Protect This Place
East Hampton Village
December 15, 2025
Dear David,
I grew up in East Hampton, and, like many year-round residents, I’ve watched our community change rapidly over the past decade.
I appreciate the recent efforts to rebuild a sense of community through local events such as block parties, holiday celebrations, and parades. Those moments matter. They remind us of what East Hampton can feel like at its best and help bring people together.
At the same time, I believe there is an opportunity to build on that momentum by focusing not only on events, but also on long-term preservation.
East Hampton didn’t become special because of seasonal trends or luxury storefronts. It became special because of its land, its traditions, and the people who cared for it year round.
Protecting open space, maintaining access to nature, and supporting year-round local businesses are investments in the future of the community. Once land is overdeveloped or local institutions disappear, they cannot be replaced.
Preservation isn’t about resisting change — it’s about ensuring that East Hampton remains a real community, not just a destination. By pairing community events with thoughtful long-term planning, we can protect what made this place worth calling home in the first place.
NICK WARD JR.
Symbol of Hope
East Hampton
December 18, 2025
Dear David,
As this year draws to a close, we have to admit it was a rough one at the East Hampton Food Pantry. The volume of clients needing our services ballooned, and we expect to close 2025 having seen some 10,000 more visits this year than last. With two weeks to go, we’ve served over 49,000 individual clients — many come every week. We registered 254 new families this year and predict that number will continue to rise as the darkest months of winter loom.
But we continue to consider ourselves blessed. Our volunteers are so dedicated and our community is so supportive. We include you, David, among our blessings for your willingness to help in our efforts to raise awareness of food insecurity in our town.
The encouragement, love, and care we receive is worth celebrating.
We’ll be doing that at the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Main Beach New Year’s Day. Every year, that dip in the water is, for some, a symbol of hope for a new year free from the troubles of the past. We think that’s one reason why so many people come out to claim their bragging rights in the frigid surf.
I always look forward to the event. Beyond being our main fund-raiser, the plunge offers the chance to see neighbors and old friends, and make new friends. Every year the crowd grows bigger. People can avoid the long registration line by signing up in advance on our website, easthamptonfoodpantry.org.
This plunge has become for some an annual community touchstone, a symbol of our collective identity. We hope our clients see us as such a symbol and know your readers see The East Hampton Star that way.
Happy Holidays.
VICKI M. LITTMAN
Chairperson
East Hampton Food Pantry
Kudos to the Village
East Hampton Village
December 21, 2025
Dear David,
The towering London plane tree that distinguishes our David’s Lane driveway came crashing down in that 60 mile-an-hour windstorm Friday.
I write to you not only to tell the tale of this at least 60-foot-tall tree shattering into our driveway, collapsing our fences, and pulling precious limbs from our stupendous Sargent’s weeping hemlock, but to praise our East Hampton Village Department of Public Works.
As chairperson of the Ladies Village Improvement Society Nature Trail Committee (which is a very convenient position, as I live right next door to it) when our tree tragedy occurred, I knew exactly who to call: Dave Collins and Darrin Downs, who run this very complicated department of our village. Jill Helm, the ever-efficient secretary, took my call, and within veritable minutes — as I was standing in the street and anguishing over what to do first — Darrin Downs appeared and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll have the team here right after their lunch.”
And much to my wondrous eyes did appear five robust men with giant chainsaws and various specialized trucks (I don’t know what they’re called) and a big crane and and, boy, did they go to work. Consider also, there was a deluge of pounding thrashing rain which did not stop them stop them, not even for one minute.
They refused our offer of coffee or hot chocolate, and after a few hours, the debris of the massive tree was gone and then they did a meticulous miraculous job of cleaning up — not with a noisy eco-unfriendly gas blower, but with rakes.
Kudos to the village, praise for the Department of Public Works, and my deep thanks to all. Hallelujah!
P.S.: Now we will have by far the widest driveway on David’s Lane, as this tree was right in the middle of it. This will be good news for the postman and all of the people who have had to maneuver around that tree though we will miss it.
DIANNE BENSON
Who Benefit Most
Amagansett
December 19, 2025
To the Editor:
A few weeks ago, judges in two Suffolk County cases granted filing injunctions against two litigants within a few days of each other.
