Community Builders

August 30th, 2010

Midtown Kingston is home to three non-profit organizations that help make it a vibrant community: the Kingston Library, the Center for Creative Education, and the Everett Hodge Center. Each offers activities and services to residents of Kingston that greatly enrich the quality of life in the city.

The Kingston Library, located on Franklin Street in a former public school, is not just a place to check out books—though that continues to be an important part of its mission, of course. Library trustee Ed Pell also organizes art exhibitions, featuring a different artists each month. The garden has also become a center of creative activity, with three resident artists occupying the Habitat for Artists shed, part of a program that provides intimate studio space designed to interact with the community.

The library hosts two story hours during the week—one for toddlers, the other for preschoolers—an origami-folding class twice a month, a weekly Wednesday evening bridge club, and two monthly book groups, one of which is led by a former college professor (the book for September is Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment) and the other focused on classics and religion. Other groups that meet at the library are geared to knitting and stress reduction through meditation. On September 11, a math circle for middle and high school students will be starting up, meeting the second Saturday through December, led by Japheth Wood, an instructor at Bard. And on September 18 at 10:30 in the morning the Robert Rivest Mime theater will perform a mime entitled “Go Green and Make a Scene,” for ages preschool and up.

New books, including those on the New York Times best seller use, are displayed on a shelf near the entrance, and one can check out books on cassette, music CDs, and even movies on DVD and in video. The library’s 19 computers, all connected to the Internet, and free Wifi keep the neighborhood connected.

Creative Center for Education, located at 20 Thomas St., is greatly expanding is after-school art and technology courses, according to executive director Ev Mann. A new “Whisper” booth in the computer music lab will enable kids to make their own recordings, and from 3-6 every Monday through Thursday kids can do their homework, get tutored, and follow up with a calls in visual arts, dance or drumming. Honor Society students at the high school and Vassar collect students serve as volunteer tutors.

On the second floor is the dance studio, where four different groups learn and perform hip hop, as par tof the energy Dance Company, and the POOK drum studio. POOK’s 15 members, ranging in age from eight to adult, will perform as the benefit for the Kingston Land Trust on September 22. Adult classes in salsa and hip hop are offered Monday night. On the third floor is the visual arts studio, where classes are offered by Bonnie O’Hara and others. A class in fashion design might be offered in the near future.

The Center will be having its big fall recital on November 13 at the high school auditorium. Next door, ground has been broken on the historic Carnegie library, which approximately in a year will open as the Center’s facilities for high school students.

The Everette Hodge Community Center, on Franklin St., continues its Friday evening Rewards for Excellence program, which teaches kids how to use the computer and encourages them to use their talents. It’s overseen by community services director Sandra Thompson-Hopgood and volunteer Donald Waters. The center has 40 computers, all with Internet access.

Also on Friday, starting at 6 pm, is Food for Thought, free healthy meals—such as vegetable lasagna and turkey loaf–for kids of all ages; from 40 to 50 children show up every Friday, and some wouldn’t be having dinner that night if it weren’t the program. Pizza pies have been donated by Mario’s Pizza and Di Bella’s Pizza Shop, and various volunteers have also donated food, including Rebecca Martin, Noelle Sheber, Ulster County clerk Nina Postupack, and Jeanne Edwards (who also volunteers as a server and helps coordinate the meals). Kingston Natural Foods, in the Rondout, has contributed nutritious eats, Rainbow, in Port Ewen, has brought in ice cream, and Broadway Lites Diner has also been supportive. Dedicated volunteers oversee the delivery, serving, and clean up. The center is in desperate need of a freezer and refrigerator, so take note if you’ve got an extra one lying around.

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Kingston Hospital Is Broadway Central

August 20th, 2010

Midtown Kingston would be a much quieter place if it weren’t for three key anchors—Kingston High School, City Hall, and Kingston Hospital. The hospital, now consolidated with Benedictine into one organization called Health Alliance, has 1,033 employees, a big chunk of the 2,400 employees that work for Health Alliance, which is the largest employer in Kingston. It’s also a 24/7 organization, a beehive of activity at all hours of the day and night.

