NEW TUNNEL VISION
Yule decor at the Holland now up to us
Now yule decide how to deck the Holland Tunnel.
The Port Authority on Wednesday caved to public pressure over the tunnel’s holiday decorations, which are driving motorists mad — and decided to put the whole thing to a vote.
In a cheeky release announcing the poll, the PA referenced the classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” writing, “From the media arose such a clatter, that the only solution would be to settle the matter . . . by asking the public, ‘What do you think?’ If we’re going to move trees, we should all be in sync!
“And thus to our wondering eyes does appear: a short simple poll to gauge holiday cheer.”
Workers had slapped a triangular tree over the letter “N” instead of the more logical “A” and hung a wreath over the “U” — turning the word “TUNNEL” into “TONNEL” on the Jersey-side toll plaza.
It gave motorist Cory Windelspecht so much anxiety, he started a change.org petition drive to change the decorations, saying they’re a holiday nightmare for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He had collected some 1,800 signatures by late Wednesday night.
“Obviously, the petition that was circulated about this issue generated a lot of interest so we thought it important to let the traveling public decide,” said PA spokesman Steve Coleman.
He added that the decorations have been positioned as they now are for decades so that they sit aligned symmetrically above the tunnel lanes.
But for the next four days, commuters will be able to vote on whether they want to move the tree to hang over the “A” in “HOLLAND” or if they want to both move the “A” and scrap the wreath on top of the “U.”
They can also vote to add a tree to hang over the “A” and keep the other decorations — or vote to keep the signage the way it is.
“I like that they’re actually listening to the people,” Windelspecht said Wednesday afternoon.
But he later changed his mind, claiming the poll isn’t sound because it splits the votes for changing the sign creating what he called a “Ross Perot effect,” referencing the third-party candidate in the 1992 presidential election.
“They took three renderings of change and put it against one rendering of leaving is the same? So essentially they are splitting the vote,” Windelspecht said.
The poll ends Sunday at 5 p.m. and changes, if any, will be made before Monday morning’s rush hour.