Letters

I am profoundly disappointed in the news that Fred Thiele, the retiring state assemblyman, has dipped into the Community Preservation Fund for $2 million to rehabilitate the condemned windmill at the former Southampton College [“State Budget Authorizes Southampton Town To Partner With Stony Brook University for Windmill Repairs, Using CPF Revenue,” 27east.com, April 23].

It’s been a lawn ornament for decades and not accessible to the public for educational and tourist purposes. Moreover, Fred knows that private funds are available to do the work — if the windmill were relocated near to its original location on its namesake, Windmill Lane, in Southampton Village. Delaying the work is a risk to the stability of the structure.

The “rebirth of the campus” is more like Fred reliving his youth at Southampton College (B.A., 1976). Perhaps Fred is unaware that, nationwide, college enrollment has been declining for decades (source: The National Center for Education Statistics), with the peak in 2010, and has declined about 1.5 percent per year since then.

Perhaps Fred is unaware that Dowling College, a private school in Oakdale, ceased operations in 2016 after declining enrollment. Perhaps Fred is unaware that LaSalle Military Academy, a private Catholic boarding school, ceased operations in 2001 but sold its Oakdale campus to St. John’s University.

Perhaps Fred is unaware of the horrendous traffic that would deter potential commuting students and faculty who didn’t live close to the school. Perhaps Fred is unaware that leaving the windmill, a historic structure, in place is an impediment to the redevelopment and reorganization of the site.

Perhaps Fred is unaware that the adjoining building is a notable structure by Grosvenor Atterbury (the Arthur B. Claflin house), formerly used as the college administration building, but it has been closed as unsafe for many years. Perhaps Fred doesn’t realize that the other condemned buildings would best be demolished rather than trying to repurpose them as they need to be brought up to code.

Perhaps Fred is ignoring the lack of interest and ability on the part of the State University of New York to maintain their properties, despite previously calling them out on the decaying buildings. Perhaps he is unaware of the trend to remote/online university degrees so that the school only needs a robust IT department, which could be managed by SUNY.

Fred, before you go south in retirement, get the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to build a real train station at the site before the 2026 U.S. Open, so that any use of the campus site will have transportation alternatives rather than adding to the traffic jams.

Clearly, the CPF has grown so large that the politicians can dip into it for pet projects such as this, such that the state should consider reducing the mansion tax rate.

Ken Weinstein

Southampton