Hills of Home

Ice-out

2010-03-17T18:46:00.002-04:00

On Friday, March 12 the Hunter Brook Arm of the New Croton Reservoir was still frozen over. This was at the start of the massive nor'easter that did not begin to wind down until Monday. By then it was 250 miles east-southeast of Montauk and weakening with a retrogradng southeasterly motion. When I looked at the Reservoir on Monday, all the ice was gone. So I'm declaring our ice-out to be Sunday, March 14. The storm was moderate around here, bringing down a few more trees in addition to those that fell in the wet snow of February 25 and 26. In central and southern parts of this county, the damage was severe; winds gusted to near hurricane force down there and many are still without power.

Destructive Storm

2010-03-08T18:08:00.002-05:00

February 25 and 26 brought us 18 inches of heavy, wet snow that pulled down many branches and even whole trees in this part of the world. Thousands lost power for up to 5 days. Top is the hill of home on the quiet morning of February 27. Bottom is the messy street scene below the hill on the afternoon of the 26th.

More on Maps

2010-03-07T16:51:00.001-05:00

I highly recommend the wonderful exhibit at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street: Mapping New York's Shoreline.

A Trickle from a Dry Well

2010-03-07T15:54:00.003-05:00

The well has run pretty dry. I promise an update on the destructive snowstorm that ended our February. Right now I finally have some good news to bring you. I have discovered a fabulous place to have coffee and look at some fine maps. This is the Atlas Cafe on the lower east side (37 Clinton Street between Stanton and Rivington Streets). Don't skip a visit to the bathroom or you'll miss some of the maps.

On the High Line

2009-11-16T09:09:00.008-05:00

These photos were taken on my first visit to New York's High Line Park. I've known about the High Line since the 1960s when it was an active railroad and I could see it looming over the street down the block from my school. Watch the video for a great tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1tVsezifw4

Rainy Autumn

2009-11-12T17:42:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since I've checked in. A wet autumn has kept things green on my hill of home. This was taken on October 29, 2009.

Canadians Drop the Ball

2009-03-20T09:56:00.008-04:00

I'm not sure about accuracy of the map of protected lands in North America, which appears in the Spring 2009 issue off the Nature Conservancy magazine. But the paucity of protected areas north of the US border really jumps out. The northern forests need more protection as an article in Audubon magazine from September 2005 makes clear.

Quote of the Day

2009-03-10T21:05:00.002-04:00

If we learn nothing else from this global mess of our own making, it should be apparent that what hurts one living being in earth’s family hurts all beings, and what damages one place on this planet damages all places. Thankfully, the corollary is also true: What helps one individual helps all, and what helps one location helps all corners of the globe.

Susan Clay of Houston, in a letter to Audubon magazine (March-April 2009 issue)

Late Winter Storm

2009-03-07T19:40:00.003-05:00

Here are some of the 11 deer that were herding together in my neighbor's pasture (what's the technical term for this?) on the day after the snowstorm we had here on March 2. View is from my dining room window. By my account, this was the second biggest snow of the season. Today we got up to the mid 60s so most of the snow is gone.

Memories of President Lincoln

2009-02-12T08:16:00.004-05:00

Don’t miss the rebroadcast of the film by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Looking for Lincoln. Today is the 200th anniversary of the births of both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. This coincidence is covered in the Gates program as well as in an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Finally, please revisit Walt Whitman’s sad elegy to the fallen President, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. The photo above, taken in Springfield in 1860, is thought to be the last of Lincoln without his beard.

A Lesson in Courage

2009-02-09T22:42:00.001-05:00

The murder of Russian journalist Anastasia Baburova is a tremendous loss as this piece from The Economist makes clear.

Just Say No To Hugo

2009-02-09T22:34:00.003-05:00

Don't be fooled by Chávez. The Economist's editorial on Venezuela's authoritarian regime gets it mostly right.

Buy American

2009-02-09T22:30:00.002-05:00

Buying American is great. I do it whenever I can, all things being equal. BUT forcing people to buy American is another thing. An editorial in this weeks Economist explains why it's a really bad idea.

Together We Flow Like A River

2009-02-01T19:26:00.010-05:00

And together we melt like the snow… Some day, on way or another, I’ll leave these scrabbly hills. I’ve lived around here for 30 years, yet it’s not really home, not a like a place experienced in childhood. I did come up here once as a child. Probably in 1957 or 1958 when my parents drove my grandparents up to Valeria for their getaway from the Bronx. I remember that ancient Furnace Dock Road on a cool autumn day. This seemed the deep country back then. Would that the Bronx had been rebuilt and that the exodus north had not happened, that this deep country had stayed that way.

When the New Croton Dam was completed in 1906, the reservoir backed up the lower Hunter Brook from its mouth at the Croton River to a point about a mile and a half north along the Yorktown-Cortlandt border. Here we are looking at this arm of the reservoir on a mild February 1. This may be the calm before the storm as a major nor’easter is being born in the upper Gulf of Mexico. It is gathering itself for a run up the east coast. That's the Community Church of Yorktown on Baptist Church Road, also today. And last is the beautiful graveyard next to the church. Remember, click on images to enlarge. Today's post is dedicated to Dale Saltzman, who in his timeless wisdom explained to me that Goundhog Day (tomorrow) represents our turn toward Spring - the day when we really first notice that the sun has in fact climbed higher in the sky, that it can warm the chilly air.

A Weight Has Been Lifted

2009-02-01T19:24:00.001-05:00

I’m trying to avoid political topics, so just a word about the Presidential election. It feels as if a weight has been lifted from our shoulders with the departure of George Bush. Here in the Huntersville section of Yorktown we celebrated with a great neighborhood party at Ron and Olivia Buehl's. Their beautiful home was decked out in American flags. Obama managed to eek out a majority in Yorktown; he did better in Huntersville. We all held our breath until election night. Everyone was in a celebratory mood at the Buehls. For one evening, at least, the world seemed a little softer… and better.

Before the Cold Sets In

2009-01-11T17:14:00.005-05:00

The coldest weather in many years is headed this way. It should be here in a few days. Today is seasonably cold - temperatures in the mid-20s with sun and high clouds. Yesterday's four inch snowfall is coating the trees. Although the photo is taken from inside my living room, it's a fine winter day to be outside.

Ice Storm

2009-01-07T13:26:00.005-05:00

Hours of freezing rain have left a fine ice glaze on all the trees of my hill of home. We can expect a slow melting as the temperature has reached freezing as these pictures are taken.

First Good Snow

2009-01-03T12:50:00.002-05:00

I love a good snowstorm. It may, in fact, be my favorite thing in all the world. Our best snowfall so far this season occurred on December 19, 2008. The image is from my living room.

On Baptist Church Road

2009-01-03T12:19:00.010-05:00

These were taken October to December 2008 and show Faraway Farm and the entrance to Arcadia Farm, among others in this pocket of Yorktown. Click on photos to enlarge.

