Reporter’s Notebook: Collaboration, unity and care

Southold and Riverhead towns have endured and resisted change throughout generations. A drive down almost any back road will reveal acres of farmland stitched alongside multi-million-dollar homes. To understand how natives have reacted to the personality clash between the land’s agrarian character and increasingly cosmopolitan future, I suggest taking a look at recent history.

As a recent college graduate interested in journalism, I was excited when Times Review editors asked me to help create a newsroom planning calendar. The first step would be reading a year’s worth of newspapers, casting around for anniversaries, deadlines and upcoming events.

It felt odd to sift through physical copies of the paper, especially now that almost all news has become digitized. I realized how accustomed I’ve become to clickbait, snappy headlines and bite-sized pieces marketed to our dwindling attention spans.

I was glad to have the opportunity to reengage with the news as a source of information, not just a product. It also gave me the chance to catch up with what I had missed while away at college. 

I was born and raised in Mattituck and graduated from Mattituck High School in 2021. During my university breaks, I caught only glimpses of how the texture of our community has altered over the past four years: more “trendy” businesses, an unbearable increase in summer traffic and the gradual “Montaukification” of Greenport into a more cosmopolitan resort destination.

The Suffolk Times chronicled these changes by reporting on Town Board meetings, local events, and even Supreme Court decisions. In all the articles I read, two contrasting visions of the community emerged: one fractured by the tension related to fear of overdevelopment and the other defined by a spirit of collaboration, unity and care. 

Since the pandemic, tourism has undoubtedly increased on the North Fork. It makes sense that developers are eager to capitalize on this change. Riverhead’s Town Square project is just one example of this. The initiative is geared toward revitalizing Riverhead’s downtown area — including plans for a 28-unit apartment building behind The Suffolk theater. 

During a July 24 Riverhead Town Hall meeting, board members and local business owners seemed enthusiastic. Others pointed out that despite arguments that the project would strengthen the community, other incentives were clear: Attract visitors who can boost the local economy. 

While what’s happening here can’t be fairly compared to the wide-scale process of gentrification currently underway in New York City, I do believe residents in the city and out East share a similar hesitation toward change and a protective attitude over their homes. 

Consider the recent extension of the hotel moratorium in Southold. While the town justified the extension due to the incomplete zoning code update (set to take effect in late 2025 or early 2026), residents flocked to the May 28 Town Board meeting to let their voices be heard about crowds and the overall commercialization of the area. 

There have been wins for those who want to preserve the community. Last October, the Supreme Court denied the Brinkmann family’s lawsuit after Southold Town seized the property at the corner of Main Road and New Suffolk Avenue. The owners of the hardware store chain had sought to turn the land into a commercially zoned property, threatening almost two acres of natural foliage. 

Other ongoing developments include a 20-acre commercial solar power facility in Cutchogue, the Suffolk County Water Authority’s plan for a 12-mile North Fork pipeline and a wireless communications plan prepared for Southold.

Our community is not immune to change — and not all of it is bad. It is great to see outdated methods of thinking about the world challenged and diversified by new perspectives and new education initiatives spearheaded by groups such as the North Fork Arts Center in Greenport. But we also live in a passionate community with many (many) people who are protective of the land they reside on. 

With a diversity of ideas comes disagreement and, in some unfortunate circumstances, bigotry. We saw that this past winter in the hateful comments directed at The Butterfly Project.

But I remain optimistic that the greater majority of our community chooses to find goodness in one another and kindness in their advocacy. 

I felt this when I read of the fundraiser North Fork chefs put together to support Crescent Duck Farm after the bird flu outbreak in January, or new sustainability efforts like Southold’s newly launched food scraps drop-off program, created to reduce waste in the community. 

Differences in opinion are a natural consequence of living together. But a study of one year’s history, as recorded in the pages of our local newspaper, reminded me that our community is at its healthiest and strongest when our ideas are guided by care and consideration for others. 

Tara Terranova, a recent college graduate and 2021 graduate of Mattituck High School, worked as Times Review Media Group’s summer 2025 intern.