The hospital has been an anchor of Midtown for more than a century, opening its doors on Broadway in November of 1894 (Benedictine followed in 1901). After a devastating fire, the reconstructed hospital reopened in 1926, with numerous renovations and expansions occurring in the 1950s and 60s. It’s now a 150-bed acute-care hospital—Benedictine has an equal number of beds—and home of a new, expanded emergency center (the merger plan called for the EDs at the two hospitals to be consolidated at Kingston). Approximately 50,000 people a year will visit the ED, which is 16,000 square feet and has 35 beds. Kingston Hospital also houses a maternity unit, with a brand new facility on the third floor, and a chest pain center. (Oncology, mental health, detox, the sleep center, and orthopedics are located at Benedictine. Both hospitals house women’s centers, and the executive offices are split between the two facilities. )

While Kingston Hospital has its own cafeteria, many employees patronize neighboring restaurants, such as Top Nosh, Stone Soup, and, if they’re on the graveyard shift, the Broadway Lights Diner. The hospital is a nexus of activity, accessible to walk-ins and with a bus drop. “The impact on the surrounding businesses is quite great. It’s a very active spot on Broadway,” said Greg Howard, vice president of human resources at Health Alliance. Being right smack in the city is an advantage: “You can walk to many Broadway businesses for lunch or a snack, and the high school, fire department and city offices are all nearby. Although it is an old facility, it has kept up with the changing times, making it a place for which our community can be proud.”

Both Kingston Hospital and Benedictine have foundations whose fund-raising events are mainstays in the community, including two golf tournaments—Kingston’s is in August, Benedictine’s in June. Kingston also will host a fashion show and dinner in October, while Benedictine will hold a September bike-a-thon. The funds raised from the events help pay for facilities improvement, new equipment, and other costs not covered by Medicare. The Kingston Hospital Foundation also sponsors free walks around the city that are designed to get people to exercise more and build appreciation of the city’s historic streetscape.

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Passport to Kingston’s Museums

August 17th, 2010

The same buildings and sites that served to influence Kingston’s past are now poised to influence the city’s future. Instead of housing governments, industry and businesses, these historic properties are boosting Kingston’s growing allure as a cultural destination. Kingston is home to numerous small museums whose diversity and accessibility offer exactly the sort of experiences sought by heritage tourists: places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.

A recent partnership among several local historic sites and the Kingston Visitor Center has yielded a new tool for further enticing visitors into all of the city’s small museums. Called a “Heritage Passport,’ this new pass provides discounted admission to seven Kingston museums. Visitors simply purchase a passport for $14 at the Rondout visitor center and show it at each participating museum to gain entry. Use of this single fee pass yields a savings of $10 over the price of individual museum admission fees.

Kingston is a New York State Heritage Area, as well as part of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area (which funded the creation of the Heritage Passports) and also benefits from the promotion and marketing associated with those programs.

According to the National Park Service, studies have consistently shown that cultural heritage travelers stay longer and spend more money than other kinds of travelers. So, a healthy growth in attendance at local museums can be expected to translate into economic benefit for local businesses.

Senate House State Historic Site

Built in 1676 as the simple stone house for a merchant, the building was the site in 1777 of a meeting of rebellious New Yorkers who gathered to form the state’s first government. After meeting for only a month, the Senate and the rest of the newly formed State government fled Kingston to escape British troops, which then burned the Senate House and much of Kingston in retribution. Since the late 1800s, the building has served as a museum of New York’s early government, and life and art in the Hudson Valley 200 years ago.

The historic site comprises three buildings located on three acres in Kingston’s historic Stockade District The treasures housed in the museum include major art works by John Vanderlyn and other members of the Vanderlyn family of Kingston, dating from the 1720s through the 1870s, as well as paintings by other notable artists.

Friends of Historic Kingston Museum and Fred J. Johnston House Tour

Also located in the 1658 Stockade National Historic District, these museums give visitors a view into other chapters in Kingston’s history.

