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Trees
To
the Editor:
As
a sidebar to your excellent “Green Giants Moving On” [April
27], I should like to add that, while admiring the dispatch
and efficiency with which the City Forester’s Office, headed
by Tom Pfeiffer, took down the old white willow tree in Washington
Park (which I remember back in the ’50s), it has yet to ever
respond to my three requests to remove dead branches from
12 of the 16 trees that line the southern (Morton Avenue)
border of Lincoln Park’s Sunshine School area, between Delaware
and South Swan.
The last time I tried to get Mr. Pfeiffer to take down a dead
tree was on Grand Street in 2004, and it took seven months
and my complaint on Jerry Jennings’ Sunday radio show to get
it done. I hope this time it doesn’t go on much longer. But,
come to think of it, it’s been 10 months this time. I’ve been
calling City Hall and the forester’s office since last June,
and have written Pfeiffer at least once since I moved to Morton
Avenue, 12 months ago. Kids come home from school and walk
under those trees. In the summer, 4th of July celebrants party
under those trees. People who hurry up or down the sidewalks
in sun or rain walk under them. Will it take an accident or
lawsuit to prompt action? If we have parks, we have to take
care of them. As the fate of that white willow indicated.
If Pfeiffer needs more help—financially, or in terms of personnel
(and I understand he has a very small office)—I would be glad
to go to bat for him. As it is, the failure to communicate
with concerned citizens, who value our parks and sidewalks,
is unfortunate.
Dr.
Dean W. Hartley
Albany
Bikes
To
the Editor:
I
have been a bicyclist in the Capital Region off and on for
30 years, and I think the Capital Region is a wonderful place
to ride [“Because . . . You’re in My Way,” Newsfront, April
6, and Letters, April 13 and 20]. I know how to read a gear
ratio chart, and always thought it was odd “double butted”
was held in such high regard. Bicycling around here has gotten
much better over the years, and can still use some improvement.
As far as these Critical Mass protests go, I ask that before
protestors and police come to blows, that these protestors
insist they are well out of the bike lane. Nothing is worse
than riding along, obeying the laws, and having some poor
protestor’s blood splash up from your front wheel onto your
face. The purpose of these protests is they’re trying to improve
conditions for everyone, right?
All kidding aside, the most important thing needed while riding
in the city is common sense. Motorists in the City of Albany
are extremely predictable, and I treat them with courtesy
and respect, and almost always am rewarded in kind. Obviously
there are expectations, most notably stressed-out delivery
drivers who act like they own the road. I can’t help but wonder
if motorists are picking up on some cyclist’s indignant attitudes.
How silly of me, it’s everybody else’s fault, not theirs.
Warren
Meyers
Albany
To the Editor:
I
have been driving for 52 years, and I never spat at, cursed
at, or thrown a bottle at a bike rider. As for hitting a young
lady on the backside while she is riding her bike is unbelievable.
I never saw or heard of that before. There are good and bad
on both sides, bikers and car drivers. As an example, as I
was jogging on the sidewalk on Western Avenue, a man on a
bike passed me from behind with no warning he was coming.
He was so close to me he almost brushed my arm. He was going
pretty fast. If I had gone just a little bit to the left he
would have hit me. As he proceeded, my neighbor was walking
out from our street, he never slowed down heading directly
at her, luckily she saw him at the last minute and stepped
back to avoid being hit. So even bikers can be reckless.
Richard
Eckhardt
Albany
Corrections
In
Spring Fashion (April 27), we misidentified the Web site for
Cohoes Fashion. The correct address is www.cohoes fashions.com.
In Loose Ends (Newsfront, April 27), the sentence beginning
“Bauer was also charged with . . .” should read “Spargo was
also charged with distributing $2,000 in gas coupons in an
attempt to buy votes during his 1999 run for Berne town justice.”
We regret the error.
Metroland
welcomes typed, double-spaced letters addressed to the editor.
Metroland reserves the right to edit letters for length
or clarity; 300 words is the preferred maximum. You must include
your name, address and day and evening telephone numbers.
We will not publish letters that cannot be verified, nor those
that are anonymous, illegible, irresponsible or factually
inaccurate.
Send
to:
Letters, Metroland
419 Madison Ave., Albany, NY 12210
e-mail:
metroland@metroland.net
fax:
463-3726
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