Only In Your State gave a glowing review to Woodstock Brewing in Phoenicia. Witt Wells says the brewery at 5581 NY-28 in Phoenicia "has some of the best eats" in New York State.
An unexpected problem amid the replacement of a Route 28 bridge over
the Esopus Creek in the town of Shandaken have moved the anticipated
reopening of the span from Oct. 7 to sometime in mid-November, according
to the town supervisor.
Rob Stanley said he was told of the new target date for completion by the state Department of Transportation.
The project began in April. So far, two of three new concrete
abutments have been positioned, and steel has been laid over the top of
them. But construction of the third abutment, on the west side of the
creek, has been held up, Stanley said.
When excavators dug down, it was discovered a shelf of bedrock on
which the abutment was to sit on wasn’t exactly where expected.
It was only a few feet away, but that meant that the abutment, under
the original plan, would be sitting on soft ground instead of solid rock
unless changes were made. So design engineers were called in to rethink
the plan and devise a new one that takes into account the real location
of the rock shelf.
The result was a delay of several weeks.
When completed, the new bridge on Route 28, near the intersection
with Route 42, will be longer, wider and higher than the old one and
will eliminate a rail crossing where development of a recreational trail
is planned.
The old bridge was 233 feet long and 33 feet wide. The new span
will be 293 feet long and 40 feet wide, and the road will be 8 feet
higher above the creek than the old bridge.
The anticipated traffic volume is 2,600 vehicles per day.
The posted detour for Route 28 drivers includes Route 42, Creekside Drive and Firehouse Road.
Thanks to a new contribution from the State, pedestrians may yet be able to traverse the Hudson from Greene to Columbia Counties.
Photos courtesy of NYS Bridge Authority
A brand new pedestrian walkway connecting Greene County and Columbia County is in the works, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday. A
feasibility study for the Hudson River SkyWalk, which would connect two
of the Hudson River's popular tourist destinations—the Olana State
Historic Site in Greenport and Thomas Cole National Historic Site in
Catskill—has been initiated thanks to a $124,000 grant awarded by the
Department of State through the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program.
The Shandaken Town Hall on state Route 28 in Allaben
File photo by Tony Adamis
SHANDAKEN: Town Supervisor Rob Stanley says he has been talking with state Department of Transportation Officials about the projected traffic impact of a state Route 28 bridge project scheduled for 2016.
The bridge, just west of the intersection of Routes 28 and 42, is slated for complete replacement.
The original plan was to keep one lane open, with traffic signals controlling the flow of vehicles. Instead, the bridge will be shut down for six months next year, and traffic will be detoured to the 4-mile-long Creekside Drive, known locally as Old Route 28.
Stanley said the plan was changed to speed the project and not interfere with traffic to and from Belleayre Mountain during ski season.
“The concern was that the single-lane plan would make the project take three times as long,” the supervisor said.
County Executive Michael Hein with former Congressman Maurice Hinchey at the dedication. (photo by Alan Carey)
Several hundred people gathered for the dedication and opening of the
Maurice D. Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center (CIC) in Mount Tremper
on July 1. Local officials spoke in celebration of the long-delayed
center, addressing an audience that included many Shandaken residents,
along with representatives of cultural and environmental organizations. Former Congressman Hinchey was present to receive the accolades of
his admirers, including Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, who praised
him as “someone who understood the issue of the environment when no one
else was talking about it, who understood what it meant to be stewards
of the environment and why it mattered.” Assemblyman Kevin Cahill said
he had worked for Hinchey in 1975, when the Congressman sponsored bills
such as one that banned new billboards from being erected in the
Catskills.
Followup to story on Red Hook, from Poughkeepsie Journal.
For Village of Red Hook officials, the threat of fiscal stress isn’t news, Mayor Ed Blundell said. Red
Hook is one of 15 villages in the state undergoing some fiscal stress,
according to state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. DiNapoli used
financial indicators such as year-end fund balance, cash position and
patterns of operating deficits for an overall fiscal stress score. Red
Hook landed on the lowest level — “susceptible to stress” — with a score
of 49.2 percent. A score of 45 to 55 percent would get a village on the
list. Red Hook is
on the list largely because of a low fund balance — about $168,000,
Blundell said. Raising the fiscal reserves is something village
officials have been addressing.
Fifteen villages in New York state, including Red Hook in Northern
Dutchess, are under some level of fiscal stress, according to the state
Comptroller’s Office. The 15 villages were separated into three categories —
“significant stress,” “moderate stress” and “susceptible to fiscal
stress.” Red Hook is in the “susceptible” group, the least serious of
the three, as is the Orange County village of Goshen.
The four “significant stress” villages were given scores ranging from
65.4 to 86.7 percent, with the higher numbers being worse; the
“moderate stress” villages were scored from 57.5 to 64.2 percent; and
the “susceptible to fiscal stress” villages had scores ranging from 47.9
to 53.3 percent. Red Hook scored 49.2 percent. Among other villages in the Mid-Hudson, Tivoli scored 36.3
percent. Ellenville scored 24.2, Saugerties scored 15.8, New Paltz
scored 14.6, Hunter scored 11.3 and Rhinebeck scored 8.3. None had a
score high enough to be included in any of the stress categories.
Online resources: • The list of New York villages designated as being under some level of fiscal stress can be found at bit.ly/1f1tPVe.
• A complete list of village scores can be viewed at bit.ly/1jkj0Vq.
• A copy of the comptroller’s report on fiscally stressed villages is at bit.ly/1bCLvJd.
• To search for as specific local government’s fiscal stress score, go to bit.ly/1mbt6aM.
• For an overview of DiNapoli’s Fiscal Monitoring System, go to bit.ly/1dtGkMc.
Daily Freeman story:
Concerned about the growing number of black bears in New York, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has drawn up a plan that includes enhanced hunting opportunities in the Catskills and part of the Hudson Valley to manage the population.
The department’s draft plan for bear management can be viewed online at bit.ly/LxbsAt. The public can comment on the plan until Feb. 21. Comments can be mailed to NYSDEC Bureau of Wildlife, Bear Management Plan, 625 Broadway, Albany, N.Y., 12233-4754 or emailed to fwwildlife@gw.dec.state.ny.us with “Bear Plan” in the subject line.
WEST HURLEY >> A New York City Department of Environmental
Protection officer was treated for shoulder and arm injuries Tuesday
after a scuffle with a man found urinating on city property near the
Ashokan Reservoir not far from state Route 28, according to a spokesman
for the city agency. At about 10:50 a.m. Tuesday, the officer
approached the man, who appeared to be “trespassing and urinating
simultaneously” at the Woodstock Dike near Route 28, according to agency
spokesman Adam Bosch.
A sidebar column in the July 29, 2013 issue of The New Yorker, begins:
If there’s any evidence (besides rising real-estate prices, of course)
for the Hudson Valley’s new semi-chic status, it’s Bard SummerScape, the
annual performing-arts cavalcade that Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, has commanded since 2002.
One supposes we are, by virtue of proximity, also semi-chic.
