The views and opinions expressed in our letters section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hudson Valley One. You can submit a letter to the editor here.
Concrete/steel 850 Project & Bluestone Forest
In all the pompous self-celebratory exultation of the 245th anniversary of our nation’s birth and the slow-but-painful recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, it should be noted that amidst of patriotic fervor, we have, unfortunately, completely ignored the cancer that is chewing away at the very substance of our country and the ecosystems which support it: unchecked industrialism and ecocide right here in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley.
The proposed steel-and-precast-cement project on Route 28 in the Town of Kingston and in the heart of the Bluestone Wild Forest (which is now on the precipice of being approved, despite vocal and concerted opposition by informed citizens and environmentalists) is a dire existential threat that will seriously undermine the water resources of the entire Town of Kingston community and ecology of the Bluestone Wild Forest at the Gateway to the Catskill Park and Preserve.
The cunning propaganda that Tom Auringer and his cohorts use in their obfuscation of facts as to the supposed invulnerability of the water table underneath the Bluestone “Hemlock Quarry” to the seismic blasting of bedrock, rock excavation, quarry dewatering and water drawdown from three (not one) wells drilled into an aquifer (already suffering from the chronic inadequate winter/spring snowmelt recharge) is both appalling and downright mendacious.
What 850 won’t tell you is that the delicate hydrology of the aquifer’s preferred hydraulic conduits used to transport water to the surrounding ecology will be disrupted, altered and even “reversed” by powerful rock blasting and excavation and lead to spreading “cones of depression,” dwindling wetlands, lake and stream disappearance and local well failures of area residents – some of which have already experienced low-water failure in the past.
850 won’t tell you about the apparent risks of bedrock aquifer compromise under a blasting, rock excavation, quarry dewatering regime or the 2,900-plus gallons a day being sucked out for industrial and domestic use, which can harm the Bluestone Wild Forest and the Route 28 business community. Their superficial hydrology reports make no mention of this and assume everything will be hunky-dory.
The weekly concussive seismic blasting using powerful ANFO explosives will crack the Bluestone Aquifer open like an egg, leading to gross hydrologic and hydraulic aquifer incompetency and the lowering of area watersheds feeding Onteora Lake, Pickerel Pond, Sawkill Creek, Praymaher Brook and Esopus Creek – especially during this time of climate-change-induced droughts, absent mountain snowpack and dwindling spring recharge that used to keep Catskill wetlands full and creeks and streams running.
850 won’t tell you about the risks of methane or C02 gas infiltration and blast explosive residues that will seep into the faults, cracks and bedding planes of the Bluestone Aquifer and then into local wells and plumbing systems, making people sick – just like what happened to area homes in East Kingston from the Callanan Quarry operation on Route 32. The methane and C02 contamination of local town wells there sent many people to the hospital.
850 also won’t tell you that the continuous seismic rock blasting will weaken adjacent bedrock strata, dislodging boulders and stones onto nearby roadways. This is also what happened in East Kingston, when huge pieces of limestone were shaken loose by Callanan Quarry blasting and threatened to roll onto Main Street and into homes. 850 also won’t tell you about the characteristic hydrological and hydraulic qualities of the Bluestone Quarry Aquifer that cannot be repaired once its water storage ability and hydraulic conductivity are disrupted. The damage is permanent. No matter how hard we try, “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
The precious gift of water is a gift we cannot take for granted, and when industry threatens Mother Nature’s gift, we must not sit idly by and let the architects of greed wreak havoc on a resource we depend on for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” as Thomas Jefferson so eloquently penned in the Declaration of Independence 245 years ago.
Keeping in the theme of Independence Day 2021, isn’t it time that we who live in the beauty of this great country, especially here in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley, assert our own “independence” from the callous hand of an unchecked despotic industry threatening to despoil the very essence of a beautiful America: clean and abundant water? We must ensure that all future generations will inherit green hills and not dry deserts. The choice is ours to make, and time is running out.
Victor C. Capelli
Town of Ulster
Municipalities in NYS are working hard to move towards carbon-free electricity
Community choice aggregation (CCA) programs that purchase 100% renewable energy that is locally-generated are an important piece of the energy solution.
In 2019, the town and village of New Paltz joined the Hudson Valley Community Power (HVCP) community choice aggregation (CCA) program with Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Marbletown, Philipstown, Clinton, Red Hook and the Village of Cold Spring to provide residents and small businesses clean electricity as the default option at a fixed rate of $0.06361 per kWh for two years.
