Posts in Blog

Jake Greenbaum, Unofficial Westhampton Beach Mayor, Dies At 30

Blog September 2, 2020

Without fail, Jake Greenbaum woke up every morning with a beaming smile.

It lit up his parents, Clint and Elisa, and their home in Westhampton Beach. It stopped longtime neighbors in their tracks as he whizzed by on his tandem bicycle, waving and clapping enthusiastically down Main Street, perhaps on his way to the ocean to swim in the waves.

It was woven into his selfless, sweet and outgoing nature — his kindness, generosity and optimism undoubtedly casting him as the village’s unofficial mayor. He was a man who lived a life full of fun and adventure, who never let his special needs hold him back, who embodied pure joy and total love.

The Dragon’s In The Details: Origami Masters Achieve Guinness World Record At SAC

Blog August 26, 2020

With an end goal of submitting the build to the Guinness World Records, the two-day endeavor to get there was not only physically challenging, but also artistically, mathematically and logistically complicated, explained origami master Shrikant Iyer from his home in Southampton, where the completed dragon currently lives and looms over his head, despite standing 6-feet-2-inches tall himself.

“It’s a very, very difficult thing, what we did. It truly is,” he said. “It’s not ordinary to fold that big, and then also, the dragon is not a simple model. It’s not a crane, it’s not a jumping frog. It’s a western dragon with wings. It’s hard enough getting it looking nice with 10-inch paper, so with 24 feet, we really had our work cut out for us — and we only had two people. It was really tough.”

25 Years Later: A Look Back At the Sunrise Wildfire

Award-Winning Blog August 22, 2020

It came like a great storm.

The skies darkened, smoke filled the air, the noise almost deafening. When he saw the flames, Dean Culver dropped to the pavement, too far from his car to seek proper shelter.

And then, in an unexpected move, the flames jumped.

In an instant, the wall of fire leapt from treetop to treetop, skipping over the 400-foot-wide asphalt span that is Sunrise Highway — its 200-foot-tall flames unable to burn the road, or even lick the army of firefighters flattened up against it.

“Blink Spoken Here”: Chris and Christine Pendergast Pen Book About ALS Journey Using Blink Technology

Blog August 14, 2020

With a simple blink, Chris Pendergast wrote one letter. Then the next, and the next — continuing on this way for hundreds of thousands of characters selected on a 15-inch computer screen.

And he used only his eyes.

The ensuing words unfold across the 314 pages of his recently published memoir, “Blink Spoken Here: Tales From A Journey To Within,” written with the help of his wife, Christine, almost 28 years after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a devastating neuromuscular disease with no cure.

His prognosis was that he only had 36 months to live.

“I refused to simply wait to die,” he wrote in an email, using his eye-controlled computer from his home in Miller Place. “With Gehrig’s grit, I chose to live with ALS, not die from it. I wrote stories as our family made the journey. It evolved into the book.”

The Classically Social American Hotel

Blog July 30, 2020

When Ted Conklin first walked through the front door, he saw a canvas.

The year was 1971, but inside the neglected brick building, it might as well have been the turn of the 20th century — between the gas lamps, rusted coal stove, outhouses in the back and an all-pervasive layer of dust that he could scoop with a snow shovel.

Still, he wanted it.

Conklin envisioned what the place would become, both the establishment itself — now, famously, The American Hotel — and Sag Harbor, then a depressed village following back-to-back economic downturns, first as a whaling port and then as an industrial hub.

“It hadn’t really been touched since a renovation they might have done in the 1870s — 1900 maybe,” Conklin said of the building. “So I started in on the rebuilding of it, as something that would be functional. I was just in a survival mode for the first 20 years, and now I’m back in survival mode. It’s like being a kid again.”

Southampton Native John Betts To Retire from McDonald’s Canada Helm

Blog July 28, 2020

Every time John Betts finds himself in Southampton, he can’t help but stop by the North Sea Road McDonald’s.

And he never tells anyone who he is.

