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Standing Up to Bullies

I’m old and can attest to the fact that if you live long enough, everything comes around again. I’m watching it happen here in my home town, East Haven.

When I lived in New York City, Newark, New Jersey, wasn’t what it is today. It was a nice small city with a small airport. Now, there is a plane landing and taking off every two minutes—great big planes—and the City of Newark is not a nice little city anymore.

Airports ask for a little more space and say that’s all they want, and then they ask for a little more. I’ve lived to see this happen with Tweed-New Haven Airport three times. We had an agreement with New Haven a few years ago. That was a good deal. What happened to it?

I was horrified when I found out that our Mayor Joe Carfora was agreeing to this new, super-expansion of the airport, but I read he has changed his mind. We need an etched-in-the-stone agreement with the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration, and state Department of Transportation that limits the number of takeoffs and landings in a 24-hour-period. It’s the only way to control the future of the Town of East Haven. We don’t want East Haven to end up like Newark, and ladies and gentlemen, it will.

I applaud Mayor Carfora for standing up to the bullies. The mayor should make a deal. He should use U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, use U.S. Senator Blumenthal, use State Representative Joe Zullo (R-99)—anyone and anything he can think of to fight for what is right. We know Goldman Sachs is a giant, but Mayor Carfora is City Hall!

Peggy Thomas

East Haven