Joe: I am certainly not bragging about my job "in government," as I am on the lowest rung of the ladder. Today, I sanitized toilets and tables for three hours. It's not what I was hired for, but I am glad to have a job at this time.

My "keen feel for the inner workings of town politics" comes from being around these people every day for the past ten years, including working side-by-side with them as a sound man, sitting in on meetings with them, working on their campaigns, and yes, sanitizing their toilets. I can tell you with absolute certainty that not all people in politics are in it to make sure you and I have an awesome bike path - and those who are also have to expend a lot of energy making sure they keep their elected positions so that they can finish the projects they start.

While I am often frustrated by the actions of the people I work for, in this case, I can understand their concerns about the crossing at TOBAY and, particularly, how it might affect them in an election year. I want to ride to Captree before COVID or a civil war kills me, too, but I can tell you from experience and unofficial hearsay that there's an excellent chance the supervisors of Oyster Bay and Babylon have asked the governor of NY State (or whichever NYS official has the final call on the bikeway extension) to hold off on the opening until after the elections. And I would guess that the governor, who has enjoyed several months of being a hero to many, didn't need to have his arm twisted. I do not believe there was an injunction or a lawsuit, just a handshake.

Now, whether any further modifications will be considered before opening, I don't know. We are in a pandemic and the townships and the state are bleeding money right now, so I wouldn't expect any major structural changes anytime soon. What you will probably have is a soft opening much later in the fall so that the extension isn't in full use until April or May of next year. At that point, it will be old news and the average person will assume it has been there as long as Ocean Parkway itself. Then, once the extension is no longer front-page worthy, if, God forbid, someone gets injured, it will be pretty well ignored and the papers will deflect the fault to the cyclist, as they usually do. But that's another conversation.

Have I clarified my initial comments yet, or do you just want to keep bashing me?