Delighted
East Hampton
May 12, 2025
To the Editor,
I am delighted by the election of Pope Leo XIV, and that he is an American is the least of the reasons. He is highly intelligent, multi-lingual, and a serious person. For now, though, I want to underline his vast experience as a leader on several continents, leading people in their native language.
That I, a Catholic, had not heard of him — and I’ve spent half my life in Chicago — tells me his has not been a vanity project. It is enough for me to know that the order that he led and the people of Peru fully supported him — for decades.
In Francis we had a man of the highest moral stature and now we have another.
TOM MACKEY
Deeply Moved
East Hampton
May 9, 2025
Dear David,
I am deeply moved by the selection of Pope Leo. Here is the perfect example of a strong, masculine leader. He spent most of his life working to lift up and serve the poor and the disenfranchised people of Peru. Whether Catholic or not, a leader like him, who truly loves the weakest and is selfless and modest, can bring pride to all Americans and hope to the world.
Sincerely,
SPENCER SCHNEIDER
Beyond the Call
East Hampton
May 10, 2025
Dear East Hampton Community,
We would like to take this opportunity to express our overwhelming gratitude to the generous members of this amazing community. The way everyone rallies together to come to the aid of others in their time of need is exemplary and beyond the call of duty. A mere thank-you to the individuals and businesses for their kindness toward our family during the toughest chapter of our life’s journey can never be expressed adequately. We will be forever grateful for the kind words, unwavering support, and willingness to give above all expectations. For this we are forever grateful and proud to call East Hampton our home.
Feeling blessed,
THE FIORIELLO FAMILY
Not in Keeping
East Hampton
May 12, 2025
Dear David,
Congratulations to you and the entire team at The East Hampton Star on your distinction as the Suffolk County Legislature’s Second District small business of the year for 2025. Your hard work and commitment to excellence in journalism are appreciated in East Hampton and across the South Fork. It is wonderful to see your efforts acknowledged at the county level, too.
Now back to Main Street in the Village of East Hampton. Further to my letter last week, I was pleased to see that the unsightly bench in front of Dylan’s Candy Bar has been removed. However, my elation was short-lived. The area between the sidewalk and the curb in front of the candy store remains littered with lurid, turquoise cafe tables and chairs. There is also a multicolored easel sign in front of the shop.
As a weekly reader of this local paper, I am aware that the village is embracing outdoor dining. Does the scope of that scheme include tables and chairs for the candy bar?
The easel signs are another matter entirely. As you may have noticed, several merchants in the village have started placing colorful easel signs on the sidewalks, one more unattractive than the next. The proliferation of these signs is a concern that seems to be of little interest to the village administrators.
Why do large, regional, national and international retail establishments which have set up shops in East Hampton think that it is acceptable to clutter the sidewalks of our idyllic village with their advertising? Our commitment to a unique, tasteful and understated local style must not be compromised by marketing signage that is not in keeping with the fabric of our village.
For decades, the people of East Hampton have fought long and hard to preserve our historic town and to keep distasteful advertising in the form of neon signs and garish signage at bay. Why are these easel signs tolerated?
As seasonal shops reopen and Memorial Day approaches, it looks like we are heading down that slippery slope.
Sincerely,
ELIZABETH DIBBLE MILNE
Running a Gauntlet
East Hampton Village
May 7, 2025
Dear East Hampton Star,
“Do you know you live in East Hampton?” This was the response from a contractor working on the replacement (long overdue) of the electrical mains on my street. For the record, the answer is “yes, I’ve lived here 57 years” and in that time I’ve watched this once-welcoming little village become a displaced bit of 5th Avenue with stores most residents can’t afford to shop in and the constant sound of construction.
My house was the third or fourth to be built on my street and now it’s pretty much the last original house left. I feel like Mr. Fredricksen from the film “Up” in that I’m watching the slow urbanization of the neighborhood. It’s very sad, and the saddest part is that I feel I’m the only person who wants to have a peaceful summer or two.
The current bit of frustration is the electrical work I mentioned which began in January and which seems to have no end. It’s not just my street but all the streets off Egypt Lane between Pantigo and Further Lane (Egypt Close, Huntting Lane, David’s Lane, Pondview, Hither Lane, Middle Lane, Further Lane, and Fithian Lane). For months now it has been difficult to make day to day plans, as there is no notification as to which roads are going to be closed. There was no warning that work was going to begin, as far as I know. Full disclosure: I don’t own a cell or smart phone and I don’t live on the Internet like most people.
