Letters to the Editor: Here’s to the heroes
Southold
Here’s to the heroes
At 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 13, Southold Town Police received and responded to a 911 call about a possible fire at San Simeon by the Sound Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation. Greenport Fire Department also responded, immediately and professionally. They are incredible in their commitment to our community. Like our other fire departments, they are volunteers. They spend countless hours not only responding to our residents in distress, but in training, so that they know how to handle every situation. They make a difference every time that they respond.
Smoke was confirmed in the west wing, resulting in a partial evacuation — a well-coordinated effort involving town police, multiple local fire departments, Suffolk County Fire and Rescue, and community partners Peconic Landing and Sunrise Bus Co. I am grateful to them for their timely and compassionate response.
The Southold Town Fire Marshal and fire marshals from Suffolk County inspected the facility and ordered a full evacuation. Residents were transported to alternate care facilities by volunteer ambulance services, Sunrise Bus Co., Suffolk County Transit, TLC Bus Co., the Southold Town Human Resource Center and others.
Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services and town police remained on the scene until approximately 11 p.m.
The Southold Town building department and fire marshal will work with San Simeon as they move forward.
The Southold Town Board would like to express our gratitude to all involved in a very difficult situation. In addition to town police and Greenport firefighters, responding agencies included the East Marion, Southold, Cutchogue and Mattituck fire departments; Shelter Island, Riverhead and Flanders Northampton ambulance companies; Suffolk County FRES; and NYSD EMS.
This highlights what a special community that we have; so many people pitched in to help. They had training that they used, and were able to communicate effectively across many levels of government.
Special thanks to Rudy Sunderman, commissioner of Suffolk County FRES, who was on site helping everyone.
And, of course, special thanks to Chief Grattan and his team, who were there early coordinating with every agency, and were there late ensuring that all residents were safely evacuated.
Al Krupski
Cutchogue
Ready for another term
When I successfully ran for office in 2021, I campaigned on building a highway department that proactively prevented problems and maintained our 402 lane miles of town roadway. I recognized the need for a leader who answered your calls and was willing to put in the work. Over the last four years, I have done exactly that and more.
During my tenure, I have paved 45 lane miles of road, replaced two miles of sidewalk, installed 150 drainage systems, removed 40 stormwater outfalls and clearance trimmed over 50% of our road network — in addition to all routine maintenance responsibilities. I have held utility companies accountable for their fair share, collecting over $900,000 in permit fees and restoration funding.
I have successfully advocated locally and in Albany to increase our road resurfacing budget — vital funding needed to keep up with inflationary construction costs and the needs of our residents and first responders, who depend on a reliable, safe road system for business, pleasure and our way of life.
For the first time in history, I developed a long-term capital plan for the department using sensible fiscal budgeting to replace and upgrade our equipment fleet and solve legacy infrastructure problems. My capital plan ensures we have the resources to address these needs in a sustainable, tax-neutral way and has received unanimous bipartisan support each year.
I understand this job is about listening and showing up when a resident has a question, a tree uproots in the dead of night, a record-breaking blizzard hits or a rare tornado touches down. I will continue to be there, answer your calls and work for every neighborhood in Southold, not just the ones that make the most noise.
I will continue to plan the work and work the plan with competence, transparency and results you can see, drive and walk on.
I respectfully ask for your support of my reelection as your superintendent of highways.
Dan Goodwin
Southold
Running for reelection
My name is Eileen Powers. I have been your Southold Town Justice for nearly eight years and I am running for reelection.
I’ve been an attorney for 33 years. I started my legal career as a prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, where I served for the better part of 10 years. During that time, we never talked about, nor did we care, who was a Democrat and who was a Republican. In my first office meeting there, we were told that we were prosecutors, not persecutors, and that being a prosecutor was not just a job but a responsibility. We were taught that our mission was to always do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason.
Sadly, today, that philosophy appears to be in jeopardy. I think it’s important for voters to know that I still believe in and live by that philosophy.
Anyone who has spent time in my courtroom knows that everyone in my court is treated fairly — regardless of who you are, who you know, where you were born or what political party you belong to. There is only one set of laws and they apply to everyone. That’s the rule of law. The rule of law is the basis, and the single most important tenet, of American jurisprudence. It’s what sets the American system of justice above all others. I believe in and will always stand up for the rule of law.
