Handouts

[Mother Natures Son]

Today I got in the mail, a strange type of handout from ATC. They were opposing a casino/hotel complex in New York state. With your donation of x dollars, you too can help us eliminate this potential eyesore from the trail. Has anyone gotten this literature in the mail?

[rafe]

Yep, just arrived today. Haven't opened the envelope yet.

[jimmyjam]

Got mine over a week ago. This is a good cause. Please support the ATC if you can.

[Lone Wolf]

eyesore? some buildings?

[jimmyjam]

they want to build a huge casino complex close to the trail. Right in the view shed. Who wants to hike to see a casino ? Keep them in Vegas.

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[Another Kevin]

eyesore? some buildings?

And a new Thruway exit less than a mile from where the Trail crosses Route 17A, and a widening and straightening of County Road 106 through Sterling Forest and Harriman to handle the traffic for the resort, and a widening and removing of a bridge from 17A, allowing high-speed trucks to come through with the Trail crossing at grade, and the whole project requiring taking land from Harriman/Sterling Forest to make it happen. A clusterfest of the first magnitude.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I just don't get why they want to build it, the casino marktet in the area is seriously oversaturated. Several Atlantic City casinos are folding, NPR reported recently that the two Connecticut casinos are at risk of defaulting of their debt, and Massachusetts is about to add a new casino to boot.

The casinos that were built in CT while I was growing up had nothing but negative consequences for the locales where they were built. They brought traffic, petty crime and pollution with relatively little benefit in return. It's not the sort of thing that anyone would want in their town unless they had a financial interest.

[Sarcasm the elf]

And a new Thruway exit less than a mile from where the Trail crosses Route 17A, and a widening and straightening of County Road 106 through Sterling Forest and Harriman to handle the traffic for the resort, and a widening and removing of a bridge from 17A, allowing high-speed trucks to come through with the Trail crossing at grade, and the whole project requiring taking land from Harriman/Sterling Forest to make it happen. A clusterfest of the first magnitude.

What Kevin said.

[Lone Wolf]

they want to build a huge casino complex close to the trail. Right in the view shed. Who wants to hike to see a casino ? Keep them in Vegas.

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it's the price you pay for walkin' on the busiest trail in the world on the east coast of the US

[saltysack]

Every time I turn on the tv they are closing casinos on the east coast....let's build more !! Stoopid


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[BuckeyeBill]

They just built 3 casinos here in Ohio. The payback to the state is divided up between all the counties and the schools. Right now it is lower than antisipated.

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[rocketsocks]

Perhaps the casino owners got some sorta sweet heart deal...financially speaking, be it a huge TAX right off Or somethin'

[Another Kevin]

it's the price you pay for walkin' on the busiest trail in the world on the east coast of the US

Unquestionably, the A-T in the Ramapo Valley (indeed, in most of NY/NJ;/CT) is running through suburbia. Is that an argument in favour of making it still more suburban?

[sfdoc]

The Sterling Forest area was secured through public funds including private donations. For the NY to sell out to casino developers, especially in light of the recent casino failures in NJ, is either just stupid, or there's something else going on here. In either case, another casino, along with the environmental damage, just isn't warranted. I know jobs are critical, but w/ the need for bridge and road repair, especially in the NY/NJ area, lots of jobs exist there.

[Odd Man Out]

I recall driving through rural SE CT, coming over a hill and seeing this. Ug.

foxwoods_resort_casino.jpg

[Starchild]

And a new Thruway exit less than a mile from where the Trail crosses Route 17A, and a widening and straightening of County Road 106 through Sterling Forest and Harriman to handle the traffic for the resort, and a widening and removing of a bridge from 17A, allowing high-speed trucks to come through with the Trail crossing at grade, and the whole project requiring taking land from Harriman/Sterling Forest to make it happen. A clusterfest of the first magnitude.

Bold mine. To clarify the casino is totally on private land that is surrounded by Sterling Forest. The road expansion is the only thing that will impact public lands but we are just talking about widening an existing road and building a long overdue exit ramp that was in the plans since the creation of the NYS Thruway and I do see it easing traffic in that area.

As for the casino itself, after spending time in Cherokee NC (comments welcome on how that effected things there), I do believe it can be done in a way that could enhance that area. There is a blend of the natural and the man made that can really work well together.

As for the Atlantic City closures, that was because they had a monolopy and built it up as such, it was the Vegas of the east and where the NYC crowd needed to go if that wanted a nearby place to lose some $$$. The Native American casinos is what broke that monopoly and yes AC is suffering that now - but this location has the advantage of the closest to NYC area, so I would expect it to do very well, perhaps at the expense of other casinos.

All in all I think since the area around the casino is very much protected (as it is state land) it will not develop into the typical overgrowth and only serve to get more people to see the natural beauty that surrounds them, which will get them to appreciate it. Being there is the only way to know that.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I recall driving through rural SE CT, coming over a hill and seeing this. Ug.

foxwoods_resort_casino.jpg

Neither the state nor the residents wanted it here, we were snookered by creative manuvering in the courts. Like I said the only people who benefited from it were the ones who had a financial stake in it beforehand.

[Starchild]

I recall driving through rural SE CT, coming over a hill and seeing this. Ug.

foxwoods_resort_casino.jpg

Can you help me understand, how beautiful it must be to be there at this 'resort' and see this awesome beauty all around. I can only see one enhancing the other and really have a hard time understanding the point of view that this is not something we should have available.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Can you help me understand, how beautiful it must be to be there at this 'resort' and see this awesome beauty all around. I can only see one enhancing the other and really have a hard time understanding the point of view that this is not something we should have available.

Clearly you haven't been there, much less stepped inside.

[Starchild]

Clearly you haven't been there, much less stepped inside.

No I was never at Foxwoods, but was at Mohegan Sun (and won a trip to Vagas - so a side trip to the Grand Canyon).

But anyway it to me seems like so many people are trying to deny others the goodness of the land that we appreciate and all need. It just seems so selfish to do so. "unless you do it in the way we approve you will not be able to see the natural world'