Letters to the Editor: 08.25.16

Animals on the Beach’

 East Hampton

 August 19, 2016

Dear David,

 I’m writing this to let many misinformed people know the actual rules about dogs on East Hampton Town beaches. I often go with my dog to these beaches, and in the summer season between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. will walk the dog on a leash through the beach, past the restricted area. Although I’ve been questioned about this by some people on the beach before, there was an incident on Aug. 17 in which a man thought what I was doing was illegal and confronted me in a loud, hostile, and insulting manner. I tried to explain to him that I had been informed by a Marine Patrol officer in the past that I was allowed to do this, but he wouldn’t listen and said the sign is written that no dogs are allowed on the beach from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and screamed that I must be stupid or couldn’t read. I tried to not overreact to his insults, but I’ll admit it was hard.

 I want to thank the head of Marine Patrol, Ed Michels, for returning the call I left for him after this incident. He was very courteous and said that unfortunately there are many people who misunderstand the rules and can be rude about it. He also told me where to find the actual rule in the code, and I want to share this with others who might run into the same problem. 

From the Town of East Hampton website under the “Information” tab at the top, select “Town Code.” In Chapter 91, Article 91-4, Section L, it clearly states the rules for “Animals on the Beach.” It says that an animal may be transported through a restricted area during these times, as long as it is manually restrained. I’ve printed out this rule to be able to show it in case something like this happens again.

JON HOWARD 

Scary Experience

East Hampton

August 18, 2016

To the Editor:

If you have the tick-borne meat allergy Alpha-gal, which means you are allergic to beef, lamb, and pork, you must be careful of vaccines. I had the shingles vaccine, Zostavax, and ended up with anaphylaxis, which is a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. 

An hour and a half after getting the vaccine, I suddenly developed itchiness, severe lip swelling, and wooziness. It meant a frantic ride to East Hampton Urgent Care, where I fainted due to sudden low blood pressure, then a speedy ride via ambulance to Southampton Hospital’s emergency room and an overnight stay in the hospital tethered to an IV.

It turns out that this vaccine is made with a gelatin composed of hoofed-animal byproducts. This is the last thing a person with a meat allergy should have. It is extremely surprising that in an area where tick-borne allergies are so prevalent, clinicians are not adept at routinely taking this into consideration when recommending treatments to patients. It appears that pharmacists, doctors, and other caregivers are not aware of this problem because the Alpha-gal meat allergy is not well studied or documented. 

Since becoming aware of my allergy three years ago, I have been careful with what I eat. However, having had this extremely scary experience and ending up in the emergency room, I have a heightened awareness. I am now very vigilant about asking about all the ingredients in my diet (especially when eating out), and the composition of my medications, due to the potentially dire consequences.

My thanks to the East Hampton Urgent Care Center and the Southampton Hospital emergency room for their quick responses and excellent care.

ELIZABETH ANDERSEN

Flooding in the Road

East Hampton

August 10, 2016

Dear East Hampton Star, 

Hello again. I know I just sent you a number of long letters, but I have something interesting to report. I’m writing on Aug. 10, just a couple of hours after the nasty little squall we had that day. What I have to report has to do with a prediction I made over a year ago that the new house being built next door to mine would cause flooding in the road. And I was right.

I live in Egypt Close (this is the only reference I will give to the flooded area) and my family has owned our house since 1968. Ours was one of the first houses built in Egypt Close, and even before most of the other houses were built, the road would flood. Even though the town put in drains at the low points, the land is so close to the water table that the road continued to flood. As houses were added and more and more land was built on or paved over, the flooding got worse. I have plenty of childhood memories of taking a rubber dinghy with my friend and paddling up one neighbor’s driveway, through the front yard, around the house to the backyard, back down the driveway, across the road to another neighbor’s yard, and around the back, where the rim of their pool was under 12 inches of water, and back down their driveway and into the road. I dubbed this the Egypt Lake phenomenon.

In the 1980s, when the Village of East Hampton wanted to put an extension of Egypt Close through to Amy’s Lane and open land, which had until then been a farm, to development, my parents and most of the other landowners on the street realized that this would actually make the flooding much worse. A block association was formed and the extension was successfully blocked, thanks to an independent environmental impact study paid for by the association. The property is and always will be a reserve that the village can lease for farming, but nothing can ever be built on the land. Today it is a tree farm. The impact study also discovered that part of the problem was that runoff from Montauk Highway was also draining through the undeveloped (at the time) property north of ours, through our yard and our neighbors’ into the road. So the village took steps to divert that drainage as well. 

