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West Capital Park (Feb 2, 2015)
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West Capital Park (Jan 12, 2015)
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November 5, 2015 evening
Good evening. It’s after dark on the evening commute with the time change. Still despite the clouds this evening, it’s a very pleasant 70 degrees. You don’t often get 70 degree days on November 5th, the average high for today is 52 degrees. A few hours ago it was even warmer, with temperatures reaching 71 degrees.
I hope your headlights are working, as we commute home in this darkness. They did remember to turn the lights on at the West Capital Park and on South Swan Street, which makes waiting for the bus much more pleasant. Many years in November, they fail to adjust the timer so it comes on in time for darkness and the 5 PM commute home. Solar LED illumination also helps keeps the bus stop bright.
Traffic is moving well this evening, as construction is rapidly concluding on the I-787 Expressway, heading southbound out of the city. Some parts are still closed off, but for the most part things are moving along but with some residual delays.
Tonight I am going to do my wash and buy groceries. I think I will hold off on getting the propane tank for the heater until Friday night or Saturday. Not going to leave to go up north until Saturday morning. I also need to get some more ammo and replacement headphones as the left channel wire is dead.
Hoping this winter to get camping at least twice a month throughout the winter. With proper dress, sleeping bags, a roaring campfire, lantern, maybe some firewood, and the heater, lean-to camping will be a lot of fun in the winter. Might also do hot tenting locally up in one of the state forests. Load all that crap on a plastic sled and tow it back in the woods on skies or more likely on snowshoes. The cellphone and Bluetooth speaker can keep the podcasts and music going late into the evening. Maybe ring the new year in on that firetower and lean-to in Austerlitz.
The Cost of New York Being on the Cutting Edge
Lately there have been a lot of discussion on why New York State is such a high tax state compared to others, and why our state gets relatively little back in funding compared to other states.
The common refrains are that New York is a liberal state, so we invest a lot more in human services, healthcare, welfare and education. That is true to a certain extent. But it’s also not totally true either. Red states actually have a lot better public services then many blue staters want to believe. Another common refrain is that New York is a wealthy state, so we aren’t eligible for nearly the same amount of transfer payments are poorer states. That is also true, although New York also has plenty of pockets of poverty — but we are also the financial capital of the world and home to our nation’s biggest city. Some say corruption is worse in New York then other states. I’m a bit skeptical on that point, I think there are more watch dogs on government then other states — being a such a big state with well funded newspapers. Are Albany politicians really going to pull a fast one over on the New York Times and New York Post at the same time?
But there is another truth that is often ignored. New York often rejects a lot of federal funding. While contemporary reasons for rejecting federal funding may be ideological in nature, the original reason our state rejected federal funding was we chose to be out in front of the federal government — on canals, on highways, on parks, on forests, etc. New York chose to build a lot of it’s infrastructure without federal funding, because we built before the funding was avaliable. Being out front is good, but sometimes it’s really costly to taxpayers.
The New York State Thruway is a prime example of this. Why do people pay tolls to drive on the Thruway, while most other highways are free in New York? Because in early 1950s, the legislature decided our state needed a superhighway. Rather then wait to see if federal funding would become avaliable to build the highway, we decided to do it on our own. A cost bourne 100% by New York taxpayers. While the Adirondack Northway recieved 90% of it’s funding from the federal gas tax, the Thruway recieved 0% of it’s funding from the federal gas tax.
Now could the state have removed the toll booths and recieved federal funding for the highway for maintaince? Possiblity but not likely. The federal interstate act did not allow for grandfathering in existing routes, although some free routes did get upgrades to interstate standards under the act. Rather then eliminate the tolls and seek federal funding for the Thruway, our state has chosen to pay fror it upkeep 100% from state funding, namely tolls but also general fund revenue. If we made it eligable for federal funding, New York would also have to pick up the difference between federal funding and state funding, and it’s not always easy to find extra funding in the gas tax.
