John Delach

Original Edition published April, 2015: Edited and Updated August 2026

Boondoggle: To waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.

Early in the Twentieth Century one of the first additions of New York City’s original subway was to extend the tunnels and tracks to South Ferry at the southern tip of Manhattan providing commuters’ access to Staten Island and Brooklyn ferries. Two loops were constructed allowing trains to turn around and return uptown without switches. The inner loop directed trains to the East Side and the outer loop to the West Side.

Old joke. Question: “Why is Lower Manhattan so bright?”

Answer:   “Because it’s closer to the Battery.”

New York, New York, it’s a hell of a town.

Harlem is up and the Battery down.

The people ride around in a hole in the ground.

Over time, these 1905 unique tunnels proved inadequate for modern service because of their tight turning radius. The inner loop could only accommodate four cars and was removed from revenue service in 1977. The outer loop was improved as well as could be expected including retractable platform extensions that eliminated gaps once trains were positioned. Yet the configuration of these platforms led to delays and, as the length of trains increased, South Ferry Station became a bottleneck as it could only accommodate the first five cars of a ten-car train.

“No good deed goes unpunished.” When a national catastrophe strikes, Uncle will respond with a massive influx of money. Entrenched state bureaucracies are well-prepared to divert as many of these dollars as possible to their own ends. Witness the so-called “Shovel-Ready Initiatives” funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A whole bunch of that money was used by state governments to offset the loss of revenue from their normal tax flow due to the recession. Admittedly, funding schools, police, and fire protection for a year or two is a good thing; but maintaining essential services was not the intended use of re-build America funds.

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001 Bush 43 and Congress eagerly stepped up to the plate to fund the massive recovery effort to re-build the World Trade Center and replace lost infrastructure. When the towers came down, their wreckage penetrated into the subway line that ran under Greenwich Street severing the West Side connection from Chambers Street to South Ferry. It was essential the line be restored but included in the MTA’s plan for re-construction was a proposal to build a new South Street Station. The plan envisioned a two-track, single-island platform stub that could accommodate all ten cars. It would be equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, seven escalators, two ADA  compliant elevators and all of the bells and whistles that money could buy.

Uncle contributed $420 of the $530 million it took to build the new tunnel and station  and when it opened in 2009, the Governor, New York’s two US Senators, two congressmen, two borough presidents, state and city representatives, US secretary of transportation and MTA big shots all gathered together to praise this vital addition to Lower Manhattan.

Unfortunately, only three years later Superstorm Sandy flooded a large swath of Lower Manhattan.  The storm overwhelmed the make-shift sandbag and plywood barriers erected to protect the station…“flooding the station – floor to ceiling – with 15 million gallons of seawater, sewage and debris…effectively destroying the station and its critical equipment.”

In 2013, the MTA noted: “The rebuilding effort will take an estimated $600 million and as long as three years.” Fortunately, the old loop, taken out of service when the new South Ferry station opened, didn’t suffer the same fate and within six months of this disaster, it reopened after $2 million in needed restoration work.

Work on rebuilding the new station didn’t make substantial progress until flood-proofing was finally completed in December of 2014. This meant that serious re-building could proceed as the station was protected from damage by a new storm, as bad as Sandy.  The MTA awarded a 31-month, $194 million contract to replace track, mechanical and electrical equipment and rebuild the station making the total spent or awarded to date equal $326 Million.

The station finally opened in the summer of 2017 at a total cost of $347 million meaning

the total cost for the original construction and the reconstruction equaled $767 million.

“A billion here and a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.”

(Everett Dirksen)

Oh, it’s completion was celebrated by the new gaggle of VIPs who attended the re-opening. But may I just offer one cautionary thought to project into the future. As the high and mighty pontificate about all the benefits of this magnificent reincarnation, please don’t seal off the old loop; just in case.

(“On the Outside Looking In” will not publish on Wednesday, September 2^nd, but will return on September 9^th.)    

The fact that the Giants spent their first week of summer camp at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs jogged my memory about another incident that took place at the Greenbrier. My company began holding our annual Managing Directors conference at the Greenbrier in 1987.

We realized this meeting would be special. It seemed the firm had money to burn. The first night, before dinner, we followed a high-stepping college band from the hotel to the train station. What followed was a cocktail hour on a train trip to nowhere that consisted of vintage coaches and dome cars. Even the name tags we wore were totally upscale.