The flooding became less frequent but could still happen during bad storms or prolonged periods of rain. Then the undeveloped land was cleared and developed. A large house with lots of paving replaced a little over an acre of trees, scrub, and brambles that had been doing a very good job of absorbing water. Suddenly the flooding became more frequent and severe and I was constantly reminded of my childhood in the 1970s. 

This flooding was a constant problem until about four years ago, when the village finally expanded the drainage system with two or maybe three new dry wells. What caused them to do this was that two houses had been demolished and rebuilt with enlarged footprints and more paving than had been there previously. (I should note that Egypt Close has been a constant construction zone for over 10 years, what with various renovations, expansions, and complete rebuilds.)

  Since there was less lawn and fewer trees to absorb the water, it ran off to the only place it could go, the dip in the road. I remember in the late winter before they put in the new drains having to traverse water that was actually waist-deep. 

Until now, the new drains seemed to be working to keep the flooding at bay. They even absorbed runoff from three and a half feet of snow in 2014 and 2015. The problem looked like it had been solved, but it hadn’t.

We’ve been having a rather wet few weeks recently, which have been alleviating the recent drought to some extent. Again, I remind you that Egypt Close, even in the higher places, is very close to the water table. Across Egypt Lane from us is a small swamp with a creek running through it. Cisterns and dry wells can hold only so much water and don’t really do much good so close to the water table. 

The runoff from today’s torrential downpour was more than enough to overwhelm our drainage system, and thanks to our new neighbors, I think we can look forward to the return of the Egypt Lake Effect. The question remains, was a proper environmental impact study ever done? I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t. After all, our neighbor to the north didn’t do a proper study; I know this for a fact. 

In any case, I think we can look forward to more floods in the near future. Personally, I think it serves all our new neighbors right. After all, they didn’t have to put in so much paving, and the new houses are simply too big for the property. And they can pay for any new drains the village may want to put in. Personally, I’ve been living with Egypt Lake for so long, I actually like it! After all, it’s not my basement that gets flooded!

MATT HARNICK

At Home

I was always kind to crickets

But fruit flies are another matter

Small as midges they zoom

Around my days

A veil of mindless interference

There’s one floating in my water glass

Two circling my indoor plants

Another resting on the damp washcloth

on the sink

 

Snacking on peanut butter and honey

A kamikaze circles then drops

onto my plate

Stuck in sticky sweetness she

Cannot lift off

A good Buddhist, I want to save her

Let her join her brethren

She is too tiny, my fingers too large

I cannot help her

 

Adrift in a pool of goo

She shall die a sweet death

And I . . .

CAROL SHERMAN

Dedicated Bicycle Trails

East Hampton

August 21, 2016

Dear David,

I have owned a second home in East Hampton since 1978 and love its land, beaches, ocean and bay, and beautifully preserved village. But I have had to put my bicycles in the shed, because it is too dangerous to ride them on our streets.

It is hard to believe that with all of our amenities there are no dedicated bicycle trails where bike riders can be safe from speeding cars and trucks. Few roads have shoulders, and Route 114, which does have wide shoulders, is too dangerous to ride. Yes, there is a bike path at Hither Hills, but that’s it. 

Aspen and Vail, as well as many other western places, have wide, paved bike and hiking trails, which are a major attraction year round. New York City now has a bike path along the Hudson, from the Battery to the northern tip of Manhattan. There are a few in western Suffolk County and Nassau. Why not here?

I suggest that the town explore the use of the Paumanok Trail that runs though our town, now used by relatively few hikers. Of course there are environmental issues, but they can be dealt with by enacting reasonable rules and monitoring of user behavior. It will be costly, yes, but well worth it to expand the use of our woods and forests, provide an outlet for exercise and enjoyment of our natural resources, and save lives and injuries. If New York City can do it, why can’t we?

PETER J. STRAUSS

Physicals for Athletes

August 22, 2016

East Hmpton

Dear David, 

As the upcoming fall athletic season approaches, I wanted to take a moment and thank the district for providing physicals for our student athletes. While some community members may disagree that the district should provide this service, I believe the district should, to show appreciation for the overwhelming support given to the district when there is an annual school budget vote every May.

