Letters to the Editor: Rezoning bill undermines our town

Mattituck

Rezoning bill undermines our town

Housing is a challenge facing communities nationwide, but solutions must start locally — families, workers, and businesses can’t wait. Our town’s labor force struggles to make ends meet, and local businesses and care providers are desperate for staff. Without affordable, accessible homes, restaurants, hotels, shops, and care services remain critically understaffed.

The new rezoning bill, meant to address affordability and community character, does the opposite. By limiting new housing to half the density of existing neighborhoods, most developments will face lengthy, easily blocked approval processes. For 90% of Southold Town’s homes standing today, building them would now be illegal. These rules drive up costs, slow development and favor large estates for the ultra-wealthy while blocking the smaller homes that give our town its historic charm.

Housing is the foundation of an inclusive, thriving community. If we want young workers, healthy businesses, and care for seniors and children, our town board must explain these changes and act now.

Christopher Hicks 

Cutchogue

Charlie Manwaring

Charlie and his sisters, Candice and Cindy, run one of the best markets I have ever seen, period. Charlie is a true merchant in every sense of the word. He is always around good food and great events in town, from New Year’s Day breakfast at Southold firehouse to Lobster Bakes. I am glad he got his face in your paper.

Rich Accurso

Southold

Egg farm alert 

Please be aware of plans to construct an industrial egg farm on property bordered by Ackerly Pond Lane, the railroad tracks and the residential development on Jasmine Lane. The egg farm will initially be housing 6,000 chickens with the potential of 12,000.  

There are many reasons why the town should deny this application, paramount being the health of the citizens surrounding this farm. The dust from chicken manure is of particular danger to anyone who is asthmatic, suffering from a lung disease or with a compromised immune system. There is a young boy who lives close to the boundary of this farm who suffers from asthma. There are others in close proximity who have compromised immune systems — I for one, whose property abuts the proposed farm. The odor from this farm will permeate the whole town. 

The Planning Board says we cannot stop this farm since it is being developed on designated farmland. One would think the health of the citizens would trump the establishment of this kind of farm. I may sound jaded but I’m sure if anyone on the Planning Board lived near this proposed farm, a way would be found to stop it. 

The health and well-being of your neighbors is at risk. I would hope that you would express your opposition to this industrial egg farm to the Planning Board by submitting a letter to them as soon as possible. A toxic environment-producing farm is being introduced into this area that will have a huge negative impact on not just the surrounding homes, but the homes and businesses in the path of wind-borne, disease carrying dry feces. 

John Reichert 

Cutchogue

A solemn promise is failing

I and many others took an oath when we became members of the armed forces. We hold that solemn promise in our hearts “for God, family and country.”

The Preamble to the Constitution describes to us the reason the Constitution was necessary: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity ….”

We are now, if you believe the media, a nation divided in ideology and by party affiliation. Why? We have forgotten the Preamble and our guiding principles. 

The Supremacy clause of the Constitution was settled at Appomattox after a long and violent Civil War. Watching the politicians of Minnesota these past few weeks, I’m not sure they understand the Preamble or the Supremacy clause. 

We can disagree on our immigration laws but the way to change them is through legislation not a battle of political wills and certainly not in violent streets protests. That, if anything, is obstruction of justice.

All politicians have an obligation to the oath they took to defend the Constitution and to be guided by its principles. If we fail to work together, we can no longer strive to be a “more perfect Union,” nor can we “insure domestic Tranquility.”

I do not believe the majority of Americans feel criminal immigrants or criminal citizens should not be held accountable for their actions. Some politicians seem not to understand this, and that is why they are failing their oath. May God help us to again work together.

Bob Bittner 

Calverton

Nick LaLota needs to take a stand

After the senseless murder of a dedicated nurse from the Veterans Administration in Minneapolis, Long Island Congressional representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen  came out with strong statements condemning the misuse of ICE in Minnesota.