From 1987 until 2000, I attended eleven conferences at this swell facility. Most years, the event began on Monday morning and ended on Friday. Our firm was enlightened enough to make Thursday afternoons free time allowing the great majority of we Managing Directors to golf on one of The Greenbrier’s three exquisite 18-hole courses.

Being a miserable duffer, I didn’t need to suffer the embarrassment that would surely accompany any attempt I made to challenge these links. Tennis, too was out of the question. Instead, I made an appointment for the spa. Without question my favorite part of the treatment was the massage that concluded the spa experience. The Sulphur baths were the low point as they were just plain smelly and did nothing to enhance my mood or physical well-being.

Naturally, different masseuses brought their own talents and approaches to their craft and over the years I received superb treatment from both men and women that left me loose, relaxed and at as much at peace as was humanly possible.

Then there was 1993. Fortune directed me to a short fellow with powerful arms and hands who introduced himself as Chet. We made small talk as Chet went to work. I learned he was a Mountaineer, that is a native-born West Virginian, and true to his size and rough appearance, he had once been a coal miner. I mentioned that I was from New York; the conversation went on – then from out of nowhere – he noted, “I worked on the Giants’ coach last year. That’s right, he was at the hotel and I worked on him.”

“Really,” I replied. “Do you remember his name? Was it Ray Hanley?” – The Giants previous the head coach.

“No, I don’t think so.” He paused, thought about it then floored me as he continued. “No, he just said he was the coach but that’s not his name. I remember him though because he stiffed me. I paid him back though. I’m part Cherokee and I put a curse on him and the team. They will not have success as long as the curse is on them.”

My head spun because of what I just heard. Chet couldn’t know how long I had been a season ticket holder, that the Giants had finished with a 6-10 record in 1992 and that Hanley and his staff had all been fired.

Instinctively, I wanted to ask him what he wanted to lift the curse but I sensed that this would only make the situation worse. I had to be more nimble in my approach.

The massage ended and after I dressed, Chet returned with his personal log hand-written in a copy book. He pointed to a name he printed in pencil revealing the culprit to be Rod Rust. Rod Rust, I thought to myself, not only did his “read and react” defense suck, he screwed all of us by being a cheapskate.

I put a good tip on the spa bill, standard practice at The Greenbrier, hustled to an ATM and withdrew a like amount in cash. I sealed it in an envelope and returned to the spa; asked for Chet and waited for him.

When he reached reception, I walked over, gave him the envelope while I looked him directly in the eyes and said, “Chet, this is to make up for the shabby treatment you received.” I handed him the envelope, shook his hand and walked away.

It took awhile but the Giants went on to play in three more Super Bowls winning two.

The curse had been lifted.       

July 2026

Glacier Bay and Icey Strait

Tuesday, June 9^th – From Juneau, we sailed into the waters of Glacier Bay National Park accompanied by Park Rangers who began their narrations beginning at 7:00 am. The Eurodam made its way up to the northern end of Glacier Bay where the Margerie Glacier empties into the bay. Like all the other glaciers, the Margerie Glacier has greatly shrunk in size since 1750 when the last ice age froze parts of our planet.

Our new age of global warming will only exacerbate this retreat, so I recommend you consider any plans you have to go to Alaska will be sooner rather than later.

Holland American Lines (HAL) has a wonderful policy that allows passengers like Mary Ann and me to remain in our cabins and see this glacier. As we were on the port side, (left), we saw the Margerie Glacier first, then the ship made a U-turn allowing the folks in the starboard side (right) cabins to have their turn.

The Briggs family took to the Crow’s Nest to listen to the Rangers describe the Glacier Bay scene then made their way to the open bow area to see the glacier. (The bow is accessible only for special reasons.)

We rendezvoused for lunch on the Lido deck. This was the second glacier they saw and they were impressed. On the contrary, Mary Ann announced that she was not impressed and considered glaciers to be rivers of dirty ice.

We went our separate ways after lunch and didn’t meet up until dinner time. The Briggs were in somewhat of a hurry as they had signed on for a trip to tour Icy Strait Point located at the southern entrance to Glacier Bay. The Eurodam reached the docking area at 6:00 pm and our family boarded a car, part of an aerial tramway that carried them up to the top of a very steep mountain.

Beth told us their goal was to enjoy smores that she understood would be served there but this turned out to be a myth. Icy Point is owned and operated by the Tlingit native tribe who have developed various  forms of adventure including the world’s longest ziprider, ATVs and back country jeep trails and ocean raft trips. Time was not on my family’s side but they did take a tour of the area in a large golf cart.