The service of providing physicals is optional. Some parents and guardians take their children to their personal physicians. There are others who might not be able to afford this expense, so they choose to have the physical performed by the district doctors.

Also, thanks to the school nurses, Lorraine Talmage, Carol Brady, Sue VanDyke, and Barbara Tracey, for their handling and organization of the paperwork to get our students cleared to participate in sports.

Sincerely, 

CLAUDE BEUDERT

That Stretch of Beach

East Hampton

August 18, 2016

To the Editor:

I would like to answer Bruce Anderson’s letter to the editor in last week’s paper. Mr. Anderson, I am not sure what you mean by significant damage to sand dunes. I have been here for 33 years and I haven’t seen the type of damage you seem to be talking about. I have seen a vehicle or two drive close to, and indeed one drive on, a dune, but that was many years ago. The person in question was very young, having just received his license. After a couple people including myself explained things to him he understood this kind of thing will not be tolerated in the future. I see him from time to time and have never seen him drive less than 40 feet from a snow fence, let alone beach grass.

I go to the beach often, year round. I also would like to think I am a keen observer myself. I have not seen the vehicle-related “accidents or near-misses” you’re talking about at this beach. In fact, I would be grateful if you could provide me with the police reports, pictures, press clippings, or dates that you have “often read” in our local news about such occurrences. 

With regard to the “large number of complaints,” all I can say is, these are largely from a small group of significantly self-absorbed fiction writers. They have said all they want to do is protect our children! They say we drive too fast on the beach! We are out of control! They even supplied pictures and videos — of course some of these pictures were from beaches in Florida? They say it could happen here? Yes, I suppose it could, if we didn’t have those who worked these waters and respected the beach. We don’t tolerate any destruction of our beaches by anyone, including ourselves. 

These same fiction writers say they want to compromise, that they are open to a compromise and want to be good neighbors. All we have to do is move east down the beach a half-mile or so and all would be right with the world! Wait a minute, wouldn’t our children still be in danger, wouldn’t we still be driving too fast? Wouldn’t we still be out of control? The difference is we wouldn’t be doing it in front of their houses. Houses, I would add, that were built after there was driving along that stretch of beach. Why do you think it’s called Truck Beach? 

The damage to the beaches, sand dunes, and beach grass by vehicles is insignificant compared to that done by building houses along the beach. I have been in construction for 42 years, and the damage from building one house in the dunes by someone who doesn’t know or care what it takes is catastrophic. I have seen plots of land not 500 yards from the water where whole tops of large dunes are removed and the area leveled off to allow for a stakeout and construction of a house. Thousands of square feet of sand and beach grass removed, never to be seen again. When a septic system is installed many dig up and remove the beach sand to install a leaching field for the septic tank, then backfill with mined sand and top it off with some beach sand so it “blends in.”

How many houses were built just along Truck Beach? How many dunes and grasses gone forever? You complain of damage to the beach. It’s called tire ruts. These ruts are gone with the winter storms and occasional northeasters. Speaking of storms, these same storms remove, replace, remove, etc., more sand in a single event than all the beach driving ever done. Think seven feet of sand washed away in Montauk before you say no!

The last thing I would like to say is this. Ms. Nidia Rios, I don’t know where you were but if you had trucks in your way that forced you to sit farther back from the water and totally obstructed your view, you were either at Truck Beach, where it is legal for trucks to go, and it must have been quite a walk since it’s a couple miles down from the parking at Napeague Lane beach. If you were at Napeague Lane beach, then you should have called the police, because it’s illegal for trucks to park at that beach during the summer months. Please have those responsible arrested next time you see them doing it. 

All the best, 

TONY GANGA

Outpouring of Support

East Hampton

August 15, 2016

To the Editor:

On behalf of Citizens for Access Rights, we would like to thank everyone who made our annual fund-raiser such a huge success. The community truly came together and created a fantastic evening. We would like to thank everyone who donated items and their time, and especially Damien and Nicole O’Don­nell for volunteering their restaurant, Harbor Bistro, for us to hold our event. The music was fantastic, the scenery beautiful, and the family atmosphere was unparalleled. 

The cliché of “it takes a village” could not have been more evident. The outpouring of support, new members, and donations let us know that the citizens are behind CfAR as well as the trustees and town board in the quest to keep our beaches open to the public.