President Trump has used our immigration enforcement and military assets against states and cities that didn’t vote for his corrupt administration. It’s time for our congressman, Nick LaLota, to find a spine and speak out against an administration that is making us all less safe at home and less respected abroad.

Jerry Silverstein

Wading River

Disrespect for Black history

While many in the Riverhead community celebrated the Martin Luther King holiday last week by attending commemorative events or perhaps in quiet reflection, the Trump administration continued its campaign to discredit Black American history and heritage. 

Case in point: On federal holidays, visitors are permitted to enter our beautiful national parks admission-free. But the Department of the Interior, which oversees the parks, had announced that Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth, two holidays honoring Black history, had been cut from its list of fee-free park visiting in 2026. No reason was given. Perhaps Interior does not consider these two days to be “real” American holidays. 

During the last 12 months, the Trump administration has worked to re-frame American history to its own biased and bigoted views — trying, for instance, to force the Smithsonian Institution to minimize and even remove the historical narrative of slavery in America from its museum exhibits.

The kicker? The Interior Department added Flag Day, June 14, as a national parks free entry day. To be clear, Flag Day is not a federal holiday, but June 14 just happens to be Donald Trump’s birthday.

Martin Skrocki

Washington, D.C.

The right approach 

Recent discussion about Greenland and U.S. national security has prompted strong reactions, particularly around the assertion that the U.S. could take territory from a NATO ally by force. Those concerns deserve a clear and serious response.

Greenland sits astride critical sea lanes and air routes, hosts early-warning and defense infrastructure and plays an outsized role in deterring adversaries like Russia and China. That strategic reality cannot be ignored.

China now calls itself a “near-Arctic” state, promotes a so-called “Polar Silk Road” and operates a growing fleet of four to five icebreakers. That level of investment should give pause, and underscores why Greenland’s location matters to American and allied security.

President Trump has been right to force a conversation about American strategic interests and to challenge the complacency that has too often defined recent U.S. foreign policy. His willingness to speak plainly compels both allies and adversaries to take U.S. interests seriously again.

That said, I oppose taking Greenland by force, which would be illegal under international law and inconsistent with the values that distinguish the U.S. from its adversaries. America does not seize territory from its allies or redraw borders through coercion.

American strength is not measured by aggression, but by our ability to protect our interests while honoring the rule of law and our commitments to allies. Our alliances, especially NATO, are among our greatest strategic assets. President Trump has rightly demanded that those allies do more to carry their share of the burden, and that insistence has strengthened, not weakened, the alliance.

There is a responsible way forward in the Arctic. If firm rhetoric and hard bargaining are used to advance a lawful and voluntary outcome, diplomacy can succeed without coercion. In time, a democratic path could exist in which Greenlanders choose independence and a voluntary association with the United States through a Compact of Free Association, strengthening U.S. security while fully respecting self-determination and international law. That is the approach I support.

Nick LaLota

Member of Congress

Farmingville

Suffolk’s opioid crisis

The opioid crisis continues to devastate Long Island, including Suffolk County, where nearly 400 residents died from opioid-related overdoses in 2023. Adults aged 20 to 59 were most affected, with fentanyl involved in the majority of deaths. These numbers reflect a public health emergency that cannot be solved through punishment alone.

As a registered nurse and baccalaureate nursing student at Excelsior University, I witness the human suffering behind these statistics. Opioid use disorder is a chronic condition shaped by trauma, socioeconomic inequities and limited access to care. Criminalization has failed to address these realities and has deepened health disparities.

Evidence-based strategies save lives. Expanding medication-assisted treatment, increasing naloxone availability and integrating behavioral health into primary care reduce overdose deaths. New York’s Good Samaritan and naloxone access laws further empower communities to act without fear.

Community and public health nurses play a vital role through education, harm reduction and advocacy. With coordinated, compassionate action, Suffolk County can save lives.

Gary Camarda