Worth Protecting
East Hampton
May 20, 2025
Dear Editor:
June 5, World Environment Day, should be a reminder to us that caring for the planet is not just a one-day event, rather a daily responsibility. With climate change, loss of biodiversity, and environmental pollution affecting communities everywhere, these issues can seem overwhelming. But there is much we can do to make a difference.
Reduce, reuse, and refuse represent small gestures that add up when done collectively, like reducing plastic use, conserving water, planting native species, and avoiding food waste (plan meals, compost scraps, and donate when possible). We can support local farmers, advocate for environmental policies, and speak up for cleaner air and water. Most importantly, we can adopt a plant-based diet, providing a huge impact, since animal agriculture is the primary culprit undermining earth’s well-being, due to climate change, deforestation, species extinction, air, water, and land pollution.
It’s obvious we can’t rely on governments or corporations alone to solve this crisis, but we must continue to work together. Any real change starts with us, in our homes and hearts, neighborhoods and community groups.
World Environment Day is a reminder: the Earth does not belong to us; we are its stewards, holding Earth in trust for the next generation. Let’s leave them something worth having and protecting, for them to pass on to the next generation.
Sincerely,
EDWIN HORATH
Canyon of Green
East Hampton Village
May 23, 2025
Dear East Hampton Star,
I’m writing in response to the editorial about the proliferation of Green Giant arborvitae. To begin with, I have to confess that my property has quite a few arborvitae of different types including a single Green Giant. I’ve never been a fan of these trees but my mother, who owns the property, is. For my part, over the past 57 years I’ve done my best to make sure we have a variety of trees, both coniferous and broadleaf, preferably varieties that produce fruits or nuts, which the local wildlife can benefit from. I eventually intend to replace most of the arborvitae with other, more beneficial trees.
I’ve spent the better part of my life here in East Hampton and watched as it has changed and sadly mostly not for the better. In the past decade or so, as the older houses in my neighborhood were razed and replaced with monstrous eyesores, the new constructions have replaced the split-rail fences with hedges of Green Giant. My street, once friendly and cozy-looking, has become a claustrophobic canyon of uniform walls of green. Even the hedges of privet were replaced with what I assume, based on its ubiquity, is Green Giant.
I’m proud to say that last year, when I needed to plant a screening tree, I insisted that it not be an arborvitae. This season I need some privacy screening, and I intend to plant holly or something else as long as it isn’t arborvitae.
As a person who is concerned with the welfare of the local ecology, I really do get angry when I see my neighbors all planting exactly the same trees. It might look good but it’s not necessarily good for wildlife.
Monoculture has all kinds of risks. My favorite example is the Gros Michel banana. This strain of banana, like all commercial bananas, was entirely made up of genetically identical clones. When a new blight appeared, it wiped out every Gros Michel tree, and the strain had to be replaced with the Cavendish we find today. And the American beech leaf disease, which is ravaging our beloved beech trees, has similar implications. I pray every year that my own glorious copper beech either never gets the disease or is possibly immune.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
MATT HARNICK
Helps Students
East Hampton
May 26, 2025
Dear David,
On behalf of the East Hampton Education Foundation, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Keith Bowen, Erin Colton, Joe Arena, and the entire News12 team for their efforts in helping us raise over $11,000 to benefit East Hampton Town public schools. On May 8, News12 kicked off the second season of its show “The East End” at a party at LDV at The Maidstone featuring a raffle benefiting this amazing organization. We are so honored and grateful that the News12 team decided the foundation was worthy of their efforts.
The East Hampton Education Foundation is made up of business owners, educators, and parents who live and work in our community. Its mission is to enrich the lives of students in East Hampton public schools by supporting superior educational programs. Through its work, E.H.E.F. helps students broaden their educational experience, widen their perspective on the world, and deepen their connection to the community. we give scholarships to high school seniors, mini-grants to teachers and school staff, free books to elementary school students, and support field trips to the September 11 memorial and museum and to Broadway shows in New York City. Our group is made up entirely of volunteers and will be celebrating our 20th year this fall. Since our inception, we have donated over $1.75 million to East Hampton Town public schools from Montauk to Sagaponack.
