Sweeping upgrades, new construction highlight what to expect in Long Island's towns, cities in 2026

From controversial closures to long-awaited construction, Long Island’s towns and villages are heading into a new year of changes that will shape their futures for decades.

Municipalities in 2026 are spending new money on public spaces, water quality, infrastructure, housing and economic development, while also grappling with growth, affordability and environmental sustainability. Hundreds of new housing units are proposed or under construction, and large-scale projects in Kings Park and Mastic Beach will seek approvals in the new year.

Downtown revitalization efforts in places such as Hicksville and Riverhead are expected to break ground, bringing new hotels, shops and public gathering spaces. 

Here are some of the big changes and major stories to look out for across Long Island’s towns and villages in the new year.

Babylon Town

By fall, town officials plan to have two new memorials in place: an overdose memorial at Tanner Park in Copiague and a post-9/11 memorial between Overlook and Cedar beaches.

Commack

A Raising Cane’s restaurant is expected to open in late 2026. The chicken-finger chain will be built on the site of a former McDonald’s on Vanderbilt Parkway. 

East End

Towns and villages across the East End will continue efforts to expand cell service. A 125-foot cell tower is being erected in Southampton Village, and small towers will continue to pop up across East Hampton Town. Southold Town is anticipated to decide how exactly it wants to tackle its service issues.

East Hampton

The town is constructing several stormwater treatment systems in the new year to capture and clean runoff before it reaches Georgica Pond, Three Mile Harbor and Lake Montauk, town spokesperson Patrick Derenze said.

It's also restoring several historic properties, including the Carl Fisher House in Montauk, which recently received $3.9 million from the town board.

The town will look to complete the construction of 16 affordable homes at Cantwell Court. Officials are looking at a state modular housing program as a way to affordably build the homes.

Glen Cove

The city expects to replace its Nancy Court water well and build a water treatment tower on Duck Pond Road, spokeswoman Roni Jenkins said. “These upgrades will strengthen the City’s water treatment capabilities and support long-term water quality for residents,” Jenkins said in an email.

Hampton Bays

The Red Creek Skate Park will undergo major renovations and open in the summer. Also, Southampton Town will continue working on plans to create wastewater treatment facilities in downtown Hampton Bays.

Hempstead Town

The town’s zoning board will decide early this year whether to allow the Islamic Center of Nassau to move a fence and store equipment on its property in Wantagh. Opposition to the application was a prelude to a conflict over the mosque's future, as the town reviews plans to build a four-story center on the site.

Hempstead Village 

The village is expected to break ground on a new community center and park this spring as part of a $27 million renovation to Mirschel Park. The village won a $15 million state grant for the project.

Hicksville

Oyster Bay Town expects the long-delayed multimillion-dollar revitalization of downtown Hicksville to advance, with public and private projects breaking ground in the new year. Town spokesman Brian Nevin said Festival Plaza and The Underline — a pedestrian path and a pop-up shop area under the train trestle — are expected to be completed in the fall.

Holtsville  

The embattled zoo at the Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve is set to close this month after more than 40 years. The Brookhaven Town Board sealed the zoo’s fate in November when it approved the town budget, which closes the facility to cut costs.

Islip

A new nonstop route from MacArthur Airport to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is planned to start in May. The Breeze Airways flights will run twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Newsday reported last month. 

Kings Park

Developers for Country Pointe Estates at Kings Park, a 288-unit, $220 million condominium project, are expected to seek final approvals. The Smithtown Town Board last month approved a zone change at the 71-acre property at the corner of Old Northport and Lawrence roads to allow the project to be built.

Long Beach

A draft parking management plan to improve parking issues in the West End, Central Business District and East End is due in February. The city held public input sessions in September and October. Preliminary survey results showed that 67% of respondents want an expansion of publicly owned parking lots and/or garages. 

Mastic Beach

A $500 million plan to redevelop Mastic Beach’s Neighborhood Road business district — adding hundreds of homes and more than 100,000 square feet of retail and office space — is expected to start construction sometime this year. The Brookhaven Town Board is weighing whether to rezone about 37 acres for the project, which would be built by Jericho-based master developer Beechwood Organization.

Nissequogue

The North Shore village is planning yearlong events to celebrate its centennial. The area holds historical significance in the Town of Smithtown dating back to the 1600s, but it was founded as a village in 1926.

Northport

The village will present its updated comprehensive plan early in the new year, mapping the future of development, parking and traffic, infrastructure and zoning there. It’s expected to be approved in the spring.

Also in the spring, officials will introduce a new law to reduce table sizes on village sidewalks for restaurants that offer outdoor dining, with the goal of improving pedestrian traffic flow.

The village also is expected to complete a sewer expansion, connecting 35 homes near the waterfront to the wastewater treatment plant. 

The restoration of the dock at the end of Main Street is expected to be completed at the end of 2026.

