Dear Supporters,

I gave the conservancy four weeks to respond but they failed to do so. Below is my follow-up email. 

Regards,

Anthony

To Whomever has the Good Sense to Respond,

I have given you four weeks to respond to my email. Your lack of response has simply provided further evidence of how poorly you treat the skaters as a recreational group, compared to other recreational groups in the park. It has been very clear to me since I first frequented The Skate Circle in the summer of 2019 that you treat the skaters very poorly compared to other recreational groups. The question is why?

Since then, as a (past) board member of CPDSA, I have read your demeaning emails to Bob Nichols relishing saying no to his meager requests, your refusal to fix cracks that led to one skater being taken away in an ambulance, your scolding of Bob for wanting to fix those cracks, and your lack of action to get the resurfacing done this year. The list goes on. As a writer, you have certainly given me quite the narrative to work with.

I am not looking to be your friend. However, as the person leading the effort to get the resurfacing done, I am asking you one last time to work with me. You raised $150 million dollars to redo the Haarlem Meer in the upper east corner of the park, but you won't spend the $80,000 to repave The Skate Circle, the area you like to call Dead Road.  Dead Road is a central location with thousands of New Yorkers and tourists walking through the area every day. More and more people are using the area for different forms of recreational activity. To anyone reading this with a fraction of the vision of past New York leaders (including Olmsted & Vaux), go down to Dead Road, turn your lights on, and see for yourself the potential the area has for recreation, community and renewal. Speaking of turning lights on, please put pressure on the department of transportation to fix the broken light in Dead Road asap. It is very unsafe for people walking through the area at night. They are some unsavory characters that do hang out in Dead Road at night.

I am giving you one more opportunity to work with me and the future leaders of The Skate Circle. We are going nowhere. I have a plan B, so please take this last opportunity to be the hero in this story. "People of all ages, races, classes, bonded together by love of Skating and love of each other" as one tourist commented. Why would anyone not want to support that? I am asking you one last time to start showing me, through concrete action, that you support us. You don't know me, but I am not to be underestimated.  

Please respond by the end of the business day, Thursday September 30th.

Regards,

Anthony Donoghue
Lecture in Discipline, Columbia University
Author: Statistical Thinking through Media Examples (3rd Edition)