Goose and Gander
East Hampton Village
May 17, 2024
To the Editor,
There is an old adage, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”
Recently, Mayor Jerry Larsen and the residents of East Hampton’s historical districts have addressed the danger of noise pollution by applying the good offices of the village zoning enforcement team to the Hedges and Zero Bond situation, in an effort to avoid a summer of controversy in favor of peace and tranquillity.
This is a significant step forward to preserve the Village of East Hampton’s quality of life that makes our village not only unique but also a wonderful place to live, unlike some of our neighboring villages.
But let us not forget that what is good for a historical district (the goose) is also good for the residents on Toilsome and Gingerbread lanes (the gander).
Almost three years ago, plans to build a beer “tavern” were submitted to the design review board even though zoning permits a “restaurant” but not a “tavern,” since a tavern could have unrestricted indoor and outdoor entertainment and noise.
Recently Mr. Alex Balsam told the D.R.B., “This is geared to be a family place. Come have a meal. Enjoy the tranquiliity.” I assume revised plans, not for a tavern but for a restaurant, will soon be submitted to the D.R.B.
Since our home is adjacent to the venue, I would be pleased to have an establishment like that next to my house as long as I and our village are protected from any form of outdoor entertainment.
Therefore, I hope that Mayor Larsen and the trustees, using the same amount of passion as they are using to protect the residents of the historic districts, join me and Mr. Balsam to ensure that homeowners on Toilsome Lane have tranquillity if or when the restaurant is finally built.
All of the village, not just one district in East Hampton, deserves the attention of our elected officials and our zoning board to ensure a peaceful environment.
Sincerely yours,
MICHAREL AARON
Just Walk
East Hampton Village
May 27, 2024
To the Editor,
I was enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the quiet Gerard Drive beach with my 3-year-old grandson, when two trucks came barreling down and stopped next to us. Two teenagers with fishing rods jumped out and started casting right in front of us, so it became too dangerous for my grandson to throw pebbles in the water. When I suggested they might park in the parking lot a few feet away or fish somewhere else, they took out a speaker, started blasting heavy metal music, and told us to go back to the city, where we belong. (I have been in East Hampton for 75 years.) A harbor policeman happened by, and when I complained, he told me the teenagers were within their rights — trucks with permits are allowed on bay beaches all day — and I should take up any grievances with the town.
Trucks on the beach are like a local version of laws against gun control: The majority suffers so that the minority can enjoy their so-called “freedom.” (One of the teenagers said we were the fifth group to complain to him that day. He thought it was funny.) With the end of professional seine fishing, trucks are now sensibly banned on ocean beaches during the day. These people on the bay beaches are either joyriding or carrying a fishing pole, and could walk from the nearby parking lots. The rest of us don’t go to the beach to dodge muscle trucks, or to stare at them. Will it take a small child getting run over before the town wakes up?
Yours,
ELIOT WEINBERGER
Musts
East Hampton
May 26, 2024
To the Editor,
This week, we will explore what must be included in a modern senior center and learn how those features reflect the community it serves. Clearly, this is a quick overview in limited space.
First we need to ask, what does our older adult community look like in 2024? It is atypical of the American population. For the most part, post-Covid-19, it is comprised of wealthy, well-educated, active adults, many of whom have multiple homes. This means they live in East Hampton intermittently. Some commute regularly between here and their apartments in New York City. Others live here seasonally, while a few have made East Hampton their full-time home.
Another sector are “locals” who have lived here all their lives. Their lifestyles can range from fully active and employed to homebound. As is commonly, wistfully, heard among them, “We are a dying breed.”
Yet another group of older adults who have joined the community are those who have moved here with their adult children. They are assimilating into a new community and culture, which is challenging at any age. Many have found the current senior center a place of refuge where they can be among people who have similar lifestyles and cultural experiences. In other words, despite the many downsides of our current senior center, it serves as a valuable place in our community.
As we prepare for the development of a new senior center, we will look at the foundational need for today’s senior center. For that, refer to a senior center’s overall mission: socialization of people age 60-plus. Socialization is paramount for older adults’ mental health and physical wellbeing. It is the goal of all aspects of a community senior center.
The design of a senior center must be conducive to older adults’ being able to easily move through the environment. The factors that must be considered:
Acoustics for those of us who are hearing-impaired. That means no atriums or high ceilings. Lighting for those of us with visual problems such as glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration. L.E.D. lighting is ideal. Flicking florescent lighting can cause seizures and falls. Finally, comfort, which includes color choices, furniture that enables us to easily sit, stand, and converse with others. None of these features exist in the current center. Moreover, these features are not considered at all in the approved new senior center.