For CfAR,

BRIAN BUCKHOUT

Clean Energy Efficiencies

East Hampton

August 20, 2016

To the Editor:

The Star editorial in support of the Deepwater offshore wind farm, still under LIPA consideration, is significant for its content, as the clock continues to tick on the governor’s 50-percent renewable energy goal by 2030. The East Hampton Town Board, in 2014, expressed the community’s will by voting unanimously to establish its own goal to meet, by 2020, 100 percent of the town’s community-wide electricity needs with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

 With LIPA’s approval for the proposed project under consideration, East Hampton has an opportunity to make U.S. history by adding offshore wind to its pool of abundant natural resources and growing community clean-energy efficiencies.

Becoming a community independent of fossil fuel-generated energy and the CO2 it releases into an atmosphere already choking on it is empowering. Yes, let’s all hope LIPA will step outside of its own history “that has been plagued by regulatory stalling and controversy” and move forward into the future, our future. We are ready for this fresh air.

LINDA JAMES

Monitor Building Size

Montauk

August 16, 2016

To the Editor,

At the town meeting on Sept. 1, there will be a discussion on the issue of building size. God willing, I plan on attending with other concerned residents. Sincepeaking time is limited, and I may not get there in time to sign in, I want to get my thoughts out there re this vital topic. 

Quite simply, big houses change the character of neighborhoods, drive prices up, lure middle-class people away when they become tempted by higher sale value, and disallow home purchases by less than middle-income folks, thereby upsetting a helluvalot of community demographics. 

Example one: A couple who has lived in Montauk for more than 15 years sought but could not find a house within their price range; they found one in Springs. Their jobs, however, are in Montauk. Saddled with their new mortgage, they will now have higher Springs taxes in addition to added mileage expenses. Think of the struggle they’ll face: Neither of this couple is a hedge- fund or money manager. 

Example two: Recently, I spoke up at a zoning meeting in opposition to the construction of a proposed 2,473-square-foot house on a 7,320-square-foot lot. Though a variance (actually multiple variances) such as this boggles the mind, it reflects the aftermath of variance abuses in the past. 

Thirty years ago neighbors on my street, South Etna Avenue in Montauk, asked for a variance to place a second story on their home. The attentive, observant zoning board disallowed their request, stating that the proposed structure was not in character with the other homes on the street. The family modified its roofline, and a lovely house was created. We are good neighbors these 30 years later — they even give my family passes to Puff ’n’ Putt!

Twenty years ago, an elderly neighbor sold her home. Similar building “restrictions” (if you will) were placed on the buyers, who chose to raze the house and rebuild. They were mandated to maintain the original footprint, and thus the character of the neighborhood was again maintained. 

Oversize buildings (I hesitate to use the word “homes,” as most remain unoccupied throughout the year), juxtaposed against cottages or towering over pleasant modern capes, have changed the way we look. The Star published a letter of mine in which I described the erection of four lovely though grandiose structures on a small lot. They remain unoccupied for most of the year, and this is fortunate because the chimneys might cause smoke to waft into the adjacent home during winter. 

Many of these megaliths are empty for most of the year, often gated, and their occupants are seen but rarely — perhaps at glitzy Hampton events where locals seldom appear — and certainly never at a brush fire or directing traffic or on an ambulance run, etc. 

Re: example one: The lawyer for the proposed new building stated that it “matches a number of houses in the neighborhood.” That is the problem. The number! Somewhere in zoning history, those variances were allowed. Those “numbers” will spread like beautiful mold and destroy the core of a simple community. 

Buildings such as these are driving prices up and reducing opportunities for workers to establish homes to sustain the quality of life which we previously have enjoyed. 

Please monitor building size as you are proposing. Failure to do so will multiply exponentially the problems that have arisen and continue to surface as small communities seek to maintain their identity.

GERTRUDE R. MURPHY 

Emeralds

East Hampton

August 18, 2016

Dear Editor,

Do you remember when Tang was “better than orange juice;” when Wonder Bread was healthy because it had artificial vitamins added; when we thought that a chemical could fully replace, maybe even improve upon, the natural version? It was so modern!

