Police in East Hampton are searching for a brazen panty thief who allegedly stole a bag full of women's undergarments from a private home and ran off into the forest upon being caught, like a woodland sprite with a thing for thongs. more ›

An Amagansett family whose fishing provides clams for its roadside stand as well as its own dinner table is fighting the state over the right to fish. And the Lesters insist that a 1686 royal decree give them that right. more ›

A police source tells the NY Post they "inadvertently" omitted Romero from the weekly press package. Given the ACLU's often adversarial relationship with police, it's not immediately clear why they'd do anybody at the ACLU any favors. But the ACLU's reticence on the incident raised eyebrows. Wendy Kaminer at The Atlantic writes, "You might expect an organization advocating for government transparency (including a transparent criminal justice system) to consider a DWI charge a public matter; you might even expect the ACLU Executive Director to inform national board members of his drunk driving charge and pending court date. But... Anthony Romero has a history of keeping secret his own embarrassing or wrongful behavior." more ›

As an increasing number of animals in the Easthampton region suffer at the hands of really awful people, concerned citizens and the SPCA are offering tens of thousands of dollars in reward money to find out who's responsible. In addition to a seagull with a dart shot through its head that was spotted in Sag Harbor, a box turtle was found with a nail hammered through its shell, a swan that was impaled with an arrow was picked up in Riverhead, and a seagull was crushed to death with a rock the size of a brick near the Royal Atlantic Beach Motel in Montauk. The bird with a dart through its head flew away before it could be rescued, but the swan and the turtle are both recuperating. more ›

A headless body has been discovered on a beach in Amagansett, Long Island, 100 miles east of Gilgo State Beach, where the remains of 10 people have been uncovered in the past months. Newsday reports [reg. req'd] that the badly decomposed corpse was found washed ashore by a beach walker around 12:30 p.m. on Big Albert's beach between Barnes Hole and Albert's Landing roads. Authorities warn that it is too soon to say if foul play is involved—currently they can't even tell if the body is a man or a woman. more ›

Westchester fancy lady Amy Paul resides in a 11,000-square-foot home so lavish it was featured in a fawning profile in Westchester Magazine two years ago. It's clear from reading the article that Ms. Paul likes things just so, so you can understand why she'd be a bit miffed when she arrived at The Palm restaurant in East Hampton Saturday night to find that the insolent staff did not have her table ready. Never mind that she arrived twenty-five minutes late for her 9:30 reservation, and with four extra people—is it right that a lady of her refinement should have to stand around like an idiot waiting for her table? Certainly not, and so Ms. Paul decided to teach the help an invaluable lesson in customer relations. more ›

Back in 2003, locals began going before the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals, proposing to expand the hamlet's library by about 6,000 square feet. And now that the ZBA has rejected the expansion, proponents are bringing out the big guns. One source told the Post, "The old guard is scared that the Latino kids and their parents from Springs are going to invade their precious downtown area. It’s really that simple." more ›

There is a chance, albeit a small one, that the Loop Current could carry oil from the Gulf spill around the tip of Florida and up to beaches as far as north as New York. We're really going to be steamed if this thing messes up P. Diddy's white party. more ›

As authorities searched for that stray sedative-filled dart they attempted to euthanize the baby whale with last week, they came across another injured animal. A sick seal pup was found in East Hampton this weekend, with an elevated white blood cell count. According to Newsday, the Riverhead Foundation's rescue program director Kim Durham said multiple lacerations were found, and it was placed on antibiotics. This was one of four injured seals reported on Sunday. Meanwhile, the 27-inch dart was never recovered, but the search continues "for reasons of public safety." more ›

The baby humpback whale that's been suffering on the shore of an East Hampton beach since Tuesday morning has officially died. According to Newsday, this morning after the latest round of euthanization he was finally put out of his misery. They report, "the whale's death came after a scientist armed with a hunting rifle shot the stranded humpback, after an earlier attempt to euthanize the animal resulted in a 2-foot-long tranquilizer dart's being lost in the surf." Say what? Yep, there's currently a team of divers scheduled to locate the lost dart sometime tomorrow... because they aren't sure if it's still fully loaded! Watch out, other whales. more ›

The coverage over at Newsday (subscription only) makes the beached whale euthanization sound like a murder mystery! They report, "Three shots rang out on the East Hampton beach Friday where a humpback whale juvenile has been stranded since Tuesday, but it was not clear if the whale had been shot or what it may have been shot with." more ›

The baby hump back whale currently beached and dying in East Hampton is still alive after being discovered there on Tuesday morning. Newsday (subscription only) reports that one attempt was made to sedate and euthanize the whale already, and another is being made this afternoon—even though the Riverhead Foundation's Chuck Bowman had previously expressed concerns over the process being a dangerous one. A new type of sedative will be used today. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The baby hump back whale that has been beached in East Hampton since yesterday morning is still there, and Chuck Bowman of the Riverhead Foundation tells the NY Post that his crew will stay with it until it dies, at which time they'll conduct a necropsy (the local police chief told WPIX that it did not appear physically injured). more ›

