PrintNew York State now requires permits for stargazing
In 1927, Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown wrote the classic song "The Best Things in Life Are Free," which was recorded over the years by everyone from Bing Crosby to The Ink Spots to Sam Cooke. Even Mad Men took a stab at the song.
The song deserves to be a classic, and the first verse certainly sets the tone:
The moon belongs to everyone
The best things in life are free
The stars belong to everyone
They gleam there for you and me
Except that's no longer the case in New York State. If you're hoping to escape urban light pollution (which obscures the stars) by going to the peace and darkness of a state park, you'd better be ready to pay for the privilege:
— Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) January 22, 2020
If you're a New York resident, you have to pay only $35.00 for the once-free pleasure of stargazing. If you're from out of state, you might want to bypass New York stars entirely, for you'll find yourself paying $60 to gain an unimpeded view of the Heavens.
The Free Thought Project (hat tip: Gateway Pundit) sees this as a type of government extortion:
Others are defending the permit in the thread, claiming that it allows people to enter the "closed parks" after hours. But they are clearly missing the point. If you can enter the park with a permit, then it's not "closed" at all. It's opened to anyone willing to be extorted or who can afford it. Those who are unable to pay the government or choose not to do so for the exact same activity will be arrested and or further extorted.
Of course, it's more complicated than that. If New York feels compelled to have staff at the park whenever members of the public are there, and if the current funding only pays for daytime staff, people who want nighttime access are going to have to dig a little deeper. This is especially true if some of these parks attract dangerous people at night.
Still, it's a horrible look for a state to force people to pay for stargazing. The comments to the original tweet reveal real anger that one of the best things in life is no longer free:
King George the 3rd all over again. Let's tax our people until they have no more money to fight.
— Questionabletrends (@QTrendsdotcom) January 29, 2020
It's getting to be ridiculous.
Just when you thought Democrats had run out of ways to get their hands on your wallet.
— AmericanGirlвђпёЏрџ‡єрџ‡ёвќ¤пёЏ (@SherrieBarrett) January 28, 2020
LOL. Now, "liberals" tax the sky. The only thing they don't want to tax is abortion.
— LoveStrzok (@Toomuchlovetob1) January 28, 2020
For once, California has taken a more intelligent approach, which is to charge people for park usage — really, ranger protection and maintenance — rather than for watching those free stars:
These are state beach parks that close at sunset. Here in California the beaches also close at sunset and you can't buy a permit to stay overnight. It's not a permit to stargaze generally, it's a use fee so that the state can keep a ranger on duty all night long.
— Ross Salinger (@rgsalinger) January 26, 2020