Long Mountain

2008-10-07T16:29:00.004-04:00

Finally - out on the trail again, if only briefly. These are from the summit of Long Mountain in Harriman State Park. Top: looking south over Turkey Hill Lake. Middle: the mountaintop memorial to Raymond H. Torrey, cofounder of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. Bottom: east view to Popolopen Torne with the left flanks of Bear Mountain and, across the Hudson, Anthony's Nose. A crisp October day worth savoring.

Drill Time

2008-08-29T21:22:00.001-04:00

Quotation of the Day:

American wilderness is bequeathed to us only once; destroyed it is unrestorable.

Rutherford Platt in The Great American Forest, 1965.

Today John McCain named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Intent on destroying the Artic National Wildlife Refuge for a few months’ worth of oil, she may get her wish if the Republicans win the election.

Turkey Mountain

2008-07-11T15:56:00.003-04:00

The summer haze has lifted for a couple of days. It's warm but dry. The photo was taken yesterday afternoon from the summit of Yorktown's Turkey Mountain, looking toward the New Croton Reservoir and the dam with the Hudson River behind.

Back to Cold Spring

2008-06-18T21:35:00.003-04:00

Our river of record here in its estuarine portion at Cold Spring on Hudson. This is where the pre-ice age river cut through the ancient mountains we call the Highlands. Now the glaciers have melted and the sea has backed up through the gorge cut by the old river (May 15, 2008). Click on photo to enlarge.

The Town That Time Forgot

2008-03-09T22:05:00.006-04:00

I took these the other day on a trip up the Hudson to Saugerties. The Greek revival mansion overlooks the river. Fortunately it has been saved. That's the Clearwater docked on Esopus Creek.

Clean vs. Dirty

2008-03-09T21:23:00.006-04:00

Is it time for Westchester to consider light rail, or, rather, to reconsider it as we had an extensive interurban and trolley system 100 years ago? Photos courtesy St. Louis MetroLink.

Feeling Others' Pain

2008-02-25T22:01:00.007-05:00

Quotes of the day:

Look yonder at those poor fellows. I cannot bear it. This suffering, this loss of life is dreadful.

Illinois Congressman Isaac N. Arnold describing President Lincoln's reaction upon seeing a line of wounded men they came upon in Washington in May, 1864, while riding in the Presidential carriage.

White House portraitist Francis Carpenter found him unable to sleep, ‘pacing back and forth…great black rings under his eyes.’

President Lincoln’s reaction to the carnage going on in the Virginia battles as Grant relentlessly pursued Lee (also May, 1864).

Both indented quotes are from Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography by Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III and Peter W. Kunhardt (the descriptions below each quote are my words). Contrast this to the goofy smugness of our 43rd President who sleeps each night like a baby. No doubts cross his simple, unquestioning, self-righteous mind. This despite the fact that he has led us into an unnecessary war which has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including children.

Back to 1951

2008-02-25T13:03:00.003-05:00

2007 had the highest levels of New York City subway ridership since 1951, the year your blogger was born near the A train stop at 168th Street. I took the photo of the Manhattan Bridge on April 29, 2004. This is where the B, D, N and Q lines cross from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

O Sane and Sacred Death

2008-02-23T14:32:00.004-05:00

Post title: From Walt Whitman's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (Leaves of Grass: Memories of President Lincoln)
Top photo: Cemetery, Community Church of Yorktown, Baptist Church Road (taken today)
Bottom photo: Hill of Home from this morning - the day after our first plowable snow in over a month. We got about eight inches, our biggest snowfall so far this mild winter.

Quote of the Day: The Good Republican

2008-02-09T19:41:00.002-05:00

On President Lincoln:

Remember also that he was plain, funny, kind, withdrawn. He could talk up a storm or be as quiet as the prairie on a still night. He sounded like a backwoodsman, even in high hat. Up close, it was impossible to fear him. His heart broke over fallen birds and fallen men. He could get fired up or fed up. He was absentminded. He was slow to act. Straining, he grew out of his prejudices. He wrote like a poet. He laughed like a hyena. He cried real tears. Everything about him was real.

Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt from the introduction to Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography. Now we wait once again for a man from Illinois to turn us away from the darkness.
Photo: Abraham and Tad Lincoln, February 9, 1864 by Mathew Brady

April in January

2008-01-09T23:17:00.000-05:00

We've had a couple of exceptionally mild days. Today cooled off a bit with the passage of a cold front but temperatures still made it to the low 60s. Two photos from today - top: hooded merganser with mallards in Pruyn Sanctuary, Chappaqua; bottom: New Croton Reservoir near Pinesbridge, Town of Yorktown.

Perennial with the Earth

2007-12-27T12:50:00.002-05:00

Listen to what may be the only recording of Walt Whitman's voice. He is reading from from America. I hear the old Paumanok accent in these words.

Northern Westchester Vistas

2007-12-26T20:07:00.000-05:00

It's turned mild and gray as we head toward the New Year. More like Seattle. We did have some snow and clear days earlier in the month. Here are four shots taken from Hunter Brook Road in Yorktown a week ago. The one with the distant hill is looking down Beekman Court toward the Hemlock Hill Farm and Dickerson Mountain in the Town of Cortlandt. The fourth shot is the final 2007 view of my hill of home.

Challenges Ahead

2007-12-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

Please read this sobering assessment of the extremely difficult challenges facing the planet -- from today's Financial Times. This column, by Martin Wolf, underscores the importance of the role of the United States in combating global warming.

Grandly Related

2007-11-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

In the streets and in society I am almost invariably cheap and dissipated, my life is unspeakably mean. No amount of gold or respectability would in the least redeem it,-- dining with the Governor or a member of Congress!! But alone in the distant woods or fields, in unpretending sprout-lands or pastures tracked by rabbits, even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day, like this, when a villager would be thinking of his inn, I come to myself, I once more feel myself grandly related, and that cold and solitude are friends of mine. I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent to what others get by churchgoing and prayer. I come home to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home. I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are, grand and beautiful. I have told many that I walk every day about half the daylight, but I think they do not believe it. I wish to get the Concord, the Massachusetts, the America, out of my head and be sane a part of every day. Henry David Thoreau

Downstream Views

2007-11-18T19:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Faithful Readers:
Forgive me for not posting in such a long time. I have no excuses.
Today's quote:

A town is saved, not more by the righteous men in it than by the woods and swamps that surround it. Henry David Thoreau

Comment on today's quote: Thoreau was way ahead of his time when he wrote this. We have come to understand the truth of these words but still have great difficulty acting on this truth. From Walking, published in the Atlantic Monthly soon after Thoreau died in 1862.
Top photo: looking down the Croton River from Nordica Drive, Croton-on-Hudson.

Bottom photo: looking down the Hudson River to Croton Point with Hook Mountain and Tallman Mountain in the hazy background. From Finney Farm, Croton-on-Hudson.