While it’s problematic waking up to find you’re trapped (I live in a cul-de-sac) and can’t make appointments or go shopping, of a bit more concern is the state of the roads. The work has left Egypt Lane in a state that is the kind that ruins suspensions and makes for a really difficult ride. They made an attempt to make it smoother but only to a small part. Of course, I realize that at some point the road will be repaved but that could be far into the future according to another workman. So is the village or town willing to do anything to compensate those of us who live here year round? Of course not and that question was inane but had to be asked. However, I still feel that the quality of life in East Hampton has eroded to the point where something needs to change.
The one positive is that the electrical mains are finally being replaced. Most of them are over 60 years old and some date back to the 1950s. I remember a LIPA technician working on a fault about 20 years ago explaining to me that she had traced the problem to a cable that was so old it was insulated with paper! So I realize the current project needs doing, and I’m glad they are finally working on it. But though some disruption is necessary, they seem to have done very little to make it less painful for those of us who live here.
So I do know I live in East Hampton. I also recognize that a certain amount of infrastructure work needs doing. But I’m also tired of running a gauntlet of service trucks, utility vehicles, and, in warmer months, joggers, bicycles, and tourists (who seem to think that back roads are sidewalks).
I could go on, but this letter is long enough, and I’ve made my point, I think.
As always, thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
MATT HARNICK
P.S.: To David, the Rattray family, and the East Hampton Star staff, I send my inexcusably belated condolences on the passing of dear Helen. She is missed.
The Particular Rhodo
East Hampton
May 12, 2025
Mr. Rattray,
Some years ago, we attended the Garden Club of East Hampton plant sale. As we were perusing the plants for sale, our friend Abby Jane Brody came up to us and insisted we purchase the particular rhododendron we were considering. She said it was special for two reasons. First, it was the only rhodo (to her knowledge, I suppose) with a flower that has fragrance. Second, Abby informed us, it was named in honor of Helen Rattray. Thus, we must buy it. We did.
This was at least 10 years ago.
The plant has grown nicely, but is stingy with flowers. Some years, one or two, some years, none. This year, it is covered with blossoms, all with a beautiful, subtle fragrance.
I won’t speculate why this particular year the flowers are in abundance, but I will say, they are.
Thanks,
BRIAN CRAIG
MICHAEL SWERDLOW
Has the Duty
Wainscott
May 9, 2025
Dear David:
The complaint letter regarding the license plate readers (May 1) is head-scratching to say the least. The proactive action taken by East Hampton Village should be commended. New York State requires all vehicles to maintain insurance, even if the car is not being driven.
Law enforcement has the duty to impound the vehicles. If a law enforcement officer lets the vehicle proceed and it gets involved in an accident, the officer is liable! The underlying cause is solely that they are committing the violation of the law. A driver’s license is not a right, but a privilege bestowed by the state.
It is common that traffic summonses are issued in lieu of arrests just for that reason.
Respectfully,
ARTHUR J. FRENCH
Bikes on Trails
Bellingham, Wash.
May 8, 2025
Dear Star,
As the representative of the Lassaw family and the Lassaw Preserve in Springs, I would like to express my opinion about e-bikes.
I am against e-bikes on dirt trails, especially in nature preserves. E-bikes are motorized vehicles and should not be used on trails where people are walking.
I have experience in this area. I live in Bellingham, Wash., where we have many lovely parks and wild trails which I walk on. Bike tires, although they are thinner than a car tire, can still do damage to tree roots by damaging the bark and sometimes cutting into the root itself by the root repeatedly being exposed to friction. This cannot be good for trees. While footsteps do compact the earth on trails, each footstep does less than bike wheels. Bikes go much faster and riders often like to bounce over things and use the trail like a race course.
In Springs the land is sandy and much more vulnerable to wear and tear. Here in Bellingham, several times I have been nearly run over by bikes racing down narrow trails. The bikers wore helmets; I did not. Once, crossing a narrow bridge path barely wide enough for two humans to stand side by side, a biker came rushing down the hill and onto the bridge. He stopped before he hit me and gave me a nasty look because my presence had interrupted his speed. I was midway across the bridge before he came along. This was on a regular bike; e-bikes are not allowed on trails in Bellingham parks.
