Parsifal’ in Montauk?
East Hampton
May 16, 2017
To the Editor,
A surprising find: I was reading an article in the very reputable English monthly journal The Record Collector, which is exclusively devoted to the lives of and music-making by the great operatic singers, mostly of the pre-LP era; i.e., cylinders and 78 R.P.M. discs. It is a scholarly publication basically aimed at collectors of this material, and it features biographical articles, performance chronologies, and discographies.
I have expanded on the nature of the journal to give context for an extraordinary sentence I came across. In a biographical article on the great English contralto Louise Kirkby Lunn by Michael Letchford, the following (slightly edited by me to keep down the length) appeared: “On 26 December 1902 Kirkby Lunn made her début at the Metropolitan Opera. . . . Between 1903 and 1911 she made regular visits to America appearing at the Metropolitan Opera . . . [and] at Carnegie Hall and other concert halls. In 1904 she appeared as Kundry in Henry Savage’s Parsifal ‘in English’ tour of America. The tour commenced in Boston in October 1904 and the company performed in Buffalo, Chicago, Minneapolis, Montauk, New York, Niagara Falls, Omaha, Rochester, and Syracuse.”
(It was noted in the article that Kirkby Lunn was one of three singers engaged for the role, as, given its demanding nature, rest was required between performances.)
Montauk!? “Parsifal” performed in Montauk in 1904? It is a claim that is hard to fathom. I wonder if there is anything in your archives that could shed some light on this? Perhaps a small group from the company performed there.
Cordially,
FRED KOLO
Do Remember
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
Dear David,
War is cruel. Ironically, there are “just wars,” fought in defense or to honorably right a wrong. But too often, war is the product of small minds, chicken hawks, or plain ignorance.
Soldiers are killed and damaged whether the war is just or unjust. Mayor Michael Davis O’Donnell was killed in combat two months after writing this evocative verse.
Do remember and be generous to them all, the long and the short and the tall. Thank you.
BILL FLEMING
Joy, Laughter, Fun
East Hampton
May 20, 2017
Dear David,
Many thanks to the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring the street fair on Saturday. There was joy, laughter, fun, and a true sense of community among neighbors and friends. I hope this becomes an annual event, as it brings all of us together in a positive way. And, a special thank-you to those who provided live music!
Wishing everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!
SUSAN McGRAW KEBER
Street Fair
Springs
May 22, 2017
To the Editor:
During the past six years I have participated in fairs and festivals in Amagansett, Montauk, Sag Harbor, Southampton, Greenport, Southold, Purchase, N.Y., Westport, Conn., and more. This past Saturday, for the first time in my 30-plus years as a resident in Springs, a street fair took place in East Hampton. I had given up hope for being part of a street fair in East Hampton.
I want to express my gratitude to executive director Steven Ringel of the Chamber of Commerce for his effort to stage the event. I had tried to limit my expectations. I could not be more pleased with the turnout, enthusiasm, results, and how well the event was run.
May this be the start of a tradition here.
FRED BRANDES
Great Success
Springs
May 22, 2017
Dear Editor,
I would like to send a big thank-you to Steven Ringel for planning and implementing the first East Hampton Spring Celebration Fair, and to the village police, who did a terrific job and were exceedingly pleasant and helpful throughout the day.
The event appears to have been a great success, appreciated by both vendors and the public.
CAROL SAXE
Loss of Business
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
To the Editor:
At the time of this writing, the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce’s first annual Newtown Lane street fair will have left its mark on our village. The board members will be congratulating each other on its success. Community pride and bringing local artists and musicians together to celebrate our village for the first time in 300 years came to fruition.
This all sounds wonderful. After all, who could argue against a street fair, replete with face painting, handmade trinkets, local musicians, and good clean fun where the entire community can come together? And, as a member of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, a year-round resident, and the shopkeeper of Second Nature Markets, I wholeheartedly agree.
However, next time I would hope that the Chamber of Commerce would take into consideration the impact that this street fair had on Newtown Lane retailers. When I spoke to Steve Ringel (the new director of the chamber) last February, I vehemently stressed the negative impact of closing Newtown Lane on a Saturday one week before Memorial Day weekend. I spoke with several of my neighbors on Newtown Lane, and everyone was in agreement that we should have a fair, but without having to close down a main artery, thereby preventing customers access to their vehicles for their shopping.
I suggested Herrick Park, or even by the John Marshall-Y.M.C.A-day care center fields. I suggested Newtown Lane, but down a bit by the Middle School toward the railroad tracks. Sag Harbor has successful village fairs, but they have them at the wharf, they don’t close down Main Street.
Early February was the first and last time I heard from Mr. Ringel. The next thing I heard were ads on WEHM-East Hampton radio, for the Newtown Lane street fair. The actual retailers I spoke with on Newtown Lane weren’t sent any emails, notifications, or letters. There was no written information left in the stores for owners to see.
But it was indeed a lovely fair. I reconnected with old friends and acquaintances I haven’t seen in a while. I was fortunate enough to have a nice conversation with Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., I met our new village chief of police, Michael Tracey, I spoke with retired Chief of Police Gerard Larsen, I spoke my piece with the Chamber of Commerce board members. It was really a fabulous, friendly, true community-spirited day.
The end result was quite positive, but the retailers I spoke with had extremely poor sales. Some even said they grossed half of what they did last year on the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend. Given that this was a particularly quiet winter in the village for most of us, we were looking forward to a good start to the season. As one board member told me, “It’s only one day,” which is true. But Saturdays are our most important day of the week.
I ask the Chamber of Commerce to please take into consideration everyone. This can be truly a win-win situation in the future. It can be easily accomplished without closing the main shopping area of Newtown Lane. I would like to see more village fairs in the future.
On a personal note, I would enthusiastically be glad for my loss of business if it meant even one dog or cat was adopted from ARF or Gimme Shelter.
LISA BLINDERMAN
Newtown Lane
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
To the Editor,
I applaud the idea of a street fair and the way it was planned and executed. I will bet that 99 percent of the community loved every minute they were there and would vote for a fall repeat if possible.
The 1 percent left out are a retailer or two who may feel that their business was off and hated every minute of it.
