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The atmosphere at Stony Brook University was tense yesterday, less than a day after 29 people, including nearly two dozen students, were arrested during a confrontation with authorities. As reported in NEWSDAY, a pro-Palestinian protest broke out again on campus Thursday afternoon, although the demonstrators dispersed shortly afterward. And Jewish students, who gathered for a party in the space where Wednesday's protest took place, said the week's events had left them fearing for their safety.
Late yesterday afternoon, as students came and went to their final exams, roughly 100 students gathered at an outdoor campus concert, and later in front of the Earth and Space building, for an impromptu protest. They chanted “Free Palestine” and shouted “Shame” at university officials after the arrests of “peaceful protesters.”
The demonstrators chanted slogans against Israel and called for Palestinian resistance. One protester made an obscene gesture at a small group of students watching, one of whom was wrapped in an Israeli flag. The protest ended without altercations.
Shortly after midnight Thursday, 22 students, two faculty members and five others had been arrested after they refused to vacate a grassy area on campus known as the Staller Steps.
Meanwhile, students gathered yesterday for a Jewish heritage event in front of the Staller Center — the same site where protesters had been arrested and evicted hours earlier.
The event got underway amid heavy security. Campus police erected wood barriers and put up yellow police tape to control access to the site. It attracted about 50 people, a sparser crowd than the 500 who came last year, event organizers said.
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The Alive on 25 summer street festival will return this year with two events which will bring fireworks and, for the first time, a laser light show, to downtown Riverhead. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the first event will be on July 5 and include fireworks starting at 9 p.m. The second event is on Aug. 9 and includes a laser light show over the Peconic River and in the Riverhead Town square starting at 9 p.m.
The events, which feature live music on multiple stages, local craft beverages, food trucks, street dining, vendors and activities on Main Street and the Peconic Riverfront, begin at 5 p.m. and officially end at 9:30 p.m. Rain dates for the events are July 19 and Aug. 23.
The Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association, which organizes the festival, decided to cut down the number of Alive on 25 events down from four to two events this year.
For the first time, the street festival had a small financial loss last year, Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association executive director Kristy Verity said at a recent BIDMA board meeting. The first event of the summer, which coincides with Independence Day weekend, typically has an “enormous” turnout, and that attendance seems to dwindle with the other three events, she said. That caused some vendors to bow out of the festival altogether because they had to commit to attending all four events, she said.
This is the second big change to the street festival in recent memory; in 2022, BIDMA moved the festival from Thursday to Friday with the hope that weekend traffic could boost attendance. The move to Friday nights has been “very successful,” Verity said.
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A badly decomposed female minke whale was found in the ocean surf in Bridgehampton this past Wednesday morning. As reported on 27east.com, scientists with the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society conducted a necropsy of the 26-foot whale. The animal showed no sign of trauma, but it will not be possible to pinpoint a cause of...

Elected officials on the South Fork, Long Island Rail Road passengers, and leaders in education, small business and medicine are planning a rally to call for increased train service to the South Fork on Friday, May 17, at 3:45 p.m. at the Hampton Bays LIRR station. Christopher Walsh reports on 27east.com that the South Fork Commuter Coalition is asking the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to commit funding in its upcoming capital budget for long-discussed infrastructure improvements for the South Fork, which is widely considered to be underserved by the railroad. Specifically, the South Fork needs new and upgraded sidings, which are sections of track separate from, but parallel to, a main line that allow trains traveling in opposite directions to pass. This, advocates say, would improve efficiency and allow for more train service on the South Fork. Much of the LIRR’s Montauk branch, including all of the South Fork, features a single track. At its first meeting on April 11, members of Southampton Town’s Traffic Mitigation and Safety Task Force spoke of the importance of rail service in alleviating “trade parade” traffic congestion. The railroad is “the most under-utilized infrastructure we have,” NYS Assemblyman Fred Thiele said at that meeting. The MTA will approve its five-year capital plan in October. The South Fork Commuter Connection, which debuted on the Montauk branch in 2019, is a coordinated rail and bus system that operates between Speonk and Montauk during peak commuting hours to provide a public transportation option and alleviate traffic congestion. It comprises expanded LIRR service and the “Last Mile Connection” shuttle service to take passengers to their workplace on weekday mornings. Later afternoon bus and train service returns riders to their stations of origin.
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Law enforcement officers descended early today on an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters outside Stony Brook University's Staller Center where they took several demonstrators into custody and forced others to leave.