With the inaugural two-year supply contract with energy supplier Direct Energy expiring on June 30 2021, HVCP sought a second term and had additional electricity suppliers bid again. Columbia Utilities was selected as the default supplier because they offered a combination of competitive pricing and 100% renewable power generated in NYS. The new contract runs from July 1 2021 through June 30 2024.
COLUMBIA UTILITIES FIXED RATES:
100% NYS Renewable for three years (July 2021 through June 2024)
Residential: $0.06573 per kWh
Small Commercial: $0.07112 per kWh
— CCAs are promoted by the NYS DEC and the NYS Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) as a priority climate action.
— CCAs enable participating communities to leverage collective buying power to provide access to affordable, NYS generated, renewable energy.
— Eligible residents and businesses are automatically enrolled, but may withdraw, at any time, without incurring fees or penalties.
— Those who opt out will receive basic electricity supply service from Central Hudson at the variable utility rate.
— Regardless of program participation, Central Hudson remains responsible for delivery, repair service, and billing.
For more information, Joule, HVCP’s administrator can be reached: hudsonvalleycommunitypower.com or (845) 859-9099, extension 2.
Mayor Tim Rogers
Deputy Mayor Alexandria Wojcik
Trustee Michele Zipp
Trustee Stana Weisburd
Trustee William Wheeler Murray
New Paltz
The chill breath of homelessness
Last week’s article in Hudson Valley One, “The chill breath of homelessness,” is both frightening and sad. We live in a society that values profit over taking care of others. When people who work full time can’t afford an apartment, we are all in trouble.
What to do? One easy help is for New York State to mandate a minimum wage of $15/hour for all workers, including those who depend on tips, say next month. Tipping should be eliminated and customers informed that the cost of tipping is now included in the price of food.
Cheap food and clothes come from the misery of those who produce them. As we pay more, we need to remember that those who produce them now earn enough to live without government help, which our taxes now pay for. And of course higher wages mean more sales taxes and income taxes for our governments. Businesses need to become creative about how to keep profits while paying their workers more. How about asking their workers for suggestions about how to attract more customers?
Short-term rentals mean that people are converting regular apartments into more profitable tourist spaces. Regulations should allow only the rental of rooms in the homes of people who live there. Let us not let extra profit be at the expense of people who need an affordable place to live.
Every housing development must include affordable apartments. It is a privilege, not a right, to construct new buildings in a community. Businesses should have apartments on the upper floors, so that more homes are available, with some of them affordable.
Andi Weiss Bartczak
Gardiner
Exposed
Flashers have been around forever, and now they’ve made it legal that raincoats are no longer needed. In Los Angeles, a man walked into the women’s section of a spa with his genitals exposed. He did it in front of women and minor girls. Claiming he’s transgender made it legal in California. Exactly how do we know whether he’s transgender or just a run-of-the-mill pervert? All they have is his word. How long before we have pedophiles saying they’re transgender, following women and children into the women’s bathrooms and locker rooms?
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Short-term rentals not the culprit for affordable housing problems
I have been managing other people’s second homes as short-term rentals (STRs) for ten years. My client homes in Woodstock have permits. My clients all work for a living. Their short-term rentals defray costs so they can afford to enjoy their vacation homes for themselves. Not one of them, no matter how expensive their rental is, is making a killing.
If all STRs were outlawed tomorrow, the affordable housing supply in Woodstock would not increase. Present owners who cannot cover some of their costs may have to sell their homes. And who will buy those homes? People wealthy enough to afford them without having to rent them out. This takes things in the opposite direction from what the town wants to accomplish. Affordable housing won’t be found in existing housing stock, regardless of whether we have short-term rentals here. Affordable housing is going to have to be built.
Short-term rentals are lucrative for town businesses in ways that 30-day+ rentals are not. Upon arriving here, new renters immediately hop into town to shop and eat. It’s all new to them, and they spend a lot of time and a lot of money on their first foray or two into town. But they don’t do that every day of a longer-term rental. They “stay home,” or go visit other towns and areas. Short-term turnovers provide much more income for town businesses than 30-day+ rentals. And these turnovers provide a lot of income for cleaning people, repair people and other service people. Unfortunately, 30+-day rentals are a hard sell, especially in the off-season. Empty houses do not provide any revenue at all for our businesses or our service people.
Short-term rentals are not the culprit for our affordable housing problems. And limiting them severely hurts local business-owners and service people.
