Letters to the Editor: Time for bike lanes

Peconic

Time for bike lanes

Alongside me, the handlebar and elbow that protruded over the white line narrowed my lane. Now the Mack truck came toward me, further narrowing my lane. I slowed and then stopped allowing them both to pass in order to avoid another bicycle-related incident on Main Road. But, this could be anywhere in Southold as the area swells with visitors who come from congested villages. These are areas where people would not dare to ride an un-motorized vehicle unless it was in a dedicated bike lane.

Roadways were designed primarily for motorized vehicles. Roadways are paved paths from the edge of a curb or a growth of greenery to the other side also edged by a curb or greenery. They often have a yellow line down the center and two white lines on either side. Those white lines mark the shoulder of the roadway, not a bike lane. The shoulder is an emergency stopping place for a motorized vehicle or where one can stop or park.

As the season moves on, incidents like the one above will increase and hopefully be uneventful. In the meantime, we in Southold need to think about having dedicated bike lanes.

Joel Reitman

Fishers Island

Our choice for town justice

We write to express enthusiastic support for Stephanie Hall, who is running for the position of Town Justice on Fishers Island. Stephanie is a longtime island resident whose deep involvement in the community is matched only by her commitment to preserving its unique character and natural resources.

Beyond her role as a fire commissioner, Stephanie serves as co-chair of the Fishers Island Seagrass Management Coalition, a community-based initiative dedicated to protecting the island’s vital seagrass meadows — some of the last remaining in Long Island Sound. The coalition, formed in 2017, brings together 18 stakeholder groups, including the HL Ferguson Museum, ferry and marina operators, aquaculture interests and both commercial and recreational fishermen. Under Stephanie’s leadership, along with Elizabeth McCance, Ph.D., and Hannah Vagts, the group adopted a formal management plan in 2022 focused on responsible boating, minimizing fertilizer use and protecting water quality.

FISM has collaborated with state and regional partners like the NYS DEC/EPA and Save the Sound, initiated restoration projects using locally harvested seeds, conducted flowering studies to inform sustainable harvests and utilized satellite imagery to monitor and map seagrass health. These efforts reflect Stephanie’s thoughtful and science-based approach to stewardship — qualities that would serve our island well in a judicial role.

Stephanie Hall brings integrity, intelligence and a deep-rooted commitment to the well-being of Fishers Island. We urge fellow residents to support her candidacy for Town Justice.

Tom and Carol Doherty 

Cutchogue

‘You’re fired’

My daughter and I would like you to know a few things about her career at the Veterans Administration.

First, my daughter is a special needs adult with a learning disability. In spite of her disability, she decided early on that she wanted to live independently, work and have a career. She is now 52 years old and has successfully held a full-time job as a federal employee for just over 26 years. In 1999, when she was offered a six-month probationary position, “empathy” was not considered a weakness. She was given an opportunity, and she made the most of it.

My daughter started in the medical file room, when there was such a thing. For the last six years, she has been making confirmation phone calls to our veterans, reviewing the details of their upcoming clinic appointments at the VA Medical Center where she works.

My daughter loves her job. In all these years, her supervisor has never had to remind her of her responsibility to do a good job. Her work has given her life purpose. That said, my daughter and tens of thousands of other VA employees are now under daily pressure to take so-called, “voluntary resignation” under the threat of being fired if they don’t. The announced VA plan is to retire/fire 83,000 employees.

The president directs charges of “waste, fraud and abuse” at regular Americans just doing their government jobs. Mr. Musk literally waves a chain saw over his head, symbolically demonstrating what he is going to do to them. The disrespect, slander and insults directed at federal employees is obvious. In a matter of weeks, government employees are forced to make quick, life-changing decisions in a demoralized environment of chaos and confusion purposely created by DOGE.

A smaller work force is a legitimate policy worthy of discussion, but there is no reason for the gleeful vengeance being directed at VA employees, not to mention the harm being done to veterans who have served our country.

Morton Cogen

Laurel

About ADUs

I think that the ADU changes that the Southold Town Board unanimously approved will benefit both landlords and renters as prescribed in the current law.

I do not think that AirBnBs should be permitted, nor should second-home owners be allowed to build ADUs on their properties. That would serve to turn the whole program into a business. We have motels and bed and breakfasts that provide that service.

