay construction; $363,600 for taxiway signage, lighting and rehabilitation; $219,090 toward a snow removal equipment access road; and $117,207 toward a deicing system reconstruction.

“From big cities like Buffalo [and] Syracuse to our rural communities in the North Country, Upstate NY’s regional airports are gateways for commerce, tourism and travel for residents," Schumer, the senior Democrat from New York and Senate Majority Leader stated.

Senator Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said: “New York’s airports welcome millions of travelers each year, and it is vital that they have up-to-date infrastructure needed for passengers to travel safely. This nearly $60 million in federal funding will bring much-needed safety and infrastructure improvements to airports across New York State.”

“We appreciate our elected officials advocating for federal funding to support Long Island MacArthur Airport," airport Commissioner Shelley LaRose-Arken said in a statement Thursday.

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Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard will host a series of three public engagement sessions to provide residents the opportunity to meet the town’s new Chief of Police - Ed Frost - in an informal, conversational setting. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the three “Meet the New Chief” sessions will give residents the chance to ask questions, share concerns and offer ideas to the new chief, who started in his new role last Sunday.

The meet-the-chief sessions are scheduled for:

Saturday, Sept. 7

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Riverhead Senior Center

60 Shade Tree Lane

Aquebogue

Tuesday, Sept. 10

6 to 8 p.m.

Riverhead Town Hall

4 West Second St.

Riverhead

Saturday, Sept. 14

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Riley Avenue Elementary School

374 Riley Avenue

Calverton

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Gov. Kathy Hochul yesterday insisted “we’re not fracking” in New York to boost the energy supply — despite Vice President Kamala Harris saying she now favors such drilling for natural gas. “We’re not fracking, we’re not burning coal. We’re not going backwards,” the Democratic governor said during a “future energy economy summit” in Syracuse. Carl Campanile in THE NY POST reports that it came after V.P. Harris, her party’s nominee for the White House, said during her recent CNN interview that she would “not ban fracking” if elected president – a major reversal from her position during her first run for the Oval Office in 2020.

“As vice president I did not ban fracking. As president I will not ban fracking,” Harris told CNN. Fracking is considered a jobs producer and popular in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state for the White House. But Governor Hochul made it abundantly clear she doesn’t want to “frack, baby frack” along New York’s gas rich southern tier of the Marcellus Shale formation that borders Pennsylvania. During the tail end of her speech on Thursday at the Future Energy Economy Summit in Syracuse, Hochul trumpeted carbon-free power generated by offshore wind, solar, geothermal or other types of energy.

Some of her energy officials also talked up nuclear power during the summit. Fracking is the drilling procedure injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rock to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas.

A report by the Manhattan Institute think tank a decade ago estimated that 15,000 to 18,000 jobs could be created in the Southern Tier and Western New York if fracking were permitted, generating up to $11.4 billion in economic output and $1.4 billion in state and local tax revenue. After years of study and controversy, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned fracking in 2014 in response to a health department study which cited public health risks because of the potential to contaminate groundwater. There’s little support in the Democratic-run NYS legislature to revisit the issue. Vintners from New York’s growing wine industry in the Finger Lakes region also have opposed fracking.