Robyn Pollins
Woodstock
Get the vaccine
Last week’s letter from Steve Romine was an attempt to highlight the danger of getting a COVID vaccine. His “documented facts” included data from the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System, a/k/a VAERS. Two things to consider in the VAERS data cited:
First, the data are self-reported. The “387,087 reports of adverse events” could include anything from a sore arm to a headache to flu-like symptoms. That is to be expected following these vaccines – most vaccines, in fact. Even the 31,240 serious injuries reported are no surprise, depending on what a person reports as being “serious.”
Second, the 6,113 deaths are not necessarily the result of the vaccine. People are dying from various causes all the time. People that happened to have received the vaccine also die. Those deaths do not demonstrate cause-and-effect.
Every vaccine carries with it a risk and a benefit. The benefits of the COVID vaccines far outweigh the risks, which include death.
The important point is to get the vaccine, not only for your own health (and even healthy, even younger people can get COVID, even die from it) and to help stop the pandemic. Unvaccinated people keep the coronavirus active, mutating and spreading.
Lee Reich
New Paltz
And then along comes Mary
US track-and-field star Sha’Carri Richardson will be suspended for one month after testing positive for THC. She’s only banned for one month. She’s still going to the Tokyo Olympics. She won’t compete in the 100-meter race, but she’ll be allowed to later compete in the relays, as the ban will be up by then. It seems Reefer Madness anti-marijuana beliefs in IOC still exist here in 2021. How sad is that?
Time to stop punishing folks for using a bit of weed. She said, “Don’t judge me. I am human, I jus’ run a little faster.” So many rocks being thrown. What was the situation in the scripture when the rocks were being thrown? “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” She raced in a national qualifier in Oregon. It’s legal to ingest grass in Oregon and many other states. Sure, she knew the consequences. But beating her up publicly will change nothing.
On no planet should pot be considered a performance-enhancing drug in sports. And in what world does it ever enhance anyone’s performance? Name the activity. If you win a medal and then test positive for weed after, they should give you a bigger medal!
But seriously, the only performance enhancement I ever saw as a result of marijuana usage was eating, sleeping and appreciating music. Umm, marijuana, really? Weed doesn’t enhance your performance; it makes your mouth sore from overeating bowls of Cap’n Crunch.
Robin Williams said, “Marijuana enhances many things: colors, flavors, sensations; but you are certainly not ****ing empowered.” Again I reiterate: There’s absolutely nothing performance-enhancing about it! Unless she’s doing, duh, “Couch Olympics.”
I am glad to hear she is taking responsibility for her actions. May God continue to bless her career, right? I am hopeful she will overcome this setback. Keep your head up – everyone has made mistakes, even the ones who will judge you. Shine on, young lady! We deserve to see the best athletes in fair, open competition. That includes Sha’Carri Richardson, whose one-month penalty is excessively punitive for an irrational, outdated rule.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
An uplifting experience
Much easier than the Stairmaster is the elevatormaster.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
What have you done?
One reviewer of Gary Wills’ book Nixon Agonistes wrote: “This…is a book about how much Wills hates Nixon.” I hated Nixon, so, I read the book and liked it. The same could be said of Mr. Wills’ recent New York Times article, “The bishops are wrong about Biden and abortion”: Those who don’t like the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion will really like the article.
Wills frames his argument by stating that he and some people think the deliberate murder of six million Jews is the “worst crime a society can commit.” He then reports that some Catholics and Evangelicals have determined that the fetus is a person and think the deliberate killing of untold millions of unborn babies by abortion is worse. Wills’ article attempts to refute the latter view. But Wills’ problem is not with the faithful laity; it is with the bishops whose attempt to deny the Eucharist to Biden comes from the perspective that a POTUS can claim to be Catholic, but he can’t claim to be a Catholic POTUS in good standing while undermining Catholic moral teaching. (In defending Biden, Wills fails to mention that Biden is not merely refusing to do anything to prevent abortion – even in the third trimester – but by promising to overturn the Hyde Amendment and rescinding the Mexico City Policy, he is forcing those who hold the “abortion is murder” view to pay for them, here and abroad.)
Citing the silence of Dante’s Inferno, the Old and New Testaments and “some” religious figures, Wills makes his religious case against the personhood of the fetus by the specious argument that such silence on a subject indicates no objection to it. Wills even places God “in the dock” by referencing an assertion that if the fetus is fully human, miscarriages make “nature and nature’s God” guilty of a holocaust of unborn babies greater than abortion itself. However, this assertion ignores the testimonies of Nature and Scripture that all human beings are subject to death, even at the earliest stages of human development. Wills also ignores Thomas Aquinas’ teaching that a person who kills a fetus with a human soul is guilty of homicide, without ever saying when the human soul is present in the womb, as well as his further claim that philosophy cannot determine if the human soul may be present before “quickening.” He also fails to mention that, despite having both ideological and scientific descriptions that would influence them regarding life in the womb, the ancient philosophers, ultimately, thought of themselves as scientists and, as such, would be required, in view of today’s science, to admit that the “quickened” 12-week-old baby moving in his mother’s womb is a person with a soul.