A filing injunction is a gag order, usually granted against a crazy or half-crazy person, usually a nonlawyer representing himself who can’t take no for an answer and files a succession of motions or lawsuits trying to reopen a case he has already lost on appeal. The order says that the individual cannot file any more paper without obtaining the prior permission of the judge.
The two cases had two things in common. One, neither of the parties censored by the court fit the profile. One was the Town of East Hampton; the other was me.
In the Duryea’s case, the town had made two motions, years apart, trying to hold Duryea’s responsible for its never-ending expansions without ever seeking a permit or variance from the town.
In the Maidstone Gun Club case, I made several motions, mainly seeking the enforcement of discovery requests flouted by the other parties.
As opposed to filing a lot of groundless paper — a finding never made against the town’s attorneys or me — I would say we were just doing our jobs of zealously representing our clients (and, as it happens, fighting for the public interest as well).
The other common factor in both cases is that James Catterson is the lawyer for the parties who benefit most from the filing injunctions.
I am not the only attorney who feels that the courts in Suffolk County resemble the Mirror Universe in Star Trek (the one where Evil Spock wears a goatee).
The phrase John Adams contributed to the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution calling for a “government of laws, not of men,” has been flipped here in the Mirror Universe, where a reasonable, experienced outsider might well arrive at the opinion that who you are matters much more than the merits of your case.
For democracy in East Hampton,
JONATHAN WALLACE
Deer Up Exponentially
Springs
December 21, 2025
To the Editor,
I found Bill Crain’s letter last week of interest, as he provided some details about various deer population surveys that took place between 2006 and 2013. Unfortunately, there has not been one since then, and the town has to finally pay for a new survey using modern drone technology to get a better handle on the size and location of the current deer population.
Mr. Crain states that his wildlife group wants scientific research to prove that the deer population is responsible for causing problems for local plant life and increasing tick-borne illnesses. Fortunately, there was an excellent article in The Star from 2013 titled, “Deer Study: Fewer Than Expected,” that did just that, which I highly recommend to anyone that wants to get a better understanding of this topic.
For those who don’t, I’ll summarize the important points. The number of deer traffic collisions had gone up from just 25 in 2000 to 108 by 2011 (up more than four-fold) and the Department of Environmental Conservation, along with wildlife experts from Cornell, suggested a professional cull was needed.
Deer collisions are one data point that are often used to try to estimate the deer population in an area. Another is the number of deer that are harvested each year from hunting. That number had gone from 70 to over 525 (up more than seven-fold) in a little over 20 years at that time with fewer people registering to hunt.
Both these pieces of data clearly suggested the deer population had gone up exponentially in East Hampton by 2013. And this made sense, since studies show that when deer have no natural predators, as is the case in our town, their population can double in just a few years.
As Mr. Crain points out, his wildlife group commissioned a deer survey using ground observations that suggested there were 3,293 deer in the town in 2006. Hunting groups thought that number was likely twice that amount, but, of course, it is not an exact science.
To move ahead with a cull, another survey was paid for by the town in 2013, which cost only $13,000 for a plane to fly over the entire town with infrared sensors. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for, and this survey was clearly inaccurate, given its estimate said there were only 877 deer in town. Our former town supervisor and board member at the time Peter Van Scoyoc called it “flawed.”
Rational people should have questioned how the deer population could have gone down more than 70 percent in a matter of seven years when all the other data suggested that it likely had doubled. Also, it should have seemed impossible that nearly half of all the deer in town were either being hit by a car or killed by hunters.
But for the East Hampton Group for Wildlife, who supposedly believe in science, this absurd survey was exactly what they were looking for, and they took it to court in 2014 and found a judge gullible enough to believe it who called for a “temporary” restraining order on the cull.
In the decade since, the town has taken no action to reduce deer or ticks and never bothered to try to do another deer survey, even in the small but densely populated areas of town like Springs where it is much needed. I’ve requested this multiple times over the last few years through direct emails to the board, attending several weekly board meetings in person to express my concerns, and, of course, writing several letters to this paper about the issue but it continues to be ignored.
Given this inaction, it is not surprisingly the deer traffic collisions have increased another four-fold since 2011, as they were 550 last year and have been averaging between 500 and 600 for almost a decade for now.
These types of accidents are the leading cause of death in the United States when it comes to wildlife interactions, as they account for 96 percent of them. Clearly, neither the town administration nor the wildlife group care about these types of statistics despite the fact we possibly lead both the county and the entire country in these types of dangerous accidents.
