Leaders on the East End agree that more affordable housing could prop up a year-round economy, legacy industries are worth preserving and infrastructure investments will strengthen the region. Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that though they differ on specific tactics, the five East End town supervisors emphasized unity during a panel discussion yesterday the Long Island Association moderated at East Wind Long Island in Wading River.

"We are all very different towns ... but we have a lot of the same issues," Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard said. "Democrat or Republican ... at this level, it means the least. A good idea is a good idea."

Hubbard was joined by Amber Brach-Williams of Shelter Island, a fellow Republican, and Democratic Supervisors Al Krupski of Southold, Maria Moore of Southampton and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez from East Hampton for the "State of the East End" forum. All five are first-term supervisors who took office in 2024. Wednesday’s forum was the first to focus specifically on the East End, building on an effort by the Long Island Association to better support the region.

"You might just think Hamptons and mansions and millionaires, but the truth is, there are people that are bussing your table or working at the dry cleaner or a lifeguard at the beach and they can’t afford that million-dollar house," Matt Cohen, the president of the Long Island Association, said. "We really have to try to work together to fix these challenges." Some east end towns are eyeing ways to revamp zoning codes to accommodate more businesses and affordable housing on the twin forks.

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The Southampton Town Board unanimously approved a sweeping rezoning of a swath of Montauk Highway on the edge of downtown Hampton Bays this week.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the move came barely a month after the legislation proposing the change was first introduced, and over the vociferous objections of a businessman - Joseph Lustberg, one of the owners of the cannabis company Mottz Green Grocer, which had designs on opening in the former North Fork Bank building in Hampton Bays. Lustberg had planned to open a cannabis dispensary that will now be forestalled by the new zoning rules. The vote this past Tuesday will rezone two dozen properties along Montauk Highway, all to the east of downtown Hampton Bays, which are currently in a highway business zone, to hamlet commercial, and two more from highway business to village business. The uses allowed in the hamlet commercial and village business zones encourage smaller-scale development of properties suitable for the transition areas surrounding downtown areas. Under Southampton Town code, cannabis dispensaries are only allowed in highway business zones. After a single public hearing session and a two-week comment period, which ended on Tuesday, the board added approval of the rezoning legislation to its agenda for this week’s meeting.

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Islip’s Long Island MacArthur Airport is slated to receive $3 million worth of security upgrades within the next eight months, according to town Aviation Commissioner Rob Schneider.

Sam Kmack reports in NEWSDAY that the Town of Islip announced yesterday that it was awarded a federal grant to cover the cost of the upgrades. They will include roughly 7 miles of improved fencing around the airport, and new security cameras around the perimeter.

Town Councilman John Lorenzo, the district representative for the airport, said the project, which has been in the works for about five years, is needed to “keep our airfields safe and secure for the future.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation funding will be used to replace the airport’s existing 6-foot fence with a new 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire.

The grant also will fund a “state of the art” security camera system along the airport’s boundaries.

The taller fence will help the