By Karl Grossman

At long last, the Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to take steps to do something about the racket made by helicopters taking people from Manhattan to the Hamptons and back again. But its plan is just a start.

U.S.  Senator Charles Schumer announced Friday that the FAA will set a minimum cruising altitude of 2,500 feet for the choppers and also “mandatory flight patterns.” These would bar them after leaving Manhattan from flying over North Shore communities and, instead, have them take an over-water route a mile out over the Long Island Sound. Then they’d be required to travel south over “least populated” areas to get to Francis Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, the Southampton Village helipad and East Hampton Airport. Returning to Manhattan, they’d do the reverse.

The plan is “a step in the right direction—but only the beginning,” says Suffolk Legislator Edward Romaine. Mr. Romaine, Senator Schumer, Congressman Tim Bishop, and others, including Shelter Island Supervisor Jim Dougherty, the Noyac Civic Council and a group organized by Shelter Islanders have been in the lead battling the chopper noise.

Mr. Romaine, despite stiff opposition from helicopter operators and the FAA, got a county law enacted last year classifying low-flying chopper operation here as a “careless and reckless” and thus illegal. Mr. Schumer considers Mr. Romaine’s work pivotal.

He and Congressman Bishop then challenged the FAA’s contention that it was not empowered to regulate helicopter flight beyond the airspace of FAA-approved control towers. They called on FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to impose “regulations that will set a minimum flying altitude and a mandatory flight path for helicopters over Long Island…and that you do so in time for the 2010 summer season.”

The new FAA regulations are to take effect July 1.

Far more needs to be done. Mr. Romaine wants a truly over-water route taking the helicopters over the Atlantic from and back to Manhattan. A short hop over Georgica would be made in getting in and out of the East Hampton Airport, the field with the most chopper traffic. This was also the demand of the group put together by Shelter Islanders Ken Winston and Mike Loriz.

Mr. Romaine says the FAA has rejected this, maintaining the air space south of Kennedy is too busy. Mr. Loriz, a commercial airline pilot who flies regularly in and out of Kennedy  has—including at a meeting last July involving FAA officials—emphasized that that this is a feasible route. The “real reason” helicopter operators don’t want it, he says, are several extra minutes of flying time.

Mr. Romaine is vexed that there would still be under the FAA plan continued frequent chopper traffic over a number of communities, including North Sea, Noyac, Sag Harbor and North Haven, although the 2,500-foot minimum altitude will help..

State Assemblyman Marc Alessi is calling for “multiple” points of entry and exit for the helicopters and a requirement that these points “only be accessed during certain times of the day.”

The FAA has arranged a 30-day period for public comments on its plan.

The FAA has, at least, finally acknowledged it can regulate the Hamptons  helicopter traffic. Yet another issue: will it enforce its proposed regulations? A central problem: the FAA has a mission in conflict of interest—to boost air travel and at the same time regulate it. That’s similar to other federal agencies like the Mineral Management Service of the Interior Department, a cheerleader and regulator of offshore oil drilling—the unfolding Gulf of Mexico catastrophe tragically demonstrates its conflict—and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

For all these agencies, making rules means little because they don’t want to enforce them and interfere with the industries they are so busy promoting. How much of a difference will the new FAA rules make? 

Popularity: 2% [?]

