USA TODAY Network New York State Team From left, Al and Diane Denardo take a walk at James Baird State Park in Pleasant Valley on February 12, 2021. Letchworth State Park, pictured on Sept. 12, 2020.
From left, Al and Diane Denardo take a walk at James Baird State Park in Pleasant Valley on February 12, 2021.
ALBANY The COVID-19 pandemic limited travel last year for most New Yorkers, so they found an outdoor alternative nearby: the nation’s largest parks system in their home state.
Attendance at New York’s 180 parks and 35 historic sites hit a new attendance record in 2020 with 78 million visits, a 1.2% increase from 2019.
New York State Team
ALBANY - The COVID-19 pandemic limited travel last year for most New Yorkers, so they found an outdoor alternative nearby: the nation s largest parks system in their home state.
Attendance at New York s 180 parks and 35 historic sites hit a new attendance record in 2020 with 78 million visits, a 1.2% increase from 2019.
New York has invested heavily in the park system, and the $1 billion investment has paid off, state officials said: The state has had nine years of visitor growth, up 34% during that span. In 2020, our state parks became an even more critical resource than before as New Yorkers sought safe places for solace, exercise and relief from the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Jan.26.
New York State Team
ALBANY - The COVID-19 pandemic limited travel last year for most New Yorkers, so they found an outdoor alternative nearby: the nation s largest parks system in their home state.
Attendance at New York s 180 parks and 35 historic sites hit a new attendance record in 2020 with 78 million visits, a 1.2% increase from 2019.
New York has invested heavily in the park system, and the $1 billion investment has paid off, state officials said: The state has had nine years of visitor growth, up 34% during that span. In 2020, our state parks became an even more critical resource than before as New Yorkers sought safe places for solace, exercise and relief from the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Jan.26.
0:53
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has published design guidelines to encourage local communities to protect a trail in Westchester County.
The Parks Department says the Community Design Guidelines to Support Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park provide recommendations to elected officials, staff, and land use and architectural review boards that oversee proposed development near the 26-mile linear park that runs from Yonkers to Cortlandt. The goal is to help protect the historic integrity of remnants of an early 19th century aqueduct that once supplied New York City drinking water. The aqueduct was in service until 1955 and a park was created in 1968. There will be online public information meetings on the guidelines January 13th at noon and January 14th at 6 p.m. Design guidelines are here. (Scroll down as plans are in alphabetical order.)
.Peter Carr/The Journal News
I spent April 3 photographing COVID testing preparations. The health-care center had painted lines 6 feet apart and the staff had PPE, before masks were in wide public use. On the drive home, in Blauvelt, I saw a circle of women standing in the rain. I stopped and, when I got close, saw they were reciting the Rosary. After their last Amen, they walked back to their houses. Their church, St. Catharine s Church, had been closed by the coronavirus, one told me. Their quiet prayer in the rain under towering trees was a stark contrast to the health center where they were busy finding ways to make things work.