Sunday, November 8, has two events at its center. At 11 a.m., Sag Harbor Cinema hosts a free panel of film archivists from Sony, Disney, the Library of Congress and NBCUniversal, followed by brunch. At 2:30 p.m., a few minutes' walk away on Madison Street, the Sag Harbor Partnership hosts a public meeting about keeping Main Street independent.
The Partnership's new initiative names "anchor" retail as one of the things it wants to sustain, meaning the operations that "serve the community and contribute to Main Street's distinctive character," as 27east reported. From Friday, November 6, through Monday, November 9, those anchors are the whole calendar. A restoration film festival, a traveling exhibition about a Sag Harbor architect, the last nights of Restaurant Week and Bay Street's opening of To Kill a Mockingbird all run that weekend within a few blocks of the debate.
The Question Goes Back to Village Hall First
The conversation picks up before the weekend does. Sag Harbor Village holds a public workshop on formula stores this Thursday, October 29, at 4 p.m. at Village Hall, with both in-person and Zoom attendance. 27east described the issue this way:
"It's been an existential question in Sag Harbor for months — how to address the proliferation of chain retail or 'formula' stores that have had an increasing presence in the downtown over the last few years."
This is the first public session on the topic since a well-attended June forum. Environmental planning consultant Rich Warren of Inter-Science, who laid out the options and their tradeoffs in June, returns with another presentation. The Partnership has added its own work to the process:
- Regulatory research. Consultant Dwight Merriman studied how other municipalities regulate chain stores and drafted possible code revisions for Sag Harbor. Those recommendations have gone to Warren.
- Economic models. Eric Rothman, an economic impact consultant and former head of HR&A Advisors, prepared a study of ways to preserve important retail uses and representative buildings.
- A structure. The initiative proposes a public-private partnership run through a nonprofit to support those parts of Main Street over the long term.
Any change to the village code would go through the mayor and the Board of Trustees. The Thursday workshop is where the proposals get discussed, and the November 8 meeting is where the Partnership asks the public to take part.
Friday, November 6: The Cinema Opens the Weekend
The sixth Martin Scorsese Presents: The Sag Harbor Cinema Festival of Preservation runs from Friday through Monday. A pass covers all four days of screenings, special events and the Preservation Party, at $65 for members and $110 for non-members. Founding Artistic Director Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan calls it "this long, packed weekend." That fits a lineup that runs from a female pioneer of Italian silent film to Abbott and Costello.
Friday has three screenings that show the festival's range:
- 2:45 p.m., Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence, with a Q&A and book signing. Notari made about sixty features in Naples, and only three of her films are known to survive. Scholar Giuliana Bruno, who reconstructed Notari's career, will attend the festival.
- 5:30 p.m., Gone to Earth, the 1950 Powell and Pressburger film. David O. Selznick heavily recut it for American release. The new restoration was supervised by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, and Disney archivist Kevin Schaeffer introduces it.
- 9 p.m., The Masque of the Red Death, introduced by Mary Corman. Roger Corman would have turned one hundred this year.
Other titles over the weekend include new restorations of Brian De Palma's Obsession and Alexander Payne's Citizen Ruth, with Payne joining by Zoom. Ashley Clark of the Criterion Collection introduces Med Hondo's West Indies and signs his 2026 book on the Cinema's third floor. Single tickets and the full schedule are posted on the Cinema's website.
Saturday and Sunday Morning: Puppets and Archivists
The family program this year is George Pal's Puppetoons, the Oscar-nominated shorts Pal animated with hand-carved wooden puppets. Pal historian Arnold Leibovit introduces Program I on Saturday at 11 a.m. Program II plays Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and Monday at 11 a.m.
The free Preservation Panel starts Sunday at 11 a.m. with Grover Crisp, Arnold Leibovit, Cassandra Moore, Kevin Schaeffer and George Willeman, followed by brunch. The panel ends in time for the next event across the village.
Sunday Afternoon: The Meeting, Then the Gallery
The Main Street Initiative Public Meeting runs from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at The Church, 48 Madison Street. It is free, but you need to RSVP. Members of the Partnership's task force will present the initiative's goals and invite residents, business owners and other community members to ask questions and get involved.
The building matters too. The Church lists its exhibition hours as 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Monday. Its current exhibition, Dear Mazie, Sanctuary, Speculation, and Sky, runs through December 27. The show is about Amaza Lee Meredith, an artist, educator and architect who lived from 1895 to 1984 and founded the Azurest North community in Sag Harbor. Curator Amber Esseiva of the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University commissioned 11 contemporary artists, designers and architects to respond to Meredith's work. In Sag Harbor, the show adds commissions from East End artists. It is the first traveling exhibition The Church has hosted, and Meredith already appears in the building, as one of the figures on its windows.
So the meeting about Main Street's future takes place in a building whose current show is about the village's architectural history. If those listed hours hold on November 8, there is time to see the galleries after the meeting ends at 3:30.
Sunday Evening: The Last Night of Restaurant Week
Fall Long Island Restaurant Week runs from Sunday, November 1, through Sunday, November 8. Prix fixe dinners are $30, $40 or $48. Southforker notes that not every restaurant offers the prix fixe on Saturday, and where it does, it ends by 7 p.m. Two Main Street restaurants are taking part:
| Restaurant | Address | Prix fixe | Context from Southforker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miracle | 29 Main St. | $48, three courses | Michael Nolan returned to his hometown this year, and the restaurant has often been fully booked |
| LT Burger | 62 Main St. | $40, three courses | Chef Laurent Tourondel's burgers, shakes and hand-cut fries |
Southforker calls Miracle a popular new Sag Harbor spot and suggests booking early.
Monday, November 9: Opening Night at Bay Street
The festival ends Monday, and Bay Street Theater opens Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird the same day. The run goes through November 29, and Stephen Hamilton directs. J. Stephen Brantley plays Atticus Finch, Kendra Foster McBride plays Scout, Ryan W. Schaefer plays Jem and Matthew Schiavoni plays Dill. Judah J. A. Fabré plays Tom Robinson and Erin Margaret Pettigrew plays Calpurnia. The run takes the theater through Thanksgiving. Bay Street's later listings include the Think You're Funny? Graduation Show on November 24 at 8 p.m. and New Year's LAUGHIN' Eve '26 on December 31.
The Corner Sits Open Through the Winter
The busiest corner on Main Street has its own unresolved question. As 27east reported, Kelly and John Piccinnini announced on September 3 that they would not open The Corner at 1 Main Street as planned. The building's owner, Hildreth Real Estate Investors, said it plans to bring in a new full-time tenant and operator by spring 2027, if not sooner. In the meantime, the Piccinninis are focusing on The Clam Bar and Sett Coffee. The owners said they want to keep the space active. On Halloween night, restaurateur Jesse Matsuoka is hosting a one-night, 21-and-over party in the space from 6 to 10 p.m., with $75 advance tickets that include food and one drink. 27east reported that the party is not a sign of a new operator.
The Corner's next operator, and whatever the Village decides about formula stores, will shape Main Street in 2027. The Church's calendar continues after the weekend. On Friday, November 13, an After Hours conversation with Amber Esseiva and AD—WO founders Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at $20 for general admission and $15 for members. A free members-only tour of Dear Mazie with Executive Director Sheri Pasquarella follows on Saturday, November 21, from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m., with RSVP required. Event times can change, so check each venue's page before you go.
Our team follows Sag Harbor through every season, including the conversations that will shape its storefronts. If you would like a quiet, informed perspective on the village and what is changing there, The Lori Schiaffino Team would be glad to talk. Work With Us.
