Downtown Riverhead

A huge crowd turned out for the 2022 debut of Riverhead's Alive on 25 summer street festival last night. Check out our photo gallery of the fun kickoff to the holiday weekend.

The town’s new proposals include an East Main Street prototype project, streetscape improvements along Griffing Avenue, expansion of the downtown signage program, and a flood mitigation green infrastructure project in a portion of the Peconic River parking lot.

Residents urged the town board to codify the already-adopted downtown pattern book into law, while parking district committee members asked the board to tap the brakes on a proposed new parking code that would mandate off-street parking or payments in lieu of parking for new residential development.

J. Petrocelli Development Associates unveiled ambitious plans for the development of the public space, which the group said will “activate the town,” during a town board work session this morning,

The 59-foot, 4-inch tall addition on the rear of the theater will consist of an expanded stage and backstage area, including a new “green room,” dressing rooms, restrooms, kitchenette, laundry room, showers, and mechanical rooms, as well as approximately 2,970 square feet of first-floor retail space and 28 market-rate apartments on floors two through five.

The popular Community Mosaic Street Painting Festival will take place on Memorial Day weekend again this year, as it had every year since its debut in 1996 — until pandemic disruptions in 2020 and 2021. The daylong celebration of the arts and community will take place on East Main Street and on the grounds of East End Arts on Sunday, May 29, from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

The first pair of in-person meetings of the committee tasked with developing a strategic plan for Riverhead’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant took place yesterday in Riverhead Town Hall.

Riverhead is embarking on a state-structured process for devising its strategic investment plan for the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant it was awarded in January. The town's first two public meetings, including a public participation session, are scheduled for Monday.

The meetings, hosted by Riverhead’s Local Planning Committee — the advisory committee formed jointly by the state and town to guide the town’s spending of its award — are scheduled for March 21 at Town Hall, May 23 at the Suffolk Theater, and July 1 at either Grangebel Park or the Town Square site.

A LepreCon craft spirit crawl will take place along the “Riverhead Ale Trail” Saturday, March 19 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.