How Scenic Hudson's Overblown 'Safety Crisis' Claims Got the Fjord Trail $20 Million in Taxpayer Funds
Scenic Hudson has made claims of a transportation “safety crisis” in the Breakneck Ridge area to get $20 million in State taxpayer funds, and a fast-tracked environmental review, for the first phase of the Fjord Trail – but the claims turn out to be overblown, and contradicted by police reports and other public documents.
Scenic Hudson, which has a storied legacy in environmental advocacy,1 is sponsoring the Fjord Trail, the controversial 7.5-mile riverfront walkway planned from Cold Spring to Beacon.
Scenic Hudson President Edward “Ned” Sullivan has led the scare campaign, joined by Christopher C. Davis of Garrison, the leading private donor to the Fjord Trail project.
Davis in 2022 pressed the safety claims on Governor Kathy Hochul, at a private lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. The tactic worked, as the newly-installed Governor immediately agreed to back the $20 million appropriation.
And by insisting that the “safety hazards” at State Route 9D are “urgent,”2 Scenic Hudson convinced a compliant State Parks department to give the first phase of the Fjord Trail an early environmental review – which it passed – allowing Scenic Hudson to go ahead and build the $98.5 million Breakneck Connector and Bridge.3
Now Scenic Hudson has begun work, cutting down 179 trees along Route 9D in the Breakneck Ridge area.4
Critics fear that premature approval of the first phase, which includes the $59.1-million Breakneck pedestrian bridge, has irredeemably prejudiced the upcoming environmental review for the rest of the Fjord Trail.5 With limited exceptions, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) prohibits the type of project “segmentation” that Scenic Hudson applied for, and the Parks department approved.6
As political strategy, the “safety” theme was a winner for Scenic Hudson. Fact-based deliberation, however, was a casualty.
The Claim: Sullivan has warned of the “immediate and dire public safety hazards at Breakneck Ridge”7 caused by large crowds of hikers walking along Route 9D. The roadway area is “dangerous” and automobile accidents are “frequent,” his former aide Andy Bicking testified before a legislative joint committee.8
The Record: Police accident reports show that, over the past 10 years, there have been no fatal auto accidents, and no auto accidents with serious injuries, along Route 9D in the Breakneck area. For that reason, the State Department of Transportation (DOT) considers the roadway “safe.”
The Claim: According to Sullivan, “unsafe” conditions caused one “hiker” to be killed, and another to lose a limb, in “hiker train accidents” at the Breakneck Ridge train station.
The Record: Neither incident, in 2019 and 2021, was caused by jostling crowds of hikers. The station was empty both times, and no trains were scheduled to stop at Breakneck for the rest of either day. On each occasion, a trespassing man deliberately sat down next to the train tracks and waited, but not as a prospective passenger. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) police reports show that one, and probably both, of these incidents were deliberate acts of self-harm.
The Claim: “Safety” is the “primary purpose” of the Breakneck Connector and Bridge, Scenic Hudson asserted in its SEQRA environmental review filing.9
The Record: The Breakneck bridge won’t improve safety. For one thing, it won’t carry hikers safely across Route 9D, from west to east, to the trailheads. Instead, after the Breakneck bridge crosses over the Metro North commuter railroad tracks, the Fjord Trail will stay on the west side of Route 9D, past the east side trailheads.
The Claim: Philipstown residents have long wanted this first phase of the Fjord Trail.
The Record: At least since 2007, Philipstown residents have wanted traffic, parking and footpath improvements at Route 9D near Breakneck, in a configuration that has been called the “Connector.”10 In 2020, however, Scenic Hudson introduced the idea of a big, expensive, Breakneck bridge. Scenic Hudson has bundled the popular connector with the worrisome bridge. Critics call the tactic coercive. Citizens have never been given the chance to vote on any aspect of the Fjord Trail.
We wrote Sullivan, asking for an interview about the approval process for the Breakneck Connector and Bridge, and about his prior public statements. Scenic Hudson’s Director of Communications, Riley Johndonnell, replied that Sullivan will not be available for an interview.