Ever Indian

2007-09-29T19:28:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day:
Soil that was ever Indian seems to never lose all of that impress.
From: New York Walk Book, first edition, © 1923, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
Photo: From summit of Popolopen Torne looking to Bear Mountain Bridge, Hudson River, Anthony's Nose and Peekskill

Danaus plexippus

2007-09-17T21:08:00.000-04:00

What: Monarch
Where: On the beach (41° 2'50.40"N, 72°21'52.62"W)
When: 13 September 2007

Papilio glaucus

2007-08-07T16:32:00.000-04:00

What: Eastern tiger swallowtail
Where: Town of Yorktown, New York
When: Today

Dear Andy

2007-07-22T14:16:00.001-04:00

Here's a letter I've just sent to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano:
Dear County Executive Spano:
The Beeline Bus system, while a great resource for the people of Westchester, suffers from a certain stigma in our car-oriented world, especially here in the northern parts of the County. It seems taking the bus is only acceptable to those who, because of poverty, or physical condition, are unable to drive. This is unfortunate because we could all reap numerous environmental benefits if more of us utilized the Beeline system instead of our private vehicles. In this vein, I am proposing that you take a page out of New York Mayor Bloomberg’s book (he often rides the subway to work at City Hall) and, at least once a week, commute to White Plains by bus. This would make a great statement of your personal commitment to the environment and would help educate the public about the Beeline system. A possible routing for you would be to take the No. 15 express bus which leaves Yorktown Heights around 7:30 AM and arrives in downtown White Plains a little after 8:30. The return express leaves White Plains at 5:00 PM and arrives in Yorktown around 6:00 PM. I’m sure you could put the two hours spent on the roundtrip to good use.

Blogging 101

2007-07-01T18:22:00.000-04:00

Most of you know this but there are a few of you (I know who you are) who are new internet users. The blue or purple text in the blog posts are links that you can click on. If I've done my part correctly, you should be taken to a different Web site. Use your back button to return to Hills of Home.

More Eating Locally

2007-06-27T23:08:00.000-04:00

We're in Cold Spring on Hudson. We'll start at the Riverview, my all-time fave. Perfect baked halibut, picante Mexican pizza (sin pollo), top-notch (if tiny) salad, Bass Ale on tap. Yum-O! Best food, atmosphere and view.

Close second (at least for Cold Spring) is Brasserie Le Bouchon. If you like mussels, this is the place. J'adore les moules à la marinière. There's also a curried version ou à la crème. I know, mixing languages is a symptom of a weak mind.

More Cold Spring: Flying A on Fair Street

Main Street

Chapel of Our Lady: Joan and I were married here - almost 18 years (wow!) ago.

Poughkeepsie-bound Metro North train beneath Mt. Taurus

Poughkeepsie-bound Metro North train beneath Mt. Taurus with Breakneck Ridge behind

Westchester Wildlife

2007-06-27T22:48:00.000-04:00

Pickerel frog in Saw Mill River Audubon's Haas Sanctuary, Town of New Castle

Box Turtle held by Anne Swaim, Executive Director of Saw Mill River Audubon in Audubon's Choate Sanctuary, Town of New Castle

Time for the deer fence? Dessert on our front lawn after dinner in Joan's garden.

Think Globally, Eat Locally

2007-06-21T15:14:00.001-04:00

Mario of Capriccio II Pizza, Croton-on-Hudson

I Rode the Bus Today

2007-06-01T14:09:00.000-04:00

Well, not today but last week I took the number 14 Beeline Bus from Peekskill down to Croton-on-Hudson to pick up my car, which had been in the shop for repairs. This was my first local bus trip in over 20 years. Unlike the train, riding the bus here carries with it a certain stigma. It seems the bus is for the blind, lame, disturbed, desperately poor, or extremely old. This is a far cry from riding the buses in Manhattan, which carry a real cross-section of the population. Here in the suburbs we need to get over our total dependence on our personal vehicles and start using alternatives that are less taxing to the planet. Most of us cannot imagine using the local busses in place of our cars but a little research would reveal that at least some of our trips could easily be accomplished on public transportation.

Lisboa Transport

2007-05-30T17:04:00.000-04:00

In Portugal, the ghosts of the Salazar years still linger. They intrude at the edge of your vision in the bent-over old people who are everywhere. Even the spirits of the Jews, expelled in 1497, are just beyond your peripheral vision.That said, the twenty-first century leaps out at you in the form of the incredible Vasco da Gama Bridge across the wide Tejo estuary, the ultra-modern toll roads, and the modern architecture (much of dubious merit). Note that the striking Ponte 25 de Abril, which opened in 1966, carries long-distance and commuter rail as well as a roadway across the Tejo while the more recent Vasco da Gama Bridge is only for motor vehicles. This is surprising in a metropolitan area with an excellent mix of public transport. That's the no. 15 tram at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Belém, in the photo at top.
Ponte 25 de Abril

Elevador da Bica, one of Lisbon's funiculars

Commuter rail terminal, Sintra

Lisbon from the Alcochete waterfront with the Vasco da Gama Bridge at left

Dethroning the Car

2007-04-23T08:11:00.000-04:00

On the day after New York's mayor Bloomberg has delivered his proposal for congestion pricing for vehicles entering parts of Manhattan, let's take a look at how other countries are trying to reclaim public spaces from being dominated by the automobile. In a lengthy article in the weekend Financial Times, Clare Dowdy looks at what's being done in Europe and beyond.

Our Better Selves

2007-04-10T21:11:00.000-04:00

"America is not perfect, but none of our problems is unmanageable. Their seriousness is often exaggerated, generally for political reasons." This is from Bill Bradley's new book, The New American Story. I have not read it yet (it's on my list). I agree, we can do better. If only we weren't so selfish and shortsighted. Take the Iraq war, for example. The signposts for this disaster were all over the highway but we did our best to ignore them. The extent of the tragedy and of the pain and suffering we have caused (that's right - we - you and me - all of us Americans) is beyond imagining. A little common sense and courage could have prevented this. That we let a fool like George Bush and his vicious cronies steamroll us points to our collectively deficient character. And, to change the subject, that we continue to allow our cities to be destroyed and our countryside to be paved over by eight lane boulevards and endless shopping malls and parking lots, is another example of the same deficiency. We could say no but somehow we can't get the words out. So maybe this is what Bill Bradley is trying to do - start getting the words out. That we can be better. That we can make the hard decisions and make some sacrifices and start cleaning up our messes.

Leave God Out of It

2007-04-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

After driving around Little Rock for a few days and passing a mega-church on every corner, I was not unhappy to return to this relatively un-churched part of the world. For a good take (in my opinion) on this tension between secular/liberal/modern (relative) vs. literal/dogmatic/fundamental (righteous) see Peter Aspden's latest column in the weekend Financial Times.

Ice-out

2007-03-31T15:21:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day without ice on the Hunter Brook arm of the New Croton Reservoir. Thiry-six hours earlier, a thin film of remnant ice covered much of the open water visible in the top photo (which was taken three-quarters of an hour ago). The bottom photo (from the same time) shows the mouth of the Hunter Brook from the bridge on Baptist Church Road. This has been a strange winter—incredibly mild for most of December and January, it turned sharply colder for February and March.