My suggestion to them would be to take part in the festivities and make their store part of the event by offering something outside their store to lure some of the fairgoers to their shops.
I was a retailer for 10 years, and although there was no street fair, there were the parades that tended to do the same thing to the days’ traffic patterns. I was proactive, and, although I didn’t do a lot of extra business, I got a lot of compliments for being part of the day’s event.
On a separate note: I’m sure that everyone in East Hampton is aware of the condition of the King Street railroad crossing and, to a lesser extent, the Race Lane crossing.
There must be a way to impress on the Long Island Rail Road just how much of a nuisance these shoddy crossings are and how we would like to see them correct this. For those of us who use these crossings numerous times each day, repairs to them would be greatly appreciated.
Newtown Lane, on the other hand, is in pretty good shape and I will guess that it is the construction of it rather than the lack of use.
TOM FRIEDMAN
Appreciative
Amagansett
May 17, 2017
Hi David,
I would like to extend my many thanks to the community of Amagansett for coming out to vote on Tuesday, May 16.
Your individual vote is very important every year to our small school and to the community. Your vote represents a great number of opportunities to a large number of people.
For instance, the school gymnasium ceiling will now be repaired, and the library will receive the revenues needed to continue to serve the community with a multitude of resources for all the taxpayers and mainly for the education of our future generations.
I am very appreciative of all my neighbors and friends who came out to support Claudia and me in just the four days that we decided to run for the position of school board. Thank you for all you do to contribute to the community we live in today, and for the best opportunities we hope for tomorrow for our children.
See you at future board meetings,
MARY A. EAMES
Cannot Hear
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
Dear Editor,
This letter is to pass along something I feel no one is paying attention to. I say that because despite all my efforts I haven’t been able to fix the problem.
The problem is LTV East Hampton. I have watched many local shows on this station. I have watched countless zoning board meetings, town meetings, and school board meetings. Except for the school board meetings, the sound and audio are A+. But at the East Hampton School Board, this is not the case. At those meetings, you cannot hear what the residents of East Hampton are saying. You can hear the people on the board loud and clear. It may sound like a small problem, but it is not to the East Hampton resident wanting his or her story to be heard by the public.
I’m one of those citizens who wants her story to be heard. So, as a last resort I’m hoping someone from LTV reads The East Hampton Star and fixes the problem.
PATRICIA NIELSEN
Tiny Red Tick Nymphs
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
To the Editor:
While lopping off garlic mustard seed tops on the other side of my deer fence line, I witnessed a mass of tiny red tick nymphs scrambling up my legs, as well as being visible in the leaf litter. With one Band-Aid’s adhesive strip, I cleared my legs and shoes and fled.
I returned prepared with a white sheet, rubber boots with double stick tape around them, and a roll of tape to collect the little devils. From an area the size of just two cars, I laid the sheet down, flipped it over multiple times and gathered 526 ticks over an hour and a half! (There were 35 stuck to my boots.) Seeing an endless supply, I just gave up. Later, just one was pulled off my back.
The good news is that the ticks seem to stay on the deers’ side of the fence. Very few were taken on my side of the fence, thus far.
The meek might inherit the earth.
R.T. RUSTMANN
A Surprise
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
Dear David,
Thank you to Hildreth’s, The East Hampton Star, and the 1770 House for the Mother’s Day gift. I was one of the lucky winners of the contest. It was a surprise and a thrill. I can’t remember the last time I won something.
Thanks again,
DEB DONOHUE
Stop the Polluting
East Hampton
May 14, 2017
Dear Editor,
Speonk, Eastport, four locations in Manorville, two locations in Yaphank, Ronkonkoma, Farmingdale, and Medford. What do they all have in common? These towns all have sand mines and compost/vegetative organic waste management facilities that polluted our precious drinking water. The Suffolk County Department of Health Services published those findings in a report on groundwater quality, Jan. 22, 2016. After monitoring groundwater at those sites, which included 235 surface water and well samples, the department found elevated metal concentrations of manganese, antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, germanium, molybdenum, thallium, titanium and vanadium and — my favorite — V.O.C.s, volatile organic compounds.
These mines and compost sites, coupled with past farming chemical applications, have polluted our water. The recommendation to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was to increase monitoring of locations to prevent detrimental and continued negative impact to the groundwater supply and surface water quality. Other recommendations include a request for the D.E.C. to expand its protection of the aforementioned. The report goes into some pretty explicit findings, and very decisive recommendations to the D.E.C. to stop the polluting.
Now to our town, East Hampton Town. It’s the same water, isn’t it! How long are the Town of East Hampton and the incompetent management of the D.E.C. going to allow the mining and vegetative waste-management companies to continue their destructive practices? I implore all of you conservation-minded citizens, all of you who have children and live here, all of the families and children who drink water, to visit the mining and V.O.W.M. locations on Springs-Fireplace Road and, now, Middle Highway, also known as the Talmage pit. Go and see the destruction of the woods and nature, and ultimately, our water. You can have front row seats to history. No endangered species or wildlife there anymore. Box turtles, hawks, all gone.
How come the current East Hampton Town Board doesn’t send code enforcement to enforce one of the basic rules of running these facilities — dust control? As written on the D.E.C. permit: Water and other approved dust palliatives must be applied to haulage ways and other parts of the mine, as often as necessary, to prevent visible dust from leaving the mine property. That is verbatim. Drive up Springs-Fireplace Road and see if there is any dust in the air or on the road. (That wasn’t a joke, by the way. Residents in the Freetown area are experiencing the same airborne pathogens.)
How come our code enforcement hasn’t issued any violations for this? Forget about Waldo, he can be found easier than the D.E.C. Probably trying to put our commercial fishermen out of business, but that’s an argument for another time. How come the Middle Highway pit can overclear a residentially zoned lot by more than 200,000 square feet? Oh, yeah, Larry, “pre-existing nonconforming.” Right! The water supply is pre-existing and was once conforming!
Overclear your residence by 1,000 square feet and the town is on you. How come the D.E.C.’s land mining specialist Robert Yaeger, the lackey in charge of the mining permits, hasn’t seen the large water hole, easily visible on Google Maps, at the Springs-Fireplace Road facility? Doesn’t the Environmental Conservation Law provide the D.E.C. with rules on governing these projects? Isn’t hitting groundwater a reason to stop the mining operation?
