Execrable Carbuncle
Amagansett
July 21, 2024
Dear David,
In these frustrating times, one could be forgiven the temptation to think rather ill of one's neighbor. I respectfully submit the following prescription as an antidote to any mild case of misanthropy: Watch the video of the town board's work session on July 16.
Let me describe it to your readers. It's the middle of a workday, in the middle of July, in the middle of traffic-snarled East Hampton. A perfect beach day. And, mirabile dictu, a standing-room-only crowd waits patiently in Town Hall. The subject is zoning. Movingly, inspiringly, citizen after citizen steps to the podium. Many faces, in many voices, speak with clarity, intelligence, and civility to the assembly. The message is clear. Our zoning code is broken.
The proposals currently "on the table" are timid. Desirable, yes, yes, yes. Of course. But sufficient? Hardly. The velocity and intensity of residential construction is quite obviously unhealthy for the environment and for those living here. It's far beyond sustainable.
Development and construction are important industries; we can all recognize that. Good jobs are precious and vital to the community. But we can do without obscene profiteering by a relative few to the permanent cost of many. Our code is the single most important lever we have to lower the temperature and restore balance. A zoning code that does not cool this raging fever to build monstrous structures on often newly cleared land is not just flawed. It's broken.
I propose the following test. If the code revisions won't absolutely prohibit another execrable carbuncle like the architectural rape victim at 175 Atlantic Avenue or the "housal abuse" looming over the Ditch Plain lot, they just aren't good enough. Our biggest risk is not that we could go too far with changes to the code. That's unlikely. And it's fixable. The far bigger concern is not doing enough.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those at the work session. What a great community!
Respectfully,
DAN MONGAN
The Time Is Now
Wainscott
July 22, 2024
Dear Editor,
The time has come. Really, it has passed. But there is time still to act for the benefit of our community; for future generations of humans, animals, and plants; for our environment.
Natural abundance and resilience are at stake, threatened by intense, irrational development and growth, stressed to the maximum by self-interested action on one hand and counterintuitive inaction on the other.
We know better. Our governing officials must follow reason and intuition for an outcome that will benefit the greater good. They must address the root cause of the surging rivers of traffic; of the egregious lack of affordable housing; of the thoughtless destruction of historic character; of the grievous loss of fertile farmland, keystone woodland, and fragile coastland.
Our current zoning code (adopted in 1984 with subsequent amendments) laid out a grand vision in the “purposes” to achieve objectives that include: guiding and regulating orderly growth; promoting proper use of land; sustaining character (sense of place); protecting hamlets and neighborhoods; providing for and protecting housing affordability; ensuring town sustainability; addressing coastal resiliency; promoting natural resources conservation and historical resources preservation; encouraging open space protection, and avoiding density and congestion.
The time is now. It is time to fulfill campaign promises and deal with the numerous challenges and threats to our community’s character and sustainability. The East Hampton Town Board must act thoughtfully and deliberately yet swiftly and decisively to make the proposed zoning code changes that have been labored on for over a year. Before they proceed, however, they must address a significant omission: It is crucial they revise the formula for house size proportional to lot size.
These changes are past due. We are paying for this delinquency already. So many of us are frustrated, hopeless, angry, and grieving. To act now and make these changes is the ethical thing to do. In supporting these changes, we will stand on the right side of history. When the time comes.
ESPERANZA LEON
A Stark Truth
Springs
July 22, 2024
To the Editor,
The recent Star article "All Eyes on Town's Zoning Code Overhaul" discusses contrasting views between "business interest" and "those who want the code strengthened to preserve what they say is a town that is quickly losing, or has already lost, its character."
I'm with those who want to preserve and protect the character of our community through zoning changes. The concept of constant growth is not sustainable. Eventually, constant growth will end badly for our community. Ever so slowly, East Hampton will become unrecognizable as the one we know, respect, and love.
Those favoring current zoning always argue that new zoning will result in lost jobs for locals. Unquestionably, jobs for local residents are a crucial consideration. However, the traffic congestion that plagues our roads daily reveals a stark truth: Many of the jobs created by way of current zoning benefit out-of-town contractors and not exclusively local workers.
