At 524 Montauk Highway, the building that carried the New Moon Cafe sign for 46 years is partly demolished, and its new owners are rebuilding it. Along the same stretch, eight Main Street trees are slated for replacement. On the Village Green, a 20-foot Norway spruce is meant to replace the park's dying holiday tree. Together, these projects shape what downtown East Quogue will look like on Saturday, December 5, when the street closes for Holiday on Main and the tree lighting starts at 5 p.m.
The restaurant that anchored the block won't reopen as Mary's Pizza and Pasta before 2027. Until then, Main Street's changes are being made by the Park District, the East Quogue Citizens Advisory Committee and the volunteers who run Holiday on Main. Their work shows up in the trees, the planters, the Green and the calendar, and much of it is set to arrive in the next few weeks.
Why eight trees need a county signature
The plan first appears in the East Quogue CAC's February 2026 minutes. Park District goals included replacing Main Street's trees with crape myrtles, widening the tree wells, coordinating the hanging baskets and urns, and adding holiday decorations and plantings at the Village Green flagpole. In April, the committee described a single design for all of Main Street, with baskets and urns in the same colors to go with the trees. Cathy Seeliger put that design together. By May, the count was set at eight trees to be replaced in 2026, with larger beds.
The holdup is about jurisdiction. Main Street is a county road, so the hamlet can't simply dig up its own sidewalk trees. The May minutes report that the work needed Suffolk County approval and that the committee was waiting for permission to enlarge the bases for the crape myrtles. At the September 9 meeting, Chris Connolly reported that an intermunicipal agreement was needed to remove and replace the trees, and that the county's side of the process was nearly complete.
The same September report noted that the hanging baskets lasted through the summer, with thanks to Jon Erwin and the Parks Department for watering them. The Park District's own work started with a delay. In April it had to be re-bid after a required "west of the canal" form was missed, and the new bid closed on April 8. In June, park improvements were expected in the fall.
A new spruce for the Village Green
The trees along the curb are waiting on the county. The Village Green has a separate plan. According to the April minutes, a 20-foot Norway spruce was donated by Cathy Zambetti and John Picone. The Town is paying to remove the dying tree in the park, plant the new one and install drip lines to water it. The committee thanked the Town Board, Kristin Doulos and Southampton Town Parks and Rec for their help.
The Town budget also covered Village Green repairs and a new bandstand, according to the February minutes. In September, the Park District said it had "big plans for a holiday light display." No dates or locations for the display have been published. The Village Tree Lighting is set for 5 p.m. on December 5, so the new tree, the lights and the bandstand are all aimed at that evening.
The corner that went quiet, and the 2027 plan for it
The New Moon Cafe closed on December 1, 2024, after 46 years on Main Street. Newsday and 27east both covered the closing. Owners Ron and Shana Campsey served Tex-Mex and home-style cooking. According to 27east, for more than two decades the restaurant also served a free Thanksgiving meal to hundreds of local seniors. This will be East Quogue's second Thanksgiving without that table on Main Street.
The building sold in December 2025 to the Chambers family. The brothers run Mary's Pizza and Pasta, whose East End location sits in the old Speonk Inn building at 190 Montauk Highway. 27east reported that the family began demolition, filed renovation applications with Southampton Town and plans to double the building's size for what will be the fourth Mary's. They said it would likely open no earlier than 2027. Bill Chambers told 27east why the work is taking time:
"Most importantly for us is doing it the right way. This is for the long term."
He also told 27east that he used to live in East Quogue and used to eat at the New Moon. As of the April CAC meeting, construction was "well underway," and the committee hoped for a summer 2027 opening. That means the busiest storefront on the street stays a construction site through this holiday season.
Smaller signs on the same blocks
The storefront changes this year have been small, and several are in spaces that used to be something else. Here is what's new or different along Main Street and the nearby stretch of Montauk Highway:
- Sunrise Sweets, 540 Montauk Highway, Unit C. It soft-opened over Labor Day weekend in the space It Takes A Village preschool used to occupy. The CAC noted in April that the preschool would be leaving its spot at the corner of Central Avenue and Main Street.
- Glowhaus. The CAC reported in April that it had opened and was taking appointments.
- 524 Montauk Highway. The former New Moon building, under renovation for Mary's Pizza and Pasta.
- Stone Creek Inn, 405 Montauk Highway. Owned by Elaine DiGiacomo with chef Christian Mir. Its fall schedule runs Thursday through Sunday from 5 p.m., with a $45 two-course prix fixe on Thursdays and Sundays.
Bethenny Frankel's Supermodel Café also passed through. Patch reported that the pop-up opened August 13 and announced Monday, September 7, as its last day. It brought a summer crowd, but with Mary's not due until 2027 and the newer shops still small, the holiday season on Main Street depends on the community calendar.
The dates that fill the street until Mary's opens
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Oct. 30 | Trunk or Treat | Listed by the East Quogue School District, 5:30 to 7 p.m. |
| Thursday, Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving at Stone Creek Inn | Noon to 7 p.m., $89 three-course prix fixe |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Holiday on Main | 1 to 5 p.m., Village Tree Lighting and caroling at 5 p.m. |
| 2027 | Holiday on Main and the Chamber of Commerce | Partnership begins |
| Summer 2027 | Mary's Pizza and Pasta | The opening date the CAC is hoping for |
The school district's listing for Trunk or Treat this Friday doesn't give a location. Check with the school before you go. Stone Creek's Thanksgiving hours come from the restaurant's current fall page, so call ahead to confirm before booking.
Holiday on Main is the biggest day on the street all year. The Southforker listing describes Main Street closed to traffic and the Fire Department parking lot filled with more than 100 vendors, food and beverage trucks, specials from local merchants, Santa, performances and family activities. According to the event's own site, it's put on by the East Quogue Fire Department, its Ladies Auxiliary, the East Quogue Civic Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Beautification Committee and the PTA. The schedule page still reads "2026 Event Calendar coming soon," so the full lineup hasn't been posted yet.
The September minutes include one change for next year: starting in 2027, Holiday on Main will partner with the Chamber of Commerce. That's also the year Mary's hopes to open at 524 Montauk Highway, so December 5 is the last Holiday on Main before the bigger street-level changes arrive. The CAC meets at the Bay Avenue Marina Building, and its minutes are posted on the Town's website. That's where updates on the trees, the spruce and the light display have appeared so far.
If you're wondering how this year's changes to the trees, storefronts and Mary's plans affect a home near Main Street, Samantha Bisagni is glad to talk it through over coffee or on a walk past the Green on December 5. Let's Connect.