We have learned a lot since then. I bet you are opting for freshly squeezed juice these days, and organic at that. We are discovering the science behind the wonders packed in natural systems and the negative consequences of synthetic alternatives. There is fascinating news about the immune-boosting action of our gut biomes and soil mycorrhizae and frightening revelations about how pesticides destroy them and cause cancers, asthma, autism, and nervous system and endocrine disorders — in other words, total disruption of natural defense systems. 

What has this got to do with emeralds? One of the other great “advances” of our postwar dash to the future was the unnaturally green American lawn. Born right here on Long Island from a surplus of ammonium nitrate (a wartime explosive  and peacetime fertilizer) and 2-4-D (destroyer of enemy food crops, a killer of dandelions) the buzz cut, military, monoculture look became the front-yard fashion. Lawns in uniforms. But, again, times, and fashions, have changed. 

We have learned that synthetic fertilizers are fast and easy but are the plant equivalent of a sugar-based diet: lots of quick energy, not so healthy. We are learning how pesticides kill natural predators, not to mention pollinators and plant immune systems. And suits are losing out to casual. 

Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are now leaching into and polluting our ponds and waterways. The effects are all too visible. We have alternatives (great ones), and, luckily, the science and fashion are supporting them.

We know how to put those amazing soil microbes to work. We know how to work with natural systems, instead of killing them. We know how to maintain beautiful landscapes without synthetic chemicals: It works. It is not difficult, and it need not be more expensive. So why does anyone still think that a chemical landscape looks good?

Look again at the emeralds surrounding our ponds and ask, real or synthetic? Safe or toxic? Part of the past or forwarding the future? A yellow pesticide warning sign at the entry? What about kids and pets? Eek! That’s past. 

A lawn mowed right to water’s edge? So over. A lawn that is longer and looser? It’s trending! Add some clover for natural nitrogen — wow, super smart, fashion-forward. And since every property is part of a watershed, it is an emerald on the necklace. It deserves to be a real gem, not synthetic, and a living part of the future of natural systems, clean water, and beautiful and safe places.

EDWINA VON GAL

Perfect Earth Project

It’s Divine

Amagansett

August 18, 2016

Dear David, 

Overheard:

So, why do you come out?

I like my upscale debauchery in beach setting. You?

The arts scene is hot. There’s some really good work. Well-priced.

My decorator does that. She only likes photographs that incorporate bodily fluids.

Don’t you hate the traffic?

It is so irritating to me a $100,000 car doesn’t have more rights than a truck!

It’s divine in September.

There’s no one here!

The locals might question that.

They don’t question my money. I paid $20 for a plate of fries!

Silly you.

All good things, 

DIANA WALKER

 

Food Pantry

Amagansett

August 21, 2016

To the Editor:

Generally, one can skim over Mr. Hausig’s letter-to-the-editor rants. Like op-eds by Washington pundits, he doesn’t need to fact-check because he knows in his heart what is best for us all. But when he pontificates on something close to home it pays to take notice and read with a jaundiced eye. 

In his usual pedantic and partisan style, on Aug. 11 he launched into a blistering attack on the East Hampton Food Pantry (talk about spitting bile, Mr. Hausig), which contained few if any facts and virtually no direct knowledge. What information he communicates has obviously been fed to him by a rather mendacious, biased source, for Mr. Hausig is not a registered client of the East Hampton Food Pantry, nor do I believe he has ever set foot in the Windmill Village II Community Room on “Pantry Day.”

I cannot speak to the complete sequence of events leading up to the East Hampton Food Pantry going to the press, but I can state that some senior tenants of the various Windmill projects were told privately by management that the East Hampton Food Pantry was being thrown out. This occurred before the East Hampton Food Pantry had had a chance to notify its employees and volunteer staff. (It should be noted that there are seven regular volunteer staff. Six of the seven are seniors, and four of those six seniors are residents of Windmill projects.) There was a petition started immediately by concerned residents, protesting the actions of Windmill taken without assessing the feelings of the residents. 

More than 10 days after this eviction became public, Windmill management finally deigned to advise residents of their action. As of this writing there has been no response from the Windmill board to the petition, which was hand-delivered to the chairman. This petition contained 87 signatures, 46 of them from residents of Windmill I, Windmill II, and St. Michael’s Housing in Amagansett. There would have been more signatures from residents; at least a dozen people indicated they supported the petition but were fearful of reprisals.

Perhaps Windmill has become too vast an empire to be managed well. What else would cause them to disdain their tenants to such a degree that they remove themselves to an ivory tower above the Windmill II garage where they can better survey their realm unhampered by those pesky tenants, who are forbidden access?

