In an excellent story today Fred LeBrun in the TU points out the fallacy of NYC Parks position.
"Closure list is half the truth"
http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?storyID=903118&newsdate=2/21/2010&BCCode=MBTA
The entire plan is based on the premise that “$4 million in park and historic site fee increases that will be identified at a later date, and the use of $5 million in funds from the Environmental Protection Fund. ...”
Veteran Long Island Assemblyman Steve Englebrigh has already stated "Shifting the $5 million from capital to operational is a notion dead on arrival,"
So what does that mean? Parks goes to plan B,which is a longer list for closure and includes Grafton Lakes and Cherry Plain state parks and the Fort Crailo historic site, all in Rensselaer County, and Victoria Pool in Saratoga Spa State Park.
Basically we’re screwed.
Carol Ash is planning to turn this whole thing around when it falls through and blame the legislature for failing to approve the transfer. Then in a move that would make Pontius Pilate proud, she will then wash her hands of the whole affair.The irony in all of this is that the Victoria Pool is one of the few money makers for the Park system. Something Ash and her befuddled bureaucratic blood sucking buddies in Parks Management will do their best to hide. In the 69 days the pool was open last year in a rainy summer 16,108 paid to swim. This doesn’t include the guests from the Gideon Putnam Resort who swim under a different fee structure that Ash refuses to divulge.
12083 were adults at $8 bucks a head
4025 were children at $6 a head
$96,664 for adults
$32,200 for children
Total $128,864
Quite the haul considering it’s only staffed by 2 $10 an hour aides and 2 $15 an hour life guards who also help clean.
So where does it go?
Into a bureaucratic kind of black hole that only the morons of State Government could think up called the State Parks Infrastructure Fund (SPIF).
So why would the state cut one of its few profitable attractions?
Pure spite on Ash’s part. She is pissed her budget is being cut and instead of making the best of a bad situation, she has purposely cut the very attractions that affect the most people, money maker or not.
You are part of the problem Ms Ash, your job is to serve the public not your fellow bureaucratic brain dead pieces of drift wood in Parks management.I notice you didn't propose to cut even one of their jobs, how many of them have ever been to a Sate Park? What about Park Police you idiot? Do we really need 24 hour coverage in Saratoga to patrol one road? Resign, you simply can’t or won’t come up with a realistic solution to the problem
HELL YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!!
27 comments:
Why do these fuckers think they are so entitled? Today my boy was playing hockey at the cities Ice rink and there is a uniformed State trooper cheering his son on for the whole game.When we were leaving low and behold he has a State Police 4X4 in the parking lot. Where do these arrogant fucks get off. Can they just do whatever they want. This clown probably makes 100k or more.What a fucked up double standard world we live in
why do we need Victoria pool?all our NY state politicians vacation in the Bahamas. most have never been to a Public Park
If they would open Victoria pool on Memorial Day like they are supposed to they would make another ton of money for the month of june. wonder if they are hiring lifeguards for Moreau state park,beach opens Memorial Day(not mentioned on any closure list by the way, hmmm) or for Victoria Pool.
There are nearly 80,000 public employees in New York State who make over $100,000 a year. More than 32,000 of them make over $120K and over 8000 make over $150K
Silly boy do you really think we give a rats ass what the "people" think ? Don't be so naive. We are State workers we only let you live to pay taxes to keep us in a lifestyle we've become accustomed to.
Now be gone peasant,you bore me.
You might want to check
http://wredlich.com/ny/
Thacher Park? Closing Parks is the Wrong Choice
Warren Redlich
21 February 2010, 3:48 pm
Governor Paterson now wants to close a number of state parks and historic sites. Included on his list are two of my favorites – Thacher Park and Johnson Hall. Paterson is making the wrong choice.
I’ve been going to Thacher Park since I was a kid. The Indian Ladder Trail is one of the jewels of the Capital District. Johnson Hall is a remarkable historic site. Sir William Johnson had a huge impact on the entire area in so many ways.
A Governor has to govern – he has to make choices. Paterson makes bad choices. His proposed soda tax and increased cigarette taxes are horrendously regressive – they impact the poor and lower middle class far more than the wealthy. In nearly all theories of taxation, taxes should be flat (evenly distributed) or progressive (falling more heavily on the wealthy).
Paterson is at least vaguely on the right path by looking for spending cuts, but he’s looking in the wrong places. While in the long run we need to find ways to save money in parks and schools, those are not the first places to cut. There are a number of state agencies that can be eliminated – especially the corporate welfare nonsense. And instead of hurting teachers and other regular public sector workers, he should be focusing on the highly paid bureaucrats.
Thanks Warren I like the fact you came out and took a side. I would love to hear what Andrew M Cuomo the New York State Attorney General and would be Democratic candidate for Governor as to say. His silence on the matter is deafening
JT-
Absolutely brilliant, timely, and well-researched reporting. SO... any progress to report on my fervent plea that you and HORATIO sit down to educate Ms. Lombardo, esteemed professor of Journalism at Take-What-We-Can-Get University?
-Kyle York
Can't you PLEASE give us ONE Puff Piece with Pretty Pictures?
The wealthy in this Town don’t care about the workers .The way the Democratic Party in this town bends over for the PBA, they act afraid of the working class. What do they care about a public pool? They just want a cop car to appear in 10 seconds anytime they see a black man who isn’t picking up their trash.