The new East Hampton senior center will continue to prepare daily meals for its members as well as “to go” meals for members who are unable to attend in the event of sickness or disability. The new center’s kitchen must be of restaurant quality; however, new state laws mandate that it be electric. No gas or propane. This brings up the issue of solar energy for the entire new complex.
Storage, storage, storage. Does anyone have enough storage space? Build storage into every room of the new center, most especially the kitchen. Contemplating a basement for the new center raises the cost exponentially and there are climate-change issues to contemplate. Water, water everywhere and you don’t have to dig deep anymore.
Nutrition is a primary goal of senior centers. Therefore, a comfortable dining room with surround windows is a must. The design of the dining room must be conducive to ease of staff service, which the current dining room is not. The décor must be sound-absorbent, since this is when the most conversations go on. Tables must be round and seat no more than eight. Dinnerware must not be white, as visually impaired people can’t distinguish white potatoes from a piece of codfish or pork.
In these technologically advanced times, a technology lab is a must. While many of us use the library for this purpose, i.e., access to Wi-Fi, QR-code applications, games, etc., the new senior center should be a hub for older adult users and students of the newest in technology.
Ideally, a modern senior center provides geriatric medical care: health, dental, hearing, counseling, and protective legal services. These ideal services are primarily found in urban senior centers where staffing isn’t an issue. Unfortunately, the South Fork is rife with unaffordable housing. Even well-paid professionals are refusing to relocate to the South Fork, due to a gross lack of planning on the part of the towns. As a result, no business can attract talented professionals for employment. Doctors are refusing to commute, due to the “trade parade.” The Town of East Hampton has the additional disincentive that employees for the town must be civil servants, although there are exceptions. The irony of the latter is that town board members do not have to pass a civil-service exam for administration.
In addition to serving men and woman aged 60 plus, the modern senior center must serve working family caregivers, including a licensed adult day care that is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The day care that was in place was unlicensed, unprofessionally managed, and closed, never to re-open after Covid. It’s left a huge hole in our community.
Adult day care is designed either as a social model, which is most common, or a medical model, which is primarily found in urban senior centers. In East Hampton, the day care center will be separate from the primary senior center while still part of the entire complex. It should include a small kitchenette, a shower/changing area with closets, an arts and crafts area, and access to a secure outside area. Many participants in adult day care will be at some stage of dementia or be physically challenged. The design of the primary room must reflect those handicaps. These are all reasons to research and hire an architectural firm with a track record in design for older adults.
With climate change, weather-related disasters are a common event throughout the world. Here in East Hampton, your options are extremely limited regardless of your age. The East Hampton High School is one evacuation site. The existing East Hampton senior center is the other. Together, they will hold a small percentage of citizens, especially in the summer and autumn when our population swells. We are advised on the Town’s website to stay in place. With only one road out . . . you can guess what the carnage will be like trying to escape Mother Nature. Emergency services will be all but useless in getting the sick and injured to Southampton Hospital.
Obviously, a modern senior center must be designed to house local disabled residents in the probable event of a natural disaster. The senior center must be designed to house the most disabled among us, many of whom require oxygen, administration of medications, some of which must be refrigerated, and hospital beds for the most impaired. Hence a massive generator is required.
Parking is a critical component of a new senior center. At the existing senior center, parking capacity is an issue. The majority of regular senior center participants drive or ride-share with others. The remainder are either dropped off or they take the town bus for seniors. I am one participant who drives, but I have walking issues; there are many others, including our two centenarians. The current plan has not taken these factors into account. It is an inherent consideration in the new design.
As for exercise equipment, yoga studio, pool, and hydrotherapy pool — they are within the mission of the YMCA. In my experience, they are used intergenerationally.
Next week, we will look at more aspects of our new senior center that will bring us in line with today’s modern senior center.
NANCY R. PEPPARD, Ph.D
Blacktop to Gold
Springs
May 27, 2024
To the Editor,
According to Ferris Talmage and his book “The Springs in the Old Days” (copyright 1970): Born in 1897, he grew up here enjoying the estuaries, ponds, farms, and the upper woodlands that surrounded his historic 1752 homestead, known as Willow Hill and located at 248 Old Stone Highway, which, by the way, still exist today. In 1904, Ferris would walk a short distance up the road to the little red schoolhouse, now known as Ashawagh Hall, a beautiful and historic center of this tiny hamlet. Along with its library, blacksmith shop, church, general store, and newly acquired Parsons property — including the original house and barn built in 1880 — all of these are located in the historic district and meeting place for the people of Springs.
