Letters to the Editor

If you'd like to submit a letter to the editor, email us at editor@watershedpost.com with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number so that we can reach you with questions if necessary. (Your address and phone number will not be published.) Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

Letter to the Editor: Catskill Mountain Rail Trail and Kingston

By WP Newsroom
6/18/13 - 3:49 pm

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my support for the proposed Catskill Mountain Rail Trail (CMRT). As a resident of the City of Kingston, I am very excited about the impact this trail will have on our city! The CMRT will begin in Midtown Kingston (near UPAC), continue to Kingston Plaza, pass alongside Kingston’s historic Stockade district, and continue north paralleling Route 28.

If you have ever ridden a bicycle along Albany Avenue or Broadway in Kingston, you know that navigating multiple lanes of traffic, traffic signals, turning lanes, and parked cars can be daunting. Even as an experienced cyclist, it is not something I do on a regular basis with my family, and I know many people share my concerns. The CMRT will give residents and visitors a safe, car-free environment for recreation and transportation. A study by the Federal Highway Administration found that 40 percent of all trips in urban areas are two miles or less, but taken by car 68 percent of the time. Let’s put a dent in that number and make walking and bicycling more attractive; UPAC to Kingston Plaza is less than one mile. The CMRT will make our roads less congested and, perhaps most importantly, our city residents healthier and safer. In addition, I also look forward to seeing the economic boost local businesses will receive. The additional foot traffic from residents and out of town customers using the trail can only help existing businesses and encourage new business opportunities.  Read more

Letter to the Editor: Truly Orwellian

By WP Newsroom
6/18/13 - 3:21 pm

Dear Editor,

Is it only me or does the weather feel weird these days. In late May, we had temperatures in the 40's accompanied by rain and strong wind. Usually, cold temperatures in late May are associated with clear weather and high pressure- not wind and rain. We had a few very hot days followed by 2 weeks of heavy rain-one storm after another. But instead of the wind being from the south, it's coming from the north and west. Currently, on the evening of June 11, temperatures are in the low 50's; it's windy and wet. Getting cabin fever in June, I went for a walk and there were large numbers of fireflies! It's too early and too cold for fireflies. Things just don't feel normal. Maybe I'm primed to find abnormal weather or maybe the weather really is weird.    Read more

Letter to the Editor: Reclaim, restore and repurpose the U&D for shared use!

By WP Newsroom
6/18/13 - 3:10 pm

Dear Editor,

The 38.5 mile U&D corridor was purchased in 1979 for 1.5 million dollars by Ulster County (approximately four million dollars in 2013 dollars). Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) supporters are now urging people to tell County Executive Mike Hein to “give “an indefinite lease” to the CMRR for the entire length of the 38.5 mile corridor. Railroad supporters claim the railroad “has the ability to maintain its own line and has NOT been a burden on the county or taxpayer”.

Really? Millions of taxpayer dollars and the conditions along the corridor shout otherwise. Past public funding received, the FEMA
monies the County has applied for on behalf of the private railroad company, as well as CMRR’s recent application for well in excess of a million dollars in NYS DOT funding are all public funds -- taxpayer monies.  Read more

Letter to the Editor: Kids, bikes, freedom, health and the rail trail

By WP Newsroom
6/18/13 - 3:00 pm

Dear Editor,

When I was a kid growing up in a Phoenix suburb, my friends and I rode our bikes everywhere. They were our source of freedom, adventure and comradeship. There were streets throughout the small city that were wide, lightly-trafficked, and safe. We never thought about “having to exercise”. Hours of unstructured fitness every day was just part of what we loved to do.

Kids naturally love adventure. And as parents we should want to support that natural urge—within safe parameters. The proposed conversion of the U&D corridor to a rail trail, (among the many other benefits that have been widely argued in these pages), can provide that kind of safe parameter for the kids in our area for adventure, freedom and health.

Studies have found that today’s kids spend an average of over 7 hours a day in front of electronic devices. The decline of youth health and activity, reflected in childhood obesity and diabetes rates, is a national health crisis.  Read more

Letter to the Editor: Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

By WP Newsroom
6/10/13 - 8:37 am

To the Editor:

I am writing a letter in support of keeping a railroad line from Kingston to Roxbury. Wait, where? Roxbury? Yes. The line used to go beyond Roxbury all the way to Oneonta and even further. Many years ago the line between Roxbury (in Delaware County) and Stamford was torn up and a rail trail was put down. It’s great, but it’s certainly not a destination hot spot as many think a rail trail would be.