Winter's Last Gasp

2007-03-18T21:32:00.000-04:00

Winter has saved its hardest punch for March 16 when we got about 11 inches of snow and sleet. Top photo shows my hill of home on St. Patrick's Day. Bottom photo, also March 17, shows a barn on Hunter Brook Road, Yorktown.

My Hill of Home

2007-03-04T17:55:00.000-05:00

I'm returning to the hillside I first showed you in my post of May 9, 2006. This evening is blustery and cold with a late winter glow in the eastern sky. View is through my living room window.

Promise Kept

2007-03-04T17:14:00.000-05:00

Here's the promised link to a map of puma sightings in Missouri. And let's throw in Iowa while we're at it with a PDF map of confirmed puma sightings in the hawkeye state.

Show Me the Mommy

2007-03-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

Dave Hamilton, chair of the Mountain Lion Response Team of the Missouri Department of Conservation, in a letter in the current issue of Audubon, writes that there is not a breeding population of mountain lions in Missouri despite a number of recent sightings. In his response, Ted Williams of Audubon points out that many researchers disagree and believe that the cats are breeding in Missouri. Coming soon: I will try to dig up a map of mountain lion sighitngs in the state and post the link.

When the Memory of the Memory is Gone

2007-03-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

Bob Holmes or someone at the New Scientist must have been reading the 1949 novel Earth Abides. Holmes, writing in the 12 October 2006 issue, puts a contemporary twist on the theme developed in the novel. His article is entitled, Imagine Earth Without People. I address the question in a oblique way in my post of May 13, 2006.

Train Talk: Commuters, Reverse and Otherwise

2007-02-18T19:22:00.000-05:00

Question: what proportion of Metro-North riders commute into Grand Central Terminal?
Answer: 51%. The rest are either reverse commuters from Manhattan to the northern suburbs, non-peak hour travellers, or those going between intermediate stations. This surprising (to me, at least) information is from the February 2007 issue of Mileposts, the newsletter that appears on the seats of Metro-North trains. Another statistic from the same issue: ridership in 2006 increased by 3.2% to 76.8 million.

Views from Peekskill Station

2007-02-18T13:42:00.000-05:00

Top: Peekskill Bay with Bear Mountain and Popolopen Torne on a chilly Saturday afternoon (February 17, 2007; from south-bound platform).
Bottom: New York train departing Peekskill (locomotive is pushing).

When Groundwater Breaks Free

2007-02-14T14:51:00.000-05:00

Driving home from the EagleFest site at the mouth of the Croton River last Sunday, I stopped along Route 129 and walked down into the Croton Gorge to take these pictures in the road cut. The bottom picture shows the scene at the EagleFest. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that there was a lone bald eagle in the trees on the far shore. Remember, click on the images to see a larger view.

Time for Old Technology

2007-02-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

In a commentary in today's Financial Times, Guillaume Pepy, CEO of SNCF, the French railways, says, "What is at stake here is the sustainable development of Europe." He is referring to the need for continued progress toward the creation of a unified, high-speed passenger rail network across the continent. Here in the US, we are decades behind but the challenge is similar. Unfortunately, we seem committed to the unsustainable combination of individual transportation and suburban sprawl. Techno-fixes like hybrid- or hydrogen-powered cars are not the answer. We need to return to the proven technologies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries when widespread, efficient light rail (interurban) and heavy (commuter) rail systems were built in most American cities and surrounding regions. See Fred Jandt's blog in Mass Transit magazine for a good discussion of how President Bush misses the point (no surprise there) about the importance of sustaining and expanding existing mass transit systems.

Who links to me?

Blog Disclaimer

2007-01-21T16:39:00.000-05:00

These words are from Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha: "Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish." Also from Siddhartha: "Everything that is thought and expressed in words is one-sided, only half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity."
Photos: both are Hudson River from Croton-on-Hudson

More TOD in the Heartland

2007-01-16T19:40:00.000-05:00

Little Rock's River Rail trolley is not much more than a slow-moving tourist train but, even so, it has had a positive effect on the Arkansas capital and its neighbor, North Little Rock, as this article in Mass Transit magazine indicates. River Rail could serve as the nucleus of a real light rail system that would begin to get commuters out of their cars. Take a look at the system map of Portland's (OR) TriMet Light Rail system for a graphic look at what I'm talking about. For more on TOD (transit-oriented development), see my posts of August 28 and September 3, 2006.

Fact or Factoid of the Day

2007-01-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

This is from yesterday's New York Times: "...according to the market research company ACNielsen, 65 percent of the wine consumed in Sweden now comes in boxes. (The figure for the United States is around 20 percent.)" I assume the percentages are by volume although I guess they could be percent of cash sales.

Don't Rock the Boat

2007-01-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

I took these pictures on December 28, 2006, in Charleston, South Carolina. The top picture is a detail of the Shema from the sanctuary entrance of congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim. The temple was built in 1840 (5600). The bottom photo is the graveyard of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Charleston.
What jumps out at me from my twenty-first century vantage point is the absence of any mention of slavery in the histories of these liberal congregations. While understandable, we are still troubled by the acquiescence of those who may have known better. This says something about religious organizations – they are often happy to work on the margins, undertaking feel-good charitable projects but avoiding the big issues that would put members at odds with the mainstream community. The fellowship provided by the church or synagogue is more Rotarian than holy, it’s main purpose is to boost the place of the congregant, to make him or her fit in, not make waves.

River and Estuary

2006-12-22T13:30:00.000-05:00

Top photo: Tappan Zee Bridge from marina in Tarrytown
Bottom: photo: Pocantico River in Rockefeller State Park Preserve
Both photos taken December 19, 2006

Holiday Shopping Help

2006-12-10T20:49:00.000-05:00

This weekend's Financial Times has a fabulous year-end summary of recommended books, CDs and DVDs on pages 6-9 entitled Key Words of the Year. This list covers all bases. My hardcopy has about 20 entries circled in red. Tops is Richard Ford's The Lay of the Land which concludes the three books on sports writer Frank Bascombe (I loved The Sportswriter and Independence Day). Lucknow: City of Illusion is surely worth a look and perhaps should grace my coffee table. Also on India is In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce. And then there's Sean O'Brien's Dante's Inferno: A Free Verse Translation. And on and on and on - it's all here. Finally, since I'm recommending other people's recommendations, let's go back to Andy Ihnatko at the Chicago Sun Times for his A Holiday Basket of High-Tech Books.
Photo
Where: Hudson River and Catskill Mountains from Clermont State Historic Site, Germantown, NY
When: Today
PS: Why Powells for books? Because Joan and I went in there one chilly night with the Pacific wind blasting over the Coast Ranges and up the Columbia Gorge. And because Portland put light rail back on the map.

Apple Plus and Minus

2006-12-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

For an entertaining read, here's Andy Ihnatko's review of Microsoft's Zune in the Chicago Sun Times. And, to bring us down to earth, read about the downside of our obsession with this really cool, well designed stuff from Apple (from Greenpeace).

