Kingston Corridor shuttle bus
More and more the development of the Rondout waterfront calls for a shuttle bus service along the Kingston Corridor to make it accessible from any point along Kingston’s Main Street, as designated by the Main Street Manager program under Nancy Donskoj.
Defined as a two bus service with 15 minute inter-service times, $1 for a full days use, it celebrates the various districts and attractions all along the Corridor at the same time it makes them all easily accessible to pedestrians and traffic as well, easing auto traffic on the KIngston Corridor and combines well with distributed parking along that same path. Note that the Kingston Corridor extends all the way through Uptown to Dutch Village, about 3 miles in length… Some commuters could park at their most convenient intersection with the Corridor. And it certainly makes Kingston more attractive to the Town of Ulster shopping traffic, to get away from the Mall and get to Kingston’s shops, restaurants, parks, museums…
That kind of transportation ought to be part of the thinking in the Comprehensive Plan, serving the KHS, the SUNY Campus, City Hall, UPAC, Cornell Street, the Art District, the Green Line, the Trailways Bus Terminal and the brilliant nightlife in Uptown, including BSP, Keegan’s and The Anchor.
There is information at kingstoncorridor.com and a Facebook page Kingston Corridor Shuttle Bus.
It makes sense from a Complete Streets point of view for pedestrians, citizens and visitors alike, and supports a Green(er) Kingston as well.
Gerald Berke, Kingston
Corridor repurposing a wise move
A recent letter to the Kingston Times editor cannot go unchallenged.
Our Glenford neighbor, Meg Carey, in “Let the train run through”, March 5, writes very positive things about the Catskill Mountain Railroad while advocating for a “rail with trail” use of the right of way, continuous from Kingston to Highmount. Wouldn’t that be nice? And the Catskill Mountain Railroad Company, Inc. has recently put forth a happy-talk business plan with enough zeroes in its revenue and profit estimates that Warren Buffett would be envious. They seem to be trying to convince the public by throwing around big dollar numbers and by implying that they’re the only game in town that they possess some sort of claim on the right of way far beyond the end of their lease, in May 2016, a little more than a year from now.
Well, then, there should be no problem for the CMRR to fund the entire package Ms. Carey wishes for: a restored-to-tip-top condition railroad that is up to Federal Class 1 standards for passenger use and a multi-use trail built to Federal standards as well, with all the “improvements” on the property deeded to the landlord they’re leasing the land from, the taxpayers of Ulster County, between today and the end of their lease. That’s if and when the railroad settles up with the county for allegedly violating their current lease nine different ways, isn’t evicted as a result, makes it to the bidding for another lease, is allowed to bid as a responsible bidder, and submits a successful bid, far from a done deal.
Remember, folks, the “railroad” doesn’t own the corridor. They’re tenants. We, the 185,000 Ulster County taxpayers, through representative government and enacted legislation, have wisely committed to repurpose this public property as a multi-use trail for the benefit of residents and tourists, not a limited-use, private corporation-owned amusement park ride that locks up public land and excludes its rightful owners.
Nick Mercurio, Rosendale
The greatest crime
It is the crime of the past century that we, the people, have allowed corporate business, government and academia to dictate so much of the course of our lives. Their arrogance and greed have allowed them to dehumanize the public arena and put profit and control as the center of their activity. They have put the elderly in precarious situations in which the well-being and wisdom of the elderly are dismissed as burdens rather than the wealth of society. They have conditioned us to “run madly to nowhere in haste” and discounted the beauty of special moments of warm encounters with strangers and the celebrations of loving special moments with family and friends. It is our choice, we the people, to slumber and allow this dehumanizing of our world, or start to speak out and not allow or be intimidated by elitist assertions which attempt to dismiss the common sense which is our heritage.
Paul Jankiewicz, Ph.D., Ulster Park
Join the family! 