We are in the same boat with many of our state’s bridges and tunnels. Could the state have waited a few years and got funding for free crossing over the Hudson River and the New York City metropolitian crossings? Probably yes, as most of the Western States have no tolls, even on their biggest Interstate Bridges. Our state certainly could have gotten 50% of the cost of building and maintaining back on the Hudson River crossings, and 90% in some cases. But we chose to build them before federal funding was avaliable. Now we are stuck with the clunky Bridge Authorities and Triborough Authority, which pays 100% of the bridge expenses through local tolls. Even if we eliminated the tolls, it”s not clear we cold get federal funding at this point. Nor is it clear if we would want to — by refusing federal funding — our state has the “freedom” to set whatever standards it wants on the bridges, including advertising and geometery. Federal highway standards don’t apply to non-federally funded roads.
The federal government maintains locks and canals on most rivers. Our state doesn’t get to take advantage of federal maintaince to our canals. We have the Erie Canal, which is entirely paid again by state taxpayers and those who traverse the canal. We talk about Clinton’s Ditch as being a great advance for our state. It certainly was at it’s time. But we could have had the federal government build it for us had we waited a few years — and put up with the federal government’s dicates. Certainly the Army Corp or Engineers maintains a lot of the nation’s canals. But not in New York. We chose once again to go it alone on our canal system.
One could have imagined that New York City could have gotten the federal government to finance their drinking water reserviors, had that waited a little while longer, and been willing to put up with creation of a federal public authority like the Tennessee Valley Authority. Maybe New York City’s drinking water reserviors would have not only produced clean water, but also greater recreational opporunities and more hydropower had the federal government, not the city built them. But no, our state had go out in front of the federal government — a cost picked up federal government in other states.
No state in America has as big of a state operated wild forest or wilderness as New York does. That’s not saying other states don’t have great public lands that are a mixature of managed forest and wilderness, operated by the federal government. The Adirondack Park is tiny compared to some of the National Forests and Bureau of Public Lands out west. Other states also have developed parks and recreation areas, but many of them are funded and directly operated by the federal government. But not New York, bar a few small historic battle sites, and the relatively small Finger Lakes National Forest. Why not? Our state got out ahead of federal funding and furthermore rejected federal operation of our Adirondack and Catskill Parks.
New York State certainly could have been home to the Adirondack National Forest or the Adirondack National Park. But no, our state rejected that idea off-hand. Vermont decided to protect it’s wild upcountry and mountains with the Green Mountain National Forest, but not New York. Our state once again got out ahead of the federal government, and rather then create a managed forest, we were stuck in the mid-1800s line of thought that all logging was bad and we could only preserve the land by banning all timber cutting for any purposes.
By rejecting creation of a Adirondack National Forest or National Park, our state once again passed up on billions of federal funding. Rather then have the federal government pay for maintaining roads, parking areas, campsites and trails in Adirondack, New York taxpayers are 100% on the hook. The Green Mountain National Forest in contrast has federally funded forest rangers, federally funded maps and recreational facilities, federally funded campgrounds and much more. Instead, our state has chosen to take up this cost because we wanted ideological control over the land — rather let distant Washington politicians decide how to maintain the lands.
There is somewhat a myth that red states have awful public services, while blue states have a much better government. While blue states like New York are often on the cutting edge, getting out on cutting edge before the federal government means New York residents pay dearly. Forgoing federal funds by getting a decade out ahead of other states might have some short term advantages, but it often means our state residents ends up paying for a lot of other things that federal government would have otherwise paid for in coming years.
Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES)
Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) | |
BOCES | Districts |
---|---|
Broome-Delaware-Tioga | Binghamton City, Chenango Forks, Chenango Valley, Deposit, Harpursville, Johnson City, Maine-Endwell, Newark Valley, Owego-Apalachin, Susquehanna Valley, Tioga, Union-Endicott, Vestal, Whitney Point, Windsor |
Capital Region | Albany City, Berne-Knox-Westerlo, Bethlehem, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Cobleskill-Richmondville, Cohoes City, Duanesburg, Green Island, Guilderland, Menands, Middleburgh, Niskayuna, North Colonie, Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, Rotterdam-Mohonasen, Schalmont, Schenectady City, Schoharie, Scotia-Glenville, Sharon Springs, Shenendehowa, South Colonie, Voorheesville, Watervliet City |
Cattar-Allegany-Erie-Wyoming | Allegany-Limestone, Andover, Belfast, Bolivar-Richburg, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Cuba-Rushford, Ellicottville, Fillmore, Franklinville, Friendship, Genesee Valley, Hinsdale, Olean City, Portville, Randolph, Salamanca City, Scio, Wellsville, West Valley, Whitesville, Yorkshire-Pioneer |
Cayuga-Onondaga | Auburn City, Cato-Meridian, Jordan-Elbridge, Moravia, Port Byron, Skaneateles, Southern Cayuga, Union Springs, Weedsport |
Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washing | Ausable Valley, Beekmantown, Boquet Valley, Chazy, Crown Point, Keene, Moriah, Northeastern Clinton, Northern Adirondack, Peru, Plattsburgh City, Putnam, Saranac, Schroon Lake, Ticonderoga, Willsboro |
Delaw-Chenango-Madison-Otsego | Afton, Bainbridge-Guilford, Delaware Academy Csd At, Downsville, Franklin, Georgetown-South Otselic, Gilbertsville-Mount Upton, Greene, Hancock, Norwich City, Otego-Unadilla, Oxford Academy &, Sherburne-Earlville, Sidney, Unadilla Valley, Walton |
Dutchess | Arlington, Beacon City, Dover, Hyde Park, Millbrook, Northeast, Pawling, Pine Plains, Poughkeepsie City, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Spackenkill, Wappingers |
Eastern Suffolk | Amagansett, Bay Shore, Bayport-Blue Point, Brentwood, Bridgehampton, Brookhaven-Comsewogue, Center Moriches, Central Islip, Connetquot, East Hampton, East Islip, East Moriches, East Quogue, Eastport-South Manor, Fire Island, Fishers Island, Greenport, Hampton Bays, Hauppauge, Islip, Longwood, Mattituck-Cutchogue, Middle Country, Miller Place, Montauk, Mt Sinai, New Suffolk Comn, Oysterponds, Patchogue-Medford, Port Jefferson, Quogue, Remsenburg-Speonk, Riverhead, Rocky Point, Sachem, Sag Harbor, Sagaponack Comn, Sayville, Shelter Island, Shoreham-Wading River, South Country, Southampton, Southold, Springs, Three Village, Tuckahoe Comn, Wainscott Comn, West Islip, Westhampton Beach, William Floyd |
Erie 1 | Akron, Alden, Amherst, Buffalo City, Cheektowaga, Cheektowaga-Maryvale, Clarence, Cleveland Hill, Depew, Frontier, Grand Island, Hamburg, Hopevale Ufsd At, Kenmore-Tonawanda, Lackawanna City, Lancaster, Sweet Home, Tonawanda City, West Seneca, Williamsville |
Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus | Bemus Point, Brocton, Cassadaga Valley, Chautauqua Lake, Clymer, Dunkirk City, East Aurora, Eden, Evans-Brant Csd (Lake Shore), Falconer, Forestville, Fredonia, Frewsburg, Gowanda, Holland, Iroquois, Jamestown City, North Collins, Orchard Park, Panama, Pine Valley Csd (South Dayton), Ripley, Sherman, Silver Creek, Southwestern Csd At, Springville-Griffith Inst, Westfield |
Franklin-Essex-Hamilton | Brushton-Moira, Chateaugay, Lake Placid, Long Lake, Malone, Raquette Lake, Salmon River, Saranac Lake, St Regis Falls, Tupper Lake |
