Thursday, October 1, 2026
Kudos to the mayor and village employees
To the Editor:
Recent events have prompted us to write this letter, a rare event for us.
A few days ago, we were suffering a loss of our electricity. This has happened to us a few times over the last couple of years, turning out to be an absolutely frustrating experience. This time, however, we were pleased to be updated by Mayor Fran Murray himself, who came to our area to keep us informed of the progress in restoring electricity. He had spoken with citizens in other parts of the village and he was apparently doing the same tour in our area. We were told that he even spent time answering phones to communicate with citizens. Happily, this time the power was turned on in a couple hours.
Over the weekend we all experienced Irene. We were tremendously impressed once again by the leadership displayed by the mayor. On Sunday morning, as my daughter and I were assessing the effects of the storm, including the loss of electricity, a car pulled up to our curb. Who stepped out to inform us of what was being done? Mayor Murray, Village Administrator Frank Quigley and Department of Public Works Superintendent Harry Weed. They told us of the various problems they had found while investigating the storm effects and gave us a sense that all that could be done was being done. Our electricity was restored in the late afternoon.
At 6 p.m., my wife and I took a ride around the village. On the many roads we traveled we saw trees that had obviously been blocking streets cut and moved to the side, opening the street for traffic. It looked to be a very difficult task, but it had been done by that time.
Later on that evening, once again, the mayor was touring the area, this time with our lovely first lady. He inquired of us if all was well, and we thanked him for his leadership, particularly the communication with the citizenry. He deflected our heartfelt compliments on his leadership with comments about his philosophy: He feels he has great people working with him on behalf of the village and he should be out there. Let them do their jobs and things will work out.
Again, kudos to the mayor and village employees. It’s great to see Rockville Centre once again leading in services to its residents in difficult times.
Joan and Ed Murphy
Rockville Centre
No longer silent and suffering
To the Editor:
Thank goodness the voting public saw through the boondoggle that Islanders owner Charles Wang and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano tried to get passed.
Vote “Yes!” on the bond issue and we’ll tell you how much in increased taxes it’s really going to cost you — after you pass it!
If it’s so good, why didn’t Wang offer to pay for it like he was going to pay for the Lighthouse project?
It never ceases to amaze me how politicians always try to stick it to the “silent suffering” middle class. Thanks to the Tea Party, silence is no longer golden.
James E. Deneen Jr.
Rockville Centre
Repeal taxes on Social Security
To the Editor:
I am at an age when I find hypocrisy intolerable. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy recently darkened my doorway with campaign literature that amounts to a boldface lie. She claims to have “helped [to] protect Social Security benefits …”
Please! That statement is ridiculous!
Any tax on Social Security is a double tax, and if my Congresswoman wants to be honest about it, she should be working to repeal all taxes on Social Security. Taxing seniors on limited incomes for benefits that they earned during a lifetime of work is unfair and unconscionable.
Thomas F. Liotti
Westbury