Could it be that the town doesn’t want to disturb the infamous Bistrians, owners of these locations, who seem to have a stronghold on our town. Is it a financial thing or is it a where’s-the-debris-going-to-go thing? If I have heard it once I have heard it 20 times, the Bistrians do what the Bistrians want to. I guess they do!
Of course I understand the town board’s stance. It’s a legal mining operation. So was Love Canal. The Hooker Chemical Company had permits, too. A far stretch, I know; however, same results: polluted groundwater. Using DDT was once legal, until they realized it was polluting the groundwater. The Suffolk County Health Report shows these sites are doing exactly that.
Why aren’t the local papers doing investigations into all of this? Ron Perelman, now is your chance to shine. Woodward and Bernstein would be proud. Why do our comprehensive plans from 1984 and 2005 both specifically call for the creation of protected water recharge areas? They upzoned properties for that reason, limited clearing for that reason, and specifically directed the Town of East Hampton to forcefully protect groundwater as a fundamental requirement of preservation. Why have a comprehensive plan if the town board doesn’t acknowledge the importance of its contents and take measures to enforce it? Why did the supervisor say, “So sue them!” at our last meeting? Larry, why don’t you and the town board sue them?
Some basic facts to finish this all off. The Talmage pit (a.k.a. the new Bistrian pit) is in a Special Groundwater Protection Area, as designated by the comprehensive plan. The Suffolk County Water Authority’s wells, which feed most of East Hampton Town, are about 2,000 feet away from the pit. The flow of underground water, directly feeding the ocean, Hook Pond, and Spring Close, flowing south, and the flow feeding the north, to Three Mile Harbor and Gardiner’s Bay, split directly under the pit. Goundwater has been hit at both the mine and the recyling facility locations. The town has been following a plume of volatile organic compounds underground for many years and expects it to make its way into Three Mile Harbor in the near future.
The best way to filter the groundwater is with sand and vegetation. The Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Romans destroyed their societies by destroying their natural resources, water included.
Hey, I’m old, so it’s not my problem, right? Like the national debt, I’ll let the kids worry about it, right? It doesn’t affect me, so why should I care, right? Wrong. I drink, swim, and fish in the water, and so do you. Call and write your town board, or better yet, vote in a board that does care.
J. LaGARENNE
My Father’s Legacy
East Hampton
May 21, 2017
Dear David,
I would graciously like to take this time to introduce myself to your readers. My name is Susan Vorpahl, and I am currently seeking a seat on the East Hampton Town Trustees. I have been enthusiastically nominated by the Republican Party, with the Independent Party’s cross-endorsement, for which I am extremely grateful.
For those who don’t know me, I am the daughter of Mary M. Vorpahl and the late Stuart B. Vorpahl Jr. I grew up on the water fishing with my father, and have many fond memories of helping out in my grandparents’ seafood market, Stuart’s Seafood, in Amagansett. I was raised to respect and taught how to preserve our beautiful beaches and waterways.
While I did not become a commercial fisherman like my father, I worked for Riverhead Building Supply for 27 years, leaving to accept a position with the East Hampton Town Police Department as a public safety dispatcher. I am also a 12-year member of the East Hampton Volunteer Ambulance Association as a volunteer E.M.T.-B, a certified C.P.R. instructor, and a committee member of the East Hampton Health Care Foundation’s Public Access Defibrillator program.
As you know, my late father stood up for many principles important to our community and township, and he was not afraid to voice his objections on issues he strongly opposed. As a former town trustee himself, the office was near and dear to his heart, being one of the oldest governing bodies in the town. He was a major force in keeping the Dongan Patent of 1686 a living, breathing document for all the townspeople.
I would be honored to serve on the board of trustees, giving back to our community and continuing my father’s legacy.
Sincerely,
SUSAN M. VORPAHL
Support Country School
East Hampton
May 11, 2017
Dear Editor:
I am writing you today to address the issue of the town board now trying to raise leases on lessees out of accordance with their original agreement, one lessee being the Country School, now located at 7 Industrial Road in Wainscott. Over the past 20 years the Country School has provided an environment that was both nurturing as well as providing an irreplaceable foundation for preschool education.
Deena Zenger, executive director and owner, has always taken the school’s role as an early education institution very seriously and is passionate about their results. Beyond Ms. Zenger’s passion on driving performance, she is a natural leader, having started the Country School in Amagansett, at Scoville Hall. Our eldest attended in 1992, and our youngest last attended in the Wainscott location in 2012. Four children in total, only leaving due to getting older.
As a parent, the Country School has provided the best early learning environment, and is consciously proactive at getting full involvement of its faculty to derive the best results possible. They have a very effective personal style, and will be looked to for continued excellence in early childhood development.
In closing, I’d like to say what motivated us as parents was to find an environment that was nurturing and also provided guidance to education both creative and informative. Throughout our history, the Hamptons is a community that has made it a priority to invest in top quality education for their children. There is no argument that the reputation of excellent schools still provides a healthy climate for the housing market.
It is now our turn to protect that reputation, so I ask you to join me in support of the Country School. This is not support of bricks and mortar but support for children and community. I am convinced that if Country School ceased to exist it would be a great loss for our community. Let’s do our part in supporting the Country School, to ensure that this place of education remains a vital ingredient to our children’s future.
ELIZABETH
ERNEST-VILLENEUVE
Disaster Facing School
Wainscott
May 22, 2017
Dear David:
I was saddened to read in The Star your front-page story of May 11 headlined “Town Votes to Evict Country School.”
Although I’ve never sent children there nor had any contact with the school or its founder/operator, I have driven by it almost daily for the entire time of its existence.
I’ve seen parents coming, going, and attending what looked to be celebrations, and I’ve seen kids playing outside year after year. It seems to be a very happy and vital place. Never have I read or heard of even the slightest irregularity, issue, problem, or controversy with it. It would seem to be and have been a life-enhancing facility for local families, and a local business success story a small town like East Hampton both needs and should revere.
As a local real estate professional and as a member of the town’s airport noise-abatement committee, I am fairly familiar with the leases a few local businesses (and a church) entered into with the Town of East Hampton for property near the airport back in 2001 and after.