Genesee Valley | Alexander, Attica, Avon, Batavia City, Byron-Bergen, Caledonia-Mumford, Dalton-Nunda Csd (Keshequa), Dansville, Elba, Geneseo, Le Roy, Letchworth, Livonia, Mt Morris, Oakfield-Alabama, Pavilion, Pembroke, Perry, Warsaw, Wayland-Cohocton, Wyoming, York |
Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery | Amsterdam City, Broadalbin-Perth, Canajoharie, Edinburg Common, Fonda-Fultonville, Fort Plain, Gloversville City, Johnstown City, Lake Pleasant, Mayfield, Northville, Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville, Piseco Comn, Wells, Wheelerville |
Herk-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego | Central Valley Csd At Ilion-, Dolgeville, Frankfort-Schuyler, Herkimer, Little Falls City, Mount Markham, Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville, Poland, Richfield Springs, Van Hornesville-Owen D Young, West Canada Valley |
Jeffer-Lewis-Hamil-Herk-Oneida | Adirondack, Alexandria, Beaver River, Belleville-Henderson, Carthage, Copenhagen, General Brown, Indian River, Inlet Comn, La Fargeville, Lowville Academy &, Lyme, Sackets Harbor, South Jefferson, South Lewis, Thousand Islands, Town Of Webb, Watertown City |
Madison-Oneida | Camden, Canastota, Hamilton, Madison, Morrisville-Eaton, Oneida City, Rome City, Sherrill City, Stockbridge Valley |
Monroe 1 | Brighton, East Irondequoit, East Rochester, Fairport, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Penfield, Pittsford, Rochester City, Rush-Henrietta, Webster, West Irondequoit |
Monroe 2-Orleans | Brockport, Churchville-Chili, Gates-Chili, Greece, Hilton, Holley, Kendall, Spencerport, Wheatland-Chili |
Nassau | Baldwin, Bellmore, Bellmore-Merrick Central School, Bethpage, Carle Place, East Meadow, East Rockaway, East Williston, Elmont, Farmingdale, Floral Park-Bellerose, Franklin Square, Freeport, Garden City, Glen Cove City, Great Neck, Hempstead, Herricks, Hewlett-Woodmere, Hicksville, Island Park, Island Trees, Jericho, Lawrence, Levittown, Locust Valley, Long Beach City, Lynbrook, Malverne, Manhasset, Massapequa, Merrick, Mineola, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, North Bellmore, North Merrick, North Shore, Oceanside, Oyster Bay-East Norwich, Plainedge, Plainview-Old Bethpage, Port Washington, Rockville Centre, Roosevelt, Roslyn, Seaford, Sewanhaka Central School, Syosset, Uniondale, Valley Stream 13, Valley Stream 24, Valley Stream 30, Valley Stream Central School, Wantagh, West Hempstead, Westbury |
Oneida-Herkimer-Madison | Brookfield, Clinton, Holland Patent, New Hartford, Ny Mills, Oriskany, Remsen, Sauquoit Valley, Utica City, Waterville, Westmoreland, Whitesboro |
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison | Baldwinsville, Cazenovia, Chittenango, Cincinnatus, Cortland City, Deruyter, East Syracuse Minoa, Fabius-Pompey, Fayetteville-Manlius, Homer, Jamesville-Dewitt, Lafayette, Liverpool, Lyncourt, Marathon, Marcellus, Mcgraw, North Syracuse, Onondaga, Solvay, Syracuse City, Tully, West Genesee, Westhill |
Orange-Ulster | Chester, Cornwall, Florida, Goshen, Greenwood Lake, Highland Falls, Kiryas Joel Village, Marlboro, Middletown City, Minisink Valley, Monroe-Woodbury, Newburgh City, Pine Bush, Port Jervis City, Tuxedo, Valley Csd (Montgomery), Warwick Valley, Washingtonville |
Orleans-Niagara | Albion, Barker, Lewiston-Porter, Lockport City, Lyndonville, Medina, Newfane, Niagara Falls City, Niagara-Wheatfield, North Tonawanda City, Royalton-Hartland, Starpoint, Wilson |
Oswego | Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, Central Square, Fulton City, Hannibal, Mexico, Oswego City, Phoenix, Pulaski, Sandy Creek |