Diddy better not drink too much Ciroc lest he wake up next to his fake wife and real life stalker. According to 1010Wins, a 35-year-old woman claiming to be his wife (he's not married) was arrested after she attempted to visit his East Hampton house twice. more ›

While the eyes of the world were on the riots in Iran over the weekend, another shocking miscarriage of justice almost went unnoticed closer to home in East Hampton—but thankfully a reporter for Plum TV was on hand to bravely document Saturday night's panic at the shitshow. In the middle of a rainstorm, a crowd waiting for their cars and others clamoring to get inside were huddled under the awning outside Georgica, a "hotspot" run by promoter Matt Levine, whom you may recall from his work at Lower East Side tool magnet The Eldridge. more ›

Suffolk police say that a wealthy NJ man shot his wife before killing himself in their East Hampton estate yesterday morning. Lester Stockel, who Newsday describes as the "founder of a successful enterprise involving the processing of credit-card receipts for businesses," and his wife Georgiana were found his their bedroom by East Hampton Town police, who were responding to various 911 calls. Neighbors were shocked, saying they never heard the couple argue--Stockel, 64, was described as friendly while Georgiana Stockel, also 64, was more "reserved." more ›

Thank goodness for alcohol crackdowns in the Hamptons, or else the Post and Daily News wouldn't have covers today! East Hampton gallery owner Ruth Vered (of the Vered Gallery) is featured on the front pages of both tabloids being hauled away by the police for serving alcoholic drinks without a license on Saturday night. more ›

Comedian and car enthusiast Jerry Seinfeld managed to walk away "without a scratch" after his 1967 Fiat BTM flipped in East Hampton over the weekend. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a hostage situation on East 124th St. in Manhattan, a carjacking on Undercliff Ave. in the Bronx, and a home invasion robbery on East 18th St. in Brooklyn.
• For a few thousand dollars a month, one can join the LL Yacht Club at Chelsea Piers and East Hampton and enjoy access to their selection of luxury yachts to head to and from the Hamptons.
• Ball State University in Indiana will be naming its new communications building after alumnus David Letterman. The Late Show host's mother Dorothy expressed pride in her son, saying "He's a very special young man."
• Five months after the City Council symbolically banned the "n-word" in New York, complete with a burial service for the slur, Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy is introducing similar legislation to ban the words "b--ch" and "ho" from the city.
• A collection of perspective-based artwork that only takes shape from a single vantage point.
• A Florida woman adopted 11 children in New York between 1993 and 1996, then kept them as underfed, uncared for, and abused prisoners in her Port St. Lucie, FL home, as she collected as much as $180,000 a year from the state for their care.
• Plans are underway for the construction of a 19-story luxury hotel in Harlem that will be on 5th Ave. between 125th St. and 126th. St.
• The judge in the divorce case of former NJ governor and current gay-American Jim McGreevey and his estranged wife Dina lectured the pair that they did not have the financial means to undergo a protracted and contentious divorce case.

The NY Sun details Senator Hillary Clinton's fundraising agenda in the NY area. Most notably, she and former President Bill Clinton will be on a "48-hour, six fund-raiser blitz" in the Hamptons that includes events at billionaire Ron Perelman's East Hampton home and Entenmann's heir Robert Entenmann's North Fork vineyard. From the Sun:

The Hamptons trip highlights just how crucial New York's wealthy donors are to Mrs. Clinton, and to all of the 2008 presidential candidates. Not only do they write large checks, but they serve as rainmakers who can secure donations from their wealthy network of friends. more ›

wherein Paul Giamatti discovers someone mysterious in the pool of the apartment complex he manages. The trailers want it to be both a horror story and an eerie children's fable, but it doesn't seem like it could really be both simultaneously. more ›

On Sundays Gothamist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in New York and reviews of recent books and performances. The judgments expressed below are entirely those of the author. more ›

Gothamist loves to hear about animals that can do crazy tricks. Gerbils that dance, cats that are potty trained and birds that can count in pig-latin are truly fabulous feats of talent. But last night, Gothamist heard of perhaps the greatest animal trick yet – a dog that can tell if the wine is good by sniffing the cork. Apparently if the wine is good, this brilliant Weimaraner will chew on the cork, but if is it bad, it will drop the cork on the floor. While we did not get to see the dog in person, our waiter who has witnessed the act on many occasions at the Della Femina Restaurant in East Hampton swears that the dog has 100% accuracy. more ›

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with the issues of delusion and grandeur is the subject at large. Combining elements of Allen’s real life sharing a cubicle with one such ostensibly daft, but possibly brilliant woman, and her fascination with Little Edie Beale of Grey Gardens, Allen embodies that woman you never quite understood but are completely fascinated by. more ›

Kurt Wenzel, Novelist more ›

The Post talks to Ty Wenzel about her new book, Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender. Wenzel was a bartender in the East Village for 10 years, but now lives in East Hampton with husband and child. She categorizes bar regulars thusly: Expert, Name-Dropper, Snacker (noshes olives and cherries out of the garnish tray), Babbler (chats obliviously through a rush at the bar), Big Spender (blows cash on everyone except the bartender - "Wall Street types and frat boys. They act like they're made of money - until the tip") and her favorite, Floorshows ("People always try to get them drunk to see what they'll do") more ›