Seeing e-bikes on the streets here, one rarely sees anyone pedaling. They ride like it was a motorbike. I would like to see nature trails preserved as places where people can walk slowly and observe nature. Be aware of birds, plants, trees, mushrooms, the sky, and creatures who live in the woods.
The Lassaw Preserve was created because my father, Ibram Lassaw, loved the woods. He walked in the woods every day and cared for them. He dragged garbage, even dead cars, out of the woods. We pruned the invasive vines that strangled the trees. They weren’t always part of the landscape. My family could have turned that 23 acres into a lot of money, but the thought of seeing more houses, more roads, noise, etc., was just too horrible, and, on the other hand, the taxes in Springs were also too horrible, so we donated the land as a nature preserve to the Town of East Hampton in order that it remain open land where birds, animals, trees, and also people could feel the happiness of a natural landscape.
Bikes are bad enough. Please do not allow bikes, especially e-bikes, on our trails. Walking is actually a very nice way to experience life and it is healthy and quiet. I am sure it makes the birds and animals and even the trees happier, too.
Sincerely,
DENISE LASSAW
Man of Iron
Montauk
May 3, 2025
Dear David,
Many years ago, a man of iron met his fate with unflinching courage. Today, a new champion emerges, and I consider myself one of the luckiest men on the face of this Earth for knowing him.
At a time when many are consumed with fear, divisiveness, and self-pity, he and his partner inspire with their grit, grace, and dignity in the face of a brutal, merciless adversary hell-bent on destruction. He does not retreat into the shadows of denial or resentment. Instead, he indomitably accepts the challenge as he has always done.
I try to offer encouragement and cheer, but he overwhelms me with more than I offer him. He is a fighter by nature, not a pugilistic one, but a humble, resolute one.
Just as a beautifully sculptured sand castle invariably loses its form to the approaching tide, he too may lose all he’s worked for as a chiseled weight lifter and former model. Beauty of one kind may disappear but a more splendid beauty has already emerged.
The odds are against him as he slowly deteriorates, yet his spirit and will are still strong and youthful. He meets his assassin with steadfast valor, resourcefulness, and resilience. Regardless of how the story ends I feel blessed to be a loyal friend.
In a world where little offers hope and inspiration, Ken Miller, a talented local artist, brings boundless color and light to the canvas of an ever-darkening world.
(A.L.S., or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness, Month is observed annually in May.)
JEFF GEWERT
Deserve Attention
East Hampton
May 12, 2025
Dear Mr. Editor,
Hope all is well at The Star. Your editorials from May 1 deserve a little attention. In your usual Trump bashing, you have managed to do some filibustering all on your own. In “When Information Becomes Treason,” you managed this feat by rambling on about the concept of “doublethink.” I read it several times, and at the end of the definition was still puzzled. The best I could figure out was an episode from “Seinfeld,” when yes is no and no is yes!
In your “Opposition Makes for Better Government,” you actually get down to the root problem of our local government. The supervisor boasts “running unopposed is a strong vote of confidence.” Well, I beg to differ. That is how a dominant party system rolls — no opposition.
Moving on, you did have a nice letter from Anthony Coron. While most of his letters usually deal with “MAGA thugs” and left-wing kook gibberish, his last paragraph I can agree on: Putting pressure on local politicians including “our zoning and review boards to help save our threatened environment.”
This leads me to a puzzling question for some board: We used to have a beautiful green belt on the west side of Three Mile Harbor Road from Gardiner’s Marina all the way to Harbor Boulevard. Out of nowhere we now have a big, black garage-like building a few yards from the road, interrupting the green belt. What happened? Let’s start to dilute the dominant party. Vote for J.P. Foster.
As always, best regards and yours to command,
JEFFREY PLITT
Secretive Dealings
Wainscott
May 12, 2025
Dear David,
We’ve done fine without the Maidstone Gun Club for two and a half years. Now “our” town board of DINOs — Democrats in Name Only when it comes to our environment — want to reintroduce guns, toxic residue, unnerving noise, and renewed danger to residents, hikers, bikers, businesses, and schools. Why?
They can’t come up with any public reasons for their secretive dealings with unnamed friends of theirs. They refuse to hold open hearings, acting like congressional Republicans.
Wainscott is long on record in opposition. The lawsuit by those frequently attacked by gunners’ bullets continues unresolved.
If a gun club in East Hampton is such a fine idea, would any other community in the town welcome one?
