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Midtown Design Charrette A Big Success

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Last Friday’s design charrette that focused on the Kings Inn in Midtown was a fantastic success. Congratulations from all of us at KingstonCitizens.org.

Here is a press update from one of the coordinators of the event Patrice Courtney Strong:

“A very big thank you from the Business Alliance of Kingston for Friday’s excellent design charrette.

The TV coverage was great:  HudsonValley YNN

Here are two news articles that appeared:

Middletown Times Herald Record and Kingston Daily Freeman.

Another, lengthier one will appear Thursday in the Kingston Times.

We’ll be posting photos of your drawings as soon as possible on our web site.”

Pesticides Banned On School Property and Playgrounds

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By Rebecca Martin

Well I’ll be. As I was exploring the possibilities of a citywide educational campaign for removing pesticides from playgrounds, schools and municipal properties in the city of Kingston, my friend Alice Andrews pointed out that in April of this year New York State created legislation to ban pesticides from these very places (minus the municipal properties). That means, that it is not legal to spray pesticides on any school athletic fields or school playgrounds now in NY State. The new law will go into effect in 180 days, giving schools a full year to completely faze out all of their pesticides and begin to use organic methods.

Did you know that about 8 in 10 children are diagnosed with something called ‘Sensory Processing Disorder‘? Many in the field believe it is caused by environmental factors that include pesticides.

Let’s keep an eye on this in Kingston. Bring it to your Aldermans attention. Copy the legislation and bring it to your school principal. Let’s make sure what’s on the books is absolutely enforced.

Read the legislation HERE

Visit NY Senator Brian X Foley who sponsored the legislation HERE

Visit HERE for a local company that offers healthy alternatives to pesticides

Brand New Jazz Series in Kingston

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On Monday, July 19th LVanHart Artist Productions and 323 Wall Street will debut a brand new jazz series in Kingston, NY.  The concert series will focus on the brightest talent on the jazz scene today.  Guest artists will be drawn from the wealth of local talent that is in our geographic region, as well as bringing in the best that the New York jazz scene has to offer. 

 Jazz @ WallSpace is fortunate to have Steve Wilson and Vic Juris coming from NYC, joining forces with two ‘locals,’ Jay Anderson from New Paltz, and Dennis Mackrel makes his home in Woodstock.  This quartet exemplifies the mission of Jazz @ WallSpace.   These four fabulous musicians have all played together in different configurations, but never in this quartet.  Wilson and Anderson currently tour together in Maria Schneider’s Orchestra.  Anderson and Mackrel have performed together with Chaka Khan and Maria Schneider, as well as local favorite, Betty MacDonald.  Juris has performed with Wilson, Anderson and Mackrel, with his own groups, with the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, among others. 

For more, contact Laura Hartmann at la***@******rt.com

Tyke Bikes

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By Rebecca Martin

On the outskirts of the city of Kingston, NY. there is a bike shop that is wonderfully old school.

Last fall, Larry and I went looking for our sons very first bike. Lucky for me,  I came across the “Famous Bike Brothers” out on Boices Lane.  In business since 1974, their small shop was filled with a great selection of bikes, helmets and gloves. The service was outstanding, too.

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“Gasland” Documentary Showing with Director Josh Fox and Congressman Maurice Hinchey

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It’s hard to imagine that anyone could think drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation in NY State for a natural gas source is a good idea.  Knowing the real environmental dangers and hazard to our surface water in the Southern Tier and Catskills regions is enough to call the whole thing off.

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A Local Currency? Introducing Hudson Valley Current

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By Rebecca Martin

Last year, I received a phone call from a fairly new resident to Kingston named Sean Griffin who wished to discuss a great idea.  He called it the “Hudson Valley Currency”  back then –  a local currency he and his group hoped to design to work in the area.

How would a local currency be implemented into our current system you ask? KingstonCitizens.org was able to get the lowdown from David McCarthy, one of the three partners (the others are Sean and Chris Fenichel-Hewitt who we hope to catch up with at a later date) to explain.

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Healer from Peru Visits Midtown Kingston This Weekend

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By Rebecca Martin

Leave it to Ev Mann (Executive Director of the Center for Creative Education) to bring someone as special as Eda Zavala Lopez to Midtown Kingston. The two met when she was in NY in April working on a project for indigenous rights at the UN. A noted healer from the Peruvian Amazon, Eda is descended from a long line of healers in the tradition of the Wari people.In July, Hudson Valley residents will have two unique opportunities to see her.

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Volunteers Needed at Kingston Farmers’ Market

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The Kingston Farmers’ Market is looking for volunteers this weekend to count visitors to the market. They need one person from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and four people from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Interested volunteers should call Donna Brooks, Hudson Coffee Traders, at 338-1300.

This weekend, the focus of the Healthy Eating series is on blueberries. There’ll be chef demonstrations showing how to prepare this local fruit. Additionally, County Executive Mike Hein is scheduled to be on hand. Hein will be helping out with a corn roast from noon until 1 p.m.

Breaking the Chain, Part II

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Kingston's new "Harmacy". Poetic justice, as recalled by Rebecca Martin
CVS. Photo by Nancy Graham.

By Arthur Zaczkiewicz

As we continue to slog through this recession (we’re in a double-dip one, according to some experts), there are a lot of actions citizens like you and me can do to help weather this downturn. As consumers (two thirds of our GDP is driven by consumer spending), we have a lot of power to change the economy – especially on a local level.

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The Economic Power of Open Space

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The Rondout.

By Arthur Zaczkiewicz

As you may have read, a recent study revealed that open space in the nearby Shawangunks — Minnewaska, Sam’s Point and Mohonk preserves — feeds over $12 million to the local economy each year. The money comes from the 392,000 or so annual visitors to these areas. This spotlights an important trend: open space has value.

Read more…

Shining The Light

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At the half year point of 2010, KingstonCitizens.org would like to get feedback on what grass root effort this year has inspired you the most.

It has been an especially productive year amidst the hardships. We at KingstonCitizens.org are particularly fond of The Hodge Food For Thought Program, Queens Galley’s  Hudson Valley  Hunger Banquet, Kingston, NY’s Neighborhood Watch, The Citywide Clean-up and Lawn Sale effort  and KURA to name a few.

Help us to shine the light and share with us the many others, seen or unseen.