Developers and real estate interests benefit most from current zoning, not the community at large. Future zoning regulations should be in sync with the values of our community residents and not yield to the few who financially benefit. East Hampton needs a shift toward a more sustainable model of development. Thoughtful changes to current zoning can preserve and protect the character of East Hampton. Additionally, the town should study ways to protect jobs for locals over out-of-town contractors.
William Pickens of Sag Harbor is correct to ask, "Are we a community or are we a commodity?" That brilliant simple statement says it all.
FRANK RIINA
Need Body Armor
East Hampton
July 21, 2024
To the Editor,
Having bought my fruits and vegetables at Round Swamp when it was a small shack and dined at Gordon's (jacket required), I have earned the right to complain about an East Hampton deficiency: Bicycle-riding or hiking on our streets is life-threatening and a danger to life and limb. Between drivers not keeping within posted speed limits, narrow and curvy streets, and no road shoulders (unless you believe scenic beauty is a trip on 114 to Sag Harbor), a rider or walker needs body armor as well as a helmet.
Visit Aspen, Park City, or other western towns and see hundreds of miles of paved bike pathways wide enough for hikers. No cars, no motorcycles; rest areas; shelters, phones for emergencies, and often water.
Why can't we do better? Why is this never discussed?
PETER J. STRAUSS
Horrendous
East Hampton
July 21, 2024
Dear David and Readers,
In response to The East Hampton Star's headline "Mobile Home Residents in the Dark" (July 18), my family and I have been residents of the East Hampton mobile home park ("village") for nearly 50 years. It's overwhelming the rapid decline in the care of the park, and living conditions are horrendous. The owners, RHP Properties, are slumlords, with over 300 communities in 30 states with poor employment retention and terrible tenants' reviews.
Unfortunately, this cash cow of a company raises our land rents yearly doing minimal repairs. The electrical grid is a ticking time bomb amongst this beautiful oak tree reserve. My family and, I along with over 100 residents, formed a tenants association in 2012 but between personal illnesses and Covid-19, our meetings were canceled. The office manager is receptive but is overwhelmed. We live in this magnificent playground for the rich and famous, but here in the East Hampton mobile home park we're the working class that keeps the playground functioning!
As a registered nurse for over 50 years, [I can say] this power loss for more than 72 hours is a serious health hazard. I, myself, my husband, and our senior citizen population all have health abnormalities. In our hard-working community here in the park, for some residents, English is their second language and they are apprehensive to vent their concerns. Well, I am sure the Suffolk County Department of Health would be alarmed that the Town of East Hampton would allow such a dangerous electrical outage to occur to their year round residents. Thank you to The East Hampton Star for their support in this matter.
NANCY QUINN, R.N.
The Former Stern's
East Hampton
July 20, 2024
Dear Editor,
Once again, Eric Shantz has proposed a Band-Aid solution to the affordable-housing problem in East Hampton that sings a familiar political song about the needs of employers but ignores the real solution. And it's not Eric's fault, it is the town board's.
What is the real solution? High-density senior housing that frees up the existing housing stock for rental to those who live and work in East Hampton and are not millionaires.
The former Stern's site is a stone's throw from the half-built Stony Brook emergency center. It should be the town's first experiment in high-density housing for seniors who want to downsize but remain in East Hampton.
Clearly, high-density housing for seniors has the least impact on the environment compared to high-density housing for families or working age individuals.
Renting to seniors and renting out their existing houses to the workforce solves the affordable-housing problem without an uncontrollable high-density building boom.
The idea of having businesses build high-density housing isn't new and doesn't work. Businesses in the past have built barracks housing for their seasonal employees under the radar. Businesses have bought houses in Springs and loaded them up with employees, making a nice profit when Springs became a hot housing market. None of these approaches permanently works or is good for East Hampton.
The town board needs to face up to the problem and stop tasking Eric with an impossible task.
