Bring back Half Moon Lookout

To the editor:

One of the glories of living in Spuyten Duyvil has long been the Half Moon Lookout, perched seven stories above the confluence of the Hudson River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek, with beautiful views of Inwood Park and the George Washington Bridge — so much so that it has long been listed in the Michelin Guide to New York.

The Half Moon Lookout is a part of the Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront Park, and as that is — or should be — maintained by the city’s parks and sanitation departments.

Should be, but lately hasn’t been.

The lookout has become a repulsive eyesore, with weeks of garbage piling up in it, graffiti, vandalism, and other signs that this once-beautiful attraction is now on its own. Just outside the vandalized wrought-gates of the lookout is what has become — due to the short-sightedness of the sanitation department — the only public garbage can within about a four-block radius, now piled with plastic bags filled with dog waste, and garbage from cars and passersby.

To add to how far down the lookout has come, several women who take it upon themselves to feed feral cats in Spuyten Duyvil’s parks leave scores of filthy opened cans of cat food and ripped bags of dry food in the lookout — attracting more rats and other creatures than cats. They do this despite the fact that feeding wild animals in New York City parks is openly against park rules.

The disgusting smell of discarded cat food containers only adds to the repulsiveness of this once-inviting place.

I hope that New York City and our own elected officials will do something about this. But now, in a time of budget crunches and COVID-19, I’m afraid that, as they say, none of us should hold our breath until this happens.

Perry Brass

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