It won’t be easy or quick to “vacate” — meaning to abandon and close — an offshoot of the Periwinkle Bikepath as recommended by the Albany Parks, Recreation and Tree Commission.
This section of the path runs from Hill Street east to Oak Street, right through the middle of the Albany Boys and Girls Club. The city’s parks commission voted on June 4 to have the city vacate this shortcut after hearing from the club and the city police about graffiti, thefts and other crimes committed by vagrants along the path.
After watching a video of the parks board meeting, I rode my bike along that short (about 800 feet) path. It was early evening on Monday and the place was deserted. No vagrants sleeping on the lawn. No graffiti anywhere. The only markings I saw were what remained of children’s chalk drawings on the concrete pavement of the path itself…