Two explanations have emerged for that: One, they “can’t deal with the constant tenant interruptions to their doing their jobs.” (Hmmmn, isn’t dealing with tenants part of their job?) Two, there are “liability issues” about tenants using the stairs (suggested translation — perhaps those stairs aren’t A.D.A.-compliant).

That amorphous issue of liability raises its head on some occasions, but, curiously, not on others. Keep in mind that one-half of the apartments at St. Michael’s require the use of stairs for their only access and egress. A couple of months ago St. Michael’s management, quoting Hillary it-takes-a-village Clinton, advised tenants that maintenance personnel was so overburdened that it was now our responsibility to keep common areas, including stairs, in our buildings clean. Where does the question of liability come up in this situation should an elderly tenant sustain an injury or life-threatening cardiac event while vacuuming the areas outside their apartments?

Not to worry; we can all keep fit at “Gerry’s Gym”! It should be noted that Mr. Mooney told a number of tenants about the new gym, and he confirmed this plan in a Newsday interview. But wait — another conundrum arises. Over a year ago, a lovely treadmill appeared, literally and figuratively, in the middle of the St. Michael’s common room. When anyone inquired of management why it wasn’t moved to the side and plugged in, we were advised the offending treadmill was being disposed of because its use created a liability issue. Now it appears it will be joining the elliptical, the stationary bike, and the yoga mats at the bottom of a flight of non-A.D.A.-compliant stairs. 

What about the liability issues inherent in that setup at Windmill II ? If this fantasy gym is really intended for the use of seniors, will there be a physical therapist with E.M.T. experience on hand to supervise and hopefully prevent some overzealous octogenarian from jogging themselves into a stroke or cardiac arrest? Additionally, given how overburdened the maintenance personnel already are, who will attend to sanitary conditions in a gym, of all places, on a daily basis?

Unfortunately, Mr. Hausig doesn’t focus on those issues that are real-life concerns to seniors and others on fixed or low incomes. He states proudly that Whalebone Village tenants, along with those of Windmill I, Windmill II, and St. Michael’s, have been the recipients of the bounty of the East Hampton Food Pantry Farm. This statement begs modification, since Whalebone has been getting vegetables from the Food Pantry Farm since last spring, perhaps because of his association with EECO Farm, the Food Pantry Farm landlord. Windmill I, Windmill II, and St. Michael’s have only been receiving vegetables from F.P.F. for the last four or five weeks, not until after the East Hampton Food Pantry received its eviction notice from Windmill. Does anyone of a certain age really still believe in coincidences? 

Maybe there is a parallel agenda taking place here. It should be noted that St. Michael’s management posted a discreet sign in the doorway of the community room advising of the wonderful bounty from F.P.F.; nowhere in that note were tenants advised of the health concerns over this produce. Mr. Hausig dismisses these concerns as bitterness on the part of the East Hampton Food Pantry. However, he ignores the findings of the East Hampton/Sag Harbor Community Advisory Committee stating that proper measures were not being taken to educate the public about the situation of higher-than-normal background levels of arsenic in the land being farmed by EECO Farm and Food Pantry Farm. 

Is there not a disclosure agreement made with every application for a plot at EECO Farm? Surely it is incumbent on the Windmill organization to inform those receiving produce from F.P.F. of the risks. They are entitled to be informed so they can make their own decisions about consuming the food.

Mr. Hausig quibbles with the East Hampton Food Pantry being upset with the Food Panrry Farm piggybacking on their name. What sane group wouldn’t? The East Hampton Food Pantry has been around since 1989 and created an admirable reputation for themselves in terms of community service. Along comes an upstart venture that gloms onto their name and attempts to bathe in the reflected glory of an implied, but not real, association with the well-respected East Hampton Food Pantry. Who wouldn’t be disturbed? 

Along with the Food Pantry Farm’s misleading advertising and the false implications inherent in their name, one wonders, in this age of foreshortened communications, texts, and tweets, how many people confuse the two? How many dollars in donations intended for the East Hampton Food Pantry have found their way to the Food Pantry Farm? If the choice of name was truly disingenuous, why didn’t they call themselves EECO Farm Pantry or EECO Farm Stand? 

Maybe they didn’t want their name associated with EECO Farm and its unresolved health issues.