But the greatest failure of Wills is that he ignores the fact that, for believing Catholics and Evangelicals, questions of human personhood in the womb were forever settled when “the Word became flesh” by entering into the womb of a woman in order to live among us: This action sanctified every stage of human development and certified the “personhood” of life in the womb. Mr. Wills disregards Pope Francis’ strong opposition to abortion while hinting at his opposition to the bishops, and puts a sophomoric cherry on top of his bad arguments by stating that the bishops won’t be affected by anything he wrote “because they hate this Pope and this president anyway.”
In closing, by defending his “abortion isn’t murder” view,” and dehumanizing the pre-born, Wills conveniently ignores the fact that in every abortion, a developing human being is deliberately killed. During this gruesome process, limbs may be torn, bones crushed and the blood of developing human beings shed. From the Catholic bishops’ biblical view, this blood – like the blood of Abel and that shed during the Holocaust – cries out to Heaven from the Earth.
With this in mind, Gary Wills should acknowledge that the bishops are right about Joe Biden and abortion. And maybe, after over 60 million abortions, it’s time for Catholics and all those who have supported abortion rights to answer the question God posed to Cain in Genesis after he murdered Abel: “What have you done?”
George Civile
Gardiner
Understanding the fear of caring
Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Human Needs” gives us a picture of why we behave the way we do. His theory helps us understand human behavior, but it does not help us accept it. We can all relate to the concept of “choiceless awareness” when, in days gone by, we might have been chased by a sabretooth tiger. Survival back then was of utmost importance; and maybe much later, when it was safer, we would have chosen to rest.
Currently, we don’t have any menacing, life-threatening tigers that we have to navigate. But the DNA to survive is very present in us. You can call it anxiety, nervousness or just being afraid, but those words are all talking about fear. In addition, it’s nearly impossible to express any kind of real caring when you are feeling anxious. Those two emotions do not work well together.
Most people do not like to talk about their fears, simply because our society has labeled that quality as weak and unmanly. Weak and unmanly? Today both men, as well as women, seem to avoid, at all cost, appearing fearful. Yet the quality of fear has been crucial in helping us sustain human life on our planet. Isn’t that interesting?
Years ago, I was discussing fear with a friend. I was explaining that we all carry fear on some level, when he interrupted me with a condescending smirk. “Marty,” he said. “When you’ve climbed the highest mountains in the world, and have come within an inch of losing your life, you have no fear.” I realized that it was useless to argue the point with him, so I backed off. As life would have it, about five minutes later a woman walked into the building. My confident, fearless friend became speechless and tense because he had a crush on the woman. Maybe he wasn’t fearful of climbing mountains, but he sure still had some fear.
It’s true that the idea of starting new relationships often tends to bring up lots of anxieties for both men and women. I would like to believe that, initially, as young children, we did not have much fear about relating to another child. But, as the years passed, and after some tough and painful relationship struggles, many of us have grown more and more wary about making new friends. At this point, the fear of more pain has become more important to avoid, rather than enjoying the curiosity and anticipation of beginning a brand-new friendship. And exactly why is that? Because many of us were trained to stop the natural healing process of grieving.
Tears open every door. Yet, just like avoiding our fears, many people do their best to avoid their tears. Because of the “weak” image of men feeling any emotion other than anger, most guys numb out to maintain a “strong” image, rather than feel the sadness from old painful relationships. Yet the grieving process helps us move on. Those who do not release tears of sadness may find themselves doomed to being stuck, and fearing a repetition of the past pain, with little hope of new chances of making friends. Shedding tears has been much easier for women, simply because of what’s been acceptable in our society. And because of that, women seem to have lots more ability to reach out for new friendships.
The 85-year-old woman in the nursing home was excited and asked her attendant to wheel her down to the next floor. Why? Because she heard that a 90-year-old man just moved in to the nursing home. She was eager to check him out, with the possibility of them becoming friends. She had done some of her own grieving a while back about the loss of a dear old friend, but now had a renewed desire to seek out a chance to make a new friend, and to get an opportunity to care about another human being. On some deep level she understood that life is much richer when you can care openly about somebody, and allow that person to care about you as well. “The greatest thing you can ever learn is to love and be loved in return.”
