Letters to the Editor: 11.26.15

History Moment

East Hampton

November 20, 2015

Dear David, 

I enjoyed the column “The Way It Was — 125 Years Ago” in last week’s paper, as it gave me a chance to remind my kids what their great-great-grandfather was up to at this time in 1890. Maybe if it was “in The Star,” my family tales wouldn’t get the usual teenage eye roll. I shared a photo of the article with the g-g-grandkids on WhatsApp, too. 

While my daughter is busy today with college applications, her great-great- grandfather Oliver Osborn was busy catching and boiling down a whale off Wainscott 125 years ago. Thankfully, Oliver’s wife, Ruth, kept diaries. She wrote on Nov. 20, 1890, “Charlie Strong came from the beach in a great hurry, said there was a whale along. They all put for the beach. Fannie [Barnes-Rackett] and I went down about noon and they were ashore. John had killed the whale and it had sunk off Mr. Herman’s lane about a half mile from shore. Will Talmage, Howard Hand, Ollie to the steering oar. John with the gun, everybody is happy.” John M. Osborn was Ollie’s brother whose whaling days would sadly end less than four years later from tuberculosis. 

The next day, Ruth wrote, “the whale has rose and they have him ashore. People from all parts are flocking to see it. We have been to the beach about all the afternoon and went down again in the evening. They got his head off tonight.” 

The next day, Ruth and John’s wife, Louisa (Edwards-Osborn), headed back to the beach. “Ollie worked on whale in morning, went gunning in afternoon with Carl Hedges.” The money came in a month later, on Dec. 27, 1890. Ruth continued, “Ollie walked over to Sagg for the mail, got a check, for the whale bones and oil, of six hundred. Ollie received from his share of the whale, one hundred and twenty dollars. The bone sold for $2.25 per lb., the oil for 40 cents per gallon.” The whale’s value would be the equivalent of approximately $15,800 today. Thanks for the history moment.

Sincerely,

HILARY OSBORN MALECKI

Affordable Housing

East Hampton

November 14, 2015

To the Editor:

My father told me to never trust politicians, especially local ones. “That way you are never disappointed when they sell you out, because eventually they always do.” And so, in a strange kind of eerie way, Peter Van Scoyoc and Sylvia Overby told a constituent that they didn’t support the Wainscott affordable housing project because some people were going to make lots of money off the project. 

Profiteering was the last reason some town board members used a few months ago. As part of the Windmill affordable housing group (consultant), I was initially offended, until someone said that anyone who thinks that you can profit off affordable housing is a village idiot.

Yet months later we hear about Ms. Overby and Mr. Van Scoyoc continuing to tell the profiteering story. They and the other board members can’t simply say we are against affordable housing in this location, so they fabricate bullshit reasons like kids in the school, “endangering Georgica Pond,” and “profiteering.” We dealt quickly with the school issue and the pond by including a sewage treatment, and thought that a simple explanation would suffice to deal with profiteering. Obviously not the case.

The question raised is, is the town board too thick to understand the explanation, or is it simply meanspirited nastiness? Forgoing the later reason, I would hope they just can’t figure it out.

The reason almost nobody builds affordable housing out here is because it’s almost impossible to make a profit. Consequently, the task is left to nonprofits, like Windmill and municipalities, which aren’t looking for a return on their investment.

Second, getting government financing and subsidies, which are essential to affordable housing, is really a crapshoot and hard to come by. The initial pre-development cost, before getting the financing, is in the range of $300,000, money that is often borrowed and must be paid back if the project isn’t funded.

Third, the process can take three to five years, and almost all of the people are working pro bono (free). In the case of the St. Michael’s senior project, it could have gone down the tubes after five years if all the approvals weren’t in place.

Fourth, every project requires consultants, engineers, architects, lawyers, bankers, secretarial staff, and an organizational team before a shovel goes in the ground. They will all be paid for their services (profiteering?). Town board members don’t get paid for getting things done, they get a check no matter what they do.

Fifth, Michael Desario and I are two of the consultants hired to administer the Wainscott project. Between us we have 50 years of experience in affordable housing. Michael earned no money during his five years on the St. Michael’s project. Three years ago, we worked for a year on another project that didn’t get funded. We both have full-time jobs that pay considerably better than Windmill. So it is difficult to understand how town board members didn’t get it.

Sixth, the town is paying $3.5 million for the Amagansett property that might be worth $1.5 million. Windmill probably would have paid the town $1 million for Wainscott. Profits seem not to be an issue in this case. Or does that make the case?

It doesn’t matter who builds the housng or where it gets built. It only matters that it happens. Yet the feeling of town board members fabricating reasons not to support something and then disrespecting people who worked for two years to make something happen is pretty gross. 

My father’s lesson didn’t sink in like it should have. Aren’t unrealistic expectations the bane of our existence?

NEIL HAUSIG

Work Together

East Hampton

November 20, 2015

Dear David,

There is no disputing that the quality of life on the East End during summer months has been compromised to a boiling point. Our resources, infrastructure, and roadways overflow beyond capacity. Emotions are heightened.

Understandably, this is the catalyst for the proposed rental registry. Unfortunately, the current proposal is simply not the answer as it is written. There are issues such as legalities, privacy, controls, costs, and practical application outstanding. 