Unfortunately, through the years, its central green has been cut up into parking spaces, brick walkways, and wooden ramps, making the lawn nothing but a single strip of bacon in a giant frying pan of pavement and automobiles.
Imagine how beautiful it would be if we eliminate Parsons Place, the road which runs the length of the lawn between Ashawagh Hall and the blacksmith shop, and turn it into Parsons Green. this would open up a major parklike setting where children of all ages could safely run and play as Ferris did in the old days.
We could be the envy of the town, a small hamlet of East Hampton, turning blacktop into gold.
The recently added ramp to the library should be removed. Its long, winding, land-grabbing, and architecturally incorrect — not historical — character eventually makes its way to the library, due to the political ramifications of handicap jargon. Instead we could just add a short, straight ramp to the porch and be done with it. And, yes, wheelchairs work on grass so no need for brick walkways, either.
To generate more parking spaces, cars could pull straight onto the grass along the edge of the property. We could also encourage people to ride bicycles to the hall, which is healthier and more fun. For large events such as the Fisherman’s Fair, part of the Parsons Green could be used for overflow parking. The house and barn should also be opened for such events. People can also park on School Street and at Springs School, including the newly added parking lot.
Some other simple improvements could be as followed.
One: By working with the church we may be able to section off an unused portion of an old graveyard and turn it into green space which could be used for picnicking or events such as pitching horseshoes, wheelbarrow races, or running bases, to name a few.
Two: Create a walkway or trail from the Parsons house to Ashawagh Hall by using the town-owned preserve directly across the street, in essence marrying the parcels together. On this same waterfront preserve, a short trail could be established leading to Accabonac Harbor.
Three: Create a nature trail from the Parsons backyard into the northern section of the woods, following the neighboring farm.
All this could be done on a shoestring budget, needing nothing more than topsoil, grass seed, and a brush cutter.
JEFF HINES
UpIsland Mess
Springs
May 26, 2024
Hello David,
The May 16 article on the proposed reconstruction of Three Mile Harbor Road at a cost of $4.5 million should be a major concern for all East Hampton residents.
The construction of sidewalks (to nowhere), curbs, and a bike lane will be a disaster, changing the iconic rural character of the road. It will also require eliminating scores of trees, flora, and the beautiful grassy knolls bordering the road.
I am surprised the town leadership has not realized that even considering the involvement of the Highway Department’s “afterthought engineering” is a mistake! Consider the disastrous “improvement” of Springs-Fireplace Road, with its oversize signage, expressway guard rails, and painted tarmac curbs, which prohibit any drivers’ ability to locate the demarcation between the road and the grassy knolls at night and during inclement weather.
The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Three Mile Harbor Road and Springs-Fireplace Road is an ill-conceived idea. Consider the roundabout in other areas of the East End. At the intersection of Route 114 and Toilsome Lane, there are no fewer than 50 signs in this extremely small area. After drivers were unable to figure out how to navigate this small and inefficient roundabout, the Highway Department doubled the signs per post. Please do not try to read any of them while you are driving, you will surely go over the central island of the roundabout or off the road entirely! Also note the many times the roundabout on Scuttlehole Road in Bridgehampton has been rebuilt. These roundabouts absolutely do not work during peak traffic hours. Efficient roundabouts require the design of many factors. For detailed information on proper design, check out “Roundabouts: an Informational Guide” on fhwa.dot.gov.
It unfortunately seems that the mindless Mid-Island mentality of our current town leadership has led to the decline of the unique and rural character of East Hampton. If left unchecked, this leadership will undoubtedly transform East Hampton into just another Suffolk County, urban-leaning, UpIsland mess.
Best regards,
MICHAEL HASTALIS
Get It Together
East Hampton
May 26, 2024
Dear David,
I haven’t written in a while, so fans of my letters, you’re welcome. A couple things. I hope my P.O.W. soldier from Vietnam was someday released. If not, may he rest in peace. I proudly wore his name on my silver bracelet in St. Brendan’s High School for years. Bless all who fell while serving our country.
I loved the “Get Thee to a Nunnery” Gristmill column by Baylis Greene. So funny and apt, as usual. Must check out that show. The English do have the acting thing sussed, I agree.