The Friends of Historic Kingston Museum features changing exhibits which focus on eras throughout Kingston’s entire history, and that highlight “the ordinary workings of daily life that give [the] city its soul and unique texture.” Displays include photographs, art works, artifacts and memorabilia. The museum also frequently mounts retrospectives of the work of major regional artists. The museum nurtures the continuity of Kingston’s story and promotes its relevance to the present by featuring presentations by contemporary artisans, and lectures and book-signings by local historians and authors,

The Fred J. Johnston House is an 1812 Federal style house on the corner of Wall and Main Streets. Home and showroom of a nationally known antiques dealer, the house is now open for public tours. Visitors view eight rooms of 18th and early 19th century furnishings and decorative arts.

Volunteer Fireman’s Hall & Museum of Kingston

The former 1857 home of the Wiltwyck Hose Company, this museum features antique firefighting artifacts and apparatus, including an 1898 steamer.

Ulster County Office Building, Clerks Gallery

Unusual exhibits in an unusual space, the Archives Gallery on the second floor of this unassuming office building is the place to go to see authentic records chronicling Ulster County history. Exhibits installed here can include birth, death and marriage records, land deeds and antique maps, as well as regionally unique records like reproductions of original hard-copy records written in Dutch from 1658 through 1709 and the English translations of same, and records that illustrate the formation of government from the Charter of the Dutch Court at Kingston dated 1661 through the current Ulster County Charter.

The current exhibit, open through the end of August. is called “Who Counts? We Do! The 1905 Census of Ulster County,” and features printed reports with the names, ages, relation and occupation of the over 86,600 residents counted in 1905. Samples of original 19th century Ulster County census records are also on display. The walls around the exhibit are covered with lists of the names, ages and occupations of 1905 Ulster County residents.

Hudson River Maritime Museum

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is the only museum in New York State exclusively preserving the maritime history of the Hudson River. The museum presents a new exhibit every year that focuses on different aspects of Hudson River history.  A permanent display of larger artifacts, such as ice yachts, shad boats and other small boats, a steam hoisting engine, various boat models and exhibits on Hudson River industry are housed in a former boat shop next to the museum gallery.

The museum also maintains an extensive collection of paintings, prints, photographs and ephemera, vessel blueprints, artifacts and a variety of ship models.

Other activities at the site include visiting vessels such as the sloop Clearwater, exhibitions, a lecture series, children’s workshops, waterfront programs and themed festivals. Boat rides on the Lark to Rondout II Lighthouse depart from the museum’s dock. School programs at the museum involve 2,000 school children a year.

Trolley Museum of New York

The real draw for this museum is the hour-long trolley ride along Rondout Creek out to the Hudson River. The journey takes visitors past ex-industrial sites in Rondout out to the still bucolic Kingston Point Park and provides views of Rondout II Lighthouse and the river from Turkey Point to the north and Esopus Lighthouse to the south. In the shed and yard at the Trolley Museum, visitors will find static displays of trolleys, subway and rapid transit cars from the United States and Europe. The gallery features photos and memorabilia from rail and trolley service in Kingston and other Hudson Valley towns.

The museum is on the original site of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad yards at Milepost 1. The main building is built on the foundation of an early 1900s engine house.

Old Dutch Church & Museum

The city’s oldest institution, the congregation was organized in 1659. The 1852 Renaissance Revival style church was designed by Minard LaFever The churchyard contains tombstones dating back to 1770, and the grave of New York’s first governor, George Clinton, an Ulster County native. The steeple bell is traditionally believed to have been cast in Amsterdam in 1794 from molten copper and silver items given by families at baptismal rites.

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Kingston’s Industrial Past

August 10th, 2010

You must look closely to discern what’s left of Kingston’s past as an important industrial center of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Once home to some of the nation’s largest cement works, bluestone companies, and brickyards, Kingston’s economy has evolved into one based on service industries rather than manufacturing.  But the remains of its industrial heyday can be seen in the repurposed factory buildings throughout the city, the stone kilns along East Strand, and the brick stacks and sheds along Rondout Creek and the Hudson River. Today, Kingston’s industrial heritage is kept alive by two businesses still operating in the city: Binnewater Ice Company and Feeney Shipyard.