Thank you again to the News12 team, the staff at The Maidstone, and all the donors who gave so generously to our organization.
Sincerely,
NANCY MCMULLAN
Exciting History
East Hampton
May 20, 2025
Dear David,
The East Hampton community is such a very special place! Our English as a New Language Local History Club was fortunate enough to take three field trips this spring. The lovely and talented Stacy Myers toured our group through the town Marine Museum, Amagansett Life-Saving Station, and Nimmo Moran Studio.
At the town Marine Museum, Stacy explained the local history in such an amazing way, so that the students were able to make connections to the local economy through fishing and whaling. At the Amagansett Life-Saving Station, the students learned about East Hampton’s important role in politics and the discovery of a German U-Boat during World War II. At the Nimmo Moran Studio we looked at history shaping art and discussed Thomas Moran’s contribution to the westward expansion. Stacy also showed our students living organisms that help the ecology of our waters and an archaeological dig site!
We also took our students out to the end of the world (or at least Long Island). We passed the oldest cattle farm in the United States to get to the beautiful Montauk Lighthouse. There, the staff welcomed us with a tour of the various lights used to guide ships over the years, a fun interactive aquarium, and then a gorgeous view from the top. We learned how the Montauk Lighthouse was commissioned by George Washington and then updated over the years.
It is truly fantastic how our local community is so rich in history. Thanks to our local experts who are so knowledgeable and generous with their time. We appreciate how they make history interesting and exciting for our students, passing along the information to the next generation.
Sincerely,
ALEXANDRA MCCOURT
CARA NELSON
Next Steps
Montauk
May 23, 2025
To the Editor,
I want to thank everyone in the Montauk community who participated in the proposed school renovation bond vote. While the outcome was not what we had hoped for, we respect the decision of the voters and remain deeply committed to the needs of our students, staff, and school community.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to our board of Education, Parent-Teachers Association, staff, community leaders, the team at BBS Architects, and all those who devoted time and energy to this proposal. Your work sparked important conversations about the future of our school.
Though this bond proposal did not pass, our commitment to Montauk’s children has not changed. We will continue to evaluate our school’s needs and work collaboratively to explore next steps.
Thank you again for your engagement, your feedback, and your dedication to our students.
JOSHUA ODOM
Superintendent and Principal
Montauk Public School
Voted No
East Hampton
May 20, 2025
To the Editor,
For the second time in my life, I voted against increased or new funding proposed by the board of education.
I was upset at the second part of the bill, which lumped classrooms and playground funding together. Why we did not have a chance to vote for each of those expenditures separately disturbed me enough to vote no. And the 6.34 percent increase over all was almost equally disturbing.
And congratulations to J.P., Sandra, and Belinda. Y’all got re-elected and your 6.34 percent increase to boot.
TOM FRIEDMAN
Yet to See
Amagansett
May 2, 2025
To the Editor,
The new Ordinance Enforcement head speaks of “patience” in the May 8 edition. Over 2,500 days, Bay View Avenue is blocked. That is approaching seven years, eight summers. Time was up his first day on the job.
The town looks to change town code 182, Nature Preserves, and 91-4, Beaches and Parks, soon. I have yet to see a change that stops any town department or agency from Enforcement on Bay View Avenue. Martin Culloton preaches “assurance.” I see more empty promises and what has been selective enforcement.
Again, a shout-out to the Amagansett community who came and voted in the school board election. I do wonder about the odd number of, roughly, 20 percent of absentee ballots. Seems we put a scare into the “country club” juggernaut.
Calverton National Cemetery does Memorial Day the best, in my opinion: 5,000 volunteers placed flags at the 225,000 headstones. Riverhead High School made 1,200 ceramic poppies and placed them outside the gates to honor those who gave their lives in service.
