Letters to the Editor: Still time to reconsider

Riverhead

Still time to reconsider

I was opposed to the destruction of the Riverhead Science Center by the Town Board’s use of eminent domain, but was pleased when, on Oct. 6, it adopted a resolution issuing a request for proposals to use the space as a “destination attraction.” Hopefully, all the proposals will be shared with the public so there can be an open discussion of what the community prefers. Can the planning department and board resist insertion of another five-story box, shutting in the west side of Town Square the way they constricted the east side?

I did wonder why they had not followed this more open path for the proposed hotel rather than a controversial in-house no-bid process.

The IDA made clear at its Oct. 5 hearing on the tax subsidy request that it does not feel bound by language approved by the Town Board in the sweetheart contract with an insider and political donor : “A PILOT payment, escalation and term acceptable to Master Developer in its sole, but reasonable, discretion …The parties acknowledge and agree that obtaining such PILOT agreement is a material requirement of this Agreement.”

Responding to my concern that this made them little more than a rubber stamp for the Town Board, they dismissed the paragraph as customary real estate language.

If the IDA reaches an independent judgment and decides against some or all of the taxpayer subsidy for a high-profit venture, including the unusually long duration of 20 years, what will the board and Mr. Petrocelli do?

If he follows through on his blackmail threat of walking away from building a hotel, will the board consider leaving the Town Square vista open to the river with the East End Arts buildings as a far more attractive east side? They should seriously consider the alternative approach provided by the downtown-enhancing Mitchell Park in Greenport.

John McAuliff
Riverhead Watch

Laurel

Your vote will count

Trump didn’t need to stop the election beforehand. He can declare the results fraudulent; pressure states not to certify; pressure legislatures or election boards; flood courts with challenges; demand investigations; and insist that mail ballots or urban votes are suspect. He will try to create enough uncertainty that Congress or the courts become the battlefield.

But his success would require cooperation from state officials, members of Congress, the courts or enough local election administrators willing to delay certification. The efforts to intimidate will persist, but your vote will count.

Then, I suspect, he will claim election fraud and, with Michael Johnson, refuse to induct the winners on Jan. 3. This will not prevent the Democrats from taking the majority in the House, and your vote will count. So I hope you voted to defend democracy and prevent the authoritarians from further dismantling our democratic system. The people have the power after all.

Charles Gueli

Peconic

Kristallnacht

I am so glad that I live in a free and open society. A place where dictators do not roam. But that’s not what happened in Nazi Germany, when the dictator sent his men into the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland.

On Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, Nazi Germany unleashed a wave of violence against Jewish people throughout Germany and Austria. The event became known as Kristallnacht — the “Night of Broken Glass” — a name inspired by the thousands of shattered windows of Jewish-owned businesses that littered the streets.

During the night, Nazi storm troopers, SS members, and other participants destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses, burned more than a thousand synagogues, vandalized homes and cemeteries, and murdered Jewish residents.

The events of that night remain a powerful reminder of the consequences of hatred, indifference and the destruction of basic human rights.

Let us not forget.

Joel Reitman