Letters

Regarding your recent editorial concerning NIMBYs and YIMBYs [“Saying Yes,” Editorial, December 9]:

The residents of Hampton West Estates near Gabreski Airport are quite concerned about the possible purchase, by the town, of the 24 or so surplus housing units currently owned by the U.S. Coast Guard. I wish to make it clear that we are not NIMBYs. We fully expect that the current units eventually will become occupied; our concern is by whom.

Some 20 years ago, a small number of houses adjacent to us were bought by the town, and a lottery was held, and area residents who qualified were allowed to purchase these homes. It was an unqualified success, as it stabilized the neighborhood and marked the beginning of Hampton West becoming a true middle class neighborhood.

As for the current potential plans for the surplus Coast Guard housing, we want to make it clear that we want non-rental owner-occupied local residents. Period. And nothing else.

Since the pandemic, there has been a trend where a number of current properties at Hampton West have been purchased by limited liability companies, and these properties have been turned into rentals. We have enough rentals as it is. We do not wish to become Speonk Commons.

Forest Markowitz

Westhampton