As reported on Newsday.com, protest leaders and university administrators had reached an impasse before campus police along with New York State Troopers and Suffolk County police officers moved in after a deadline for demonstrators to leave passed at 11 last night.
Administration officials had earlier agreed to meet today with the student leaders but also threatened them with possible expulsion if they remained on the grassy common.
About a dozen protesters had remained camped out as the deadline passed. Another roughly 100 demonstrators who left the immediate area to avoid getting arrested formed a perimeter around the smaller group. Others began clearing out supplies that had been spread out in the encampment.
In a statement early this morning, university officials said among the 29 people arrested were "students, faculty members and others from outside our campus community for violating various legal statutes and university policies. What began as a peaceful demonstration escalated to include intimidation and harassment of other students and the erection of tents in violation of the University’s clearly stated policy. University administrators made every effort to avert this outcome."
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ReWild Long Island is offering internships and community service opportunities in East Hampton for its second summer.
The 2024 Summer Program To Fight Hunger and Climate Change includes volunteer work in organic vegetable harvesting, regenerative food production, sustainable landscaping, pollinator garden design and composting.
Locations and partner organizations include Share the Harvest Farm, LongHouse Reserve, Surfrider Village Green and Methodist Lane Bioswale,...

E-ZPass is warning about a text message scam in which unsuspecting commuters are tricked into providing payment and personal information. John Asbury reports on Newsday.com that customers have received texts claiming to come from “NY Toll Services” and seeking to collect tolls, according to E-ZPass. The messages may include a fraudulent website phishing for payment or other information.
Toll officials said the messages and website are not authorized by E-ZPass or other toll agencies. Anyone who gets the text claiming to be from a toll provider is urged not to click on the website link and delete the message.
“E-ZPass New York will never ask” for a customer’s date of birth, Social Security number or other personally identifiable information, toll officials said in a message posted on EZPassNY.com. Real communications from E-ZPass New York will just refer customers to EZPassNY.com and TollsByMailNy.com, they said.
Text message and phishing scams have been reported in other states using E-ZPass.
The MTA previously issued warnings about a scam email to E-ZPass customers, which may look like it appears from the E-ZPass Service Center and asks customers to download a list of unpaid tolls.
Anyone who suspects they may have received a fraudulent message can contact E-ZPass NY customer service at 1-800-333-8655.
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In an effort to beautify Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton, Riverhead Town is establishing a program to allow people to purchase a cherry blossom tree and marker for the park in honor of an armed services member. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the town would plant a six-foot tall cherry blossom tree and place a 12- by 6-inch granite slab with the name of the veteran at the foot of each tree, according to Council Member Ken Rothwell, Town Board liaison to the Riverhead Veterans Advisory Committee. Rothwell said the program would be open to both residents of the town and non-residents and cost $675, which covers the purchase of the tree, the marker and the installation of the marker. The new program could be approved by the Riverhead Town Board as soon as May 7. He said the idea came from the Veterans Advisory Committee as a way of both honoring local veterans and beautifying the park, which is undergoing changes with the addition of a hockey rink, paintball field and a new parking lot. The park is an “ideal location, right across the street from Calverton National Cemetery,” he said. The town has selected cherry trees that bloom at the end of May to coincide with Memorial Day weekend, Rothwell said. Once the trees are planted, Rothwell said the town could perhaps have a “cherry blossom festival” at the park in years to come.
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This coming Monday May 6th at 6pm, the Heart of Riverhead Civic Association will commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day at Riverhead Free Library to honor the memory of the lives taken and of all who risked or sacrificed their own lives to save others.
This year, explore and reflect on Hearts and Minds; hearing the thoughts and emotions shared on diary pages written in hiding or in deathcamps; the memories of survivors whose life’s work became keeping their stories alive; and the reminders, written in essays and poems, that the future is in our hands.
This free program next Monday, May 6th at 6pm in the Riverhead Free Library, is presented as a community service by the Heart of Riverhead Civic Association. Advance registration requested, but not required. Call Riverhead Free Library at (631) 727-3228 to register.
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New York Institute of Technology students, who used Sag Harbor as a model for their senior thesis projects in urban planning, will present their work at a combined open house and critique on Thursday, May 9, at Sage Hall at the Sag Harbor Learning...