Perhaps the town had a right to give those leases, perhaps not. The point I want to make here is that this unfortunate disaster facing Deena Zenger and her Country School is but one more damn good reason to get the Federal Aviation Administration out of East Hampton, its airport, and the lives of even more local residents.
I’ve written often about the role the F.A.A. plays in the horrific amount of noise negatively affecting thousands on both forks of eastern Long Island, Shelter Island, and many communities to the west in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens. It is clear that when the 20-year contracts between the federal government and the Town of East Hampton regarding the East Hampton Airport expire, they should be buried deep in a hole somewhere, never to be seen again.
Quite often I’ve been asked by friends in Amagansett, Springs, Montauk, and other areas of town not yet as noise-affected as western portions of East Hampton by the continuous racket of commuter air traffic, why they should care about the airport.
Well, here you have it! The F.A.A. is demanding the town lease property around the airport for rates ridiculously above what a small local business can afford. An area that has, in the past, been an incubator for local business is being lost due to the meddling of a large, faceless federal bureaucracy that answers to nobody and couldn’t care less about residents of East Hampton.
Who can afford a lease of $76,000 per year for a small property near the airport? Not Deena Zenger. But perhaps some out-of-town helicopter concern with deep pockets will be able to move in and occupy the space. Oh happy day!
TOM MacNIVEN
Residents Are Robbed
Noyac
May 22, 2017
Dear David,
In 2016, with restrictions and curfews in effect, there were 25,836 operations at KHTO, East Hampton Airport. Even with those restrictions, airport activity nevertheless generated a 27-percent increase in complaints compared to 2015.
This year, without any restrictions, consider the impacts the invasive aviation plague will have on our rapidly diminishing quality of life. Consider also that these noisy, polluting events will continue well into fall. The temporary air traffic control tower, which became a permanent air traffic control tower that aviation proponents said would not increase air traffic, has attracted larger jets, pesky seaplanes, and chopper mayhem!
Aviation interests want this chaotic situation to become the new normal; their dream for KHTO is La Guardia by the Sea.
Much of the over 600 acres of valuable town-owned airport property is off limits to most East Hampton residents, but available to a handful with aviation interests and the few local households who regularly use the airport. The toxic noise-making monstrosity that is KHTO impacts thousands of people from New York City to East Hampton but benefits very few, primarily out-of-state commuter air taxi operators and a handful of others with aviation interests, many of whom are not East Hampton Town residents.
Meanwhile, East Hampton residents are robbed of the right to access this special area of pine barrens, with its native grasslands and rare bird and wildlife habitats; our sole-source aquifer is threatened by toxic substances used at the airport, and the town is robbed of a valuable source of income for its general budget. Income from airport property (including from non-aviation-related leases of buildings) must be used to support aviation activity for as long as the property is used as an airport.
Alternative, environmentally sensitive uses of airport property are possible. Structures currently used for aviation can be redesigned to accommodate environmentally sound and economically sensible local businesses bringing full-time year-round jobs. Other possibilities for land use have been suggested: a nature center, a youth center and recreational spaces, new hiking and biking trails linked to existing trails, or solar installations — alternatives that will not further disturb the land, an area as large as Cedar Point Park!
A resident-friendly, environmentally sensitive, and economically viable future for KHTO is possible — one that allows free access to all East Hampton residents, which increases rental income and benefits East Hampton Town, and which preserves the East End’s reputation as a high-end resort area. Nothing ruins an expensive vacation in paradise faster than unrelenting noise and toxic air pollution.
PATRICIA CURRIE
Montauk Airport
Montauk
May 22, 2017
To the Editor:
In a stunning and ongoing example of local elected leadership submitting to and appeasing highly organized well-funded special interest groups, the East Hampton Town Board is in the process of spending up to $3 million of airport revenues, the people’s money, on legal maneuvers that, if successful, would effectively transfer up to 85 percen (3,000+) helicopter flights from the East Hampton Airport to the Montauk Airport. These same special interest groups have also made public further strategies that include a town board petition to spend an additional $18 million for the purchase of the Montauk Airport and a similar scheme that promotes the closure of the entire East Hampton Airport complex.
The East Hampton Airport Planning Committee, a group of neighboring East Hampton Airport property owners, has publicly accused Montauk United of misleading the Montauk citizenry in regard to confronting the above issues.
The following are quotes taken directly from a letter to the editor from David Gruber that appeared in The East Hampton Star newspaper. Following each quote are Montauk United responses. You be the judge.
David Gruber: “Recommendations include that the town proceed with the steps necessary for the East Hampton community preservation fund to buy Montauk Airport.”
Montauk United: After East Hampton Town Board’s spending of up to $3 million on these special interest groups’ behalf (funds that could have been spent on improving airport technology, maintenance, safety, noise control, or simply retained for future capital requirements), the East Hampton Airport Planning Committee now wants the town to illegally spend an additional $18 million to purchase an airport that is too small, too dangerous, too under-equipped, too undermanned, and totally unsafe for the amount of aviation traffic they hope to transfer.
David Gruber: “It is perfectly possible for Montauk and the rest of East Hampton both to be protected if the town acquires both airports. We have been thoughtfully watching out for Montauk.”
Montauk United: In 2016, Montauk Airport jet plane landings equaled zero. Helicopter landings equaled less than five per day and only in season. Why is the East Hampton Airport Planning Committee, after years of activity, suddenly displaying this “thoughtful” affection, this empathy, this concern for Montauk when this very same committee desperately fought for and championed airport legislation that would cause incredible damage to Montauk, its people, and their way of life?
David Gruber: “Once the town owns both airports we would be able to regulate them in tandem.”
Montauk United: Not only does the committee want the town board to buy them the Montauk facility, they also desire carte blanche management, supervision, and control of both airports. “In tandem,” as in a planned sharing of all problems? “Regulate,” as in a reallocation of air traffic burdens and responsibilities? “In tandem,” as in the fox wants in the chicken coop.
David Gruber: The East Hampton Town Board “does not have the expertise necessary to supervise these technical undertakings . . . including the supervision of the outside professionals such as lawyers, engineers, etc. Fortunately we have within our community people who collectively do have the necessary expertise.”