Beyond just complaining about this situation, I’ll write another letter next week that goes further into the serious problem of tick-borne diseases that affects our area and offer several solutions, as I have in the past. Hopefully, someone in the town administration will finally start paying attention and, perhaps, if others contacted them about this problem, they might finally take action.
BRAD BROOKS
Nonlethal Means
Poughquag, N.Y.
December 18, 2025
To the Editor:
In her letter in The Star’s Dec. 18 issue, Victoria Bustamante responds to my “Guestwords” essay on global warning. In it I urge the preservation of old trees and forests because they store considerable carbon dioxide, keeping it out of the atmosphere.
Ms. Bustamante says she is surprised that I advocate forest preservation because I have long opposed deer hunting and culls. She assumes that such activities are needed to reduce the damage that our “severely overabundant” deer population is inflicting on new forest growth.
But hunting and culling aren’t our only options. If scientific research shows that our deer population is indeed severely overabundant and harming our local forests, we can pursue nonlethal means of reducing the population. One promising possibility is immunocontraception.
I hope it doesn’t sound sanctimonious to add that efforts to protect both trees and deer can reflect a reverence for life.
BILL CRAIN
Banal Cliché
Vero Beach, Fla.
December 18, 2025
Dear David,
“These uncertain times” — during Covid I heard the phrase ad nauseam. It pretty much drove me crazy as a banal cliché that doesn’t mean anything or add to understanding. Now it is used to sell product (buy dried food that lasts 30 years — these uncertain times). Or it is bandied about to disparage a politician: An ABC News article in April on Trump’s economic policies: “Economists are sounding the alarm over tariff-related shortages. As the trade war with China shows no sign of easing. What can Americans expect in these uncertain times?”
When have times been “certain”? The elders among us can remember the 1940s. Uncertain times? During the 1950s and early 1960s, many were prospering, but everyone lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation, while children practiced hiding under their desks to avoid the destruction. Duck and cover, kiddos, but everything is fine.
At the same time a huge swath of the country was fighting for the right to drink from a fountain or sit at a lunch counter. Uncertain times, indeed.
In the next dozen or so years, Vietnam War, Students for a Democratic Society, protests, and a crooked president. Not certain, I guess. And to cap it off, Jimmy Carter’s inflation and interest rates.
The only certainty was a Fred Rogers sweater as he sat by the fire.
Maybe the most “certain” times I can think of were the 1980s. Pretty good financial market. An end of the Soviet Union. Iraq and Iran were at war, which kept that particular cause of “uncertainty” at bay for quite a while. Maybe those were pretty certain times, but you would have to give a nod to Ol’ Ronnie Reagan to agree, so those times are probably best labeled uncertain, as well.
The 1990s were okay, maybe. Oh, I almost forgot. Our Democrat-run cities began a slide into dysphoric chaos and murder. That uncertainty continues apace. The biggest uncertainty ever began in September 2001. Since that continues on a weekly basis until the present, I would say that closes the loop. Times are always uncertain, never more so than with the bumbling, sleepy, mumbling former president and whoever were the puppeteers.
To me, today’s uncertainty is the radical Muslim attacks. Openly anti-Jewish hatred. Young people losing their grip on America’s greatness. Radical left-wing congresspeople who should not be anywhere near the reins of government.
And then there is a bit of certainty. Drug boats may not make it to dry land. Illegal immigrants might have to go back and apply to come in legally. It is very hard to traipse over the southern border. America made certain that Iran cannot attack us for a long time. The markets are pretty strong, and industrial jobs are coming back to the U.S.A.
With all respect and wishes for happy holidays!
JIM POOL
More Favorable Terms
East Hampton
December 18, 2025
Dear Mr. Rattray,
Some readers may recall sayings that are rarely heard today. Trump is old enough to remember one such saying, “Third time’s the charm.” Perhaps he had this saying in mind when he directed the Department of Justice to try a third time to indict Letitia James for mortgage fraud.
Ms. James was accused of mortgage fraud by illegally renting a second home that she purchased in 2020 in Virginia. According to the mortgage lender, Ms. James could in fact rent the house.
The first indictment against Ms. James was thrown out in November by a federal district court judge. Trump tried a second time and again failed, when a federal grand jury earlier this month refused to indict Ms. James on the same charge of mortgage fraud. Last week, the third try failed, when a federal grand jury again refused to indict her.