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It’s counterintuitive that there have been no serious accidents on Route 9D at Breakneck. To motorists, it certainly seems frightening to drive past there, on weekends when the place throngs with hikers. Walking from their parked cars to the trailhead, hikers squeeze onto a narrow pathway next to the road, and some spill onto the road itself. Parking is inadequate and haphazard.
Public officials have long talked about how dangerous the roadway is, although rarely citing statistical evidence. Back in 2007, former Philipstown Town Board member Richard Shea was quoted as saying that “tragedies” were “all too common” along Route 9D, and that “someone gets killed there every year.”11
The underlying problem is the popularity of the Breakneck Ridge hiking trail. On a typical weekend day, more than 500 hikers arrive at Breakneck to make the strenuous climb. Just as many try the easier Washburn trail, about a mile south on Route 9D.12 The steep, three-mile Breakneck Ridge trail has spectacular views of the Hudson River gorge.13 It attracts young hikers from New York City, who come by car and train. Metro North trains can be standing-room-only on weekends and holidays, the only days that the train stops at Breakneck Ridge.
The biggest safety hazard at Breakneck Ridge, however, is the ridge itself, not Route 9D. The very name serves warning. For a summary of serious hiker accidents on the ridge over the past 10 years, see Exhibit A.
LUNCH WITH THE GOVERNOR
Chris Davis is the driving force behind today’s version of the Fjord Trail. When the project ran out of money and stalled in 2017, he stepped in and paid for the 2020 Master Plan. Davis has assumed a leadership role ever since. Printed in large type atop an introductory page of the master plan is the following statement: “People have been cut off from the river long enough – Dr. Kathryn W. Davis.”14 Chris Davis apparently has taken his late grandmother’s words as a personal call to action.
No action would be forthcoming, though, without money. At Chris Davis’ urging, a Davis family charitable foundation created by his grandfather has given $28 million to Scenic Hudson, and another $59.6 million for the Fjord Trail specifically, over a recent 11-year period.15
But the foundation didn’t want to be – or perhaps, given other commitments, could not afford to be – the only entity paying for the Fjord Trail.16
Davis and Scenic Hudson sought taxpayer money from the State of New York.
Getting that money was Davis’ mission, on Feb. 21, 2022, when he met Governor Kathy Hochul for a private lunch at the Lexington Grill in midtown Manhattan. She was only six months into her governorship, replacing Andrew Cuomo who had resigned.17
Sullivan described what Davis said at the lunch, in a follow-up email to one of Hochul’s top aides, Deputy Secretary Edgar Santana.18 The email, which is attached as Exhibit B, was obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) by Michael Bowman, a board member of the leading anti-Fjord Trail citizens group, Protect the Highlands.
According to Sullivan, Davis told the Governor about the “chronic safety hazards” at Breakneck and at the train station.
“Chris explained to the Governor that Phase 1 of the project, which entails $86 million19 in construction of key infrastructure to address chronic safety hazards around Breakneck Ridge and the nearby Metro-North train station, needs $20 million in State funding to proceed,” Sullivan wrote (emphasis added).
The “chronic safety hazards” at the “nearby Metro-North train station” was a reference to the 2019 and 2021 train incidents.
“One hiker was killed and another lost a limb in train accidents in recent years; traffic and parking are out of control,” Sullivan wrote.
At the lunch, Hochul was persuaded. “Chris reported to me immediately after his meeting with the Governor that she had committed to secure $20 million in the pending 2022-2023 fiscal year budget for the bridge,” Sullivan wrote.
Christopher C. Davis
Governor Kathy Hochul
Scenic Hudson President Edward “Ned” Sullivan
GETTING THE LEGISLATURE ON BOARD
Two months after the Davis lunch, the State legislature passed, and Hochul signed into law, the new State budget, including the $20 million.20
An exultant Sullivan and a handful of State and local officials celebrated the State money, at an April 21, 2022 outdoor ceremony at the Breakneck Ridge train station.21
Sullivan described a difficult process. “We talked to every legislator possible,” without success, he said. Then State Senator James Skoufis fell into Scenic Hudson’s lap. An ambitious, 34-year-old, moderate Democrat from Cornwall, Skoufis was a newcomer to the East side of the river. His Senate district, previously entirely on the West side, had just been redrawn to include parts of Philipstown, Beacon and Fishkill on the East side. Scenic Hudson pounced.
