Letters

I suspect the paper has received many letters about what the School Board is proposing to do on Marsden Street in Sag Harbor. So many neighbors and Sag Harbor-ites are up in arms, as they should be.

I would like to add my relatively concise and, I hope, convincing take on this disturbing overreach by the School Board.

There are several important reasons why people in the town should reject the School Board’s attempt to construct an intrusive, unnecessary and ridiculous behemoth of a new athletic facility.

1. It will be extraordinarily damaging to the environment and ecology of Sag Harbor. It will not only result in all sorts of flooding and water runoff problems; it will be destroying wildlife, and destroying a woodland.

2. They are proposing using artificial turf, something that was overwhelmingly vetoed by voters seven or eight years ago, and for good reason. Astroturf is damaging to young people on so many levels. It is carcinogenic. And it causes short-term and long-term injuries. I find it repellent that the School Board wants to inflict this on students.

3. Such a huge percentage of taxpayers’ money is already spent supporting our schools. I can’t think of a more valuable way to spend my own taxpaying money — supporting education. But not for something that is unnecessary and wasteful, and not when that money can be spent in much better ways.

4. The facility, with huge lights, a parking lot, bullhorns, night games, an influx of buses, and all the ensuing noise, will destroy this neighborhood. The school has made it clear that it does not believe in being a good neighbor. They also clearly do not believe in sustaining the charm and importance of the historic district.

5. There is no reason, other than the School Board’s greed and grasping for size and ownership, why what they are proposing can’t be done on the grounds of Mashashimuet Park. That is the safe and sane place for this facility.

6. The School Board is being evasive and underhanded, and I would go so far as to say they are lying about their plans for this facility. They have not revealed any of the specifics, and they have refused to do so when I asked. I don’t think anyone in Sag Harbor should support a project this big unless every detail is revealed and clarified.

I support all the schools in Sag Harbor, as well as all of their athletic programs. But this facility on Marsden Street will be harmful, insanely expensive and destructive to the town.

Peter Gethers

Sag Harbor