Eye to the East: Twin Forks Now Linked by Passenger Ferry

Throughout the week, we do our best to offer you local news that hits close to home. With a wide network of Patch sites across Long Island, we thought we'd also make available a round-up of news from our East End sites.

Tony Spiridakis, a movie producer, director, and actor who has worked with some of the biggest names in Holywood, is bringing his Manhattan Film Institute out to the North Fork this summer for the first time for film camp.

“It is surprising there are not more films made out here, but people just don’t know about us,” he said during a phone interview this week. “It’s a perfect place for a film institute, and I think it will have a positive effect on the community as a whole. Education is good, clean fun and a good attractor to the area.”

After months of debate and after obtaining the proper permits and approvals, the Peconic Bay Water Jitney quietly set out on its maiden voyage at 7 a.m. on Thursday, and will continue to connect Sag Harbor and Greenport every day for the remainder of the season.

The ferry service has been permitted by the village board's of  and  on a pilot basis, as well as . It is a joint venture of  and Response Marine.

“The water jitney helps to address the lack of north and south bound transportation options on the East End, and we believe it will also promote the areas natural assets helping to stimulate economic growth,” Hampton Jitney President Geoffrey Lynch said.

A divide between members of the Riverside community and the Southampton Town board continues to widen after a town board meeting on Tuesday that drew a line in the proverbial sand.

For weeks, four community groups in the Riverside and Flanders area have voiced their mutualby the Town's housing authority to determine whether residents would rather have affordable private home ownership or rentals developed in a number of properties that will be deeded to the town by Suffolk County.

On Tuesday, a crowd of residents, including representatives from all four community groups in the Riverside and Flanders area, stood in solidarity. "No one testified in support of the proposal for tax exempt single family rentals in Riverside," said Vince Taldone, Flanders, Riverside, and Northampton Civic Association vice president.

The Suffolk County Parks Department has decided not to charge a $4 twilight parking fee at Hampton Bays' ; however, it has instituted the fee its West Hampton Dunes  and Shirley-based .