Montauk United: After years of continuous effort, these special interest groups have yet to win any significant battle to further their cause. Given this dismal record of non-accomplishment and failed initiatives, why would the town board, Montauk, or anybody else think these groups can run two airports, when, in fact, they can’t even solve their own airport problems?
David Gruber: “I suppose Montauk United can simply resist any efforts to control East Hampton Airport noise, adversely affecting a much larger population than that of Montauk.”
Montauk United: None of these special interest groups have ever validated the size of their membership, or authenticated the East Hampton citizenship of those who they claim to represent. Their constituencies are undocumented, unproven, and their legitimate population base extremely questionable. Montauk’s population is very real. The importance of its economic base very real. The size of its voting bloc, very, very real.
David Gruber: “It is unrealistic for Montauk United to believe that they can condemn all of us to endless noise If beggaring his neighbors to the west would help him and Montauk.”
Montauk United: Why is it “unrealistic” to want to protect Montauk? Why is the defense of Montauk’s interests somehow of lesser importance then these groups’ demands? It is another example of the incredible entitlement these groups believe is owed to them by the entire population of East Hampton regardless of the consequences they will cause. It is the hallmark of their “anywhere else but my backyard” mantra. “Condemn?” “Beggaring?” Who is doing what to whom? Who started all this? Who has spent years badgering the town board into spending millions of dollars in attempting to pass legislation that is sure to have a massive negative impact on the entire village of Montauk? In truth, it is the reverse. Town board and special interests past and continuing efforts are “beggaring” and “condemning” Montauk to what they are desperately aiming to rid themselves of. They, the town board, and their favored special interest groups, not Montauk, are the aggressors.
Montauk United sincerely hopes these groups will find a solution to their very difficult airport problems. Montauk United has always offered 100 percent support to any East Hampton committee or group that has a viable solution to their problem. An honest, fair solution. Not a transfer, not a relocation, and certainly not a town board political power play to turn an East Hampton special interest group problem into a Montauk problem.
Montauk’s way of life will suffer a devastating blow if any part of the East Hampton Town Board and special interest groups’ strategies prove successful. It will be an economic and civic cancer that once inflicted, will not only prove impossible to reverse but unstoppable in its eventual growth.
Some say the town board’s legal efforts will most likely fail. Maybe so, but on April 19, just two weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court ordered additional arguments on the case, undoubtedly a major step forward and a clear early victory for the East Hampton special interest cause. Additionally, on May 18 the East Hampton Town Board committed an additional $50,000 by hiring a second law firm to directly assist in their Supreme Court efforts. One thing is for certain. If, by any means, the East Hampton helicopters come to Montauk, we will never rid ourselves of them.
The friends and citizens of Montauk together must unite to meet and overcome this real threat to our community. No one is going to do it for us.
The members of the East Hampton Town Board have continuously and unanimously declared where their allegiance lies even though Montauk represents a larger proven economic sphere, population base, and voter bloc then all of the East Hampton anti-airport special interest groups combined. This is not a Democratic, Republican, Independence, or any other form of a organized political issue. There is only one question and one answer.
In the coming fall election, which town board candidates will have the courage to stand up to the East Hampton special interest groups and protect Montauk’s way of life? During this 2017 town board election year, Montauk United will actively be involved in determining, through word, deed, and past voting record, where each and every candidate stands in regard to this coming airport crisis. The information derived from these efforts will be continually made available to the entire Montauk Community via the Montauk United website, montaukunited.org.
Remember this: There are three open town board seats, which represent a simple majority. If Montauk fairness, protection, and justice are not available from the current members of the town board, let us unite together to obtain it from those that will.
Visit the Montauk United web site for further information, register your support and approval (it only takes a minute), talk to your Montauk friends and neighbors. We have the power. Let us unite together and put it to use. In order to protect Montauk it is essential that every citizen and friend register their support at Montaukunited.org
We can protect Montauk but only through a unified organized effort. Sign up now.
TOM BOGDAN
Outdoor Dining
East Hampton
May 22, 2017
Dear David,
Imagine not being able to have your kids skip gleefully on the grounds of your favorite East End restaurant before you dine with your family. Imagine not being allowed to stand to wait for a table for outside dining. Imagine a near-fascist approach to “controlling crowds.” And finally, imagine our vibrant hospitality industry — already crippled by rising costs of doing business — thwarted yet again in their attempts at running great, locally owned businesses because of government intervention.
It is perplexing to me that restaura teurs and hoteliers were not asked for input regarding the impact that these changes would have upon our town’s long-established businesses’ ability to operate, much less even informed that there was an effort to modify the existing code.
The new proposals from the Town of East Hampton are longer and more detailed and all restaurateurs should read them, but here’s a key paragraph:
Ҥ255-11-88
Outdoor Dining at Restaurants
(1) Outdoor dining may only be approved for restaurants that are approved for, and along with, indoor dining unless otherwise contained on a site plan approved by the planning board. Outdoor dining is limited to tables and chairs for the service of restaurant food and beverages incidental to the service of food. It does not allow for a waiting area, a standing area, or an area for the service of beverages (alcoholic or otherwise) prior to being seated for dining, after dining, or an area only to participate in entertainment (music) provided by the restaurant.”
It can’t be the town board’s intention to force patrons awaiting service at a popular establishment to sit in their cars in lieu of awaiting service at, or near, the establishment, either on foot while engaged in conversation with fellow guests or, especially for our elderly and disabled patrons, on a comfortable bench or other seating arrangement. However, it is precisely what this law, if enacted, will cause to happen.
This law, as proposed, will have unforeseen and unintended consequences on our town’s businesses’ ability to service their customers, especially during our busy season, where sustaining revenues are realized — and vital. At the very least, I suggest that the board consider what effect — if enacted — these code modifications will have on establishments throughout the town that are busy preparing for the summer season. Reminder: This is a resort community dependent largely on revenues from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The proposed law will drastically impede our town’s restaurant and food service industry to service their clients, and will notably reduce the overall level of commerce, whose tax revenue helps to sustain our great town.