PATRICIA KNIGHT

 

A ‘Bernie’ Burner

Springs

August 22, 2016

To the Editor:

Me? I was, am, and always will be a “Bernie” burner. Signed on when he announced, donated more than I ever have, and worked as best I could to get my guy as close to the White House as I could. While I thought that Bernie was right on and told it the way it is, I always felt that his message was at least as important as the messenger. Bernie’s remarkable staying power until the primary was an everlasting tribute to his stamina, consistency, and uncompromising message, which moved the Democratic Party and its candidates much more to the left, where it historically and currently belonged.

If you believed in Bernie’s message and in his integrity, think realistically about what vehicle is best to carry his message on. If Bernie was right, then he is no less right now when he beseeches us to continue the Burn by joining with the Democratic Party to not only keep the message alive but in removing the cancer of the far right, as represented by Trump and his minions of Tea Party zealots (read Lee Zeldin).

If we idealists of the left are truly committed to our message, then we must win the election to keep that message alive. To do that, to win the Presidency, the Senate and, yes, the House, we must embrace the only vehicle that can both perpetuate our message and stop this right-wing existential threat to our democracy. 

If you truly believe in Bernie Sanders’s message, then also believe Bernie Sanders when he asks us to carry on by supporting the Democratic Party and its candidates. Anything else will be a negation of Bernie’s legacy and the sacrifices that we all made for our revolution.

LARRY SMITH

Malign, Mock,

Springs

August 22, 2016

Dear David,

A strange email arrived this morning in my inbox from a well-educated and traveled friend, who told me that she had heard Hillary Clinton was suffering from Parkinson’s, travels with a doctor who has been seen with a syringe at every campaign event, and also Hillary falls a lot and is prone to seizures. This I thought was a strange email. I had heard that the Trump campaign was questioning the health of his opponent, but the specifics of these claims were weird and truly questionable.

Then a bit later I read in The New York Times that screaming, angry Sean Hannity had joined the Trump campaign, along with this guy Steve Bannon, a right-wing conspiracy nut from Breitbart, and scheming Roger Ailes, the disgusting 70-year-old harasser, misogynist, and ex-Fox dictator. Their motto being let Trump be Trump — or, go as low as you can go. 

In this campaign there is no decency, no civility, no redeeming graces —it’s all shoot from the lip or hip, malign, mock, and denigrate. It’s about take no prisoners, and bully your opponent, who cares about the truth. This is a thoroughly disgusting campaign. Where are the adults in this party of Lincoln? They have been hijacked, and they will pay the price. This candidate is going to bankrupt the Republican Party in more ways than one.

There are times when you just have to stand up and say Enough!

Thank you.

BETSY RUTH

Good Yankee Rookies

Montauk

August 22, 2016

To the Editor:

Wake up, George and Gracie, I mean Yogi and Whitey. The Yankees have just pulled out another unbelievable greatest achievement. They have, in their first steps without Jeter and the boys, taken their first at-bat and made it to second base on the all-time list of Yankees, or in the case, all of baseball history.

The Pinstripers have done it all, and this time, here in August 2016, it was sending rookies Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin to the plate for their first major league at-bats in the same game. They are like new recruits to the old Bronx Bombers. New York will always remember that they, these two rookies, in a new era, went to the plate, and in the same game each hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. Yankees live for the long ball, and now not only did they both get a home run, but they also broke a major league record by both doing it in the same game. This is an occurrence that has never happened in the history of the game.

Now the irony is that you have to go back to the pre-season, and I happened to watch the first game of spring training. Yankees were losing, and then with two outs in the ninth, the opposing outfielder dropped a Jorge Mateo routine fly, and it led to the winning run coming in. My point is that you make some blunders against a good team, and you might get a couple of rookies going deep. Well, in this case, those rookies made the big show, and in the same game, in their first at-bat, they may have just got us all the way out there to second base. I mean that they gave us twice as good of a start, and that good Yankee rookies make it to second base all-time.

KALEB FISHER

Capital or Labor

East Hampton

August 21, 2016

To the Editor:

Two unrelated but substantially connected stories in The New York Times provide an insight into our economic system and the mythologies and realities that drive it. Bruce Bartlett’s Op-Ed was a critique of Trump’s tax plan, senseless drivel that has long ago proven to be fallacious. Bartlett, an adviser to Reagan, stated that while the Reagan tax cuts in the 1980s made sense (taxes were significantly higher than today’s), they provided little or no incentive for economic growth, and in real terms were ineffectual in stimulating growth, essentially debunking the underlying thesis of conservative economic policies of the past 70 years.

