Dear Editor:
Well the private developers and Mayor Schundler finally succeeded in commercializing Liberty State Park. I think the Mayor’s strategy was to make all the Friends of Liberty State Park focus their attention on stopping the waterpark so he could sneak in Cirque Du Sole. Guess what? It worked. The Friends of Liberty State Park are now the proud owners of a commercial entity. What a disgrace and how underhanded is this.
Cirque Du Sole has ruined our park. Horrendous traffic jams every night and weekend when they have a show. No parking in the two hour lot for park goers. All the limos and buses parked in the two hour lot have their motors running. A great breathing exercise for those running, walking, bike riding, etc.
On a personal note. I am at Liberty State Park every night and every day on the weekend. Let me share with you some of my personal experience.
1. Last week two days I had to park in the interpretive center parking lot which was full, because the park goers could not park in the two hour lot. The Troopers at 7 p.m. told me I could park in the lot but it would be impossible to get out so I should just park somewhere else. The Troopers were stopping traffic everywhere and trying to control the cars and have some order to this mess and definitely being courteous and hopeful but absolutely frustrated and overworked.
2. I could not even get across the road from the interpretive center with the hundreds of cars leaving the Cirque Du Sole trying to access the turnpike. I had my two dogs with me and after five minutes of no courtesy being shown to me, I literally put up my hand and had to stop cars so both myself and my dogs could cross the road near the interpretive center.
3.The car and bus fumes are horrendous. Horrible for me since I have asthma.
4. Last Sunday, April 22, my daughter and I took our bikes to the park which we usually do on Sundays to have a leisurely day of biking and picnicking. When we arrived in the park at Morris Pesin Drive I soon realized that this was not going to be an easy task to accomplish. There was a line of about 50 cars trying to find a parking space. Good thing I did not have my disabled mother with me, because I would never have been able to allow her to enjoy the park this Sunday because I could not gain access to the disability spots. I would have had to take her back home. I decided to cut off and park in the Wall Street Group’s parking lot, take the bikes off and ride into the park instead of sitting in traffic. But then the problem arose, where do we have our picnic? So I told my daughter we would have to change our plans slightly and not have our picnic in the park. After we went for our bike ride around the park dogging cars everywhere (Cirque Du Sole people) we went back to our truck and had our park picnic on the overgrown garbage strewn grass in the company next to the Wall Street Group across the street from the Daily News. Pretty pathetic that we could not even enjoy the park for our picnic. It just so happens that part of my seven-year-old’s homework was to pick up garbage and dispose of it in honor of Earth Day. So we cleaned up the overgrown grass a little and made the environment a little better. The road that connects the two parks which runs along the Interpretive Center was closed in the late afternoon because of too much traffic and no buses could get through. So the people who took the bus to the park for the day could not even get out of the park easily.
5. This past Monday and Tuesday, April 23 and 24, there was no Cirque Du Sole show and the park was heavenly just the way it used to be. Everybody enjoying the park for whatever they came there to do, exercise or just breathe in the clean air.
6.The Cirque Du Sole has some late shows and the wildlife is negatively affected by this. Horrendous traffic jams late at night. The wildlife is not used to this, and there will be deaths if there has not been any so far, with animals running across the road etc.
7. There are always free summer shows in the park catering especially to the seniors starting the end of May on the grounds where the Cirque is, and now all shows have to be moved to other places. My daughter’s dance school has always performed free at the park, and this year it’s off and being moved. The area where the Cirque is set up is an eyesore. It totally degrades the park’s natural atmosphere. We have to put up with this for two more months. How disgraceful. Mayor Schundler and the private developers should hide their head in shame for their greediness. Maybe the park is making $100,000 but the Cirque is probably making close to two million. Is it worth it? My opinion, for what it is worth, is absolutely not.
How can we stop this from happening again? When will this come to an end? Will we ever have our park back? After this Cirque leaves, what else will the private developers sneak in? Thank God Schundler will be out of office by then.
Eleanor Traina