A little-noticed provision of the new state budget clarifies a law against passing a stopped school bus after a court sided with drivers who argued that photographic evidence didn’t prove the vehicle they passed was a school bus or that it was picking up or dropping off children. Michael Gormley reports on Newsday.com that the issue was forced by a Nassau County driver who challenged a ticket he received in Suffolk County resulting from a 2019 law which allows cameras on school buses to reduce the danger to kids. The law allows the video of violations to be used in prosecuting offenders.
However, the driver argued that a video allegedly showing him passing a school bus wasn’t sufficient proof that a school bus was actually passed or, if it was a bus, that it was receiving or discharging passengers.
In November, a state appellate court agreed.
The court ruled that prosecutors failed to document the bus was “properly marked and equipped with flashing signal lamps” and had “school bus” printed on the outside of the bus, as required by the law. The court said the video showing the driver passing the camera wasn’t enough proof under the wording of the law to prove the vehicle was a school bus.
The new provision in the state budget deal adopted April 20 amends the law to address those issues.
The budget measure adds to the 2019 law a “presumption” that a stopped school bus is taking on or dropping off passengers or is behind a bus that is adding our discharging passengers. The new provision also creates a way for local governments to document that a vehicle that provided images used in a traffic case is indeed a school bus, with all the required markings and flashing lights.
A conviction for passing a stopped school bus carries a fine of $250 for a first violation. The fine rises to $275 for a second violation and $300 for a third or subsequent violations within 18 months.
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A male motorcyclist - Devin Edward Wesch, 19, of Selden - died in East Quogue yesterday afternoon after he lost control of the motorcycle he was riding and crashed into a pole, according to Southampton Town Police. Sergeant Tim Wilson reported that police were alerted to the accident at 3:55 p.m. and that the motorcyclist was deceased when officers arrived. Police determined that the motorcyclist had been westbound on Montauk Highway near the cross street of Shinnecock Avenue when the accident occurred. The road was closed between Jones Road and Shinnecock Avenue during the police investigation.
Further east on Monday afternoon an overturned delivery truck closed the westbound lanes of County Road 39 in Southampton, snarling trade-parade traffic. The accident occurred just east of County Road 39 and North Sea Road, near 7-Eleven. The overturned truck, and the crews trying to tip it back up, blocked both westbound lanes. Traffic was detoured around the accident site at Wiltshire Street. There were no major injuries. As of 4:30 p.m. yesterday both westbound lanes and one eastbound lane were closed on County Road 39 in Southampton.
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ReWild Long Island is offering internships and community service opportunities in East Hampton for its second summer.
The 2024 Summer Program To Fight Hunger and Climate Change includes volunteer work in organic vegetable harvesting, regenerative food production, sustainable landscaping, pollinator garden design and composting.
Locations and partner organizations include Share the Harvest Farm, LongHouse Reserve, Surfrider Village Green and Methodist Lane Bioswale, East Hampton Compost and East Hampton High School Pollinator Garden.
The hands-on activities are intended to encourage a sense of connection among teenagers and the ecosystem. Furthermore, ReWild offers students the unique opportunity to engage with...

The Diocese of Rockville Centre may be on the verge of making history as the first Catholic diocese in the nation to have its bankruptcy case dismissed amid the clergy sex abuse scandal. Bart Jones reports on Newsday.com that after 3½ years and $100 million in legal fees, the diocese and hundreds of survivors of childhood sexual abuse by priests are in a stand-off in negotiations that bankruptcy experts say have all but blown up.
A court hearing on what happens next in the case is set for May 9, with the diocese now asking for the bankruptcy proceeding to be dismissed.
The abuse cases stem from the state’s 2019 Child Victims Act, which opened a two-year window for survivors to file lawsuits regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. By October 2020, the diocese declared bankruptcy, saying payouts from the cases could leave it financially ruined. It started negotiating with the survivors for a settlement.
Robert E. Gerber, a former U.S. bankruptcy court judge who is now involved in the case as a lawyer, said in a response brief to the court that when survivors voted on the diocese’s “final offer” of $200 million this month, the 86% rejection rate was the most lopsided such vote he could recall seeing in his 15 years on the bench. Attorneys for abuse survivors want $450 million.
With negotiations at a stalemate, the diocese asked for the dismissal of the bankruptcy proceedings. That would essentially bring the diocese right back to where it started but with the sex abuse cases unresolved. The cases would then return to state civil court for individual trials – the same place they were before being transferred to bankruptcy court.
Rockville Centre is the eighth-largest Catholic diocese in the nation, with 1.2 million baptized Catholics. It contends its very existence is at stake, since an outsized settlement could leave it unable to carry on its mission of spiritual, educational and charitable work.