I am confident that the town’s business owners, community members, and the town board can work collaboratively to find a solution that will serve all parties involved, while effectively addressing the issues of concern.
I urge all restaurant and hotel owners, waiters, waitresses, bartenders, bus staff, and all restaurant vendors to attend the town board meeting at East Hampton Town Hall, 159 Pantigo Lane, East Hampton, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 1.
Your livelihood may depend on it!
STEVE HAWEELI
President
East Hampton
Chamber of Commerce
Artificial Ingredients
Springs
May 21, 2017
To the Editor:
Elaine Jones, chairwoman of the East Hampton Independence Party, is famous for her homemade baked goods, especially her fruit pies. I know, because I’ve bought and devoured quite a few of them myself.
One thing I’m not buying is the reason Elaine cooked up in last week’s Star for not endorsing any Republican nominees for town board (not even Jerry Larsen, an Independence Party member). She says they are focused on “national issues” at the expense of local ones. This is sheer nonsense, as their letters, interviews, literature, etc., clearly show.
Yes, back in January the East Hampton Republican Party staged a Deplora-ball, celebrating the victories of Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin over their Democratic rivals and featuring a life-size cutout of the Trumpster himself. But since our town board candidates were chosen a couple of months ago, they have focused entirely on issues important to the citizens of East Hampton, issues like water quality, the state of our harbors and bays and fisheries, the wisdom of the Deepwater Wind project, beach access rights, housing, job opportunities, etc. And they will continue to do so.
Elaine, it’s time to take another look at your recipe book. You used artificial ingredients in making your choices, and the result is a less than satisfying menu.
Sincerely,
REG CORNELIA
Chairman
East Hampton Republican Club
‘Absolutely Not True’
Amagansett
May 22, 2017
Dear David,
I was dismayed and disappointed to read a false statement by the Republican candidate Manny Vilar in The Star’s front-page story about the Independence Party’s screening meeting last week.
The story quoted Mr. Vilar as saying that he “asked the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee if he could screen with them but was denied.” This is absolutely not true.
First of all, the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee does not screen candidates; that job is the function of the Democratic screening committee. As chairwoman of that committee, I place advertisements in The Star during January and February, calling on all citizens interested in running for office here to contact me. Then I schedule interviews with all respondents with the screening committee.
The process is lengthy. We meet with prospective candidates from February through May, frequently asking people back for further consideration. When we have completed all interviews, the committee has several more meetings at which we review all the candidates and then vote.
The final step in the process is the Democratic convention, where the screening committee recommends its slate to the full Democratic committee, accepts further nominations from the floor, and then votes. Those receiving the majority of that vote become the candidates for our party.
During this four-month period, Mr. Vilar did not contact any member of the screening committee, nor did he seek information from any party leaders about how he could be considered.
The East Hampton Democrats are proud of our long tradition of welcoming all — regardless of party — to screen with us. That is why I am writing this letter to correct the misstatement.
Sincerely,
BETTY MAZUR
Greater Transparency
Amagansett
May 21, 2017
Dear David,
At the town board meeting on May 18, Resolution #18421, “Guidelines to Access Public Records Within the Town of East Hampton,” was passed unanimously by the board. Our superb town clerk, Carole Brennan, has led the charge to get this codified, and we have much to thank her for doing this.
In many of our institutions it is very difficult to get access to public records. This resolution will give local government greater transparency. Any resident can now get access to all information in the public record. Individual departments’ division heads must make all records available to the public in compliance with the New York State Freedom of Information Law. The town’s website (ehamptonny.gov) has access to a form which can be filled out and accepted via email, mail, or fax.
Every town document created should be available to the public, and they have made this happen. I hope other institutions follow the town’s lead!
RONA KLOPMAN
Humbled and Honored
Springs
May 21, 2017
Dear David,
I am truly humbled and deeply honored to represent both the Democratic Party and the Independence Party in my quest to retain my seat on the East Hampton Town Board.
My gratitude goes to the Democratic Party screening chairwoman, Betty Mazur, for engaging in a fair and deliberate screening process. To the members of the Democratic Party and the Independence Party screening committees, thank you for recommending me for nomination.
East Hampton is a community with a long and dignified history, one of the oldest settled places in our country. I am proud that the current town board, on which I serve, has returned civility, integrity, and respect to the business of the town board, restoring the community’s confidence in town government.
With the community’s support, we can continue to move our town forward while adhering to our core values of hard work, family, compassion, and respect for one another.
Sincerely,
KATHEE BURKE-GONZALEZ
More People Like Her
East Hampton
May 19, 2017
Dear David:
I think we are very fortunate that Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, an incumbent, is willing to continue as a town board member. She has done excellent work. I have spoken with her about the senior center, and she is working to get the new center built. We need more people like her in town government.
Thank you, Kathee, on behalf of the seniors.
JULIA KAYSER
Kathee’s Credentials
East Hampton
May 21, 2017
Dear David,
Last week I had the distinct honor to nominate my good friend, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, to be one of the Democratic Party’s candidates for East Hampton Town Board. During this special 100th anniversary year for women’s suffrage, marking 100 years from when women won the right to vote in New York State, Kathee is the only woman on the ticket for town board. Being a woman is not, of itself, a qualification for holding public office. Experience, commitment, and a history of service and success in the community are Kathee’s credentials.
I’m sure you are familiar with what Kathee has done for our town in the last four years as councilwoman, but let me fill you in on her backstory. As a working woman and mother of two, Kathee served for nine years on the Springs School Board, the last two years as its president. She chaired the communications, budget, and audit committees, successfully passed nine school budgets, and helped save more than $4 million for Springs taxpayers. The two budgets she developed and managed as board president totaled $25 million annually and passed with 76 percent and 77 percent voter approval.
I was thrilled when Kathee decided four years ago to bring her experience of working together with her fellow school board members and the public, to East Hampton Town Hall, and I knew her perspective as a working mother would help our town government be more relevant and more considerate of the needs of working families.
It wasn’t until I was running for trustee in 2013 that I got to know Kathee personally and experience what a kind and generous person she is and how committed she is to keeping our town a vibrant and beautiful place to live. During the 2013 campaign, we spent many hours together each day standing outside of CVS, and every post office and grocery store from Wainscott to Montauk, greeting town residents and listening to their concerns. As I witnessed, people were drawn to Kathee and wanted to talk to her about their concerns for our town. I was impressed with how many people already knew and respected Kathee from her work on the Springs School Board. She listened carefully to everyone and always had a thoughtful and educated reply.
