Day: February 21, 2020

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Cuomo questions viability of congestion pricing, throwing subway overhaul into doubt

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Cuomo questions viability of congestion pricing, throwing subway overhaul into doubt

The MTA had been hoping to start tolling drivers who enter Manhattan’s central business district starting in January 2021. The tolls to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street were supposed to support the MTA’s $51.5 billion overhaul plan, which, in turn, was supposed to include substantial subway signal improvements and improved station accessibility.

But the MTA needs federal approval for congestion pricing because some of the impacted roads are federally funded. To get that federal approval, the MTA needs to do an environmental review — either a lengthy, typically yearslong environmental impact statement, or a more abbreviated environmental assessment.

The MTA and City Hall have been asking the federal government which study it should pursue since April, as POLITICO reported. The federal government has yet to give them guidance. Some officials have quietly suggested the MTA should have just assumed the federal government would want the more in-depth assessment and begun work on it immediately.

But on Thursday, Cuomo said he assumed the federal approval would be “perfunctory.”

Great Lakes, Not so Great Ice

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Great Lakes, Not so Great Ice

Each winter, at least part of North America’s Great Lakes freeze. But whether the year is a boom or a bust for ice cover comes down to air temperatures. This season, warmth has prevailed.

Blue-green open water was still widely visible on February 14, 2020, when the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite acquired the natural-color images above. Most of the white areas are snow and clouds, but a close look along parts of the shorelines—particularly Lake Superior—reveals small patches of ice.

Last Summer Camping During the Heat Wave in August.

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Last summer during a heat wave in August, I camped down at the House Pond Campsite on Piseco-Powley Road. I hadn’t camp there in years, but this turned out to be a really nice campsite with a perfect little swimming hole just across the road.

Swimming hole with a good book

Happy Place

I think over the years, the campsite has expanded somewhat, with the fire pit pushed back further, and more room to hang a tarp or pitch a tent. There also is a nice little outhouse up on the hill in back of it.

Camp

Spent lots of time reading a book, laying back in a hammock on the hill above.

I also hiked back to House Pond, which was not all that impressive, but I did find some bear poop up that way.

Fortunately though, I didn’t see any bears, because I spent most of my weekend eating clams and sweet corn and drinking lots of beer.

Cooking Clams