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DECEMBER 27, 2012 B Letters Real Estate Business Working EDITORIALS Pre-Sandy: We Told You So P lease forgive us for saying we told you so, but having reread the following, which was in an editorial here in September on the anniversary of the great 1938 Hurricane, we have to say it: We told you so. “If a storm of comparable power arrived here tomorrow, the dam- age would be orders of magnitude greater because of the sharp, if ill-considered, increase in shoreline construction since the 1930s. Though the loss of life would be far less, thanks to improved weath- er forecasts, the cost to insurers, utility companies, and governments responsible for cleaning up and repairing infrastructure would be as- tronomical.” “Disruption of everyday life would drag on for weeks. Then would come the debate about whether to allow property owners to return to harm’s way, rebuilding (or not) billions of dollars in lost wa- terfront real estate.” The foregoing passage was hardly prescience; it stated the ob- vious. People who study such risks have sent out warnings for years. Still, although Hurricane Sandy, or Superstorm Sandy, or whatever you want to call it, was cataclysmic — with at least 100 people killed, an estimated $80 billion in damage, untold sums more in lost eco- nomic activity, and long-term environmental costs — it seems that out here at least there were few lessons learned, not from 1938 or Oct. 29, 2012, or from any of the storms in between. Instead of initiating a sensible review of coastline policy and emergency preparation, the Town of East Hampton named a cha- rade committee. In the Town of Southampton, some officials’ top priority appears to be how to siphon off federal restoration dollars to pay to permanently elevate perennially threatened Dune Road so that wealthy vacation-house owners can continue to get to their doomed properties. To call both towns’ responses shortsighted and tone-deaf would be polite. Meanwhile, it has been left to the heroic efforts of ordinary cit- izens — many from our South Fork communities — to provide ba- sic human necessities, in an ongoing and essential effort, for our neighbors in the Rockaways and elsewhere on this vulnerable is- land. We cannot forget, too, that our local libraries had to pick up the slack left by East Hampton Town Hall’s it-can’t-happen-here myopia, providing places of refuge for those left without heat, light, or a connection to the outside world for up to two weeks in some cases. (Kudos to the actor Alec Baldwin for recognizing this and say- ing thank-you with generous grants from his philanthropic founda- tion.) The pages of this newspaper are often filled with matters hav- ing to do with storms, hurricanes, and the like. This makes sense considering where we live and the region we cover — a sandy, rap- idly eroding spit of land stuck out in the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean. Yes, back in September we may have struck our usual Chicken Lit- tle chords, but we underestimated how bad that next one would turn out to be for so many people — and how poorly our elected representatives had prepared for it and now continue to avoid the obvious. There were lessons to be learned after Sandy all right, but it is unclear if anyone of authority here was even in the classroom. Rethinking the Hamlets I n keeping with an agenda-laden effort spearheaded by Coun- cilwoman Theresa Quigley to de-professionalize government and hand policy-making over to politically appointed amateurs, the East Hampton Town Board recently discussed asking the town’s respective citizens advisory committees to develop hamlet studies. At a town board meeting earlier this month, Ms. Quigley once again took pot-shots at the town’s highly qualified Planning De- partment, which would be the usual source of such studies. Instead, she argued that the “people within a hamlet know best” what the future should be. We do not intend to denigrate the important role of the members of these committees, who are sensitive to neigh- borhood concerns that may not engender enthusiasm among town board members. Rather, it is to say that some matters are best pre- pared by qualified experts, then presented to the public for review, and second-guessing if need be. As Ms. Quigley envisions it, the studies would not be prepared by “the people,” but rather by a handful of individuals appointed by the town board. Such an arrangement could make property-rights ideology and preconceived notions the guiding principles over good sense, expertise, and the collective good. The composition of the woefully imbalanced erosion-response committee recently named by the board is a case in point. There is precedent for doing things the right way. When the town’s comprehensive plan was last updated, interested residents did indeed take part; they met over the course of months with the professionals, then, together, a draft was produced. The hamlet stud- ies envisioned in the plan were never completed, but this type of work can only succeed when the town’s best talent — its staff as well as citizens — work in harmony. Things That Matter R eflecting on things that were good in 2012, the response on the South Fork to the continuing needs of its residents and neighbors is most heartening. We made a list of other mile- stones that stood out. The bright spots include the astonishing response, in fund-rais- ers, donations, and effort, of East End Cares, other groups, and indi- viduals after Hurricane Sandy. In other notable achievements, new senior citizen housing is about to open in Amagansett, the Town of East Hampton resumed in earnest its land-buying efforts, and Sag Harbor finally appears ready to do something about pollution at Havens Beach. We praise, too, the involvement of the Group for Good Government in keeping a sharp eye on East Hampton Town Hall. In the arts and culture, 2012 saw the opening of the new and renewed Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill. The music