Roadside Trash
East Hampton
September 22, 2025
Dear Editor,
On behalf of the East Hampton town Litter Action Committee I would like to thank the 22 people who turned out on Saturday morning to participate in the annual East Hampton Clean Up. With help from folks at Bistrian Materials, Mickey's Carting, and encouragement from Deputy supervisor Cate Rogers, we collected 24 bags of garbage and piles of other assorted, unwanted items cast aside on our roadsides and in our woods.
The East Hampton Clean Up day is part of the National Clean Up Day, which is the largest single day clean up in the country with over two million people participating.
Eating and drinking on the go is a huge contributor to roadside trash, as is debris escaping from uncovered loads and dumpsters. There is a simple fix to this problem: Don't toss your food wrappers, cigarette butts, and beer cans and cover your loads while driving. Cover your dumpsters at the end of the day at construction sites. Don't trash East Hampton, thank you.
Sincerely,
SARA DAVISON
Something for Everyone
East Hampton
September 21, 2025
To the Editor,
As the proprietor of the Beach Hut on Main Susan Seekamp has elevated the Main Beach concession in the best way possible. She deserves to continue her tireless effort in providing the community with a menu and quality of food never before available at the beach. She hires local kids, all friendly and hard working, serves something for everyone.
I have been a resident of the East Hampton community for over 60 years, and the fourth generation of my family now enjoys days at Main Beach every summer. It is because of Susan that people regularly gather there, whether for a first morning coffee and acai bowl, the best fries around, a late-afternoon vegetable wrap, lobster roll, or ice cream. To think that Susan's establishment is threatened to be replaced by any elite, overpriced newcomer is reprehensible. None of the locals will patronize such a flagrant disregard for the unique quality of what has always been the soul of East Hampton and whose history should be honored.
Most sincerely,
LISA SCHIFTER GREENBERG
Bravo to Susan
Mercer Island, Wash.
September 21, 2025
To the Editor,
I just want to register my support of Susan remaining the operator of the concession at Main Beach. She came in four or five years ago and she revolutionized the concession stand and the beach community. The only bad part of this is that everyone started coming from early in the morning to late at night. Darn! It used to so nice and quiet and almost a secret. Alas, progress. But bravo to Susan! I sure hope she is awarded the license to continue operating there. I always look forward to spending my mornings (which turn into afternoons) there whenever I am visiting from Seattle.
Go, Susan!
LUCY GOLDMAN
Has My Vote
Springs
September 20, 2025
Dear David,
A great business of neighbors. Professional. Creative. Whimsical. Serious food. Always helpful and solicitous, If Susie hasn't proven herself worthy of a renewal of her concession, who is? She has my vote (if I had one). She has helped make my season at Main Beach a highlight of a very lucky life. Please do the right thing. Renew.
LARRY SMITH
Give Due Recognition
East Hampton Village
September 20, 2025
Dear Editor,
I read the article "Race Is On for the Main Beach Concession" (Sept. 18) with interest and some concern.
My family has had a house in the village for 30 years, having rented houses for over a decade before that. This is truly my happy place.
The past few summers, my mother has been required to use a wheelchair and to rely on an aide. Despite this, some of our favorite excursions have been spent having breakfast at Main Beach, which is very accessible and easy to navigate.
The experience that the Seekamp group has created at Main Beach is fantastic. The food is delicious. (The breakfast wraps, pastries, and acai bowls are highlights.) The staff is friendly and helpful. And the whale and dolphin viewing is an added bonus.
Although I understand that the concession is required to be put up for bid to renew, we encourage the mayor and the trustees and the village team to give due recognition to the success that the current team has achieved. We hope to be able to continue their hospitality going forward.
Thank you.
GRETCHEN WERWAISS
Time to Pause
East Hampton
September 21, 2025
Dear David,
The recent lawsuit involving the proposed East Hampton senior center raises serious questions about transparency, priorities, and leadership. The town has already paid nearly $1.3 million to the architects, yet the public only recently learned that the town board had been aware of this dispute and potential litigation for months. Taxpayers deserved to know sooner.
There is no question that East Hampton needs a new senior center. And there is no question that this project has taken far too long. But after more than a decade of planning, with opposition from taxpayers and even from some of the seniors themselves, it is clear that the current design has not won public support. It is viewed by many as unnecessary, overly expensive, and more focused on fancy than on function.
