DAN'S PAPERS, June 25, 2010 Page 92 www.danshamptons.com
Letters DOG, DOGS Letters to the editor: My wife and I were at GOLDBERG’s in East Hampton and started speaking to Dan. I mentioned that a couple was walking on the beach near the White Sands Resort when THREE dogs ran towards them, knocked them down, and bit them. I suggested he send someone to the court as the case was to be tried on Friday, June 4, in East Hampton. It was a case of dogs not under the owner’s control. I gave him the names of the couple to confirm the story (in retrospect I am sorry I did). I went to the court where the trial started at 9:30 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. The judge’s decision is expected soon. However, Dan’s Papers published BEACH DOGS on June 11 and it read like Aesop’s fables…NOTHING like I related the story to him and he ended the article “And I hope Martin got it right.” I never mentioned a jogger (there was none), I said there were T H R E E dogs (not one), the three dogs knocked them down and bit them (not on the neck). The owner did inquire about them and continued walking east but did not jump into her car with the dogs. The couple walked to Atlantic Drive (not Atlantic Ave which is over 3 miles west), and a witness pointed out the woman’s car parked near the entrance to the beach and the couple called the police who wrote a report. The couple went to the hospital and the hospital report was produced in court. I certainly hope the court proceeding will be read and then Dans Papers can confirm that “Martin got it right” and they didn’t. Martin M. Ligorner P. S. It should be noted that while I was composing this e-mail, Dan called me and I explained why I was so upset and he said he will retract the errors. I certainly hope so! That would be reporting the F A C T S. Dan replies: As Alec Baldwin wrote in his preface to my new memoir about the Hamptons, “if you pick up the East Hampton Star, you’ll learn the who, what, and where. The why and how are more likely found in the pages of Dan’s Papers.” Mr. Ligorner did come over to me at a table at Goldberg’s Deli to tell me this amazing story. I took notes on a paper place mat. He gave me the name and phone number of one of the two people who had gotten bitten. When I asked for his phone number, he told me I should just get in touch with the man who got bit, who was a friend of his. Also they were going to court. I was able to confirm that this incident took place, but I never did get to speak to the victim, a Mr. Frankel, who is a New York attorney. I called twice and twice a secretary told me he was on the phone but would call back. He didn’t. Thus, I was left with this amazing story and the account of it provided to me in a noisy restaurant with notes taken on a placemat. I felt it needed to run as it would explain much about this place. I paired it with another story about a woman, a beach policeman and a dog. The piece, “Beach Dogs” was about man’s relationship with one another and with our pets. I also wrote in this part of the story about my inability
e-mail Dan at askdan@danspapers.com
to get in touch with the victim because I wanted the reader to know about that and I wrote that I hoped Mr. Ligorner had “got it right.” As it turned out, I did get the story essentially right. There was an attack on the beach in Amagansett. These people were badly bitten. They did follow the owner of the dogs, a woman, who had walked off after the incident. An arrest was made when the woman’s car was identified in the parking lot. There would be a trial. But I did get some details wrong. The woman who was with the dogs did not “jog,” she was “walking.” (Though I suspect she speeded up after the incident.) She had three dogs, not one. The victims were bitten on the chest, not on the neck. I had Atlantic Avenue, not Atlantic Drive. I told Mr. Ligorner when I returned his phone call that I would correct these details, he told me he loves Dan’s Papers, reads it every week and was really only upset because I had quoted him in the paper, and because I wrote that I hoped “Mr. Ligorner had got it right.” Well, he did get it right. But I’d had to mention he had been my only source, and I had not meant it the way he interpreted it. It was, after all, an amazing story, with the woman hollering back over her shoulder is everything okay, and they shouting no, and her continuing on – at a walk? Had she heard them? So I apologize to Mr. Ligorner and, if necessary, to other readers. Don’t look to Dan’s Papers for the who, what and where. We don’t have a reporting staff to do
that. We are the newspaper about the how and why. And that’s the story. WE STILL HONOR OUR FALLEN SOLDIERS Dear Dan, Dear T.J. Clemente, In “A Day of Remembrance,” Dan’s Papers, May 28, 2010, page 49, you wrote: “Memorial Day was officially proclaimed across this nation in May 1868 by General Order No. 11 by the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, General John Logan.” Wrong. GAR Order No. 11 established “Decoration Day” as a time to “decorate” the graves of the country’s Civil War dead. In 1882, the name “Decoration Day” was changed to “Memorial Day,” although the holiday is still called “Declaration Day” in various parts of the nation. JM Via E-mail Well, HE wrote that. – DR A MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE FOR ALL Dear Dan, Your article on the achievements of the East End in many war efforts was good except it missed the North Forks contributions. There were many. For example: New Suffolk was home to the first submarine base. It was commissioned in 1900 and there was a memorial erected at the beach in 2000 commemorating its 100th anniversary. It would have been nice if all the East End were included in the “Memorial Day Tribute.” Thank you. Peter B. You are right. I apologize - DR
Police Blotter Tennis Madness The Montauk Manor had some trouble this week when a group of three were found at the tennis court, playing tennis, however none of them were members or condo owners of the club. The security guard warned the trio three times to discontinue their tennis playing activities on the tennis court before calling police. The three suspects said that they saw that the gates to the courts were open, nobody was playing on them, and didn’t think that it was a big deal. It’s not. Super Rescue A faulty landing lead to a seaplane’s crash with no injuries in Peconic Bay. The plane crash occurred while landing after the seaplane hit a rock. Diesel fuel was pouring out of the plane, as teenagers who were the first to respond, went out on a small boat to make a rescue. The Coast Guard and police department also responded. David Hasselhoff was not at the scene. Took A Nap, Ate Some Food A man in East Hampton reported to police that somebody walked into his house and ate about $20 worth of food and then went to sleep. He was not
expecting any company and did not know the man. No Helmets A man called police after he saw four children riding down the street without helmets on. Wow, now that is one grumpy old man. Shark! A group of anglers caught a great white shark at the Star Island Yacht Club’s annual shark tournament in Montauk. Catching great white sharks is illegal. Federal agents responded when the news broke and confiscated the shark. The anglers said they didn’t know that what they had caught was a great white. THERE ARE GREAT WHITES IN MONTAUK? WHAT?! Homeless Assault A homeless man was arrested after he was caught breaking into a home in Quogue and attacking the resident there. The homeless man told the resident that he was a police officer and demanded money, which then resulted in a fist fight. The homeless man was subdued and police were called to make the arrest. David Lion Rattiner