Build high-density senior housing, do it now, and do it right.
Sincerely,
PAUL FIONDELLA
I Will Miss Him
East Hampton Village
July 19, 2024
To the Editor,
Neil Hausig was such a fixture in the letters column of The Star that to your words "surprised and saddened" I would add "shocked."
I found him always engaging, and, most of the time, simply right.
For me, he embodied everything that was worth noting, worth writing about — what I assume the editors imagined when they came up with the idea of what has come to be a genuine public forum.
Hausig's letters always rose above the ordinary and his simple logic would invariably cut through to the actual point.
I will miss his letters and his humanity and regret that I had never met him in person.
He brought genuine light to every issue he wrote on.
FRED KOLO
Sammy's of Montauk
Montauk
July 22, 2024
Dear David,
There's a restaurant down at the harbor called Sammy's. This restaurant is worth going to, I've been a customer there for years even in the winter.
Sammy's has good food, always consistent, and the best part is it is reasonably priced.
The lines aren't very long and it's well worth the trip. The waitress is cordial and all members of the staff are very efficient. Give it a try, you will enjoy.
Best,
BEA DERRICO
It Doesn't Work
North Haven
July 22, 2024
To the Editor,
Jonathan Wallace has the knack (Letters to the Editor, "Violent Language," July 18) of filling his letters with all the tidbits he can summon up to discredit Israel and its supporters. To facilitate this maneuver, he reminds the readers of his status as a bar mitzvah boy over 50 years ago; it doesn't work.
We will address one aspect of his letter that stands out — his refusal to comprehend the blatant acts of antisemitism being directed at Jewish students at some of the most elite universities in our country, Harvard and Columbia, to name a couple. What has occurred there and at other venues is not protected free speech but repeated assaultive acts of antisemitism from students and faculty, meant to dislodge these Jewish students from their university affiliations by making them fearful concerning their physical safety.
And there is one sure way for the war in Gaza to end: surrender and return of the remaining hostages. Get it on!
DAVID SAXE
East End Jews for Israel
A Rejoinder
Amagansett
July 21, 2024
To the Editor,
I write this rejoinder (Letters to the Editor, "A Sad Story," July 18) in my capacity as the organizer of the Israel Solidarity Rally held at Herrick Park, East Hampton, a week ago and a longtime supporter of the L.G.B.T.Q. community. As expressed previously in The Star, my goal as the organizer was to promote the call for the release of the Hamas-held hostages and additionally to send an unadorned message concerning our community's commitment to the ongoing security need of the people of Israel — nothing more and nothing else. In my opinion, there was no room at that rally for any other message, as laudable as such message might be under other circumstances.
MITCHEL AGOOS
Kam Down
East Hampton
July 22, 2024
Dear David,
How about we calm down, America? Or Kam down. Yes, we have a replacement for a hard-working but ready (or not) to hand over the baton president. Thank you for your service to our country, Joe Biden. Like him or not, you're free, you're buying gas for your fishing boats, you're working, you're dining out (and posting your lovely dinners and cocktails on Facebook, you're vacationing abroad, and entertaining guests locally, and collecting good rent from those From Away. "You're all right," as a friend used to tell her kids when they complained but were hardly deprived.
Yes, yes, Bub, meanwhile we work our asses off in one capacity or another. Never had a "charmed life," myself, neither was I to the manner born, I worked since I was 14 and got working papers. I just put forth a positive demeanor, don't dwell on the past, or brag. I just use sunscreen and moisturizer and lip gloss and have good DNA. If my cells could talk! Ouch, my joints sure are.
How 'bout we lower the temperature and pass the kindness bowl around? Sure, I don't like your candidate and you don't like mine. We don't have to each eviscerate the other. Was my former letter harsh? Yep. It was meant to be, in response to all the nasty rhetoric attacking our president, the actual president, and frankly I'd had it with the God and country crowd spewing nonsense each week ad nauseam. Thank goodness for Neil Hausig, and his astute — if in-your-face — letters; may he rest in peace. Condolences to his family.
