Forsaken City

It was about 6 weeks ago that I first noticed that the public trash can in the public park of the 300 block of State Street was no longer upright.  Contrary to what I assumed, it turns out that the can wasn't even secured to the ground that whole time.

Instead of being bent but still secured to the ground as a result of vandalization, it was wobbly and easily able to be pushed over on its side even by a child, probably arriving to that state on its own without the help of kids having fun in the park (which is about as depressing as a public park can be).  How many times do you suppose DPW emptied that wobbly trash can and did nothing about the fact that it had obviously come loose from whatever was securing it to the lovely stone surface of the park?  Just 6 times in the past six weeks?

HUDseen readers may think that I'm being unreasonable and harsh when I say that Rob Perry is a slob of the highest order and that he requires the same of his minions, including his foreman Frank Rogers, but evidence proving this is true can be seen, touched, driven on, ridden on, and walked on practically everywhere in town.   Hell, you don't even need to search; it will find you quickly.  The evidence pointing to an increasingly troubling trend of sloppiness, neglect, carelessness, and disrespect at DPW is all around us, including in our public parks. (Of course, the common council and the mayor's office seem to have been infected with the same -- and additional -- maladies as well.) We all deserve so much better than this.  Perhaps it's time to usher Rob Perry out the door so he can retire to Florida.  He has grown too overweight (I won't say FAT!) and too comfortably lazy, and he has been setting a horrible example for all of his DPW staff for far too long.  Who the hell would want to work for or with him?

                                

Oh, by the way, my Fourth Ward council member, Rich Volo, lives three houses away from the lovely public park no one uses except to take snoozes on its benches. Rich is so proud of his neighborhood public park that I've heard him refer to it as our "ankle buster park." Do you think in the past 6 weeks (or more) that Rich Volo has noticed the leaning and loose public trash can waiting to fall on a child or dog, on an adult's foot, or maybe rolled into the street? If he has noticed it, what do you suppose went through his mind? A chuckle or two?

There are two trash cans in that public park that no one wants to be seen awake in, both of which seem to have been secured to the stone surface with some sort of screws and/or adhesive.  Could that have been Rob Perry's idea?

I took this picture 3 weeks ago.  The can is now 
next to the cone behind it.  Still unsecured.  The 
cone has been covering the base support for the 
can for at least the past 6 weeks.  Only two of the 
four corners have installed base supports, both 
covered with cones.

Yesterday afternoon, at the intersection of 2nd & Warren, I was able to get the attention of First Ward council member Gary Purnhagen as he was walking with his dog.  He had just passed two of the intersection's public trash cans, one on his left and one on his right.  I asked him if he was aware that the four trash cans at the intersection -- three at corners, one far from a corner, including two next to cones that appeared two months or so ago -- were still not secured to the stone surfaces of the new "plazas" (Rob Perry's term).  Gary shook his said and said, "No."  To prove my point, I then leaned -- with one hand! -- one of the cans enough to show him that there was nothing securing it to the "plaza's" stones.  Gary looked somewhat surprised, then told me rather unconvincingly, "I'll look into it." And on he went with his walk, likely headed to his residence just over a half block away on Warren.

These two pictures were taken in late June.

For at least the past four weeks, this can 
has been sitting unsecured 20 feet to the left 
against the corner of the building. 

This can recently made its way back onto
the plaza, though it is still unsecured.  I was 
able to show Gary Purnhagen that anyone can
move it. Rest assured that Gary is now ON IT!

Luizzi finished redoing their stonework on the "plazas" at least two months ago, or at least that's what it looked like to me at the time. (Alas, Rob Perry has not said publicly if he is satisfied with Luizzi's repair/replacement work OR IF THEIR WORK IS SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED AND THEY NEEDN'T RETURN TO HUDSON).  Fortunately, Luizzi (or DPW) didn't need to remove secured trash cans from atop last year's faulty "plaza" stonework to begin this year's "plaza" stonework because the trash cans had never been resecured to the "plazas" after last spring's original faulty "plaza" stonework was completed. In other words, we haven't had secured public trash cans at 2nd & Warren for at least a year and a half, maybe two years.  Do you think Rob Perry or Frank Rogers care when those cans will be resecured to the plazas or if they ever are?  Do you think Rich Volo or Gary Purnhagen care?  Do you think Joe Ferris or Tiffany Martin care?  Do you think anyone at City Hall cares about anything anymore?  Or have all of the amateurs given up?

Two weeks?  Three?  Who f'ng cares?

VOLO F'NG CARES!!!