Why Sue Lost

2006-11-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

An analysis of John Hall's victory in New York's 19th congressional district appears in today's Journal News. An additional factor is the spread of the suburbs into this formerly exurban and rural district. The changed demographics mean that the 19th is no longer reliably Republican. I also think the progressive tinge to be found in the Westchester County portion of the district was key in Hall's victory. The anger of these progressives in Croton-on-Hudson and surrounding areas was critical in pushing the grass roots effort described in the article. Hall's margin in this part of the 19th CD clinched the victory.

Dear Sue

2006-11-16T19:14:00.000-05:00

It's clear that Congresswoman Sue Kelly has conceded after reading my letter to the Jounal News. In all seriousness, this is a great, if unexpected, victory. That John Hall, of all people, could end the Republican domination of New York's 19th CD is truly remarkable. It took an incredible grass roots effort for this to happen. President Bush deserves some credit, as well. Congress' failure yesterday to approve free trade status for Vietnam is making me a little nervous, however, about our newly elected Democrats as a majority of Democrats present voted against the bill. Doing the right thing on Iraq is well-nigh impossible (and don't blame the poor Iraqis for this mess) but Vietnam, after all these years, is another story. We'll have to rely on the lame duck Republicans to fix this one.

Time To Measure the Drapes

2006-11-08T19:42:00.000-05:00

When President Bush said before the midterm elections that the Democrats shouldn’t “measure the drapes” he wasn’t telling us that he believes in democracy and that the American people and not the Democrats or the Republicans have the ultimate say. No, he was saying that God had spoken to him and that the Democrats were going to lose again. This is one of the most disturbing aspects of our President – his self-righteous certainty. It was good to see him humbled today. An excellent explanation of the dangers of unquestioning religious faith and the inability to entertain doubt and ambiguity appears in Karen Armstrong’s The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness. Armstrong, a Roman Catholic nun, describes her struggle to deal with the doubts that led her to leave the convent and ultimately the Church itself. Everyone, people of faith and atheists alike, can profit from this book.

Taking Back Our Country

2006-11-08T11:53:00.000-05:00

Something truly unprecedented has happened. A candidate that I supported has won an election. I’m referring to John Hall here in New York’s 19th congressional district. As a volunteer in the campaign I feel especially gratified that the lower Hudson valley will at long last send a Democrat to represent us in Washington. When I wrote the following letter (which was published in the Gannett Westchester-Rockland newspapers in September 2005) this all seemed like a distant hope:

To the Editor: With over three years left in President Bush’s term, the realization is growing among Americans that our country is in real peril. The Federal response to the hurricane Katrina disaster has finally driven home the reality that this administration is incompetent. The Bush White House has staffed critical positions with inexperienced political hacks and used the tragedy to give lucrative, no-bid contracts to its friends. The administration’s failures with Katrina are belatedly shining a light on the failures in Iraq. And with budget deficits as far as the eye can see, the administration has mortgaged our future and saddled our children and grandchildren with a crushing burden. We finally understand that just because George Bush says everything is fine does not mean everything is fine. So the question must be posed, what can be done about this mess? One area where the American people have a direct say is in electing the congress. With both houses in Republican control, the Bush administration has been able push through its divisive agenda and get away without having its long list of failures come under meaningful congressional scrutiny. The 2006 congressional elections are a little over a year away. We need to send to Washington a congress that will finally take the President to task. No house or senate seat should be taken for granted as it has in the past. Here in the lower Hudson Valley we need to rethink sending an apologist for George Bush back to the Capitol. I’m referring to Sue Kelly who represents New York’s 19th congressional district. I do not believe there are no Democrats who can make a serious challenge to Ms. Kelly. What about a proven vote-getter and effective administrator like the Supervisor of the Town of Cortlandt, Linda Puglisi? I realize that our district leans toward the Republicans but these are not ordinary times – the nation’s future depends on wresting control away from our incompetent leaders. The 19th district does not have to remain in Republican hands. William Kellner, September 26, 2005

Photo: Bill Clinton endorsing John Hall, October 30, 20006

Indian Summer

2006-11-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

I'm declaring today Indian Summer. We've had our first frost and the other post-frost warm days did not have the summery feel of today. The top photo shows a Croton-Harmon bound local approaching Scarborough Station. The bottom shot is the Hudson River from River Road in Scarborough. Both photos were taken this morning.

Making the Connection

2006-10-26T12:46:00.000-04:00

New York, the nation's leader in mass transit, has lagged when it comes to integration of its far-flung commmuter rail systems. An exhibit entitled Making the Connection: Moving Forward on Regional Rail at the Municipal Arts Society of New York is worth a look. This is really the beginning of a conversation that needs to happen before the actual planning of these vital links. You can get the gist of the exhibition on line at: www.trainsofthought.com.
An interesting point made in Making the Connection is the paucity of transit oriented-development (TOD) around commuter rail stations in the outer boroughs of New York City. For the most part, these close-in rail stations are lightly utilized, especailly where subway lines are in close proximity. The creators of the exhibit foresee an increase in usage for these facilities with integration of the disparate rail lines and a potential for significant TOD. Ridership would also increase because there would be cross-honoring of fare cards and no fare penalty for choosing commuter rail over subway or city bus. [For more on TOD see my post of September 3, 2006]
Photo: Empire State Building over Bryant Park
When: Yesterday (a blustery fall day with crisp, clean air)

Blue Mountain Revisited

2006-10-22T13:22:00.000-04:00

When: Yesterday
Where: Outcrop just below summit of Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain Reservation, Town of Cortlandt, New York. We're looking out over the City of Peekskill and the Hudson River with Dunderberg and Bear Mountain beyond.

Still Resting in Peace

2006-10-04T17:37:00.000-04:00

Where: Baptist Church Road, Town of Yorktown, New York
When: Today

Ribbons on the Trees

2006-10-02T14:51:00.000-04:00

I wrote a blog post last week – while having a coffee in the Black Cow in Croton-on-Hudson. I wrote it out in longhand on the back of a financial statement. It didn’t get posted because the paper has gone missing. It’s probably somewhere in one of the unsorted piles of unimportant papers in my house. This is just as well. Here’s what it boils down to: “Now I know some kind of truth, but I cannot put it into words.” These words were written by Melissia Holbrook Pierson in The Place You Love is Gone: Progress Hits Home. In fact, she has put the truth into words. To sum up with more of her words, “What you know and love is finite. It is already slated for removal.” Please read this book. Let me know what you think. Akron, Ohio is the template for this loss, “Ohio can absorb all amounts of sadness. That is what it is there for.” In my own Ohio non-story, sometime between the end of the 1950s and the murder of the young President, my father almost took a job in Cleveland. He even went out there with my mother to look at real estate. They took the overnight train from Grand Central, which somehow in my mind queered the deal. If they had traveled on a spanking new 707 instead of creeping along on the dying water-level-route, things might have moved forward. Had I finished my growing up in Ohio an entire universe would have been created and another would not have come into being. Something tells me, at least as far as I’m concerned, the wrong choice was made (although my father clearly made the right choice for him). Do not ask me to explain. The answer is in Ms. Holbrook’s book.

