The Target store taking over a Bridgehampton space Kmart vacated in October is set to open in 2026.

The Bridgehampton Kmart, which was the last full-size Kmart in the mainland United States, closed last year after 25 years in operation, ending an era for a once-dominant discount retailer.

Tory N. Parrish reports in NEWSDAY that the Bridgehampton Target, which will include a CVS drugstore and Starbucks, likely will open in fall 2026 in Bridgehampton, said attorney Brian W. Kennedy, a partner with law firm Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP in Uniondale that is representing Target in the building-approval process with the Town of Southampton.

The timeline allows for an overhaul of the former Kmart space in the Bridgehampton Commons shopping center, he said.

“It’s a significant upgrade to the interior and exterior of the site,” said kennedy.

“We’re excited to bring an easy, affordable and convenient shopping experience to new guests in the Bridgehampton community with this new Target store," Target spokeswoman Loni Monroe told NEWSDAY.

Target will occupy a 91,035-square-foot space at 2044 Montauk Hwy. in Bridgehampton.

Interior work already has started, said Jennifer Maisch, a spokeswoman for Kimco Realty, the Jericho-based real estate investment trust that owns Bridgehampton Commons. Exterior work has not yet begun.

Target's planned upgrades at the Bridgehampton location include reconstructing the loading dock and modifying the front façade, according to plans submitted to the town. The retailer also received a variance from the zoning board of appeals in June to reduce the number of parking spaces in the shopping center to 1,247, from the required 1,253 parking spaces, in order to add more shopping cart corrals at the property.

Target has nearly 2,000 stores, including 20 on Long Island.

Last year, the retailer said it would open 300 stores over 10 years.

It’s unclear if that timeline is still intact, given the company’s financial challenges this year.

Target has had three consecutive quarters of declining sales.

***

Stop & Shop will close its grocery delivery storeroom in Riverhead at the end of October but will continue making deliveries to the East End from other locations. After some union drivers were notified that the Riverhead “wareroom,” which is attached to the Stop & Shop store on Old Country Road in Riverhead would be closing at the end of October the company confirmed the closure but said it will not affect delivery services on the East End. “Stop & Shop has made the difficult decision to close the Riverhead wareroom this fall ... [but] will continue to offer online pickup and delivery to all local customers after the facility closes,” stated Stop & Shop spokesperson Daniel Wolk. MICHAEL WRIGHT reports on 27east.com that the company will close another wareroom in East Northport and announced last month that it is closing several other distribution centers around the Northeast. Deliveries of groceries on the East End will continue to be handled by the company’s current drivers and not through partner delivery services like Instacart – as has been reported will be the case in other regions. Delivery drivers at the closing warerooms will remain employed by the company, according to the union representing the drivers. “Deliveries across Long Island will continue to be fulfilled from our distribution centers in the area and will remain handled directly by Stop & Shop,” Wolk said. “We remain fully committed to providing home delivery across Long Island.”

***

Greater Westhampton Suffolk Alliance of Pollinators (SAP) is offering a complimentary Pollinator Garden Tour (self-guided) in the Quogue/Westhampton Area this coming Saturday., September 13th from 9am to 12 noon. Visit local private gardens to see beautiful pollinator gardens. Check in is at the Quogue Library lawn at the Suffolk Alliance of Pollinators {SAP} table starting at 9 o’clock Saturday morning to receive the tour locations. Learn how to incorporate native and pollinator plants into your landscapes and be inspired. Supporting pollinators is vital to our ecosystem.

Saturday’s event is free.

***

Federal agents and Suffolk police seized more than 5 kilograms of fentanyl, 750 grams of cocaine, 15 pounds of marijuana and two assault rifles while executing search warrants yesterday at four locations across Long Island, a detention memo filed by federal prosecutors following the arrest of a West Babylon resident shows.

Michael O'Keeffe reports in NEWSDAY that officials from the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Suffolk County Police Department arrested Kingsley O. McDonald, 41, on Tuesday morning in connection with the search warrants. The arrest follows a two-year investigation dating back to September 2023, according to the memo, which said McDonald netted more than $20,000 selling fentanyl to law enforcement agents.

McDonald, charged with two counts of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven L. Tiscione, who ordered him held without bail during an appearance yesterday in Central Islip, officials said.

McDonald could face additional charges, according to the detention memo, which said phone records indicated that he had communicated with a Suffolk resident who died in March 2024 of a drug overdose caused in part by fentanyl.

McDonald is the owner of a trucking company called McDonald Logistics. He also has a residence in Shirley.

Fentanyl, a cheap, synthetic opioid drug traffickers use to cut cocaine, heroin and counterfeit pharmaceutical pills, is responsible for most of the fatal overdoses on Long Island and across the nation. The detention memo noted each of McDonald’s sales involved at least 40 grams of fentanyl. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can cause a fatal overdose, court papers said, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prosecutors asked Tiscione to detain McDonald in part because he has access to large amounts of cash that could help him flee the country. McDonald is a flight risk, they said, because he is a citizen of Jamaica, not the United States, and would be subject to removal from this country if convicted.

