Letters to the editor, April 10, 2026

Bedford Dem leader supports Davidson

To the Editor:

Every two years, we have the opportunity to select who we want to represent us in Congress. For me, after a year of interviewing each of the Democratic candidates, Beth Davidson will have my vote on June 23.  

Beth has decades of experience serving her community. Beth is a Rockland County legislator — chair of the Environment Committee and vice chair of the Housing and Economic Development Committee. She is a former two-term school board member with a two-decade history of service on both sides of the Hudson. She and her husband, through cancer and job transitions and COVID, have raised two (incredible) children in Nyack.  

Beth has a legacy of fighting for our most vulnerable. As a former EMILYs List staffer, Beth helped to elect dozens of pro-choice Democratic women nationally to defend reproductive rights; and at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, she raised awareness and funds for those impacted by MS. Her understanding of issues stems from seeing them firsthand; her positions are shaped by a lifetime of civic participation, raising a family, and advocating for those she has been elected to serve.

Beth has the temperament and track record to win this election and deliver for our district. Beth is a skilled listener, connector, and tireless coalition builder.  She is strategic, patient, steady, and relentless in her pursuit of an objective.  Beth’s tenacity, desire to deeply understand issues, and her collaborative, grounded nature have produced an early track record of legislative victories on behalf of her constituents: common-sense gun safety legislation; community protections from ICE overreach; fully funded law enforcement; hundreds of new acres of open space; and a sales tax cap on gasoline to spare residents pain at the pump.  

Our region has a long tradition of deep-rooted leaders including the late Congresswoman Nita Lowey, and it is on their path that Beth’s heads-down, show-up, boots-on-the-ground campaign treads, reminding us that representation can still be local, if we show up.

I am proud to endorse Beth Davidson for Congress. I hope you will join me.

Kevin McAvey Bedford Democratic District Leader Founder, NY Forward

View drunkenness as a struggle, not crime

To the Editor:

I have resided in Mount Kisco, on and off, since 1979. I am a retired probation official and a graduate of a chemical dependency counselor certification program. My view regarding the recent public comments at Village Board meetings, which ended “I am here for the fight,” is: I am not here for the fight. I am here for the struggle.

In their time, Al Capone, Bugsy Seigel and Whitey Bulger did not reflect that Italian, Jewish, Irish immigrants were all criminals. The majority of people I saw at work were dependent on alcohol, drugs. Immigrant families were not the majority of the convicted criminals.

I agree with the sentiment that if you are a guest in this country, you should be more, not less, committed to obeying our laws and our village codes. And that proportionate consequences for failing to do so are needed.

Families with members who are alcoholic, or addicted to opiates or cocaine, know that the brain is owned by the drug of choice. That means poor judgment, impaired motor coordination, uncontrolled emotional regulation, belligerence, loss of control of bodily functions, brain atrophy.  And sometimes stealing and assault.

Not soft on crime here. I have seen vehicular DWI homicides and know of babies ingesting their parents’ opiates and dying. I do NOT view drug and alcohol related crimes as victimless.

Intoxicated men in our village, at our businesses or in our library, is not a “crime” however unacceptable.

Standard of care — a five-day inpatient hospital detox, then 28 day inpatient rehab.  These require health insurance or Medicaid (which undocumented immigrants do not qualify for), or cash.

A unified response to a community problem is needed. Not a fight.

Judith Sage Mount Kisco

Young reader has ideas for Sylvanus Ferris House

To the Editor:

I read Maureen Koehl’s article about the Silvanus Ferris House, (“The Silvanus Ferris House,” March 27), and I learned about the village center that burned to the ground. I’m a third grader at Meadow Pond Elementary School, and I agree with Maureen that the Town Board should preserve this historical site and maybe turn it into a village center like the one that burned to the ground. Here are some reasons why I strongly suggest that:

— We have no village center, and my family has to go to Ridgefield, or Pound Ridge.

— I really would like a place for my friends and I to hang out after school.

— In the article, I read about the inn, and maybe, since our house is too small to fit my grandparents, the Town Board could make an inn, like the one in the article.

I really like learning about history in the newspaper, and this one is the most exciting one yet.

Zoey P. Kaplowitz South Salem