“The ink was not even dry on the redistricting maps,” Skoufis said, “when Scenic Hudson and some other stakeholders approached me and educated me on the Fjord Trail.” His new constituents would include such wealthy Garrison residents as Chris Davis himself.
Sullivan praised Skoufis. “He’s the guy who delivered that $20 million, and we thank him, honor him – great job!” Sullivan said.
At the ceremony, Sullivan didn’t neglect the safety theme – the “crucial safety improvements” needed for “the crisis at Breakneck Ridge.” Echoing him, Skoufis said the Scenic Hudson project would make the Route 9D corridor “much, much safer.”
In an unusual twist, Skoufis never did represent the East side communities. Only six days after the Breakneck ceremony, New York’s highest court threw out the redistricting plan as unconstitutional.22
The speaker immediately following Skoufis was Linda G. Cooper, regional director for the State Parks department.23 Her Fjord Trail enthusiasm was undisguised – even though, presumably, she was supposed to be impartial. Cooper was the “Responsible Officer” for Parks’ environmental review of the Breakneck Connector and Bridge. Scenic Hudson had submitted its application to Parks for approval five months earlier.24
“I am so pleased to stand here with the public-private partnership that came together with State Parks,” Cooper said. “Thank you, to Senator Skoufis, for your work to secure funding to help make this project a reality – it’s going to be amazing!”
Eight months later, Cooper signed the papers that approved the “segmentation” of the Breakneck Connector and Bridge, which meant treating that part of the Fjord Trail as if it were stand-alone project. She also certified that the Breakneck segment “will result in no significant adverse impacts on the environment.”25 Once certain other permits were granted – and they were – Scenic Hudson could begin construction.26
From left to right, in photo above: Amy Kacala, executive director of Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, Inc. (HHFT, the Scenic Hudson wholly-owned subsidiary); Linda G. Cooper, regional director for the State Parks department; Edward “Ned” Sullivan, President of Scenic Hudson; and State Senator James Skoufis (Democrat of Cornwall). Photo taken at the April 21, 2022 ceremony celebrating the $20 million in State taxpayer funds for phase one (the Breakneck Connector and Bridge) of the Fjord Trail.
NO SERIOUS CRASHES AT ROUTE 9D, DESPITE SCENIC HUDSON CLAIMS
Is Route 9D at Breakneck dangerous?
Using FOIL, Watching the Hudson asked for 10 years of accident reports from five police departments27 having shared jurisdiction over the Breakneck section of Route 9D. None reported any fatal crashes, or accidents with serious injuries, over that period.
The last two fatal accidents there were 13, and 19, years ago, according to a nationwide database of fatal car crashes. Neither accident likely involved hikers. A nighttime crash with one fatality occurred on August 17, 2010 at 10:40 p.m. The prior crash was on a winter afternoon, on January 1, 2005 at 2:14 p.m. Both were one-car crashes.28
Scenic Hudson and the State Parks department also wanted to know about car crashes. In a 2017 Fjord Trail regulatory filing, Parks said it would study “the number and type of crashes” at four stretches of road, including Route 9D at Breakneck.29 But we haven’t seen that study, or any reference to it, in Scenic Hudson’s subsequent public disclosures.
The State Department of Transportation (DOT), however, has confirmed that the DOT studied Route 9D traffic safety at Breakneck for the Fjord Trail.
“This section of highway did not have a significant number of crashes,” a top DOT official wrote, summarizing the DOT report. The official’s August 2023 letter, to Cold Spring resident Gretchen Dykstra, is attached as Exhibit C.30
The DOT said more information could be provided by Gerald Charleston, DOT traffic engineer for the mid-Hudson region.
“Definitely, this section of the road didn’t have any significant number of accidents,” Charleston told Watching the Hudson.
