With mountains high, rushing waters and rapids low, the
folks in the cozy hamlet of Phoenicia are rightfully proud to live
amidst all that nature has provided. Situated as it is in the High Peaks
Region of the Catskills, it makes sense that there’s an emphasis on
play here.
Nearly 400 people call Phoenicia
home, according to the last Census, and they make the most of it.
Businesses range from the outdoors-focused to shops selling home
furnishings as well as eateries, art galleries, hotels and guest houses.
The
Phoenicia Business Association’s website – phoeniciany.com – makes it
easy to find out about what’s going on and it offers links to the area
shops and services.
This building on Andrew Lane in the Shandaken hamlet of Mount Tremper will be home to the Foxfire Mountain House.
From foxfiremountainhouse.comMOUNT TREMPER >> A combined hotel, restaurant and bar will operate on Andrew Lane in this town of Shandaken hamlet.
Tim Trojian, owner of the property at 72 Andrew Lane, has been
given permission by the town to renovate an existing structure on the
site and turn it into a business called the Foxfire Mountain House. The
hotel will have 10 guest rooms. Trojian, speaking at a July 8 public hearing about his plan, said
the building was constructed more than a century ago, when such
facilities dotted the local hillsides and trains brought visitors up
from New York City. “Our goal is to restore the inn which was originally built around
1900 and known as the Mountain Breeze House,” he said. “We’ve taken the
time to do the best we can to restore the inn — not to historical
values, but to make sure it stays as a piece of the town’s heritage for
the next hundred years.” Several neighbors have voiced concerns about traffic flow on the half-mile road that leads to the inn. Trojian’s property sits at the end of the narrow, dead-end Andrew
Lane. Several houses are located along the way up the hill to the site,
and many are close to the road. The Shandaken Planning Board said it will ask the town highway
superintendent to take a look at the road. The board also plans to
recommend a lower speed limit. Concerns also have been voiced about noise from the new business
because Trojian said he plans to host weddings there as soon as next
month. The Foxfire Mountain House will be on hillside on the south side of Route 28, just west of the Emerson Resort and Spa. Trojian and his wife, Arden, have established an online journal at foxfiremountainhouse.com to tell the story of their adventure as the property’s new owners. They said they bought the site in 2013. The website feature old photos of the site’s former inn during
its glory days, as well as images showing how it fell into disrepair and
the restoration efforts. “Here’s the situation at its core: We are the proud new owners of
a property in sleepy, lovely Mouny Tremper which was once the famed
Mountain Breeze Guest House,” the Trojians say on the site. “In between
its previous life as a hotel and coming to us, the property has fallen
into overgrown, crumbling, love-needing disrepair. ... We’ve come a long
way, but we’ve got miles more to go.” We hope you’ll join us along the
way....”
NEXUS kicks off the official opening of Maverick's 100th season.
The traditional summer concert series kicks off this
weekend. Following the Actors & Writers workshop on June 26, which
features a reading from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” is a
Young People’s Concert the next morning featuring the world-renowned
percussion group NEXUS. The Young People’s Concert is free for children;
their parents pay $5.
“Two of the four Young
People’s Concerts this year have the same artists in the morning working
with the children as are performing later in the evening for the
adults,” says Segal. “Garry (Kvistad of NEXUS) will bring instruments
for the children that even I haven’t seen before. …
“Then
that evening, there will be the world premiere of Peter Schickele’s
work,” says Segal of Percussion Sonata No. 3, “Maverick,” which was
commissioned for Maverick’s centenary by Garry and Diane Kvistad and the
Woodstock Chimes Foundation and will be performed by NEXUS.
ALLABEN >> The owners of the farm stand forced out of business
in Mount Tremper are going to try once again to gain town approval to
reopen.
At a Shandaken Planning Board meeting June 10, owner Al Higley asked the board to help him restart the approval process.
Higley’s representative, Don Brewer, who is also chairman of the
town Planning Board, said the proposed farm stand would require several
variances from town zoning law to be approved.
With a new application, Higley would be seeking a waiver from
laws that he says restrict the size of the business. A surveyor by
trade, Brewer said town law allows only 2,687 square feet of structure,
parking, septic field, and other activity.
“The size of the farm stand is bigger than what’s allowed,” he
told the board, adding that Higley is looking to use almost 7,000 square
feet instead.
On Nov. 27, 2013, state Supreme Court Justice Mary Work gave the
Hanover Farms owners 60 days to take down their farm stand, which is
located on state Route 28.
That gave Higley and his son, Alfie, until Jan. 25, 2014, to
remove the structure and end the legal battle between Hanover Farms and
the town of Shandaken that began in 2012 when the Higleys filed a
lawsuit against the town and former Shandaken code enforcement officer
Richard Stokes.
