Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor: East Rockaway, Lynbrook

July 18-24, 2013

Posted

Library has been drastically improved

To the Editor:
Taking my family to the East Rockaway Public Library has become a must-do event every week. I’m impressed that they’ve rebuilt the facility and are offering stellar services after Hurricane Sandy flooded and damaged many of the books and  equipment.
But what’s most impressive is that Mayor Fran Lenahan and the library board have accomplished things that people contended couldn’t be done for years. “Can’t” isn’t a word in their vocabulary — and my family is thankful that it isn’t.

The new expanded hours have rung in a new day for the library! Seeing our kids revel in the Children’s Corner is truly wonderful — but giving adults the options to take books on the road via smart apps on mobile devices is remarkable.
And so is cutting the waste, fraud and abuse of our tax dollars that were improperly spent for too long on higher education tuition for certain chosen library employees, as well as outrageous and unheard-of perks such as part-time staff receiving full-time employment health benefits.
All in all, the library has been drastically improved, and we have Lenahan and the village and library boards to thank.

Thomas Cittadino
East Rockaway


Unpleasant issues in Lynbrook


To the Editor:
As a Lynbrook resident for more than 40 years, I feel that I must address several unpleasant issues that are taking place in our village.
The number of absentee landlords, especially in private homes, is really getting out of control. On one block near my home, there are four rented houses. Many were one-family dwellings at one point, but now there are two or three families living in them.
There are also several empty or abandoned homes where the grass is overgrown, the windows are broken, there is garbage lying around, and there are broken fences. When I drive around, and see all of the fences that are not up to code, I wonder if the village employees ever notice. We used to be known as “Tree City,” but now we could be called “Fence City.”
Are we going to wait until Lynbrook really starts to look like Brooklyn, or is the village board going to address these serious problems? And although I know it is not a village issue, someone should be looking into the number of children, especially teenagers, who get off the Long Island Rail Road to attend Lynbrook schools.

Eileen A. Appel
Lynbrook