Earth Hour
East Hampton
March 17, 2025
Dear Mr. Rattray,
Thank you and Chris Gangemi for reporting that the Village of East Hampton will observe Earth Hour on Saturday from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Earth Hour is the global initiative that builds awareness of our role in environmental health by encouraging people to turn off unnecessary lighting for one hour. Beyond that, there’s a story behind Earth Day observances in our community.
Young Matthew Lester loved all creatures. When he was 10 years old, he introduced Earth Hour to the East Hampton Town Board. In response, the Town of East Hampton issued a proclamation in observance of Earth Hour in 2010. Many small acts make a big difference.
When he was in high school, Matthew dreamed of creating a garden to protect bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Once again, he took action, presenting his plan for a pollinator garden at the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum. The town board approved. Unfortunately, Matthew didn’t live to see his project finished. In honor of his vision, the community, including his family and the Scouts, came together to plant Matthew’s Garden in 2017.
For years, Matthew’s parents cared for the garden. As they aged, this labor of love became increasingly arduous. In 2024, his mother, Dana, asked for help from local environmental groups. Fortunately, ReWild Long Island/South Fork with its summer program for high school students was able to help. To kill the weeds, we pulled out invasive plants, put down layers of cardboard, and shoveled lots of compost donated by the Town of East Hampton. The summer interns channeled Matthew’s vision and held their end-of-summer commendation ceremony at Matthew’s Garden with the help of Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, family, and friends.
ReWild Long Island’s commitment to Matthew’s Garden has grown this year with a community garden grant to install irrigation, provide native plants to finish revitalizing Matthew’s Garden, and plant a demonstration garden to show that home gardeners can help pollinators in a small plot without deer fencing. Planting day, to which the community is invited, is on May 21 at 3 p.m. Dana and summer program interns will also host workshops on pollinator gardening this summer.
In the meantime, join Matthew’s family and friends, and East Hampton Town and Village, in observing Earth Hour and celebrating our connections with each other and our fragile environment. Learn more about Earth Hour and how your lighting decisions can benefit our families, pollinators, and environment at ReWildLongIsland.org/events.
With my regards,
GLORIA FRAZEE
ReWild Long Island, South Fork Chapter
No-Fling Spring
Springs
March 13, 2025
Dear David,
The East Hampton Litter Action Committee is writing to announce the Third Annual No-Fling Spring starting on Saturday and continuing to April 6. Our kickoff event will take place at Maidstone Park pavilion on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon (rain or shine). All are invited, just bring friends and family. Bags, pickup tools, and gloves will be available. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Maidstone Market and Deli.
For those of you who can’t make it, we encourage you to host an event of your own. Invite members of your community group, neighbors, and/or friends to clean up an area of your choosing. Our beaches, trails, and roadways all need helping hands. Litter pickups everywhere are important and essential. Even just getting out and cleaning up your own road makes a difference.
Spread the word — let’s keep East Hampton litter-free!
Thank you,
TINA PLESSET
East Hampton Town Litter Action Committee
Residents Recoil
Amagansett
March 11, 2025
Dear Editor:
Count me among the Amagansett residents who recoil at the prospect of a convenience store being added to the Mobil station. I live on Indian Wells Highway and can attest that navigating the turns where the street meets the highway is tricky enough without having to deal with convenience-store traffic. Yikes!
ALICE HENRY WHITMORE
High Risk
East Hampton
March 16, 2025
Dear Mr. Rattray,
My wife and I are retired and are full-time residents in the Northwest Woods area of East Hampton for over 10 years. We are grateful for your recent articles on fire risks in East Hampton Town and particularly the high-risk exposure of wildfires in Northwest Woods. Your front-page article on “Taking Stock of Fire Risks” in your March 13 issue is particularly helpful and reassuring. Thank you for keeping the public informed on this issue.
I would like to bring to the attention of your readers and the authorities of Suffolk County, East Hampton Town, and the Suffolk County Water Authority the following: Our street, Ely Brook Road, and vicinity have no access to public water, and there are no hydrants available in our neighborhood. Public water and hydrants are available, however, approximately 1,000 feet on Hand’s Creek Road to the east and on Alewife Brook Road to the west.
In view of the high wildfire risk assessment for Northwest Woods, we are very concerned about having no access to public water systems and our safety and wildfire readiness in our area.
Your article of March 13 states that the water authority has been adding hydrants. It is imperative that high priority is given to adding hydrants on Ely Brook Road and the neighborhood as soon as possible. I have contacted the county water authority but have not heard back.
Thank you again for keeping the public informed.