I don’t think censoring letters is a good idea, not that this newspaper ever would. People do it to each other. That there is a dialogue at all is a good thing. That’s democracy at work. I know I’m still learning at 66, so could we all take a beat and see where the other is coming from? Let’s not destroy the country with hate.
What is going on with the constant lament, “We need more senior housing”? Um, we need more affordable housing for locals, period. There’s two abandoned houses rotting in Whalebone Woods. Still. And is the now $28-million price tag proposed for the new senior center really necessary? Will the seniors be living there? Can we all move in when we’re ready? It seems excessive. What about the kids?
I’ll segue right into the debacle at Amagansett School. I’ve been out of there a long time. My kids went there, loved it, made lifelong friends there. In 2002, I was a prekindergarten aide. Came directly from the Retreat, where my position was child care coordinator. My resume stated I was also a teaching assistant in a city school. In the teachers union. Anyway, my pay at the time in Amagansett School was $10 an hour. Taxed. No kidding. I was 45 years old. I paid my babysitter more. But I loved my job and the sweet kiddies. One of them just gave birth the other day to her own little boy. I was also floating between the two pre-K classes, whose teachers were the best in the biz. Sometimes I was sent to cover the kindergarten or help in older grades. I worked with two truly dedicated women who loved their work. We were all of a similar age. We are still friends. That summer, I asked for a raise. The principal offered me .25 cents more. I told her nicely she could keep it, I wouldn’t be back. It crushed me. I cried over it. I loved those kids and I was very good at my job. The parents loved me and some wrote letters to the board. As I did. I had some of the board’s kiddies in my classes. Didn’t matter. I applied for a teaching-assistant position available before I left that year. No dice. A teacher was taking that. Not enough teachers’ jobs, you see. I get that.
Why do I bring up this past chapter in my life of working with children? It’s just that I wonder what is the underlying problem at this wonderful small school? Politics? What? Get it together for the children, because they are going to bear the brunt of upheaval and not enough coverage.
Circling back, why not invest as a town in the kids more than the seniors? If you can’t do both, supply for the ones that are starting out in life a bit more. The seniors are quite addressed in our town. Don’t skimp on the future.
Peace and humanhood,
NANCI LAGARENNE
Meta-Mansplaining
Amagansett
May 24, 2024
To the Editor,
Anna Skrenta’s characterization of me as a “persistent mansplainer” in May 16’s letters column was entertaining. Wikipedia says this means “to comment on or explain something, to a woman, in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner.” The article gives as an example a man at a party interrupting Rebecca Solnit to tell her about an “important” book “that came out this year — not considering that it might be (as, in fact, it was) Solnit’s book.”
For starters, I never started a conversation with Anna; she was the one doing the explaining, that Voldemort was less of an unelected power broker than a trusted colleague. I suspect that may be inaccurate or oversimplified, but hey.*
My greater interest in her letter is in her endorsement of John Avlon for Congress. (I found her pivot from a mild swipe at me to a serious discussion of East End politics rather elegant.**) Consider her statement that Avlon’s “rational policies and strong convictions will galvanize” voters “who are tired of divisive politics and long for a return to civility.” That sounds wonderful — but no one could describe the East Hampton Town Democrats, including the town board, as having “rational policies” or “strong convictions” (though Ms. Skrenta may have, personally). During the reign of the last supervisor, there were indeed “divisive politics” used to force the last Democrats who actually stood for anything off the board, the trustees, and the Democratic Committee. No one ever accused Peter Van Scoyoc of “civility” that I recall. Kathee Burke-Gonzalez hasn’t done much of anything to communicate a transformation (other than avoiding some of the drama).
The tragicomedy of the town Democrats is that they stand for nothing discernible — “there are no issues, only interests.” I believe that to be largely a result of Voldemort’s numbing influence. The best way to support Avlon would not be a mere letter to The Star***, but some actual charisma (and, of course, values and ethics) on the part of the party.
While we are on the subject of charisma, earlier this year I wrote two letters to The Star analogizing East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen to the dictator of a small, colorful country. In the same issue as Ms. Skrenta’s letter was your first-page article “No Contest in Village” — Larsen is running for re-election unopposed. Can’t make this stuff up. I suppose we are not quite at the point where uniformed thugs are scooping voters out of John Papas or the Golden Pear, driving them to the polls, and hovering threateningly over them. Maybe next time?
Voldemort must be consumed with jealousy.
* I may be meta-mansplaining.
