suns along the Mohawk

. . short URL to cite this posting: tinyurl.com/GazeboGone . . 

. . Gateway Landing Park “seen” from across the Binnekill (Aug. 29, 2025)

  . at Gateway Landing Park .

When I heard the Flotsam River Circus would be at Gateway Landing Park at 6:30 pm last Thursday, August 28, 2025, I thought it would be fun to watch it from the river end of Cucumber Alley and my Washington Avenue backyard, rather than walking to the Park using its entrance off an exit ramp of The Great Western Gateway Bridge.  Wrong! Overgrown weed trees and other riverbank foliage totally blocked the view I have enjoyed over the years of Gateway Landing and its Gazebo from the Stockade. It’s a good thing the Daily Gazette‘s Collin Bolebuch covered the event with words and over two dozen well-captioned photos, so I could get a sense of the antics and crowd despite missing the show. 

I was disappointed at the lack of a view from my backyard, as some of my favorite photos of Gateway Landing Park have been taken from the river end of Cucumber Alley and from the rear of lots from 16 to 32 Washington Avenue, which border the Mohawk River and the Binnekill (Creek).  

. . below: view from the rear of 1 Cucumber Alley toward Gateway Landing . . 

. . on 20Mar2011 (Gazebo with Supermoon)

. . on 29Aug2025 (lots of greenery in the way) . .

Here are a few more photos I have taken of Gateway Landing Park from the river end of Cucumber Alley and from the rear of Washington Avenue lots that border the Mohawk River and the Binnekill (Creek).  The Park’s centerpiece gazebo can be seen in each photo. [click on a square for a full, larger image]

from rear of SCHS

from 32 Washington Av

seen from Wash. Av. dead end during minor flooding

The view was obscured when I snapped photos last weekend (29Aug2025):

. . from 32 Wash. Ave., rear of Historical Society

from rear of 4 Cucumber Alley:

The view from Gateway Landing Park is, of course, also blocked:

 . the riverbank view from the gazebo in Oct. 2009:

. . the current overgrowth prevents seeing the Stockade shoreline, the Binnekill, and the south bank of the Mohawk, such as these in October 2009 from Gateway Landing:

.

ARE THE SCENIC VIEWS LOST FOREVER? The time of year can, naturally, reduce the amount of overgrowth, but the current foliage array is in the way throughout the year. Over the past several years, when overgrowth along the Riverside Park riverbank blocks views of the River and Scotia from Riverside Park, City crews cut back the excessive foligage. Gateway Landing park is a Schenectady County park located in the town of Rotterdam. Why not have County work crews, with assistance perhaps from its Rotary Club caretakers, thin out the weed trees and other fauna to allow the attractive scenic views, and relieve the closed-in effects at Gateway Landing? 

If you would like to see more of the view of and the views from Gateway Landing Park, please contact our civic and media leaders and let them know.