“We try to find out if the road itself is dangerous, and definitely that would not fit that category,” he said. The Breakneck section had fewer accidents than the statewide average for similar roads, meaning that “it should be considered a safe road.”31
Although a pedestrian bridge over Route 9D at Breakneck would improve safety, Scenic Hudson has no plans to build one. (Too expensive? Safety not quite the priority that Scenic Hudson claims?) “That would make sense, but it is not something we can dictate,” said DOT’s Charleston. “Anytime we can have a pedestrian bridge, that of course is safer. I’m pretty sure they looked at those possibilities.” Scenic Hudson instead is planning crosswalks with flashing beacons.32
As instructed by Charleston, Watching the Hudson filed a formal FOIL request with DOT for the Breakneck traffic study. Twelve days later, Charleston called to say he could not find the study, or any correspondence about it. “Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get to the bottom of this,” he promised. That was on March 12, and we have received nothing.
THE TRAIN INCIDENTS
In the past, Scenic Hudson wasn’t concerned about safety at the Breakneck Ridge train station. Scenic Hudson didn’t propose any safety improvements there in the 2015 or 2020 Fjord Trail master plans.
That changed with the 2019 death of one man, and the 2021 dismemberment of another, on the Breakneck railroad tracks.
In public statements promoting the Fjord Trail, Sullivan began referring to the two incidents. At the April 2022 ceremony with Skoufis, he alluded to them as examples of the consequences of underfunding the State Parks system. “People have paid with their life and limbs, literally, for these deficiencies, for these safety hazards,” he said. About a year later, in a letter to the Highlands Current newspaper, he again referred to the Breakneck train station, “where one hiker was killed and another severely injured.” (For a sampling of Breakneck safety claims by Sullivan and other Fjord Trail supporters, see Exhibit D.)
In these and other statements, however, Sullivan didn’t describe the actual facts and circumstances of the two “hiker train accidents.”33 He left it up to you to imagine what occurred.
Sullivan spoke of the incidents in the overall context of the safety “crisis” caused by crowds of hikers at Breakneck – a crisis the Fjord Trail would fix. Accordingly, it would be reasonable to believe that uncontrolled crowds were to blame. One could imagine chaotic scenes, in which exuberant young city hikers accidentally jostled someone off the platform, into the path of an oncoming train. The overcrowding was so serious, it happened twice.
That’s not what happened.
In both incidents, which were unrelated, the train station was empty. In neither case was the man waiting, as a passenger, for a train. In the 2019 incident, the last train of the day scheduled to stop at Breakneck had left 99 minutes earlier. In the 2021 incident, the station had been shut for almost a month, and all train service there discontinued, while station improvements were made.
In each incident, the man deliberately stepped off the platform, which is prohibited, sat down next to the tracks, and waited. The police reports describe these as “trespasser incidents,” not accidents.
In 2019, a 32-year-old man named Gaurav died after he was struck by an afternoon train. The MTA police interviewed a friend of his, who said he didn’t know why Gaurav sat next to the train track. The friend said that recently, Gaurav “had some issues at his workplace.” A toxicology test – which typically searches for drugs and alcohol – was made, but the results entirely redacted. The MTA police report, immediate below the redacted toxicology results, said that “[b]ase[d] on the above results and the investigation into this incident, this investigator recommends this case be closed.”
In 2021, a 41-year-old man named Anton was struck by a late-night train. The station had been closed for almost a month. Anton was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center where his right foot was amputated. Interviewed by the MTA police, Anton said he had placed his leg over the running rail on purpose. Not to end his life, he said, but because he “wanted to get rid of his depression.” He said he had done the same thing before, with his left foot, which also had been amputated. He had prosthetics for his left foot, and for a hand, which he had lost to frostbite.
These two incidents could have occurred anywhere along the miles of exposed Metro North tracks, including at the Breakneck Ridge station today. Anyone can step down from a train station platform and sit next to the rails.34
For summaries of the MTA police reports for the two incidents, see Exhibit E.
In October 2021, the MTA closed the Breakneck station to install anti-trespass panels and make other “safety enhancements.”35 The seven-month-long project was more than halfway completed when Chris Davis met with Governor Hochul for lunch, in February 2022. But Sullivan didn’t mention that, when he emailed to Hochul’s aide Edgar Santana, asking for the $20 million. Sullivan did say, however, that “one hiker was killed and another lost a limb in train accidents in recent years.”
May 10, 2024
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Below are PDF files that you can download for (i) the Exhibits to this report, and (ii) the entire report, including the Exhibits.