My "sainted" mother, who never wanted that silly title ("No one is a saint but a saint"), would say, "Nanci, some people have to wave their rosary beads in everyone's face. They think they're holier than us somehow. But are they really good people? Or are they showboating for praise from other rosary-bead wavers? I wonder sometimes." Mom had an uncanny way of seeing the truth and summing things up. She made you think and be grateful, and not run out and join a cult. Sometimes it's lonely, looking for your "loyals," as another smart redhead referred to those who are true-blue friends; until you find your tribe.
Let's hope we have some robust debates and Kam kicks some butt. Sorry, Mom, sometimes words are necessary. Good luck to us all. Ain't no stopping us now, darlin'.
Feeling good,
NANCI LAGARENNE
Nasty Nonsense
North Haven
July 20, 2024
Dear David:
The behavior of the Republican National Convention, delegates, and speakers became completely divorced from the principles that once were respected by the erstwhile Republican Party.
After ex-POTUS had his ear clipped by an unsuccessful assassination attempt, it seemed an air of peaceful and productive discourse was about to take over from the formerly hostile rhetoric.
In contrast to three days of screaming and yelling, the aging preppy frat boy, Tucker Carlson, delivered a calm and subtle but fact-free diatribe condemning Biden's administration while sanctifying Trump with numerous godly references. He slipped his comments into the chaos like a well-lubricated suppository.
At the end of this R.N.C. circus, those still enduring the tedious staged rally would finally witness Trump's 92-minute acceptance speech. A few minutes of calm, sleepy peacemaking quickly shifted to a lengthy dramatized narrative of his near-death experience. He repeated, "I shouldn't be here" several times, then blurted out, "I had God on my side!" and that he was saved by "the grace of almighty God."
Trump's claim to an almighty miracle adds to the many previous comments by others. God was protecting him, and favors him as president. The remaining 92 minutes devolved into his usual lying and blaming others, offering much nasty fabricated nonsense.
Throughout the convention, it was shocking to witness the miraculous political and spiritual conversions of his former critics. They all fell in line, granting zero resistance to the obvious canonization of this would be dictator-martyr-king, D.J.T.
Is there any doubt now that democracy is in real peril? If we could speak to our elders, wouldn't they caution us how similar this feels to the political climate during the 1930s?
Can politicians ever put raw greed aside sufficient to preserve humanity and peace? So many of their comments, costumes, and behaviors can easily be laughed off as comic, but, let's face it, Adolf Hitler seemed comic at first.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Trump boys, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the human doormats J.D. Vance and Nikki Haley, Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock singing "American Bad Ass," and the many religious zealots all add up to a scary lot of starry-eyed sycophants who seem comfortable with compromising themselves for some personal advantage.
The attempted assassination made a martyr of our would-be "dictator for a day." There was even seen a photo of delegates wearing matching ear bandages!
Why, to my eyes, does this look similar to the symbolic Hitler salute and the toothbrush mustache?
I think this country is in real trouble.
ANTHONY CORON
Not the Longest
Amagansett
July 21, 2024
To the Editor,
David Filer had a previous letter in the town board documents for Thursday's meeting. You all read those filed documents, correct?
It stated that the client for Whalen Filer "probably" had the longest "request" in town and [that it was] something that could have been taken care of immediately: a release of a right-of-way. Rights-of-way in the Town of East Hampton. Only 2,188 days a road has been blocked on Bay View Avenue. People haven't even granted easements for rights-of-way on urban renewal roads and get building permits, build homes, get inspected, get a certificate of occupancy, don't do a road assignment, get put on the rental registry, and open Motel 6. Only four different renters since July 1. So much for two short-term rentals in a sixth-month period. It hasn't even been a month.
The Fire Island to Montauk Point project took about 60 years, Napeague Harbor being dredged correctly, some say, is beyond 40 years of requesting now. I'm sure others can find multiple other requests that are much longer. Anyone else got anything that rivals 12 years and the absence of the Town of East Hampton?
Still here,
JOE KARPINSKI