What I would like to see is property owners refrain from violating the town rental laws that are in effect.

John Viteritti 

Southold

Hotel at Capital One? 

BUILD IT!!

William Gieckel

New Suffolk

Voices against variances

The Zoning Board of Appeals will soon make a determination on an application for a three bedroom, 3 1/2 bathroom house on a tiny waterfront parcel (0.14 acre) in the Hamlet of New Suffolk. From the street, which is proposed to be eight feet from the entrance stoop, the house will appear to be three stories high, as it will be built on pilings, with the pilings obscured by siding.

Nothing much can be built on this parcel without variances — the lot is just too small. But the ZBA can grant variances allowing the owner to build … something. The questions are: What? How big? And how tall? What level of relief will the ZBA be comfortable granting? How will it impact the character and scale of our community? What precedent will this set in New Suffolk and all the other hamlets in Southold?

As residents of New Suffolk, we and many others believe that granting variances for a 53-foot-long, 33-foot-tall home is not appropriate for the lot in question. If built, it will have a disproportionate impact on those of us who live, walk, drive and bike along First Street, one of our most scenic small roads with priceless views of Peconic Bay. This is not what our building code intended, not what the newly updated code intends, not the way our town has historically been developed.

Property owners come and go but, whatever the ZBA determines, the community will be left to live with the decision, and the ramifications if this property owner is allowed to build there.

This appeal for multiple variances has been under the jurisdiction of the ZBA since 2021. The complete file can be found on the town’s website.

Linda Auriemma,
Gloria Baume, 
Steve Katsoulas,
Lynn & George Krug, 
Barbara Schnitzler

Cutchogue

Assault on American science

Amid the flood of executive orders and draconian budget proposals flowing from the new administration lies an ominous assault on the infrastructure of American science. For example, the White House is expected to ask congress to cut NASA’s science budget by $360 billion, nearly 50%. Massive funding cuts are proposed for the research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with a plan to eliminate all funding for NOAA’s climate, weather and ocean laboratories.

Among the administration’s first acts in office was to kill the funding for U.S. National Climate Assessment, a quadrennial report, mandated by Congress, that guides businesses and states in adapting to global warming. The work is authored by a network of volunteer academic and government scientists, supported by a White House office that coordinates the effort and provides technical support. The support staff has been fired. Earlier this month the volunteers were fired.

In the realm of medical research, the use of the genetic material mNRA to develop vaccines against Covid is regarded as a modern medical miracle, and shows promise for treating many other intractable diseases, including pancreatic cancer. Nonetheless, the current secretary of Health and Human Services has falsely declared that this is “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” According to a report last week in the New York Times, the National Institutes of Health is now in the process of canceling all federal grants for research on mNRA-based vaccines.

The billions of federal dollars being withdrawn or frozen from the nation’s universities over alleged antisemitism primarily impacts scientific research at these institutions, much of it medical research. The careers of many young scientists have already been derailed.

U.S. leadership in scientific progress is one of the pillars underpinning the continued strength of our economy, our military and the health of our citizens. Actions and plans by the executive branch that reflect a naked hostility toward this research, and an outright rejection of climate science, are certainly not in our national interest.

Thomas Ludlam 

Southold

ZoneCo’s voice, not our choice

Monday night, I witnessed what I can only describe as the best chamber of commerce meeting I’ve ever attended — anywhere. The North Fork Chamber of Commerce stood firmly for its membership, informing and advising business owners on what the [town’s] proposed zoning revisions actually mean for their livelihoods.

But amid the strong turnout and concern, one astute business owner summed up what many were thinking: “This feels like nothing more than a land grab.” Judging by the nods in the room, they weren’t alone in that sentiment.

The proposed zoning changes would reduce land use and commercial value across much of our community by as much as 50%. One particularly alarming provision is the new limitation on total lot coverage — including pavement and parking areas. If a business can’t provide sufficient parking, how can it serve customers or remain viable? These changes would render many properties functionally obsolete.

When asked how we got here, Al Krupski and Greg Doroski explained that the town hired an “up-Island” zoning company unfamiliar with the North Fork — and this is what they gave us as a base recommendation. That company, ZoneCo, has proposed blanket reductions in use and coverage with little apparent understanding of the unique economic or physical realities of our small towns.

