Running errands downtown in the bleakness of last Friday’s rain really drove home to me both the potential flooding crisis from known-to-be insufficient storm pipe sizing; and the absurdity of thinking that our little town of already half-empty storefronts could economically survive the Picture Main Street project.

The mayor and City Council are in a trance of self-delusion if they believe that Picture Main Street is structurally, financially, and socially safe for Northampton.

“The rain won’t drain, if our city refrains

From attending to our hype and potential uprising.

We’re trying to explain that it’s all about the pipe,

And that PMS could flood us with its insufficient sizing.”

Lilly Gaev

Northampton