So, I was not surprised when Kathee won election in 2013 with the most votes. She hit the ground running, and has not been shy about taking on some of the most challenging issues facing our town, like volunteering to be the liaison to the East Hampton Airport and taking on the rental registry when it was tabled for lack of support.
Kathee is an experienced leader. She is smart, caring, thoughtful, and one of the most hard-working people I have ever met. When Kathee’s on the job, our town is better for it.
During this 100th anniversary year of my right as a woman to vote, I was extremely honored, and it was with heartfelt pride, to nominate my friend and our councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, for re-election to the East Hampton Town Board.
Sincerely,
AFTON DiSUNNO
Challenge Lee Zeldin
Springs
May 22, 2017
To the Editor:
The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman argued convincingly on May 16 that for citizens who are deeply concerned about the behavior of the current administration and of the G.O.P. Congress, there is only one viable plan of action: Work to regain the congressional majority in 2018.
Friedman writes, “Run as, raise money for, or register someone to vote for a Democrat or independent running for House or Senate on Nov. 6, 2018. Nothing else matters.”
For those of us who live in the First Congressional District, this means doing everything we can to unseat Lee Zeldin, who cannot pretend to be serving us, his constituents, after voting for a health care bill that would leave millions without health care in order to fund tax breaks for his wealthy donors.
Zeldin supports the wrong positions on climate change, concealed-carry gun legislation, and the elimination of the estate tax (which already excludes estates valued at less than $5.49 million).
It’s not too early to work on voter registration, and to consider candidates ready to challenge Lee Zeldin in 2018.
ANN DAVISON
Tax Credits for Veterans
Amagansett
May 15, 2017
Dear David,
As a veteran myself, I’ve never particularly understood why being a veteran makes one any more qualified to hold a public office than a non-veteran. Be that as it may, Congressman Lee Zeldin proudly advertises his veteran credentials. So, I was very dismayed by his vote for the recent health bill passed by the House, which threatens to strip tax credits from up to seven million veterans. The bill offers all of us tax credits that we can use to buy private insurance, but only if we are not eligible for other low-cost government health care options. So here’s the catch for the estimated seven million veterans who qualify for V.A. health care benefits: If they elect not to take V.A. health care benefits, they would be ineligible for assistance under the American Health Care Act.
Proponents of the A.H.C.A. conceded that the bill threatened veterans with the loss of health care coverage in this way, and so a provision had been inserted to exempt veterans. However, in the final bill it was removed, because its inclusion would have required Senate approval by 60 votes instead of a simple majority, something they apparently didn’t want to risk. A bit of inside baseball, indeed, but the upshot is simple — the possible loss of tax credits for up to seven million veterans, and yet Representative Zeldin endorsed it. Who is Mr. Zeldin serving with this kind of vote? Certainly not our veterans.
ROBERT WICK
Similar to Venus?
Springs
May 22, 2017
Dear David,
Venus used to be called our sister planet because its structure is so similar to Earth’s, but its atmospheric pressure is 90 times greater than our own. The atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide with some nitrogen and droplets of sulfuric acid. Its atmosphere is so dense that one of Russia’s spaceships, Venera, after making a soft landing was crushed by the heavy atmosphere and heat in two hours. We have no idea how this planet, second from the sun, developed this atmosphere, or if it was that way since its inception.
Perhaps Venus wasn’t always as it today. Is that what a dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide does?
Are we on the path to becoming similar to Venus? Are you willing to take that chance? Are you willing to risk our beloved planet? If you are, then you can vote for the climate change deniers without the slightest sense of guilt that you are risking Earth. If you feel that you cannot take that chance, that you love the planet you live on, then you must never support those who are running for office who don’t care about the life of Earth and are willing to say there is no such thing as climate change.
Fortunately, those who serve in our government are not willing to gamble with the life of our planet, our children, and ourselves. In a recent meeting, the first of many, the Coastal Assessment and Resiliency Plan presented the grim picture of the vulnerability of our miles upon miles of coastline. Chilling! I am grateful that our town board, with Peter Van Scoyoc long ago pushing for experts to be brought in to help us to become aware and begin to create a plan, has the vision to protect us and our fragile town instead of gambling with our very lives.
PHYLLIS ITALIANO
Struggle With History
Montauk
May 15, 2017
Dear David,
Despite rumors and fake news to the contrary, President Trump is actually an avid and insightful student of history. Last week, Breitbart News reported that President Trump is currently working on “My Struggle With History,” a treatise that will set the record straight on several historical controversies. According to Breitbart, three chapters have been completed.
The first chapter analyzes the real reason that Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia lost to the Allies in the Battle of Verdun in 1924 during the Spanish-American War. According to Trump, the real reason that Lee lost was a last-minute withdrawal of the allied Mexican Army from his right flank that left his army center and left flank exposed to withering machine gun fire from the combined German and North Korean armies. Trump opines that earlier histories that had explained that the loss was due to massive bombing by B-52s or human wave attacks by North Koreans were totally inaccurate.
Chapter two is devoted to Joseph Stalin, one of the president’s historical heroes, who was well known for his decisive political leadership and well-deserved cult of personality. Trump argues that Stalin had received negative assessments from earlier historians who failed to understand that the state-sponsored purges that resulted in the execution of millions of loyal Communist Party members were entirely justified. Using archival evidence that was recently uncovered by Alex Jones, Trump argues that there was indeed a vast conspiracy of Communist Party members who repeatedly tried to poison, strangle, and/or shoot Comrade Stalin. Trump points out that the vast majority of those who were executed actually confessed at their trials or administrative hearings. According to Trump, Comrade Stalin despised disloyalty above all.