It’s time for us to get past our concern of how we appear to others, and instead make friends with our humanity. Try telling a few folks that you care about them. At first it might feel a little weird or silly. But keep sharing your caring. Soon you’ll become more relaxed with this new way of relating, and in time you may notice that more people will want to be friends with you.
Marty Klein
Woodstock
Where is the DEC when needed?
Why – when the world is burning – does the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, who tell us “State lands belong to all of us,” and “Leave no trace of damage to our shared lands and waterways” at “one of the most popular gateways to the Catskill Forest Preserve,” so willing to let the Town of Kingston Planning Board determine the fate of the irreplaceable, regional, 3,000-acre Bluestone Wild Forest and its precious waterways, Pickerel Pond and Onteora Lake?
Without the DEC taking on this crucial and moral issue on behalf of all of us, the town’s volunteer Planning Board are increasingly between a rock and a hard place, as for two years we opponents have made our irrefutable case against the proposed polluting and inevitably damaging expansion of the 850 Route 28 industrial project. Predictably, we are up against the well-financed developer and slick attorneys who cleverly interpret many laws now outdated in the context of prioritizing the existential climate change which is upon us. By contrast, we volunteers and local non-profits are fighting to protect what belongs to all of us. Surely it is more than a small town should be solely responsible for. Is it not all of ours to ensure the consequences of further environmental destruction in this region do not materialize?
Many contextual arguments apply on either side, but considering the negative effect on property values, or the many businesses, farms, orchards and restaurants who cannot find help, or the economics of diminishing this major natural asset, or the loss of the mental and physical health benefits of this region’s offerings for residents, visitors and for income-generating tourism, if we don’t preserve this unique and unspoiled and beautiful place for the future.
Laws are inevitably and craftily being played up in favor of permitting this 850 Project, which is entirely inappropriate here! Likely in 1997, when the DEC took on this unique Catskill Park, the limitations and permits may have been right for that different time. With no grandchildren, it’s perhaps easier for us to call out the harm we’re doing if we don’t adapt for the sake of younger generations. Our accelerating climate crisis today demands change from our current shortsighted thinking in the context of this greater existential global threat.
Here’s to the town’s decisionmakers – and DEC professionals (whether or not with grandchildren) – to take a firm stand for the principles that will help protect this region over the next years and centuries. Let’s root for the values that will ensure conservation of this most treasured irreplaceable, natural, historic, archaeological, recreational and environmental resource and for the expertise of NYS-DEC to take on the responsibility that rests now unfairly with the Town of Kingston alone, as this decision is one that impacts this area far and wide.
Jude Asphar
Woodstock
True facts about Israel: The Mid-East’s only democracy
The Jewish Federation of Ulster County would stand in unison with New Paltz Women in Black (Supporting Palestinian Rights is not anti-Semitic, July 7), if they sincerely opposed “anti-Semitism,” as they assert. The truth is revealed by the anti-Semitic tropes that are the bulk of their letter.
Women in Black is simply wrong in stating the “indigenous Palestinian population” was “driven from its homes and lands.” Israeli Arabs abandoned their homes in 1948 because the Arab world declared war on Israel after it was recognized by the UN as a sovereign state. They were instructed to leave by Arab leaders to escape the devastation of converging armies.
Israel did not carry out “massacres on 500 villages in Palestine… killing thousands and expelling 750,000…” No responsible news source would proclaim that; anti-Semitic propaganda might. Israel’s government implored Arab residents to remain. The Mayor of Haifa stood on the highway teary-eyed begging Arab families to stay.
This spurious claim pops up now due to the recent eviction of squatters in Sheikh Jarrah that touched off military conflict. The truth: Arab families moved into houses they didn’t own during Jordan’s occupation after 1948. Expelled Jewish landowners proved their legal ownership to Israeli courts. Note the issue was decided by Israel’s Supreme Court after a decades-long appeals process.
Women in Black states, “If the Palestinian people stopped resisting, they would disappear as a people overnight.” Anti-Israel violence in Gaza is led by Hamas, the Iran-funded faction the U.S State Department classifies as a “terrorist organization.” If Hamas stopped resisting, Palestinians would have their own country. They would also have a neighbor committed to its prosperity and peaceful coexistence, with guarantees of aid and security from the U.S.
The Palestinian people have been offered that deal numerous times, but regional forces historically had no interest in that scenario.
