Closing state parks a poor move for future
Jim Despaw
Issue date: 3/10/10 Section: Campus Talk
The gods must be crazy.
From the administration who brought you such money saving proposals as legalization of mixed martial arts, tax on sugared sodas, allowing wine to be sold in grocery stores and my personal favorite - taxing early intervention programs for autism and other learning disorders, comes the latest in interesting cost-saving measures. The governor unveiled his plans to close, or significantly reduce, the operating capacity of 55 state parks and historical sites throughout New York.
"New York faces [a] historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude," said Gov. Paterson."It has demanded many difficult, but necessary, decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our state."
He's right, of course. The New York state deficit, reported at $8.2 billion in mid-February, has since jumped an additional $500 million. Everyone can agree this is a problem, but it seems like the measures to fix the issue are becoming increasingly ridiculous.
The proposed closing of these 55 sites will alleviate an estimated $6.5 million of our almost $9 billion debt - the fiscal equivalent of handing a Band-Aid to a gunshot victim.
And, while we're on the subject of savings, what does the term "closed" really mean? How much extra funding will have to be funneled into security systems or live patrols to enforce these closures? If these sites are closed, will they be allowed to decay until they are just a vine-covered eyesore?
I can see the press release 10 years down the road: "State unveils plans to spend $2 billion in a campaign to revitalize state parks."
Then there's the issue of health. In a move to curb obesity and help people get on the fast track to better health, Paterson proposed a much-debated tax on sugared sodas. Fine, I can get behind that in the same way I could get behind cigarette taxes, but the argument loses some weight when you propose to close down some of the areas in which kids will be getting much of their exercise. Without many summer programs, sporting events and classics like hiking and jogging, the dangerously low exercise rate among kids will plummet even further. In a humorous sidenote, Paterson also proposed a 4 percent tax hike for health clubs in his 2009-10 budget plans.
From the administration who brought you such money saving proposals as legalization of mixed martial arts, tax on sugared sodas, allowing wine to be sold in grocery stores and my personal favorite - taxing early intervention programs for autism and other learning disorders, comes the latest in interesting cost-saving measures. The governor unveiled his plans to close, or significantly reduce, the operating capacity of 55 state parks and historical sites throughout New York.
"New York faces [a] historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude," said Gov. Paterson."It has demanded many difficult, but necessary, decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our state."
He's right, of course. The New York state deficit, reported at $8.2 billion in mid-February, has since jumped an additional $500 million. Everyone can agree this is a problem, but it seems like the measures to fix the issue are becoming increasingly ridiculous.
The proposed closing of these 55 sites will alleviate an estimated $6.5 million of our almost $9 billion debt - the fiscal equivalent of handing a Band-Aid to a gunshot victim.
And, while we're on the subject of savings, what does the term "closed" really mean? How much extra funding will have to be funneled into security systems or live patrols to enforce these closures? If these sites are closed, will they be allowed to decay until they are just a vine-covered eyesore?
I can see the press release 10 years down the road: "State unveils plans to spend $2 billion in a campaign to revitalize state parks."
Then there's the issue of health. In a move to curb obesity and help people get on the fast track to better health, Paterson proposed a much-debated tax on sugared sodas. Fine, I can get behind that in the same way I could get behind cigarette taxes, but the argument loses some weight when you propose to close down some of the areas in which kids will be getting much of their exercise. Without many summer programs, sporting events and classics like hiking and jogging, the dangerously low exercise rate among kids will plummet even further. In a humorous sidenote, Paterson also proposed a 4 percent tax hike for health clubs in his 2009-10 budget plans.
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