Chapter Three is a whimsical deconstruction of the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” show that aired during the early 1960s. Trump asserts that the show was actually a parody of the Cold War that featured Rocky, a quick-witted, All-American flying squirrel, and Bullwinkle, a rather dim-witted moose. Trump argues that Bullwinkle’s persona (moosona?) was actually a deception intended to induce Boris Badenov, Natasha Fatale, Fearless Leader, and Mr. Big to become overconfident in their abilities to bring mayhem to Frostbite Falls. Breitbart News approved Trump’s laudatory characterizations of Fearless Leader and particularly Mr. Big (who was actually the size of a mouse but projected the shadow of a giant).
All three chapters have received glowing reviews by Dr. Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the eminent history professor at Bob Jones University and author of the best seller “Hiroshima: Was It Really That Bad?” Professor Wagstaff quipped, “Without doubt, this is a truly great work of historical research that is devoid of historical inaccuracies and personal biases. I highly recommend it for both professional historians and laymen.”
Breitbart predicts that the completed work will be published right after the American Health Care Act is signed by the president. Every copy will be personally signed by President Trump and will be available for purchase at Amazon.com, bookstores, and future political rallies.
Cheers,
BRIAN POPE
Lurching Leadership
Springs
May 18, 2017
Dear David:
In March of this year I wrote in this space of a president slowly descending into insanity, in reference to President Trump. At that time I cautioned against despair and urged the Republican leadership to turn to the constitutional solution found in the 25th Amendment. Sadly, since that time our president has made evident, on an almost daily basis, his inability to master the most basic skills required to govern. Our president is at an extreme disadvantage as he comes into the office lacking the historical knowledge that most students in 12th grade possess. In fact, his tweets and conversations reveal him to be ahistorical.
If the president accepted the advice of members of his cabinet, or his advisers, he might be capable of finishing out his term. However, his infantile personality does not allow him to entertain the guidance of others.
So now it has become obvious that more drastic measures are called for. The leaders of the Republican Party, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, have been mostly mute regarding the mental state of President Trump.
If the leadership will not act, the membership must. Republicans at every level must make their voices heard and protest the ongoing debasement of the office of the presidency. Those who would ask for your vote in any election, Democrat or Republican, must take a stand. Voters must let national party leaders know that no one running for any office in the country will enjoy voter support unless they speak out against the erosion of our most cherished ideas under the lurching-from-crisis-to-crisis leadership of President Trump.
ARTHUR GOLDMAN
Backward We Will Go
Springs
May 19, 2017
Dear David:
We have already seen the amazing callousness that Mr. Trump and his Republican cronies have shown toward the American people in celebrating their punitive health care plan and their budget proposal. Sadly for us, they aren’t through. Another Trump proposal will cut $200 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). When you cut that much money from something, fewer people are going to be protected — and the losers will be those in the title of the program: women, infants, and children.
More than 7.8 million women and children participated in the WIC program in the first three months of the 2016 fiscal year. Children and infants usually make up three-quarters of WIC recipients. Trump’s budget cuts mean that hundreds of thousands of mothers, their children, and their infants would be unable to receive the food vouchers they qualify for. The reason they “qualify” for them? They do not have enough income to afford enough food to feed those young children and infants.
And backward we will go. Studies by the Center for Disease Control indicate that the WIC program has contributed to a decrease in childhood obesity, which means healthier children. A recent study showed that 34 of 56 WIC state agencies saw modest decreases in obesity among young children from 2010 to 2014. The percentage of low-income children (ages 2 to 4) with obesity enrolled in WIC’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program decreased from 15.9 percent in 2010 to 14.5 percent in 2014.
So in order to give the rich a tax break, build a useless wall, and pay for more authoritarian deportation agents, the Washington Republicans will starve little children and their mothers.
The East Hampton Republican Party has promised to bring this same kind of “progress” to our town. Seriously?
Our town board knows better than to turn its back on our most vulnerable residents. Earlier this year, it gave the East Hampton Food Pantry a new home — on the grounds of Town Hall. And, in 2017, the town awarded a grant to the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center for $90,000, an increase of $10,000 over last year.
The Democratic slate for the town board will continue to deliver socially responsible governance instead of punishing the more vulnerable among us. It is they who deserve your vote this November.
BRUCE COLBATH
Nonvoting Problem
East Hampton
May 21, 2017
To the Editor:
When Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and their group created our democracy, they possessed a staggering intellectual capacity and vision. Today, with 200 times more people, we have McConnell, Pelosi, Schumer, Ryan, and Trump, with virtually no intellect or vision. Somehow, the founders foresaw this fall-off in the quality of leadership and designed a democracy based not on leadership capacity but on the electoral process. The obvious failure of our democracy is the failure of the electoral process.
In 1789 almost no one had the right to vote — only white male landowners, even though the Constitution mandated that everyone should have the right to vote. That right expanded slowly and painfully, so much so that we never embraced the idea that everyone needs to vote to make the democracy whole. It is clearly the worst vestige of the intellectual and moral collapse of our leadership. The rhetoric around voting has reached a level of profound retardation. The obvious failure of the system to induce people to participate has been turned inside out to inhibit, rather than to seduce people to vote. Our system is so screwed that if people voted four or five times in our elections it would be a major step toward making us a real democracy.
We are so screwed that allowing anyone who can sign their name, an X permitted, would be an improvement over what we have. Take the last election. Trump got 46 percent of 62 percent of the electorate, or 28.5 percent of eligible voters. Seventy-one-and-a-half percent didn’t vote for him. What is the applicable term for this kind of political system?
So how do Republicans (it is their turn to behave badly) respond to the nonvoting problem? They do the neo-Nazi two-step, a dance that long predated the 1930s but seems an appropriate reference. Step one, turn the problem upside down, and instead of a nonvoting problem we have an illegal voting problem, equating the 12 people who might have voted twice to the 80 million who didn’t vote. Then, step two, loaded with potential voter fraud data. They institute voter cross-check and voter IDs, close polling places, limiting advance voting; insist on voting on Tuesdays when the entire world votes on Saturday or Sunday. All of which are guaranteed to keep the voters away from the polls and make our democracy squishy.
Who are these people who are trying to destroy our democracy? What makes them smarter than Jefferson and Franklin? Are they pinheads or pin pricks? We know they aren’t stupid, so the answer is pretty obvious.
NEIL HAUSIG
Published 5 years ago
Last updated 5 years ago
Letters to the Editor: 05.25.17
May 25, 2017