Those of us who rallied the no vote in the Great Neck Library referendum last week were gratified that the turnout on election day was not a narrow, stratified segment of our community.
For my part, I know contributors to the almost 70 percent vote in opposition to a library expansion came from residents who are Jewish (kosher and non), Protestant, Catholic, liberal, conservative, swimmers, tennis players, hockey and baseball fans, village employees, park workers, school staff, firefighters, fourth generation households (like mine), relative newcomers from the Middle East, pet owners, sailors, vegans.
No matter their background and level of formal education, residents went to the polls in numbers unprecedented in memory because they understood it was in their best interests to do so.
From Kings Point to New Hyde Park the collective no echoed, gaining in volume as it went until the sound became decisive.
While I believe friction and dissension are essential to a vital democracy, I am also grateful when so many agree. Now we can move forward to a renovation of our library, long overdue and so essential. I hope we will finally have some thoughtful re-allocation of interior library space at Main.
There is a story that comes to us from what was known then as think tanks in the early days of the 1940s. As England joined the Second World War, a think tank was asked to make suggestions to streamline the British army. Starting with the gun crews, the observers noted six men for only five jobs.
What does the sixth man do they inquired. He’s in charge of the horses, came the answer. In the previous war, horses had pulled the cannon.
It takes a bit of brilliance to recognize the obvious.
Rebecca Rosenblatt Gilliar
Great Neck