Yet another anti-Semitic statement: “In Israel, the law guarantees the right of self-determination only to Jews,” and Israel is an “apartheid” state. Nothing could be further from the truth. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It’s a nation of laws. An Arab political party joined a parliamentary coalition that ousted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu from office. Does that sound remotely like Apartheid?
Every Jewish, Christian and Arab in Israel enjoys the full protection of the law, plus access to health care, education and social services. Israel’s “Basic Laws” (the de facto Constitution) safeguard the rights of all citizens, regardless of race, sexual orientation or nation of origin.
Here’s the hard-to-swallow truth of Palestinian suffering: Arab governments traditionally deny Israel’s right to exist, and they benefit by keeping Palestinians in perpetual refugee status. Why else would Palestinians squander billions in foreign aid on building terror tunnels rather than building a prosperous nation? Someone is standing in the way of Palestinian self-determination, but it’s not Israel.
When Women in Black say “Israel,” they’re repeating a code word meaning “Jew.” Their brand of pro-Palestinian rhetoric is anti-Semitism hiding behind political activism.
David Drimer, executive director
Rondavid Gold, president
Jewish Federation of Ulster County 390 Aaron Court
Kingston
Infrastructure upgrades required to support affordable housing
We have provided details to Ulster County leadership outlining our request of the American Rescue Plan funds that Ulster County is receiving to support adding affordable housing. The Village of New Paltz’s NBR zoning district (multi-story and mixed-use) PLUS the village’s affordable housing law have set the stage. But water and sewer upgrades will be necessary to accommodate new units being considered for this corridor.
Our DPW superintendent and engineer have detailed how we will need to update:
1) Sewer pump station on North Chestnut and Bonticou View; (probable cost: $357,000).
2) Water main on North Chestnut and connect it to Huguenot Street’s to create a loop to improve water quality and reliability. Users currently affected include the Village Arms Apartments, Duzine Elementary School all properties on North Chestnut from Mulberry Street north including BOCES and the Bonticou View neighborhood; (probable cost: $625,600).
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
The fence is an offense
It took Harvey Fite 40 years to create Opus 40, and it has taken a mere few weeks for the Board of Directors of Opus 40, Inc., to desecrate his masterpiece by erecting an ugly fence between Fite’s monumental sculpture and the Fite house, where its creator lived and worked. This unnecessary, ill-considered fence robs Opus 40 of its grand, theatrical approach, disrupting the organic flow of Fite’s vision in the crudest of possible ways. The board should be ashamed of itself. The fence is an offense and it must come down.
Mikhail Horowitz
Saugerties
Where is your science
Regarding two letters in the July 7th issue of Hudson Valley One by ad-hominem writer Jay Brick and eloquent George Cross, my response is simple, where is your science to back up your statements? The pseudo-vaccines are still experimental with no studies showing long-term effects, which could possibly be disastrous. I hope and pray they are not and why some people like myself are choosing to use Iveremctin.
Regarding Gross alleging Ivermectin as “ineffective” and “dangerous,” the science says otherwise:
1. In vitro studies show it inhibits the replication of many viruses, including influenza, Zika, Dengue and others (Mastrangelo et al., 2012; Wagstaff et al., 2012; Tay et al., 2013; Götz et al., 2016; Varghese et al., 2016; Atkinson et al., 2018; Lv et al., 2018; King et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2020).
2. Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and binding to host tissue via several observed and proposed mechanisms (Caly et al., 2020a).
3. Has potent anti-inflammatory properties, with in vitro data demonstrating profound inhibition of both cytokine production and transcription of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), the most potent mediator of inflammation (Zhang et al., 2008; Ci et al., 2009;Zhang et al., 2009).
4. Significantly diminishes viral load and protects against organ damage in multiple animal models when infected with SARS-CoV-2 or similar coronaviruses (Arevalo et al., 2020; de Melo et al., 2020).
5. Prevents transmission and development of COVID-19 disease in those exposed to infected patients (Behera et al., 2020; Bernigaud et al., 2020; Carvallo et al., 2020b; Elgazzar et al., 2020; Hellwig and Maia, 2020; Shouman, 2020).
6. Hastens recovery and prevents deterioration in patients with mild to moderate disease treated early after symptoms (Carvallo et al., 2020a; Elgazzar et al., 2020; Gorial et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2020;Mahmud, 2020; Morgenstern et al., 2020; Robin et al., 2020).