The 40% Rule

2006-09-03T12:41:00.000-04:00

For a more scholarly take on TOD (transit-oriented development) check out this recent article from Mass Transit magazine. And always, always bear in mind that around 40% of all mass transit trips in the United States take place in the New York metropolitan area. New York's percentage of rail transit usage is even higher. So a new light rail line in St. Louis (which I have been discussing in recent posts) needs to be seen in proper context. That is, the rest of the country outside New York has a lot of catching up to do.

Return of the City

2006-08-28T14:09:00.000-04:00

Not to beat a dead horse but this article from today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides an inkling of why a strategically sited light rail line is better than the bus. Maybe the bus is more cost-effective by certain measures – it’s clearly cheaper to get a new bus route up and running. However, the redevelopment brought about by the new rail line will multiply through the economy for years. The end result will be a more livable city with attractive urban hubs built around the new stations. This is how we begin to roll back suburban sprawl. And, although the evidence from the Post-Dispatch article is anecdotal, many of the people who give up their cars to use light rail would probably keep driving if the only option were the bus.

U. City Underground

2006-08-26T20:32:00.000-04:00

Look, I know some of you are saying, why is this guy getting so excited about this piddley little trolley line in a tired, old rust belt city? Well, my answer is that by digging this tunnel, St. Louis is beginning the process of digging itself out of the deep hole it dug for itself. Once the fourth largest American city (see US Census data for 1900 and 1910), St. Louis does not even appear in the current rankings for the top 50 American cities! I think that by linking the area’s two business centers, the new MetroLink line will do a lot of good for the economy and psyche of St. Louis. Will it lead to a great urban Renaissance? Perhaps not but surely it will provide a boost of a couple of rungs up the ladder. Some interesting transit-oriented development is likely to follow. The tunnel I’m referring to is in University City on the new Shrewsbury line (see my post of 3:29 PM on 08/20/06). A nice article about the tunnel appears in today’s Post-Dispatch.

Chaos of Delight

2006-08-20T15:54:00.000-04:00

Today is the last day of the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. If you’ve missed it, don’t despair since the exhibit is moving on to Boston, Chicago, Toronto and London. Perhaps the rural counties of Kansas should be included on the tour for maximum effect. I’ll provide only one tidbit from the show, an exceprt from a letter Darwin wrote expressing his joy and excitement upon first seeing the Brazilian rainforest, “ ... if the eye attempts to follow the flight of a gaudy butter-fly, it is arrested by some strange tree or fruit; if watching an insect, one forgets it in the stranger flower it is crawling over; if turning to admire the splendour of the scenery, the individual character of the foreground fixes the attention. The mind is a chaos of delight ...”

Better Late Than Never

2006-08-20T15:29:00.000-04:00

At long last, the St. Louis MetroLink Shrewsbury Line is about to open. Until now, this light rail system has had one line, which runs from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to downtown St. Louis and across the Mississippi River to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. The portion of the line from the airport to East St. Louis opened in 1993. Part of the extension to Scott Air Force Base opened in 2001 and the final segment was completed in 2003. The new Shrewsbury Line will serve St. Louis’ West End, Washington University, University City, Clayton, Richmond Heights, Brentwood and Maplewood. The terminal at Shrewsbury will have a large park-and-ride facility adjacent to Interstate 44. The new line will link the metropolitan region’s largest business centers – Clayton and downtown St. Louis. Click on the link at the bottom of this post to see a PDF file (from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) detailing how trains will run on the reconfigured system. Note that there will be no direct trains between Clayton and the airport; a change at the Forest Park Station will be required:
MetroLink-Shrewsbury (.pdf file)

Come Here Little Shmoo

2006-08-15T20:56:00.000-04:00

Light summer reading pick: The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker. I’ve learned a lot from this book. Pinker debunks much of the common wisdom about language, like the idea that primitive peoples have primitive language. The languages of Stone Age peoples are as rich and grammatically complex as those of any more “advanced” civilizations. And rather than a Tower of Babel, all languages have so much in common (there is “a single mental design underlying them all”) that a visitor from another planet would view all human speech as a single language with various dialects. Pinker is also good at putting the “language mavens” in their place. A language “sage” like William Safire “misjudges the linguistic sophistication of the common speaker and as a result misses the target in many of his commentaries.”

Language, according to Pinker, is an adaptive trait that arose through natural selection. Pinker explains the genius of Charles Darwin’s concept in a novel and accessible way, e.g., “Darwin noted that his theory made strong predictions and could easily be falsified. All it would take is the discovery of a trait that showed signs of design but that appeared somewhere other than at the end of a lineage of replicators that could have used it to help in their replication. One example would be the existence of a trait designed only for the beauty of nature, such as a beautiful but cumbersome peacock tail evolving in moles, whose potential mates are too blind to be attracted to it. Another would be a complex organ that can exist in no useful intermediate form, such as a part-wing that could not have been useful for anything until it was one hundred percent of its current size and shape. A third would be an organism that was not produced by an entity that can replicate, such as some insect that spontaneously grew out of rocks, like a crystal. A fourth would be a trait designed to benefit an organism other than the one that caused the trait to appear, such as horses evolving saddles. In the comic strip Li’l Abner, the cartoonist Al Capp featured selfless organisms called shmoos that laid chocolate cakes instead of eggs and that cheerfully barbequed themselves so that people could enjoy their delicious meat. The discovery of a real-life shmoo would instantly refute Darwin.”

Return to Kerala

2006-07-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

I wish I could give you the link to the full text of Rahul Jacob's article in the Financial Times, This Should Be the Age of the Train. But since I can't, I hope no one minds if I quote the final two sentences, "I remember returning by train to Kerala, where my grandmother had lived, with my parents 20 years later. Entranced by the sight of tracks bisecting preening paddy fields and barefoot girls running to school with hibiscus in their hair and the smells of breakfast emanating from a thousand wood fires, I wondered whether all tropical homecomings were so redolent that you 'had to select senses' (sight or smell or sound) for a day as Michael Ondaatje once put it. As the train trundled along, I stood by an open door for two hours to take it all in; the windows simply were't big enough." I'm reminded by this of the first time, at age ten, I rode the Long Island Rail Road main line to Greenport. The final stretch after Southold, where the tracks pull away from the road and cross the salt marshes with glimpses through the woody islands to the bay is also redolent of... of the end of the line, of the continent ending and the ocean beginning.

