The Good News, The Bad News And The Ugly Truth
The Good News, The Bad News
And The Ugly Truth
June/July 1995
By Daniel Van Riper
Like it or not, Pine Bush preservation has become one of the major
defining issues in the Capital District. Perhaps this is because it
is a black and white issue. Are we in favor of maintaining and
enhancing our quality of life, or should we close our eyes and let
corrupt politicians give our natural heritage to sleazy developers?
Here’s some recent news mixed with opinion:
Touhey Is Back We forgot to mention in earlier newsletters
that Save the Pine Bush is carefully monitoring a proposal by Charles
Touhey to build three office buildings on 12 acres off Washington
Ave. Extension next to the Dunes development. His proposal was up
before the City of Albany Common Council this past April for the
necessary zoning change from residential to commercial. He met with
quite a bit of opposition and was told to go prepare a final
environmental impact statement before further consideration, and not
much has happened since. Mr. Touhey was reportedly hopping mad,
saying “Why me?” Save the Pine Bush filed suit to stop development on
this very same proposal in 1989, on which Judge Cobb of the NY State
Supreme Court handed down a stunning landmark decision in our favor,
the one which states that at least 2000 fire manageable contiguous
acres of Pine Bush must be set aside for preserve. While this 12
acres is admittedly not the most picturesque piece of Pine Bush, it
is a vital buffer zone and there are lots of baby pitch pine trees on
it. Actually, we all have a good opinion of Mr. Touhey, and we think
he has a lot more integrity than most of the other sorts who want to
destroy the Pine Bush, so why does he continue to kick this dead
dog?
Politicos Steal Credit As part of the Earth Day celebrations
on April 22nd, a varied collection of politicians, bureaucrats and
whatnots sprung a surprise media event in the Pine Bush. Organized
secretly by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC),
its purpose was to give credit to themselves for preserving the
Muncie parcel at the corner of Washington Ave. and Rt. 155! Let’s be
clear about this. These clowns are guilty of spreading falsehoods and
promoting deceptions. (That’s the polite way of putting it.) The only
reason this vital, centrally located 80 acres of prime Pine Bush is
with us today is because Save the Pine Bush filed suit and was
granted an injunction to stop work. Former mayor Whalen of the City
of Albany fought the suit, using taxpayer dollars. The DEC stood by
and did nothing to preserve this land. Apparently this is why DEC
officials went to great lengths to keep this media show secret from
the general public, in case someone from Save the Pine Bush might
hear about it. Only Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings had enough class to
give credit to Save the Pine Bush, mentioning several SPB board
members by name. SPB member Mark Plaat, who was in the audience
wearing his Uncle Sam hat, tells us that he was prepared to mount the
platform if Mr. Jennings had not been present to set the record
straight. Last year, the Nature Conservancy finally stepped in and
purchased the land with State Environmental Protection Fund money,
making our efforts official.
And Where Were We? Save the Pine Bush set up our ever-evolving
display at the Earth Day celebration at Capital Park in downtown
Albany. This was a great way to kick off the outdoor season, although
a bitter cold wind rose up in mid-afternoon, driving everyone out of
the park. Before that, some 50 or 60 citizen’s groups and individuals
got to trade information and meet the public. Exhibits ranged from
Ward Stone’s horrifying pesticide display, to rescued and
rehabilitated raptor birds that had been injured, to a very cold
young woman lying on the lawn in a mermaid outfit who wanted to bring
attention to beach litter and pollution. Several small local
citizen’s groups that had had limited contact with other groups
discovered that they were not at all alone. A few weeks later we
hauled our display to the Tulip Festival in Washington Park in
Albany, where thousands of people passed by, quite a few of whom
stopped to chat.
Land Held Hostage Guilderland town Supervisor Anne Rose is
certain that the Willow Street entrance to the Pine Bush Preserve is
public land. Lee Kiernan of the State DEC Department of Real Property
told the Hearst-owned Times Union that it’s open to the public. So
why have Charles and Mary Lou Bednarczyk posted No Trespassing signs
and claimed this public road as their own private driveway? They’ve
developed a reputation for harassing hikers and skiers, and telling
people they can’t park on the road. Apparently they have ignored
repeated warnings from the town to stop claiming the land as their
own. So it appears that we have a right to use this road, but anyone
who goes there should beware of the hazardous residents.
Speaking Of The DEC Everyone has been wondering about former oil
company executive Michael Zagata, the new Republican commissioner of
the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Is he better or
worse than former commissioner Thomas Jorling, who is now making big
bucks in the paper industry? Zagata was appointed by and answers to
quasi-governor Pataki. Recently, wacky Pataki illegally tried to
rescind the ban on the bug repellant DEET, and Zagata was 100% behind
him. The problem with DEET is that it is a deadly poison. People who
use too much of it become ill, and some people die. Perhaps this is
why it’s such a great repellent, the bugs know better than to come
close. Too bad Zagata and Pataki don’t have the same common sense
found in bugs. Jorling and his former boss Mario Cuomo had their
problems, but at least they never tried to kill anybody.
