Letters to the Editor: 08.04.16

Attend to the Flag

East Hampton

July 25, 2016

Dear Editor, 

Fourth of July has come and gone, the Soldier Ride has come and gone, and still our town and village can’t follow proper flag etiquette. What is so hard about raising the flag in the morning and lowering it at dusk? Somehow they manage to pick up the garbage, but they can’t master enough respect to attend to the flag?

KEVIN MILLER

A Tour of LongHouse

Sag Harbor

July 27, 2016

To the Editor:

Recently Fighting Chance had the opportunity to invite its patients to a private tour of the LongHouse Reserve.

Our guide, the docent Lee Dion, regaled us with stories about the history of the gardens and the sculptures, as well as intriguing botanical facts. His knowledge and wit made for a very special and uplifting presentation and tour.

Thank you, Joanne Sohn, for organizing this, and many, many thank-yous to Jack Lenor Larsen for your vision in making the LongHouse Reserve one of East Hampton’s true treasures.

NANCY GREENBERG

Program Administrator

Fighting Chance

A Hawaiian Luau

East Hampton

July 30, 2016

Dear Editor,

The Senior Center had a Hawaiian Luau for us. We had hors d’oeuvres and entertainment of Hawaiian dancing before our meal. The meal was wonderful, pulled pork and vegetables, ambrosia, Hawaiian Cola, cupcake. The kitchen staff are wonderful and always are surprising us with great meals. 

Seniors, come and join us! Pick up a menu at the center, 128 Springs-Fireplace Road.

JULIA KAYSER

Unsung Efforts

East Hampton

July 29, 2016

Dear David,

The Sag Harbor library renovation was finally completed, as wonderfully recounted in the article by Christine Sampson. We would also like to point out the enormous unsung efforts of Pat Trunzo and Trunzo Builders, who navigated through many difficulties to get the project completed so beautifully.

GENE FINE and LISA LIQUORI

More Than Disgusted

Sagaponack

July 22, 2016

To the Editor, 

The person who changed and then left all products of a number-two diaper swap on my front lawn, on Route 27, in broad daylight, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, should know that there is more class in a teaspoonful mixture of belly button lint, toe jam, and miscellaneous fingernail scrapings than he-she-it will ever possess in their entire lifetime. 

More than disgustedly yours, 

From the Field, 

KEN SCHWENK

That Special Place

San Francisco

August 1, 2016

Dear David,:

I read with dismay in the second issue of East magazine Michael Shnayerson’s “Summer of Love,” a glib seasonal selfie of celebrity name-dropping, real-estate advertising parading as editorial content, and gratuitous voyeurism of the wealthy, served up with the particular verve that only a seasoned Vanity Fair writer can. And now the community is edified to know that Michael’s own terribly special cherry was popped at the sweet age of 18 in Quail Hill’s windmill, in 1973, to the strains of the Eagles’ “Desperado,” in the very bedroom that Marilyn got it on with Arthur Miller, with the added frisson of Kurt Vonnegut and his then-son-in-law Geraldo Rivera residing directly next door (were they peeping?). And that Michael beat Geraldo at tennis. And that my mother Deborah Ann Light was a silly rich snob on the sidelines, ready to offer comedic relief to the riveting excitement of the main plot! Who knew? 

I know, for one, that this tasteless froth was not intentionally published on the exact anniversary of my mother’s death, a year ago July 21, but it most unfortunately was — and it cuts me like a knife. While I don’t begrudge anyone their reminiscences (horny or otherwise), or a fledgling magazine’s need to occasionally appeal to the baser currents that flow through the region, I grew up on Quail Hill, and there are a few facts regarding my mother and that special place that I’d like to set straight. Gossip, particularly of Mr. Shnayerson’s shiny ilk, has a way of being codified into legend, especially when the dead cannot speak for themselves. The larger a life is, the more parts of do become public property, but there are limits.

