Shortsighted, penny wise and pound foolish, and disappointing; these are among the reactions to plans by New York to close or limit hours at state parks throughout the Hudson Valley in response to the state”™ s $9 billion budget deficit.
The Walkway Over the Hudson would be closed during cold weather months and two days a week during tourist season and Minnewaska State Park would be closed completely unless the state Legislature agrees to use $5 million from the state Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to finance park operations.
On Feb. 19, officials announced a list of dozens of other parks that would be closed or have hours curtailed according to lists revealed in two separate releases last month. Originally 41 parks and 14 historic sites were slated for closing and 23 parks and one historic site were to see their hours reduced.
On Feb. 25, an additional 54 sites, including the Walkway, Minnewaska and others were threatened with closing or reductions unless state legislators agreed to raid the EPF fund. Among the facilities to be closed are Donald Trump State Park and Philipse Manor State Historic site in Westchester, Wonder Lake State Park in Putnam and Shunnemunk State Park in Orange County. Several historic sites are slated for closing and state pools and other facilities are slated for closing or reduced hours of operation.
“New York faces a historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude,” said Gov. David Paterson in a release announcing his list of park closings on Feb. 19. “It has demanded many difficult but necessary decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our state. The unfortunate reality of closing an $8.2 billion deficit is that there is less money available for many worthy services and programs. In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and social services, no area of state spending, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions.”
The reaction from public officials and the state legislative delegation from the Hudson Valley area has been uniformly critical of the plan, saying it would harm the region”™s economy that depends on tourism revenue and could further degrade sales tax revenue.
“Short sighted is the word that comes to mind,” said Mary Kay Vrba, director of Dutchess County Tourism. “Tourism is a major economic driver in the Hudson Valley, we are so close to New York metropolitan region, Dutchess County alone gets more than 4 million visitors a year.”
“With the state in such dire need of revenue, it seems short sighted to me they would cut off their potential revenue from parks, and historic sites, these are the reasons people come here and spend their money. To not have them open so they could generate sales tax revenue is just beyond my comprehension.”
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Open space and parks are key components of  the region’s $4.7-billion tourism economy that employs 80,000 people. In Dutchess County alone, the tourism industry is responsible for $491 million in spending each year, according to figures from Scenic Hudson, generating $31 million annually in local taxes and employing nearly 9,300 people.
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The closings and operational reductions tallied statewide, would save about $8 million, according to officials at the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.(OPRHP)
Paterson has already announced he is not running for a full term as governor, but his office clearly does not want to address the criticism his plan has generated. Asked how the governor would respond to criticism his planned closings of parks would cost state and municipal coffers more money than it would save, a Paterson spokesman forwarded the call to OPRHP.
“From our perspective we have to make difficult choices to reduce our spending,” said OPRHP spokesman Dan Keefe. “Every state agency is cutting spending to address a $9 billion deficit. We have to cut somewhere and 85 percent of our spending goes to our facilities.”
He said the agency was budgeted at $155 million for the 2010-11 state budget proposed by the governor, a reduction of almost $30 million from the previous year”™s funding.
“Right now, its part of the budget process, which the Legislature is discussing,” Keefe said. “The governor has proposed and now its up to the Legislature to evaluate and move forward.”
The state budget is legally due for adoption by April 1, but state legislators usually miss that deadline and are almost certain to miss it again this year.
Closing of the Walkway would be ironic given the governors”™ attendance at the gala opening ceremonies Oct. 2 and the enormous popularity of the facility, a linear park that was once an old railroad bridge spanning the river between Poughkeepsie and Highland, 212 feet over the river. Some 500,000 visitors are said to have visited the Walkway since its opening, which already exceeds the number who were predicted to visit in the Walkway”™s entire first year.