Still here,
JOE KARPINSKI
Town Dithers
Wainscott
May 20, 2025
Dear David:
In an all-too-rare example of bipartisanship, Representative Jerrold Nadler (Democrat, Upper West Side) and Representative Nicole Malliotakis (Republican, Staten Island) last week jointly introduced H.R. 3196, a bill to ban non-essential chopper flights within a 20-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty, an area encompassing nearly all flight paths from the Metropolitan Area to the East Hampton Town Airport.
As Rep. Nadler stated, “For far too long, non-essential helicopter flights have endangered public safety and shattered the peace of our neighborhoods. I am proud to introduce the bipartisan Improving Helicopter Safety Act with my colleague Nicole Malliotakis to finally put an end to these dangerous flights in our region.”
Meantime, however, here at the very source of the East End’s aviation noise-and-pollution plague, the town board has not — at least not publicly — reached out to duly elected officials like Mr. Nadler and Ms. Malliotakis. Instead, it dithers in hidden “negotiations” with the town’s litigation-sworn enemies, such as financially struggling operators like Blade, rich lobbies like National Business Aviation Association, and their local hangers-on and front groups.
As best is known, the board has tabled or chosen to ignore the town’s ace card: permanently closing the airport in favor of productive and taxpaying uses, unless and until airport promoters reverse their destructive attack on the town’s right to control its own property.
Go figure.
TOM OGDEN
Fear in the Air
Springs
May 26, 2025
To the Editor,
The summer season arrived on Friday with an overwhelming deluge of expensive cars and S.U.V.s, bringing an overabundance of new faces and styles. Yet this year was different: Fear was in the air, on show and very present.
Wandering around town and watching the wealthy revisiting their haunts, I sensed that their confidence and inviolability was being rattled by the less rich whose “imagined” and perhaps “not imagined, knew” that these rich visitors were confidants or wannabe confidants of the cruel, ignorant psychopath in the White House.
Were they feeling, Do I want to be aligned with his policies that will increase my riches at a serious cost to the enormous number of the poor? Why are people looking down on me? Maybe I don’t care? Then again, maybe I am better than that? Maybe I do care?
I hope that they were rattled and that they do care.
NIGEL NOBLE
This Memorial Day
North Haven
May 26, 2025
Dear David:
Super-yachts began arriving in Sag Harbor this Memorial Day weekend, signaling the new season of luxury bling competition. Quarter-million-dollar trophy automobiles have already appeared, along with the May flowers. Gold- and diamond-encrusted Rolex watches soon will follow.
I thought our country was sliding into economic and cultural distress. “MAGA” seems already “great” for many folks. I don’t suggest great wealth is a cause for shame, since many folks actually work hard and smart to create things of great value.
The owner of two huge ships that arrived Saturday may offer an important insight. Jan Koum, at age 16, came to this country from Ukraine with his mother and lived modestly in California. They both worked basic labor until his college years — then he developed and co-founded WhatsApp, which he sold to Facebook for billions. He was clearly a smart kid and also seems to be a great example of how we can welcome immigration for our collective benefit. Jan is a creator, and a serious philanthropist, a good contrast to greedy, selfish billionaire “entrepreneurs.”
Meantime, our country’s wealth and it’s people are being fleeced by the gold-obsessed, xenophobic Trump, with massive cuts to vital government functions in order to offset massive tax cuts for his billionaire buddies. It’s Trump’s version of the Golden Fleece of Greek mythology. Jason and his Argonauts were tasked with retrieving the symbolic golden fleece that would give him the ultimate power to claim his right to the throne.
Jason is a mythological character from ancient times with kings on thrones, violence, and pure autocracy. But today in real life we have a time-warp aberration of leadership named Trump, with his MAGA, DOGE, Project 2025 scheme actually fleecing us! Trump wants to be a king, exempt from all laws. He has a Supreme Court, cabinet, and Congress composed of erstwhile Republicans who willfully volunteer themselves to act as his Argonauts, steering his fantasy vehicle, Project 2025, towards acquiring our treasure and power. It’s the legendary Golden Fleece myth, version 2.0!
