albany - Andy Arthur.org

The Scale of New York

Andy | October 7, 2009

Notes on the Re-Run for Wednesday, April 25th.

— Andy

I was wondering how big the New York City-metro area is compared to other regions in our state. What does New York City-metro area look like compared to Albany County, the Plattsburgh and North Country-area, and the Ithaca-Watkins Glen Finger Lakes-area?

All of these maps are exactly the same scale, 75 pixels per 5 miles of real land below it. You can visually compare the size with these maps, and look at urban density and farm uses, via the color of the land below. It will not display in the RSS feed or Facebook, so view at andyarthur.org.

New York City-Metro Area.

This map includes part of Westchester County and Nassau County, but gives you an idea of the size of the metropolitan area that is most associated with what people think of when they think of NYC. Not all of this area is highly urbanized, much of the surrounding area that appears with higher levels of green is suburbs.

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Albany County (Albany & Schenectady).

As you can see the New York City metro area would cover all of Albany County, plus significant portions of Northern Greene and Eastern Schoharie County. You could easily fit Albany and Schenectady within the borders of New York City, along with surrounding suburbs. NYC is not only populous, it’s also fairly big.

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Clinton County (Plattsburgh).

Clinton County is much larger and rural then Albany County and New York City. There is relatively less of Essex and Franklin County in this map then there is Westchester and Nassau County in the NYC-metro map. Even Albany County appears small compared to Clinton County. Notice the darkness of the highly-forested Adirondack Park, and the light green of the fertile Champlain Valley farmlands.

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Ithaca and Watkins Glen.

This map shows Ithaca and Watkins Glen. You can see the public forest lands and pastures of the Finger Lakes National Forest, Sugar Hill State Forest, Ithaca, and Watkins Glen. You go into the Allegany Mountains in the south and in the north the sloped landscape that is the norm of the Finger Lakes.

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Hiking at Thacher Park/OSI Parcel, Sept ’09

Andy | September 20, 2009

Notes on the Re-Run for Monday, September 13th.

Two years ago, I went for a hike up at Thacher Park’s OSI Parcel. As a kid, I never was a big fan of Thacher Park, but I’ve fallen in love with the more wild areas, where one can go up and explore for free. Manicured parks, roamed by jack-booted thugs, aren’t my thing but the views from the OSI Parcel are amazing.

— Andy

I went out hiking with my dog on this Sunday afternoon. I parked at the Carrick Road Old Querry. There where several other cars parked there. Here is a map of the Thacher Park OSI Parcel with all of the many different trails that criss-cross these lands. You can click on this map to download it for printing.

By September 20th, there where a few early signs of color, including this somewhat sickly looking Sugar Maple about a quarter mile from the query.

From High Point on the Thacher Park Cliff it was as clear out there as it gets in the summer.

$2022 Governor\'s Race in Albany County$

With the cattle corn ready to harvest…

A toad sat out sunning on the rocks of High Point.

As a horse show was going on down at the Altamont Fairgrounds.

And Albany sat in mild haze, below the Taconic Range, with Berlin Mountain towering above, from Hang Gliders Cliff.

Looking at Horseshoe Clove and all that lies beyond in the distance. A little bit of fall color, but still a bit to go.

Walking along the Yellow Trail out to Whipple Road. A few signs of color along here.

The Yellow Trail is a snowmobile trail in the winter. This sign was installed by the local snowmobile club, and is kind of unusual for a hiking trail.

The Beaver Dam in the pond off the Red Trail from Whipple Road to Carrick Road.

… Thacher Park is not the Adirondacks or Green Mountains. It’s not the most remote parcel in the world, but it is close to Albany, offers some excellent views of the escarpment, and if you explore the OSI parcel to the north of main portion of park, it’s free to park and undeveloped and beautiful lands.

A Pay to Throw System in Albany?

Andy | April 25, 2008

Notes on the Re-Run for Tuesday, January 19th.

— Andy

That’s one idea I have to help the city’s finances and improve solid waste practices in the city. Here’s my idea in a nutshell:

Offer a $100 rebate to all those who choose to opt-out of city garbage collection and into a pay-as-you throw program at the transfer station at the landfill.

The reality is the city through property tax bills is charging citizens approximatively $200 a year to collect and dispose of their trash. That gives the city a $100 profit per resident, plus gives the mayor something to smile about, while giving citizens back their check.

While this is a bargain compared to many of the commercial haulers, it’s unfair to those who are aggressive recyclers, and buy things in less packaging.

If people where to receive the rebate, they would have to haul their trash and recyclables to the city landfill’s transfer station in their cars.

The city would take recyclables for free.
Trash would assessed a $1 for a 30/gallon bag.

Please let me know below what you think of this idea.

I believe it could promote recycling, force people to think more about consumption, save face for the mayor, and give back more money to residents.