When Brett and Kirstin Morgan moved from New York City to the East End they were ready to embrace a sustainable and organic lifestyle. After settling into a home in North Haven in 2008, the couple started a small vegetable garden. The planting led to composting and composting soon led the Morgans to investigate raising backyard chickens. By August 2009, the Morgan family was the proud owner of six day-old hens and one year later the brood has flourished.
Regulations in North Haven Village, though, threaten to put the kibosh on the Morgan’s coop. Hoping to act preemptively, Brett implored the village board on Monday to put chicken friendly laws on the books. Hundreds of municipalities across the country, and a few on Long Island, have legalized residential poultry operations or are in the midst of crafting such legislation. In Huntington, locals are allowed to house up to eight chickens behind their homes. The pens must be cleaned daily and the eggs cannot be sold. Greenport Village Trustee Michael Osinski is pushing for a similar bill. Most regulations prohibit the presence of roosters, known for insidiously crowing at the break of dawn.
For Brett, the issue isn’t merely a vote for an environmentally conscious lifestyle, but is also a campaign to save the newest additions to his family. Aurora, Ariel, Daylight, Brownie, Sunshine and Midnight — as the youngest Morgans, daughters Mackenzie, 4-and-three-quarters, and Piper, 3, have named them — are now more pets than farm fowl.
“Whether collecting eggs, or chasing them around the yard, it’s amazing what joy chickens can bring to a youngster’s face,” wrote Brett in a letter to the village board.
Brett and Kirstin talk animatedly about their bird’s habits, preferences and even appearance. Kirstin points out the bright red wattle and comb on her Easter Egger, the scarlet coloring is an indication of good health, as it lays an egg in the turquoise shingled coop. She has no qualms about petting her “babies” like any domesticated animal and even Mackenzie and Piper are adept at chasing them around the yard to pick them up. A peck on the hand doesn’t ruffle Piper’s feathers as she gives a look of shock instead of sobbing.
Though Brett grew up on a Sagaponack private farm, he wasn’t the Morgan driving the family’s plucky purchase. Instead, it was Kirstin who hungered for a hatch to call her own. Though Kirstin was raised in a developed part of New Jersey, she fondly remembers visiting a friend’s farm in Pennsylvania.
“They had chickens. We grabbed all the eggs and the mom made us something,” Kirstin recalled. “I’ve always had this desire.”

The Morgan’s poultry is truly free-range. Every afternoon, the gang of six are let out of the coop and allowed to roam the property and sometimes the neighborhood. Although most neighbors enjoy the company — and the eggs — this freedom has also landed the Morgans in a bit of hot water with the village. According to Brett and Kirstin, North Haven Village Building Inspector Al Daniels said an adjacent property owner called him to complain that the birds had trespassed on their lawn.
At a village board meeting on Monday, Brett lobbied for an amendment and extolled the benefits of keeping hens. He pointed out that they provide pest control by mainly subsisting on bugs, ticks and grubs from around the yard. This also reduces the family’s chances of contracting a tick-borne illness. Their manure and eggshells are folded back into compost used for the garden. Every day the chickens lay around six eggs, and the Morgans give the excess to neighbors and friends. The eggs come in all hues, ranging from light green to dark brown, and taste richer than the store bought variety, Kirstin added.
Friend Chuck Seltzer, who is also a North Haven resident, attended the meeting to lend support. He vouched for the deliciousness of the eggs, saying “it would have been smart to bring samples.”
After a few questions posed by board members on the height chickens can jump — around eight feet if they are spooked — and noise, though another friend says the hens produce no more sound than a leaf blower, village mayor Laura Nolan said the board would more thoroughly consider crafting a law.
“We will take a look at what the other communities have done,” she said. “We will discuss this with our village attorney and take it from there.”

Popularity: 3% [?]

We remember sitting across from Bob Reiser during a candidate’s interview some years ago and noting the intensity in his eyes. He was committed, well-informed and had his game face on. As the interview progressed it was clear that he was, as the saying goes, the smartest guy in the room.

We remember him crafting plans for a new library for the community, playing football at Mashashimuet Park, sailing out of the yacht club and taking his picture as a volunteer, bagging turkeys and hams at the food pantry.

In the past decade or so, covering the sedate and at times bizarre politics of North Haven, and recording the changing landscape of Sag Harbor, we were always happy to see him and felt that anything he attached himself to would be the better for it.

It was that focus, we felt, that could bring clarity to the often confusing issues of community life.

We were sorry to hear this week of his sudden passing. Our community, and the organizations he served, will be the poorer for it.

Popularity: 1% [?]

By Jim Marquardt

Robert F. Reiser, 78, a long-term resident of North Haven, died suddenly on April 3 after a distinguished career in business, education and public service. Mr. Reiser held several executive positions during 25 years at Xerox Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, his last as President of Xerox International. He later taught at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. where he became chairman of the marketing department.

