First It's Not Enforcing Open Containers, Then It's A Barbershop, Then A Homeless Encampment, Then Someone Gets Stabbed To Death

A few days ago while walking through the troubled 7th Street Park, I saw something for the first time there that made me want to scream.

All Of 19 Inches Of Concrete!

My crystal ball tells me that no one at City Hall actually cares when sidewalks are made to anger, annoy, inconvenience and even hurt pedestrians.

Yes, The Same Mullen!

You may have read or heard about the natural gas explosion in Wappingers Falls this past Friday  afternoon which destroyed 4 town homes and injured several people, some seriously.  The cause of the explosion was a gas leak caused by a contractor hired by Central Hudson Gas & Electric to replace their underground natural gas pipes.  According to an online article I read, a Central Hudson spokesperson said the contractor was performing "routine maintenance."

Pedestrians? What Pedestrians?

One of the new breweries on State Street decided to allow a food truck to set up shop for several hours yesterday, all the while completely blocking the sidewalk and forcing pedestrians into State Street, which I often refer to as the State Street Speedway (having nothing to do with the nearby gas station).

It appears that the vendor blocking the sidewalk had not been issued a Vendor's Permit from the City Clerk's Office since there was no permit of any kind displayed on or in the food truck.  At least they put an orange cone out so that no passing vehicles would hit their trailer.  Pedestrians? What pedestrians?

"What Does It Matter?" City Hall Says

The fact of the matter is that if you live on State Street above 3rd Street, you live on a portion of the truck route -- the alternative truck route, if you will.  You won't find it on any map and no one at City Hall will reference State Street and the truck route in the same sentence, but there is no shortage of huge, loud, damaging, disruptive, ugly and unwelcome trucks navigating State Street, including 53-foot trailers being pulled by a tractor of 20 or so feet in length spewing some of the most vile substances known to mankind.  Even on a Sunday morning at 9:00.  

Why Are Our Public Spaces And Parks So Often Ignored By City Hall?

This picnic table, meant for use by the public in the 300 block of Warren Street pocket park (with children's play area), has been in this condition for at least 5 months.  The walking surface in the entire park, from the Warren sidewalk to Cherry Alley, is equally obscene.

"Quick Work Of It"? And Will It Be Cheap, Too?

Our DPW Water Department began dealing in earnest with the water main break on South 4th Street yesterday, about 110 days after the break occurred and was temporarily patched.  At 3:00 in the afternoon, I counted 3 large and deep holes in the street, ten workers (not one of which was our DPW Superintendent), several trucks and one backhoe, one outside contractor, and at least one pipe spewing water at the bottom of the hole where the break happened.  This is turning into a very expensive, time-consuming task.  Robert Perry was either caught by surprise or didn't care for over 3 months what his department might be in for below 4th Street.  These things happen, I guess.  But showing no sense of urgency for nearly 4 months to permanently fix a water main break with winter fast approaching?  What kind of sensible approach to our ancient infrastructure is that?