Just in time for Spring, this comes to us from KayCee Wimbish:
I am working with some people in Kingston to set up a new CSA site at Keegan Ales. Hearty Roots Community Farm, located in Tivoli, will be delivering 50 shares of locally-grown, pesticide-free produce to Keegan’s Wednesdays from June 3-October 28. People can choose a weekly share for $575 or an every other week share for $300. A weekly share is designed to feed a family of 4 for a week.
For more information, see: www.heartyroots.com
Whenever there’s been a discussion about our community and consumerism, the talk always evolves into the importance of shopping and buying local, and supporting local businesses.
It’s with this in mind, that KingstonCitizens.org presents an initiative, created by KingstonCitizens.org founder Rebecca Martin, titled: STOP, SHOP and GET TO KNOW. Supported by a website (see it here), the program puts a fresh face on the shop local trend with the inclusion of some fun facts about our local businesses. The first business profiled is Nekos-Dedricks Pharmacy, located on North Front Street.
Check out the website, and support our local businesses. They need us as much as we need them.
Did you hear about the Victory Garden that’s planned for City Hall? Rebecca Martin and a host of volunteers are working with the mayor’s office and the Kingston City Schools to create this amazing project that brings together city and school officials, students, volunteers and professional gardeners.
The Freeman reports today that the Kingston High School Jazz Ensemble is “one of 15 school jazz bands from across the country to qualify as finalists for this year’s prestigious 14th annual Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City.”
The students will compete with other ensembles, and attend workshops. The program/festival culminates with a performance. Read the article here. To read more about the festival, click here.
Robert ‘Evry’ Mann, founder of the Center for Creative Education, took some time with the KingstonCitizens.org blog to update the community on the next steps in the Carnegie Library Project as well as why this work is important for youth of our community. He also said the Bank Street College of Education approved a proposal to work with CCE to develop an academic program at the Carnegie Library.
Editor’s Note: I was going to format like a traditional Q&A, but thought his responses work well as a straight narrative.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
The Freeman reports today that the Mardi Gras parade is cancelled because the Rondout Business Association doesn’t have the funds to pay for insurance and police overtime. The other planned events remain a go.
In the case of the parade, which includes four floats and kids in costume, why not still have it, but create a modified version of it? The parade can line up at lower Broadway right near the Downtown Cafe and proceed West along that service road. One end of the parking lot can be closed off and there could be another barricade on the starting corner.
A few barricades. That’s it. It could function just like the block parties held in Kingston where a street is closed off with barricades. There’s no police presence, and no insurance for block parties, right? And the city regulary closes off streets. For this function, the parade can proceed slowly down a narrow street that opens into a parking lot. Just a throught…
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
After this past weekend’s visioning session for Ward 9’s business corridor, I thought about what is going on uptown with the creation of a BID (business improvement district). The effort there is to create stakeholders in the business community who can leverage their collect efforts to create change and improve business.
For us, the end-goals seem to be similar. As residents, though, we hope that our quality of life also improves.
Perhaps what we need is a partnership between businesses, government and residents. We could create a CID (community improvement district) in the Ward, which would focus on key issues impacting our quality of life, business and infrastructure.
Here’s a link to a CID in Georgia, which has a governing board and is tasked with specific and ongoing goals. It’s important to note that this CID works like a BID in the sense that the group taxes itself to pay for improvements. The board is made up of businesses who understand that the added tax is an investment in the success of their businesses.
For us, we can probably do much without added taxes. Collaboration alone can do a lot. Perhaps it would mean volunteers from the high school and community working together with local businesses.
In addition, the CID cited above won grants for some of its work. Perhaps we can pursue funding too.
Either way, it’s worth a look and worth considering for our little corner of Kingston.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
About 20 people gathered this past Saturday at the Kingston Food & Gardens storefront at 33 Broadway for the “Ward 9 is Yours’ and Mine” visioning session, which focused on the commercial business area on Broadway between Foxhall Avenue and West/East Chester streets.
At the session, residents shared ideas for the vacant storefronts along the corridor, and identified hurdles to the overall success of the area from a business perspective. For example, residents said the area — as well as much of Kingston — is in dire need of a sense of pride. Residents recommended a “clean sweep” day where people and businesses take to the streets with brooms and bags to clean up the litter.