Today in real life, the U.S.A. is a democratic republic that has survived for almost 250 years — if we can keep it. That dire warning was first voiced by Benjamin Franklin.
This mean misguided President and Congress seems willfully blind to the realities of their destruction and plundering. History has relegated this sort of garbage thinking to mythology and dusty writings. They, and this tyranny, will fail in the long run — but must we fail also? Will we fail to stop them before this period of our history comes to a sad close? We must keep talking sense to our politicians as if our lives depend on it — because it does.
The Odyssey myth honors the struggle to obtain a powerful goal. Perhaps today we can better understand that if a political goal is absolute domination, it only perpetuates world-wide ill-will and conflict, rather than all the peaceful possibilities of a healthy safe coexistence.
Let’s honor today those who fought for our democracy, and let’s honor those in Ukraine fighting for theirs.
ANTHONY CORON
A Punch Was Thrown
Amagansett
May 26, 2025
To the Editor:
For a year and a half, I have been “peacekeeping” a pro-cease=fire, pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sag Harbor on Sunday afternoons. Since Sept. 2024, when the weekly counter-protesters vanished, we have had an extended quiet period in which we got much more friendship and support from passers-by than screaming and middle fingers. But Memorial Day weekend, Mitchell Agoos was back with his motley crew.
It is my job to intervene when people are bullying and threatening the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim people who have in this time become my friends. I have never had so many unhinged folks threatening to assault me from inches away as I did this Sunday.
Mr. Agoos seems to me to deliberately attract and organize these people; two of the most violent showed up with him. Others are drawn to his raucous presentation, and sometimes he walks them over to bully us, while he hangs back a few feet, smirking.
This time something happened I have long feared: One of Mr. Agoos’s followers punched someone. It wasn’t me or one of our regulars, but a passer-by. I didn’t see the whole incident, but the Agoos acolyte definitely escalated to physical violence. We called the police, to whom we are recognizant for their role in calming things down and preventing more violence.
Let’s take an overview here. Every Sunday, a group that includes Catholic workers and people with a long history of pacifism shows up and spends much of our time reading the names of Palestinian children who died in the bombing. At the end, one of us selects and reads a poem. On the other corner, people screaming, “Jew hater!” at Jewish people who disagree with them. One of Mr. Agoos’s people took that a step further, yelling, “You can’t negotiate with Arabs! They’re killers!” Mr. Agoos himself said last year through his bullhorn, “Turn Gaza back into a sandlot.”
I am quite inured to the rhetoric at this point, if it’s delivered from a distance, though it’s tiresome when people disrupt our reading of the names shouting predictable schoolyard bully tropes from a foot away, like, “This is a public sidewalk! I can stand anywhere I want!” and insisting it is their First Amendment right to shut down our own First Amendment-protected expression. But I am most concerned with the true threats of violence we heard from Mr. Agoos’s people — not mere rhetoric when a punch was actually thrown yesterday. Think about that — behavior we all grew up believing was limited to the Deep South in the early 1960s — in Sag Harbor in 2025. Remember the photograph of the white woman, her face contorted in hate, following a Black child down the sidewalk? That’s the same expression we see.
It is even more remarkable that these folk imagine they are good-will emissaries for Israel.
For democracy in East Hampton,
JONATHAN WALLACE
A Healthy Diet
Potsdam, N.Y.
May 24, 2025
To the Editor,
The recent Make America Healthy Again report highlighting an argument that the medical profession may be unduly influenced by group-think and corporate interests, potentially curtailing research and critical discourse, resonates deeply when considering the field of registered dietitians. A similar dynamic appears to shape conventional nutritional guidance, particularly concerning the steadfast recommendation for significant consumption of animal products, with an emphasis on dairy.
Many registered dietitians, often guided by established dietary recommendations, advocate for regular intake of meat and dairy as foundational to a healthy diet. However, a considerable body of independent scientific literature presents a more complex and, at times, contradictory picture.