In a related matter, a fuel truck at the airport caught fire this week and could have resulted in a pathological conflagration. This adds to the nasty record of multiple (10) aircraft crashes at and near the airport since 2002. The PFAS contamination of our sole-source aquifer beneath the airport resulting from other irresponsible airport activities is not even being dealt with.
The airport and the gun club are the two most-toxic, lethal entities in East Hampton. And “our” board is settling with the airporters and renewing the gun club lease, gaining nothing — while relinquishing any means of control. Is anyone doing anything to protect us? Surely “our” town board isn’t.
BARRY RAEBECK
Think Again, Town
East Hampton
May 11, 2025
To the Editor,
The Town of East Hampton has various parcels of land from which to choose for “affordable housing.” Yet they are seriously considering building on Two Holes of Water Road and/or Cedar Street. How about on Further Lane or in front of the town offices!
The town reaches from Wainscott to Montauk. Think again, town. Find a less-invasive piece of land, find land not in an already traffic-crowded area. Look and you shall find.
JANE ADELMAN
Punts Ospreys
Amagansett
May 9, 2025
To the Editor:
When Cindi Crain and her neighbors commenced their Truck Beach litigation, they had my full support and sympathy. It seemed well within the province of the town to set reasonable regulations on the use of the beach by trucks (especially if not there for fishing purposes) so as to strike an equitable balance between the interests of the local homeowners and the truck folk.
Ms. Crain lost that sympathy on a day when (quoted from very old memory) she suggested that Truck Beach be moved — from her neighborhood to mine, “where nobody [important] lived.”
There are two kinds of people, those who think they are a higher life form, and those who don’t. It seems like a good test of whether to bring a lawsuit, whether you would support it, maybe even lend your name to it, if someone else filed it, and it didn’t affect you personally.
I remembered Ms. Crain when reading last week’s Star, which contained the revelation that she is alleged to have kicked an osprey’s nest off her dock; that seemed consistent, a fit second act.
I modestly propose that we add this to local idiom as a vivid expression of general disapproval. Here is a test usage: “Reg Cornelia punts ospreys.”
For democracy in East Hampton,
JONATHAN WALLACE
A New Voice
Amagansett
May 11, 2025
On Tuesday, the voters in Amagansett have an opportunity. They can choose to keep the status quo or bring on a new voice.
For far too long group think has been the norm. If you are looking for fresh perspectives, open ears, and a diverse voice. You have one choice: Joe Karpinski.
I am impartial, neutral, unbiased, and professional. I have no personal or family relationships with members of the board or school staff. I am a voice and have always been a voice for everyone. I will always be transparent, willing to listen, finding answers to questions asked, and, above all, I will never avoid accountability.
We have great students, great teachers, and a great community. Allow me the opportunity to bring Amagansett School back to the excellence it should always have.
Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. vote for the third name on the ballot. Voting is at the Amagansett School, 320 Main Street. That’s Joe Karpinski for school board. Thank you for your consideration.
Still here,
JOE KARPINSKI
Gives Testimony
East Hampton
May 12, 2025
Dear David,
Most of us know a woman in her 20s. Think of that woman as you read this letter.
Viktoriia Roshchyna was 27, a passionate Ukrainian journalist, so fiercely committed to exposing the war crimes of Russian invaders, that she ventured four different times into occupied Ukrainian territory to gather intelligence about her kidnapped and disappeared countrymen being held in Russian black sites. She knew the danger. Few would take the risks she took working alone.
She was captured in August of 2023. She was moved to various sites, held incommunicado, and reported dead a year later, October of 2024. Her mutilated body was returned to Ukraine, along with other bodies, only in February of 2025. It was in a bag labeled “unidentified male.” Her feet showed burn marks from electrical shocks. Her arms and legs bore wounds from knife slashes. Some of her organs were missing, including her brain, eyeballs, and trachea.
As Donald Trump persists in praising Vladimir Putin and emulating his strongman tactics, are you thinking of the young woman or girl you know in this country or of the legal immigrants charged with no crimes kidnapped and spirited off to a notorious prison in El Salvador? Are you still scoffing when Trump says any journalist who criticizes him is guilty of treason and should be in jail? Are you wincing at the thought of our president telling Volodymyr Zelensky that the ongoing war was his fault, when Viktoriia Roshchyna’s mutilated body gives testimony to what the Ukrainians are fighting against? They have endured Russian rule and know what it is.
