LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Told you so?

Posted

To the editor:

(re: “Parks officials poised to pave Putnam Trail,” Nov. 22)

The Putnam Nature Trail’s wildlife habitat is about to be replaced with a “planted strip” and a paved bike speedway.

Bob Bender of Community Board 8 says the trail couldn’t be restored with a handicap-compliant rock-dust alternative surface because the resources “just don’t exist.” So forget about maintaining the speedway, too. It will crack and crater, and sections have to be closed, just like on the west side “greenway.”

When joggers break bones on the pavement, or speeding bikes run pedestrians down, perhaps the officials who allowed this travesty will be held civilly liable. They’ve been warned for a decade by those who value a natural treasure over the potential for corporate-sponsored races and other such “park amenities.”

But it’s our fault, too. We’ve been looking to politicians to save Putnam. We should have been mobilizing the power of the working people, who’ll lose most in this project.

And we still could.

Rita Freed

Rita Freed,

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