As a candidate for town board, I believe it is time to pause and re-evaluate. With so much time already having passed, nothing should be off the table. Let's take a fresh look at what the community truly needs today, not 10 years ago, and make sure the design is right before moving forward. The community has made it clear that function and accessibility, not extravagance, should be the focus.
In my own experience leading large-scale projects, such as the East Hampton School District's transportation facility, I've seen firsthand how opposition can turn into support when projects are handled with transparency, community input, and fiscal responsibility. That project was completed during Covid, under budget, and with the community's voice guiding the process every step of the way, including a public vote.
This lawsuit may be an expensive mistake, but from here, we have an opportunity to do better. Let's ensure the senior center that is ultimately built is one that the community supports, that seniors want to use, and that taxpayers can afford. The board must listen because the people of East Hampton are clearly asking for a facility that serves them, not one that satisfies a vision disconnected from their needs.
Respectfully,
J.P. FOSTER
Donated Plans
East Hampton
September 22, 2025
Dear David,
The recent Star editorial suggesting a new start on a senior center plan was necessary and sensible in light of the architects' ongoing litigation.
Residents may recall that the supervisor had worked on an earlier plan (which also skimped on planning review), only to belatedly learn that it would not fit on the centrally located original site.
What residents may not know is that a highly regarded local architecture firm intended to submit a proposal, but was unable to do so within the very short deadline announced.
When problems arose with the first design, the firm graciously donated the plans to the town, with no strings attached. Inexplicably, other members of the town board declined to consider their design. However, the plans are still available.
The alternative building is a far better reflection of local architecture and less grandiose. Moreover, the building was designed to be easily expanded or reduced depending on the wishes and needs of residents.
Now might be a good time to make the plans public and have open discussions about a new start, perhaps again considering the original site.
JEFF BRAGMAN
Essential Services
Springs
September 21, 2025
To the Editor,
Thank you, Chris Gangemi, for another well-presented piece of environmental journalism about the interesting conundrum of Poxabogue Field. No one who weighed in at the hearing seems to be saying that it is a bad idea for the land to provide environmental benefits, and, there doesn't seem to be any farmer who is clamoring to grow crops for human consumption on the substandard soils.
The benefits of native habitat to agriculture are well studied and documented. Pollinators and other wildlife provide essential services to the web of life that supports healthy soil and bountiful crops. Surely there is a way that a designation can be crafted that allows this field, already self-established as an ecological haven, to be held onto as such and placed in the care of "farmers" whose produce is ecological abundance.
EDWINA VON GAL
Perfect Earth Project
Definitions
East Hampton
September 19, 2025
To the Editor,
Reading the article, I missed seeing a definition of what constitutes "open space" and what constitutes "farmland." I don't think the terms were defined, and I don't think I'm alone in not knowing the potential ramifications of each. In order to form an opinion, I believe it's essential to know what the definitions and legal requirements of each would entail for the site as it presently exists. A follow-up piece would be most helpful.
Thank you.
DORIS NATHAN
A Grassland
East Hampton
September 21, 2025
Dear Editor,
Rather than thinking of Poxabogue Field preservation as a battle between farmers and ecologists ("Open Space or Preserved Farmland in Sagaponack," Sept. 18), it is more useful, I believe, to recognize what more and more farmers are understanding.
Preserving meadows and grasslands benefits farmers and the rest of us. It keeps topsoil in place, preserves functional soil hydrology, provides habitat for beneficial insects like pollinators and predatory insects that control agricultural pests. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, "The health and well-being of human populations depend on the services provided by ecosystems and their components: the organisms, soil, water, and nutrients. Ecosystem Services are the process by which the environment produces resources such as clean water, forage, and range; habitat for wildlife; and pollination of native and agricultural plants."
Left alone, the depleted farm soil at Poxabogue Field is now nurturing a Long Island grassland, one of Long Island's most endangered ecological communities. Without fertilizers, herbicides, irrigation, or any other human interventions, native grasses, milkweeds, asters, and goldenrods are thriving. They have evolved to grow in poor, arid soils and they are doing just that.
It's beautiful.