Tom later told me that they passed remnants of a World War II project known as the White Alice Project. Actually, it was a Cold War era communications system that stretched from the Artic south to the Aleutian Islands and was part of the Cold War DEW Line ( Distant Early Warning Line.) “Alice” stood for Alaska Integrated Communications Enterprise and it lasted from the early 1950s until surpassed by satellites in the late 1970s.

Our ship departed Icy Strait at 9:30 with everyone safely on board.

Sitka

June 10^th– Our next stop was Sitka, the oldest city in Alaska, the ancestral home of the Tlingit people for upwards of 10,000 years and the capital of Russian North America. Mary Ann and I visited this port in 2005 and frankly there wasn’t much going on. Back then there weren’t any piers to dock cruise ships and all passengers had to use shuttle boats to reach the port.

Today, there is a massive dock out of town that can handle three ships and shuttle buses for the 15-minute ride into town. There still isn’t much to do in Sitka. We hiked into the forested area the last time we were there which is what the Briggs family did this time. We found a Wells Fargo bank where I withdrew some cash before returning to the bus and the ship.

That night we used our reservations to eat in the ship’s premier restaurant, The Pinnacle Room. Dinner was excellent and we were eating while the Knicks were playing the Spurs in Game Four of the NBA Championship series. The Knicks led the series two games to one and like the previous three games, they had to rally from being down by 29 points to win.

Tom was able to pick up the broadcast on his phone and shared viewing the last seconds with me.

 “The game came down to seconds left on the clock when Jalen Brunson’s took a long 3-point shot that bounced off the front of the rim. Out of nowhere, Knicks center, Karl-Anthony Towns stretched his right hand as a far as it would go and softly flicked the ball in!”

“Right hand from God!” said Towns. Knicks 107, Spurs 106. Knicks now led three games to one.

I stayed silent in this elegant dining room but threw my arms around like a mad man in celebration. 

Ketchikan

June 11^th – Ketchikan is a lively town with lots of places to spend your money. Today was a sunny day with mild temperatures, perfect for the excursion Beth arranged for their family to ride two-seater ATVs along a course with two stops. It took 30 minutes to reach the half-way point and another 30 minutes to return. They encountered dirt, some mud and plenty of dusts that the ATVs kicked up. The pleasant surprise was that Cace was allowed to drive even though he didn’t have a license. He did have a learner’s permit and he drove with Beth who has a license. They had a great time and were protected with helmets and goggles.

The Eurodam departed Ketchikan at 12:15 pm beginning our last voyage southbound to Seattle.

After lunch, Beth arranged for me to have a massage in the ship’s spa. It was a delightful experience, but I must admit that I fell asleep during it. I only hope that my masseur, Grace, was not insulted by my actions as I did increase her tip.

That night we participated in the ship’s Alaska Seafood boil served in a reserved section of the Lido Market. I regret to report that this experience was awful. The waiters were nothing like the caliber of those who served us in the Pinnacle Grill. They must have been rookies learning while on the job and the seafood was terrible. The crabs they served were too small to be edible. Too bad, it was our only bad meal.  

We retreated to our cabin while the Briggs played trivia. Then enjoyed a Chocolate Surprise that a parade of waiters distributed at the Pinnacle Bar. Every waiter had chocolate, milk, dark and white, each served on a spoon.   

Victoria, BC, Canada

June 12^th – Our last full day at sea. The Eurodam continued to make its way south to Seattle  where we would disembark the morning of June 13^th .

In a curiously, lowkey announcement, HAL advised they were participating in a new service with an unnamed provider to pick up our bags and deliver them to our airlines of choice, in our case, Alaska for Tom, Marlowe and Cace and Delta for me, Mary Ann and Beth. The cost was $45 per bag, the same amount we would have paid to the airlines when we checked in. We wouldn’t see our bags again until we reached our destinations. Long story, short. It worked 100%!

We had one last port of call on our agenda, Victoria, British Columbia. Unfortunately, it was a short visit. Eurodam arrived at 8:30 pm and left at 11:30 pm. The center of town was a ½ hour walk rom the pier leaving my family unhappy with the time available to see the sights, but they did find an ice cream shop that dipped their cones in one of six different types of chocolate. All of them agreed that Victoria looked like a town that would be nice to see again, but with time to explore it.