McDonald refused to cooperate with law enforcement by opening phones with his fingerprints or face, prosecutors said.

Based on his criminal record, his alleged intention to distribute 5 kilograms of fentanyl, and his possession of multiple firearms, the papers said, McDonald faces at least 262 months to 327 months in prison.

***

The Town of Riverhead has ordered the owner of preserved farmland on Youngs Avenue in Calverton to remove 3,000 cubic yards of “unauthorized material” from the property by the end of this month. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Deputy Town Attorney Victoria Pilo sent a letter on Aug. 29 to the property owner, Joe DeFigueroa, directing him to remove “all mulch, wood debris, and any related stockpiled material from the property” by Sept. 29. DeFigueroa is the principal of Youngs Ave LLC, which owns the site, and also owns Patriot Recycling, which has transported grass clippings and other yard waste from its Oceanside solid waste facility to Calverton for composting. Neighbors of the Youngs Ave LLC property have complained about the smell of the material on the site, as well as the dust and dirt left by the dump trucks delivering it. Toqui Terchun, president of the Greater Calverton Civic Association, said the removal of the material “cannot happen fast enough.” Ms. Pilo warned in the letter that failure to comply with the “directive will result in immediate enforcement action, including but not limited to” appearance tickets in Riverhead Justice Court and legal action in State Supreme Court. Yesterday, Riverhead Town Attorney Erik Howard stated that Youngs Ave LLC has “not yet responded to our demand that the material be removed.”

***

This coming Saturday, September 13, the Long Island Divers Association plans to dive down and explore the wreck of HMS Culloden, a British ship that ran aground near Montauk in 1781 while pursuing French blockade runners.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that members of the Long Island Divers Association had planned to meet at the site on that date to dedicate a sign, installed in June of last year, that explains the history of the shipwreck and how to find it once in the water.

For LIDA President Barry Lipsky and the organization’s members, the gathering presented an opportunity: “Let’s organize a dive at the same time we’re doing the dedication.” Everyone agreed.

All are welcome to attend Saturday’s event, but only certified divers — or those accompanied by a diving instructor — can take part in the dive. Divers will meet at 12:30 p.m. and enter the water during high tide at 2 p.m.

On January 23, 1781, HMS Culloden, a third-rate ship of the line, encountered severe weather conditions while trying to intercept the French ships, which were bound for Newport, Rhode Island. The ship ran aground at what is now known as Culloden Point. The crew made it off, but they were unable to save the ship.

***

Tomorrow marks the 24th anniversary of the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, which killed nearly 3,000 people…including approximately 497 Long Islanders. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that pieces of steel from the World Trade Center have become monuments throughout Nassau and Suffolk, and many will be the sites of commemorations on Sept. 11, 2025.

Here's a list of commemorations across the east end tomorrow:

• The Town of Riverhead will host a prayer ceremony to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at 10 a.m. at the Riverhead World Trade Center Memorial Park at the corner of Riley and Edwards Avenues in Calverton.
• Tomorrow evening, the Sound Park Heights Civic Association will host its annual Candlelight Walk and Remembrance. A procession will begin at 6:00 p.m. from Marine Street in Reeves Park and proceed to the 9/11 Memorial Park on Sound Avenue.
• The Flanders Fire Department also holds an annual memorial service at the Flanders Memorial Park on Flanders Road and Fanning Road at 6:30 p.m.
• The Southold Town Fire Chiefs’ Council’s Southold Town Firefighters’ Memorial and Remembrance Ceremony will be held tomorrow at Jean Cochran Park on Peconic Lane in Peconic. Attendees will gather beginning at 5 p.m., with the official ceremonies starting at 6 p.m.
• The Southold 9/11 Memorial Committee and members of the community place 2,977 American flags throughout the park prior to the ceremony in honor of the people who were killed in the terrorist attacks. During the ceremony, members of the Mattituck, Cutchogue, Southold, Greenport, East Marion, Orient, Plum Island, Fishers Island, and Shelter Island Fire Departments will pay their respects and lay wreaths honoring the fallen.
• The East Hampton Town Fire Chiefs Association is slated to hold its annual memorial service at Hook Mill between Methodist Lane and Pantigo Road on Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

Many of the fire departments in the Town of Southampton, and throughout the region, will also be sounding their horns and sirens at times between 8:46 and 10:28 a.m. tomorrow morning to mark the times at which the towers were struck and fell, as well as the times that the Pentagon was struck and the time that Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management asks everyone to take a moment to remember all of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001,” said Southampton Town Code Compliance and Emergency Management Administrator Ryan Murphy. “It is also important to reflect and renew the spirit of our country and our communities when we recall how we pulled together in response to this horrible event in our history.”