So I ask: Who is ZoneCo? And who gave them their guidance? Why were they empowered to reshape the economic backbone of our community without a clear mandate from the people who live and work here?

Yes, our current code may need clarification. But solutions must come from local insight — not broad-brush outside consultants. This zoning rewrite, as it stands, is an existential threat to small businesses, property owners and the identity of the North Fork itself.

We deserve answers. And we deserve a voice in shaping our future.

Vincent Guastamacchia 

Cutchogue

Silence is complicity

So far as anyone knows, Donald Trump’s intention to accept the gift of a $400 million Qatari 747, which he will take with him after he leaves office, has not met with much more than a Republican whimper. To make matters worse, experts estimate that refitting this plane for Trump’s use will cost between $750 million and $1 billion in taxpayer dollars.

The foreign emoluments clause of the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) provides that federal officeholders are prohibited from accepting gifts, payments or titles from foreign governments without congressional approval. There’s no debate over what this means. If Trump takes that plane, he’s violating the Constitution, period. And his sycophantic MAGA followers (Speaker of the House Mike Johnson being the lead toady on this one) claim that so long as he’s grifting in the open, it’s perfectly okay.

Our localrepresentative, Nick LaLota, appears to be remarkably silent on Trump’s acceptance of this airplane from an authoritarian regime that has a history of actively supporting Hamas. Mr. LaLota has made himself a partner in this Constitutional assault by failing to object to it. And to boot, it’s more likely than not that after Donald Trump leaves office with his shiny new taxpayer provided plane, he will not be inviting LaLota onboard for a Big Mac and fries.

We here in New York’s 1st Congressional District have only so much clout. But we are not entirely without national influence. The best way we can put a dent in The Great Grift is to start by getting rid of Nick LaLota in the mid-terms next year. Remember, LaLota’s silence is complicity. A vote for LaLota is a vote to award Donald Trump with a 747 on our dime.

Michael Levy

Orient

Why I changed from R to D

I left the Republicans and joined Democratic party in my 20s. Nixon was resigning, and I’d had enough of the crook and cheater in the White House. I saw Democrats govern by values rooted in the Constitution with a government that works for all — not just the wealthy.

Values like social programs available to all. Democrats delivered Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and also an even playing field with civil rights protections and consumer rights. 

Fiscal responsibility. Republicans talk about the deficit, but then explode it. Truth is, Democrats like Clinton and Biden have worked to reduce the deficit — Clinton/Gore even delivered a surplus. Under Democratic leadership, the economy grows. Biden created 40 times more jobs than the last three Republican presidents combined. Look it up! GDP growth under Biden excelled, wages outpaced inflation.

Investing in America. Dems fund infrastructure, education, and innovation — while Republicans slash investments and hand tax breaks to billionaires under the failed promise of “trickle-down” economics. Democrats have proven to govern effectively — and make capitalism work for working people.

National Security. Crucial to both our security and economic prosperity is NATO, established under Democrats, securing America’s leadership on the world stage, keeping our dollar the world’s currency.

And we Democrats keep going; we like to build on our progress. We are fighting for universal health care, a livable wage, affordable housing, expanded national service and transitioning to the new economy that is clean, green and thriving. We move forward — not backward — to offer opportunity not only to the privileged few, but all Americans.

I remember when a young President Kennedy called on us: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” It was inspiring, even for a fourth-grader.

Mary Morgan 

Southold

FEMA

Weakening and/or dismantling FEMA will be decimating mainly for states that a) can ill afford it and b) voted for Trump. I really thought that this country was a team; the strong helped the weak. The new regime with their weakened FEMA, is going to hurt the red states far more then the blue states. In the past two weeks, the governor of Arkansas asked FEMA for relief from the tornados. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor and former press secretary to Trump, asked for and was denied any assistance from FEMA. Their median income ranks 47th in the country. Without FEMA assistance, how will they rebuild? How far we have descended into “What’s in it for me?” since Hurricane Katrina? 

We are in the midst of tornado season and about to begin hurricane season. Think about what will happen. Unfortunately, I no longer have the cockeyed optimism of the person who sees the future for our country in a positive light. There are so many kind and generous people in this country. After so many natural disasters, we have seen the amazing caring and generosity for people to people. I desperately hope that some of these wonderful people are elected to kick the soulless politicians out of office and reinstate our country as the caring nation we have been.

Rosellen Storm