Shutdown, Deterioration and Then a Reprieve

VOORHEESVILLE, N.Y. - The gates were padlocked. The picnic tables were half-buried in uncut grass. Big red "closed" signs were posted at the trail heads. Old leaves clotted by the women's room doors. The men's rooms were littered with beer cans.

These unwelcoming scenes at John Boyd Thacher State Park about three hours north of New York City offered a grim reminder of the financial crisis that has paralyzed the state government for months.