North Amityville

New pickleball courts and playgrounds will be installed at the North Amityville pool by spring. By summer, renovations are expected to be completed on Babylon Town’s Irwin S. Quintyne Annex building in the hamlet. The town’s second chemical dependency treatment center, Beacon 2, is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

North Fork

More public input is expected for the environmental review of the Suffolk County Water Authority’s $30 million plan to boost water supply in Southold by creating a pipeline through Riverhead Town. Officials expect a draft environmental impact statement to be released at the end of this month. In Riverhead, the proposal has sparked concerns about construction, traffic and economic disruptions; Southold residents fear that added water supply could mean more development. SCWA officials say the shallow and failing wells in Southold put supply at dangerously low levels during summer and the new pipeline would meet existing demand.

North Hempstead

The town will begin its long-awaited restoration of the town dock in Port Washington. The dock's sea wall has been damaged since it flooded during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The $19.6 million makeover will protect against extreme weather events, town officials have said. The town expects the bidding process for the project to be complete by the spring.

Patchogue

Construction of a new Tempo by Hilton hotel — Patchogue’s first hotel in at least 70 years — is expected to begin this year after securing village approvals. The five-story hotel, with a rooftop restaurant, 96 guest rooms and 13 rental apartments, is to be built on the site of a shuttered bowling alley on West Avenue, near the Watch Hill ferry terminal and Patchogue’s Long Island Rail Road station. An opening date has not been announced.

Riverhead

Jerry Halpin takes the reins as Riverhead’s new supervisor this month after narrowly defeating incumbent Supervisor Tim Hubbard in November’s election. Halpin, 53, is a pastor and first Democratic supervisor elected to lead the town since 2017. 

Construction of Riverhead’s Town Square is expected to get underway in the spring. The $32.7 million project includes a boutique hotel and condominiums, new shops and a restaurant. The downtown revitalization project also includes a public plaza, playground and amphitheater, and is expected to be completed in 2027.

In the summer, the curtain is expected to rise on the next act at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall downtown after the town inked a deal with The Jazz Loft to take over operations at the 1881 venue. Renovations are planned over the winter.

Shelter Island

Town officials are working to increase the amount of affordable housing, Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams said. The town is working with Community Development of Long Island to build 10 rental units on three separate town-owned parcels, she said.

The town will also resume its comprehensive plan update in the new year, Brach-Williams said. That process started in 2020 but has been delayed. The comprehensive plan was last updated in 1994. Brach-Williams said the plan will balance "strong environmental protections, while recognizing that there's going to be growth" in the town. The town has a full-time population of around 3,200 and an estimated seasonal population of around 8,400, according to the draft plan.

Smithtown

The Smithtown Public Library is expected to finish its renovations this year. The building was closed for seven months after it was flooded by an August 2024 rainstorm. Renovations to the first and second floor have been completed, leaving the lower level of the building as the final piece to be completed. The project has been funded through a $16.5 million bond voters approved in July.

Southampton

The Southampton Town Board will decide whether to adopt a new zoning law allowing "small scale" hotels, ranging from 16 to 65 rooms, along certain stretches of Montauk and Sunrise highways. The law would help advance plans to redevelop the former Boardy Barn property in Hampton Bays into a boutique hotel.

New housing projects east of the Shinnecock Canal will get off the ground thanks to a newly revised affordable housing zoning law passed last month. 

Supervisor Maria Moore said the town is expected to complete the conceptual design of a new Jackson Avenue municipal complex in April and select a firm to design a new justice court there.

Southold

Southold planning officials will continue to work on overhauling the town’s zoning code to modernize land use rules based on the town’s 2020 comprehensive plan. After facing multiple delays since 2022, a draft zoning code is expected at the end of March, officials have said.

After the town was hit with a ransomware attack just before Thanksgiving, Supervisor Al Krupski said plans to upgrade cybersecurity are “imminent” in the new year. The town board in November borrowed $500,000 to upgrade the town's network and security infrastructure. “It was something that we were ready to embark on just before we got hit,” Krupski said recently. “It will ensure that our systems are as secure as they can be and also just strengthen our operating systems.” The town spent $200,000 in contingency funds on tech consultants in the aftermath of the attack, which halted town email access and other operations for more than two weeks. 

Stony Brook

Aug. 18-19 will mark the two-year anniversary of a devastating storm that caused widespread damage across the North Shore, including the collapse of a dam and a section of Harbor Road. The dam and road remain unrepaired, and efforts to get federal aid have stalled over an ownership dispute between Brookhaven Town and Suffolk County officials and the nonprofit Ward Melville Heritage Organization. Officials say the ownership dispute is now resolved, but they are no closer to figuring out how to fund repairs. 

Westhampton

A new 9,000-square-foot community center will be completed sometime in the new year, according to Southampton Town officials.

Wheatley Heights

A new Colonial clock will be installed at Colonial Springs Road and North 27th Street, and a new playground will be installed in Hermann Griem Park.