Halloween is very fun, and for parents, kinda scary—not from the costumes, but from the kids tripping on the costumes, not seeing (or not paying attention) as they cross streets, etc. (Yes, my middle initial is A., and it just could stand for Anxiety.)

So, it’s good news that police will be setting up sobriety checkpoints tonight, keeping watch on irresponsible drivers. Excited, sugared-up kids running around, and the early darkness, are risks enough.

In our neighborhood, Halloween is a blast (and a little costly in the candy department—we buy a lot for the crowd, and I won’t mention how many times I’ve had to go out and buy more candy this week because it’s somehow disappeared. OK, twice…) On our block, we get lots of trick-or-treaters, and when we go out with the kids, we run into all our neighbors roaming the streets with their kids. Really nice, since pretty soon, we’ll all be hibernating, not hanging out having dinner on the porch like many of us do during the summer.

So, look both ways, watch long hems on capes, stick close to the kids … and have fun.

Officials from the three entities studying the future of the Tappan Zee Bridge—the state Department of Transportation, the Thruway Authority and Metro-North Railroad—were impressed by yesterday’s turnout for information meetings at Rockland Community College.

It was far heavier, they said, than that the previous day in Westchester. In fact, more individuals spoke at the conclusion of just the 4:30 session at RCC than after both the 4:30 and 7 p.m. sessions in Westchester combined. Residents and officials here had questions, concerns and even suggestions.

At least one of the Tappan Zee Project Team officials was a bit perplexed and wondered out loud as to why that might be.

I offered that for Rockland, the need for mass transit is greater and, given the scope of the proposed project, the risks may be greater.

Then, of course, there’s the memory—either personal or passed on through the decades—of what happened here in the 1950s.

In truth, for every Nyack there’s a Tarrytown and for every South Nyack there’s an Ardsley, which was cut in two by the Thruway.

But somehow, here the scars have always been deeper. And so, maybe, is the fear.

Upon news that a 90-year-old patient had died after an unsecured wardrobe (closet) fell on her atthe county-run Summit Park hospital, I decided to call the Alzheimer’s Association, to seek their input on the accident. The patient had dementia. This morning, I got a call from Michele Muir, communications and public affairs manager of the Hudson Valley Rockland Westchester chapter. Now, she wasn’t going to comment on the specific situation (we did: look here). But she sent an email on the concerns about creating a safe environment for those with dementia. Here are some interesting comments (bolds are mine):

“Diseases causing dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, can affect the person’s visual acuity and depth perception. It can create balance issues. The environment where that person lives needs to be evaluated. For example, loose rugs should be removed or secured to the floor. Grab bars and handrails are important in showers, bathrooms and hallways. Faucets need to be equipped with anti-scalding devices. Loose and heavy objects must be secured. Prescription drugs, even vitamins, need to be out of reach. Appliances and stoves can be very hazardous. In some cases electrical outlets need to be disabled or covered with child-proof caps. A safe and secure unit is needed for persons who wander, a behavior which can happen in 60% of Alzheimer’s cases.
….
It is very important to assess a patient’s needs, and to evaluate if the environment where they live or visit frequently. A person with Alzheimer’s cannot do this on their own, and as needs change, the care plan needs to change with it. Sound judgment and ability to know about safety issues is very important when acting on behalf of a dementia patient or other patients who may have physical impairments.

We all know that on wet, rainy days we need to take it slow on the roads because rain lifts oils from the pavement creating a slippery surface. To make matters worse this time of year, we’ve got to factor in fallen leaves, which can be as treacherous as ice in winter.

That’s fine for my Mercury and your Honda Accord, but who would think that the green leaves we love in summer would turn color in fall and turn into a hazard for railroad trains.

It’s kind of like a flea doing in an elephant, really.

But there it was today, the caution from Metro-North that leaves on the tracks can cause extensive delays on commuter lines in the suburbs.

It’s the wax that’s the rub, according to Metro-North’s Dan Brucker, who says it builds up and causes trains to slide.