FOOTNOTES
Scenic Hudson is credited with launching the modern environmental movement with its landmark Storm King case, in 1965. Scenic Hudson prevented Con Edison from building a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant on Storm King in Cornwall. The project would have defaced the majestic mountain, and killed striped bass in the river. Rulings from the Storm King case were incorporated in the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, which established the Environmental Protection Agency and mandated environmental impact studies. Scenic Hudson has since branched out to preserve land and farms and create parks.
Scenic Hudson used the safety claims to “segment” the Breakneck Connector and Bridge phase from the rest of the Fjord Trail for review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The Fjord Trail is proposed to be built in five construction “phases,” with the Breakneck Connector and Bridge being the first “phase.” For simplicity, in this report we refer to Scenic Hudson and Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, Inc. (HHFT) interchangeably, as HHFT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the non-profit Scenic Hudson, Inc.
The connector is estimated to cost $39.4 million, and the bridge $59.1 million, or a total $98.5 million. See the budget document attached hereto as Exhibit G. Previous estimates from Scenic Hudson put the Breakneck Connector and Bridge cost at $86 million. Watching the Hudson obtained the budget document at Exhibit G after filing with the State Parks department (on Jan. 31, 2024) a FOIL request for all Fjord Trail budget records over the past five years. On Feb. 26, 2024, Parks denied the request except for one document, an undated “summary” of a “Year-One Operating Budget” (apparently for the Breakneck segment) that showed costs, but no revenues. Watching the Hudson appealed, and a Parks appeals officer on April 3, 2024 reversed and released two other budget documents, including that on Exhibit G. Apparently Parks has no budgets for the entire Fjord Trail. Because Scenic Hudson and HHFT are private entities, they are not subject to FOIL, although documents they share with public agencies may have to be disclosed under FOIL. The State Parks department’s official name is the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The Parks department had sole authority to approve segmentation of the Fjord Trail project, and to rule favorably on its environmental impact, as the “lead agency” reviewing the application under SEQRA.
In March, crews cut down 179 trees along Route 9D to relocate utility lines and improve the view. M. Ferris, “Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail Still Divides Opinion After Changes,” Albany Times Union (April 8, 2024), at https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/outdoors/article/fjord-trail-hudson- highlands-changes-controversy-19387491.php. Breakneck Ridge is on the Putnam and Dutchess County line, where the Towns of Fishkill and Philipstown meet.
Building the bridge now would create enormous pressure on reviewing authorities to approve the rest of the project, whether or not they should. No public official wishes to be associated with a “Bridge to Nowhere.” The “sunk cost fallacy,” however, says that it’s a mistake to throw good money after bad.
“Considering only a part or segment of an action is contrary to the intent of SEQR,” 6 NYCRR § 617.3(g)(1).
“Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail Moves Forward With $20M Funding,” Poughkeepsie Journal (Apr. 22, 2022).
Bicking, Scenic Hudson’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, was lobbying for a $35 million appropriation. He made his statements at a Feb. 1, 2022 Joint Legislative Budget Committee hearing on Environmental Conservation. Excerpts from Bicking’s testimony are at Exhibit D; the full statement is at https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/scenic_hudson_1.pdf
Scenic Hudson made this claim in its application for approval of the Fjord Trail’s phase one (the Breakneck Connector and Bridge) under SEQRA. See Breakneck Connector and Bridge Project, Full EAF Part 1 – Attachment A” (rev. Dec. 27, 2022), at p. 11 (“[t]he primary purpose of the Project is to address clear and present safety risks that exist at this specific location”). This document can be found under the “Resources” tab on the website of Protect the Highlands (“PTH”), the leading anti-Fjord Trail citizens group. The library of public documents (the “PTH Documents Library”) is at: https://www.protectthehighlands.org/documents. PTH obtained many of these documents by making formal requests to State agencies using the state Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”). Neither Scenic Hudson nor HHFT has any similar publicly-accessible library of official Fjord Trail documents; the HHFT website however is replete with videos, a Master Plan overview, and marketing materials, at https://hhft.org.
