Within days that Newsday reported a reduction in hours at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay as a direct result of the Trump administration’s firing of nearly 1,000 National Park Service employees, my office received a copy of a classic edition of the same publication from 1962. The main story that day was a massive late season storm that wiped out dozens of homes on the South Shore. But what caught my eye was an article about how a congressional committee had unanimously approved legislation that would make national shrines of Sagamore Hill and Theodore Roosevelt House in New York City.
What does it tell us about where we’re at as a nation that in March of 1962 Congress was taking action to ensure that all future generations would be able to visit the home of one of our greatest presidents, and 63 years later the current White House occupant, blessed with the full support of the majority of Congress no matter what he does, is actually limiting the public’s ability to do just that?
I have been in the New York State Assembly for two redistrictings. When asked what I preferred to remain in the 13th District, my only request has been that the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay stay in the community I am privileged to represent.
We are so lucky to have this historical gem right here in our own backyard. Only recently I was fortunate to be able to see it through the wonderous eyes of my grandson. It is nothing short of shameful that its hours are being restricted as part of the collateral damage from Trump’s impetuousness powered by ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk’s DOGE chainsaw.
In a letter to President Trump, I pointed out the hypocrisy of how cuts to the National Parks Service and resulting outcomes come as DOGE ordered closure of a Social Security office in Republican Congressman Tom Cole’s district. Cole now boasts that the office will remain open due to his personal relationships with Trump and Musk.
In the letter I noted my reasons for considering Theodore Roosevelt as one of our greatest presidents: his championing of campaign finance reform and consumer protections, creating the Forest Service, denouncing the Russian Czar’s murderous pogroms, and fighting against monopolies. Roosevelt believed that “Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as anyone else.”
This in mind, I told our current president that Roosevelt’s spirit of Americanism is every bit as consequential today as it was more than a century ago. I pointed out that his home is a unique American treasure, adding that another great American, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, did a lot of her growing up in that magnificent house.
I told Trump that while I certainly lack Tom Cole’s personal relationships with either Musk or himself, I sense that he would agree that Sagamore Hill is at least as nationally significant as an Oklahoma Social Security office, and I therefore respectfully urged that he order a full restoration of its hours.
A lot has changed since that classic edition of Newsday was published. The New York Mets were in spring training ahead of their inaugural season, President Kennedy was actually cutting tariffs as a way to spur the economy, you could get a full living room set for under $400 and the average car for about $2500.
What hasn’t changed? In fact, it’s only increased – that is our fascination with, and appreciation of, one Theodore Roosevelt.
I am honored as a member of the New York State Assembly to be sponsoring legislative resolutions commemorating May 2025 as the 141st Anniversary of the groundbreaking of the construction of Sagamore Hill and July 25, 2025, as the 63rd Anniversary of its designation as a National Historic Site.
We owe it to ourselves to preserve his legacy, not look for ways to diminish it just to save a buck or two.
Assemblymember Charles Lavine represents New York’s 13th Assembly District in Nassau County.
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