Binnewater Ice Company operates out of a brick and cinder block building on South Pine Street. When it was founded in 1910, there were at least seven other ice companies in the area and competition was fierce to supply ice blocks to the growing metropolis of New York City. Until the 1930s the company procured the ice blocks in the winter by cutting them from frozen lakes The blocks were then stored in a huge ice house where they were packed with insulating hay. Thus stored, the ice would last through the summer and was shipped by barge or rail mostly for use in New York City, but also to far away climes like the Caribbean and even India.

The original buildings were constructed of wood and when they were torched by a competitor, Binnewater Ice Company rebuilt them. A year later, its buildings were destroyed by explosives said to have been planted by another competitor. Determined to continue in the still booming ice industry, Binnewater rebuilt again. Maybe due to all this effort, Binnewater was one of the last local ice companies to install ice manufacturing equipment at its facility – it seems the company really was reluctant to abandon the option of cutting “natural ice” as it held on to its cutting rights on Williams Lake until 1999!

Binnewater Ice

By the 1970s, when current owner Gordon Davenport bought the company, Binnewater was the only ice company still in business in Kingston. In the 1980s the Davenports added bottled water to their products. They continued to make ice on site until about three years ago. According to Dianne Davenport the old technology was inefficient, and getting the parts needed to keep it going was just too difficult.

Binnewater still supplies block and cube ice, but its products and services have grown to include bottled spring water in bottles sized from 8 ounces to 5 gallons, coffee and tea along with related needs like cups, sugar and creamer, and delivery of the above items to homes and offices in four counties. Binnewater can also supply its customers with rock salt, ice melt chemicals and firewood. A more recent addition to its offerings are custom labeled water bottles which offer local businesses and organizations a unique marketing opportunity by putting their names and logos in a very visible place and directly into consumers’ hands.

Feeney Shipyard

Feeney Shipyard is another business that is carrying on in an industry that played a major role in the development of Kingston. Beginning in the 1800s with the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and continuing through the mid-20th century heyday of the NY State Barge Canal (modernized Erie and Champlain Canals,) Rondout Creek bustled with tugs and barges as a major east coast port. In the early 1900s it was home of the largest marine towing company in the world, the Cornell Steamboat Company. The company now known as Thomas J. Feeney Enterprises, Inc. was also in business then.

Founded over 100 years ago, this family business has skillfully adapted to changes in technology and transportation trends, and today employs over 30 skilled workers from the Kingston area. Feeney is able to offer superior service at slightly less cost than the shipyards closer to New York City. As to how Kingston might best attract new industry, Tim Feeney said he thinks the problems lie at the state level. “Our local government wants to do more to attract and retain business, but taxation, compensation costs and environmental review process kill projects before they can get started.  These problems, coupled with the utter dis-functionality of the New York State Assembly and Senate, prevent many solid companies from even considering New York as a potential locale for a new or expanding business,” he said.

In 1904, when Thomas A. Feeney started his shipyard, the D&H Canal was newly defunct but traffic on the Barge Canal was booming. Feeney specialized in the construction of wooden barges and scows, and between 1917 and 1931 built an average of 14 per year. During the same time, the company was building its own fleet of barges, acquired several tugboats and entered the lucrative towing business on the Barge Canal and Hudson River.

In 1941 the shipyard was retooled to meet the demands of the emerging market for steel-hulled barges. In 1959 Thomas J. and Bernard A. Feeney took over the operation, and over the next decade the yard prospered, expanding it towing fleet to eight tugs and 40 barges, and constructing some 75 barges. Due to the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, canal traffic declined in the 1970s and Feeney’s towing business was hard hit.  In response, the company constructed a 1500-ton floating dry dock and focused on their repair business.

By the early 1980s the shipyard was under the sole ownership of Thomas R. Feeney. He embarked upon an ambitious modernization of the yard’s equipment in order to stay competitive in modern steel repair techniques. Scow and barge repair became the company’s bread and butter for the next 20 years. During these years, Feeney was also able to undertake a few new construction projects including scows, a crane barge and a 180’ dry dock hull. It became clear that the company’s future lay in repair, not construction.