Sincerely,
GEORGE THEOTOCATOS
Must Act Now
Amagansett
March 10, 2025
Dear David,
Regardless of who owns the lands in question, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and the rest of the East Hampton Town Board must act now to mitigate the fire risk in Amagansett and Montauk to protect the lives and property of those who live there. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
RICH MOREY
Line Didn’t Hold
Amagansett
March 15, 2025
To the Editor:
One of the great fallacies in life is the “boundary of safety.” I am sure a sociologist has written a famous book, and there is some term of art with which I’m unfamiliar. What I mean is the line of spectators believing they are on the other side of an invisible fence from the firefighters or police handling an emergency — a danger, riot, or fire — which can never overrun the “blue line” to engulf us.
I have had a number of experiences in my own life when the line didn’t hold: I was under the World Trade towers on 9/11. I have also experienced circumstances in which the blue line itself was the danger, such as the night of the Occupy Wall Street eviction in 2011, when the police “kettling” the protesters, before entering the park, charged, hit, and arrested the observers outside their line (me included).
Last week’s wildfires in Manorville and Westhampton got me thinking about this again. The Internet believes wildfires travel a bit over 14 miles per hour. The fire at the time it was contained was about 33 miles from here. Many of us, watching News 12, struggled with two different concepts of “safe boundaries” — a line no closer than Shinnecock, and, more reassuringly, the eastern border of California, because wildfires only happen there. Of course, given all the dead pines — the fuel — everywhere around us and the drought we are experiencing, the belief that “this only happens in California” or even “only in Western Suffolk” is completely false.
The same thinking is evident regarding the national emergency. Amidst all this chatter about Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the undocumented, the Trump administration is now conducting immigration raids at my alma mater, Columbia, which have not stopped at the out-of-status, but have so far successfully ensnared a permanent resident with an American wife and a woman with a student visa. The insight that follows from the epiphany that the boundaries (often called “guardrails”) don’t exist is that there is nothing special about us, the white residents of East Hampton, that makes us immune. The difference between Reg Cornelia and Mahmoud Khalil, is invisible to a martian scientist — or Donald Trump.
These two rolled-up-New-York-Times-to-the-head moments lead to a third: My whole life, I heard and believed the saw that all politics is local. Now I see the opposite is also true: All politics is global.
For democracy in America,
JONATHAN WALLACE
Help Communicate
Sag Harbor
March 15, 2025
Dear Editor,
Regarding the article “Bumping Up Against a Language Barrier in Sag Harbor” (March 13), the Sag Harbor School District could easily contract with an official telephone translating service to help the office staff communicate with parents who are not bilingual. It’s very sad that this article makes it sound like nothing is being done to try to ease this communication barrier. I’m a provider in a medical clinic where we use a phone medical translation service almost daily and it’s easy and quick and very much appreciated by the non-English-speaking clients. And it’s a service that is mandated by law.
I would expect that the school district would want to do as much as it can to ease communication with the parents of its students, as much as I know it cares about wanting their students to succeed. My children are graduates of the Sag Harbor schools, attended kindergarten through grade 12, and I would expect nothing less from this excellent administration and board.
Sincerely,
BETH JOSEPHS
What’s the Cost?
Amagansett
March 16, 2025
Dear David,
A glaring omission this past week in regard to this shared services plan by the multiple schools of Amagansett, East Hampton, Montauk, and Springs. This is just my observation from what was written. I saw no mention of the New York State Department of Education or the Long Island regional office for special education. Did the schools decide this will come to fruition without approval? This plan is not located anywhere I can view. The town has now also interjected itself with “officials” getting involved. Quite interesting since political figures do not have a response to previous or ongoing occurrences.
This isn’t stating this is a bad idea, just not thought out, in my opinion, by announcing it while putting the cart before the horse. How many students? Who’s the staff? Who’s staffing? What’s the cost? All schools are willing to lose seats in programs? This means this is predetermined, a potential violation. Considering both Springs School and Montauk School have continually posted for months the “summaries” of students with I.E.P.s (individual educational programs). So much for “board’s eyes only” and confidentiality. Do any of the students and students’ families even know their privacy has been violated? Utterly disgraceful.
Superintendents, school boards, and, most certainly, the directors of pupil services might want to do their jobs correctly first before making new plans.
Still here,
JOE KARPINSKI
Genuine Peace
Montauk
March 17, 2025
To the Editor:
A gentleman named Rodney King once asked, “Can we all get along?” after being savagely beaten by Los Angeles police. The question is still relevant 34 years later. Why can’t we?
I believe we can if we do not blindly follow our leaders who only care about power, prestige, and wealth. We hate people, disdain people, and fear people only because they, along with their complicit media, persuade us to do so under false pretenses. Wartime politicians on the winning side usually reap tremendous benefits, while the general populace suffers. They care little about righteousness, justice, or the long-term ramifications of their actions, so long as their self-interests are satisfied.