Mr. Reiser had summered in Sag Harbor since childhood and he and his wife, Mary, made North Haven their permanent home in 1993. He was twice elected mayor of the incorporated village and served in that post from 1998 to 2002. He was a trustee of the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor for many years and became president of the board in the late 1990s. Mr. Reiser served for 16 years as a volunteer for East End Hospice. He was also a recent president of the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Reiser attended Xavier High School in Manhattan and graduated from St. Peter’s College, a Jesuit institution in New Jersey where he was editor of the college newspaper. Following graduation he was commissioned an officer in U.S. Army Military Intelligence, and after his discharge earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1958. He took a position with Moran Towing Company and before long was appointed sales manager. During his first summer at Harvard he had worked as a deckhand on Moran tugboats in New York Harbor, which inspired his love of boats and the sea.

Mr. Reiser was an avid sailor, a member of the Sag Harbor Yacht Club and made many ocean voyages. He also was a skier and golfer and belonged to the Noyac Golf Club. He believed that sports were important for youngsters and he spent many summer days umpiring Little League games. Besides his wife of 53 years, he is survived by their children Mark, Jack, Robert, Mary, Martin and Peter, and his grandchildren Erin, Timothy, Daniel, Michael, Brendan, Bridget, Kathleen, Thomas, Walter, Mary Claire and Robert. Mr. Reiser was predeceased by his father and mother, Frank and Grace Reiser, and his sister Mary Jane Woodward. A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated April 7 at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church where he had been a Lector and a member of the Restoration Committee. Burial took place at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Sag Harbor.

Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent in Mr. Reiser’s name to Cormaria Retreat House, PO Box 1993, Sag Harbor, NY 11963, or to St. Andrew’s Church, 122 Division Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963.

Popularity: 2% [?]

A portion of Ferry Road in North Haven will be closed sometime early next year, between Sunset Beach Road and Tyndall Road, to repair an eroding culvert.

Because Ferry Road, also known as Route 114, is state owned, the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) will pay for and oversee the reconstruction, reported North Haven Village Clerk Georgia Welch.

The culvert has been damaged for several years but it is now compromising the shoulder of the roadbed. Before beginning the project, the DOT is waiting for a permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The construction is expected to take around a week to complete. During this time, however, a section of the road must be closed to traffic.

At a village meeting on Tuesday evening, Welch reported that the best time for the project would be in early January. If the DOT receives the permits in time, the repairs will likely start at the beginning of the new year. Traffic to and from the Shelter Island Ferry will be redirected through Sunset Beach and Tyndall road.

Welch said the DOT will contact homeowners in the area and put up electronic signs on the road to alert drivers of the roadwork up ahead.

“I have been dying to get that [culvert] fixed for the last five years,” remarked village trustee James Morrissey.

The board also discussed the successful program to get abandoned boats off of the beach at the end of Sunset Beach road. At the end of October, there were 13 seafaring vessels at the beach but now there is only one red kayak on the shores without a permit. Welch said the board should assess the condition of the kayak and then decide how to dispose of it.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Southampton Town Police along with Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance and Sag Harbor Fire Department responded to aid the driver of a pickup truck which had driven into Ryder’s Pond Sunday afternoon. The report originally came as a vehicle in the water, with the driver trapped inside.

Authorities arrived shortly afternoon to find the Toyota pickup in about three feet of water where it appeared to have entered off Barclay Road. The driver, who has not yet been identified, was taken by ambulance to Southampton Hospital, reportedly with minor injuries. 

Popularity: 3% [?]

