New York State Canal System Opening Postponed

The New York State Canal System was originally scheduled to open May 15th.

Now, due to work on the system being deemed non-essential according to a New York Upstate report, the canal will not be ready to open as planned. Maintenance was basically shut down with the rest of the state in March so the locks will not be able to open. Operators are currently looking at a plan to give regional access to recreational boaters. Even with regional openings, NYUP says the locks not opening will have a big economic impact on the communities it runs through - $1.3 billion is usually generated by recreational business tied to the canal.

This is one of the crazy things about this pandemic. The ripple affect has been far reaching, and it has affected pretty much every business in the area and recreation. Who would have thought before this all happened a pandemic would kept the canal system from opening? It seems everything has been affected by our new normal.