scene con- tinued to grow and become more interesting. The oddly titled “slow” food movement kept great produce on our tables. And last but hardly least, Montauk got its own craft brewery. With all this in mind, we raise a glass to the good of 2012. Thursday’s Thought THE NEW YORK TIMES — 7-Eleven, the convenience store chain, is re- stocking its shelves with an eye toward health. Over the last year, the retailer has introduced a line of fresh foods for the calorie conscious and trimmed down its more indulgent fare by creating portion-size items. Connections The Promised Land I t may seem funny, but I some- times think the nicest part of my day, at least on those days when I have to work, is the walk be- tween the house and the office. The few moments it takes to stroll the 250 feet to or from The Star, ab- sorbing whatever the weather is and looking at the sky, keep me happy. A similar feeling of joy in the out- doors occurred on Christmas Day when we went to spend time with my son David and his family in the house on Gardiner’s Bay where he and my other children grew up. Be- ing out in the wild landscape — and the blustering wind — of Napeague lifts my spirits and, this week, rein- forced the daydream I indulge in that someday much of the sandy and exotic land that surrounds the house will become a park. Perhaps we all were meant to live in the outdoors. Or maybe it’s just that being outdoors reminds me, personally, of the well-being I felt as a child on my grandparents’ 108- acre farm in the Catskills or as a col- lege student during the summers I was a counselor at a summer camp, where we slept in lean-tos or teepees or under the shelter of a covered wagon. In any case, when our house on Napeague was fin- ished in 1963, I embraced the rare landscape that surrounded it. The house was not just isolated, it was, in fact, one of the only houses in sight and the only one on our emp- ty road that was lived in year-round. These days there are plenty of houses along Cranberry Hole Road, but, as far as I am concerned, it is still one of eastern Long Island’s last great places. I have saved part of a column that Larry Penny, The Star’s nature The Mast-Head To Every Thing, a Season A curse for someone who has to sit down in the morning and write a column is to be asked, “What are you going to write about?” It is doubly effective if the question comes right before the last one to be written in the year, when, I suppose, it is time to strike a note of some gravity or prediction or res- olution. So, as I sat down at the comput- er on a quiet morning the day after Christmas, I came up blank. There was little noise in the house other than the breathing of our ancient pug, who was resting in the dog bed she reluctantly shares with our pet house-pig. The north wind of the night before had stopped; looking through the kitchen windows, even the smallest of winter’s bare branch- es were still. Our children were still asleep, tired from a long run the day before. Starting early with presents, then a brunch here, then a round of visiting that ended at nearly 11 p.m., it had been a good day. So I sat, thinking that I welcomed the near-total silence in the house. The year, and especially the month or two leading up to the day after Christmas, had been demanding. Summer had come and gone with its frenetic pace. And then, when I thought things were about to wind down, Hurricane Sandy upended normal routines. Against the tense backdrop of the presidential race, the war in Afghanistan and drone strikes in Pakistan continued to add to the lists of the dead, though Americans seemed increasingly im- mune to the news. Then came the Newtown, Conn., killings. This has been a year for reflection necessitated by events, but events that are difficult to process. The great annual reset that is the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day could not come soon enough, as far as 2012 is concerned. I love winter here: The office phones ring less in January and Feb- ruary. The great and unrelenting riv- er of e-mail narrows a bit. There is time for a walk on the beach, time to plan. There is time to be with our thoughts between distractions, and this I look forward to most of all. David E. Rattray Point of View ’Roid Rave I care not what others may say, I love steroids. Some were shot into me — my left shoulder — the other day, and the day after that I felt 20 years younger. And Henry, who got a contact high, had a spring in his step too. I celebrated by running two laps around Herrick Park while Henry, chained to a soccer goal post, barked encouragement. It was a good day for him and a good day for me. My fingers fairly tripped along over the laptop keys, the sun was shining, the air was fresh, and the pangs of a grievous error I’d committed the week before, in which I’d implied someone long dead was alive, had begun to fade into the “things to be less and less painfully remembered” folder of my brain. When asked by Mary recently what I wanted for Christmas, I replied, “A new shoulder — I think they’re having a sale.” But if these steroids work, maybe I won’t have to get one. I told her that in the alternative she could get me the Shakespeare plays I’d or- dered, the final nine or so I have yet to read. I have been collecting the paperback Folger series. They have notes and clue you in as to what’s coming up, and, even more impor- tant, they fit in my office bookshelf. Very colorful too, as if to say, this is no ordinary weekly journalist, this is a man of substance . . . of substance abuse, in fact. A steroid user and proud of it. Further on the subject of Shake- speare, when I told a fellow who’s embarked on the same project as I that I didn’t find the comedies very funny, he said not to worry, that the tragedies were. Jack Gilbert, the poet, who died recently — I happen to know be- cause I read it in The New York Times — says we become too intel- ligent as we age. That our strength (what we have hoarded) deprives us, that we become moderate. So just shoot me