North Haven Village is giving residents one last chance to pick up their boats and small water crafts from the village’s beach near the end of Sunset Beach Road. Previously, the final day was slated for Saturday, October 31, but the deadline will most likely be extended to December 1. According to the board, the beach has been blighted with abandoned boats, kayaks, canoes and other water crafts for several years.
At a meeting in early October, village clerk Georgia Welch said she issued only 17 permits for storing small boats, kayaks and the like at the beach. Welch added that nearly 20 such vessels were being illegally stowed at the site.
By Sunday, October 30, there were only 13 water vehicles at the beach, including four kayaks, two sunfish and three Hobie Cat sailboats. Several members of the board believed they knew the owners of at least three of the vessels.
“It used to be 30 to 35 [boats],” said trustee James Morrissey, noting the situation has been mitigated a bit.
However, trustee George Butts theorized that at least six of those water crafts have been abandoned by their owners. Village attorney Anthony Tohill argued that transporting these seafaring apparatuses off-site would be very expensive for the municipality.
“You can do a resolution tonight directing me to prepare and publish a notice [in the newspapers] … giving [owners] one final opportunity to remove their boats,” said Tohill.
Morrissey asked if the board could auction off the vessels after the December 1 deadline, but Tohill said municipalities typically hold the property.
Resident Gail Gambino is hoping to start a village-wide trash pick up initiative. After noticing an uptake in garbage on village roadways over the spring and summer, Gambino approached the board about backing a volunteer program. Trustee Jeff Sander pointed out that North Haven includes several private residential associations who pay separate dues to keep their roadways tidy. Although the board seemed supportive of the idea, some members said the structure of the program needed to be fleshed out.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Senior citizens living in North Haven Village already receive a village tax exemption on a percentage of their home’s value, but the village board of trustees is looking to amend the income limits in accordance with changes at the state level. The homeowner must be age 65 or up to qualify for the tax exemptions. Under the new amendments, seniors making $29,000 or below won’t have to pay taxes for up to half of the value of their properties. However, the exemptions are only available for seniors making $37,400 or less. Those earning between $36,501 to $37,400 receive only a five percent tax exemption on their properties. For the seniors making the median income for the exemption, between $32,001 to $32,900, they will receive a 30 percent exemption on their village property taxes. Next month, on Monday, November 2, the board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the exemptions.

The next meeting will be a busy one for the board as another public hearing on extending the deer fence local law is also set. Instead of extending the law every two years, the board is seeking to continue the law for a four year period.

At a meeting held this past Monday, the board scheduled these public hearings but opted out of putting another hearing on the agenda. The board vetted out a local law to similarly provide village tax exemptions for volunteer ambulance and fire workers living in the village. However, members of the board took issue with a certain provision in the law which excludes existing board members who also volunteer with the local emergency and fire departments from enjoying the tax benefits of the law. The board decided to put the law on the shelf momentarily, until this provision was clarified with village attorney Anthony Tohill.

The Monday before Thanksgiving week, on November 16, will be leaf clean up day, noted village clerk Georgia Welch.

Sunday, October 31, added Welch is the final day for village residents to clear their small watercraft from the village’s beach at the end of Sunset Beach Road. Welch mentioned that she issued only 17 permits for storing small boats, kayaks and the like at the beach. However, Welch said nearly 20 such vessels are being illegally stowed at the site without the necessary permits.

“We are going to have to make a decision about how we deal with this,” said village mayor Laura Nolan of the extra boats on the beach if they aren’t removed at the end of the season. She said the board would defer any definitive decision until next month’s meeting which will be attended by Tohill.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Unlike a divisive town hall meeting convened by Congressman Tim Bishop two weeks ago, East End residents gathered peacefully on Saturday afternoon at Marine Park in Sag Harbor, virtually the entire crowd of 70 united in their call for a public health insurance option.

Billed as a health care walk and rally with Dr. Michael Anthony, a health care administrator for over 30 years and Dr. David Posnett serving as speakers with special guest Dr. Gerald Whitehead Deas also weighing in on the debate, event organizers said they conceived the rally as an informational meeting for East End residents rather than a political rally.

The morning began with a three-mile trek from Long Beach to the village with a diverse group of 60 residents, from children to the elderly, making the journey behind a banner that read “With Liberty, Justice and Healthcare for All.” Armed with a bull horn, organizer, North Haven resident and writer John Hooker led the processional down Long Beach and across the Lance Corporal Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge and into Marine Park.

Hooker, who helped organize the event with a group of area residents including Harriet Demato, opened the rally noting that some 20,000 Americans die every year because they cannot afford to see a doctor.

“That is the harshest reality,” said Hooker.