It'll All Work Out (Maybe)

2006-07-09T19:21:00.000-04:00

I can’t make up my mind on Jane Jacobs’ Dark Age Ahead. Many of the things Jacobs says are insightful. On the micro level her perceptions are sharp and important. She clearly understands what makes a city or town livable. Her comments about the damage caused by an automobile-based transportation system resonate with me: "One can drive today through miles of American suburbs and never glimpse a human being on foot in a public space, a human being outside a car or truck… This is a visible sign that much of North America has become bereft of communities. For communities to exist, people must encounter one another in person. " And: “Not TV or illegal drugs but the automobile has been the chief destroyer of American communities. Highways and roads obliterate the places they are supposed to serve…"

I like Jacobs’ comparison of "organic" urban boulevards to destructive freeways. Her espousal of Brian Donahue’s idea of preserving at least one working farm in every suburb so that people do not become totally divorced from primary production makes a great deal of sense. But… I’m not sure that it all holds together at the macro level. Do all the problems Jacobs points out really lead to a dark age? I don’t think she ties the threads together and fully makes the case. I worry that she’s right but I’m not totally convinced. I do recommend this book to everyone.

Thought on Iraq

2006-06-06T15:57:00.000-04:00

A character in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain (read the book, don’t waste your time on the movie), speaking of the White House in the previous administration, says that a banner should be hung on the building with the words, "a human being lives here." Well, perhaps the President behaved foolishly but it was a foolishness from which we could well have looked away. The current resident of the White House, while his personal behavior is less blameworthy, is truly a fool, one whose hands are drenched in blood. And we can no longer look away. Yes the tyrant is gone but when children on their way to school are blown-up or executed we can no longer say removing the tyrant was a good thing. We are responsible for this nightmare of suffering. We are all at fault because we re-elected the architect of this disaster and those of us in opposition have failed to stand up and do our duty. The fool would have us put up a copy of the Ten Commandments in every public square yet he himself has violated the most sacred of those commandments, Thou Shalt Not Kill. The blood on his hands is that of American military personnel, Iraqi military personnel, and innocent Iraqi civilians, including, worst-of-all, hundreds or thousands of children.

Hurrying Home

2006-05-27T20:11:00.000-04:00

I’ve just come back from a late evening bike ride. Crossing the Route 129 Bridge (see photo from my recent post The Earth’s Eye) I saw a lone cormorant skimming low over the New Croton Reservoir. He was flying fast toward Bald Mountain, just a few inches over the almost smooth water. He seemed to be hurrying to get where he was going before the day ended, all alone on the wide water.

BC Transit

2006-05-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

I’ve just returned from my first visit to Vancouver, British Columbia. This is a city that, for reasons of topography and culture, is trying to build up and not out. Hemmed-in by steep mountains that plunge to a jagged coastline, Vancouver is a high-density, high-energy town. There is an extensive bus network that serves the urban core as well as far-flung suburbs. Many of the bus lines are electric, which reduces noise and fumes. A small, fully-automated light rail system, the Sky Train, is undergoing a major expansion, which will take it to the airport and southern suburbs. A network of local and long-distance ferries serves coastal and island communities to the north and west as do the ever-present seaplanes.[Click on photos to see enlarged versions.]

El Coyote

2006-05-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a coyote loping across my lawn this morning. There was nothing tentative or hesitant about his movement. It’s always like this when you see coyotes around here – they’re all business. Coyote sightings are becoming more frequent. Within the past ten days I’ve seen two that had been killed on local roads. At night I hear them singing. They drown out the sounds of the distant Taconic Parkway. I think what’s happening is that the animals we see are the scouts – the early arrivals of the race coming back to reclaim their ancient place. They want to beat out their shyer competitors, the black bears, wolves and pumas. All will return; the coyotes are first in line.

Gray Skies

2006-05-09T19:09:00.000-04:00

Typical spring weather in these parts. A storm spinning south and east of the New York Bight is sending via the east wind high clouds and cool ocean air. This kind of setup can last for days. Only a few sprinkles now and then – it’s been quite dry here although a fair amount of rain has fallen just a few miles to the east. The photo was taken a couple of hours ago. View is looking up the hill that rises eastward from Hunter Brook Road in Yorktown. If you drive up Baptist Church Road you’ll cross this hill.

So, I’ve finally struggled to the end of Walden. It’s definitely been worth the effort. I’m debating whether to read next Thoreau’s Cape Cod. Other candidates include Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs (who died last month) and The Place You Love is Gone by Melissa Holbrook Pierson. Now, what would Thoreau thought of Google Earth or Google Maps? I imagine he would have made all kinds of connections and discoveries. Here’s a link to a satellite/map hybrid from Google Maps, which shows Concord and Walden Pond. Thoreau’s grave is in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery on Bedford Street (Route 62) to the right of downtown Concord. A final word about Thoreau: When the Christians take over (they’re 90% there), Thoreau will be erased from our American memory. Henry spent too much time sitting around reading the Hindu Vedas. And it was Thoreau who said, “It is necessary not to be a Christian to appreciate the beauty and significance of the life of Christ.”

Crossing Weehawken Ferry

2006-05-02T20:20:00.000-04:00

Here is your blogger, looking down on his natal city from the heights of Weehawken. I wish I could dig deeper and tell you how I wandered the streets, like Walt Whitman, of that teeming island. I am the belated lighter of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. Till then I will tell you little tidbits of trains and trolleys and lakes and estuaries. Today’s book recommendation: Changes in the Land by William Cronon. This will help you strip off all the stuff we’ve dumped on the soil and in the water and imagine God’s green earth here at the seaward end of the Hudson River.

Return of the Trolley

2006-05-01T17:23:00.000-04:00

With the end of the trolleys in the 1950s, the Newark City Subway was the only light rail system remaining in the New York metropolitan region. This has changed with the opening of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail . This line, operated by New Jersey Transit, links the Hudson River communities of North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne. I took the photos on this post yesterday at the Port Imperial and 9th and Congress Street stations of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail . Note that the line uses a dedicated right-of-way as does the Newark City Subway. The Newark line is undergoing an expansion, which will include the first use of non-dedicated rights of way in this region since the demise of the trolley lines about 50 years ago – parts of the new extension will share the city streets with cars, trucks and buses. The following link to a PDF file from NJ Transit provides details:
http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/sf_lr_NCS_Newsletter.pdf.

The Earth's Eye

2006-04-26T21:17:00.000-04:00

A lake is a temporary thing. It begins to die the moment it is born. This is especially true of a man-made or artificial lake. When you look at the beauty of the New Croton Reservoir remember that only a few generations will enjoy this privilege.
Photo: Hunter Brook arm of New Croton Reservoir in October from the new Route 129 Bridge (remember the old bridge?), Town of Yorktown, New York.
Words from Walden:
A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is the earth’s eye.
A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above. It is intermediate between land and sky.

Tax Day Thought

2006-04-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

Today is the income tax deadline, and, while I tend to avoid topics of monetary, fiscal, budget, and taxation policy, I do have one thought that I’d like to throw out here. If you’re a wage earner you pay tax up front through the payroll tax deduction. If you overpay you get a refund in the following year. An investor whose income comes from buying and selling stocks or bonds gets to defer paying his taxes until the following year as well as receiving a break on the tax rate because of the lower capital gains schedule. To undo some of the unfairness in this system, I propose that capital gains taxes be deducted from the proceeds when an investment instrument is sold. This is a simple database problem requiring that the purchase and the sale be linked. Either the IRS or the brokerage house could be responsible for maintaining these records. In the current setup, the investor must match purchase and sale but the IRS almost never requires verification of the basis value. Whether intentionally or through error I imagine that a significant percent of basis values are overestimated leading to underpayment of capital gains tax. Deducting capital gains at the time of sale would thus greatly increase the accuracy of tax collection and reduce the headache that the individual investor faces at tax time because the match up of purchases and sales will have already happened. It will also help address our Federal budget deficit. Differential capital gains rates could be handled by either withholding at the lower rates and requiring the investor to cover the difference at tax time if he is in the higher bracket or the withholding could occur at the most common rate and any overpayment could be refunded – just like the poor wage earner.