But more than an attractive sight, the field performs vital and absolutely necessary natural services. The native flora supports the soil biome; working with microbial and fungal soil communities, it effectively creates the conditions that allow rainwater to slowly filter down to our aquifers rather than running off compacted soil surfaces into nearby ponds and streams, carrying in its course all the pollutants we so abundantly use. We are, unfortunately, the state's leading county in pesticide use.
Additionally, it provides habitat for our increasingly diminishing population of beneficial insects, including pollinators. Our native pollinators are suffering severe declines because of lost habitat, pesticides, and climate change. The same is true of our bird populations, and among the most threatened birds, according to the Audubon Society, are grassland species that depend on precisely the kind of habitat Poxabogue Field provides.
Long Island was once the home to both tall grass and maritime grasslands. They have all but disappeared. It is in everyone's interest, farmers and the rest, to preserve and foster what remains.
LEONARD GREEN
Mistake Made
Bridgehampton
September 22, 2025
To the Editor,
In the Sept. 18 article "Open Space or Preserved Farmland In Sagaponack," Christopher Gangemi reported that Marilee Foster, a Sagaponack farmer, wrote to the Southampton Town Board members her concern that if the designation of Poxabogue Field were changed from Agricultural Lands Preservation Target Area to Open Space/Long Pond Greenbelt Target Area, farmers in the future might not sell their land to the town for fear its agricultural use could be changed. There is no need, however, for farmers to be concerned on this point. Keeping the land in agricultural use can easily be stipulated in a covenant at the time of sale or as an enhanced easement, as the Peconic Land Trust now does.
There are however many reservations regarding Poxabogue Field's agricultural value, as official documents at the village, town, and county levels reveal. Poxabogue Field by property type is classified by Southampton Town as residential vacant land, not agricultural. The property was subdivided into four residential parcels in 1987. It is not included in Sagaponack Village's agricultural district map. It did not meet Suffolk County's evaluation criteria for inclusion in its pioneering farmland preservation program of the early 1970s. It is not among the Southampton Community Preservation Fund Project Plan's top four categories of high-value agricultural property. It is in category six, one of the lowest, whose land "may have limited long-term agricultural use potential."
In the last seven years the field has been left untouched, its native seed bed has blossomed into a flourishing grassland meadow filled with renewed plant, animal, bird, and insect life. The field serves as a natural buffer to Poxabogue Pond, one of the Greenbelt's 13 rare coastal plain ponds, with several acres of waterside land surrounding it preserved by Suffolk County and Southampton Town precisely to protect the pond and the Long Pond Greenbelt.
Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt believes the change of target area should not be framed as a farming issue. We believe a mistake made at the very outset of the C.P.F. program needs to be corrected. The field's location adjacent to Poxabogue Pond and within the hydrological boundary of the Long Pond Greenbelt Nature Preserve should have warranted its inclusion in the Open Space/Long Pond Greenbelt Target Area.
Sincerely,
DAI DAYTON
President
Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt
H.O.V. Lane
Sag Harbor
September 21, 2025
Dear David,
By letter from Gov. Kathy Hochul I have recently been informed that the federal government has chosen not to extend the Clean Pass program to further ensure that there be no advantage to owning an electric or hybrid vehicle. After Tuesday, only vehicles with two or more passengers will be permitted to use the Long Island Expressway high-occupancy vehicle lane during the seven busiest hours of the day, In addition to EVs and hybrids being penalized, all gas-powered vehicles will take a hit as well, as a substantial volume of the H.O.V. lane will be added to the already-congested standard lanes. Where is the logic?
DAVID FLORENCE
The Protectors
Amagansett
September 21, 2025
To the Editor,
Retired Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's analogy: Sheep are the majority of the population and are inherently good but lack the ability or will to defend themselves against threats. Wolves exploit the kindness or ignorance of others to cause fear and chaos. Sheepdogs are the protectors of society, willing to confront danger and stand between the wolves and the sheep to safeguard the flock. Sheep, Sheepdogs, Wolves.
Still here,
JOE KARPINSKI
Better Way
East Hampton
September 16, 2025
Dear Mr. Rattray,
When I recently asked a Trump supporter to tell me what the present administration has accomplished, he pointed to our southern border as now being more secure than ever. No argument here. On July 2, The New York Times reported that "The number of people crossing the southern border illegally has dropped to levels not seen in decades." Contrary to what Trump had promised during his first presidential campaign, this is not the result of a wall that was built by America and paid for by Mexico. Rather it is the result of fear and force.
