I read with interest the recent article on 7/10/20 about the problems at the Mill River in Leeds. I’ve been a resident in the neighborhood since 2015. During the past five years, I’ve enjoyed the different areas around the bike path, walking or biking with my son, but it has not been until this year, due to the pandemic, that I have frequently been in the river.
During the past two to three months, almost every day off, my family and I have gone with our dog to swim in the few areas available. Unfortunately, during the past month and a half that the temperatures have been rising, these areas are becoming crowded. Knowing there would be crowds and in order to follow social distancing, many times we decided not to go. On multiple occasions, especially on Sunday early mornings, we have brought garbage bags to the river in order to pick up the piles of garbage that people left behind the day before. Every day, but particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, people walk on the bike path with bottles of alcohol and without masks. It is not only disrespectful but unsafe given the current public health crisis.
It was very surprising to see that the article took a racial point of view. As an immigrant physician, I do not think that this is a matter of racism but of civility. I remember taking classes of civics in elementary school. Littering, noise, and disobedience of the laws have nothing to do with racism but with education. A public area is for everybody, but we are living in different times. Gatherings without proper distancing, disregarding the effectiveness of masks, and leaving potentially contaminated garbage are not only disrespectful to the environment and to the citizens but more important, a possible source of a new cluster of COVID infections. I am asking our representative and the police to be more vigilant of the rules in the area, to put more signs in the swim areas, and to patrol the area during weekends.
Julio Miranda
Leeds