With the exception of the dining room and drive-thru window, the restaurant — with its signature yellow double arch, retro interior and familiar scent of salty French fries — remains virtually unchanged, a step back in time to 1970, when Mr. Betts first got his start there toasting burger buns, not far from his family home in North Sea.

“I remember the first day, I burned 24 buns twice in a row. I thought that was it,” he said. “But I survived, they looked past it. I think I got 24 of them out of the way before they saw it.”

New York City Galleries Find a Home on the East End

Blog July 23, 2020

Despite a legacy that includes contemporary giants such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Lee Krasner and Robert Rauschenberg — who all famously lived and worked here — high-end New York galleries have largely shunned the East End as a serious year-round art destination, until an international pandemic buoyed it to the surface.

Gone are the days of summertime pop-up galleries, many of the converted newcomers agree. Now, they’re finally here to stay.

“I’d like to say this was one big strategic decision,” said Gordon VeneKlasen, managing partner of Michael Werner Gallery, three days after opening the new East Hampton space. “But in fact, it was sort of an instinctual thing. It seems so obvious now.”

Ahead of His Time: Ben Vereen Reflects on Broadway’s Place in Black History

Blog July 15, 2020

When Ben Vereen auditioned for “Pippin,” the burgeoning Broadway star never thought he would get the part.

But not only did he nail the audition — in front of the original production’s director, Bob Fosse, no less — his performance as the Leading Player would win him the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1973.

At the behest of Bay Street Theater Artistic Director Scott Schwartz — whose father, Stephen Schwartz, wrote the music and lyrics of “Pippin” — Vereen has reprised the role for the Sag Harbor venue’s virtual gala, “A Starry Night,” a celebration of 1970s Broadway musicals on Wednesday, July 22, at 8 p.m., featuring performances by luminary figures of the performing arts.

Ahead of the gala, Vereen caught up with The Express News Group, reflecting on his 55-year career, the current civil rights movement and its place in the theater.

“Every war, every conflict we’ve ever had, the arts has been the thing that has brought us through,” the 73-year-old Broadway veteran said from his home in Florida. “Because the arts is spiritual. The arts has no color… It is an expression of the most high. And the conflicts of the human race, we can reflect back on our races and say, ‘This has to be changed, and this is what you need to know about the joy of your journey.’”

A Spiritual Equine Connection: Shinnecock Nation Welcomes Horses Into Community

Award-Winning Blog July 10, 2020

Late on a recent Tuesday night, six strangers stepped foot on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation — at first, slowly and cautiously, taking in their new surroundings.

Bubba stuck close to Red, the wise old man of the group, while Benny broke out on his own, keeping with his independent nature. Clancey made no attempt to hide his inherent stubbornness and Roxy, whose affection is not easy to win, kept to herself.

Last, there was Rooney, typically sweet and laid back, despite being the largest of the group. But lately, he’d seemed angry and depressed, reeling from losing his longtime home and the family that loved him.

When he met Shinnecock tribal member Shane Weeks, that was all over. The Belgian draft horse knew he was home — together with Red the Appaloosa, Bubba the miniature horse, Benny the donkey, Clancey the mule, and Roxy the mare.

Sybille Van Kempen Launches Farm-To-Table Cookbook Series

Blog July 8, 2020

There was a time when Anna Pump and her daughter, Sybille van Kempen, were two captains of one ship. When one said, “left,” the other said “right.” When one said, “yes,” the other, predictably, said, “no.”

But that didn’t stop the mother-daughter team from working in tandem for 35 years — first at the iconic Loaves & Fishes Foodstore in Sagaponack, which Pump started in 1980, followed by their opening of the Bridgehampton Inn & Restaurant in 1994, and finally, right next door, the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in 2003.

As their businesses grew, their relationship deepened. While Pump, a German-born chef and author, taught her daughter everything she knew about entertaining, she also instilled in her the importance of slowing down, being patient, and practicing thoughtfulness — lessons she learned from her own father as a child.

“And also, just don’t be afraid to show how much you care about things,” Van Kempen said during a recent telephone interview. “Everything mattered to my mother, and she let everybody know that. I think that’s something that stuck with me, as well.”