The United States military has set up zones at the border where soldiers can temporarily detain migrants before transferring them to immigration officials. Similar intimidating tactics are employed within our border where masked federal agents arrest people at courthouses or outside homes and carry them away in unmarked vans.
There was a better, more humane way to deal with the immigration issue. In early 2024 after four months of negotiations, a bipartisan Senate bill was passed to overhaul the immigration system. A co-sponsor of the bill was conservative Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. The bill provided $20 billion to secure the southern border by increasing immigration enforcement and implementing new immigrant policies. Not surprisingly, Trump instructed House Speaker Mike Johnson not to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote. Any attempt to secure the southern border in early 2024 would prevent immigration from being an issue for Trump to use in his campaign.
Before instructing Johnson, perhaps Trump should have visited the Statue of Liberty where a beacon of light is reflected off her torch. He could have read the words inscribed on the base of the statue, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free." Compare these words to those Trump has uttered about immigrants: "migrant criminals," "killers," "gang members," and "poisoning our country."
My father immigrated from Italy and began his life in America at Ellis Island. I am glad that the words written on the base of a statue in New York Harbor greeted him back then rather than the words shouted by a bully in Washington today.
SALVATORE TOCCI
My Boycott
East Hampton
September 22, 2025
To the Editor,
My boycott of ABC, ESPN, Fox, CBS is in full swing, as is the dismantling of the Amazon industrial, distribution, Washington Post complex from my phone and my brain.
The pleasure is in this: It is inconvenient.
TOM MACKEY
Outrage Is Building
North Haven
September 22, 2025
Dear David:
Can we change our own behavior to avoid risking another civil war — or something even worse? Too often we see extreme opinions and violent rhetoric from the White House, nationwide media, even here in The Star letters that are shockingly confrontational and fact-free, nonetheless fiercely defended, as if factual. These are hostile attacks, not invitations for debate and understanding.
Official "emergency" White House executive orders are contrived, radical announcements and extortions that have become routine. Most are likely illegal and certainly destructive. Congress remains silent and ineffective, allowing this abuse to continue unchecked. Its silence gives support for this unconstitutional takeover that is loaded with falsehoods, crimes, and prejudice.
Trump just said he "hates his enemies" and committed another perversion of our Justice Department by replacing an uncooperative federal judge with one he demands a prosecution from. This is actually distant from Charlie Kirk's stated ethics.
No amount of logic or fact-checking seems to matter to these corrupted politicians. Commercial media has been pathetically weak, and recent presidential extortion renders it complicit and incompetent. The firings of Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert are actual attacks on our constitutional freedom of speech. This will get worse, if we let it. Valuable law firms and research universities have already given in to presidential extortion. We are now being muzzled unlawfully with major threats to our rights to free speech.
Our population is being divided by this presidential regime into either patriots or liberal socialists, red or blue, good or bad. This reminds me of the separation of Jews, Blacks, and homosexuals from "decent" citizens in Europe many years ago.
Is an era of McCarthyism 2.0 ahead for us? Government investigations are rampant, without basis other than personal retribution. Political expression has become violent, and weapons possession is now in everyone's hands, on demand. Stephen Miller and Trump are calling Democrats a "domestic extremist" group!
The National Guard, immigration officers, enlisted Marines, along with other military and official government forces, roam our city streets. Powerful law firms, corporations, and media fell to government extortion, rendering them silent and ineffective. Critical government agencies were sabotaged with cuts, making them ineffective. Trump wants to investigate and purge independent groups of "radical left thinking."
Outrage is building to a dangerous level. The murder of political zealots and elected political leaders has become commonplace. Attacks on ordinary people are causing grave injury. The White House continues to fan the flames of dissent and retribution, rather than seeking any peaceful resolution.
Why do we go along with this evil behavior that separates us? Can we all remain safe to enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of association, as guaranteed by our Constitution? Charlie Kirk often invited civil debate with opposing opinions, but was murdered by a disturbed 22-year-old with no clear agenda. It has to be understood by everyone that there is absolutely nothing good about that murder of Charlie Kirk. This tragedy may wake all of us up to see, and to actually understand, how political violence is destroying our country. Nobody should be fanning the flames of violent disagreement and hate — especially not our elected leader of our Democratic republic.
Democratic and Republican politicians have been murdered and maimed with only perfunctory statements of condolence. This recent inexcusable murder is being twisted into a golden opportunity for MAGA supporters to brand Kirk a martyr for their political cause, rather than the tragic victim of another senseless murder. Kirk deserves better than that.
We mustn't let our leaders divide us this way, creating lethal gun battles as we sit idly by watching our democracy destroyed. Let's go into this battle with our best arguments — and not with weapons and fists.
Many years ago, our citizens and allied forces were willing to fight for this that they believed in. It might help us better understand where we are today, with tyranny gaining strength over democracy, to consider President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's radio announcement and prayer on June 6, 1944, at the start of D-Day, the largest military armada in history:
"Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
"Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
"They will need thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph."
This excerpt should give us the necessary resolve to step up to today's challenging attacks on our precious democracy. We mustn't give up to tyrants now.
Let's do it!
ANTHONY CORON
Purposely Disrupt
St. Petersburg, Fla.
September 19, 2025
Dear Editor:
Headlines: "Crowd Clashes (noun) at Vigils." Consider it for a moment. When have you ever heard the term before? Let's take a ride back through recent history at a few more notable political assassinations.
Nov. 22, 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a moderate Democrat, the first Catholic, and youngest person (controversial and divisive at the time) to be elected president, he was universally mourned even during a period of civil unrest, cultural revolution, and under the threat of war. Americans respectfully and civilly honored him without "clashes." He was 46 years old, married, and the father of two small children.
Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X, an African-American revolutionary, human rights activist, and Muslim minister. His assassination did not escalate the country to stage angry clashes at his vigils. He was 40 years old, married, and the father of six young children.
April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist and political philosopher who led the civil rights movement from 1955 until his death. Americans mourned him without violence or clashes. He was 39 years old, married, and the father of four small children. Americans honor his death annually with a federal holiday.
June 6, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy, a moderate Democratic presidential candidate, he was assassinated by a Jordanian nationalist for his support of Israel. He, too, was universally mourned by Americans. There were no documented clashes during his famous rail funeral procession or at vigils in his honor. He was 46 years old, married, and the father of 11 young children.
Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative political activist, commentator, podcaster, and chief executive officer of Turning Point, USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school and university campuses, was assassinated at a Utah university while openly and respectfully debating his beliefs with a counter-debater. He was 31, married, and the father of two toddlers.
As some Americans mourn and condemn his violent death, other Americans purposely disrupt his vigils by clashing with the peaceful, praying crowd, inciting violence. He has been condemned by some members of Congress on the far left because he was a better debater than they are and they know they don't have anyone that could come close to persuasive critical thinking as Mr. Kirk did. He didn't hide behind identity politics; he believed there are only two genders, and he served God above all things. His death is publicly celebrated by many influencers, actors, teachers, professors, medical personnel, political pundits, and by a growing society of dangerously deranged, emotionally detached citizens who spread their hatred on social media.
What did all these men have in common? The courage to speak their minds.
Americans don't have a gun problem. We have a spiraling morality problem with no end in sight.
CAROL DRAY
Devaluation of Life
Amagansett
September 21, 2025
To the Editor:
There is a meme, I believe it is also a chant at protests: "There are no two sides to genocide."
In his letter last week, Rabbi Franklin seems to think there are: "Dialogue and discourse are meaningful only if we are willing to hear perspectives we do not share. [W]e are committed to being a community where a range of perspectives can be expressed and engaged thoughtfully."
Speaking as a proud Jewish person, holy crap. What aspect of an actual genocide is lacking here? As a child who watched Alain Resnais's "Night and Fog" in my public school auditorium sometime in the early 1960s, the iconic Holocaust image has always been bodies in piles emerging from a mass grave.
Here is the first sentence of a New York Times article from April 4 of this year: "A video, discovered on the cellphone of a paramedic who was found along with 14 other aid workers in a mass grave in Gaza in late March, shows that the ambulances and fire truck that they were traveling in were clearly marked and had their emergency signal lights on when Israeli troops hit them with a barrage of gunfire." I could write one of those column-long Star letters I skim or skip, adding other examples about bombing, shooting, disease, famine, the killing of journalists, the destruction of universities and hospitals, the deliberate flattening of Gaza City taking place right now, and, of course, the genocidal rhetoric of Israeli cabinet members in public statements — but I will stop there.
We are living in a time of the normalization, the mainstreaming of violence. The murder of Charlie Kirk by a cis male acting alone is being spun by the Trump administration and The New York Post as a plot by transgender people and will be used to justify violence against them.
A mere five years ago, Kyle Rittenhouse carried a semi-automatic weapon into the middle of an antiracism demonstration in Wisconsin, shot anyone who, assuming he was a mass shooter, tried to disarm him, and then was acquitted on grounds of self defense. The official devaluation of human life today -- and public rhetoric calling for targeted humans to be exterminated like vermin -- is, of course, the same murder of language and thought which occurred in the run-up to the Holocaust. Arthur Cohen wrote in his book "The Tremendum" in 1981: "The debasement of language, the stripping of its shading and moral intensity began in the West long before Hitler and continues after he is gone. It will help us to explain a kind of cauterization of conscience by the use of metaphor and euphemism; to understand that in official Nazi language the extermination of Jews was precisely that — the disinfectant of lice, the burning of garbage, the incineration of trash, and hence language never had to say exactly what acts its words commanded: kill, burn, murder that old Jew, that middle-aged Jew, that child Jew." As a thought experiment, substitute Palestinian (or trans person) for Jew in that sentence, and you will capture the rhetoric of today.
Last week, Elon Musk said in a speech to a crowd of 100,000 "populist" demonstrators in London: "This is a message to the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn't get involved in politics, who just want to live their lives. if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You're in a fundamental situation here. Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that's the truth, I think."
At Trump's inauguration in January, Musk made a straight-armed salute to the crowd — twice. Watch the video: It is a clearly intentional and symbolic act, not an arm spasm. But the venerable Anti-Defamation League posted on X: "It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge."
The people who, in 1962 or so, chose to show first graders graphic film of piles of emaciated and decomposing bodies being uncovered in pits did so to advance the thesis that this must never happen on Earth again. As a result, my whole life I have feared and looked out for the signs of a new Holocaust. But I never expected that Jewish people would be committing, applauding, and excusing it. Here is a release from the American Jewish Committee four days ago, titled, "5 Reasons Why the Events in Gaza Are Not 'Genocide'." Point three: "Israel's actions reflect its desire to spare Palestinian civilians from harm, not to deliberately harm them."
This feels like a TV show that has jumped the shark, where the writers' room is wreathed with way too much pot smoke. But it is real and it's shameful. Some of the people who demonstrated against Rabbi Franklin's event were Jewish. They cannot be blamed for the intensity of their reaction to representatives of an army that is demolishing all buildings in Gaza over the heads of their inhabitants, standing up in a synagogue to say, "There's nothing more to see here."
For democracy and compassion in the Hamptons, America, and the world,
JONATHAN WALLACE
Put on a List
East Hampton
September 22, 2025
Dear David,
I wrote a recent letter in The Star ("The Wrong Way to Engage With Dissent," Sept. 11), criticizing the Jewish Center of the Hamptons for not offering a forum for diverse ideas and speakers. Rabbi Franklin had his own a letter ("Long Tradition," Sept. 18), arguing that the Jewish Center "has a long tradition of hosting programs that invite dialogue and reflection."
He offered, as an example, the recent hosting of an event for Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nadav Padan, the chief executive officer of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, an organization that "works to provide for the well-being of soldiers and their families."
While I support the work of the F.I.D.F., what Rabbi Franklin failed to mention is that General Padan was commander of the 162nd Division during the Gaza invasion of 2014, is a strong supporter of Netanyahu's continuing war polices, and is quoted by the Israeli paper Haaretz as saying, "we could have retaken the strip."
One could argue that General Padan's support for a military solution has ironically and tragically led to an increased loss of Israeli life, dimmed the hopes of Israeli hostages ever coming home alive, and increased the need for the services of the organization he now heads. That necessary and important debate never happened.
The disruption of the major general's talk by mainly young, Jewish protesters was unacceptable, counterproductive, and an infringement on our free speech rights. It was also a missed learning opportunity on how differences can be civilly handled. Rabbi Franklin could have said to the protesters that we'll have a Q. and A. a little later where they would be welcome to ask questions and dialogue with the speaker. He chose to have security "banish" them from the synagogue instead. If the synagogue had invited a dissenting speaker to dialogue at the event, the protests would probably not have happened in the first place.