Now let’s look at Trump’s mortgage history. In late 1993 and early 1994, Trump obtained mortgages for neighboring Palm Beach homes, pledging each would be his primary residence. Instead of living in them, however, he rented both as investment properties. Trump was likely aware that a mortgage for a primary residence often receives more favorable borrowing terms.
In 1994 Trump signed a document reporting that his apartment in New York City was 10,996 square feet and not the 30,000 square feet he later claimed for years on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to secure better financial terms. In 2023, a New York judge ruled that Trump has fraudulently inflated the value of multiple properties, including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his apartment in New York City.
Rather than thinking the “Third time’s the charm,” Trump should have recalled another saying: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”
SALVATORE TOCCI
LaLota Kicks Can
East Hampton
December 21, 2025
Sir,
Representative Nick LaLota would like his constituents to believe he is a defender of affordable health care. His record tells a very different story.
Mr. LaLota supported the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that is set to gut Medicaid, despite his insistence that it would somehow do the opposite. Now, on the question of Affordable Care Act subsidies, he has waited until the consequences of inaction became impossible to ignore premiums on the verge of spiking, voters alarmed, and a political crisis plainly visible on the horizon. It took that for him to find his voice, backing a short-term extension that does little more than kick the can down the road.
That’s not leadership, it’s damage control.
If Mr. LaLota were serious about health care affordability, he would be fighting for a durable, long-term solution. Instead, he has opted for a narrowly crafted, time-limited fix that happens to minimize political fallout in a Long Island district that looks increasingly competitive. The message is hard to miss: do just enough to quiet the outrage, but not enough to challenge party orthodoxy or deliver real reform.
At a time when families are already strained by rising costs and uncertain coverage, Mr. LaLota continues to show himself as a cautious, party-first Republican more interested in avoiding risk than in meaningfully advocating for the people he represents.
The question voters should be asking is simple: Does a representative who waits for a crisis before acting, and then chooses the smallest, safest response, deserve another term?
Sincerely,
ANDREW VAN PRAAG
Health Care Dead
Paris
December 22, 2025
Dear David:
Here’s the G.O.P.’s Christmas present to America: Your affordable health care insurance is dead.
Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that there will be no vote on extending the tax credits provided by the Affordable Care Act. Tax credits that help millions of Americans afford health insurance, which means that premiums could double beginning Jan. 1.
Last week, Mr. Johnson suggested that he may hold a vote on an amendment pushed by some House Republicans, which would have extended the tax credits. But now he changed his mind.
It was already clear last week that A.C.A. premiums would likely skyrocket after Senate Republicans defeated a bill that would have extended the tax credits for three years. But Mr. Johnson’s comments now seal Republicans’ fate in causing the pain Americans will feel in choosing whether to cough up more money to stay insured or give up coverage entirely.
Industry analysts opined that the loss of the enhanced tax credits will cause premium payments for A.C.A. enrollees to increase by an average of 114 percent, or over $1,000 a year per person. Analysts have estimated that these premium increases will result in 11 million Americans losing their health insurance.
Those few Republican lawmakers who wanted a vote on extending the subsidies are now furious, because they will rightfully be blamed for skyrocketing insurance premiums. And just as rightfully, they and every other member of Congress deciding to inflict this holiday pain on Americans they were elected to serve should lose their seats in the 2026 midterms.
Of course, it’s not surprising that Mike Johnson and G.O.P. leadership would give the finger to Americans on health care.
Ever since the A.C.A. passed 15 years ago, Republicans have fought it tooth and nail. And despite what are now empty promises, the G.O.P. has never offered a viable alternative. Now Americans are going to pay the price.
Our congressman, Nick LaLota, happily rides on the Republican bandwagon. He opposes extending the enhanced A.C.A. tax subsidies without major reforms. Mr. LaLota sees the A.C.A. subsidies, which help make health care affordable to millions, as fiscally irresponsible. And, like every other G.O.P. lawmaker he calls for a new approach to health care affordability without even offering as much as a concept of what that approach might be.
We — and America — deserve better.
Sincerely,
BRUCE COLBATH
Hobson’s Spirit
East Hampton
December 15, 2025
Dear David,
Some of you might remember a well-loved old East Hampton restaurant in the 1980s and ‘90s on Route 27 with the curious name of Hobson’s Choice.
