We came to Sag Harbor 15 years ago after a very long haul in Greenwich Village. We’d spent several summers on Shelter Island, hopping over to Sag just to browse the town, hunt antiques or catch a slice of pie at the Paradise when it was a luncheonette. Sag gradually grew on us and, one [...]

by Mike Taibbi
Studio City, CA, December 26th — Really, Studio City! That’s the name of the town where I’m living for awhile until I find a permanent place. There’s an In-N-Out Burger nearby, I’m in shouting distance of the entrance ramps to a couple of freeways, and none of the cars you see on those [...]

Caught in the middle: immigrants welcomed or turned away
by Jim Marquardt

Last week we looked at information about the role of immigrants in the U.S. and on the East End. This week we hear from government officials, and from groups that welcome immigrants, or want them all to go away.
Witness For Peace (“a politically independent, grassroots [...]

What do we know about the immigrants who live here?
By Jim Marquardt

Perhaps the most important chapter in the history of the United States is the story of immigration, how people from all over the world came here seeking a better life, and in the process built our great nation. And so it seems [...]

Roman Roth loves us too
By Jim Marquardt

We were pleased to learn that Ben Franklin endorsed our appreciation of wine when he stated, “Wine is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.” At the same time we’ve too often been intimidated by snobs who pontificate remarks like, “It’s a naïve domestic Burgundy, [...]

By Richard Gambino
A  new pet dog or cat — what a great way to celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah and to start the New Year! And the place to go for one is the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons (ARF).
ARF, located in Wainscott, is in its 37th year. During that time, it has saved some [...]

by Jim Marquardt
It’s insidious, sneaky, fast. You don’t notice it creeping in. Then suddenly it’s there, climbing over your plants, shrubs, trees, bushes. Sag Harbor officials may be worried about the spread of bamboo in the village, even considering local laws to restrict its planting, but bamboo could turn out to be a minor invader [...]

“I guess this is a do-it for-nothing speech.”
by Jim Marquardt

I wasn’t his friend, but I knew Andy Rooney by reputation when we both lived in Rowayton, a small section of Norwalk, Connecticut. Some time in the mid-seventies, I was inveigled into doing the advertising and promotion for the city’s United Way Campaign. At an early [...]

By Richard Gambino
Let’s Do More
Newspapers report that the Sag Harbor Schools and Southampton Schools are working on no-tolerance policies regarding kids bullying other kids. Appropriately, there is an emphasis on didactically establishing tolerance among kids for others who are different from them. Yet, it is also important to understand what goes on in the bully’s [...]

October 31— my favorite holiday. With the exception of October 17 — the birthday of Edward Montgomery Clift.  My favorite actor. And key member of an elite crew of  New York theater folk who so generously added to the warm summer glow of our town.
When they weren’t careening down Elizabeth Taylor’s tree-lined, luge-course-of-a-driveway.
This may — [...]