Airport `plight zone'

Posted 2/21/17

To the Editor: On a recent drive on Route 1 North by our beautiful T.F. Green Airport, I was shocked and saddened to see the many empty lots that neighbor our airport. I counted at least a dozen empty lots on Post Road, which surround our beautiful main

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Airport `plight zone'

Posted

To the Editor:

On a recent drive on Route 1 North by our beautiful T.F. Green Airport, I was shocked and saddened to see the many empty lots that neighbor our airport.

I counted at least a dozen empty lots on Post Road, which surround our beautiful main terminal. It was absolutely ugly, dirty and “run down.” Imagine, our T.F. Green terminal and Sky-Bridge surrounded by a “plight zone.”

Continuing on my drive by of the airport, I took a right turn at the next light onto Airport Road, East. To my further dismay, the “plight area” continued for over a mile to my left, all the way to the Air National Guard Building.

I ask Mayor Avedisian and Governor Raimondo what’s going on? After all, we have a first class airport facility surrounded by a “third world landscape.” What an embarrassment to Warwick and the State of Rhode Island.

The ironic part of my drive was upon exiting Post Road to get to 95 S, I saw a new sign, which reads, “Discover Beautiful Rhode Island.” What a disgrace and totally unacceptable.

Richard D. Walsh

East Greenwich

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    up until several years ago no one knew what was going to happen wit the airport and which way it wuz gunna grow wood youse dump millions into a building that was gunna get tore down

    Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Richard Walsh,

    Here's what happened. Our Mayor, Scott Avedisian, negotiated away the real estate tax revenue forever, of over 100 houses to the R.I. Airport Corporation so they could extend their runway. In return the residents of Warwick received water pollution, soil pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. Like you, I was "shocked and saddened". It was, to quote you, "a disgrace and totally unacceptable". I have committed to renegotiate that one-sided agreement. One legal way or the other Richard, I will keep that committment.

    Stay tuned.

    Happy Spring everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    Rick, you really are delusional. You want to re-negotiate the project that has been completed? What does that mean? Does that mean that you will sue the FAA to replace all of the homes that it has taken? Does that mean that you will reverse the damage caused by your incompetent friend Camille Wilkinsoon and her cohort dope friend Travis? Does that mean that you will reverse the decision in 2012 to rescind the lawsuit against the FAA to stop the land seizure and rebuild the homes that have been taken by eminent doomain? What exactly do your words mean?

    You continually state that "I will renegotiate the airport deal", but you put no specifics in your statements. Can you put forth 1 quantified statement as to what your continued nonsense actually means? You have been unable to "renegotiate" your own home being seize and foreclosed upon. How could you possibly renegotiate a done deal, where the construction is already complete? Do your ears actually hear the sounds that your lips make?

    Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Report this

  • Kammy

    It would be great if there could be some redevelopment of the area on the other side of the Airport Plaza. The plaza has been looking better now that more storefronts are occupied. It is a place to start. I don't think the Airport Project needs a redo. We just need to now concentrate on creating new development possibilities.

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this

  • mgallogly

    Why does the city allow the Airport Authority to own and not maintain any of it's properties near the airport?

    The old Mobil station on the corner of Airport and Post looks horrible! Weeds, debris, trash and a boarded up bldg.

    Their properties along Post Rd contribute to the blighted look you see as you drive near the airport.

    If I were a first time visitor to Warwick and I came thru the airport and out on to Post Rd. I would

    think the rest of the state looks this bad. You can't redo a first impression. As a tax payer I'm embarrassed

    with the way the empty weeded lots and boarded up buildings look. Clea it up!

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Kammy and Mgallogly@bellsouth.net,

    You both bring up excellent points and they could be part of the renegotiation of the airport agreement. Don't let anyone tell you that the one-sided agreement that Mayor Avedisiian signed off on is the end-all be-all. This is OUR CITY. I won't quit until we have an agreement in place that considers the needs of the taxpayers that are paying the tab. The one Avedisian made clearly doesn't.

    Hold me to it.

    Happy 58 degrees everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this

  • JohnStark

    It would appear that Warwick is a microcosm of the state as a whole. That entire section from Post Rd. and Airport Rd. going east is deplorable. But if you go only 4 or 5 miles south on Post Rd. you come upon the economic vibrancy that is East Greenwich, once a haven for dive bars and clam diggers. East on Airport Rd. past Dave's and onto West Shore Rd. and you come upon the once-thriving/now dying village of Conimicut with it's ever-increasing number of vacant storefronts. Four short miles to the north is the bustling Pawtuxet Village. Clearly, some neighborhoods are more desirable than others, but the dramatic contrast in a such a tight geographic area is startling, and speaks to the two very different visions for, and demographics of Rhode Island.

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    For your entertainment:

    https://youtu.be/dYN-ZcF1w70

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this

  • VoWarwick2017

    The tired BLIGHT that is spreading across Warwick - and much of Rhode Island - is not new and certainly not due in total to the work being done on the Airport. For the last 29 years - my first hand observations - Post Rd, Airport Road, Warwick Ave, Bald Hill Road, Main St, West Shore Rd, and Sandy Lane - just focusing on Warwick for now - have been littered with run down buildings and shop fronts, cracked and warped parking lots, more weeds than manicured green; it was clear that the majority of property owners took no pride in what they owned.

    The business owners that leased the buildings point fingers at the property owners and blame them for the conditions; and the property owners (if you can find them) shrug their shoulders and say, "So what?"

    This is not an Airport problem, this is not a City/Government problem; this is a PEOPLE problem. Why should people spend time and money fixing up their businesses and properties when their neighbors don't give a damn?

    The sad truth is that Warwick and Rhode Island on the whole - sorry I'm not buying the East Greenwich, Wickford quaintness as anything more than the same old blight with higher prices - is falling apart and we the Citizens are so intimidated by the scope of the problem we don't know where to start to fix it, so we do nothing.

    Thursday, February 23, 2017 Report this

  • planez

    "Plight" zone . .. haha

    He "rights" funny!

    Thursday, February 23, 2017 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    What travelers see is a great example of the RI economy- at least it's an honest representation of the "State of the State"; it's a lovely view from the Skybridge!

    If you continue to drive North on Post Road from Airport Rd., it remains just as "scenic".

    Is there any way to make tourists use the Airport Connector, or go South through refurbished Apponaug?

    The rest of us know the true state of things here.

    Friday, February 24, 2017 Report this

  • planez

    If you are going to expose yourself and write a letter to the editor, at least proofread it; get a dictionary. "Plight" zone", really?

    I love that he emphasizes his error by putting it in quotations!

    $10 says he is a teacher.

    Friday, February 24, 2017 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    planez,

    plight (plīt) n.- A situation, especially a bad or unfortunate one. See Synonym: "predicament"...

    What's your point?

    You shouldn't be so quick to show a lack of understanding of the intent, and criticize when your punctuation skills need work...

    Monday, February 27, 2017 Report this

  • planez

    Oh boy, another one. You and the author must have attended the same school.

    Tuesday, February 28, 2017 Report this