Mr. Shnayerson writes: “Light, known at the time as Deborah Perry, was eccentric — she later became a dedicated wiccan with a posse of cheerful pagans — and only rented the windmill to literary types she deemed worthy. My father was editor-in-chief of Harper’s magazine at the time, so we passed muster.” After relating that his father’s fellow Quail Hill renters that season (and in fact many more) were none other than Vonnegut and his then-companion Jill Krementz, he goes on to describe boyish exploits of turning his father’s rental of one of the three buildings that comprised my mother’s home into a cash cow by teaching tennis on the shared court: “Soon I had eight or ten students a day, and a fat roll of bills at the end of the week. Deborah Light learned only months later of my entrepreneurship, and was apparently horrified, so much so that she bulldozed the court.” Mr. Shnayerson then writes that “In 1990 Deborah Light donated half her estate to the Peconic Land Trust, which formed the Quail Hill organic community farm . . . at some point the house Vonnegut and Krementz rented was razed to make room for more crops.” After gratuitously enumerating the current prices of Quail Hill’s remaining houses (fishing the outer limits of the market as usual, naturally with expensive ads in The Star), he then wistfully concludes his epic meditation on manhood with a fundamental confusion: “Quail Hill is a gem . . . and soon someone will buy those acres for sale . . . but I, for one, will be sorry to see that haven closed off, and with it the sights of a golden summer in Amagansett a long, long time ago.”

Grammatically here the future is definitely not the past — Mr. Shnayerson’s (st)icky daydream was of course “closed off” 26 years ago, when my mother sold the windmill and main house in two separate five acre lots and gave Quail Hill’s remaining 20 to the Peconic Land Trust. She did not give “half her estate” to the Land Trust at that time; if by “estate” Mr. Shnayerson means Quail Hill, she gave two-thirds. If he instead means her larger Amagansett landholdings, comprised of Quail Hill and the additional 190 acres of contiguous farmland she carefully pieced together since acquiring Quail Hill’s 30 in 1967 from cosmetics impresario Samuel Rubin, she gave a tenth. It should be noted, for the record, that my mother herself started out as Rubin’s renter, in the same fateful windmill Mr. Shnayerson coos over. It should also not be forgotten that Rubin was going to subdivide Quail Hill into 15 two-acre parcels and offered the diminished windmill to my mother — who gently declined the small — and successfully countered with the big. She continued that trend in 1994, when she gave outright the balance of her 190 remaining acres to the Peconic Land Trust in one of the more spectacular philanthropic gestures ever seen on the East End. The real “gem” in Mr. Shnayerson’s piece is not one of the now two private parts of Quail Hill, or a particular building with vanes, but my gratuitously maligned mother.

She was not the snob, landlord or otherwise, that he depicts: from 1973 to 1975 she and I lived in California, far removed from Quail Hill and the end of a bad marriage, and during that period she simply wanted, in absentia, quiet types who she could rely on to be dependable tenants. That they were connected with the literary arts didn’t hurt; she did prefer wordsmiths and intellectuals to financiers. Harper’s magazine wasn’t then — and fortunately still isn’t — Vanity Fair.

Nor was my mother the capricious farce Mr. Shnayerson describes regarding the removal of the infamous tennis court — sorry to break it to you, Michael, but your 1973 “entrepreneurial” trespasses, tacky and inappropriate as they were, were not the cause of its demise — my mother simply didn’t like tennis, and neither did I (the court and adjacent ugly and unused greenhouse was Rubin’s doing), and sometime in the mid-’70s (1975? ’76?) we both agreed that the land would look much better without either. My mother also took the opportunity a little later to remove the “Barn” — Vonnegut was no doubt distraught at not being able to rent it anymore — but it was a leaky, moldy conversion of an old cinderblock farm building, and again the land looked far better free of it. The spot has never been used for “crops.” 

As to my mother’s “eccentricity,” harping on the wiccan trope is pretty tired and lazy (“posse of cheerful pagans”?! — whaaat?), but it’s always good copy to laugh at the differences of others, privileged or otherwise, isn’t it? Anyone who knew Deborah Light knew that she was a thoroughly capable person, to put it mildly, and one with an ability to laugh at herself. My mother was also a bit of a provocateur, and when she poked the regional bubble she did it with impeccable elan and no small amount of self-awareness.

