Submitted by cynthia mount, Jan 8, 2008 13:20

You give far too much credit to former Governor Pataki for the cleanup of the Hudson River and the park along it. The original legislation was enacted in 1991 by Governor Mario Cuomo with the Greenway Act.

The Hudson River Trail Association was responsible for amending that legislation to include the Hudson River itself in 1996 which had not been included.

Mr. Pataki's Hudson River Park Trust came along in 1998. Some things are great and others are just a rumble of concrete, or expensive new buildings that do not accomplish their original intentions (boat houses built by "architects" who did not include/think of the river's tidal changes). But the original impulse came, not from Mr Pataki, at all. There were countless meetings all during the 90s about the reconstruction of the park by concerned individuals and community groups who were responsible for the excitement and energy that created the legislation. When Mr. Pataki actually stepped foot in Manhattan to announce the parks' creation, he had too many bodyguards and only stood on Pier 25 for 15 minutes and looked scared. He is not a Manhattan man.

Governor Spitzer should be ashamed of himself for even considering naming the park after Pataki.

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