Letters to the Editor: Acts of kindness

Southold

Acts of kindness 

There are so many negative letters that I thought I would share something nice.

I was recently having dinner with a friend at the North Fork Shack in Southold. You place your order and are given a buzzer to let you know when your order is ready. We sat outside at a picnic table. When our buzzer went off a gentleman who was sitting with his family at a table next to us said “I’ll get that for you.”

He got up, took our buzzer and went in to get our dinner. Such a thoughtful gesture. Neither my friend nor I are incapable of carrying a tray but it was just a nice thing to do.

One act of kindness deserves another so I will be on the lookout to do something nice for someone else.

Maybe those of you who continuously complain about something or someone could remember something good to report!

Barbara Cuenin

Southold

Rainy weekends, lost opportunities 

Yet another rainy weekend may leave the North Fork quiet — again.

Whether or not visitor turnout drops on gloomy days is up for debate, but the reported earnings and revenue across countless East End businesses tell a clear story: The crowds just aren’t here.

Let’s remember that most of our small businesses, especially retail and hospitality, rely on just eight to 16 weekends a year to make enough to carry the overhead for the entire season. That’s it. Miss a few, and the whole business model begins to collapse.

It’s during these leaner times that we, the full-time residents, are asked to be just a bit more compassionate.

Yes, traffic may cause a 90-second wait to make a left-hand turn. Yes, summer weekends feel different than February in Southold. But this is the North Fork we claim to love — and part of loving it means ensuring it doesn’t disappear.

Many of our business owners, though reluctant to say it — whether out of pride, denial, or forced optimism — are sounding the alarm.

Some quietly, some more directly.

Their livelihoods are on the brink if visitors don’t come. That’s not sensationalism. It’s economic math.

So next time you walk into a local shop or dine at a North Fork restaurant, understand what’s at stake.

These aren’t just weekend ventures; they are year-round families, workers, and owners trying to survive. The same empathy extends to our farmers, who face the same existential challenges with even less visibility.

One more warning sign came quietly at a recent Southold Town work session: January 2025 will mark the start of active enforcement of the two-week minimum stay rental law.

With hotel moratoriums and limited lodging options, if visitors can’t find a place to stay, where will they sleep? They simply won’t come. And if they don’t, how will we survive?

Vincent Guastamacchia

Mattituck

Thank you 

Mattituck Junior/Senior High School would like to thank the entire North Fork community and all the groups and organizations who supported the Class of 2025. Your generosity in providing scholarships and your enthusiastic participation in our events have significantly impacted their lives.

Our Mattituck community has shown our graduates the power of a supportive network and the importance of giving back. Thank you for believing in our students and for being a vital part of their Mattituck High School journey. We are truly fortunate for our kind, generous and caring North Fork community who helped make graduation 2025 a huge success.

Patrick Burke

Principal

Cutchogue

LaLota goes full MAGA 

On June 25 Congressman Nick LaLota sent an email to his constituents with the following claims: “The Lie: Republicans are cutting Medicaid.”

“The Truth: The only people removed from the rolls are Illegal immigrants and able-bodied adults who refuse to work, seek work, or volunteer at lest 80 hours per month.”

The presumably non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2034, 11.8 million Americans will be uninsured if Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law. And of those uninsured, 7.8 million will result from cuts to Medicaid. So calling cuts to Medicaid a lie pits Mr. LaLota against the CBO, whose mission is to support the legislative process by offering objective, impartial, and timely information about the potential impact of proposed legislation.

The question is, who you’re going to believe when it comes to managing the budget of the United States – the CBO or a guy with this record: 

• Filed bankruptcy for Trump Taj Mahal just one year after opening.
• Filed bankruptcies for Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, the Plaza Hotel and Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.
• Defaulted on loans for Trump Shuttle and ceased operations within three years.
• Shut down Trump University and settled for $25 million in repayments on allegations of fraud.
• Failed at selling Trump vodka, Trump steaks and Trump magazine.

This is the bully Nick LaLota is afraid of.

That’s why he’s not being honest with us on why he’s about to vote for a bill that will shift more wealth from average Americans to the insanely wealthy few among us. Mr. LaLota will be voting to give Jeff Bezos a huge tax break (after he just spent an estimated $55 million dollars on a three-day wedding) and give Elon Musk a tax cut when he’s already the wealthiest person on the planet.

LaLota obviously thinks his job is more important than his country. Think about that when you go to the polls in the mid-terms next year.

Michael Levy