Mom was indeed “eccentric,” but not in the shallow way Mr. Shnayerson bleats: it’s clear to me a year after her death that her greatest eccentricity was why on earth she selflessly gave so very much to a community that arguably didn’t then and does not now deserve it. She did it for the land, the extraordinary agricultural soil that only Long Island enjoys amidst the larger glacial moraine outerlands of the Northeast, she did it for the trees, and she did it for the innumerable other living things that comprise an ecosystem. Perhaps she did it for the humans who have made “The Hamptons” the national cautionary social train wreck it now is, but I doubt it . . . . 

Rest in peace, Mom: there is much to learn from the example of your individualism. Oldsters on the East End are reminded of it, and younger generations have something to happily discover. 

MICHAEL LIGHT

Plight of the Animals

Springs

August 1, 2016

To the Editor:

Many people feel the need for a philosophy of life, for goals and values to live by. One very meaningful goal is to alleviate suffering. Individuals cannot, of course, eliminate all the suffering in the world, but even small steps are valuable. As the poet Emily Dickinson wrote, “If I can stop one heart from breaking / I shall not live in vain.”

Dickinson did not confine her concern to the suffering of humans. She suggested that our lives gain meaning by coming to the aid of nonhuman animals, too. And many people do so. Many people adopt pets from shelters, and even more help pets overcome illnesses and get through difficult times. 

Today there is widespread suffering among farm animals. Pursuing profits, industrial farms keep chickens, pigs, and other animals in miserably overcrowded conditions. By opting for vegan or vegetarian diets, individuals do their part to end the cruelty.

The Village of East Hampton is deciding whether to continue with a deer sterilization program that caused several deer to die attempting to give birth. To prevent any further harm, the village should reject this program.  

Outside the village, hunting inflicts terror, pain, and loss on deer and other wildlife. Yet the town board continues to expand hunting. Its latest plan is to bring nonresident hunters into the woods. Citizens should tell the town board to consider the plight of the animals and begin to reduce hunting. 

Let’s do what we can to alleviate suffering — that of humans and our animal relatives as well.

BILL CRAIN

President

East Hampton Group for Wildlife 

Kick in the Teeth

Springs

July 25, 2016

Dear David,

The article in last week’s Star stating that the Child Development Center of the Hamptons was no longer an option for Springs School was the proverbial kick in the teeth for Springs citizens and the students of the school. The students will have to continue to live and work in tight quarters — a very different situation than the way students in the other schools of East Hampton function. Poor Springs!

With this, the only reasonable option for the school is that the school board attempt to go for an exemption from the state (if there is any chance of that with the State Education Department — who knows?) or to work out the kind of deal that now allows the Most Holy Trinity facility to house our pre-K classes in their out-of-district classrooms. It’s called working the system.

In the meantime, what is off the table is building an expensive addition, which cannot possibly be ready to deal with the present problem, and when it would be ready, the population will be less and so will the pocketbooks of every resident in Springs. 

Wonder how many seniors on fixed incomes will be pushed out of the area?  That is what you are really talking about. Poor Springs! 

PHYLLIS ITALIANO

Three-Way Traffic Signal

Montauk

July 24, 2016

To the Editor, 

When driving back and forth from New York City to Montauk, going through Water Mill can take 10 to 15 percent of the time of the entire trip. Installing a timed three-way traffic signal where Route 27 enters Water Mill from the west would save both time and money (less gasoline being used while waiting) and reduce air pollution. Why can’t this be implemented?

JOHN WINSTON

To Define Noisiness

East Hampton

August 1, 2016

Dear David,

In response to my public criticism of the performance of Peter Kirsch, the town’s aviation counsel, Supervisor Cantwell doubles down. Quoted in another local paper, Mr. Cantwell “applauded the quality of his work.” The impulse to defend past mistakes is all too human, but at some point one must know when to abandon a sinking ship in order not to sink with it.