Seattle

June 13th – We disembarked at the same area where we arrived and hired a Chevy Suburban for the ride to the airport. It was a pleasure not having large suitcases to lug over to check-in. Tom, Marlowe and Cace made their way over to Alaska Airlines departure lounge where Beth had bought them passes for entry into the airlines lounge. Mary Ann, Beth and I found an eatery where we had a morning meal that was better than we thought it would be.

We all flew Comfort Class, the A-321 left on time and reached JFK twenty-minutes early. Fortunately, our gate was empty and waiting for us as was a wheel chair for me. We actually saw our luggage as we reached the baggage carousel. As if by magic, it had made it from the ship to JFK without a hitch. 

Beth headed home to Brooklyn and our car from DeLux took us back to Port Washington without any hassle allowing us to see the end of the Knicks game, another come-from-behind effort that made them the 2026 NBA Champions.

Our family had a terrific time and that made our cruise a total success for us too. Way to go Knicks!     

August 2026

Revision Surgery: When doctors replace an old artificial body part with a new artificial body part.

In my case, it was my right hip that had originally replaced my real hip in 2012. Early in 2025, I was informed that this replacement hip was leaking chromium and cobalt. While it was at the early stages, increasing pain led me to locate three different orthopedic surgeons who specialized in revision surgery. The first two were vague when discussing possible complications, but the third was direct and blunt. “John, you are over eighty and you have had this hip replacement in your body going on thirteen years. God only knows how it has affected your tissues and other bones. There is no fucking way that I would operate on you! I predict, if you have this surgery, you will spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair.”

“Thank you doctor for your candor and there is no way in hell that I will have this surgery.”

Mary Ann and I left his office and went to a diner to celebrate. “MAD, I spoke to my wife, I want to do something big to celebrate.” We talked this over and came up with two trips with our families. The first in 2026 with the Brooklyn Briggs and the second in 2027 with the Black Rock, CT Delaches.

Once decided, I spoke to my son, Michael first, and he accepted that his sister’s family, Beth, her husband, Tom; daughter, Marlow and son, Cace would go in 2026. Mike’s family, his wife, Jodie; sons, Drew and Matt and daughter, Samantha would go in 2027.

When we had the chance to present our proposal to Beth’s family, the loud and unanimous reaction was Alaska. I asked when and Beth replied, early or mid-June. How long: A week.

Okay, I replied and I was off and running. We had made a trip to Alaska in 2005 so I had some experience with this part of the globe albeit, my recollections were a bit out of touch. I discovered that Holland American Line (HAL) had a round-trip, seven-day voyage out of Seattle, but I leaned instead to a Princess Cruises 14-day trip out of Vancouver with two seven-day segments, northbound to Anchorage and southbound back to Vancouver. The southbound segment appealed to me until I discovered this segment was already sold out.

The northbound segment was out of the question, flying home from Anchorage was a time change ordeal.

Fortunately, things went well with HAL and I was able to reserve three rooms on the MV Eurodam sailing on June 6 and disembarking on June 13. We reserved two Balcony Verandas , one for Beth and Tom and one for Marlowe and Cace and a suite for us.

Our original airline bookings turned out to be a hassle when our carrier, Alaska Airlines, changed the departure time of our outgoing flight from 11:30 AM to 7:00 AM. With the help of American Express Travel, we were re-booked on Delta Airlines leaving JFK at 11:25 AM and they used my points to pay for our flights.

Tom and Marlowe remained on the Alaska Airlines flight now at the earlier time. Conveniently,  Beth spent most of that week in Seattle on business and Cace flew in from Denver on Friday morning. I made reservations for three rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn located in downtown Seattle as we didn’t board the Eurodam until early the next afternoon.

Mary Ann convinced me to use a wheelchair during my considerable journey to our gate in Delta’s new Terminal 4 at JFK and from the arrival gate for our A-321 airliner in the Seattle Airport to our land transportation. I admit this was worth its weight in gold as all of the attendants were super nice and deserving of tips.

All of our flights were uneventful and on time. Beth decided to protect her parents and she purchased a gate pass from Delta so she could ensure that her “ancient” parents made it safely to the hotel.

We had dinner at Tutta Bella Neapolit, a nearby grand pizza, etc. restaurant where we had a good meal and kicked off our excitement for what was to come. Marlowe had already done her homework about what daily activities were available on board our new home and Beth started opting for various shore excursions.