The congenial owner-bartender once explained the term to me as a choice where only one thing is actually being offered. It’s an illusion to think that other choices are available. The one thing that is being offered is a choice between something or nothing. It’s all or nothing. A Hobson’s choice is one where there is no real choice.
I was reminded of all this in thinking about David Saxe’s and Mitchel Agoos’s letter (“Symbol of Hate,” Dec. 7) and Rabbi Franklin’s understanding of restorative justice (“Five-Day Sentence for 2023 Graffiti That Unnerved Montauk,” Nov. 20). It’s fair to expect these Jewish leaders would offer differing, coherent choices to help us understand the five-day jail sentencing of a 76-year-old man of limited cognitive awareness for spray painting swastikas and antisemitic phrases around Montauk in late 2023.
They don’t.
David Saxe has more than 50 years of legal and judicial experience. In his letter, he advocates a “nice dark, cold, and altogether unpleasant living environment for a solid period of time” as punishment and a deterrent for this “bum.” The proper sentence for this 76-year-old “skinhead was to place him in a state prison for nearly the maximum time his plea permitted” — even though it was well established by the court that the perpetrator had had multiple strokes, had difficulty speaking, and had significant health and cognitive limitations.
As a judge in New York City Civil Court, State Supreme Court, and as an associate justice for the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, it’s hard to believe that Mr. Saxe would not be up to date with the latest research on restorative justice, particularly as it relates to hate crimes. By his own statements, he shows he’s not up to it — he’s incapable of offering real choices.
The overwhelming evidence and research shows that there are strong correlations that using restorative justice reduces recidivism significantly. It puts power back in the hands of those most affected —the victims — their needs are being met, and they’re more likely to feel heard about the impact the crime has had on them. Victims feel empowered and have much higher levels of satisfaction with the process than those who participate in the traditional judicial process. Offenders are expected to account for what they have done, the consequences of their actions, and come to see their victims as individuals.
Out of the spa and back to the law books, David and Mitch!
As far as Rabbi Franklin’s role and understanding of the process, his lack of moral clarity and intellectual confusion rival Mr. Saxe’s and Agoos’s and may be even more more egregious. By his own statements and actions, he shows he’s clueless about what restorative justice really entails.
It’s not about a “personal choice” to forgive, as he says.
It’s not about forgiveness as an act of “releasing resentment” so one would not “remain emotionally tethered to [his] hatred.”
It’s not about encouraging others to consider the path of forgiveness — “not for (Mr. Nicholoulias’s) sake, but for their own.”
As far as we’re aware, Rabbi Franklin has never conducted a class on antisemitism at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, never led a public community event or discussion on the problem, or led any other discussion on the nature of prejudice, racism, Islamophobia, or hate crimes in general and what to do about them in our community.
He’s never held an event explaining dispute resolution or truth and reconciliation policies (variations of restorative justice) — policies which have had dramatic success in Northern Ireland and South Africa. It’s a process that the Israelis and Palestinians will eventually have to have if there’s ever to be peace between the two peoples.
His most recent statements (paraphrasing) include saying that antisemitism exists everywhere, all the time, and will continue to exist for all time. We have no real choice, so hunker down (bunker down?) and get used to it — for the duration.
It would have been helpful for him to tell us if he felt the 76-year-old perpetrator had learned anything after his jail sentence.
Did he meet with him during the time he was in jail or immediately after? Should the community still be concerned with this individual?
Other than fawning over police and court support, does Rabbi Franklin offer any educational solutions or has he encouraged a strengthening of community restorative justice programs that have shown to work when administered with care and solid therapeutic involvement?
He’s surely aware from his rabbinical training of Tikkun Olam (a form of restorative justice): the healing and transformative repairing of the world. Justice is what love looks like in public.
There are other and better choices; Mr. Saxe, Mr. Agoos, and Rabbi Franklin just don’t see them, and leave us with no real choice. They leave us with nothing.
The owner-bartender of that wonderful Hobson’s Choice restaurant would probably chuckle at all this and name a special dish in honor of the threesome. Wish he were still around. Maybe he is? If not, he and Hobson’s spirit live on — unfortunately in this case — in the lives of these “leaders” who should know better.
But that’s their choice.
Sincerely,
JIM VRETTOS