TRIUMPH! TRIUMPH! TRIUMPH!

February 18, 2022
By Carlino Giampolo

Panther Hollow residents extend their deepest gratitude to Mayor Ed Gainey for his decision to abandon the Mon-Oakland Connector project that would have constructed a roadway through Panther Hollow and Four Mile Run, to connect Hazelwood Green to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Truth and justice have prevailed.

That important decision signifies a new consciousness at City Hall that upholds the dignity of city residents. Should Mayor Gainey continue on this Pathway of Dignity, he will surely be remembered and revered as one of the great mayors of the City of Pittsburgh.

We extend our deepest gratitude to all those individuals who saw the injustice of this project from the very beginning and provided support. They helped us to move forward even when the outlook seemed insurmountable.

We are most grateful to the courageous Four Mile Run residents who cared just as deeply for their neighborhood as we stood together in solidarity, and for organizations such as Pittsburghers for Public Transit. Their fearless and continuously strong actions were vital to this triumph.

We are also grateful to those who opposed us, and to those who chose silence and offered no support. They only strengthened our resolve and determination to end the injustice.

The means to an end is more important than the end itself. When individuals are confident in their own abilities to achieve success, they proceed with harm to none. Words were the primary means to the end to achieve this triumph; thousands of words were used from the very beginning when this project first became known to the community on August 29, 2015, in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

The next step is for Oakland organizations to unite with one another, as well as with the mayor and his administrators, to demand hundreds of millions of dollars or more in compensation, from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, for the severe impact they have had on their host community.

The monies received will be used to realize the shared vision of residents, and of the mayor and his administrators, for a new beginning for Oakland’s community.

(Visit our website at www.PantherHollow.us)