Cohen should take a firm stand

To the editor, 

I would like to thank our elected officials for bringing to the Bronx some of our tax dollars that we have entrusted them to spend wisely. I am specifically referencing the article on Councilman Andrew Cohen as a “champion of parks” (“Councilman courts consensus, not quarrels,” Jan. 29).

What was missing from the article was the leadership void by Mr. Cohen for controversial issues such as paving the Putnam Trail or the placement of a $500,000 Dog Run on the Stockbridge Indian Massacre Site. I think leadership means to take a stand. This is particularly true when it comes to the environment and veterans.

Mr. Cohen cannot play both sides with the Putnam Trail. I believe there is only one environmental stand, that you must be for no asphalt, no compromise. This is also true as to honoring the service of our fallen soldiers. Mr. Cohen refuses to see the injustice of placing a dog run where 40 Native Americans died in battle in 1778. For him, it is just easy to go along with a poor decision by the Parks Department.

He hides behind the argument that since the dogs have destroyed the “temporary dog run” at the massacre site, “why ruin more trees.” I am for a dog run, but only with a 25-foot buffer south of the Stockbridge Monument Site. After the $500,000 dog run is finished, the “temporary” dog run can be replanted. This way, the dog owners will not be put out for the two-year construction period and dishonor will be avoided. Political leadership from Mr. Cohen is needed to stop the Park Department from flexing their bureaucratic muscle as they dictate the location for the dog run.

Thomas X. Casey