Hudson Valley Sojourner

As you may know there has been a longstanding campaign in the Poughkeepsie area to revitalize the old Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge. To fix it up and make it usable for both strolling and cycling. The idea is to make it a Hudson Valley tourist attraction and thereby not only revitalize the bridge but maybe the local economy surrounding it.

A good idea I guess, but I’m not sure if it’s my personal cup of tea. I have been an admirer of the bridge for much longer than the Walkway Across the Hudson people have been trying to save it. For me the admiration does not lie in the bridge’s mildly historic value or even its status as a technological artifact.

It’s in the mystery for me. Not being able to walk over it is more exciting for me than doing so. It plays on the senses and stimulates my imagination. The distancing, the inability to feel it under my feet is what makes it exciting for me. It’s like a present that is sitting there that you can’t open. You work up emotions and conjure up thoughts of the precious gift hidden in the box only to find that the anticipation was much more fun and certainly more exciting than the reality.

There is also a great deal of nagging doubt. Revitalizing the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge is going to cost a great deal of money and the cost will be recurring. The fine State of New York has promised millions to kick start the project. But that’s the state, and what is ultimately found in hand may not coincide with what was had in mind.

The plan calls for the walkway to be turned over to the Department of Parks upon completion. I’m sure that they would do a great job managing the property. But that would place the bridge in the realm of public funding yet again, and I’m not entirely convinced that the public needs to shoulder more than it already carries.

Don’t misunderstand, I do appreciate the benefits of a revitalized bridge but I also appreciate the fact that in tough times there are often tough decisions that need to be made.

Commerce in New York is crying for state funded incentives to help crank up their businesses. The state is being petitioned from all quarters and by all groups who also have causes and  agendas that aim to serve or benefit the public.

I just can’t help thinking that for every person that cycles across the Walkway there is another person who sits alone at home for lack of a wheelchair or services that the state could not help with. That for every person who strolls the bridge there will be several homeless Veterans who lay in dismal darkness doing combat with their own minds and with no chance of winning.

Yes, these are tough times and tough decisions.