What’s been happening in Gaza for nearly 18 months and now happening in the West Bank is horrifying by any standard. Regardless of party, the leadership in the United States and in Israel have led us down a deplorable path that has already reshaped how the world sees both nations. It has struck a mortal blow to the mythology of America as a moral leader and to the notion that Israelis are victims who need to defend themselves.
I’ve been a champion of the underdog my whole life, which includes Israel. I was deeply saddened by Munich and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, and I cheered the rounding up of Nazi war criminals and the exploits in Uganda. And I marveled at Israelis retrofitting American fighter jets to make them better. It was a classic underdog story.
But over the years I realized that Israel was no longer the underdog. It had become the oppressor. Its current hubris is off the charts, as the world helplessly watches an appalling genocide continue, along with recent efforts to remove Palestinians from their native land. Donald Trump may divide us for four years, but the resulting rise in antisemitism will haunt us for a lifetime.
Concurrently, the suppression of free speech is reaching levels not seen since McCarthyism. Attempts to silence Americans who support Palestine threaten the very foundation of our democracy.
The history of grossly disproportionate, retaliatory aggression by Israel for nearly a century has done nothing to make Israel safer. And with weapons becoming increasingly miniaturized, more deadly, and easier to acquire, the prospect of peace by subjugation will become impossible.
What do Israel citizens have to lose by supporting a comprehensive, just peace given its overwhelming firepower, its economic prowess, and the support of the strongest nation on the planet? Much of Palestine has been destroyed and tens of thousands of civilians killed. They’ve been brought to their knees. Isn’t that enough?
Arguably a small group of Palestinians would likely continue to fight an effective guerilla war if forced to, but there would be no need for such warfare if Israel agreed to restore the 1967 boundaries, which the United Nations has sought for over 50 years. In the absence of a guaranteed road map to such a peace, it would be suicidal for Hamas to release the remaining hostages. But if Israel demonstrates they are wholeheartedly behind true peace, I believe the hostages would come home very soon. But that will not happen without an overwhelming, grassroots movement for unconditional peace.
Israel is not fighting an army; it’s fighting a cause. And a cause is far more difficult to destroy. It’s time to try unconditional peace for the very first time. Dictating who should run Palestine or insisting on some degree of occupation will cripple the peace process as it always has, and the politicians know that.
Let’s not let ancient claims, subterfuge, and tit-for-tat arguments rule the day. That only muddies the water. Let’s start today with a clean slate without preconceptions, preconditions, grievances, or fears, and begin building a genuine peace rooted in trust and forgiveness.
JEFF GEWERT
NOAA Essential
Springs
March 11, 2025
Dear David,
I am appalled at what the Trump administration is doing to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. This agency, created in the 1970s with bipartisan support, has provided free, widely used weather forecasts, helping communities like ours prepare for hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, etc. The Union of Concerned Scientists recently delivered an open letter to Congress and to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, signed by thousands of experts (including myself) urging full funding and staffing for NOAA to protect its science.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are following Project 2025, which calls for dismantling NOAA and privatizing weather forecasting. Privatizing NOAA’s data would weaken public safety and United States leadership in climate and ocean science. Dismantling NOAA means flying blind into climate crises: Without NOAA’s data, we would lack essential tools to track and respond to rising sea levels, worsening heat waves, flooding, and other climate disasters. NOAA is essential in fisheries and in climate monitoring and research. It works with scientists worldwide to provide vital information. Weakening NOAA would have devastating consequences for global climate research and forecasting, undermine decades of important ocean research, and signal a retreat from the U.S.’s role as a global leader in science. I hope readers of The Star will share these concerns with Representative Nick LaLota.
Sincerely,
JUDITH S. WEIS
Each Day a New Horror
East Hampton
March 17, 2025
To the Editor,
I applaud The Star’s recent editorial on the cuts to the National Weather Service and its parent. I particularly admired the detail and the way the writer built the argument.
Each day brings a new horror: a Black Medal of Honor winner erased and labeled “D.E.I.”; we learned that a high-achieving group of minority musicians had their concert canceled with the United States Marine Band — “by Trump.”
Another day we learn that our president doesn’t care about the stock market. Has it dented his mind that tens of millions who voted for him have their life savings “in the market”?
People say he is trying to be king. Some king. He is relying on tribute and collecting the vig through tariffs in which he controls the money and on his tissue-thin crypto “business.”
Once a person of stature stands up to him, we will find a second, and then a third standing up. His fall will be great and just.
TOM MACKEY
Useful Excuse
East Hampton
March 17, 2025
Dear Editor:
The Trump administration recently detained Mahmoud Khalil, a graduating Columbia University student and lawful United States resident. His arrest was cloaked in secrecy, and he broke no laws. Efforts to deport him are a grievous affront to First Amendment constitutional protections and a threat to us all.
