“What I’m trying to accomplish is to basically make a point of the hypocrisy of — and don’t take offense — those East Coast folks who write a lot of checks to shut down Alaska, while in their own backyard, Manhattan has been turned from a pristine wild island supporting an amazing Muir web of life to having only Central Park left as a green belt. And even Central Park has been radically changed.” Congressman Kyle Johansen
Perturbed with outsiders interfering with the right to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Republican Congressman Kyle Johansen introduced a resolution in Juneau Monday that gives those on the east coast a taste of their own medicine.
Thus, in the interest of preserving one of the few remaining glimmers of urban greenery left, Alaska state legislators are asking the federal government to take over Central Park.
Yes. The Central Park in New York City.
The New York Times reports:
It urges the feds to “declare Central Park to be a wilderness area and to prohibit any further improvement or development of Central Park unless authorized by an act of Congress.”
Many of Mr. Johansen’s colleagues immediately signed on as co-sponsors, including the speaker of the house.
The resolution, first noted on this coast by West Side Rag, is primarily a piece of political satire, Mr. Johansen said Wednesday, but one with a solid basis in history.
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