Federal judge allows offshore work to resume at Sunrise Wind farm off coast of Montauk

Mountains of snow have sprung up across Long Island after a major winter storm hit two weekends ago. Municipal and state highway workers made the mounds after moving snow from downtown business districts and highway areas like bridges and ramps. While New York City is using mechanical “hot tubs” to melt some of its snow, common practice on Long Island is to let the snow melt naturally – even if it takes weeks.For example, piles of snow stand in the Hampton Bays fire department parking lot nine days after a foot fell on the east end. Nicholas Spangler and Nicholas Grasso report in NEWSDAY that there are more mountains alongside some state highways, where about 380 highway maintenance workers used loaders and dump trucks to haul "tons" of snow from shoulders, bridges and ramps, according to Stephen Canzoneri, a state Department of Transportation spokesman.There are mountains in Southold, where crews removed a few hundreds truckloads of snow from Love Lane in Mattituck and Main Road in Cutchogue "just to get passable sidewalks and on-street parking reestablished" Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin said. The mounds went up at Strawberry Fields fair grounds in Mattituck and on Highway Department land in Peconic.In East Hampton, the mountains occupy parking lots that will be used in warmer months by surfers and swimmers at Atlantic Avenue and Ditch Plains beaches. Stephen Lynch, East Hampton’s highway superintendent, said town workers will use road sweepers to clear snow treatments or gravel after the snow melts.In Southampton, aside from the piles at Hampton Bays depot, most snow is simply pushed into the 10- or 15-foot strip of right of way on each side of the road, Highway Superintendent Charles McArdle said. Eventually, as in East Hampton, workers will use street sweepers to clean whatever sediment they can collect from the melted snow, the key word being melted."That’ll be when?" McArdle said. "July?"***U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota…the Republican from Amityville who represents the east end in the U.S. House of Representatives…has announced a pair of initiatives that will see a total of $440 million in federal investments make their way to Suffolk County to support clean water, coastal resilience and public safety.Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the first initiative is $429 million for research institutions, strengthening coastal protection and water-quality programs, and expanding support for law enforcement and public safety. After Congress passed three appropriations bills on January 8, President Donald Trump signed the funding package into law on January 23.Meanwhile, the second, also signed into law on January 23, will provide more than $11 million for 10 community projects throughout the 1st Congressional District, including $782,100 for upgrades to the technology in the Southampton Town Police Department mobile command center. This will see the Southampton Town Police Department’s 23-year-old mobile command unit be modernized with dual-band radios, computers, cameras, dispatch equipment and monitors. “The money is focused on public safety; it's focused on infrastructure; it's focused on water quality, all three of which are important to my constituents and me,” LaLota told The Express News Group.Included in the measures is $40 million for the National Estuary Program — of which the Peconic Estuary Partnership is a part — which will go toward water quality preservation.Another $40 million will ensure critical dredging projects remain in place across the East Coast, like the one that has been ongoing for the past two months or so at Lake Montauk.Congressman LaLota also highlighted the $155 million that will go toward Brookhaven National Laboratory.***A federal judge has allowed offshore work to resume at Sunrise Wind’s offshore wind farm about 30 miles off the coast of Montauk, the fifth of five projects allowed to continue work by the courts after they were blocked by the Trump administration and U.S. Department of the Interior in December. “Purportedly new classified information does not constitute a sufficient explanation for the bureau’s decision to entirely stop work on the Sunrise Wind project,” Judge Royce Lamberth stated when making his decision yesterday.The Sunrise Wind project offshore of Smith Point County Park in Shirley, Long Island is presently about 45% complete with its 84-turbine wind farm. Last month, The City reported that Ørsted lost approximately $1 million per day while the project was halted.“Today’s court decision allowing Sunrise Wind to immediately resume construction is a win for New York’s working families and our economy,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand {D-N.Y.}in a statement. “As energy costs continue to soar, the Trump administration’s ridiculous attempts to halt this project would have killed good-paying jobs and raised energy costs on New Yorkers.”***Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to increase access to universal pre-kindergarten would send millions of dollars to school districts across New York and require every district to have a full-day program for 4-year-olds by the 2028-29 school year.Lawmakers, education leaders and advocates say it's a "step in the right direction."They also fear it may not be enough to make pre-kindergarten truly universal.Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the Democrat’s $260 billion state budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 boosts spending on child care and pre-kindergarten by $1.7 billion — allocating $10,000 per pupil to school districts to expand current prekindergarten programs or start new ones. The executive budget, if approved by the New York State Legislature, would require every school district to have enough seats for all eligible primarily 4-year-olds whose parents apply by 2028-29. Programs can be located in a school building, or districts can partner with a community-based organization to run the program.After years of sporadic funding, lawmakers, education leaders and advocates applauded the proposed increase in aid, which could be used largely for instruction. But more money may be necessary to address the need for additional space, transportation and qualified staff, they told Newsday.Education advocates and lawmakers expressed concern that the mandate could become an issue if underfunded and become a burden local taxpayers would have to shoulder, particularly in high-wealth but expensive areas like on Long Island that typically receive less state aid under the school aid formula. Statewide, 624 of the 673 school districts have some form of prekindergarten program, also known as pre-K, according to the State Education Department.Research has shown that pre-K programs can help prepare children for kindergarten and help them have greater success in their school career, making them more likely to graduate high school, graduate college and get high-paying jobs, said Marina Marcou-O’Malley, co-executive director for the Alliance for Quality Education, an advocacy group. “The return on investment is huge.”Universal pre-kindergarten is not child care, “it’s an early childhood education program,” said Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest teachers union representing nearly 700,000 members. It’s important to align what’s taught in prekindergarten with K-12 educational programming and to have certified teachers, Person said.***Southampton Town’s recent creation of new floating “Community Housing Overlay Districts” has paved the way forward for four housing developments already under consideration, and for an expansion of one of the town’s first community housing success stories — the Sandy Hollow Cove apartment complex — with a new development of single family townhouses next door. A total of up to 68 units, of a variety of designs ranging from houses for first-time homebuyers to apartments and senior cottages are currently being considered for changes of zoning to the new “Community Housing Overlay Districts.”Each of the proposals will have a separate public hearing before the Southampton Town Board at a future date, after the board elected at its Jan. 29 work session to consider the applications.Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that Town planners, housing officials and a representative from the affordable housing developer Georgica Green Ventures gave an overview of the proposals at last week’s work session.The projects include a complex that could have between 20 and 30 units at 99 Montauk Highway in Water Mill, 10 senior rental units at the former Easterner Motel in Shinnecock Hills, nine single-family homes at 90 North Sea-Mecox Road, four single-family homes at 205 North Sea-Mecox Road and 15 single family townhouses at 147 Sandy Hollow Road, adjacent to the existing Sandy Hollow Cove complex.Georgica Green Ventures would be co-developing the Montauk Highway, Water Mill project and the Sandy Hollow Cove 2 project with the Town of Southampton Housing Authority.Southampton Town has already used Community Housing Fund money to purchase the first four properties for use as community housing.***Saks Off Fifth, one of the largest stores in the Tanger Outlets mall in Riverhead, shut its doors yesterday.Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the store’s financially troubled parent company, Saks Global, announced last week it is closing the majority of its Off Fifth stores, including two on Long Island. The Off Fifth store at Tanger Outlets in Deer Park is also closing. The Garden City location will remain open, according to a list posted on the Saks Global website.The closings come after Saks Global...