D&H Canal Museum should know its limits

John Faso and the firing of the House chaplain

Dear Editor, There are now religious wars in Congress.

Paul Ryan, Republican speaker of the House, fired the chaplain, Jesuit priest Patrick Conroy, whose sin was delivering a prayer to Congress when the new tax bill passed. He prayed “to guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans”.

Ryan allegedly told him, “Padre, you just got to stay out of politics” and soon abruptly fired him.

John Boehner, the former Republican House speaker, did not regard the prayer as political.

House Democrats came to defense of the chaplain’s Christian charity. One Republican, Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, joined them.

The New York Times indicated that among Republican representatives there is tension between Catholics and evangelical Christians.

You might wonder how our congressman, John Faso, RKinderhook, stood on the matter. He was busy supporting the party line on food stamps, sending people to work in order to qualify. He tried to tell us that his Republican Party is improving the program, which translates into you do not eat if you do not work. Just picture hungry kids on the street corner begging for food because their parent is too disabled to work.

Sure, Faso supports his party and saves some money to give more to their rich patrons.

Hal Chorny Gardiner, N.Y. Editor’s note: Conroy was returned to his post by Speaker Ryan on May 3, 2018.

Faso shouldn’t support cut in nutrition benefits

Dear Editor, To pay for their tax cuts to the rich, U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, and the Republicans in Congress are trying to slash benefits for children and families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

It has been one of the most successful social programs, keeping people on the brink of poverty from falling deeper into economic despair. The vast majority of recipients are children, seniors, and people with disabilities. And many are low-income workers who can’t find steady work or a decent wage.

The federal Farm Bill includes massive cuts to the SNAP program, all so the rich can grow even richer.

I’m disappointed that Faso would support such a cruel and immoral bill. We should be helping struggling families, not tossing them out into the cold. Mary Vandezande

Kingston, N.Y. Dear Editor, We New Yorkers are a proud bunch who want the best for our communities. Unfortunately, the state is full of hustlers and hucksters who will take advantage of our civic pride to pick our pockets.

The latest dream-scheme is to turn the High Falls D&H Canal Museum into a “cultural and recreational destination” for just a million or so dollars.

Ever been to the museum? Small and intimate, for 35 years it’s been located in a former chapel in the center of town. Aside from educational trips for school children, the museum has never done any meaningful business.

Therein lies the rub. The D&H was a canal, a 100-mile ditch abandoned more than a century ago and, compared to the much larger, more impactful Erie Canal, a historic afterthought.

Yet the Canal Society and Open Space Institute are touting the remains as the “Roman Forum” or an “Aztec temple”, a must-see NY attraction.

Hello, this is High Falls, not Cooperstown or Roswell whose economic prosperity depends on the marketability of their museums.

The plan is to move the museum into the 1797 Depuy House, once a four-star restaurant, to “enrich the museum’s operations and storytelling capacity and further connect it to Ulster County’s developing identity as a cultural and recreational destination.”

The society has already gutted the Depuy House kitchen to greatly enlarge the future museum which will serve as a “clearing house” for museums across the state.

To make all this happen, the society will “engage in a multiyear, community-wide campaign to raise additional funds for the historic preservation and adaptive reuse of the Canal House to a museum and visitor center dedicated to the history of the D&H Canal and the region’s heritage.”

Unless the local residents wake up and understand that the D&H Canal Museum is just fine where it is.

Let us restore the Depuy House to the “lock-tender’s” cottage it used to be. Invest the money saved in our future rather than the past, in our schools, our environment, our children and grandchildren.

In remembering the D&H Canal, quote a biblical proverb: “He who digs a pit shall fall into it.” Kevin Ahearn High Falls, N.Y.

We deserve some answers on city street conditions

Dear Editor, It really challenges reason to drive on streets such as Linderman Avenue, Pearl Street, and Albany Avenue in the city of Kingston. They are horrific — filled with holes, ditches, big potholes, depressions — you name it.

How can our city — with a progressive and bright, young mayor, as well as concerned aldermen — ignore this daily challenge?

Why isn’t the Daily Freeman questioning the “roads scholars” to see why they aren’t working on this 24/7?

I know there are bigger issues in our city and country, but traveling the roads in Kingston is one horrible and, more importantly, dangerous experience.

I am sitting on the edge of my Saab waiting for an answer.

Bob Cohen Kingston, N.Y.