For instance, while dairy is promoted for bone health, numerous studies and systematic reviews suggest its benefits for adult bone density are limited, and some research even questions its necessity. Furthermore, independent research has raised concerns about high dairy intake in relation to certain cancers and its contribution to saturated fat intake.
Similarly, extensive independent research links high consumption of red and processed meats to increased risks of cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer, and other chronic ailments. This growing body of evidence does not uniformly support the broad emphasis on animal product consumption often seen in conventional dietary advice and, in some cases, points to potential risks.
The persistence of strong recommendations for high animal product and dairy intake, despite nuanced or contrary findings in independent research, begs the question of influence. Could it be that, as the report suggests for doctors, the dietetics profession is also swayed by entrenched conventional wisdom, potentially shaped by powerful corporate interests? These interests have a long history of funding nutrition research, educational materials, and professional organizations.
Indeed, the corporate financing of dietitian education, continuing professional development, and the activities of their primary professional body, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is a documented concern. Marion Nestle, a respected New York University professor emerita of nutrition, food studies, and public health, has extensively commented on this. As she wrote on her Food Politics blog, registered dietitians’ advice “would be more credible if [the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics] were not so heavily linked to food and beverage corporations, especially those whose products contribute to poor health.” This observation strikes at the heart of the issue: When conventional guidance aligns closely with the commercial interests of industries that fund aspects of the profession, it can curtail critical evaluation of that guidance and limit research into alternative approaches for tackling chronic disease.
If registered dietitians are to be seen as unbiased arbiters of nutritional science, it is crucial that the profession critically examine the extent to which corporate partnerships and established dogma may curtail research into, and the promotion of, dietary patterns not reliant on animal products, and thereby truly address the root causes of chronic disease.
RANDY JOHNSTON
Fails to Mention
East Hampton
May 23, 2025
To the Editor.
Representative Nick LaLota’s recent press release, “LaLota Brokers SALT Deal,” touts the increase in the SALT deduction cap as a “significant win” for Long Island taxpayers. However, his statement highlights only one small piece of the much-larger budget reconciliation — dubbed by President Trump as One Big Beautiful Bill — which passed the House by a vote of 215 to 214, and still faces serious hurdles in the Senate.
Mr. LaLota’s claim that 92 percent of Suffolk County families will be “made whole” by this change is misleading. Currently, only about 16 percent of taxpayers itemize deductions and thus benefit from SALT, limiting the immediate impact of this provision. His release also fails to mention important restrictions, such as income phase-outs, meaning primarily higher earners who itemize deductions stand to gain.
Furthermore, blaming New York Democrats for the state’s fiscal challenges oversimplifies a complex issue. The SALT cap was introduced federally in 2017 and affects taxpayers in high-tax states like New York, regardless of state government policies. By pointing fingers at New York Democrats, Representative LaLota overlooks the fact that New Yorkers generally pay more in federal taxes than they receive in federal funding — which means we effectively subsidize other states.
Most notably, Representative LaLota’s press release omits any mention of vital programs like Medicaid, SNAP, or Medicare — lifelines for many Long Island families — all of which will experience deep funding cuts if the One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law. This silence is both telling and deeply concerning.
If Rep. LaLota truly values transparence, accountability, and public trust, he must provide accurate, comprehensive information about the effects of proposed tax changes. Doing so might also prompt him to reconsider whose interests he is really serving with his congressional vote.
Sincerely,
ANDREW VAN PRAAG
Explain His Betrayal
East Hampton
May 23, 2025
Dear David:
Back in February, after the framework of the House G.O.P. budget proposal was first revealed, I wrote to our congressman, Nick LaLota, urging him to oppose that plan because it would result in deep cuts to Medicaid and other programs protecting the poor and children.