The fact is that Mr. Kirsch is responsible for a series of staggering legal blunders that have already cost the East Hampton public dearly. My list extends to at least 13 such, but I shall describe only one here today, given the constraints of time and space. I will explain others in coming weeks, to be read for distraction while helicopters and seaplanes buzz overhead.

The town board-appointed airport planning committee’s noise subcommittee, which I chaired from early 2014 to April 2015, when it was dissolved by the board, recommended airport use restrictions based in part on a definition of noisy aircraft. This is reflected in the town’s extended curfew for such aircraft, a restriction that was upheld by a federal district court. The definition is based on a noise metric for aircraft, “EPNdB,” used by the F.A.A. and aviation regulators around the world.

The hitch is that none of the regulators uses only a single metric for measuring aircraft noisiness. In addition to EPNdB, which is applied to most but not all jets and helicopters, there are SEL and dBA, among others. I won’t bore you with the differences (Google is there for anyone interested), but it is impossible to define noisiness for all aircraft types using only EPNdB, as the town has done, because many types are not rated this way by the regulators themselves.

For that reason, the noise subcommittee recommended a definition based on EPNdB for any aircraft type that has an EPNdB rating, and an SEL definition for others. It is simply the case that more than one metric is necessary to cover all aircraft types, because that is how the regulators rate them. 

Mr. Kirsch obstinately insisted that there could only be a single noise metric, although the regulators themselves do not apply a single metric to all types. The result is that aircraft such as the Cessna 208 Caravan amphibian (referred to by most people simply as a “seaplane”), the one most commonly seen at East Hampton Airport, and the Bell 407 helicopter, the one preferred now by Blade, were not included in the definition of noisy aircraft. Yet they are plenty noisy in fact. 

We warned the town board repeatedly that the consequence of this omission would be that the traffic mix would simply shift away from the defined noisy types to the substitutes that had not been included in the “noisy aircraft” definition. And that is exactly what has occurred. The market response to the town’s restrictions has been a marked increase in seaplane and Bell 407 traffic, offset by a decline in other helicopter traffic, but with no net gain. To the contrary, the net effect for many has been to make things worse.

Among the airports that impose access restrictions using more than one of these three noise metrics are San Diego, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Salzburg (Austria), Prague, and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif.

So where did Mr. Kirsch get his one-size-fits-all rule? From no place. He made it up. There is no legal justification for his insistence on applying only a single noise metric when the authorities, including the F.A.A., that write the technical definitions do not limit their noise ratings in this way and do not rate all aircraft types with a single metric. Mr. Kirsch, who is supposed to be the board’s legal counsel, not its master, apparently advises the board not as to the law but to suit his own ideological preferences, or, just as likely, the preferences of his other clients for whom he publicly argues legal positions directly opposed to those of East Hampton. 

If so, Mr. Kirsch would hardly be the first lawyer to manipulate a client with bogus legal claims in the service of his own views or interests. Indeed, on the website for his firm he describes his representation of East Hampton thusly: “Represent proprietor of a small resort airport in negotiations, litigation and policy initiatives designed to achieve a balance between community concerns over noise and need for helicopter service for high-net-worth individuals with weekend homes in the area.”

That this is Mr. Kirsch’s agenda would easily explain why so little has actually been accomplished in the first two and a half years of the Cantwell administration to relieve our community of airport noise. What appears to be a series of incredible legal blunders by Mr. Kirsch may in fact be his intention.

I think the people of East Hampton who elected the current town board majority — all of whom, Cantwell, Burke-Gonzalez, Van Scoyac, and Overby, ran on a platform promising to relieve the community of the scourge of airport noise — would be very surprised to learn that what the town is actually doing is trying to protect “high-net-worth individuals” from having to travel to East Hampton by train, car, or Jitney as the 99 percent do (oh, my god, the horror!). After all, according to Mr. Kirsch, this is what the uber-rich “need,” like food or air. And, of course, peace and quiet for themselves, if not for others. 

