To the Editor:

For the past few years, Altamont has made significant progress to become a more pedestrian-friendly village further complemented by expanded off-street parking but with one glaring exception and that's at the bottom of the hill on Main Street adjacent to the Stewart's shop.  The crosswalks there are obviously not safe.

They are death-wish friendly and pose a mortal hazard for anyone other than Department Of Transportation zealots.  Pedestrians caught in these crosswalks facing a line of cars speeding down the hill must run for their lives or be road kill.

It's happened to me so many times I drive to Stewart's now even though I live nearby.  That's the point.

Stewart's is Altamont's only business not friendly to pedestrians.  Nearly all their customers must drive and park there because the fastest way to become a mother of three is for a mother of four to walk her family to Stewart's for ice cream. 

In contrast, the Sunoco station has easy off and on access, better traffic flow, and a more rational parking scheme.  Gas customers waste little time filling up, getting what they need, and moving on.

Many folks safely walk and ride their bikes to Altamont Sunoco so it's not fair to judge success by how full its parking lot is. The Sunoco’s business is more appropriately gauged by the number of tanker trucks that deliver each week.

As for Stewart's, it should be obvious its location is far from ideal.  Expanding a poor location compounds the original error.  If the village could find a way to make access to Stewart's more pedestrian friendly, there would be less congestion, more parking available, and less need to expand.

The Altamont Police Department has come a long way from darker days and is much improved under the leadership of Chief Todd Pucci.  The emphasis is now on rational law enforcement and community-relations work.

The empty police car in front of the village (dynamically repositioned daily) serves quite effectively to remind and warn motorists to respect the vehicle traffic laws and to slow down.  Nothing makes me happier than to see the police cars parked at the local coffee shops doing community policing instead of lurking in the bushes looking for trivial revenue-producing "gotcha" violations.

As for Tasers, it is a fact and should be accepted as such, that they are lethal weapons and often used when lethal force is not warranted.  Of course, there probably are situations every now and then when they are useful, but the obscene number of Taser-related deaths trumps the "convenience" factor.

There is one other thing I would like to see the police department do, together with the village government, and that's to become the first municipality in the United States to ban Tasers and their use thereof.

Ed Cowley III

Altamont