Beginning in the 1930s and lasting through World War II, an estimated 200,000 “comfort women” were forced into Japanese military brothels, sometimes known as comfort stations. The system – which primarily relied on women trafficked from the Korean Peninsula, as well as other Asian countries – is believed to be among the most widespread examples of state-sponsored sexual slavery.
The term “comfort station” entered New York City’s lexicon decades earlier, amid a push to improve public accommodations during the Progressive Era. In contrast to existing public toilets, the so-called comfort stations were larger, often underground structures at popular public spaces.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) oversees more than 250 state parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, encompassing nearly 350,000 acres. Here is an overview of the trails on these lands, and is used for building various maps on the blog. Data updated 12/2020.
I got this book out of the library the other day titled, “The Best of Tent Camping: A guide for car campers who hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos” and thought it was a perfect read until I actually opened the book and found out it was a book expounding the virtues of state campgrounds, rather then back country and roadside locations for camping.
I once stayed in a state campground. It had to be the most miserable day in my life. I really don’t need to be told by some jackbooted thug how to operate my campsite, when I must turn down the music or dim the camp lights, or otherwise restrict what I want to do. I want shoot guns at midnight, then that should be my right.
Campgrounds are tightly packed locations, versus the typical 1/4 mile plus spacing between most roadside and backcountry campsites, where you are out of eyeshot and earshot of other campers, so you are pretty much free to do what you want without restriction of the government or annoyance of others.
If you need the kind of services that campgrounds you probably shouldn’t go up to woods. Especially if your tent camping, a developed campground just seems kind of silly and wasteful. You can always burn and pack out your garbage, and there are creeks to swim in to clean yourself out.
I have a Love-Hate Relationship with the Albany Pine Bush. It is an …
urban unique
wildlife preserve
The Albany Pine Bush’s strengths are are ..
It is conviently located near the city of Albany, you can take either take a bus and walk to get there, or drive a short distance from the city
It is a fascinating Pine Bush/sand-dune ecosystem, with fantastic views of the Heldebergs and Catskills and wildlife close to the city.
At the same time those strengths are it’s greatest weakness …
In many ways the preserve is over-regulated and over-governed by the overbearing Albany Pine Bush Commission
The Madison Avenue and Karner East Barriens are overused, dominated by joggers and those walking dogs
There are too many restrictions on hunting, camping, and even hiking and nature observation — such as a ban on traveling off of trails except in the taking of wildlife.
The Adirondack Forest Preserve model might not work in Albany Pine Bush Preserve, but a hybrid model could work. The Commission should try to work more with the public’s desires and demands, and have friendly processes and policies that show that they are there to work with the public rather then restrict access.
Urban preserves are a tricky balancing act. It means easy access to yahoos and those who don’t know basic respect. There are far greater human demands compared to relatively unknown state forests, far off the beaten track.
I am concerned about what the Occupy Movement means for our public parks. Public parks are the commons in our society, the places where anybody may go to gather and to recreate. Public parks belong to us all, therefore private individual organizations must not be allowed to have exclusive use to them.
Inherit in the concept of a public park is that man is just a visitor, and that nobody resides there permanently. Parks are places where men dwell only temporarily for fellowship or solitude, it is an escape from the private places we normally reside in.
When kayaking on a lake or hiking a mountain, one may stop to enjoy the view. You only stop for a few minutes to enjoy the view, and then you move on. Your experience is non-exclusive, anyone can walk by when your there, or come by five minutes after you’ve left in solitude. Laws prevent you from building a house or setting up long-term residency there, you must move on an allow others to see what you once saw.
Campsites are same way. Whether in a DEC Campground or a back-country site, one can only set up a campsite and camp there for a set amount of time. Typically this is limited to two weeks except during Big Game Season. When your time is up, you must pack up your gear, and leave the site cleaner then you have found it.
When your camping, a campsite becomes your temporary place of residency. You unpack your gear, you make a fire, you set up your tent. You cook your meals there, you camp there, and you probably do your business in an outhouse or in woods a short ways from there. For all purposes, you live there and campsite is like your house for a short period of time.
A campsite is never an exclusive site. Campsites can get elaborately set up, with lots of canopies, tents, lanterns and other gear. Some people hang Christmas lights and drive in large RVs to campsites. You may dwell there for a while but after a number of days you must pack up and leave. Others may then use your campsite, enjoy the views and benefits the public lands provide for all that wish to use them.
Public parks are excellent places for individuals and groups to get together and discuss public business. They are good places to get together and protests. Many parks are large, and can accommodate large groups of people. Many parks are appropriate for camping and other recreational pursuits.
Yet, we can not allow any individual or group to remain in a park for too long of a period. Individuals must remain visitors, those who come only for a short period of time to enjoy the land in solitude or fellowship. Two weeks, needs to remain the maximum use for a piece of land, except in very narrow exception.
… Allowing people to stay too long in a park, only serves to undermine the concept of public lands and the commons.