In 2007, the Town of Philipstown proposed a bicycle and pedestrian path along Route 9D that would “connect” hikers to six trailheads (the apparent origin of the “Connector” name). The path was planned from Little Stony Point to the Breakneck Ridge train station, or about 1.57 miles, plus a .43 mile northward extension in Fishkill. The plan called for wider road shoulders and parking improvements. It was estimated to cost between $2.8 million and $3.3 million. Seethe “Greenway Grant Feasibility Study” by the Town of Philipstown (Sept. 2007) (also called the “Hudson Fjord Hike/Bike Trail Capital Improvements Feasibility Study”) (available at the PTH Documents Library, supra note 9).
Putnam County News and Recorder, Nov. 7, 2007. As long ago as 2012, the newspaper said that the Fjord Trail “has long been a favored project” of Shea’s.
The Washburn trail, across from Little Stony Point, has a bigger, organized, parking lot. In 2022, on Saturdays and Sundays, from June through October, a daily average of 585 hikers came to the Breakneck Ridge trail, and 556 hikers to the Washburn trail, or a total of 1,141 per weekend day. In the peak month of October 2022, on weekends an average of 549 hikers per day came to Breakneck and 1,081 to Washburn, or a total of 1,630. Statistics are from the NY-NJ Trail Conference (for Breakneck) and the State Parks department (for Washburn). From a Nov. 20, 2022 HHFT community forum “Let’s talk about visitation!”
The Breakneck Ridge loop trail is “strenuous” and “challenging.” See the NY-NJ Trail Conference website description, here: http://nynjtc.com/hike/breakneck-ridge-trail#dialog-hike-description
Kathryn Davis, not a medical doctor, received a Ph.D. degree in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, in Switzerland. She died in 2013.
The foundation was created and funded by Kathryn Davis’ husband, the legendary investor Shelby Cullom Davis, and had $2.98 billion in assets at year-end 2022 (the most recent year for which information is available). Financial information about the foundation is from tax filings by the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund Inc. for the years 2012 through 2022, available at the ProPublica website, here: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/203734688/202302769349101100/full. The foundation has an eight-member board of directors, all Davis family members. They are scattered across the country – California, Virginia, Wyoming, Oregon, New Mexico – and, to our knowledge, no one except Chris Davis (and possibly his brother Andrew) lives in the New York City metro area. Presumably the board relies on Chris for Fjord Trail information. In December 2023 and January 2024, Watching the Hudson wrote the foundation’s executive director, and its directors. We wanted to know the foundation’s intentions, and, specifically, what is the maximum total amount it is willing to donate for the Fjord Trail? No one replied. For more information about the foundation and the Davis mutual fund company, see our Dec. 8, 2023 article, “A Difficult Period for Chris Davis As Clients Pulled $77.6 Billion From His Funds,” at the Watching the Hudson Substack website, here: https://watchingthehudson.substack.com/p/a-difficult-period-for-chris-davis.
Neither Scenic Hudson nor Chris Davis has publicly provided any estimate of the total cost of the Fjord Trail.
We don’t know who arranged the meeting, but possibly then-State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid, a holdover from the Cuomo administration. In a Jan. 13, 2022 email to Kulleseid, Sullivan set forth what appear to be talking points for Kulleseid to use with Hochul, in making a pitch for $35 million in State funds for the Fjord Trail. Sullivan wrote: “Early involvement from the Governor’s office will facilitate agency legal and permitting negotiations and raise the prominence of the project.” The email, obtained through FOIL, is attached as Exhibit F. Davis, who is not registered as a voter with either political party, is not a big political donor, based on data from Open Secrets, the nation’s “premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics,” at https://www.opensecrets.org. Typically, he has given less than $10,000 per year, to candidates (of both parties), and to the Investment Company Institute’s political action committee. The Open Secrets data may not be up-to-date; the most recent Davis entry is from 2020. No Davis donation to Hochul was listed.
At first, Ned Sullivan reached out to Governor Hochul’s Secretary, Karen Persichilli Keogh, who referred the matter to Santana. Despite the clerical-sounding title, the position of Secretary to the New York State Governor is the highest-ranking appointed position in the state, according to The New York Times. Santana has since been promoted to Executive Deputy Secretary. For an article about the importance of the Secretary position, see D. Rubinstein & L. Ferré-Sadurní, “Hochul Appoints 2 Women to Key Posts in Her Cabinet,” The New York Times (Aug. 23, 2021), online here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/nyregion/kathy-hochul-staff.html
The Breakneck project now is estimated to cost at least $98.5 million; see note 3 and Exhibit G.
