Rooters & Rootsers: Here's a bit of history as it's being made ... According to today's (Saturday, September 3) NEWSDAY, "Sagaponack's eligible voters went to the polls Friday, September 2, 2005, and approved the formation of Long Island's newest village by a vote of 295-11." NEWSDAY adds, "An election will be held in the next two months for a mayor and four trustees. Community leaders said they don't expect to make any significant changes and want as little government as possible." According to NEWSDAY the reason was that "Voters in Sagaponack showed little interest in forming a village until last year, when an attempt was made to create a different village in Southampton, the proposed Village of Dunehampton. That village would have been made up of the southern parts of three adjoining communities: Bridgehampton, Water Mill and Sagaponack. The people who lived on the northern end of each community -- most of them north of Montauk Highway -- feared the village would mean a loss of access to their beaches and a subsequent loss in property value to their homes. In Sagaponack, they reasoned, the way to stop the threat of being split apart was to form their own village. For the complete NEWSDAY article, "A village is born in Sagaponack", please go to (copy and paste the entire URL, beginning with "http" and ending with "-print"): http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lisaga034409531sep03,0, 6653780.story?coll=ny-linews-print The pertinent geography: Sagaponack is a village (incorporated in 2005) in the southeast section of the Town of Southampton (it's up against the Southampton/East Hampton town line), in the southeast part of Suffolk County. There are currently 6 villages (municipal corporations) and 17 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly in the Town of Southampton. There are no cities and 10 towns in Suffolk County. (I'm including after my name a NYS Geographic Glossary with the NYS definitions of county, city, town, village, hamlet and postal zone.) Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Sagaponack in the Town of Southampton is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Bridgehampton; on the east by the Hamlet of Wainscott in the Town of East Hampton (the Southampton/East Hampton town line); on the south by the Atlantic Ocean; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Bridgehampton. And, as occurs in every one of Suffolk County's 157 communities (0 cities, 31 villages and 126 hamlets), the Village of Sagaponack has a different border than does the "Sagaponack, NY 11962" postal zone (i.e., a place can be in Sagaponack and have other than a Sagaponack mailing address). There are places in the Village of Sagaponack that have a "Bridgehampton, NY 11932" mailing address. For those who have their copy of the 2004 or earlier edition of the LI Population Survey or have already downloaded the report from the Long Island Power Authority web site (eMail me directly if you need instructions on how to access and download the report), you'll find the Village of Sagaponack (incorporated in 2005) in the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County on pages 15 & 28 (map) and 29 (population estimate). I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. L'Shannah Tovah* & Happy 5766, Walter Greenspan * L'Shannah Tovah (li-SHAH-nuh TOH-vuh; li-shah-NAH toh-VAH) Hebrew. Lit. for a good year. The common greeting during Rosh ha Shannah and the Days of Awe. This is a shortening of "L'Shannah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or, to women, "L'Shannah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means, "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." This year, Rosh ha Shannah begins at sunset on Monday, October 3 on the civil calendar. . Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State New York State is divided into counties. County A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a "regional" government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and Indian reservations. City A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter. Cities are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Town A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be sub-divided into villages and hamlets. Village A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Hamlet A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed at-large by the town(s) it is in. A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Postal Zone "City" and "Town" A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail. Postal zone "City" and "Town" may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders. Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet location. Please be aware: In many areas of New York State, the problem of non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places have a different community name in their mailing