(erielack) Erie rail-trails in Orange County NY

[Todd Hollritt <thollritt_@_yahoo.com>]

This was an opinion posted on-line by a Eugene DuBow out of South Nyack, New York, but discuses the condition of the former Erie Piermont and Nyack branches.
 
Does Orange town have a spine? How about its leadership?
Actually the town does have a geographical spine and it runs through the middle. Three contiguous trails — Raymond G. Esposito Memorial Trail, Old Erie Path and Joseph B. Clarke Trail — occupy the former right-of-way of the Erie Railroad's Nyack and Piermont Branch. The Joseph B. Clarke Trail travels between Oak Tree Road in Palisades and Lowe's in Orangetown, then picks up again between Dominican College and Louie's Ice Cream on Western Highway in Blauvelt.
That latter part badly needed some "surgery" and Andy Stewart, the Democratic candidate for Orangetown supervisor, undertook doing something about it. In fact, Stewart decided to formally announce his candidacy at the trailhead in Blauvelt , then led a group of volunteers in pruning the overgrown section of trail.
Stewart said, "The Blauvelt section of the rail trail is overgrown and underutilized, blocked at one point … its access points behind Louie's and Dominican College are not marked, and there is evidence of graffiti, dumping of greenwaste and other eyesores."
Starting out his campaign with a "fix-it" event sends the kind of symbolic message the people of Orangetown can well understand. The town government needs some fixing, too, and the solution must engage talented local volunteers and enhance our quality of life in visible ways.
Dealing with Orangetown's "spine" and its various other problems will take someone who thinks "outside the box" and who has a little steel in his own spine. Andy Stewart is that kind of guy.
 
 
 

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