The $20 million was included in the Parks department’s capital budget. The NYC Department of Environmental Protection also has agreed to pay half the cost of the Breakneck bridge, but not more than $14 million, on the understanding that the pedestrian bridge will be upgraded to carry light trucks. The upgraded bridge would provide the DEP with vehicle access to its landlocked Catskill Aqueduct maintenance facility at Breakneck, called the Hudson River Drainage Chamber. The $14 million would be paid for by New York City water users, the DEP says. See Agreement dated Dec. 8, 2023 between the DEP and the State Parks department for the construction of the “dual-function” Breakneck bridge. The agreement is available at the PTH Documents Library, supra note 9.
A video of the April 21, 2022 ceremony is at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1162944597840598.
Skoufis’ possible representation of the East side communities lasted only about three and a half months. His Senate district 42 had been redistricted by the legislature on Feb. 3, 2022 to include the East side. But on April 27, 2022, the Court of Appeals ruled that the redistricting violated the state’s Constitution, and ordered the lower court to adopt new district maps, which were approved on May 21, 2022. In re Harkenrider v. Hochul, 38 N.Y.3d 494 (2022). Skoufis’ Senate district remains entirely on the West side. At the Breakneck ceremony, Skoufis referred to “the new territory that I’m proud soon to represent” (emphasis added). Skoufis is Chairman of the State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. At the ceremony, Skoufis gave special thanks for the $20 million to State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins; she will be one of five “female environmental champions” honored by Scenic Hudson at its June 8, 2024 gala at Sojourner Truth State Park in Kingston.
Cooper has worked for State Parks for 12 years; before that, she was Ossining Village Manager for two years; and before that, Yorktown Town Supervisor for 11 years, according to her LinkedIn page.
See the Full Environmental Assessment Form, Part 1, signed Nov. 3, 2021 by Amy Kacala, Executive Director of the applicant Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, Inc. (HHFT) (available at the PTH Documents Library, supra note 9).
The negative declaration is available at the PTH Documents Library, supra note 9.
Once Parks made the negative declaration, other government agencies that had discretionary authority over the project (so-called “involved agencies”) became free to make their final decisions on the action (their decision-making had been held in abeyance during the SEQRA review). See The SEQR Handbook, at p. 63 (available on the website of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) at https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/seqrhandbook.pdf). After the negative declaration, the Breakneck Connector and Bridge project received permits from the DEC (to excavate and fill in navigable waters, and stream disturbance), with conditions, on Dec. 19, 2023; from the NYS Department of State (for consistency with the NYS Coastal Management Program), with modifications, on Oct. 6, 2023; and from the Army Corps of Engineers (Nationwide General Permit), by non-action by the Corps of Engineers within the prescribed 45-day period after the April 5, 2023 submission of the pre-construction notification. The DEC and Department of State permits are available at the PTH Documents Library, supra note 9. The next construction phase planned for the Fjord Trail is the so-called Shoreline Trail, from Dockside Park in Cold Spring to Breakneck Ridge, stopping in the middle at Little Stony Point. The two-mile riverfront stretch would include one mile of elevated walkway on pilings in the river itself, or next to it. At least 330 pilings would be needed, by unofficial count. Scenic Hudson hasn’t disclosed the exact number of pilings, but a minimum of 330 can be calculated by what its consultants, SCAPE architects of New York City, divulged at a public meeting on March 11, 2024. Between Dockside Park and Little Stony Point, a half-mile of trail would be elevated on pilings, and there would be 130 spans, each 20 feet long. The spans would be a “double-pile” structure, meaning at least two pilings per span, or a total of 260. From Little Stony Point to Breakneck, another half-mile of trail would be elevated on pilings, with 70 spans, each 50 feet long. These spans would be a “mono-pile” structure, meaning at least one piling per span.
State Police, Troop K; New York State Park Police; Town of Fishkill Police; Dutchess County Sheriff; and Putnam County Sheriff. The road section is not in the jurisdiction of the City of Beacon Police Department.