Town and Country alone has approximately 9,000 rentals in the Town of East Hampton. Obviously, it is not feasible to think that East Hampton has the manpower to police these rentals. It is my belief that we have existing laws, such as the group law, that are not enforced that could assist in curtailing some issues. I have also been vocal on the damage that short-term rentals do to our town. A minimum rental term of three to four weeks would help to curb that issue. Memorial Day to Labor Day rentals are now the exception, no longer the rule. After the last crash, one-month rentals became the rule and now with Vacation Rentals by Owner, HomeAway, and Airbnb, weekly rentals have taken over. 

Fact: For hundreds of years East Hampton’s summer population has swelled and will always continue to swell seasonally. 

Fact: East Hampton is a resort town with little to no hotel accommodations to satisfy short-term rentals. 

Fact: Property values on our little peninsula have skyrocketed and will not be going backward. Long-term corrections are followed by appreciation swings. 

Fact: Many year-round residents supplement their incomes by renting their homes out for a month or so in the summer. 

Fact: East Hampton does not have the money or the manpower to enforce the rental registration of 9,000 homes. 

Bottom line: East Hampton is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It is known for its beauty and therapeutic nature worldwide. No one disagrees that we all want to protect this beauty and quality of life, but East Hampton Town requires regular evaluations and adjustments, which accommodate the constant changes. Don’t burden the taxpayers or expose the town to more legal battles. Don’t alienate year-rounders who are doing everything they can to remain here. 

I suggest a committee of community members from both business and conservation. To work in tandem toward the same goal is the answer. 

Let’s work together to protect and preserve our quality of life, knowing full well East Hampton is a resort town as well as a year-round community. Thank you for the opportunity to weigh in.

JUDI DESIDERIO



 

Bow and Arrow Hunting

Sag Harbor

November 20, 2015

To the Editor:

Earlier this week I saw a man in a tree on Stephen Hand’s Path dressed in full camouflage with wartime-blackened face, waiting with his crossbow to shoot a deer grazing peacefully in the open field nearby. If this were not so lethal it would be comical, never mind pathetic. This is not the Middle Ages, nor is it Sherwood Forest. It is supposedly civilized East Hampton. If these hunters want to deal with bows and arrows, let’s get them a straw target, not live deer. We can even give them Bull’s Eye medals if they want.

Whether this hunter was licensed to be shooting at deer on Stephen Hand’s Path, I do not know. What I do know is that the bow-and-arrow hunters often miss their intended kill spot and leave a bleeding deer in agony as it awaits a hideous, painfully slow death from the wounds. I cannot imagine that any of you with children would allow them to watch an animal die this way.

Now the bow-and-arrow group is asking the East Hampton Town Board for three new killing grounds: one in Montauk, one on Bull Path in East Hampton, and the third in the Northwest Woods, where we used to like to hike when it was safe. The proposal is to allow the bow hunters free range of the space sunup to sundown seven days a week, to the total exclusion of the rest of us who had better stay out of the way of areas that, we are assured, will be posted with Hunters in Area signs. Is this is what we want? Is this what we pay our taxes to do? 

You can help say no to the totally misguided and dangerous expansion of the deer-killing fields. Write the East Hampton Town Board in care of Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell (LCantwell @ehamptonny.gov) and tell them to vote no to these additional bow-and-arrow hunting grounds. There are more than enough places to kill deer already. 

BEVERLY SCHANZER

Vegetarian Thanksgiving

East Hampton

November 19, 2015

Dear Editor:

While President Obama is pardoning two turkeys for Thanksgiving, every one of us can exercise that same presidential power by choosing a nonviolent Thanksgiving observance that spares a turkey’s life. And here are some good reasons:

You can brag about pardoning a turkey — like Obama.

You truly are what you eat. Who wants to be a “butterball”?

Fruits and vegetables don’t have to carry government warning labels.

You won’t sweat the environment- and-food-resources-devastation guilt trip.

You won’t spend a sleepless night wondering how the turkey lived and died.

Your body will appreciate a holiday from saturated fat, cholesterol, and hormones.

You won’t have to call Poultry Hotline to keep your family out of the emergency room.

Seriously, this Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for our good fortune, health, and happiness with a life-affirming, cruelty-free feast of vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Our own dinner will feature a soy or wheat-based roast, mashed potatoes, stuffed squash, candied yams, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. An Internet search of “vegetarian Thanksgiving” is getting us more recipes and other useful information than we could possibly use.

EDWIN HORATH

Wonderful Surprise

Amagansett

November 20, 2015

Dear Editor,

An amusement I came upon for the first time in East Hampton after living here for 70 years: Driving down Three Mile Harbor Road, I found a place called the Lamp Hospital! I’ve never seen anything like it. Myriad lamps in a large garage and the owner, who repairs lamps in a tent. It is a wonderful surprise and entertaining after so many modern houses and businesses take up so much space. 

KAREN EARLE

Open Wide

Southold

September 17, 2015

Dear Editor,

Sometimes up north it is warm on Thanksgiving Day. You can leave the door open wide, rake leaves in a T-shirt, pile branches high. Smoke from the fire smells so good, blending in with the turkey smell inside and other foods. People without can sometimes go to open churches for turkey, maybe a few, and rich people enjoy the church camaraderie.

Down in Jupiter, Fla., I enjoyed the mixed sight of many rich and less rich going off to church dinner, too.

Happy Thanksgiving,

ANITA FAGAN