Reports

I had hoped that the Governor would not take a “one size fits all approach” to restarting our economy.  He said he would consider the situation in upstate NY.  I was wrong.  Despite the continuing paucity of cases here in the southern tier and Finger Lakes Region we are “all in this together” – upstate and downstate, not to mention our surrounding states.  So May 15th it is.  Don’t hold your breath!  A doctor friend of mine reminded me that it took 2 months for China to get their outbreak under control.  So despite the Governor’s proclamation, we’re probably looking at May 31st.

I’ve received three emails condemning me for having an opinion and having the audacity to share it on MY website.  My website has always been about my opinion – usually regarding our fisheries.  If you are offended by other people’s opinions, please stop reading or better yet, stop frequenting my site.  There are around 1.3 billion websites on the World Wide Web.  Lots of sites to check out! That being said, I also had around three emails and some texts agreeing with my take on this situation.  I don’t care either way.  Please don’t email me regarding my opinion on this!  I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.  But before you condemn my opinion, see how things play out.  So far this virus has been way less deadly than thought. I don’t know anyone that has it (that I’m aware of.)  None of my friends have any friends that have it.  This includes friends in other states.  I do know people who know of other people who have it – and in both cases “it’s just like having the flu.” (I realize it affects everyone differently…I get it!)

This whole deal affects my business and I need potential clients from other states to see what’s going on here.  And for what it’s worth, my impetus to re-open things is not selfish per se.  Do I want to work?  Of course I do.  Do I want to put others and myself in harm’s way?  Of course not.   But keep in mind that I spent years working in restaurants and a year in retail.  I KNOW how tough others have it. A lot of people live week to week or month to month. ( Our Governor grew up in the Governor’s Mansion.)  I will be fine financially if this drags on;  I don’t live month to month and I have saved for rainy days.  My concern is for the millions of people in service related industries, especially ones in counties not affected to any significant degree by the virus.

Here’s what bothers me most.  The Governor has ordered non-essential businesses to close.  This includes private marinas and boat launches.  With warmer days ahead of us, a lot of people are going to want to go boating and fishing.  It’s a great way to relax as you all know.  By closing the private marinas, you forced boaters to congregate in public marinas. What a surprise!  So now you have closed all the State Launches, State Park Launches and Canal Launches because there have been too many people at them?  Shocking!  Are you kidding me???  Now everyone will concentrate at Town and City launches if any remain open.   Why not allow marinas to open again?  There’s very little foot traffic in most of them.  Let people enjoy the water while being locked in their homes.  Liquor stores are essential, but marinas aren’t.  I can drink myself to death but I can’t go boating.

Now of course we don’t want to spread this virus.  So what has happened?  NY City has sent patients suffering with Covid-19 out to upstate hospitals.  So why don’t we just spread this virus across the State and give our Western NY medical personnel a better chance of getting infected?  I can’t think of a better way of saying “we’re all in this together.”   Haha.  Ridiculous.

I hope to get out fishing soon.  If all launches close it will be shorefishing.  I wrote my concerns to the Governor. If you are passionate about wanting to get out and fish or go boating, please let him know.  Let him know that by allowing private boat launches and marina to open, and then re-opening State launches, the congestion will go way down.  He went too far with this one and when he thinks about New York – all he apparently cares about is the city.