See website for City-Data.com, at https://www.city-data.com/accidents/acc-Beacon-New-York.html
At that time, the State Parks department was both the Fjord Trail’s applicant and lead agency for SEQRA review; later, HHFT was substituted as the applicant. The Parks department said that the upcoming DGEIS would summarize “the number and type of crashes recorded” for four locations, including Route 9D between Main Street in Cold Spring and Beekman Street-West Church Street in Beacon. See SEQR Final Scoping Document for a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the Fjord Trail (adopted March 21, 2017), at pp.18-19 (available at the PTH Documents Library, supra note 9). In the document, Scenic Hudson is referred to as “Project Manager,” a title which is not listed in SEQRA.
Letter dated Aug. 22, 2023 from Janice A. McLachlan, Chief of Staff to DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, to Cold Spring resident Gretchen Dykstra. Dykstra is a public-private partnership expert, and former New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Reasons why the road is safe, Charleston said, include that the road is “pretty straight,” traffic volume is “not that high,” and there are “not that many interferences” such as crossings. Accidents, of course, can happen at any time, but according to the DOT, a single accident may not be a meaningful indicator of road safety. An accident, for example, may have been caused by a drunk driver, not an unsafe roadway. A pattern of crashes could be significant, but the DOT has seen no pattern suggesting that stretch of Route 9D is unsafe, Charleston said.
Scenic Hudson plans new crosswalks and “traffic calming” features such as “bump outs” that extend the sidewalk into the roadway at crosswalks. Instead of stoplights at the crosswalks, Scenic Hudson plans Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacons (the beacons warn oncoming motorists to slow down or stop, and are activated either by pedestrians pushing a button, or passively by video or infrared pedestrian detection). The Breakneck “connector” also includes access to the Wilkinson Memorial trailhead, on the east side of Route 9D. Scenic Hudson has hired its own traffic consultants.
The two train incidents that Sullivan refers to, without elaboration, evidently are the same ones for which we obtained MTA police reports. We asked the MTA for accident reports on the Metro North Hudson Line in the past 10 years, at the Breakneck Ridge station and a mile north or south of it. The MTA provided two reports, being the 2019 and 2021 incidents. When Sullivan in the same sentence – to Hochul’s aide Edgar Santana – says that “traffic and parking are out of control” and that “one hiker was killed and another lost a limb in train accidents in recent years,” it suggests these things are linked by a common cause – chaotic overcrowding. In fact, the two train incidents had nothing to do with “out of control” traffic and parking.
At various locations along the proposed Fjord Trail, such as the north end of Dockside Park in Cold Spring, exposed MTA tracks are easily reached by walkers. Fencing might prevent or discourage trespassers, but also would cut off wildlife from reaching the river.
The station reopened in May 2022. The work included “a new pathway that diverts hikers from the shoulder of Route 9D and provides a safe path of travel between the northbound and southbound platforms, a safety fence separating pedestrians from the railroad tracks, anti-trespass panels around the train platforms, and temporary wayfinding signage,” the MTA said. Scenic Hudson is planning to upgrade the station platforms. “MTA Announces Metro-North Breakneck Ridge Station Reopening in Time for Memorial Day Weekend,” MTA press release (May 26, 2022), at https://new.mta.info/press-release/mta-announces-metro-north-breakneck-ridge-station-reopening-time-memorial-day-weekend.
 | A guest post by
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This publication is a gift to the community! The two journalists uncover, through detailed investigative reporting, a very disturbing and seemingly corrupt deal between a billionaire donor, the governor, scenic hudson, and nys parks. The terrible power of money and influence..... Thank you gentlemen for your diligent work!
Wow. This is an impressive piece of investigative reporting, to which Scenic Hudson, HHFT and Parks will have to respond. The compilation of exaggerations/lies on safety is shocking as is the presumption of State Senator Skoufis from the other side of the river. He was apparently so eager to ingratiate himself with his "hoped-for" constituents on this side, he forgot to ask any questions. And he, chairman on the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. What an irony.
I hope Weiss and Stillman, two former reporters for nationally recognized newspapers, will now take what HHFT calls a "unique" public/private partnership with no definition of unique. Taxpayers--and our elected representatives in Albany--are being taken for a ride. Thanks to Stillman and Weiss.