A bridge too late

This being Adirondack snow-melt season, today seemed like a good time to check out the newish park at the Cohoes Falls in northern Albany County. (All Over Albany had the same thought.) But the footbridge over the canal to the park is padlocked and it won't open until May 1, a sign informed me. Fortunately, there's a sidewalk along Mohawk Street leading to School Street and Overlook Park, where you can still see the action from further away. But a viewer there confirmed my suspicion that by the time May rolls around, the flow and the view will be much reduced.

Comments

[Johannah Turner]

A shame to miss the show. The bridge should not have been padlocked. There was news, recently, to the effect that due to financial constraints, esp. insufficient funds to hire caretakers, curators, guides and guards, etc., many public parks/forests/trails/monuments, etc. may be closed to the public indefinitely. I'm in favor of putting up a "Proceed at your own risk" sign, with a disclaimer as to liability for mishap and mayhem and a fuller explanation of the problem. To simply forbid and block access to the people's recreational lands, to the great outdoors, is outrageous. Another example of PC gone amok.

[Friend of the Falls]

Unfortunately, Falls View Park is not a publically controlled park. Access to the park is controlled by a private corporation (Brookfield Renewable Power) which has been awarded a 40 year license to operate the hydropower plant at the Falls by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Flows over the Falls are further limited becase the license also only requires certain minimum "aesthetic" water flows over the Falls, and these only on weekends and holidays. This decision by FERC has been contested, and is to date still under review.