Rep. Faso’s fluffy phone meetings

Time has come for trail through Midtown Kingston

Dear Editor, I am excited about plans for the Kingston Greenline and, in particular, for the Midtown linear park.

The rail corridors throughout Kingston have been notoriously dirty and unsafe for many years. Industrial facilities operated by rail companies have been a major eyesore in the center of our city, often leaving garbage, scrap, oil, and other hazardous waste that taxpayers have been forced to clean up. They have been a haven for crime and drugs and, recently, the first murder in over three years, a very tragic ending for a defenseless, homeless victim. Have we had enough? Take a look at the plans put forth by the Ulster County executive and Legislature, along with the Kingston Mayor and Greenline Committee. The citizens of Ulster County own this corridor and we finally have the design, grant money, and political will to make this long-held dream a reality.

Call your county legislator, mayor and alderman and let them know you are fully on-board for a scenic park through Midtown. A walking, hiking and cycling trail that will connect the Rondout with Kingston Plaza on a paved path with full lighting, safety cameras, police patrols, trees, benches and, in many places, handicap access.

In two years, with your support, imagine walking along the park to a show at the newly refurbished Ulster Performing Arts Center or taking an evening stroll to Boice’s for an ice cream. A short walk or bike ride to Hannaford, with zero traffic.

Imagine teaching your child to ride a bike in the center of Kingston and off of Broadway.

We can and we will obliterate the darkness. Midtown is back. It’s been a long time coming. Lee Kalish Kingston, N.Y.

Removal of rails a real shame for Ulster County

Dear Editor, “Ain’t that a shame . ... My tears fell like rain,” sang the late Fats Domino.

Seems whenever opportunity knocks there are the politicos ready to slam the door shut!

The people have long mourned the loss of our memorialized old post office on central Broadway in Kingston. Shame, shame.

In the past, the steam train tried to locate here to bring the history of steam railroading from 1850 to 1950 along with a park and museum. Opposed! Shame, shame.

Horse Shows in the Sun — most successfully established and located in Saugerties — first desired to locate near Hurley and Kingston. Denied! Shame, shame.

The Catskill Mountain Railroad’s success, with offering a variety of tourist rides that have drawn train aficionados and families from around New York and the surrounding states, has been cause for local merchants to celebrate the monetary benefits due to the increase in business. The future historically could be limitless were it not for the policies of the New York City reservoir and the blind vision of the Ulster County Legislature, who voted to rape the system by removing the rails.

There are many bike and walking trails in the area but none with the possibility of rail and trail. Once these rails are removed, so goes the history of one of the first train systems in this area. Shame, shame. And the tears fall like rain. ... Gene Heitzman Hurley, N.Y. Dear Editor, Nothing substantive gets really answered in the constituent phone meetings of U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook. Instead, you get snowed in egghead details about this tax bracket or that initiative.

Let’s make it simple: Faso needs to do everything in his power to stop this tax bill. You know, the 500-page one That Nobody Really Understands or Has Debated or Had Scored because it’s not a tax reform, but a rip-off that the GOP is trying to ram through before it’s understood?

Faso never mentions that he is a member of the House Budget Committee that crafted the tax scam bill, so why doesn’t he know what’s in it? Faso’s fingers are in that pie, he helped cook it, and now he’s trying to say, “Nobody knows what’s in it and, besides, I voted no on it.” Except he sat on the big-time committee that put it together, where he could have stood up and demanded to know its content and to delay any vote until it could be scored by the Congressional Budget Office to find out what it was going to cost, who would win and who would be hurt. Of course, that’s no mystery — it’s $1 trillion for the rich, but the chopping block for our mortgages, our taxes and medical care for the poor, the veterans and kids. Soon on the chopping block will come Medicare and Social Security.

So, now, Faso dances on the phone and snows people under with numbers and disconnected facts.

But the bill’s coming due in 2018 for Faso. Hope he has a nice, soft landing place after he’s done selling out his constituents. Stewart Dean Kingston, N.Y.