For the Ward 9 Broadway business corridor, residents shared their ideas for the types of stores they’d like to see. Ideas included:
— An ice cream parlor
— A custom bike shop
— A community center
— A stationary store
— A vegetarian cafe
— A luncheonette
Residents also discussed the need for several of the medical buildings to open up their Broadway-facing doors, which would encourage foot traffic and help businesses in the area thrive. Right now, there are two buildings — the Broadway Medical Center and the Kingston Hospital Pain Center — that have their Broadway entrances closed. Users of these facilities park in the rear of the buildings.
In addition, residents discussed ways to drawn-in businesses that will enhance the quality of life in Ward 9. Also, the idea of encouraging mixed used development in the corridor was discussed.
The overall tone of the meeting was positive. While the discussion was going on, two artists — Laura and Jasmine — created a mural (a portion of it is picture above) of the business area as it could look in the future.
Rebecca Martin, an organizer of the event and founder of KingstonCitizens.org is creating a “next steps” agenda, which could include another visioning session. Martin said the process could evolve into a comprehensive plan for Ward 9, and perhaps encourage the city to launch a city-wide plan.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
I know the weather was balmy today, but this snow-filled picture reminded me that we still have a few weeks of winter left.
From Ward 9’s Kate Lawson:
35 DuFlon St – a.k.a. Billy Goat Hill. It’s the only one house street I know of in town. Thankfully the snow is hiding the rotting front porch! It’s where I hang my hat at the end of a day. It’s a great family well of days gone by and memories not to be forgotten. It’s a murky vision of hope. It’s why I am slowly becoming a better, active citizen.
Our friends Kevin and Barbara are just back from a trip to New Orleans, and shared this site with us that was of note.
The Hollygrove Growers Market & Farm is a ” storefront retail center in Hollygrove offering locally-grown, affordable fresh produce as well as ‘green jobs’ certification programs in urban agriculture” — a program born out of the need to redevelop New Orleans, post-Katrina.
What’s interesting is that this is the sort of project that can work in an urban setting such as Kingston. The bottom line is about getting healthy food to people.
For our part, Rebecca Martin’s work with Victory Gardens and Jennifer McKinley’s work at the Kingston Food & Gardens buying club have the same aim. It’s nice to see that Kingston is trend right on important issues.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
Ward 9 resident Kate Lawson snapped some great photos of the tugs and barges on the Rondout this weekend. The boats did a little dance to break up the ice.
“Feeney’s were parallel parking a new barge that came in earlier this week,” Kate said. “Have you ever tried parallel parking a barge? It took a good 20 men, 2 tugs, a crane and over 5 hrs of jockeying to do!”
Kate said two tugs “did doughnuts in the creek to chop up the ice. Then came the tedious process of line throwing, lining up and a little more ice chopping.”
Fun stuff.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
Do you have any photos of you, your house, neighborhood or the city that you can share with KingstonCitizens.org? We’re looking for digital photos to occasionally publish on these pages. To submit, please include your full name and a caption, and send them to zaczkiewicz@yahoo.com.
Just wanted to share with you this email from Rebecca Martin regarding our upcoming visioning session:
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
Dear all,
I just got off the phone with the Kingston Times, who is doing a story on the visioning session that Arthur Zaczkiewicz and I are organizing for one block in our neighborhood on Saturday, February 14th at 2:30pm. Those who are on the Ward 9 Community Group email list, and members of the KingstonCitizens.org Yahoo! Groups have received a press release. I’m attaching it below, in the case that you did receive it by not being on one of these lists. While being interviewed today, it occurred to me that I be certain that you were all made aware of what we are doing and to make it clear that it is open to all. I also felt it was necessary to give you a bit of background on why we have decided to proceed with this project.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
As reported today in the Freeman, a task force was formed in Red Hook to update the town’s comprehensive plan, and recommendations to zoning law changes are now in place.
You can read the task force’s report here.
For Kingston, there’s an important lesson to be learned. The Red Hook task force was a collaborative effort that keyed in on a collective vision for the town.
This is what Kingston needs to do. Whether the topic is the Pike Plan, waterfront development or citywide economic development, the city should be working toward collaboration between residents, property owners, businesses, planners and other groups as well as elected officials.
In the meantime, the blog here at KingstonCitizens.org can serve as a forum for ideas, insights and discussions.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz