Seems Ideal
East Hampton
February 20, 2026
David:
Practically every day I drive past Therese court, south of the tracks on the beginning of Accabonac Road. There on that dead end road are five unfinished large structures that I assume were going to be condos, just sitting there deteriorating. Maybe the town could bail out the investors, before they wind up being condemned. The location seems ideal for local housing.
Thank you,
CHRIS SCHUMANN
What It Takes
North Sea
February 21, 2026
Dear David,
Leigh Goodstein’s Feb. 19 article about the local names and places in the Epstein files was phenomenal. It clearly took an enormous amount of work: reading, researching, organizing, digging, dot-connecting, confirming, and writing the important story that many here were eager to see told.
I know what it takes to make something like this happen — and the kind of strength, courage, and confidence it takes, too. That work is not for the faint of heart.
Thank you, Leigh, for telling this story, and thank you also to the hard-working editor(s) who behind the scenes helped the piece stand out even more. The piece made me swell with pride to be a former Star reporter.
And thank you, Star team, for continuing to shine for all, including the victims of the horrific crimes committed by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Keep going, guys. More work remains. We’re all in this together.
CHRISTINE SAMPSON
After Many Decades
East Hampton
February 22, 2026
Dear David:
Apparently, your longtime sports editor and columnist, Jack Graves, left The Star months ago, after many decades, as his work is no longer therein.
I could have missed it, but it would seem this was not on good terms, as maybe this is why I don’t think there was a mention of it in your paper.
However, regardless of circumstance, it would seem appropriate for you to note this news, if not giving some sort of fitting farewell and tribute. I would think he’s deserving of such.
RICHARD QUARANTO
Springs-Fireplace Road
Springs
February 19, 2026
To the Editor:
The project to build a car wash on Springs-Fireplace Road in the lot between the entrance and exit of the East Hampton Recycling Center is raising its ugly head again. It has been presented to the town planning board off and on since 2015, with the latest iteration on Feb. 11.
The new plan calls for an increased size of the building and emphasizes that all water used to wash the cars will be recycled. Unusable recycled water will be removed from the site for disposal. This may mitigate the potential for pollution of the groundwater in a groundwater protection area, although proof of this is to be examined. However, there are other important problems that still make this project unsuited for the suggested location.
Traffic: Traffic on Springs-Fireplace Road has increased tremendously with the substantial increase in commercial truck parking areas between Abraham’s Path and Jackson Avenue. Medium-size and large trucks are very evident.
In addition, the school bus depot increases traffic in the early mornings and midafternoons when buses leave to pick up schoolchildren and return later.
In the summer there is increased automobile traffic going in and out of the recycling center, and the addition of traffic from the car wash which will use the same ingress and egress routes to the dump will make the situation even worse. The latest traffic study was performed in March 2024, which was hardly a period to measure summer traffic.
Air pollution: Already the corridor between Jackson Avenue and Queen’s Lane is chocked with dust and sand from both the sand mine and from the unpaved commercial truck parking areas. During the school year we must put up with fumes from the school bus depot. Adding up to 80 additional cars per hour (the designed capacity of the car wash is 80 cars per hour), each idling while waiting to be washed, will further increase air pollution.
Saturation of industrial projects: The Springs-Fireplace Road industrial corridor has grown immeasurably over the past 25 years, and further industrial activity will only make traffic and pollution in this sensitive area unbearable.
I urge the town planning board to reject this project.
Sincerely,
ROBERT PINE
Under Pressure
Sag Harbor
February 23, 2026
To the Editor:
I’m writing this as the Great Blizzard of 2026 draws to a close. Is a snowstorm the right occasion to comment on global warming? Yes.
The models that climate scientists built years ago are playing out in front of us. Physics tells us that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which leads to heavier dumps of rain and snow. Check.
The scientists also predicted erratic weather patterns of droughts in one place, floods and blizzards in another, with more frequency and severity. Check.
The statistics and the science don’t lie, but President Trump does, calling climate change a “hoax.” His latest assault on science is the repeal of the endangerment finding, which established that climate change is a threat to human health, and therefore its causes — fossil fuel pollution — can be regulated. So, for at least the next three years, states have got to step up and be the adults in the room.
New York was once a climate leader. Gov. Kathy Hochul has been both a champion and, lately, a traitor to our 2019 climate law. She stood up for offshore wind but greenlighted the unnecessary Northeast Supply Enhancement gas pipeline. She signed the law repealing the rule, which leaves all ratepayers absorbing the cost of new gas hookups, but delayed its implementation for a year. She slow-walks other policies mandated under the law.
Now, the Public Service Commission is considering a petition to weaken the clean energy standard of New York’s climate law in the name of reliability.
Ms. Hochul is under pressure from fossil fuel and business interests resistant to electrification, who are spreading misinformation that wind and solar energy are expensive and unreliable. In truth, they are the least-expensive and fastest forms of new energy generation, and very reliable when partnered with large-scale battery storage. That partnership keeps the lights on in Texas, so why not in New York?
Climate change is a slow-moving catastrophe, but it is threatening our lives and hitting our pocketbooks even now. Please take a moment between shoveling snow to contact Governor Hochul’s office and express your support for maintaining the goals of our climate law.
GEORGE BOZIWICK
Energy vs. Capacity
Liverpool, N.Y.
February 22, 2026
To the Editor:
Christopher Walsh’s article “South Fork Wind’s Electricity Generation Proves Reliable” (Feb. 19) is based on fact but the information presented out of context misleads readers into believing that South Fork Wind provided reliable electric generation to the grid during this winter’s extreme period.
Renewable advocates focus on energy production, but power systems are built around reliability during peak demand. If you look at the grid through the lens of accredited capacity, that is, capacity that can be relied upon during peak demand instead of average energy, the resource allocations for different technologies look radically different. This is the energy vs. capacity distinction that Mr. Walsh ignored.
Mr. Walsh states that “In January of this year, South Fork Wind delivered a 52-percent capacity factor, comparable to New York State’s most efficient gas plants.” “Capacity factor” refers to real-world performance, or the ratio of energy generated versus the maximum theoretical output of an installation running at its full rated capacity around the clock. However, gas plants can easily achieve an 85-percent annual capacity factor but most important they can be dispatched by the New York Independent System Operator when needed during peak load conditions.
Average capacities are misleading for peak loads like those observed during the Jan. 24 to 27 winter storm. Following the storm there was a period of prolonged subfreezing weather that caused a peak in the electric load.
NYISO data show that the January 2026 monthly capacity factors for all New York State wind facilities was 38 percent. However, the statewide capacity factors on Jan. 31 were wind 12 percent. Data from individual facilities are not available, but the hourly statewide data indicate that statewide wind capacity was less than 10 percent for 13 hours, including the morning and evening peak loads when it was needed the most.
Claiming that South Fork Wind is a reliable source of electricity is based on fact but is used out of context to manipulate readers into believing that offshore wind is a viable generating resource for New York’s future. Offshore wind is the most-expensive source of electricity. Continued funding for a resource that cannot provide energy when needed most is a poor investment.
ROGER CAIAZZA
—
The writer is a contributing fellow at the Empire Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in Albany. Ed.
Who Steps Up
East Hampton
February 23, 2026
Dear David,
What happens in East Hampton over the next two years won’t just hinge on who sits in the supervisor’s seat. It will come down to who steps up for each of our 38 Democratic election district seats.
The district leaders are really at the heart of grassroots democracy here. They should be the people you bump into at the grocery store, the neighbors who actually hear what matters to you, pitch in when issues arise, and help choose candidates who truly represent us all. That describes our team. This year, those 38 seats are all up for grabs.
I am running for East Hampton Town supervisor because I believe our town deserves proven leadership and steady management (not just empty promises and spin). My tenure as village mayor stands as proof of that commitment.
Before being mayor, I served for 34 years in the Police Department, 14 of them as chief of police. I worked on keeping this community safe, tackling tough problems, and managing budgets with care.
Lisa and I built our lives here, raised a family, started a business from scratch, and we have put in countless volunteer hours with local groups. Everything I do comes back to one thing: serving this place we love.
The 38 people stepping up beside me are not just names on paper. They are some of the best people you will meet from across East Hampton, Montauk, Wainscott, Springs, Amagansett, and Sag Harbor. Our team is made up of schoolteachers, firefighters, school board members, attorneys, volunteers, Ladies Village Improvement Society members, and small-business owners.
Strong district leadership does more than fill positions. It guarantees decisions aren’t made behind closed doors but out where everyone can see and ensures our Democratic Party stays tuned into real community voices instead of getting lost in its own echo chamber.
We have officially kicked off our petitioning so we can earn our spot on the June 23 Democratic primary ballot.
We will be at Ashawagh Hall in Springs on Saturday and Sunday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Please come by and meet our team.
JERRY LARSEN
Grinds Down to Dust
Amagansett
February 22, 2026
To the Editor:
Every once in a while, reading something in The Star, I have an “Aha!” moment, a flash of memory about something I read years ago, which sheds some light on the topic. Here is one.
Matt Harnick, in his letter last week, plaintively asked why the village had repaved his road with gravel instead of new asphalt. Mike Lofgren in “The Deep State” (2016) gave inferior road repaving as an example of the fall of Western civilization: “[M]any rural jurisdictions in Ohio, Michigan, North Dakota, and other states are grinding up their rutted and dilapidated paved roads and reusing the ground-up asphalt as a gravel-like surface.”
The gravel eventually “grinds down to dust which sends up a choking cloud with each passing vehicle. Then ruts and permanent holes appear which fill with water, which breeds mosquitoes and potentially malaria and yellow fever.” The return to gravel roads is reminiscent of “the decline of the Roman empire” via “the increasing decrepitude of its land communications.”
Asphalt is more expensive. The village is rich. It requires more expertise and attention. There are two obstacles to applying expertise. The first of course is that expertise costs money. The village can afford it. The second is that, led by our insensate president, we no longer value expertise (or even admit that it exists). Shouting, not expertise, wins elections.
There is another subtext. The political and culture wars out here have been described (in an article about the airport, I believe) as “millionaires v. billionaires.” Our local politicians listen to Marc Rowan, and not Mr. Harnick or me.
Most of my letters to The Star have a single theme: how we are being treated with contempt. Kathee Burke-Gonzalez expects you to vote for her because you have no choice. Jerry Larsen expects you to vote for him because he has a loud mouth.
I had to do a Google search to determine if Mr. Harnick’s street was in the town or village. Neither result would have surprised me.
Since it was the village, I certainly hope people will ask Mr. Larsen why that street was repaved just like a North Dakota rural road — and whether he intends to bring that same grandeur to running the town, if he is elected supervisor.
For democracy in East Hampton,
JONATHAN WALLACE
The Promise Was
Amagansett
February 23, 2026
To the Editor,
More than 20 years ago in 2002, the taxpayers of Southampton paid $1.2 million ($2.19 million today) to preserve a bucolic 30-acre field at the corner of Scuttlehole Road and Lumber Lane. It was an expensive effort to forever protect the beauty of the land against growing development. The promise was that it could only be used for agriculture or animal grazing, but no commercial or residential buildings.
But forever seems to be getting shorter and shorter.
The town is considering killing the goose that lays the golden eggs in the Hamptons.
For 24 years, the land has been used for grazing a few horses. But money talks; the mega-rich are coming.
Two years ago, this parcel was sold to the wealthy daughter of a New Jersey mall developer for $10 million (asking price), who intends to build a sprawling equestrian complex with a massive barn, stalls for 26 horses, 11 paddocks, a 21,000-square-foot indoor riding arena, housing units for 12 workers, and multiple riding rings, parking, etc. Her purchase is contingent on getting town board approval of her plan.
In every respect, this application flies in the face of the development agreement and easement imposed on this property by the town board using taxpayer money 24 years ago.
However, this town board has inexplicably allowed the application to proceed, without even submitting it for State Environmental Quality Review Act approval, a state-mandated environmental impact assessment.
We are at a critical juncture. Can we have any faith in our town leaders to keep their promises? Let us never forget that we are mere trustees of the land for generations yet unborn.
The town board is holding a public hearing today at 6 p.m. at Southampton Town Hall. It is imperative that residents show up in strength and numbers to protest against this gross abuse of the public trust. We who treasure the land and the beauty and the healthy, fertile soils of our precious piece of the planet need to be seen and heard.
Once this property is scraped, trodden, and polluted by a mega-equestrian commercial operation, it will be forever lost to any productive agricultural purposes. The Channing Daughters winery and vineyard will be directly affected by the runoff, manure pits, and soil erosion. The groundwater of neighboring properties will be adversely affected, and the scenic vistas we all enjoy will be forever lost.
Please attend or write to prevent this catastrophic scenario and to take a stand against industrial-size, profit-driven complexes that have no place in a bucolic seaside town. We need to hold our town officials accountable to their own promises to preserve and protect our open land for this and future generations.
If you can, appear in person tonight at Southampton Town Hall. You can also join by Zoom. The impact of your appearance cannot be overstated.
Please take a moment to email the Bridgehampton Civic Association at [email protected] to add your name to the petition and write a letter to the town board.
Time is of the essence.
BLAKE FLEETWOOD
Vistas Like Gold
Amagansett
February 23, 2026
To the Editor,
I’ve always loved horses. They are magnificently beautiful creatures and our relationship with them has played a major role in the evolution of our civilization. However, today it must be recognized that there is something even more valuable and increasingly rare and precious, particularly in our beloved end of Long Island: open farmland.
Years ago, town fathers and mothers recognized that the first vision that visitors encountered from train or car were the rolling fields, sometimes stretching down to the sea, whether planted with crops or left with waves of grass for grazing under spacious skies. These vistas were like gold.
And so, they came up with the brilliant idea of the community preservation fund. Thus, those of our society who wish to and are able to fill our land with profitable developments must also contribute toward keeping the legacy of open land alive wherever our government designates desirable for the good of most.
Unfortunately, it seems to be an increasingly common practice for recent governing individuals to want to cement their own legacies by demolishing or rebuilding or replacing or even renaming previously established practices and entities. In short, using preserved farmland for a commercial equestrian center with housing and parking is a travesty of the first order.
Go to the meeting in Southampton Town Hall tonight to find out more.
JANE MAKLEY
Should Have Been
East Hampton
February 23, 2026
To the Editor:
What should have been a moment of national pride instead offered a sobering look at how this administration and its supporters view equality.
Following the United States men’s hockey team’s first gold since 1980, President Trump’s congratulatory call, joined by the F.B.I. director whose taxpayer-funded “official business” in Italy conveniently overlapped with the games, reframed the women’s team’s White House invitation as a political chore.
By Trump joking he would “probably be impeached” if the women weren’t included, he transformed their merit into a punchline and political strategy.
The facts tell a different story of greatness: The U.S. women’s hockey team has secured Olympic gold three times (1998, 2018, and 2026), reaching the finals more consistently than their male counterparts.
When a leader suggests inclusion is a “must-do” to avoid backlash, it signals that equality is an obligation, not a reality.
If the president’s goal is truly to “Make America Great Again,” greatness must start with honoring every American achievement with unquestioned respect. To those who defend this rhetoric: Loving your country should mean celebrating the entirety of the American legacy, not excluding those who have reached the podium time and again.
This one example reinforces that a discriminatory, exclusive culture is celebrated by the most influential and prominent American.
ISABEL PETERS
Gifts Received
East Hampton
February 19, 2026
Dear Mr. Rattray,
The Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution prohibits federal officials from receiving gifts from foreign states and monarchies without the consent of Congress. According to legal scholars, this prohibition applies broadly to all federal officeholders, whether appointed or elected, up to and including the president, and encompasses any kind of profit, benefit, advantage, or services. According to Donald Trump, this clause does not apply to him. Consider only some of the gifts that he has received while in office:
The Abu Dhabi royal family secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49 percent stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for $500 million.
The Qatari royal family gifted Trump a $400 million jet to be used as the new Air Force One. Trump has said that he will donate the plane to his presidential library after he leaves office, removing it from service to any future president.
Swiss billionaires gave Trump an engraved gold bar worth $130,000 and a Rolex desk clock. Trump then removed the tariffs he had imposed on Switzerland.
The South Korean president presented Trump with a crown made of about one kilogram of gold worth approximately $131,000. The gift was given the day after a No Kings protest in America.
In contrast, President Jimmy Carter’s most-prized gift was a tool belt given to him in 1995 by Peachtree City, Ga. For the next 24 years Carter used the tool belt to work on 35 projects for Habitat for Humanity. In 2019 he returned the well-worn belt along with a personalized note.
President Carter respected the office he occupied. Trump disparages it.
SALVATORE TOCCI
A Warning
Springs
February 17, 2026
To the Editor:
Is artificial intelligence a local issue, valid for comment here? A national issue? An international issue? If we take our cue for the flood tide of commentary, it may be a cosmic issue. It seems that way because we are not used to grounding our thinking about technology, economics, and society in philosophy — in this case, metaphysics.
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with “being qua being” — the nature of being at a level more fundamental than the scientific disciplines. If mysticism is implied by this, I want no part of it.
But a recent 19,000-word blog by Dario Amodei, the chief executive officer of Anthropic (not yet public, not a corporation), creator of the A.I. system, Claude, became metaphysical by implication.
The Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan quickly picked it up (I have read her column, not Mr. Amodei’s blog): “We face a tsunami of A.I. change — and there is nowhere to run.” It was an alert, an alarm, a warning, and based on metaphors that implied a metaphysics.
A.I., a machine, will be a species out-competing us, more intelligent than we. What would the “goals” of A.I. be? Would those values conflict with human goals? What would A.I. “decide” to do?
This is metaphysics, dear reader. What is the fundamental nature of human consciousness? Does it have a wholly materialistic explanation? Yes, the brain is material, but does there emerge from its complexity, at some level — including its role in human survival, awareness, consciousness, a second type of existent consciousness? Are a trillion syncopating neurons and synapses equitable with my hope that my wife survives her operation?
The argument by Mr. Amodei, and derivatively, Ms. Noonan, is metaphorical. A.I. “knows,” “wants,” “decides.” But A.I. does none of that. A.I. in its most advanced form in a large language model, a generative, pretrained transformer, is a computer program “exposed” to an estimated four Libraries of Congresses of text and operating with an array of top Blackwell chips, at 300 trillion calculations per second.
A.I. is not aware of anything, has no sensations, no perceptions, no direct contact with existence. It is not alive and thus has no values, no desires, no basis for self-interest. It does not face the only fundamental choice that we know: life or death. Thus, it cannot value anything. It cannot have preferences.
Why does Mr. Amodei and derivatively Peggy Noonan talk in terms of “thinking,” “wanting,” “deciding”? That is not a technological prediction, it is a metaphysical leap.
So A.I. is no problem? Far from it. Every revolutionary technology we have created has had the potential for good and evil, from guns to nuclear weapons, neither inherent in the technology but a challenge to human nature. Arguably, the most intelligent machine ever invented to extend the essential cognitive reach of humans must be approached with all the rationality at our command.
A.I. is not aware, conscious, or conceptual. It does not see or hear, or think, or value, decide, or care.
But we do. A.I. may be the most powerful technology, extension of our powers, our reach, ever invented.
The risk is not in the technology; it is in ourselves.
Yours,
WALTER DONWAY
Hollywood Insider
Montauk
February 17, 2026
Dear David,
The Hollywood Insider is reporting that several cabinet members are going to star in films and weekly TV series that will be released or aired after the midterm elections.
Kash Patel is slated to reprise the role of Pennywise, the diabolical and evil clown, in Stephen King’s horror tale, “It.” Instead of a setting in Maine, the movie will be filmed entirely at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and will feature cameos by Donald Trump and Melania where they reveal the hiding places of stolen federal files. The film-casting director stated that Patel is perfect for the role of Pennywise, as he always looks as if he has just awakened from a nightmare.
Kristi Noem will be portraying the western icon Calamity Jane in “Deadwood,” a new series from Netflix. Just like the real Jane, Kristi will cosplay with mannish clothing, revolvers, and rifles. Noem revealed that she took the role because her character every week gets to shoot a dog and torture an undocumented Chinese immigrant who is working on the railroad. To prepare for the role, she cut back on Botox lip injections and learned how to chew tobacco and drive a stagecoach.
Apple TV will be featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the leading character of “Doctor Darekil,” its new weekly medical horror series. The series will focus on the correct scientific treatment that the doctor withholds from children in the hospital pediatric wards that he controls, and the brave attempts of the young interns to unmask him.
Fox has already started filming a new series titled “The Good Old Days” that stars Stephen Miller as Adolf Hitler and Gregory Bovino as his sidekick, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Gestapo and the SS. The show will intertwine real film with dramatic re-enactments to document the rise and fall of the Third Reich. The casting director for the series stated that Miller and Bovino were naturals for their roles. “You could not even tell they were acting,” he stated.
CBS is currently working on a new reality show, “Bringing Up Barron,” that will be filmed at the White House and will be loosely based on “Leave It to Beaver,” a great hit in the 1960s. Donald Trump will play himself as a befuddled family patriarch who does his best to hide his racist and misogynistic tendencies from his son, Barron. Melania will play herself as an airhead who dresses in haute couture for family breakfasts.
Cameo appearances by Nick Fuentes, Kanye West, Kid Rock, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at family dinners will also be featured.
Cheers,
BRIAN POPE
Honest Dialogue
North Haven
February 23, 2026
Dear David:
Two recent events raised a question in my mind about sportsmanship and honest political dialogue. The 2025 Winter Olympics in Italy wrapped up two weeks of extraordinary athletic competition — and the Sag Harbor Cinema showed some excellent Oscar-nominated short documentary films. These both stimulated thoughts of human decency and purpose, which came to mind as I watched these powerful stories develop.
The Olympics showed amazing skills and sportsmanship among the competitors. Skaters, skiers, curlers, and bobsled people were pushing for their personal best individually, and also when in team mode. Most noticeable was the warm sportsmanship seen by many defeated competitors toward their more-successful opponents. Something beneficial was obviously gained by everyone.
I’m not so sure about the very popular ice hockey matches though, which were extremely aggressive and also successful for the U.S.A. Sometimes action on the ice seemed violent toward the opposing teams. Any appearance of sportsmanship seemed directed only toward their own team members.
That particular “game” often gets physically rough and nasty. It looks more like a winner-takes-all sort of thing, or in political parlance, a zero-sum game. I’m glad our Team U.S.A. won, but wonder at what cost to civility it was for the 25 team members? It was also strange seeing that weird director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel wildly celebrating in their locker room after having attended the games, while supposedly on “official business” using an official government jet.
The documentary shorts shown at the Sag Harbor Cinema were powerful and informative. We saw different forms of conflict that were out of balance and entirely absent of mutual sportsmanship and decent civil behavior. We saw dangerous and destructive tribal team thinking.
One film showed the preserved bedrooms of some of the many kids killed in numerous domestic school shootings. It left us wondering why team MAGA and the National Rifle Association always win by defeating reasonable gun legislation?
Another documentary showed the career life and death of the courageous video journalist Brent Renaud. He covered many extremely dangerous combat situations for the benefit of public awareness of the truth. He was shot in the head by Russian troops in Ukraine while fully identified as working press. Why does Valdimir Putin get away with these crimes, while our government fails to offer necessary support to Ukraine?
Another documentary showed a woman’s health clinic under siege from aggressive and often violent right-wing protesters. Religious-based politics has so thoroughly interfered with national health care that this clinic can no longer provide the many services women need because of the burden of out-of-state women seeking abortions. The question is raised as to why women should suffer lack of care because of politics.
Then there was the documentary about peaceful adults in Tel Aviv, each quietly holding a printed poster showing one of thousands of civilian children killed in Gaza by continued Israeli bombing. They try to keep people aware of those children being lost. None of the silent protesters spoke or claimed any justification for the Israeli hostages still being held; however, they were accosted by pro-Netanyahu “team” supporters in a violent way. This seems like tribalism and sportsmanship gone wrong in another way. I also noticed a large number of folks leave this film shortly after it started, seemingly in avoidance of seeing another important side of this tragedy.
There needs to be an end to the political zero-sum game, and more honest discussions and negotiations about these violent, politically based situations unless we want to continue in a destructive state of war with each other.
The civility and decency seen during the Olympics helps me remain with some dwindling hope for a return to worldwide civility, and more true sportsmanship.
ANTHONY CORON