It is long past time for the town board to be rid of Mr. Kirsch, or else see its credibility on the airport noise issue soon dissipate to nothing. Either that or our councilpersons should admit openly that Mr. Kirsch’s agenda is really the board’s agenda too, and face the voters honestly on that basis. The people of East Hampton would then be able to decide whether they want Mr. Kirsch’s “resort” airport for “high-net-worth individuals” commuting by helicopter and seaplane, or an airport designed to serve predominantly local and recreational pilots and aircraft owners.

DAVID GRUBER

 



Mr. Gruber chairs a newly formed committee on aircraft noise. Ed.

Stressed by Overusage

Springs

July 30, 2016

To the Editor:

The quantity of people using the East End is a huge burden on our natural and human-made resources. What may have been acceptable when there were fewer people is now unsustainable and unacceptable. Almost all aspects of East Hampton have been affected by excess usage: deafening airport noise, bumper-to-bumper traffic, loss of wetlands to development, decreased water quality, shellfishing closures, etc. This is both a year-round and summertime problem. Our community has reached the tipping point.

There is a direct correlation between the increasing number of people using and sometimes misusing our resources and the negative outcomes being observed. Throughout the East End, the quality of our waterways is declining at an accelerated rate. We have seen repeat episodes of algal blooms, fish kills, and shellfish die-offs. Our septic systems are outdated and overused. Getting from point A to B in July and August is impossible. Automobile fatalities and airlifted injuries are extremely common and a testament that too many trucks, cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians share our roadways.

Springs, the most populated community with the lowest median household income and highest property taxes of all the hamlets, is particularly at risk because of overuse. The pristine waters of Accabonac have recently experienced areas closed to shellfishing because of poor water quality. As the Springs School population continues to grow, the school board is seriously considering a capital expansion estimated to cost $25 million that will undoubtedly be higher. A large part of the population in Springs is made up of working-class people and retirees, who will be asked to pay increased taxes they cannot afford for the expansion.

Springs is not the only hamlet stressed by overusage, misuse, and increases in population. There are the crippling crowds that have turned the once sleepy hamlet of Montauk into party central. Georgica Pond, Sag Harbor Cove, Lake Montauk have all been cited in recent years for algal and water quality problems that ultimately resulted in access limitations and/or closures. Communities have protested Truck Beach and the parking of commercial vehicles on residential property. These are two problems the town trustees and the town board are trying to resolve that might not exist if there were fewer people doing it.

Fortunately for us, we already have some meaningful programs and legislation: the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund and the rental registry. The Peconic Bay C.P.F. is available to purchase and preserve land, and on the ballot this fall is a proposal to use preservation funds to assist in paying part of the cost of replacing outdated septic systems with the latest technology that will reduce groundwater pollutants before they end up in our bays. That is a great idea that should receive our full support! 

The rental registry is a valuable enforcement tool available to stop illegal, frequently overcrowded, and sometimes dangerous housing. One hundred percent compliance would enhance the quality of the environment and the quality of our life. It will also work toward the preservation of the residential character of our community.

Nonetheless, much more is needed to respond better to the challenges we face! Shared hamlet management, school consolidation, determining impacts before granting special-use permits, and enhanced 24/7 code enforcement should all be pursued more aggressively. These concepts will result in better management, lower taxes, and the preservation of the character of the East End.

Yes, the government can do more, but we should be accountable for our own actions rather than waiting for and then objecting to new legislation. The more we individually do, the less government will have us do. East Hampton has countless good citizens and organizations working hard, fighting the good fight, to preserve this beautiful place we call home. Each of us has a role to play in the preservation of our environment and our quality of life.

Retrofitting our infrastructure to accommodate a larger population is prohibitive in every sense. Prevention is a much better road than remediation. We have now reached the point when less would be more.