A new opportunity to specialize in tug repair has been seized by the current generation of Feeneys – Tim and Sean.  The yard recently completed several installations of bow pins on traditional tugs to allow use in an ATB (Articulated Tug Barge) system, which is a new method of coupling a tug and barge using an articulated or “hinged” connection system.

Recent improvements to the shipyard include 350’ of new bulkhead, new heated fabrication and repair shops and a second dry dock. Although maintaining a competitive edge in a modern industry, Feeney prides itself on its traditions. Its corporate goals include the expected promise to provide customers with on time and on budget services, but also include pledges to provide its employees with a safe and friendly atmosphere, and to provide its community with a clean and environmentally responsible business.

On paper, the history of the company shows that it has been passed from father to son through three generations, but when asked about the role of Feeney women, General Manager Tim Feeney stresses that it was they who have contributed the “strong, supporting voice of reason” over the last 100 years. “I know for a fact that without my great grandmother, grandmother, mom, wife and sister-in-law that this business could not have survived this long.”  Enter the next generation: Tim’s 18 year old daughter now works part time at the shipyard – in the field with her dad and her uncle.

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Kingston, Fight Central

August 3rd, 2010

Learning a martial art is not just about getting fit and finding self protection; it’s also a way to build confidence and gain peace of mind. Kingston offers half a dozen schools and martial art classes that represent a variety of approaches and appeal to both genders and all ages, from six to sixty year olds. Whether you want to learn how to move like a cat by studying tai chi, or are itching to attack that punching bag, you’ll find a class in Kingston that suits your taste, pocket book, and schedule.

Keith Bennett, a Six Degree Black Belt Master instructor, has been running Keith Bennett Karate at 58 Albany Ave. for 20 years. His school teaches the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do, which provides the physical and mental tools to enable students to live fuller lives. Bennett has 34 years of experience in karate and is passionately involved with the community, donating his time and skills to 36 different agencies. He’s especially committed to aiding Family of Woodstock and the homeless shelter and said his number one concern is reducing domestic violence aimed at women and children. This month, he will be organizing a fundraiser for the Queens Galley. This month, he is offering an on-line special discount (for details go to his website).

Brian Demorest runs a boxing and fitness gym at 777 Broadway that attracts a variety of clients. A boxer himself in the early 1990s and a trainer of both pro and amateur fighters—including over 30 world champions; Demorest trained the real-life female boxer who knocked out the boxer portrayed by Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby—he gives private lessons that include shadow boxing in the ring and ten rounds of punchment (the student wears boxing gloves and Demorest a special mit) as well as workouts on the heavy bag, double end bag, and speed bag. Jumping rope and an ab workout are also included, helping clients whip into shape.

Demorest also sells $90 monthly memberships to the gym, which is open six days a week. Growing up in Kerhonksen, he started boxing as a teenager while working at a boxing training camp in the Catskills. He opened his facility because “I wanted to do something different and offer a fitness alternative.” (Call 845-389-6106

Miriam Cooper taught tai chi for 20 years in New York City and now is bringing her expertise to Kingston, with a series of five Monday night classes at the BEAHive space, 314 Wall St. The next series will begin in September, and she will present a free lecture and demonstration (call 810-2919 for more info). Affiliated with the tai chi foundation, Cooper said the martial art is a great exercise for health and vitality.

“It’s based on awareness and softness,” she said. “You relax, like a cat. You get better at it as you get older and wiser.” Another appeal is aesthetic. “It’s very beautiful,” said Cooper. “It’s a meditation you do while moving. The health aspect is crucial, leaving you more relaxed and alert.”

Chung-Ma’s Takwondo is a school teaching the classic Korean martial art. It’s been located at 478 Albany Ave. for the past eight years, four of them under the ownership of Mark Davin and Andy Guattery. The school is open enrollment, and when a student first comes in, an instructor will teach basic techniques over the course of two or three weeks for free before signing the person up and charging tuition, should he or she want to make the commitment. Davin said the teachings, which encompass ten belts, are more than learning a series of moves. “It becomes a lifestyle. One attains a level of discipline and self respect.” The attention to the spiritual as well as the physical aspect has enabled kids who get involved to improve their performance at school, Davin said. Currently, the school has 47 to 50 students.

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