The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Public Hearing on September 23, 2013

These are slides that were presented to illustrate opposition to the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation proposal to pave asphalt over the remaining 1.5 miles of the Putnam Trail to create a bikeway in Van Cortlandt Park. A compromise has been proposed to create an 8 foot wide stone dust trail which will accommodate hikers, bikers, runners, wheelchair users, parents with baby strollers, and Nature. We await the response of the judge who presided at the hearing.

A Graphic Illustration...

Last week I created a cardboard construction with the idea of going to the Putnam Trail and holding it up in various locations to show the extent of foliage/tree removal on Putnam Trail, should Parks plan go through.  It measures exactly fifteen feet wide, with ten feet painted black (representing asphalt), three feet on one side of the proposed paved area and two feet on the other.  These measurements correspond to the width of the plan proposed by Parks.  On May 31, five of us met at the trail and carried out the project.

It became very clear to us how healthy the trail was, alive with mature trees, many of which were native, and the sounds of birds.  We even saw a nesting Baltimore Oriole in one of the trees which would in all likelihood come down.  There are also plenty of plants, wildflowers and smaller trees, which, judging from the number of mature trees, will become mature if allowed to grow as nature intends.  Far from the picture painted by its detractors of a degraded trail that couldn't even be seriously called a nature trail, it showed us very clearly how beautifully nature has recovered in just thirty years from the days when the railroad had last been used.  It made us all feel rather sad, as it revealed the true face of the planned destruction as something tangible, and the awareness of what would be lost all the more something that would be forever lamented.

The Putnam Nature Trail of the Bronx is today's Guest...

Interviews Along The Putnam Trail On YouTube.com...

This video contains interviews of a wide variety of people who use The Putnam Trail - school children, senior citizens, teachers, hikers, runners, bicyclists, parents strolling with their young children, nature lovers, birdwatchers, butterfly watchers, and more...

“The Putnam Trail is a jewel. It’s a mindless, destructive and wasteful act to pave the Putnam Trail. To spend 100s of thousands of dollars or more to pave over this treasured parkland seems to be the antithesis of what a Parks Dept. should be doing”
- Eric Seiff, Chairman of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park  www.vancortlandt.org

The future of the Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park?

Paving the Putnam Trail AKA The South County Trailway through the woods in Westchester County...

The end of the asphalt paved South County Trailway looking south at the entrance to Van Cortlandt Park, NYC...

Help fight the paving of the Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park by signing the online petition at Save The Putnam Trail, then write and call your local politicians, NYC Parks Commissioner White, Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Quinn, Bronx Community Board 8, the news media, and any community organizations you can think of to preserve and conserve this woodlands trail in Van Cortlandt Park.

Please sign the petition @ http://www.savetheputnamtrail.com and write to the various politicians and administrators posted on the list @ http://www.savetheputnamtrail.com/get-involved/

Putnam Trail, October 2012...

Blue Violets between the old rails...

Putnam Trail, southern end of South County Trailway, Yonkers...

Looking south...

Looking north...

Save The Putnam Trail In Van Cortlandt Park, The Bronx, NYC

This Putnam Trail Chronicle is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and visual documentation of one of New York City's few remaining woodland trails. Located in Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx, the historic Putnam Trail follows 1.5 miles of the railbed of the old New York and Putnam Railroad. The NYC Parks Department and Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy plan to spend over a two million dollars to pave it over with asphalt to make a 15 foot wide trailway that will double the width of the current dirt trail starting in the summer of 2013 and connect with the South County Trailway in Westchester County. Asphalt pavement along with cutting down and uprooting trees, shrubs, wildflowers and other plants in order to widen and build the paved trailway will harm a recovering and thriving natural ecosystem which is home to many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, insects and plants. This woodlands trail along the old Putnam Railroad railbed in Van Cortlandt Park is treasured by nature lovers of all ages (children and adults - young and old) - walkers, parents with strollers, bicycle riders, runners, birdwatchers, and hikers, etc.

Please visit  Save The Putnam Trail  -  you may also view videos about the Putnam Trail on YouTube.  Your support is greatly appreciated.