Public Policy 101 says that when your funding is cut you do away with the most popular programs first. That is, you make cuts where it will hurt the public the most. The thinking is that if you get the park users all riled up they may protest enough to get the funding restored. This is exactly what is happening now. The Bureaucrats know that John Q. Public won't protest if they eliminate a bunch of do-nothing asst. Commissioners but take away his BBQ spot and he'll dance like a puppet on a string.
We are being played by these assholes. Just wait, when the Gov. really starts cutting funds everything you like about NY will be taken away. They will never cut the political appointees however. Those bastards are there to stay. NY is fucking with you and you're all too stupid to know it.
JT: way back when you said this:
Ben lives on said...
At the end of the year I will be running a poll for Saratoga Citizen of the year. Please send nominations to. george.kaisersoze.link27@gmail.com
Did I miss them?
If loosing racing and the state park pool is what it takes to make the relocated neo-dems from downstate move on, I for one say good riddance.
Am I missing something or does it seem like most of the park cuts are in Districts represented by Republicans? I haven't seen the whole list but Rensselaer County seems to be taking a big hit (payback for Bruno?). This seemed to by why Saratoga lost the VLT money which was diverted to Democratic Districts. Saratoga has a huge amount of prime property taken off the property tax roles because it is owned by the State (most of South Broadway, both sides of the street, the State Park including 2 golf courses and all the bath houses, the entire race track incluing the huge parking area and Oklahoma track etc. etc). For the track there are some "payments in lieu of taxes" to be made for 20 years but then there will be no property taxes for all that prime property on the East Side. Closing the Victoria Pool will negatively impact the already disenfranchised citizens of Saratoga and will negatively impact the Gideon which relies on the Victoria Pool as its only hotel pool costing even more jobs. Bruno may have been a crook but at least he prevented this kind of punishment of largely Republican Districts. Its all politics.
It's our turn. We've had about enough of you. We're going to take you on, and it's time to defeat you....and your social justice
VOTE...republican/conservative
They do what ever they want .A good example of how our corporate kiss-ass leaders work is wine in grocery stores.Liquor store owners (small businesses) would have lost out had they allowed wine to be sold in Price Chopper (big corporate chain)... Remember the hullaballoo?They scrapped it because of all the protests,then they brought it back on the table again just a few weeks ago.That's how they operate.They figure eventually the protesters will lose their energy to fight. It's sad that too many americans are too stupid to know they're being duped.
After several annoying calls from NXIVM promising to change my life for the better. I posted their # 371-4275 on a craigslist ad for a free 5 gallon jug full of change.
How do you like me now?
I love to masturbate. I do it almost every night, at work, in the car, once on a train, basically whenever the urge strikes me. Can NXIVM help me?
Sorry Dave nobody can help you.
But the state might still be saved and the first thing that needs to pass is a cap on public sector pay at $100,000 per year, and a pension cap of $75,000.
I’m in my second year of teaching 3rd Grade and I now realize I hate these little shits, if you take away the State Parks I just might lose it.
Remember these clowns in November!!!
Bye Bye Governor David Paterson, Which one of these clowns is a bigger leech? Hey wait a minute can't our county chair help. Larry get your buddie Paterson to keep our pool open or are you to important to help the little guy.
Better yet Joanne Yepsen could help. After all she wants to run for state assembly in the 110th. Come on all you loosers do something for the people instead of yourself.
It's too bad that the State police have sold their souls to the politicians in NY. They should have known that these bastards would stab them in the back. One of my cop buddies just told me that as a reward for collecting all those fines on the Northway, the state is closing the trooper headquarters just north of exit 9 northbound. The troopers will be reassigned all over the state (disrupting their lives) and the civilian employees will be fired. . This is what you get when you dance with the devil.
Hey, maybe we can convince VanPimp to have the Bronfman sisters buy Spa State Park and operate it free of charge to the public. Based on the latest story on Metroland's blog, it looks like they could easily afford to do that.
http://metroland.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/exnxivmassociatebarbarabouchey.html
As a follow-up to what "Now, Hear, This" said about the lack of interest from our own local Saratogian Newspaper... You don't have to look any further than right across the street in City Hall to see the level of incompetence that exists within our own City Government. Why is it taking so long for the Saratogian to report on the gross mismanagement that currently exists in DPW? Where's the story on the recently released State Comptrollers report lambasting Scirocco for failing to initiate financial controls of money handling in the DPW??
Or, maybe they are just trying to protect their boy Sippy? After all, they helped get this moran elected!! You can't make this stuff up.
Good work Ben...you're the best!
The comment by "Incompetence Reigns" is right. And what's with the ugly scaffolding on the side of City Hall about anyway?? Our City Hall is beginning to look like skid row. Who's foolish idea was this to actually pay money to erect this monstrosity on, what I believe, is a building on the National Historic Register?
Ho hum, twiddle dee. I'm just sitting here, waiting for someone to call me up on behalf of the good people of Saratoga to come save the day.
Because you know I can....
How many NYS troopers does it take, before they have the courage to find me hiding out in somebodies backyard?
500 on time and a half! Or they're hanging by the cruiser with the coffee & donuts.
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