Second Shinnecock Billboard Up and Running

The Shinnecock Indian Nation completed last week construction of its second electronic billboard on the side of Sunrise Highway in Hampton Bays.

Completion of the new billboard, which the tribe says will bring in advertising revenue to pay for community programs, comes after the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a stop work order on the project, which has been the subject of litigation since the first billboard was built in 2019.

“The DOT lacks authority over nation lands,” the Shinnecock has said of why it was refusing to stop construction on tribal lands. A DOT spokesman had responded that the billboards are “jeopardizing eligibility for federal funding to maintain and renew this section of the highway.”

The first billboard was erected on the eastbound side of Route 27 and the second is on the westbound side.

The latest chapter in the feud comes as East End resident Roger Waters, cofounder seminal British prog-rock band Pink Floyd, told Newsday he plans to help fund the Shinnecock’s legal defense.

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