Trump’s approval ratings have taken a dive as his economic policies have resulted in a drop in gross national product and projections of a recession, or worse. Business leaders and economists agree that his tariff fiasco is childish in its ignorance of the way business and international trade work; 93 percent of lawsuits waged against his barrage of unlawful executive orders have been supported by the courts and ignored by his stooges in the Department of Justice. The rule of law is sleeping or dead. We can hope it will rise again.
It is a good thing that Trump’s popularity is tanking. But it is depressing that most Americans awaken to his craven nature only when their own wealth is threatened. Few seem to care that he is using the presidency as an extortion machine for his personal enrichment.
How many speak out against his invitations to foreign and domestic players: pay a million dollars for a group dinner at Mar-a-Lago, or $5 million for a private dinner. A trucking company bought $20 million of his cryptocurrency. Creators of the Trump memecoin have garnered $325 million in trading fees, while the small-time suckers have lost money. A gumbo of foreign entities, mostly Arab oil money, has embarked on a $5.5 billion Trump International Golf Club in Qatar. Could that be related to oil being exempted from Trump’s tariffs? Or is it the same old fossil fuel lobby that has long bankrolled the Republican party to lie about climate change in furtherance of their billions in profit?
Again, that’s just the money part. I wish more of us would expend some outrage at the savage mutilation of an aspiring democracy by a criminal dictator, and the blithe indifference of our grasping narcissistic president to that carnage. Somehow that tells us more about who we are as Americans. To paraphrase Bob Dylan: “We used to care, but things have changed.”
DON MATHESON
Stacey Abrams
Springs
May 12, 2025
To the Editor,
The Star states that my claim about the election denier Stacey Abrams and her $2 billion grant from the Environmental Protection Agency has been “debunked,” a word the left always uses (without evidence) about facts they don’t like. The story is true, though the money will apparently be blocked by the new E.P.A. head, our very own Lee Zeldin. Thank you, Mr. Zeldin.
Ms. Abrams, like her New York counterpart, Litigious James, has a long record of financial misdeeds and frauds, on both the personal and professional level. The Star should look into these matters. There’s a lot to look at, and debunking it will be difficult.
Sincerely,
REG CORNELIA
—
The grant (part of the Inflation Reduction act) was falsely characterized by President Trump in his March 4 speech to Congress. The April, 2024, grant to Power Forward Communities, a national consortium of United Way Worldwide, Habitat for Humanity International, Enterprise Community Partners, Rewiring America, and the Local Initiatives Support Corp., was for green and affordable housing initiatives. Ms. Abrams was not involved in Power Forward Communities’ grant, nor did she lead an organization that received it; she provided legal advice to Rewiring America from 2023 to December. Ed.
‘Don’t Know’
North Haven
May 12, 2025
Dear David:
Trump answered, “I don’t know” on “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” several times to pointed questions concerning his willingness to comply with constitutional rulings by the Supreme Court.
We might understand a schoolteacher saying, “I don’t know” if they actually do not have an answer relating to the lesson.
We would understand a doctor if he said that, if unable to diagnose an illness we were suffering from.
We would understand if our auto mechanic said that, if unable to fix our car.
We would not tolerate that if any of our good, dedicated local police officers were to arrest us for some reason, but said, “I don’t know” if we asked if they would follow the law and the U.S. Constitution.
What amazes me is that this individual, Trump, was recently sworn in for the second time to uphold the Constitution of the United States — as president of the United States! Trump now says he is unable to know if he would uphold his oath to follow the Constitution.
For anyone who hasn’t figured this out yet, we must realize Trump plans to cause a constitutional crisis. He plans to defy the Supreme Court, and knows that they have no enforcement power, anyway, other than Congress. He thinks he owns them.
Behavior like this has already infected Congress and the House of Representatives. If left unchecked, it will infect our local politicians and law enforcement. The tragedy of this lawless presidential administration must come to an end.
A constitutional crisis is looming on the horizon. Should this president, encouraged by his cronies, continue to defy the Supreme Court, we must understand the only recourse is in the hands of Congress, which claims to represent the voters and did swear to uphold the Constitution.
Trump thinks he owns Congress, but his second administration is so much more lawless and flagrant, the prospect of another impeachment resulting in conviction is much more likely. Otherwise we will have become an autocracy.
ANTHONY CORON