Mr. Khalil was involved in university protests and mediated between protesters and the university. The government characterized his activities as being “aligned with Hamas.” In truth, his detention was retaliation for simply speaking and protesting. His support of Palestinian aspirations and his opposition to the policies of the Israeli government are lawful and permissible; his activities were not antisemitic.
The message of the Trump administration is clear: Disagreement and protest can land you in jail and trigger deportation.
The Trump administration has scant credibility in opposing antisemitism. It has welcomed white nationalists in public office. Elon Musk publicly threw a Nazi salute. He later urged German voters to support the neo-Nazi AfD party. In recent posts, he exonerated Hitler from mass murder, instead blaming “public sector workers.” Mr. Musk declined to fire an employee who proudly brayed racist and pro-eugenics beliefs in online posts. Little need be said of Donald Trump’s pardons of neo-Nazi insurrectionists. He dined with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and racist.
Mr. Trump’s mission is insidious: He seeks to bring to heel institutions of higher learning. He is not fighting “woke” ideology; he fears an open mind. His message is emphatic: Submit or be punished. Antisemitism is simply a convenient cudgel to get his way.
Mr. Trump has already threatened some 60 universities and purportedly canceled $400 million of federal funds committed to Columbia. He has also outrageously demanded that the university place its Department of Middle Eastern, Asian, and African Studies under “academic receivership” for five years. Nothing frightens Mr. Trump more than accurate scholarship about regions that spotlight his bigotry and ignorance.
I attended college in the Vietnam War era. The country was riven with anger. Violence was in the air. My school opened its doors to the wider community. It welcomed protest and some very uncomfortable debate. No one taught me what to think. I was taught to learn and do my own thinking.
Whatever our position on the Palestine and Israel divide, it is critical to recognize when disagreement becomes a useful excuse to trample freedom of speech and assembly. Those protections are the cornerstones of democracy. Today’s target may be Mr. Khalil; tomorrow, it may be you or me.
JEFF BRAGMAN
Cascade of Failures
East Hampton
March 17, 2025
Dear David,
We are all busy. We all have our preferred news outlets, so it is difficult to sound an alarm that everyone can hear. I urge anybody who cares about Social Security to find on YouTube an interview done by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse with Martin O’Malley, the former head of the Social Security Administration. Seventy-two million Americans rely on monthly checks, and millions more are paying into it and expect it to provide the bulk of their retirement income.
To skim the surface of that 30-minute interview, the ludicrous lies Donald Trump told in his address to Congress about paying dead people have been thoroughly debunked. In fact, annual audits have shown numbers like 860 fake accounts, rather than the millions claimed. As for waste, fraud, and abuse, Social Security operates on less than 1 percent overhead for money and checks paid out. Comparing this to private insurance companies, Allstate’s overhead is 19 percent, and Liberty Mutual’s overhead is 23 percent. It is remarkably efficient — at least, that is its history.
That is already changing as the Department of Government Efficiency has gutted many of the departments that make it function smoothly. They have fired the cybersecurity managers. They have fired the experienced managers who understand the computer systems. They have pushed out the managers who refused access to DOGE cowboys trying to crack open the data on all Social Security participants in favor of a low level (TS15) manager whose only qualification was that he allowed the DOGE boys into the system. Think about that: They elevated a worker who had never managed more than five people in one small office to run hundreds of people in a mission-critical tech arm of the administration.
They are laying off hundreds of people who are responsible for answering phone calls from the public. They have gutted departments that actually guard against fraud and abuse.
Since then, they have been closing field offices. The time to get service is already increasing rapidly. Any person with enough years of experience to retire is being offered a year’s salary to quit. Many have accepted, with no transfer of their expertise to those taking over. Those not yet eligible for retirement are being offered up to $25,000 to quit. Many are accepting. In case you are wondering, these people are being paid to not work with money you paid into Social Security.
The strategy here is to set Social Security up for a cascade of failures. Then the billionaires who don’t need it can declare an emergency and kill the program altogether to privatize it. What does that mean? Invest the $2.7 trillion trust fund (our money) in whatever they want, for example, maybe Mr. Trump’s recently announced Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve to have your tax dollars pump up the value of his holdings, maybe to fund Republicans’ promised tax cut for the rich, which is projected to add $4.5 trillion to the national debt.
There are more frightening details and evidence in the interview recommended above. We are being robbed of our future. This is not a left-right political issue. It is plundering of the lower and middle classes by billionaires. The clock is ticking, and it is time for sincere voters who trusted Donald Trump to admit publicly that they were conned. Nobody voted for this.
DON MATHESON
Our Friend Bea
Montauk
March 16, 2025
To the Editor,
I’d like to quote our friend Bea, “Had anyone dared to show this disrespect for Joe Biden, imagine, just imagine, what would happen.” Bea, we don’t have to imagine, all that crow might be affecting your memory.
MIKE SKARIMBAS