May I please have your vote on Nov. 4?
Eileen Powers
Fishers Island
Kate’s great
Dear Southolders: Kate Stevens is an excellent candidate for the Southold Town Board/Justice position. Kate’s collaborative process of seeking out and including opposing views, then maintaining these stakeholder relationships while bringing projects to resolution, is her secret sauce.
It has been inspiring to work closely with Kate for the past five years. Kate applied her inclusive approach to a goal that had been eluding us for decades. Kate successfully coordinated the effort to create arguably the most spectacular public trail on Fishers Island by forging partnerships with our Waste Management and Ferry Districts, the Museum, the Conservancy and private landowners. Kate roots her agenda in constituent needs and interests. She seeks out and actively listens to differing points of view, does the research, brings people together and then tightly focuses on agreed-upon goals to bring projects to fruition.
Kate has honed her community building and project management skills through active listening, thorough preparation and determined follow-through. If you elect Kate on Nov. 4, you will find out what we already know: Her collaborative process works.
Sarah and Steve Malinowski
Southold
Reelect our clerk
I heartily concur with former supervisor Scott Russell that we should vote for the reelection of Denis Noncarrow as town clerk. He is an asset to Southold Town and works for the people. As a senior citizen, I’ve already cast my ballot for him; even crossed party lines.
We’re lucky to have him in our midst. I’m still amazed that he answers his own phone!
Elaine Goldman
New Suffolk
Election signs
Signs, signs, everywhere signs, blocking out the scenery, ruining my ride.
This is the most scenic, colorful season for us locals. Whether driving to work or on a Sunday drive now that traffic has eased, those political signs look like windblown papers scattered off someone’s garbage on the way to the dump. And on town property no less. Where does this non-recyclable plastic and metal go when the election is over? To the landfill.
Most of the candidates claim that they are “environmentally concerned.” Well, maybe next time they can practice what they preach and end this decades-long habit of littering the sides of our well-kept and clean highways.
Barbara Solo
Southold
A big, peaceful gathering
On Saturday, my wife and I participated in the No Kings Rally in Riverhead. It was entirely peaceful and the large majority of the cars passing by honked in affirmation of our presence. There was a good mix of senior citizens like us as well as young people. There were lots of creative signs (mostly homemade) and all were in good taste. I didn’t see any signs that crossed the line.
The major news outlets reported that about 2,600 rallies took place all across the country with nearly 7 million people participating. Yet, Donald Trump grossly posted an AI-generated video in which he is wearing a crown, flies a fighter jet and dumps feces on the No Kings rally attendees. Apart from being juvenile, it is disgusting and disgraceful.
Mike Johnson claims it was a Hate America rally. I was there, and I don’t hate America, and the people there didn’t either. Today, I saw Trump on the news saying it was a very small rally and the people who attended didn’t represent America. He said they were extremists and that we were being paid by George Soros.
Again, I was there and we were not paid. We talked with the people — parents, grandparents, young people. We all want a return to normalcy and we see our Democracy slipping away.
The news clips of masked ICE agents and military in our cities violently arresting people, even children, is frightening. It reminds me of Nazi Germany in its early stages. My wife and I worry about what kind of country our grandchildren are inheriting. We find it mind boggling that the Republican leadership in Congress hasn’t reined in Trump’s continual departure from our country’s norms and from our past bastion as the world’s beacon of freedom.
I am hopeful that the midterm elections will result in a major check on Trump and his Republican enablers. Every vote and every elected official counts, including local officials. Show up and vote; our future and our democracy depends on you!
Dick Sheehan
Mattituck
The two sides of Donald Trump
No one would, or could, diminish the joy, the beauty and the love that the whole world saw when the Israeli hostages were released and the ceasefire was declared.
By all accounts, President Trump’s deal-making, and likely his personal ambition, contributed to the success of the endeavor. So perhaps it was fitting that he took a victory lap to cheers, applause and adulation in Jerusalem and Egypt.
But let’s be clear. The man being adored and hailed as a peacemaker in the Middle East is the same man who bullies the citizens of his own country with policies of revenge, racism, misogyny and divisiveness.
Let the Middle East hail him. Let him bask in his substitute Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Americans know better.
