North Shore reacts to Biden inauguration

It felt like it was a conversation to all Americans. He said that he would work hard to bring people back together.”

Deborah Fossett, Sea Cliff

When President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated on Jan. 20, millions of Americans watched a historic ceremony, honoring the man who attracted more votes than anyone in American history and the first woman — Black and of South Asian descent — to become second in command. Opinions on the inauguration, and on the prospects of a Biden administration, vary widely on the North Shore, as they do across the country.

Sea Cliff resident Deborah Fossett said the inauguration was amazing to watch. She found nearly every aspect of the event encouraging, she said, from the safety precautions, to the acknowledgment of the hundreds of thousands of American lives lost to Covid-19, to watching Harris take her oath.

Fossett was also impressed by the power of Biden’s words. “I think he did a really good job,” she said. “He spoke to everyone. It felt like it was a conversation to all Americans. He said that he would work hard to bring people back together.”

Fellow resident Pooja Vira said she was relieved to see the inauguration go smoothly, especially considering the insurrection that had occurred only two weeks earlier. No matter their political views, she said she believed nearly all Americans were horrified by the events of Jan. 6. She said she was proud to see Biden say that justice would be served to those who rioted at the Capitol.

Vira added that she hoped the Biden administration would fix the problems with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine. She said she hope government officials could work together to get more vaccines to as many people as possible without wasting doses.

Not all North Shore residents found the inauguration to be promising, however. Sea Cliff resident Courtney Citko said she found Biden’s use of the National Guard to serve as protection to be interesting, especially considering widespread public acceptance of his decision. If the tables were turned and it were former President Trump who were enlisting the National Guard for protection, she said, he would have been criticized.

“If the ultimate goal for any person in any position of power is safety and security of themselves and safety and security of the nation,” Citko said, “then it shouldn’t matter who the individual person is making that decision.”

Elaine Neice, also of Sea Cliff, said the heightened National Guard presence was ridiculous given the fact that Biden’s 81 million votes made him the most popularly elected president ever. She also said the way the troops were treated was appalling, referring to photos released days after the inauguration of troops being relegated to sleeping in a parking garage.

“That’s despicable,” Neice said. “That’s no way to start a presidency.”

Several North Shore residents, such as Gina Sipley, of Glen Head, said they found Amanda Gorman’s poetry to be one of the highlights of the inauguration. Not only was it special to see a 22-year-old Black woman become the youngest inaugural poet, Sipley said, but the message of unity she offered was timely. As an assistant English professor at Nassau Community College who has taught inaugural poetry at all grade levels for 20 years, she said it was extraordinarily exciting to hear Gorman’s words.

“I think it’s an important message of unity and the understanding that the hill we climb is going to be arduous,” Sipley said, “but by working together, we’re headed to a place where we’re going to make democracy in everyday events [an idea] that we are conscious that we have to work toward to make it exist.”

Sea Cliffian Christine Abbenda said she watched the inauguration with her 11-year-old daughter, Fiona, who she said was particularly taken by Gorman. Christine said that Fiona is an aspiring writer who is a part of Sea Cliff Elementary School’s newspaper club, so being able to see a young person read her beautiful, meaningful poetry on such a grand stage was inspiring to her. Abbenda added that Gorman served as further proof that the inauguration was not only about Biden — it was about the American people.

Citko said she votes on politicians based on policy, not personality. Biden’s economic policies could make most Americans’ lives a lot more expensive, she said. For example, Biden’s executive order to revoke the permit for the construction of the Keystone Pipeline could cause gas prices to “skyrocket.” With the pipeline open, she said, Americans would be able to export oil, bringing money into the economy. Instead, it will now cost more to import oil from other nations.

At a time where the American economy is struggling mightily due to the coronavirus pandemic, Citko said, taking away the potential for the country to make money is irresponsible. As a cooking instructor who teaches private classes and works with schools, she said, her business was forced to shut down during the pandemic, like thousands of businesses across the nation. With so many people living in economic peril, Citko said, it is unacceptable to be eliminating possible sources of economic growth.

“We should be focusing on keeping any positive revenue flow into our country, keeping that and strengthening that, not taking it away and then putting us in further debt,” she said.

The country is not headed in a good direction under a Biden presidency, Neice said. The president had already signed a record 33 executive orders since taking office, which she said should not be necessary given that the House of Representatives and the Senate are now both under Democratic control.

Neice said she was also concerned about the change of policy on the Keystone Pipeline and the rise in gas prices and dependence on foreign oil that could result from it, as well as Biden’s proposal to raise the minimum federal wage to $15 an hour. The economy is already in crisis, she said, and those policies will only make it worse. She said it doesn’t seem like Biden has the best interests of the American people at heart.

“People need to recover, not get slammed by higher gas prices and a higher minimum wage,” Neice said. “It makes no sense.”