KINGSTON- After weeks of fielding complaints of crowds in shared outdoor spaces not adhering to social-distancing guidelines, the Ulster County Sheriff has come up with a novel solution: Dressing deputies as the Grim Reaper to remind outdoor recreators of the possibly fatal consequences of congregating in groups.
“There was simply no way with our current man power that we could enforce the governor’s NY PAUSE order across a county of this size, especially with the weather warming,” said Sheriff John Figtree. “In addition, the specter of uniformed officers arresting people at the behest of complaints made by their neighbors for simply being together makes for extremely bad optics and frays the social fabric. We realized we needed to get creative.”
We witnessed the enforcement in action recently on the Ashokan Rail Trail. As a group of about a half-dozen apparently related individuals stopped to chat with a middle-aged couple passing the opposite way, suddenly all birdsong ceased and a shadow passed in front of the sun; a bitterly cold wind blew and a lone coyote howled in the distance. Then a deputy clad as Grim Death reared up from the undergrowth, which wilted in his wake, and extended a long, bony hand toward the group and croaked a harsh, guttural incantation that chilled their very blood.
The two parties immediately dispersed, white-faced and panic-stricken.
“That’s how we’d like to do it- issuing a warning rather than handing out tickets,” explained Figtree. “As you can see, some of our deputies have really taken to the more theatrical aspect of this operation.”
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