7. Hastens recovery and avoidance of ICU admission and death in hospitalized patients (Elgazzar et al., 2020; Hashim et al., 2020; Khan et al., 2020; Niaee et al., 2020; Portmann-Baracco et al., 2020; Rajter et al., 2020; Spoorthi V, 2020).
8. Reduces mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19 (Elgazzar et al., 2020; Hashim et al., 2020; Rajter et al., 2020).
9. Leads to striking reductions in case-fatality rates in regions with widespread use (Chamie, 2020).
10. The safety, availability, and cost of Ivermectin is nearly unparalleled given its near nil drug interactions along with only mild and rare side effects observed in almost 40 years of use and billions of doses administered (Kircik et al., 2016).
11. The World Health Organization has long included Ivermectin on its “List of Essential Medicines.”
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Deja vu
The following is in part a letter from the July 22, 2020 feedback section of Hudson Valley One: How many of you driving west on Mill Hill Road through what, at times, seems like a mini tsunami, or those of you walking on the north sidewalk getting splashed by passing cars, believe something is not right? Well, you are apparently wrong. According to McKenna, the repaving of the road and the installation of the new drainage system “works just the way it was designed to work.” And McKenna continued with, “as soon as it stops raining, the water runs down the hill and disappears and there [are] no puddles. Talk to the engineers; they are very happy with it.”
If you have never seen it working “just the way it was designed to work,” go on Facebook and search “Woodstock Dirtworks” for the video of our recent deluge and no it is not the same video Dirtworks put on Facebook last year, it just looks like it.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Misguided laws and regulations
Whether you live in the village or the town, if you want to enlarge your porch or put up a fence on your property, you have to submit the plans to the Planning Board for their review and approval. And your neighbors within 200 feet have to be notified of your plans — even though it’s unlikely that either of such projects would affect them or the rest of the community. In some situations, there may also be need to do an Environmental Impact Statement. And by the way, there are typically public hearings, at which those neighbors and anyone else can make comments.
Also, the building department needs to get all the necessary paperwork about your contractor before they issue a building permit.
This is a good law meant to ensure that any construction is done properly and safely.
But I learned at the June 15 Planning Board meeting that when the Village Board, in fact any New York State local government decides to build anything on the municipality’s property – there is no such safeguard. They can go ahead without a) letting the community know about it, b) without conducting public hearings on that matter, c) without submitting the plans to the Planning Board and d) without doing an Environmental Impact Statement.
This is what our Village Board has done – or rather, has NOT done! – in regard to its plan to build a skateboarding ramp (they call it a “park,” rather a misnomer for such a facility!) in the Hasbrouck Park.
Is that a good and fair law?
They do a good job in notifying the community about any water/sewer issues that come up and street repaving — so why not also about this project?
The Village Board would do a lot of good if they were more transparent and open about their plans and conduct more public hearings. In this particular instance, they should get together with the Town Board and the Youth Center (there is a skateboarding ramp there which could maybe be refurbished and enlarged) and maybe also the college. After all, a few teenagers and youth from all these entities would likely use the facility.
Misha Harnick
New Paltz
Untruthful criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic
Naomi Allen says that she and her fellow Women in Black hold their vigils outside Elting Library; perhaps if she spent some time inside, she might learn, for example, that Jews, too, are indigenous to Palestine. Modern Palestine was carved out of the 400-year-old Ottoman empire after the First World War and came under the jurisdiction of the Mandate for Palestine, which stated that it was to be the homeland for the Jewish people. However, before the Mandate was ratified by the League of Nations in 1923, the British lopped off nearly 80 percent of Palestine as a reward to Abdullah I, who had no connection with Palestine, for his help during the war. Thus, with the creation of Jordan in 1946, most of Palestine became an Arab state.
In November 1947, with the end of the Mandate in sight, the UN General Assembly proposed to partition the remaining bit of Palestine between the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs, who were not then called “Palestinians,” a term, which before the establishment of Israel, referred primarily to the Jews. While the Jews were willing to accept partition, the Arabs in Palestine and the surrounding countries rejected it, threatening war, and after the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, launched an invasion. Even before the hostilities began wealthy Arabs fled; later, thousands more followed suit, having been told by the Arab military leaders to get out until the Jews had been driven into the sea. That is the well-attested reason for the existence of the Palestinian refugee crisis. After all, if expulsion had been Israeli policy — as opposed to isolated instances — there would not now be nearly two-million Arab citizens.
