Excerpted from ongoing dialog on MyRye.com.
To read the entire blog chain, click here.
Posted by: Michael Johnson | August 06, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Shame on me......I should have waited for the other shoe to drop, before entering favorable comments on the photos shown previously....It's obvious "myrye" was invited out to do more than take pictures of lovely sunsets and clean, well-maintained cottages; as were published several days ago....Let's fess up Dear Editor and tell eveyone who invited you out and who accompanied you on the photo journey....I see shadows of two people in one of the photos..I see the hand of someone (obviously, not the photographer) in another......The results of Mr. Tartaglione's lawsuit have been widely written about here as well as other venues....Testing HAS been done...The Health Dept. has been to Hen Island.....I believe it's important to remember the community on Hen Island is a seasonal one...Most of the campsite owners are present on the island for weekends only..there are very few folks who spend the entire summer there...The demands placed on the septic systems are not great...It's a CAMPGROUND ...I'd be curious to know if there are homeowners in Rye, bordering Long Island Sound, with septic tanks..
Posted by: Ray Tartaglione | August 07, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Mr. Johnson,
Your response sounds the likes of Commissioner Meyerson’s. Only the Commissioner has never stated testing was conducted. He only stated that the island was “inspected” (if he said he walked around for a few minutes it would have been more appropriate). There is a big difference between testing and inspecting. I believe stating the island was inspected is the Commissioner’s way of continuing the cover-up on Hen Island. Although he has been to the island, testing was never conducted. Your statement that “these are campsites” is another jape. The homes on Hen Island contain all the amenities present in a home on the mainland inclusive of TV, stereo, gas stoves, heaters, electricity, air conditioning, bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms although it is true they were campsites at one time long before the sanitary code was established in 1959. Let me recite for you the dictionary definition of a campsite “a site where people on holiday can pitch a tent”. There are no tents on Hen Island. The picture of your home does not look like a tent. Is it your inference because most of the "campsite owners" are present on the island seasonally and for weekends only that it is acceptable to pollute and endanger the lives of residents and boaters during the season and on the weekend?
In response to your final question regarding homeowners in Rye, bordering Long Island Sound with septic tanks. If septic tanks were present on Hen Island as they are in homes along the shores, we would have no sewage disposal problems. Mr. Johnson your comments and personal attacks are now being heard and seen in the court of public opinion and are loosing steam very quickly. I am also confident that the higher courts will soon allow my attorneys the opportunity to depose and expose all involved in covering-up a long neglected series of environmental injustices and building code avoidance on Hen Island.
Posted by: Michael Johnson | August 07, 2008 at 04:19 PM
Ray, Ray, Ray......I know there is a vast difference between the condominium I own in Rye and the campsite cabin which occupies a spot on Hen Island...Amenities are few and far between on Hen Island..Electricity is provided by generator, for those who choose to employ that method..Personally, I have no TV..I have no stereo..I have no electricity..The cabin has very nice, functioning, gas lamps.....Fresh, drinking water is carried out to the island by the summer residents, on an as needed basis...There are no wells. There is no town water.. It's unclear how I'm "endangering the lives of boaters"....Perhaps that's an issue you should raise with the local police or city officials..It sounds very serious to me and needs to be addressed in a forum other than this one...To be honest, I have yet to be approached by any boaters suggesting I've placed them at risk....I'm not attacking you personally, Ray.....I'm just allowing the "court of public opinion" a point of view, other than yours....