** Was that condescending?
*** Especially one which starts off talking about me.
For democracy in the Town and Village of East Hampton,
JONATHAN WALLACE
To Humiliate Russia
East Hampton Village
May 25, 2024
To the Editor,
It was with great interest that I read Neil Hausig’s Letter to the Editor (May 23). Sadly, it left me none the wiser. Like many other commentators, both in the press and in the Biden administration, history is neglected for ideological reasons or cast aside as the refuge of useful idiots. Nothing happens in that part of the world accidentally. We did not wake up on Feb. 24, 2022, to a surprising act of, as Mr. Hausig theatrically puts it, “pure aggression.” The Russian invasion of Ukraine was the logical consequence of continuing attempts by the U.S. and its NATO allies, since the late 1990s, to encircle and humiliate Russia. This is not an alibi, but rather an attempt to not mislead your readers as some writers do. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a welcomed event, U.S. foreign policy was marked by two conflicting characteristics: one, an attempt to bring the virtues of democracy to Russia, and, two, a darker attempt to enfeeble Russia. After making promises to the Russians that NATO would not move into the old Warsaw Pact, the U.S. did the opposite. Poland and Czechoslovakia joined NATO in 1999 and the Baltic states in 2004. In 2008, U.S. diplomatic efforts moved on Georgia and Ukraine. Russia, a country invaded by the French, the Germans twice — various moves since 1917 to bring down the state have left a scar on the Russian psyche and on how it has treated its neighbors. Moreover, there is enough evidence that a peace agreement was on the cards in 2022, only to have been undermined by British interference supported by the U.S.
Instead of financing the destruction of the Ukraine with more weapons, the U.S. should be using its position to negotiate a deal where, as Dr. Henry Kissinger said, both sides lose something.
As for the rest of Mr. Hausig’s letter, he seems not to understand how the U.S. presidency works: By executive action, President Biden could shut the border tomorrow. In fact, once he took over the White House, President Biden using executive actions overturned many of President Trump’s border policies.
In both the Ukraine and the U.S. border, a little bit of history is a good thing and goes a long way.
MICHAEL DUFF
Don’t Much Care?
Montauk
May 23, 2024
Dear David,
This is a response to the letter of David B. Saxe and Mitchel Agoos that was published in The East Hampton Star on May 23.
First, let me reply to their charge that I must have been smoking “funny stuff” when I drew parallels between the acts of Jewish pioneers and the Palestinians. Let me assure you that I do not smoke “funny stuff,” although I do enjoy a good bourbon now and then. Star readers can research the instances of terrorism that I referred to that were carried out by Jewish “pioneers” and Israeli state agents from 1948 to 2024. A current example would be the deaths of 34,000 civilian men, women, and children by the Israeli Defense Force due to indiscriminate missile and bombing attacks.
You refer to my letter as a “slick piece of work but with his prior letter, woefully short on facts and filled with redundancy.” Anyone who knows me would never refer to me as being “slick,” so I am not sure if that is a compliment or a face slap.
However, I must take umbrage at your concluding paragraph, when you write that you (the letter authors) were “beginning to get the drift that” I “didn’t much care about Israel or Israelis.” As a high school teacher of the Holocaust for over 33 years, I assure you that you are sadly mistaken. I have traveled to Poland with Holocaust survivors where we saw the firsthand practices of Nazi genocide at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Majdanek, and the Warsaw Ghetto. We also studied the Holocaust at Yad Vashem, Hebrew University, and Haifa University.
Shame on you, when you write that I don’t “much care for Israel or Israelis.” Perhaps you do not much care for dead Palestinians.
I do.
Sincerely,
BRIAN POPE
Double-Dipping
Amagansett
May 26, 2024
To the Editor,
Richard Loeschner was so eager to become the interim superintendent at Amagansett School he signed a contract dated by him on Sept. 18, 2023, a whole month before Seth Turner resigned. This is a very big deal. This should also [make] null and void every decision by the man who takes care of your children “remotely” an hour and a half or more away a minimum once a week. This was also dated two days before a meeting he oversaw as superintendent at Brentwood. Still wasn’t retired. Double-dipping rich.
Attention to detail is key in an administrative role. An error like this is cause for forfeiting all monetary funds and invalidating the contract. Unfortunately, it seems a certain hierarchy continually misses the mark.