The claim that the Jews carried out “massacres on 500 villages” is a figment of Ms Allen’s imagination. Moreover, while inflating the number of Palestinian refugees, she ignores the 60,000 Jews displaced during the war, as well as the more than 800,000 forced to flee Arab countries after 1948. Most chose to become Israeli citizens, whereas the Arab countries that provoked the refugee crisis confined the Palestinian Arabs to dismal camps without the possibility of citizenship, with the partial exception of Jordan. As for the so-called occupation, it is a fiction with no basis in international law. Nor are the settlements illegal. Indeed, the Oslo II Accord left the matter of the settlements to permanent status negotiations.
As for Ms Allen’s claim regarding “Israel’s evictions of Palestinians from homes in [Sheikh Jarrah] Jerusalem…,” the facts are these: the land was purchased by Jews in 1876 and even during the 19 years of the illegal Jordanian occupation of the West Bank it was treated by the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Property as Jewish-owned property, and title was never transferred to the Palestinian tenants. The legal issue is simply that the tenants must pay their rent or face eviction. I suspect that even the Women in Black would agree with that.
Rowan Dordick
Woodstock
Point of view
Mischief & intrigue at Kingston Farmers’ Market
I’ve been a faithful attendee of the Kingston Farmers’ Market since its inception. Until this past Saturday, I’ve been able to count on a pleasant hour or so of shopping local in the company of scrumptious babies and the friendliest of dogs. To date, the only drama had been of the positive variety, involving marvelous chance encounters with friends and acquaintances. During Covid, the market was often the only place for me to have chance encounters.
But this July Fourth holiday weekend was different. Very different.
As I stood in the Ulster County Courthouse parking lot still early, a youngish man with a Brooklyn hipster beard stepped in front of an older couple, forcing them to a full stop. “Is that your husband?” Brooklyn demanded of the woman.
The older woman (older than my 60 years) fumbled with her words until she was asked again. “Why are you asking?” she replied. She acted clearly bewildered.
I too was bewildered. Was Brooklyn campaigning? We’d just concluded a rather exciting primary season, but it was still too early to be out shilling for the general elections. Perhaps Brooklyn, now a Kingston full-timer, was about to ask this couple, who to my eyes wore the patina of second-homers, to join him in the fight for affordable housing, which would have been the height of irony.
“Because if this is your husband,” Brooklyn said, “he just grabbed my wife’s ass.”
That’s the moment I thought, “I’m not in Kingston any more.” It was like I’d been dropped into the middle of the 1970s on a crowded New York City subway car, minus the smell of urine.
“I think you’re mistaken,” the woman said, flustered, as seemed the man she had not yet identified as her husband.
I hadn’t been a witness to the alleged misdeed, but here’s what I did see: First, shock registered on the couple’s faces, and then the slow shaking of both their heads. “You must be mistaken,” the woman blurted.
But Brooklyn was insistent. He was sure that his wife’s ass had been grabbed, and that the act had been perpetrated by the man standing before him.
Part of me was desperate to watch the conclusion to this car wreck of an interaction. But I felt I had nothing to contribute. I thought it may have been best for me to walk away.
Had I just witnessed a #MeToo moment?
A short time later, I saw the woman allegedly violated. I surprised myself with my surge of anger, directed not at the alleged perp, but at Brooklyn. Why had he begun the accusation with, “Is this your husband?” He acted as though whatever bad behavior the accused may have exhibited belonged to the woman he was with.
And what about the accused’s wife or partner? Was she the kind of woman who gives a boys-will-be-boys free pass to disgraceful behavior? Or was she an innocent, destroyed by Brooklyn’s allegation, having, like myself, shopped at the farmers’ market without incident thus far? Had a seed of doubt now been planted that would ultimately take root and destroy their marriage of some 40 years?
Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity after all. It might have been nothing more than an innocent bump – something that never would have happened during the many months of our six-feet-apart pandemic regimen. Maybe, like my stepfather, he had dementia and was no longer responsible for his words and actions. Or maybe he’d finally gotten caught, it was about time someone spoke up, and hurray for Brooklyn.
There must have been aftershocks in both households. There was in mine. Told the story, my husband imagined yet another possibility: Perhaps the older couple were an expert pickpocketing team, and the ass-grabbing was a ruse, something Brooklyn and his wife would later discover.
I think that next Saturday I’ll stand at least six feet away from my neighbors. It’s not so much that I think anyone will violate my personal space, at least not intentionally. Let’s just say I’m taking stock of the new Delta variant and I’d rather err on the side of caution. If we’ve learned anything about our world these past 16 months, Kingston, like every other place, is not immune to the forces of rapid change.
– Charlotte Adamis
Join the family! 