Church officials say they have done everything possible to reach an agreement – selling off the diocesan headquarters and 200 acres of prime real estate at its seminary in Lloyd Harbor, cutting staff and streamlining expenses.
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Ice for Montauk's commercial fishing fleet comes from a machine at the Gosman's Dock property. Local fishermen say it's the lone machine capable of churning out vast quantities of ice they rely on to store and transport fresh catch. With Gosman's for sale, fishing interests are worried about the future. The East End Commercial Fishing Association formed last year to try to get financial support from the government for a new facility and ice machine. Joe Werkmeister reports on Newsday.com that in 2018, the Town of East Hampton’s planning board approved a site plan application from Inlet Seafood Inc. that included a proposed 5,520-square-foot icehouse, storage and office building, town records show.
Bryan and Asa Gosman, who are cousins and part owners of Gosman’s Dock, said that 11.6-acre property remains for sale, with no contracts drawn up.
Bryan Gosman, 51, said he and his cousin plan to continue running the seafood operation.
“The ice plant as of now, there’s no plans of it going anywhere,” Gosman said, while acknowledging the future beyond the next few years is harder to predict.
He said their seafood business relies on ice generated on-site, in addition to the proceeds from ice sales to fishing vessels.
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The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) is now accepting applications for its 2024 Student Scholarship program. The deadline for applications is Friday, May 10th, 2024.
Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame will award $500 scholarships to graduating students. These scholarships will provide funding to eligible graduating high school...

The law enforcement search of Manorville grew in size yesterday, as more than a dozen K-9 police units from three agencies scanned sections of the hamlet's 6,900 acres of pine barrens looking for human remains in the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation. Grant Parpan reports on Newsday.com that cadaver dogs from the NYPD and State Police joined the Suffolk County Police Department's specialized K-9s to search a wide swath of land in Manorville and neighboring communities for the third consecutive day, an effort sources said could last more than a week.
From the woods near the power lines east of Connecticut Avenue to the forest land south of Middle Country Road in Ridge and U.S. Department of Energy property in Upton, the dogs and their handlers appeared to cover more land than they had a day earlier.
Police and prosecutors declined to say what has prompted the intense search of the hamlet more than 20 years after partial remains of Gilgo Beach victims Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor were found in the woods near Halsey Manor Road, leaving local residents to speculate.
Ali Krieger of Manorville told Newsday, “We live in a very wooded area and not a lot of streetlights, so people like to dump things…we’ll see what pans out. I’d like to know what they’re looking for.”
Manorville is more than 25 square miles, with much of its open space in the search areas between the Long Island Expressway north to Middle Country Road. The entire hamlet is part of the 100,000-acre Central Pine Barrens, more than half of which is preserved, wild lands.
Brian Higgins, a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the former Bergen County police chief, said it would be rare to bring in so many specialized animals unless acting on a lead.
“So it's not just random,” he said. “Something in the investigation led you to believe this is an area you should be searching with cadaver dogs.”
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Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine visited a working farm in Riverhead this past Wednesday to sign legislation appropriating $15 million of new funding this year for farmland preservation. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that with Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey at his side, Romaine said he worked with legislators to increase the annual appropriation for the purchase of farmland development rights from $10 million to $15 million because the need to preserve farmland has reached a new level of urgency.
“We are in a struggle against development,” Romaine said.
The county executive said he intends to maintain at least that level of funding annually.
“Almost 6% of this county’s land is in farming, and we’re going to keep that number and look to increase it wherever possible,” Romaine said, standing at the edge of a field being prepared for planting at the Garden of Eve Farm on Sound Avenue in Riverhead. “We want to preserve our farm belt.”
The farmland preservation program is a critical investment in the county’s future, Romaine said, because farming is a crucial part of the county’s economy.
Suffolk’s first-in-the-nation program was conceived by County Executive John Klein in the early 1970s with input from county planners and the farming community.
Since Suffolk’s farmland preservation program was adopted 50 years ago, the county has protected approximately 11,000 acres of farmland through the purchase of development rights, according to county data. Another 9,000 acres in Suffolk have been protected through other preservation efforts, including county-town and nonprofit partnerships.
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For more than 60 years, the whaleboat races have been the main draw of Sag Harbor’s annual HarborFest weekend, bringing crowds to Windmill Beach and Long Wharf. But today, the boats that have been in service for 60 years are in need of more than a little tender, loving care after years of banging against...