Newsday letters to the editor for Thursday, May 10, 2018

Sayville proposal not smart planning

Are protesting citizens ever on the correct side of the development issue?

Newsday’s May 4 full-page ad for an upcoming story showed a protester holding a “Stop the Zoning Change” sign. Newsday printed the words “Not In My Backyard” on that photo.

That statement is skewed. For Island Hills residents in Sayville, NIMBY is accurate. A developer buys a golf course almost entirely surrounded by modest homes, plans 1,365 apartments in three- and four-story buildings and needs a zoning change.

This is not redevelopment in a downtown, nor is it even walkable to Sayville or the train station. This is not smart, innovative planning. In the 2009 Sunrise Highway corridor study of 2009, the Islip planning board recommended that the AAA zoning, the lowest-density allowed for single-family homes, be maintained for the golf course. Maybe NIMBYism is not always such a terrible thing.

Donna Brown,Sayville

Wantagh repaving job disappointing

After many years of drivers dodging potholes, the Wantagh State Parkway is finally being repaved — but poorly [“Some state parkways in dangerous disrepair,” Just Sayin’, April 7].

Sections between the Southern State and Northern State parkways in both directions have been repaved, but minor bumps and vibrations in the road will tell any driver that the job was done poorly. It should be smooth as glass. Before the job is done and the contractor is paid, I ask that someone from the state Department of Transportation check out my concerns. With better monitoring, repaving work will be done right last longer.

Ray Manzo,Hicksville

Media dinner reflects our coarse times

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has run its course [“Trump on attack at Michigan rally,” News, April 29].

Sadly, its mean-spirited nature reflects today’s society, from the president’s Twitter tirades to bullies who terrorize schoolmates at recess. When you somehow turn those who make a political career out of victimizing others into the perceived victims themselves, it’s time to look in the mirror and remember the days when taking the high road was the rule and not the exception.

James Leykis,Selden

Rep. Peter King tweeted that Michelle Wolf, the comedian who spoke at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, was “really classless.” His followers defended Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who they believe was viciously insulted. They called Wolf trash and low-class. Another remarked about how it’s pitiful what some people will do to get attention at another’s expense. Yes, that is pitiful, and it was also the basis of President Donald Trump’s campaign. Another commenter said we should be ashamed.

I’m ashamed we live in a country where the White House press secretary has lied to us. I’m ashamed that people are outraged over a comedian’s words but not upset when the president makes derogatory remarks about women, minorities, other world leaders and anyone who doesn’t agree with him. Why is a comedian held to a higher standard? Why are people blind to the horrible things our president has said and done?

Elizabeth AquinoAmityville

Island needs strategic water management

The presence of the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane may require treatment of up to 1,685 wells in New York State at a cost of more than $2.5 billion [“Panel: Billions for dioxane’s removal,” News, Feb. 27]. Many of these wells are on Long Island, and 1,4-dioxane is only one of many groundwater issues our area faces, including the impact of nitrogen from hundreds of thousands of cesspools and septic tanks.

The basic issue is that Long Island uses the same aquifers for both water supply and waste disposal. Long-term sustainability of this critical drinking-water source requires creation of a regional groundwater management agency to implement an island-wide strategic management plan. A GMA is described in the “Strategy for Protecting and Managing the Groundwater Supply of Nassau and Suffolk Counties,” which is available at waterforlongisland.org, the website of a coalition of advocacy groups.

Failure to establish a GMA for Long Island virtually guarantees that we will eventually lose the aquifer for drinking water without extremely expensive water treatment in the future.

Nicholas Valkenburg,Huntington

Editor’s note: The writer is a hydrogeologist.

Why the outrage at letting parolees vote?

I don’t understand the outrage about Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s decision to allow a paroled citizen the right to vote [“Why the rush to let parolees vote?,” Letters, April 26].

A person released from prison has to find a job, restore family ties, pay taxes on income and property, use government services and become a productive member of society. If a parole board deemed the person worthy to return to civilian life, who are we to deny that person the right to cast a ballot? Why should anyone who is no longer a prisoner still be treated like one when it comes to voting? The government represents that person too, doesn’t it?

David Shaw,

Valley Stream