Big Bridge Post

2006-04-11T21:25:00.000-04:00

I've been on the road, visiting family in the Carolinas. I took the photo at left from the walkway on the new Cooper River Bridge which carries US Highway 17 from Mt. Pleasant to Charleston, South Carolina. Note the remnants of the old spans which are being taken down. I walked across the new bridge with my sister-in-law and nephew on the wonderful pedestrian lane that, while not a part of the original design, was added to the project after a public outcry. Would that our Tappan Zee Bridge had such a great feature. Let us make sure that the replacement bridge that is being planned for the Tappan Zee has a pedestrian and bike path. And while we're at it, one of the replacement options that feature light and/or heavy rail should be selected. If the people of South Carolina were truly far sighted they would have made dedicated public transportation lanes (road or rail) a part of the new Cooper River Bridge. Greater Charleston's expansion has reached the point that rail transit is needed to prevent future congestion and control sprawl. Note that Charleston appears on the American Public Transportaion Association list of cities for which light rail has been proposed. Bottom photo: A CSX freight heads south from Scarborough Station on Metro North's Hudson Line with the Tappan Zee Bridge in the distance.

The Power of Blogs?

2006-03-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

I live in New York’s 19th congressional district. The southern end of the district in Westchester County could vote for a Democrat. The 19th CD, however, sprawls north and west up the Hudson Valley into Putnam, Dutchess and Orange Counties. As a result, the Republicans have had a lock on the 19th. This year is different and people are asking, Do we really have to keep sending Republicans to Washington? While it’s a long shot, seeing the Take19 blog makes me think that it is not out of the question that we the people of the Hudson Valley could become part of the process of taking the country back from the dangerous and incompetent idealogues in Congress and the White House who have been destroying our democracy. [Photo: looking south from Storm King to Crows' Nest (right), Cold Spring (left), Hudson River and beyond.]

How Not To Teach Your Children

2006-03-27T22:02:00.000-05:00

In the low-density suburb where I live the school bus doesn’t travel down the dead end subdivision lanes. Instead, it drops the kids off at the intersections of the main road with the subdivision lanes. Now, these dead ends are as long as one-half mile. One might think that this distance is not too long for a kid to walk, especially on a nice day. But rain or shine always finds the parental SUVs waiting at the bus stop so the kids can be driven the half-mile (or less!) home. This is sending our children a terrible message. We should be encouraging our kids to walk. It will cut down on childhood obesity and save energy. And parents, if you’re worried about the kids walking alone, you could walk with them and enjoy some of the benefits.

Waiting for the Train

2006-03-18T07:45:00.000-05:00

While the Bush administration does its best to kill-off Amtrak and mass transit, the American public is coming to realize that rail, both passenger and freight, needs to be an increasing part of the transportation picture. A recent Harris Poll clearly demonstates these evolving opinions. And while we're on the subject, take a look at the National Association of Railroad Passengers' take on the benefits of inter-city passenger rail.

Times Endorses National Popular Vote Idea

2006-03-17T16:10:00.000-05:00

The New York Times has endorsed the ideas put forth by National Popular Vote. In my initial post to this blog (Interim Times) I discussed this concept.

My Old School

2006-03-14T14:37:00.000-05:00

I lived by the words of the Steely Dan song for almost 32 years but in April 2005 I broke down and returned to St. Louis. That's me in front of the Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis (photo by my wife).
Washington University has recently done a great thing, something that should be emulated by colleges and universities across the nation – it is providing free transit passes for faculty, staff and students. These passes are good on the entire bi-state metropolitan area system for both bus and light rail. Follow the links below to learn details of this innovative program:
http://transportation.wustl.edu/wustlmetro_chan.html
http://www.cmt-stl.org/NEW/new.html#wu
While such a program is probably fiscally and politically unworkable in old transit cities like New York, Boston, Chicago or Philadelphia, it could stimulate mass transit in the majority of US cities that allowed their transit systems to wither or, like some cities in the western US, never had them in the first place.

Light Rail, Heavy Rail

2006-03-11T08:21:00.000-05:00

Above, Metro-North Poughkeepsie–bound local leaving Croton-Harmon (early 2002?). The locomotive is an FL9 which was built in the 1950s by General Motors for the New Haven Railroad. The FL9s have been retired. They’ve been replaced by Genesis-II locomotives from General Electric. At bottom , a St. Louis MetroLink train approaches Civic Center Station in April 2005. Future posts will discuss the light rail boom that is taking place across North America but is lagging in the New York Metropolitan region.

Hudson River Then and Now

2006-03-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

I took these photos during one of the concerts by the Jazz Knights of the US Military Academy Band at West Point's Trophy Point. Compare the top view to The Hudson River, New York, which was painted by James Francis Cropsey in 1857-58.

Rails-To-Trails and Back

2006-03-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

I developed a clear sense of place by age five or six. I was map-literate by the time I started first grade. I also liked trains. At that time we were living in the Crestwood section of Yonkers. Crestwood was a commuter stop on the New York Central Railroad’s Harlem line (now part of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad). Back then the Harlem extended all the way up to Chatham, New York where it met the Central’s line that ran east from Albany to Boston. In the late 1950s, long-distance trains still ran on the Harlem to Chatham and beyond. When they barreled through Crestwood I understood they were going far away. In 1976 service was halted north of Millerton in northern Dutchess County and by 1980 the line from Chatham south to Dover Plains in Dutchess County was abandoned. In recent years rails were again laid northward from Dover Plains but only for a few miles. In 2000 Metro-North resumed service on this extension, opening a station at Ten Mile River and a terminal at Wassaic. North of Wassaic, much of the old Harlem Line in Dutchess and Columbia Counties is now part of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

Converting abandoned rail lines to recreational bike or walking paths is a national phenomenon. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy lists1,359 such trails around the United States. In my area I enjoying walking and biking the North County Trailway , which follows the abandoned Putnam Division of the New York Central north-eastward across Westchester County and on into Putnam County. One day I would like to walk or bike eastward from St. Charles, Missouri on the Katy Trail which follows the abandoned Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.

While I think rail-to-trail conversion of abandoned rights of way is great, I would add one caveat – that such conversions should be reversible. In my opinion, the highest use of these trails is for passenger rail. The day may come when the economic and environmental costs of automobile use will be such that “re-railing” becomes an attractive option. I can imagine tracks again being laid on these recreational paths. We should keep this option open.