Post Mamdani
Dear Editor,
Last week [November 21, 2025] I wrote a letter regarding the inevitable future of New York City. Since then, the meeting with Mayor-elect Mamdani and President Trump took place, as a different scenario might be in play. Number one, it seems as if Mamdani might be playing by the book (his book) as he states he is anti-Israel in every which way. However, he does say that he will protect the Jews of NYC. His words of keeping the police force as is, as well as reinstating NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, is comforting and therefore that may just play out as status quo as it has been.
However, as far as anything related to the State of Israel in conjunction with NYC, that might turn out to be an issue which really has no bearing on Jews actually living in NYC. Let’s try to ease the fear-mongering and live as we have without running to other places, unless things don’t work out as planned. In other words, go about your business and keep a packed suitcase, just in case.
Reuven Guttman
Lawrence, NY
Remembering Tony Santino
Dear Editor,
A recent news item that deserved more coverage in Five Towns media was the passing of former Town of Hempstead Supervisor and Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino. Tony, as he was known to most, died on November 6, 2025, after a prolonged illness. He represented large segments of the Five Towns over his many years as an elected official, two of them as Town Supervisor, and the lessons he taught me about good government and being useful as a person continue to influence my life and career.
I worked closely with Tony as a special assistant to his council district and the Hempstead Town Board from 2011 to 2017. Working for Tony was a lesson in public service. He empowered his staff to work quickly and forcefully to resolve issues that were simple to address if one knew who to call and what to say. Working for Tony meant you knew the boss’s boss’s boss—officials who would take our phone calls and act immediately.
Sometimes issues were straightforward, such as repairing a pothole in front of a constituent’s house. These kinds of issues often sit low on the list of municipal priorities and could occasionally go unresolved for months. But that pothole is no small matter for the resident kept awake every night by the thwump of every car driving over it. I can attest to the many times one call to Tony’s office would get the pothole filled within a day or sometimes hours. Tony didn’t consider a good night’s sleep a low priority.
I can think of virtually dozens of other examples of similarly minor, but individually huge, situations affecting shuls, yeshivas, businesses, organizations, and innumerable residents, where a call or email to Tony’s office meant a rapid resolution.
Other issues were more consequential. When an environmental issue knotted the construction of Hatzalah’s first West Broadway garage project in a tangle of red tape that threatened months or years of delay, Tony said to me—his actual words—”Not on my watch,” and directed me to resolve it. We unwound the bureaucracy, got permits issued within weeks, and that garage stands today as a testament to Tony’s commitment to the community.
Hurricane Sandy introduced an entirely new level of complications that tested Tony’s ability to intercede, and he rose to the occasion in innumerable ways. Together with Legislator Howard Kopel, Councilman Jim Darcy, and Sanitary District No. 1 Chairman Jim Vilardi, Tony led efforts to remove debris, restore power, establish two Red Cross centers in the Five Towns, and shepherd countless residents through an impossible maze of state and federal programs and around insurance roadblocks.
One notable Sandy incident: rabbanim in Oceanside needed help restoring the community eruv. One segment they needed to inspect was only accessible by boat, and a marine moratorium after the storm made this impossible. Tony directed me to a specific Coast Guard official who had the authority to arrange a special accommodation. Soon after, a Coast Guard cutter took a community rav on a tour of the coastline to ensure the Oceanside eruv was intact.
He once sent me to the office of a prominent community rav to convey his decision to provide help to resolve a sensitive communal matter. Because his official involvement would have complicated the remediation process, he wanted his role to remain without fanfare or public recognition—he was willing to get involved simply because, as he put it, “it’s the right thing to do.”
Also worth noting was Tony’s special relationship with one of our community’s founders, Rabbi Binyamin Kaminetzky, zt’l. Tony would stop everything to take a call from Rabbi Binyamin, and there was nothing he would hold back from doing if asked. It was a demonstration of kavod harav that left a lasting impression.
Tony and I lost touch after I left the Town to work for the New York State Senate, but his contributions to my professional life endure. His contributions to the Five Towns endure as well, and as he passes to his eternal reward, he deserves to be remembered and appreciated for all he has done.
Avi Fertig
Woodmere, NY
Former special assistant to the Hempstead Town Board, 2011-2017
