Posted on the STCC Facebook page It needs to be made abundantly clear that we do not trust NYPA. That being said, we have tried for four years to create a pathway for communication and dialog. NYPA has been arrogant in its disregard, has acted illegally, has backed out of promises, has still not made restitution with citizens on the west side, and has tried to avoid its responsibility to our beloved Erie Canal and to the people who care about it, with legalese and slight of hand. We have watched as NYPA has systematically dismantled the Canal Corporation and replaced employees with their own, thereby effectively dissolving the dissent among the custodians of the canal and the Power Authority.
We do not want NYPA to listen to the citizens of New York and act accordingly. We want them to leave the Erie Canal alone. They are not fit guardians for this valuable historic landmark. We want the governor of this state, to stop wasting our bandwidth with his ridiculous, Idiotist, juvenile behavior, and do his job. And part of that job is to understand that what ever pipe dream was hatched about NYPA taking charge of the Erie Canal, it has not worked. Give control of the Erie Canal to Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. But he needs to do something while there is still something to preserve. NYPA wants to pave paradise.
Clearly in my rear view mirror is the NYPA extravaganza “The Beer Regatta” that my husband and I went to a couple summers back, which clearly demonstrated that NYPA was in deep water, (HA!) as they attempted to “Reimagine the Canal”. Harvey and I were among the ten or twelve people who showed up. (Five of those were members of our bike group.) the event cost thousands of dollars... to say nothing of the huge gala they hosted to announce winners at the Memorial Art Gallery, complete with goodie bags and a huge breakfast.
This waste of money is a shame, but it’s nothing compared to cutting down hundred year old trees, with never a thought to the citizens who live along the canal, those who use the canal, work along the canal, and their quality of life. They have had a go of it, and they have stumbled and elbowed their way through along the entire four years. It’s time for them to go. NYPA needs to go. NOW.