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| Here is Tony B at the Chumash Casino |
I lived in Astoria, New York until I was about 4. Astoria is part of the borough of Queens in NYC and is well known as the birthplace of Tony Bennett. It is quite near Silvercup Studios, where many famous movies based in NYC are made. When I lived there, the Silvercup Studio was a Silvercup bread factory and was a prominent sight on the subway. Silvercup was not an artisanal bread, but was more like a local Wonder Bread (now owned by Grupo Bimbo, my favorite Mexican bread). In the early part of the 20th century, Astoria and Queens were the center of the film industry, in particular the Kaufman Astoria Studio. The film industry soon moved to Hollywood from Astoria since all the famous actors and actresses already lived there, cutting costs considerably.
My grandmother took me to various attractions in NYC and elsewhere, sometimes via a Hudson River Day Liner cruise. There was always a guy at the entry ramp yelling "More walking, less talking."
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| This looks more like the African Queen than the Day Liner. |
Indian Point was a park created specifically for the Day Liner tours up the Hudson a bit from NYC where there was an amusement park and a zoo.
The zoo included an area where wild animals who were tamed somewhat wandered around among visitors. You could feed them snacks. (It is possible that may have been a false memory - this could have been the zoo at Bear Mountain Park). Another famous place further up the Hudson river, where you could wander among wild animals was the Catskill Game Farm, which featured deer.
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| This is actually in Mexico. This might be some kind of burro/deer cross. |
At Indian Point, there were free range ostriches.
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| There weren't ostriches in the parking lot though. |
I can remember that an ostrich walked up to me and bit me on the ear. I don't think there was any bleeding or subsequent doctor visit. I don't remember being particularly fearful. I now think that the ostrich probably thought I was holding back a treat and bit my ear to get my attention. My dog pokes me with his nose to get my attention. I do remember that my grandmother was outraged and she complained to zoo officials.
Some years later, the Indian Point Day Liner Park was closed and they built nuclear power plants there. The Day Liner decline seems to have more to do with the proliferation of automobiles for recreation rather than nuclear power.
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| Taking a Day Liner would probably be more fun. |
The 3 plants supply around 30% of NYC's electricity. Except for a release of tritium-laced steam, discovery of a significant earthquake fault line nearby, and danger from airborne terrorist attacks post 9/11, thing have gone well there.
When the Indian Point park was closed, the offending ostrich and his ilk were probably humanely killed. A bit harsh, but nasty ostriches have no place on a nuclear power campus.
What can we learn from this?
- Nuclear power plants for large metropolitan areas may close traditional recreational areas.
- Automobiles replaced recreational transportation modes like pleasure boats and trains.
- Unleashed animals can bite you but such bites need not be a big deal. In spite of my early brush with an ostrich, I became an advocate for responsible unleashed dog walking. I do not think that ostriches should be in petting zoos, however.
