Newsday letters to the editor for Friday, May 11, 2018

The thinking on two sides of tunnel issue

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s $5 million study concluded that a Long Island Sound crossing was viable from the northern Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway — under Bayville, Centre Island and Oyster Bay — to Westchester County, or from the Sunken Meadow State Parkway at Kings Park to Connecticut. The cost is projected to be $31.5 billion to $55.4 billion, with construction over eight years. The annual shortfall on the debt incurred is estimated at more than $1 billion.

The adverse and irreversible impact of this project would affect all of Long Island and the entire state, be it in paying for the overwhelming expense, diversion of funds from failing infrastructure, damage to the environment and urbanization of an invaluable suburban lifestyle.

The governor has previously participated in the cleanup of Oyster Bay Harbor, on the waters and in communities that his proposal would irreparably alter. In remarking about the project, the governor said, “You can’t have a pebble stop a bulldozer . . .”

Well, there are a lot of very insistent pebbles in these very unified communities [“Foes of a Sound tunnel,” News, April 26]. As we were in prior failed bridge proposals, the “pebbles” the governor speaks of will be prepared once again for a heck of a tussle.

Rob Brusca, East Norwich

Jen Jones, a technology executive and member of Bayville’s anti-tunnel committee, said a cross-Sound tunnel would bring trucks to Long Island roads. But that could be prevented by allowing only passenger vehicles on the crossing.

Traffic heading west from Long Island is unbearable, and this is a perfect solution to reduce congestion on Long Island for those going north. The crossing should be built!

Fortune Vilcko, Hicksville

A tunnel-bridge combination with a rail link from Long Island’s North Shore to Route 287 in Westchester County would relieve congestion on other roads, including the Long Island Expressway.

The road could be tunneled under Bayville or Lattingtown, and then become a bridge.

We must do something for the people of Long Island. I have driven on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland and it is a beauty! Long Island has detoured many local roads in favor of special neighborhoods, but we must pull together and get this project underway as soon as possible.

Joseph Schoenstein, Port Jefferson

Doubts about move by Boy Scouts

What’s in a name?

A former Eagle Scout, I have favored groundbreaking, inclusive LGBTQ initiatives in the Boy Scouts. However, the name change from the Boy Scouts of America to Scouts BSA simply does not cut it [“New name for Scouting,” News, May 3].

Your news story says it represents the “new, inclusive program,” although the program for older boys and girls “will largely be divided along gender lines, with single-sex units pursuing the same types of activities.” Huh?

First the name, Scouts BSA. Sorry, without replacing the B for boy with Y for youth, or adding G for girl, as in BGSA, or employing some other gender-neutral or inclusive term, where is the sense of inclusion? It is certainly not suggested by the new name of the organization. If Scouts BSA is divided along gender lines, the “inclusive” program will be segregated.

I cannot help thinking that this version of the Boy Scouts devalues the Girl Scouts. Although the Girl Scouts do not have the rank of Eagle, that organization does have the prestigious Gold Award. It also has a long-standing, highly regarded single-sex program of activities for its scouts.

Victor S. Caliman,South Huntington

Political correctness runs amok in Boston

Just when I think we have seen it all in this country’s pursuit of and devotion to mindless political correctness, I see an event such as the renaming of Yawkey Way, a street outside Boston’s Fenway Park [“Yawkey Way renamed due to racist past,” Sports, April 27]. City officials approved a new name because of allegations that then-Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey was a racist who resisted signing black players in the 1940s and ’50s.

It’s absurd that history is being rewritten by defining people and events based on a single concern that involves judging history based on beliefs now held by some and ignoring what an individual accomplished. In this case, to disparage one man’s name based on these allegations is disgusting and insulting. Where does this process end?

Brian Reilly,Lindenhurst

What about tick infestation in parks?

In the May 2 news story “Insect-borne illnesses surge,” we read about the great increase in tick-related illnesses. What I don’t see in print, the internet or on TV are details about what our officials are doing to protect us.

Oh, maybe there is mosquito spraying in the summer, but what about the tick infestation in our parks and preserves?

As a pharmacist, I have seen over the last few years an increase in prescriptions for doxycycline to treat tick bites, a shortage of doxycycline, and then a large increase in its price. It’s time for some action to help us get back to enjoying our parks.

Joseph Ryan,Floral Park