The heritage of the Catskills is tourism. And that heritage was made possible through the rail road. There is a true lack of public transportation that links NYC to Ulster County and the Catskills. Imagine this: a young couple rides the bus up from NYC to Kingston, and then takes the historic tourist train through the western part of the county, stopping at places like Olive, Boiceville, Phoenicia and Shandaken, where shops and restaurants are clustered around the old restored rail road station. Maybe they eat dinner at the Peekamoose Restaurant in Big Indian. Or spend the night just over the county line in Fleischmanns.  Read more

Letter to the Editor: Urge Chris Gibson to support expanded background checks

By WP Newsroom
6/5/13 - 9:45 pm

Dear Editor:

In early April, we met with our Congressman, Chris Gibson, asking him to take positive steps to address the disease of gun violence that contributes enormously to the U.S.A.’s violent death rate running some 5-to-10 times higher than other First World, leading economic nations.  Read more

Letters to the Editor: Rail trail offers a unique window of opportunity

By WP Newsroom
6/5/13 - 9:42 pm

To the Editor

I have begun to educate myself about the proposed Catskill Mountain Rail Trail and I think there are some very important issues people raise. First of all, there is confusion about what will happen to the existing railroad, which many people, including me, are fond of. I have looked at the County Executive’s proposal and the Planning Board’s documents and it is quite clear that the trail supports the continuation of the railroad where it is currently operating successfully in the western part of the county. In the 22 years the railroad group has had a lease on the corridor, it has created a route from Boiceville to Phoenicia that operates seasonally and serves three quarters of its annual ridership. Large sections along the rest of the route, which goes from Kingston to Pine Hill, are in a deteriorated condition with bridges and trestles that cannot be repaired.  Read more

Letters to the Editor: Potential economic and health impacts of a rail trail for Shandaken are tremendous

By WP Newsroom
6/5/13 - 9:39 pm

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter as a Shandaken resident in favor of the use of the Ulster rail corridor as a rail trail in the sections not actively used by the Catskill Mountain railroad. This letter is in no way meant to undermine the hard work and value of the CMRR or the attractions and services that they provide for our region. I would hope that while the county may support the continued use by the CMRR of the rail corridor from Phoenicia to Boiceville, that future considerations look at the rest of the corridor and the multiple benefits of a 365-days-a- year recreational asset connected to the growing county-wide trail network.  Read more

Letter to the Editor: We need the best Belleayre we can get

By WP Newsroom
6/5/13 - 9:31 pm

Dear editor:

I am Allen Shiner, a full-time resident of Big Indian.

I have no investments in the area.

I don’t own a business.

I do not work in the area.

I do not work for Windham Mt.

I am not a paid lobbyist.

I am a skier at Belleayre. My entire family skis at Belleayre. My daughter had her wedding reception at Belleayre lodge. My wife’s birthday party was at the lodge.

In a recent interview, Odelle Reynolds, an 86 year old from Kingston who worked on the original ski center remarked;

“WE NEED THE BEST BELLEAYRE WE CAN GET”

We need improvements to the ski center and lodging near the base. They go together.

We can not compete with other ski areas.

When my children come with our grandchildren they all stay in our house. But when they want to ski with their friends with families, they have to go to other mountains that have slope-side lodging.

Belleayre's elevation is 1400 feet.

Let me present two examples of other mountains with 750 foot elevations. Half the elevation of Belleayre.

Holiday Valley Ski Resort, Ellicotville, NY www.holidayvalley.com  Read more

Letter to the Editor: Tired of outdated complaints about the Belleayre Resort

By WP Newsroom
6/5/13 - 9:16 pm

To the Editor:

I, for one am tired of a hysterical few in the Catskill Heritage Alliance raising absurd, outdated complaints about the Belleayre Resort.

The continue to bemoan the "behemoth" resort, despite the fact that the resort has been reduced by 62%.. They insist on labeling it a "self-contained resort built on a mountain top, when that's simply not true. All buildings have been moved off the ridge top. Rather than "sucking in the vitality of the towns and villages," visitors who have a place to stay here are more likely to explore the area instead of day tripping. Resort guests are expected to spend in excess of $10 million annually in the area shops & recreational venues.  Read more

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