In response to my Sept. 11 letter, my wife and I received the executive board of the Jewish Center's decision to banish and punish us.
Rabbi Franklin called me that evening (just a few days before the New Year) and said I disrespected him and the Jewish Center, and was "no longer welcome" at the synagogue. I was "banished." He refused to put it in writing, refused to meet with me to talk things out — he was too busy — and said I'd be getting a call from administration the next day.
As Rabbi Franklin knows, I've personally talked and pleaded with him numerous times over the years to open up dialogue and space at the synagogue for more dissenting voices and offered a number of suggestions. Things never changed over the years — my letter should come as no surprise to him.
The executive director, David Waserstein, called the next day, repeated that I was banished, said I would not get a letter about it, and refused to talk it over in person since I was a "provocateur." He also said that my wife was banished, too, adding specifically that she was banished from Friday Shabbat on the Beach, which he knew how much "she enjoyed attending." He said we would be put on a list for security that would keep us from going into the synagogue.
My wife had nothing to do with the letter, was an active, enthusiastic regular at Shabbat on the Beach and had participated with the rabbi at several synagogue events, offering her expertise as a psychotherapist to the congregation. She recently offered to set up a discretionary mental health fund for people in need at the synagogue, in honor of her parents. No one had the courtesy to call her back.
The rabbi knew very well how important this was to her and how it took her back to childhood memories of attending services with her parents in Winnipeg, Canada. To banish her, and particularly banish her from Shabbat on the Beach, borders on the sadistic and reveals a side to the Jewish Center's board of directors, clergy, and administrative staff that's quite disturbing and shocking.
My wife wrote back to Mr. Waserstein, who responded with a second email Friday evening, saying we were now welcome to attend Shabbat on the Beach next summer. I wrote back that in the spirit of the New Year, I hoped we could assume that we'd be able to attend other events and services at the synagogue. He wrote back saying that he had been "crystal clear — we were welcome to attend Shabbat on the Beach next summer." I could "assume whatever I wanted to assume." He said to call his office and set up a brief phone conversation. I did — the secretary said the earliest he could schedule it would be in a month.
My wife and I have never disrespected or disrupted a service or event at the Jewish Center or any individual at a service or event, including Rabbi Franklin. I was banished because of my letter, which ironically was trying to show how we could better engage with dissenters and those we may disagree with.
We understand very well that the rabbi and executive director act as messengers for the wishes of the executive board. Rabbi Franklin in his phone call, even said that he had "defended me." In the end though, he chose to carry out their orders, as did the executive director, who I've never met or talked to before.
We received a text from one of the board members saying that "it is understandable that an organization would not want to connect with someone who doesn't want to be part of the organization. If values don't align, there's no harmony." We did want to be part of the organization — does everyone have to align with the values of the board to be part of the organization? Who decides those values — the executive board?
Rabbi Franklin writes that there is "no such monolithic voice at the Jewish Center." Yet the board is composed of individuals who are used to getting their way and not having people challenge their authority. They, with some exceptions, have come to represent more and more powerful conservative, authoritarian political interests, supportive of Israeli and American governments running roughshod over international human rights and especially, those who have dissenting voices and opinions.
Israeli human rights groups themselves have documented these facts. Millions of Israelis have been in the forefront of various protests and disruptions since 2023 — a strong majority of young American Jews overwhelmingly disapprove of Netanyahu's hard line, militaristic policies in Gaza.
Many of the young protesters at the Jewish Center event shared the need to vocalize their dissent. They needed to have a forum at the synagogue where they would be allowed to present their opinions civilly. None was provided.
Rabbi Franklin ends his letter by saying "we remain committed to the idea that disagreement can be aired without silencing or intimidation. Our community thrives when it is a place of welcome, respect, and honest exchange. That is the tradition we intend to uphold."
By his and the executive board's words and actions, and our painful, personal experience, Rabbi Franklin's words ring hollow — his rhetoric is a dishonest portrayal of the reality of an institution that badly needs to open up its doors to a true Jewish prophetic voice of debate, dialogue, and tolerance for dissent. That's the Jewish tradition; stifling free speech and banning people for what they write is not. Let's hope that a better, more open tradition begins to develop and grow at the Jewish Center and in America as we celebrate the New Year.
My wife and I would love to be part of that new growing tradition.
Sincerely,
JIM VRETTOS