For the first time, I received a meaningful response. Mr. LaLota criticized the “harsh reality” of a staggering $36 trillion national debt. I took that to mean that he was in favor of lowering the debt. Boy, was I wrong — what he really meant was that it was staggeringly low — the budget bill he just voted for will increase the national debt by some $4 trillion! Not surprisingly, this irresponsible economic folly immediately led to the first ever downgrade in the nation’s credit rating. Of course, this will, in turn, make it more expensive to repay that debt, further increasing the deficit.
Mr. LaLota also emphasized that his priority would be to “ensur[e] the protection of crucial programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.” Indeed, he was a signatory to an April 14 letter to House leadership in which he and other G.O.P. House members pledged not to cut Medicaid. Yet his vote did exactly the opposite. Mr. LaLota voted for $715 billion in cuts to Medicaid and $300 billion in cuts to the SNAP program (which helps feed poor children). The Congressional Budget Office estimates that because of the cuts, some eight million Americans will lose Medicaid eligibility.
On top of the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, the tax bill will force cuts to Medicare of almost $500 million. The C.B.O. has opined that such cuts are required because of the $2.3 trillion increase in the deficit. All told, Mr. LaLota’s vote has contributed to cuts in protections for everyday Americans of more than $1.5 trillion, just to line the pockets of the richest Americans.
It is unconscionable that the House G.O.P. has exacted the largest reverse Robin Hood transfer of wealth from some 90 percent of Americans to feather the nests of the country’s richest. So, it is not surprising that G.O.P. leadership sought to hide this misery in the darkness of night.
Most inexcusable is that Mr. LaLota’s vote will hurt his (and other New York) constituents. Medicaid pays for the care of some 64 percent of New Yorkers living in nursing homes. It also pays for community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, like my brother.
In our district, more than 10 percent of constituents under the age of 65 enjoy Medicaid protection, as do more than 13 percent of children under the age of 19; almost 10 percent between the ages of 19 and 65 look to Medicaid for security, and finally, almost 15 percent are covered by Medicare — now they will have trouble sleeping, all because of the callousness of the House G.O.P.
Of course, Mr. LaLota will puff out his chest and take credit for raising the SALT tax credit from $10,000 to $40,000. Obviously, this ploy plays to the wealthier Americans. But more important, this self-praise is phony because it was a prior G.O.P. tax plan, supported by his predecessor, that enacted the SALT cut in the first place. So, Mr. LaLota more resembles an arsonist who pulls the fire alarm than the firemen who extinguish the blaze.
Hopefully, Mr. LaLota will explain his betrayal of his constituents in craven fealty to the wealthiest of Americans.
Sincerely,
BRUCE COLBATH
Obvious Decline
Montauk
May 25, 2025
Dear David,
Three and half years ago, then repeated two years later and again, I’ve made the statement, Jill Biden should be held responsible for elder abuse against Joe Biden. Now coming out with a book while it may be a safe time, Jake Tapper and pal is following my lead.
All the lies told, all the hiding the truth, the corruption is being told.
It’s a good possibility that while Jill loved living in the White House, loved sitting at the president’s desk, throwing orders at cabinet meetings, her concern was only for herself, not Joe Biden.
I’m not making a martyr of Joe Biden, however, he did not develop this cancer overnight. His so-called doctor should also have responsibility and please let’s not forget, the acting President Hunter Biden. Which one really gave a damn about Joe? You didn’t know Hunter was running the country? Damn, I thought it was Obama.
An unholy alliance of lying D.C. Democrats and their corrupt media flunkies covered up the obvious, blatant, dramatic decline of the former president. Power is of the utmost importance to all involved.
Advice to Chuck Schumer: Moron, stop running to the microphones as fast as you can to make a fool out of yourself. The Coast Guard is asking you, “What are you talking about?” They were there at the bridge.
In God and country,
BEA DERRICO
To Help Out
East Hampton
May 26, 2025
To the Editor,
Our president loves renaming things to better display our greatness as a nation but he has been busy throwing families off Medicaid and taking food from the mouths of our children, so I would like to help out.
In the new budget there are billions for new ICE detention centers. Mr. President, where is the showbiz in this name? Surely the Gulags of America better match your vision!
TOM MACKEY