2026-1017 Observations

Totally randomly I was near the northern gated off entrance of Exit 12N on St. Claire Place and noticed the gate open.  I had some time to kill so I biked up the exit expecting to see a truck.  There was no truck, but I saw how the area north of the existing pollinator garden had been cut back and there was a pile of vegetation that had been removed as part of the cutting.  I came across a Riverside Park Conservancy (RPC) gardiner and said how splendid it looked.  I was told that the area was being prepared for another pollinator garden.  I was also told that an arrangement (double locking the gate) had been worked out with Amtrak where either Amtrak or the RPC could unlock the gate to get their vehicles in.   Getting vehicles in for the RPC was important because it made it far easier to get tools to the site. RPC had also had a volunteer group there to assist in site preparation.

Leaving, I examined the lock and chain on the gate and noticed that there were two locks but one of them was cut.