That’s a bit of knowledge we should all save up just in case we go slip-sliding away one of these days.

I’m sure State Farm will understand the physics better than I.

Just got a bubbly call from my youngest daughter, Kelly, a journalism major at West Virginia University.

Kelly was exploding with enthusiasm because she had just been to the post office in Morgantown.

“I just voted. I’m so excited,” she blurted out. It’s her first presidential vote.

She’s a little disappointed to have to make it by absentee ballot, but she’s still excited to be casting her first vote for a president.

Kelly was home for a weekend early this month and stopped by the Board of Elections to pick up her ballot, which she filled out over the weekend.

She decided to skip the campus post office and take the ballot to the main post office in Morgantown.

There the clerk noticed her Suffern home address and announced that he had once been her neighbor—sort of. He used to live in Nyack.

Needless to say, Kelly wasn’t sharing her choices. We’ll just have to figure that she’s one of the millions whose votes will determine the next president.

I noticed a lot of little dinosaurs at Sunday’s Halloween Parade in Nyack (nice turnout, too). I’ve heard that pirates were the big costume this year, but I saw plenty from the toddler set stuffed into stegosaurus and other dino-style furry little costumes. And then, former South Nyack resident Winston Seiler is credited with finding a “trample surface” of dinosaur footprints in the Arizona-Utah desert.

Coincidence? Uh, yeah.

Anyway, the parade Sunday (pushed back from Saturday when the weather predictions called for windy rain—and was accurate!) was fab. There have been years where there seemed to be more marchers than spectators, but this year, the crowd was big, enthusiastic and mostly costumed, too. And it was a nice fall late afternoon to come out and see friends and neighbors in their Halloween finest.

AP photo 

After hearing about a 90-year-old woman’s death at Summit Park Hospital, the county-run facility, left me upset and angry.

How could this happen? It seems that closets weren’t bolted to the wall, and this was the third time one had fallen on a patient. This woman, whose family entrusted the hospital to keep her safe, suffered from dementia. She couldn’t keep herself safe; that, no doubt, is why she was in a nursing home facility.

Like the horrific story of Jonathan Carey, it’s not only heartbreaking, but a condemnation of a system that seems to put those who need are care the most are thought of least. Jonathan, from upstate New York, was autistic with severe impairments. His parents had him in one residential setting, and believed he was being abused. He was removed, but they could not care for him at home; his needs were just too great. At another facility, he was improperly restrained in a van and left alone, where he suffocated.

There are wonderful people and terrific facilities who help support families dealing with these most needy and fragile children and elderly adults.

Yet there are cracks in the system. These senseless acts happen, and there is no going back.

How could these wardrobe closets fall not once, but twice, in a unit with people with Alzheimer’s and dementia who were unable to protect themselves, and no one took the time, took the right step, and simply bolted them to the wall? (Visit just about any hospital room and see that these closets are secured to the wall—now think about someone who has dementia wandering a room becoming agitated. The danger should be so obvious after two closets were already pulled down!)

What a shame, what a loss. How tragic for this woman’s family, loved ones and our county. The state has levied fines, but there are many many questions that need to be answered, and county government, which “manages” this facility, deserves to give its residents answers.

UPDATE OF THIS POST: Well, I guess we’ll find out if adding a fifth lane Westchester-bound on theTappan Zee Bridge will work: Look here for an update, courtesy of TJN/LoHud transportation reporter Khurram Saeed. Seems the Thruway Authority’s going to give the lane shift idea a try during tomorrow’s morning commute. Good luck, all!
HERE’S THE ORIGINAL POST: Now there’s talk of adding a fifth lane to the southbound (eastbound) Tappan Zee Bridge? Sigh. It’s certainly an idea worth exploring—like, in June, when the steel plates, the culprits of today’s backups, were first blamed for long traffic delays. The plates are part of a redecking project that’s more than 80 percent completed, so a fifth lane would be used just until before Thanksgiving, when the new, much needed, decking would be completed.