up. When I told Tim at the club that my doctor had said I couldn’t play tennis this week, he said, “He prob- ably thought it was unfair to the oth- ers that you’re on performance en- hancing drugs.” “I bet I would have won 30 games.” “See you on January 3rd.” “On the 3rd. . . . I hope they haven’t worn off by then.” Jack Graves Continued on B4 Two thousand and twelve has turned out to be a banner year for succession, at least as far as Asia is concerned. The Times recently reported on the politics of the ascent of China’s new leader Xi Jinping, a follower of the former president Jiang Zemin (“How Crash Cover-Up Altered China’s Succession,” Dec. 4). Before Xi Jinping’s rise, it had looked like one of the followers of the outgoing president, Hu Jintao, might be in the running, but then with the cover-up of the death of Ling Gu, the 23-year-old son of one of Hu Jin- tao’s close advisers, Ling Jihua, in a Ferrari acci- dent (in which a young woman was killed and another seriously injured), the bottom fellow out of Hu Jintao’s dynastic aspirations. North Korea saw a less complex though no less dramatic rise to power of Kim Jong-un, the son of Kim Jong-il who triumphed over his half- brother Kim Jong-nam in 2011 and consolidated his power in 2012. Kim Jong-nam, by the way, didn’t crash any Ferraris or have advisers whose children did. North Korea remains the country cousin to its rich neighbor, and dignitaries still travel around in l970s Lincoln Town Cars (“Deeply Hated, but Present: A U.S. Touch at Kim’s End,” The Times, Dec. 28, 2011), but he ran afoul of the powers that be when he was found to have gone AWOL to Toyko’s Disney World. Interestingly, Disney figures seem to be a bit of an obsession for the North Korean elite, as ev- idenced by the appearance of Kim Jong-un on television in the company of Minnie Mouse (“On North Korean TV, a Dash of (Unapproved) Disney Magic,” The Times, July 9) and the cur- rent regime’s Mouse That Roared view of inter- national politics. Along with the Town Cars, the regime also appears to have adopted Avis’s “We Try Harder” campaign going back to l962 (the year of the Cuban missile crisis), as the success- ful launch of a missile and 200-pound earth-sur- veillance satellite, after April’s humiliating fail- ure, attests (“After Rocket Launching, a Call for New Sanctions,” The Times, Dec. 12). Still, everyone thinks Kim Jong-un is the spit- ting image of his grandfather Kim Il-sung, who is revered as a deity, and with his stylish new wife, Ri Sol-ju, the current regime is reminiscent of the rise of Camelot described in David Na- saw’s recent “The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy.” Here at home, of course, Barack Obama suc- ceeded and the Clintons have become the avant- garde of dynastic politics. Yes, we’ve had hered- itary lines like the Roosevelts and the Bushes, but in Hillary Clinton we have a possibility of the first husband and wife rulers in the history of the United States. When you think of it, in the history of civilization, only royalty have tak- en such an enlightened view of women’s role in dynastic building. Catherine the Great and Queen Victoria rose to power when the rights of women were still just a twinkle in democracy’s eye. The Kennedys were felled by tragedy, but now with the dawn of another year a new gen- eration of former and incumbent first ladies holds the hope that America too might have its House of Windsor. Michelle Obama’s speech was one of the highlights of the Democratic Convention and perhaps Barack, Malia, Sasha, and their Por- tuguese water dog, Bo, will be able to stay on, if Michelle challenges Hillary Clinton for the pres- idency. With the Republican Party in complete and hopeless disarray, the chances of the House be- coming Democratic and our wobbly democracy becoming a house (like Windsor or Tudor) make anything possible as we move into 2013. Instead of being split down party lines, the next presi- dential race could very well be like one of those old-fashioned battles among royal lines for the throne, the Obamas versus the Clintons, say. The only question is, would Hillary Clinton accept a vice presidential slot in the event that the House of Obama prevails over the House of Clinton and Michelle wins the Democratic nomination for president? GUESTWORDS: By Francis Levy Success or Succession? Relay Patriotic Member Of the Purple Party Carrie Ann Salvi “P eeloff the partisan war paint,” said President Barack Obama a few days ago, and I couldn’t agree more. The last thing we need is division when it is quite obvious that the opposite is required for the good of all and quite possibly is the point of all of the disasters of late. I never fit into the black and whiteness of the blue or red parties anyway. I guess I’m part of a purple political party. A pa- triotic peace activist, I support veterans and military spending, but prefer it be spent on servicemen and women’s salaries, so we don’t have enlisted families who earn so little they are eligible for wel- fare. At the same time, yes, I wish for the return of all troops, for the end of war, and for the National Guard to be here doing what it was created to do for our country. I have hippie-ish qualities such as a pas- sion for socially responsible living, but I usually wear makeup and sometimes high heels while I am burning incense and sage. I also enjoy being barefoot on the beach listening to drumming with a hula hoop spinning around me, which does not make me a vegetarian, as was assumed re- cently. I love pigs and also bacon; I love deer and also quite a few hunters. I strongly believe in the separation of church and state, and religious freedom Continued on B4 Francis Levy, who lives in Manhattan and Wainscott, is the author of the novels “Erotoma- nia: A Romance” and “Seven Days in Rio.” He blogs at TheScreamingPope.com and on The Huff- ington Post. COMMENTARY Days of long shadows Durell Godfrey “Our records show that you’re not eligible for Medicare for another 63 years, 11 months, and 29 days.”