FRANK RIINA

Alternative Locations

East Hampton

August 1, 2016

Dear David,

For many years our community has prided itself on gorgeous beaches, pristine vistas, and faultless landscapes. I am writing today to weigh in on the debate surrounding trucks and sport utility vehicles on the Napeague beach. Apart from the obvious environmental issues at hand, the trucks on the beach are a significant contributing factor to noise and visual pollution.

Here in the Town of East Hampton we’re fortunate to have iconic beaches that people flock to during the summer. However, in my opinion, by allowing vehicles onto Napeague, we’ve diminished the enjoyment the vast majority of beachgoers derive from the time they spend there. I’ve heard many residents complaining about how unseemly Napeague has become.

What was once a picturesque little strip of beach has turned into a car park littered with beer cans, plastic bags, and wrappers. When I go to the beach, I want to enjoy the sand, the sun, and the ocean. I want to look up and see the horizon, not a pickup. I want to hear the waves crashing and the seagulls calling, not a car radio. I don’t want to worry about broken glass from a party while I’m walking along.

I believe we need to find an equitable solution to this issue in a timely manner. Not only are the trucks themselves an eyesore, but they also bring with them increased noise, litter, and less-enjoyable beach views for everybody else present. If the beaches are a part of the reason people choose to live in East Hampton, then our beaches should be maintained and preserved accordingly. Alternative locations for “Truck Beach” have been proposed, and, I believe, referring to this issue as one of “public access” is a red herring in its most egregious form. Public access to Napeague won’t be barred; only the trucks will be. 

While I don’t condone people driving their vehicles onto the beach, I do respect that it’s something of a local tradition. I think the fairest, most expedient solution would be to relocate truck and S.U.V. access to an area less in the public view as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

NICOLA CLAYTON

Tennis Club Project

East Hampton

August 1, 2016

To the Editor, 

As a lifelong resident and longtime teacher and coach in East Hampton, I believe I have a pretty good feel for the pulse of the locals when it comes to matters that affect our community. Many of us were thrilled when we learned that the town board had granted approval for the project at the East Hampton Indoor Tennis Club. Once again we would have bowling lanes to provide year-round recreation for adults and youths, as well as allowing East Hampton High School to revive its bowling program. Miniature golf, bocce, and a sports bar and restaurant would provide additional venues to be enjoyed by year-round as well as summer residents and visitors.

Naturally many of us were dismayed to learn of the lawsuit filed by a small group of homeowners against the town board, as well as Scott Rubenstein and E.H.I.T. I speak for many local residents when I say that I sincerely hope the town board stands by its decision to approve this project. Many months and several open meetings went into reviewing this proposal and all its plans, and the board voted unanimously to approve this project. 

It would be totally wrong for the board to cave to this small group of Nimbys and start this process all over again. The town board should tell this group, “We stand by the process we took and the decision we made. This project has the approval to go forward.”

JIM NICOLETTI

Birthplace of Minimalism

Boyertown, Pa.

July 28, 2016

 Dear Editor:

I would like to address the issue of Minimalism and the East End.

Dennis Oppenheim had been such a constant presence at the California College of Arts and Crafts (1964-65) that I assumed he had been a classmate. Upon his passing, I incorrectly sought David to “correct” his obituary in The Star. 

 It may be wrong of me to claim that C.C.A.C. was the birthplace of Minimalism. At the same time, it would be derelict of me to fail to note that it was a birthplace of Minimalism. The first two practitioners were John Slorp and myself, Peter Schnore. Slorp went on to become a high-level art school administrator. He may even be remembered by some for his (brilliant?) art subject letters published in The Star. I am known locally for the many East End realistic landscape oils collected through eitherthe Vered or Grenning galleries. 

The third classmate, something of a latecomer, should be recognized by all. He was the later internationally acclaimed John McCracken. 

We may ask why is it that Slorp and Schnore are virtually unknown as Minimalists. I cannot speak for Slorp, just for myself, Schnore, and for art history. In the five years between 1964 and 1970 I created no more than 20 pieces, most of them in school in 1965. The vicissitudes of life compelled me to destroy some for their unwieldy size, others because they had that conceptual art aspect allowing them to be remade at any time.