Otsego-Delaw-Schoharie-Greene | Andes, Charlotte Valley, Cherry Valley-Springfield, Cooperstown, Edmeston, Gilboa-Conesville, Hunter-Tannersville, Jefferson, Laurens, Margaretville, Milford, Morris, Oneonta City, Roxbury, Schenevus, South Kortright, Stamford, Windham-Ashland-Jewett, Worcester |
Putnam-Northern Westchester | Bedford, Brewster, Briarcliff Manor, Carmel, Chappaqua, Croton-Harmon, Garrison, Haldane, Hendrick Hudson, Katonah-Lewisboro, Lakeland, Mahopac, North Salem, Ossining, Peekskill City, Putnam Valley, Somers, Yorktown |
Questar Iii (R-C-G) | Averill Park, Berkshire, Berlin, Brunswick Csd (Brittonkill), Cairo-Durham, Catskill, Chatham, Coxsackie-Athens, East Greenbush, Germantown, Greenville, Hoosic Valley, Hoosick Falls, Hudson City, Kinderhook, Lansingburgh, New Lebanon, North Greenbush Comn Sd (Williams), Rensselaer City, Schodack, Taconic Hills, Troy City, Wynantskill |
Rockland | Clarkstown, East Ramapo Csd (Spring Valley), Haverstraw-Stony Point Csd (North, Nanuet, Nyack, Pearl River, Ramapo Csd (Suffern), South Orangetown |
Schuy-Steub-Chem-Tioga-Alleg | Addison, Alfred-Almond, Arkport, Avoca, Bath, Bradford, Campbell-Savona, Canaseraga, Canisteo-Greenwood, Corning City, Elmira City, Elmira Heights, Hammondsport, Hornell City, Horseheads, Jasper-Troupsburg, Odessa-Montour, Prattsburgh, Spencer-Van Etten, Watkins Glen, Waverly |
St Lawrence-Lewis | Brasher Falls, Canton, Clifton-Fine, Colton-Pierrepont, Edwards-Knox, Gouverneur, Hammond, Harrisville, Hermon-Dekalb, Heuvelton, Lisbon, Madrid-Waddington, Massena, Morristown, Norwood-Norfolk, Ogdensburg City, Parishville-Hopkinton, Potsdam |
Sullivan | Eldred, Fallsburg, Liberty, Livingston Manor, Monticello, Roscoe, Sullivan West, Tri-Valley |
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga | Candor, Dryden, Groton, Ithaca City, Lansing, Newfield, South Seneca, Trumansburg |
Ulster | Ellenville, Highland, Kingston City, New Paltz, Onteora, Rondout Valley, Saugerties, Wallkill |
Washing-Sara-War-Hamltn-Essex | Argyle, Ballston Spa, Bolton, Cambridge, Corinth, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Galway, Glens Falls City, Glens Falls Comn, Granville, Greenwich, Hadley-Luzerne, Hartford, Hudson Falls, Indian Lake, Johnsburg, Lake George, Mechanicville City, Minerva, Newcomb, North Warren, Queensbury, Salem, Saratoga Springs City, Schuylerville, South Glens Falls, Stillwater, Warrensburg, Waterford-Halfmoon, Whitehall |
Wayne-Finger Lakes | Canandaigua City, Clyde-Savannah, Dundee, East Bloomfield, Gananda, Geneva City, Gorham-Middlesex Csd (Marcus, Honeoye, Lyons, Manchester-Shortsville Csd (Red, Marion, Naples, Newark, North Rose-Wolcott, Palmyra-Macedon, Penn Yan, Phelps-Clifton Springs, Red Creek, Romulus, Seneca Falls, Sodus, Victor, Waterloo, Wayne, Williamson |
Westchester | Ardsley, Blind Brook-Rye, Bronxville, Byram Hills, Dobbs Ferry, Eastchester, Edgemont, Elmsford, Greenburgh, Harrison, Hastings-On-Hudson, Irvington, Mamaroneck, Mt Pleasant, Mt Vernon School, New Rochelle City, Pelham, Pleasantville, Pocantico Hills, Port Chester-Rye, Rye City, Rye Neck, Scarsdale, Tuckahoe, Ufsd-, Valhalla, White Plains City, Yonkers City |
Western Suffolk | Amityville, Babylon, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Copiague, Deer Park, Elwood, Half Hollow Hills, Harborfields, Huntington, Kings Park, Lindenhurst, North Babylon, Northport-East Northport, Smithtown, South Huntington, West Babylon, Wyandanch |
Andy Arthur, 3/31/23 Data Source:
NYS Education Department. |
USGS Topographic Maps – Putnam to Suffolk
Counties: Albany to Delaware / Dutchess to Livingston / Madison to Otsego / Putnam to Suffolk / Sullivan to Yates
Browse Topographic Maps: Full State / Historical USGS Topographic Maps