We must never stop reminding the world and each other of who this man really is and fight every day to preserve our democracy. The “No Kings” marches made this clear.
Betsy Frank
Rio Rancho, N.M.
Add him to the list
I believe that my brother, Matteo Cucchiara, should be a candidate for inclusion in the Riverhead High School Hall of Fame. He set records in the mile in the early sixties, was the first person to run from the Riverhead circle to Montauk Point, and received a full scholarship to Fordham University. He eventually was inducted into the Fordham Hall of Fame for his athletic accomplishments in track, including participating on a world’s record four-man relay team.
Matteo Cucchiara was also an accomplished Riverhead High wrestler and eventually coached the Haitian Olympic track team upon graduating from Fordham in geological studies. There are many other track titles Matteo had held throughout his competitive running years, and I believe he is one of Riverhead’s finest athletes of the last 70 years.
Alfred Cucchiara
Calverton
Just say no
We must stand up to the Riverhead Town Board and say “no” to piercing the cap on a tax increase for 2026.
The current Town Board, under the leadership of Tim Hubbard, has not been looking out for the residents. Every single year, we hear the same cry. We need to increase the industrial and business district to help hold down taxes. Every year, we see building after building being erected, we see vacant land and farmland being taken to construct businesses, warehouses and homes. Yet, instead of tax decreases or even stable taxes, we get a tax increase — and not the expected 2% but a projected 8%.
A car wash is coming to 58 and Pulaski, Chick-Fil-A is under construction on Mill. A warehouse will soon be built on 25A near Tractor Supply, along with construction on the opposite side of the street. A Box Pickleball facility opened where KMart once was.
Yet again, for the second straight year under Mr. Hubbard’s leadership, we are getting a tax increase nearing double digits. It is time to stand up and say “no” on Nov. 4. It is time to tell the IDA to stop giving so many tax breaks. We need to seriously look at all the candidates running this year and vote to make a change.
Paul Spina Jr.
Riverhead
No Kings 2.0
Thank you to the officers in blue for making the Oct. 18, 2025, rally at the Riverhead County Center secure. Much appreciated were the four police departments represented: Southampton Police Department, NY State Troopers, Riverhead Police Department and Sheriff’s Department. The overhead cameras were an added security bonus for those in attendance. I look forward to working with “The Blue” for future events.
Nathalie Marie Alenski
Ms. Alenski was an organizer of the Riverhead rally.
Riverhead
Who hates America?
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson tried to portray the No Kings protests on Oct. 18 as “Hate America” rallies. He refuses to seat Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona to prevent her from adding the 218th signature on the discharge petition that would force a vote on the release of the Epstein files. Polls show that over three-quarters of Americans want these files released.
Johnson refuses to convene the House until Democrats agree to the spending bill that does not include an extension of the tax credits that lowers health care premiums on the Affordable Care Act markets. Polls show that 78% of Americans support the Democrats’ demand to include the extension. The president’s social media account posted an AI-generated video that showed President Trump in a fighter jet that dropped excrement on American cities.
Who hates America? The persons who peacefully protest to uphold the rule of law? Or those who do not want to allow elected representatives to serve, those who want to protect the friends of pedophiles, and do not want Americans to have affordable health care? Or those who portray themselves dumping s**t on Americans
David Jaffe
Wading River
‘Uplifting experience’
Attending the No Kings Rally in Wading River on Saturday, the first of its kind in our community, I believe, was an uplifting experience for my wife and me. Some 250 participants, by our count, lined both sides of Route 25A in front of North Shore United Methodist Church and demonstrated peacefully. Not a bad turnout considering the relatively small size of the Wading River and Shoreham communities. Many passing cars honked their horns and waved to show their support for No Kings. A few dissenting drivers saluted our group with their raised middle finger. How classy.
“[President] Trump said ahead of the rallies that he thought ‘very few people’ would attend them,” according to the Washington Post. Wrong, Mr. President. Seven million people are estimated to have protested nationwide. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that the No Kings protests were “hate America rallies,” according to Newsday. At the Wading River rally, many American flags were being waved by our patriotic neighbors who cherish the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution. So you’re wrong, Mr. Speaker. We love America and want to preserve it.
One placard displayed at the rally best sums up its goal: “Protests scare dictatorships, not democracies.”
Martin Skrocki