 McCracken gained an audience early by showing his work at an esteemed Los Angeles gallery. Later, he too reverted to painting, before once again gathering considerable acclaim with minimistically inspired works, outgrowths of the primary-structures movement — pieces he originally showed at C.C.A.C. in 1965.

PETER SCHNORE 

P.S.:  In 1965 the M.F.A. was denied me, as Minimalism had not yet hit the glossies. A few years later, in conversation, Oppenheim termed my work at C.C.A.C. “prophetic.” I did receive the M.F.A. from C.C.A.C. in 1969 for a purely conceptual work of no material properties, idea-attitude.

Consider the Impact

East Hampton 

August 1, 2016

Dear David:

Many people who were disappointed that Hillary, rather than Bernie, won the Democratic presidential primary should take heart by the fact that many of Bernie’s positions have been incorporated into Hillary’s platform. Those “Bernie or Bust” folks must remember the alternative and consider the impact of a Trump presidency. 

Voting for a third party candidate — or not voting at all — would help to put Donald Trump in the White House. Is that what progressives really want? I think not.

SUE AVEDON

‘Hillary’s America’

Springs

July 25, 2016

To the Editor:

We saw Dinesh D’Souza’s “Hillary’s America” today. It is an excellent documentary, quite revealing, covering D’Souza’s own research as well as many of the ongoing scandals revealed in the book “Clinton Cash.” I left the theater understanding how a pensioned-off U.S. president and a cabinet secretary were able to “earn” $130 million in six years. 

“Hillary’s America” was number nine in box offices nationwide this past weekend. That’s pretty good, considering the theaters showing it are limited in number. I commend it to your viewing, if you are willing to drive to Hampton Bays. It’s too accurate a portrayal of the Clintons to be allowed in East Hampton. This week, the First Amendment starts at the Canal.

BILL BROWN

Incredible Movie

Sag Harbor

July 26, 2016

Dear Editor,

Last night I drove to Hampton Bays to see the new movie “Hillary’s America.” What an eye-opener it was for me. Being an independent voter, I went to the movie with an open mind. This incredible movie provided an education of the Democratic Party and the background of Hillary Clinton.

The East End of Long Island is principally Democratic; however, I urge every potential voter to see this film before it stops playing. See the movie, check out the facts, and then make an informed decision on how you will cast your vote in November.

THOMAS METZ

Truth About His Taxes

Sag Harbor

July 28, 2016

Dear David,

Trump is tough. Very tough. He’s told us himself, repeatedly. For all his humility, he isn’t shy to tell us of his superior qualities, as you might expect for a man who honestly recognizes his own toughness. He’s told us he won’t release his taxes because his taxes are under audit. Why not? Releasing his taxes certainly would not change what he has already submitted to the I.R.S. Even if a lawyer would tell Trump what to do, we know he wouldn’t put his own interests before the nation’s need to know. What does he want to keep hidden from the American public?

Trump has told us he has been very generous with his contributions, like the contributions he gave to veterans’ groups only after reporters asked what veterans’ group(s) he had already claimed he gave millions. Would he be embarrassed if it turns out he has been less than honest? Did Trump give anything to charity? We don’t know. The I.R.S. has stated they have no objections to any candidate making his tax record public, even under audit. How much is Trump paying in taxes? We don’t know. Has he exaggerated his vaunted worth? What’s Trump actually worth? We don’t know. Trump has already said he’s afraid to release his taxes because he knows they contain items that could be used against him.

Trump loves to brag (if you can believe it) that he’s “tough.” But apparently he’s not tough enough to face telling the American people the truth about his taxes. We know he’s tough enough to bilk thousands with a phony Trump University, however much a contradiction in terms. He’s tough enough to declare bankruptcy — four times! — to stiff tradespeople money he owed for materials and labor. He’s tough enough to make millions using his name to persuade people to invest in various apartments and co-ops, people who say they were defrauded. He’s tough enough to have over 3,500 lawsuits by people who know they are up against a battery of Trump law firms, much practiced in the occult connections between his far-flung enterprises and wherever are hidden holdings. How much is squirreled in offshore tax havens? We don’t know.