What’s the problem with five lanes heading into Westchester in the morning? The two lanes that would be left to carry traffic into Rockland. One commuting headache could be switched for another, with “reverse commuters” also facing a tangle of traffic. Do you think adding one lane will completely fix the traffic mess? Maybe ease it, but fix it?

I rode over the plates yesterday morning in my neighbor’s little 1991 Miata (which, in traditional commuter-car fashion, is not exactly in mint condition) and it was a teeth-rattling experience. And, this morning, heading west on Route 59, I saw the stacked traffic inching along toward the Mountainview Ave. entrance to the Thruway. So, there’s no exaggeration on commuters’ part that the whole process right now is miserable.

But will shifting the lanes just share the problem? Will adding a lane provide enough relief to justify it. The Thruway Authority is studying it (quickly, I would guess, since the project’s supposed to be completed in about a month.) And if it will work, why wasn’t it considered earlier, as Westchester- and NYC-bound commuters sat, and sat, and sat in traffic?

During the election cycle, I get stuck at my desk, or in our conference room, for long periods, either interviewing candidates, or going through their questionnaires or past news reports or working on endorsements. Amid all that, there’s still letters to put together, Community Views to edit and, of course, editorials on all kinds of issues to write.

It’s made me (nearly) forget it’s fall, and if I don’t get outside as much as possible the next couple weeks, I’m going to miss this year’s show.

When I headed over the steel-plate-with-portruding-bolts-laden Tappan Zee Bridge Wednesday afternoon for the 17th Congressional District (only incumbent Democrat Eliot Engel was interviewed; his challenger, Republican Robert Goodman was ill) I was just thinking about getting to the White Plains office on time and wiggling through the construction traffic patterns on the I-287.

On the way back to the office, stuck in late-afternoon Rockland-bound traffic, I got my chance. Driving over the bridge, I could see the shock of colors dotting the Rockland hills. Darn it, I don’t want to miss fall. So, the next day, when I went to pick up my daughter, I used back roads to see as much yellow, orange and red (I still find the red amazing) as I could.

Of course, even though gas prices are down, I’m still hesitant to just drive for no purpose. So, I’m looking for recommendations of fall foliage views along roads that go from here to there. My recommendations? Of course, Route 9W through Valley Cottage and Congers, up to Dr. Davies apple farm; over Clausland Mountain; by the Four Corners in West Nyack (Stawtown Road.)

For northern and western Rocklanders, what’s the prettiest, leafiest street you know?

I want to end with one fall warning: Leaves are slippery on roadways, so drive carefully.

A neighbor decided recently to take a day in the city with her daughter, but not to drive into Midtown. They took the TZ Express to the Tarrytown station and hopped on a Grand Central-bound Metro North train. They did the same in reverse for the way home — traveling off-peak all the way.
The total price? $36. Imagine if the whole family of four had gone?
Another friend noted, if government wants people to use public transportation, it has to be cheaper than driving.
Or, make driving more expensive.
Guess which way it’s going to happen if a new Tappan Zee Bridge is constructed and managed as part of a public-private partnership. That’s the new buzzword, especially among politicians, who are looking at some kind of arrangement to lease the bridge to a private investor, possibly to get it built, probably to run it for decades to come to recoup the investment.
Are these plans successful? Depends on your definition of success. The toll costs are certain to be higher — after all that “private” part of the equation expects a return on the investment.
How would it look for the Tappan Zee Bridge? That’s still up in the air. We’ll certainly hear more as a state panel called for by Gov. David Paterson meets to discuss the future of public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects in New York. (There’s a longer post on this topic here, after I attended a Manhattan Institute conference on the topic. BTW, I took the TZ Express to the train myself, and ended up paying for taxi back from Tarrytown to Nyack, to the tune of $25, because there didn’t seem to be a bus coming within the hour.)
For those who do commute from Rockland, what do you think of the idea of congestion pricing, paying a premium for driving across a new TZ, or whether a privately built and operated bridge would be maintained better than the current one?