Dr. Anthony, retired as chief financial officer of Brooklyn Health Network, noted the price of insurance premiums for a family of four has skyrocketed in the last seven years, doubling in price while at the same time insurance company profits have risen 400 to 500 percent.

Not only is the situation dire for families, said Dr. Anthony, but also for employers who are finding it increasingly difficult to provide healthcare for their employees. Insurance companies are too few, he added, calling for competition as a means of bringing down the cost of health care.

“What I think we need is a public option,” said Dr. Anthony. “I believe we need a robust public option.

With more insured Americans, noted Dr. Anthony, hospital emergency rooms, which are far costlier to run than a primary care physicians office or walk-in clinics, would not be inundated with patients who have no option but to be uninsured.

Dr. Posnett, an East Hampton resident and semi-retired physician as well as Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, agreed a public option was necessary in the face of a health care system where treating something as simple as an abscess can cost thousands of dollars.

A few years ago his daughter, who was 11, developed such an abrasion from her leg braces, a common problem.
“As a doctor, I knew that this was a simple matter,” said Dr. Posnett. “All that was needed was to drain the abscess. An army medic in the backcountry of Afghanistan might just use a sharp pocket knife to lance and drain an abscess, at practically no cost. In England your general practitioner would do this in his office with a sterile scalpel, a sterile dressing, antibiotics and a follow up visit with the cost under $200.  In New York, well, we ended up with a $6,000 bill.”

Posnett said the reason for the high cost was the slew of doctors, specialists, nurses and procedures required for such a simple procedure. A simpler procedure was not an option.

“Why do hospitals and doctors create policies that are expensive and seemingly absurd,” asked Posnett. “Whether a service can be billed for and monies collected from insurance companies is really important for the hospital’s bottom line. Although hospital policies are always proposed to improve patient care, in this day and age, policies that cost the hospital are less likely to be implemented than those that offer new sources of income. An OR procedure with general anesthesia generates more income than a simple incision in a doctors office with a bit of local anesthesia. The incentives for containing costs are wrong.”

“A robust and competitive public option might bring down costs if it really does compete with private insurance,” continued Posnett later. “That is why the industry opposes it. I thought the public did not particularly care for fat cats on Wall Street or profiteers in other businesses, so why are the insurances exempt?”

Popularity: 1% [?]

Suffolk County recently offered North Haven Village two parcels of land near the North Haven Point subdivision, and the village was happy to accept the gift.

The county reached out to Sag Harbor Village Attorney Fred Thiele, Jr. early last week believing the parcels belonged to Sag Harbor. Thiele then directed the information to North Haven Village Mayor Laura Nolan, who attributes the recent gift of land to the county simply cleaning up its records. The village had to accept the transfer of ownership of the properties by resolution by September 11.

Nolan called a special meeting on Tuesday to give a brief overview of the history of the properties, which were transferred to the county after the previous owner stopped paying taxes on the land. The land gift includes two parcels, each sized at around two acres, located at the end of Hog Neck Lane in North Haven Point. The land was originally designated a preserve recharge area as part of the North Haven Point subdivision development in the 1970s, reported village clerk Georgia Welch at the meeting.

The undeveloped area was protected to help support the natural aquifer in North Haven. It is mandated that the pieces remain undeveloped, and previous owners of the property weren’t allowed to obtain a building permit to build on the parcels. According to Nolan’s understanding of the history of these parcels, once the developed lots of the subdivision were bought up and sold, the developers discontinued paying taxes on the recharge easements and the properties were transferred into the care of the county.

“For some reason the [town] assessors office put tax money on [the properties],” reported Welch, speaking to the fact that previous owners of the property didn’t explore legal options to discontinue their tax responsibilities.

But now the county is looking to divest their interests in these parcels and instead hand over its stewardship to the village.

“This is just a transfer of ownership … I can’t imagine any reason against it,” remarked Nolan at the meeting.

Welch chimed in that taking over the properties doesn’t involve any increased financial responsibility on the part of the village. Welch said the properties are “being left in their natural state,” and added that the land is “working on its own.”

Popularity: 1% [?]