From Kennedy to Obama, all candidates running for president, Republicans and Democrats, have shown they agree the public has a right to see their taxes. 

MICHAEL O’NEILL

Proud to Be Democrats

Springs

July 27, 2016

To the Editor:

Dems, you did good. I personally feel that Bernie came through and could not have been more supportive of H.R.C. and the need for all his followers to make sure that Trump can’t even visit the White House. 

The first lady was that, in every sense of the word. Michelle gave the entire convention a sense of dignity and maturity that should make us all proud to be Democrats. By comparison, the Republican convention was a sorry circus (Giuliani, etc.) and entirely without any sobriety, quality, or even appropriateness. It was demeaning to the office to which these clowns aspire. Never saw anything that embarrassingly tasteless and dumb — and dangerous.

LARRY SMITH

Trade Agreements

East Hampton

July 31, 2016

To the Editor:

Seeing a Bernie supporter carrying a “No TPP” [Trans-Pacific Partnership] sign leaves me with a sense of exhilaration and depression. Happy for the activism, disturbed by the lack of understanding, advocating misdirection.

Trade agreements haven’t savaged the middle-class workers. They are only a small part of a process engendered by Reagan and conservative politicians and economists. Changing all the trade agreements in the world won’t bring back the lost jobs or create new ones. It’s economic policy that has to be addressed and reworked. That the middle class was scammed and betrayed is about people trusting and living with their heads up their butts. We need to be cognizant of what happened and then get over it.

Trade agreements are both beneficial and pernicious. They allow for cheap goods to enter the country and enormous profits to accrue to corporations. All of our trade agreements with Latin America were pernicious. They extended the concept of slave labor as close to the real thing as possible, paying the lowest possible wages with no benefits and no security. Such enormous profits that we supported every non-communist dictator despite their brutality. We gave up all our democratic principles, along with any sense of morality, in the face of huge profits.

The Reagan economic revolution, in conjunction with the Chicago School’s Milton Friedman, was based on three ideas: Free markets, free trade as a source of circular economic development, and trickle-down cause and effects. All three were fallacious. 

Free markets were and have always been a pipe dream. Markets are constantly manipulated and rigged to minimize competition and maximize profits. Circular economic development states that countries with cheap labor and natural resources will reap the benefits of these trade agreements and become purchasers of our products, compensating Americans for the job losses that occurred and creating new jobs. Rarely ever happened. Trickle-down theory states that the enormous wealth that corporations earn from trade agreements will trickle down and benefit the entire population. No comment necessary. 

Did Reagan willfully set about to marginalize middle-class workers? In 1945, our government created the G.I. Bill in response to the return of millions of soldiers. In 1965, the government created millions of jobs in the social sector to deal with the largest college graduating classes ever. In the 1980s, Reagan eviscerated the union movement and initiated the middle-class collapse in wages and living standards, destroying collective bargaining and workers’ benefits and pushing for union-free states. The answer is a resounding Yes.

So, reality is a nasty kick in the chops for U.S. workers. Reworking or eliminating all of our trade agreements will bring them squat. It is Don Quixote, misdirection, sophistry, or simply lying. We will return to creating a vibrant middle class when our government abandons its capital-over-labor policies and develops an economic plan that utilizes the country’s enormous wealth to create jobs by rebuilding industries and our infrastructure.

The realization that our government has betrayed us is painful. Understanding that one of our leading political icons set all this in motion diminishes our trust in government. The gridlock, and the refusal of either party to accept responsibility for the problem, forces people to turn to the evil option. While Trump provides no solutions and may be repugnant in his behavior, he acknowledges their pain and provides an outlet for their anger.

NEIL HAUSIG