After dinner, Tom and I retreated to the hotel bar to watch part of game two of the NBA finals that the Knicks won 105 to 104 giving them a 2and 0 lead in the series over the San Antonio Spurs.

We received boarding instructions for Saturday. Check-in began at 10:30 AM and continued until 1:30 PM and Eurodam would depart at 2:30. We decided to leave the hotel at 11:30 and we arrived at the pier around noon. Our ship and a larger Princess Cruises vessel shared the terminal, but, despite the influx of so many passengers, our check-in went smoothly and we easily reached our Suite 6078 and found it to be cleaned and ready for us. For what it is worth, our luggage didn’t arrive for a couple of hours.

We gathered on Deck 9, the Lido Deck, the most used deck on cruise ships to watch our ship put to sea. Half of this deck contained the ship’s casual eatery open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and most of the remainder, the ship’s main swimming pool. After we arrived, the sun disappeared as rain clouds overwhelmed it. The open roof above the pool was closed making a noise that stunned my mates. We had burgers for lunch before retreating to our cabin to unpack our luggage that finally arrived.

Our dinner reservations were for Five PM and when we arrived at out table, we discovered we were semi-surrounded by three tables belonging to a large Mormon family. One table was for the men, one for the women and babies and the third table was for toddlers, older kids and teenagers. They were sociable, polite and it was easy get along with them. Two baskets containing bread and rolls and butter were set down. Cace immediately attacked the baskets which could have caused a crisis with his father and grandfather who also sort out their contents. Fortunately, this crisis was averted by the waiters who quickly replaced the barren baskets.

This inarguable dinner set the standard for dress and the information we would exchange with each other about what we had done and what we had seen that day. Both Mary Ann and I had made it clear to our mates that, the more they did, the happier we would be.

We spent all day Sunday at sea as the ship headed north along the Canada / Alaska Inside Passage cruising toward Juneau. I had noticed that our room came with a pair of used binoculars. When I mentioned this, Marlowe didn’t waste any time claiming them. I was not surprised as our granddaughter had already checked out what happenings were listed in the Eurodam’s newsletter, “The Daily.” Sunday’s edition led with this story:

“Alaska Wildlife: Alaska’s unspoiled habitats include mountains, rich water, glaciers and the world’s largest temperate rainforest – the Tongass. This unique and diverse ecosystem supports wildlife from humpback whales to soaring eagles, so keep your binoculars close because you never know when one of the locals will pop by to say hello.”

I was pleased that our family members took advantage of the activities the ship offered. This included line dancing lessons, tours of the ship, water color painting, calligraphy organ mi and limited use of the Eurodam work out room. I say limited as they suffered from a bit of sea sickness because of conditions that first day. 

Passengers were invited to participate in “wildlife spotting” for two hours from the open area aft on the Lido Deck the next day starting at 7:00 AM. They had a great time and those glasses came in handy in spotting whales, seals, eagles and several sea birds. The favorite were the sea otters who look a lot like water dogs and show off by swimming on their backs.

While they observed these local creatures, we enjoyed room service in our “palatial” cabin. Well, maybe not palatial, but large enough for us to enjoy our breakfast. We noticed something curious that would be repeated every time we utilized room service; they would forget to include an item like milk or toast or substitute something else for what we wanted like tea instead of coffee. However, the food was good so we didn’t complain. 

The ship docked at 12:30 and the six of us boarded a bus a half-hour later for a trip out to nearby Mendenhall Glacier National Park. Mary Ann and I spent our time at the visitor’s center while the Briggs’ family sauntered off to see the Nugget Falls about a mile away. Despite the cold, cloudy weather, they found some local boys swimming in the fall’s pool. They invited Cace to join them. He took off his shoes and socks, tested the water and replied, “No thank you.” to their invitation.

Our driver, Travis, ordinarily, a truck driver from Alabama in the off season, pointed out a brown bear on our way to the glacier. As he drove us back to the Eurodam, we decided to find a sports bar in downtown Juneau to watch Game Three of the Knicks / Spurs match.

Jim Dolan, the Knick’s owner had invited President Trump to watch the game from Dolan’s private Garden box. Turned out our choice was a dive bar with a cannabis store right next door that attracted motor cycle punks riding supped-up noise machines. Beth, Marlowe and Cace chose to return to the ship while Mary Ann stayed with Tom and me to watch the Knicks lose cutting their lead to two games to one.

(To be continued)