The second article in The Times explained how job creation for the middle class, $30,000 to $60,000, had finally begun to improve since the 2009 recession. Seven years later the middle class has begun to return to its pre-crash level, which is no surprise to anyone who has followed economic trends during the past century. Post-crash recoveries start from the top down.

The primary result of the Reagan policies and the economic crashes has been the redistribution of wealth to the wealthiest part of the economy and the marginalization of the middle class.

So, the question posed is what kind of an economic system do we want? There is no pure socialism or capitalism. Almost every system in the world is mixed to some degree, and the determination of the mix is based on the emphasis on capital or on labor.

Capitalism, by its nature, provides faster and higher growth. Yet, the growth isn’t distributed evenly and clearly favors people with large amounts of capital. It’s easier to get rich and easier to be poor, but when the economy crashes or the cycles turn down, the recovery, if there is one, is based on levels of wealth and influence.

Socialism is designed to moderate growth by limiting risk but assuring a better distribution of wealth and quality of life. When the focus is on labor, growth becomes a function of demand and ability to pay. Debt and credit don’t overwhelm the system and power lies in the hands of laborers rather than investors.

Growth is a fake measure of economic well-being. It is not the amount of the growth that is important, but the distribution. The minimum wage is the standard for wage growth. In 1980 it was valued at $8.46; in 2016, its value is less than $7.25, while the G.D.P. grew four times.

We are currently where we were in 2008. We were facing major decisions because the economy and growth was about getting rich, and getting rich excluded almost everyone in the country. Getting well — meaning better wages, benefits, more time off, and a better quality of life — was not on the table. Our political structure, controlled by the wealthiest, showed no willingness to rebalance the system. Labor, with the unions decimated, had no representation. (How do individual workers negotiate with corporations?) Alienation and dissatisfaction gravitated to Trump, who represented the status quo even more than traditional pols. 

Clinton has, amazingly, bought into Joseph Steiglitz’s concept of rebalancing the economy. The rebalancing process is a long-term deal. It dispenses with the drivel surrounding the 1 percent and trade deals. It connects the situation workers are facing to the rebalancing of the economy in the 1980s, identifying the problem as man-made and not a function of the market. It’s not about attributing blame but about providing alternatives to how our economy is currently functioning. It says that there are real solutions as long as we deal with the root of the problem. If we focus on drivel, we get drivel in return. 

NEIL HAUSIG

Mutual Benefit Society

East Hampton

August 16, 2016

Dear Editor,

In 2002 Donald Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, a federal judge in New Jersey, forwarded a request from her brother Donald to Chris Christie requesting that they meet. Christie jumped at the chance to meet the alleged billionaire who was the most active casino owner in Atlantic City. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship evolving into a personal relationship.

Double-dating for dinner at Trump Palace in New York (wonder who paid), personal exchanges of donations by Trump to charities, and projects favored by the then-U.S. attorney, and subsequent governor of the state — a now solid mutual benefit society.

Now it just so happened that Mr. Trump and his Atlantic City network of casinos owed the State of New Jersey about $30 million in unpaid taxes and fees that they refused to pay, and the debt was litigated in bankruptcy court over the years. The Trump organization also filed false tax returns and required license information, claiming $2.2 millions in payments when only $500 was paid. This, of course, was felonious conduct, but never prosecuted.

Then, as the story goes, Christie became governor, the lawsuits were “negotiated,” and good old Donald’s deadbeat casinos finally paid, not the $30 million they owed, but $5 million, and that in two payments. Whew, that was close. Good thing Chris is a good eater!

Trump’s personal manifesto remained intact, in which he states that “only stupid people, very stupid people, pay a lot of taxes,” and that’s why he doesn’t submit his tax returns. No taxes paid!

Did you wonder why Christie was so supportive of Trump’s presidential bid? Now you know. Friends don’t let friends pay taxes. And then there is the quid pro quo Trump accuses Hillary of — only difference here is, there is definite proof, not just fanciful, lying, Giuliani bull.

Vote Trump to make the country strong again and him never to pay taxes.

RICHARD HIGER