Also, a thank-you to Loeschner for telling us to talk to our children about that drill last week. Why did you leave a classroom behind? Same one you forgot about in your upcoming events letter. Children want to know. We have our own version of Billy Zane in “Titanic.” I wonder if we should use the Freedom of Information Law for the debriefing. But a drill isn’t a real event. Mistakes on oversight can be swept away. Leadership must have been preoccupied with the prospect of motorboating on the extended weekend.
In regard to the school board vote: We now get individuals who already told you what they want on change.org. The fix has been in for a while, if you follow this dog and pony show. [. . . ] Get rid of the people who were for special education to bring in a numbers guy. Of course the age-old adage needs to be said: “The numbers lie and liars use numbers.”
But like most ill-fated tales, the most egregious are in front of your face and everyone just chooses to ignore the individuals who initially spoke out years ago. It always circles back. Those are the ones who typically are the aggressors. Don’t believe it. So be it. The ones who are the innocent victims can sit and be silent or take back your voice. The documents and years are so multifaceted one has to wonder over any grievances that have ever been filed.
Still here,
JOE KARPINSKI
Clowns
Montauk
May 17, 2024
Dear David,
It surely seems Deborah Goodman also has a comprehension problem. I have written many times I do not watch Fox nor do I watch Newsmax (that’s a new one). Think you can understand that I do not watch said shows.
F.Y.I., Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by a detective hiding behind a desk as soon as she stepped in through a window. A police officer died a few days later at home from a heart attack. No other death was reported from the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. If you personally know of others, please share with America.
Joe Biden was advised by the Supreme Court he did not have the authority to forgive student loans. He has gone around this ruling with executive orders. Whether these billions have been paid off, this information is not totally available. There are stipulations with the applications and if you think it’s not a ploy for younger people’s votes, you’re sadly mistaken. I know for fact the Court said no, you can’t do this.
I’m well aware that you must be a citizen to vote. With that said, you pick up the paper and read certain states are allowing illegals to vote on city or town matters.
Deborah, I believe immigrants should be welcome as long as they do not break our laws and come in unlawfully. I have personally helped some immigrants with jobs, and I don’t need to drive around the Hamptons. I do my share quietly and don’t look for praise.
You must be a liberal progressive, as you used the Hillary word “deplorable.” The new one from Gov Kathy Hochul is “clowns.”
God is the only one that can save America, and I believe in Him.
If you don’t like my letters, don’t read them. Pass them up and read the praises of those who write of the man who is destroying America.
In God and country,
BEA DERRICO
We Are Triggered
North Haven
May 26, 2024
Dear David,
Happy Memorial Day.
Today we remember and honor with joy and respect those who actually fought for our democracy. They, and their families, committed their lives and well-being to battle, and many lives were lost.
Are we triggered by a bunch of MAGA clowns, tricked out in pickup trucks festooned with vulgar graphics and political threats, who descended upon our peaceful, civilized little Village of Sag Harbor last Sunday, from somewhere UpIsland?
Perhaps.
Are we triggered by their raucous behavior and deafening amplified noise, sirens, vulgar graphics, and grotesque costumes?
Perhaps.
Does the misuse and physical corruption of the American flag trigger us?
Probably.
Does this coarse and vulgar invasion, camouflaged with patriotic symbols, cause us concern and stifle the peaceful and lawful protest of others?
Of course.
Of course we are triggered — but not to engage in screaming and physical confrontation, as these invaders may have hoped for.
What we are triggered to do is to vote in the upcoming primary election, and in the critical national election this November, without fail!
Sunday’s invasion only marginally passed police intervention because its cunning leader demanded an audio meter for evidence of a noise violation. Our cops don’t usually carry such equipment on Sunday duty. Clearly, they need to nowadays!
This event cannot be dignified as a lawful protest because the behavior was worse than an untrained child or house pet. It was arrogant and deliberately confrontational, far beyond any willingness to engage in any civilized protest.
Pop-up threats like this are reminiscent of Jan. 6, 2021, as are the many less-violent “in your face” confrontations. We should actually thank the MAGA and the Setauket “Patriots” for sending their worst, for reminding us how many lawless groups still desire to bully us, overtake our government, and destroy democracy.
Thanks, also, for the peaceful cease-fire protesters who remained cool under fire. Whether one agrees or not, it was encouraging to learn their spokesperson offers a flier each week suggesting that if one cannot resist confrontation, they should leave. Good advice.
We are certainly triggered, so let’s use that energy to remember to vote our ethics and conscience. Our vote is our most effective weapon. Our democracy is worth saving.
Respectfully,
ANTHONY CORON