The removal of the part of the farm stand that was rule to have
been illegally constructed was tabled while the Higleys attempted to go
through a new application process last year with the town’s Zoning
Board. On Oct. 15, 2014, that application was denied “due to a lack of
response from the applicant and failure to submit the required
documentation from the Department of Transportation as requested by the
[Zoning Board].”
Shortly afterwards, the Higleys moved their operation out of
town, setting up shop in a former bank branch building in the town of
Olive and calling it Greenheart Farms.
As requested by Higley, the town Planning Board voted last week
to send the matter to the town Zoning Board of Appeals for review.
As was the case previously, the Zoning Board would need to grant
the zoning variances before the Higleys could move ahead with any
further review by the Planning Board.
The hamlet of Pine Hill is in the Ulster County town of Shandaken.
Photo by Tony Adamis
By Jay Braman Jr., Posted:
|
SHANDAKEN >> The town of has taken steps to get financial help from the MARK Project for two hamlets.
At the June meeting of the Shandaken Town Board, MARK Executive
Director Peg Ellsworth asked for and received full support from the four
board members present. That support allows MARK to take a more regional
approach to fundraising for Main Street revitalization projects.
Ellsworth said that, in the past, such projects were isolated
efforts that benefited one town at a time. But now, MARK will prepare a
truly regional proposal for a territory that not only crosses town lines
but also the border of Ulster and Delaware counties.
MARK is preparing a grant application for costs associated with a
regional NY Main Street Façade Program. MARK will propose to assist at
least four mixed-use or commercial structures in Grand Gorge, Arkville,
Halcottsville, Margaretville, Fleischmanns, Andes, Pine Hill and
Roxbury. If successful, MARK will allocate up to $15,000 per façade and
up to $75,000 to help fund an “anchor activity.”
Also, Shandaken Supervisor Rob Stanley has asked MARK to prepare a
grant application for the Phoenicia Water District to secure funds for
four separate projects: the connection of a water main on upper High
Street, relocating a pump station out of the Esopus Creek floodway,
reclaiming an infiltration gallery and installing a third filtration
pump for Phoenicia’s water system.
Ellsworth said MARK would prepare the grant application at a cost of $3,500. It must be submitted by July 31.
A look at the Chichester-Silver Hollow neighborhoods across the months, from road work on Route 214 near the entrance to the CPOA grounds, across early 2014, the Phoenicia Voice Festival, autumn, the reopening of the Phoenicia Library, into 2015.
This summer, there will be only one production, Our Country’s Good, based
on a Thomas Keneally novel about a play performed by prisoners in one
of the first penal colonies in Australia. The show opens in July.
Committed, as ever, to educational outreach, Kanter is setting up
scene-based workshops in local schools to address the problem of
bullying.
By chance, found this item on the Web. Poor grammar and spelling and a plethora of apostrophes aside, it makes for (somewhat) interesting reading.
Phoenicia, New York Phoenicia is a beautiful and sleepy little town in the heart of the
Catskill Mountains. Between it’s scenery (it’s in the middle of a
state park) and close proximity to NYC, it can get touristy in the
summer. But with only a handful of hotels with small capacities,
Phoenicia holds it’s own with awesome, friendly locals and weirdo
townies.
It's an its and an it's.
Where to stay: As far as hotels go, the go-to for New Yorkers is The Graham & Co. The
structure is an old-school motel that’s been totally renovated by a
team of designers based in NYC. Rooms are designed to be simple, but
beautiful; think “Donald Judd meets outdoorsy.”
Upon check-in, expect stellar treatment from the impossibly cool staff, and a can of Budweiser with your room key.
I thought one was given PBR.
Shopping: After you get off I-87, you’ll drive into
Phoenicia on NY-28 which is practically lined with barn sales, antique
shacks, thrift stores and the like. One of our very favorite places is
the antique barn somewhere between Kingston and Phoenicia, pictured
above.. It’s on the right side of the road coming into town about 10
miles outside of Phoenicia.
Somewhere.
Eating & drinking: There aren’t many options in
Phoenicia, but fortunately the few options are all good options.
Probably the best meal in Phoenicia is breakfast because you can have
your pick. First up, Sweet Sue’s is an impossibly cute breakfast and lunch joint with pancakes that will blow your mind. The Phoenicia Diner is also awesome; the design feels straight out of Brooklyn but has a great mix of locals and vacationers at all times.
Straight outta Brooklyn. (And, remember, Sweet Sue's is now closed.)
On Sunday thirty of us got together for a brunch at the CPOA house, opening up the 2015 season in great style. The table was laden with good food brought in by community members.
On Monday the hamlet of Phoenicia put on its annual Memorial Day parade. It was a beautiful, warm morning, and the community turned out to salute its veterans and Onteora School majorettes and marching band, Boy Scouts, and the Phoenicia and Shandaken-Allaben Fire Departments and Ambulance Corps.
The department has expressed interest in a 4-acre parcel between the
Phoenicia Diner and the Phoenicia Plaza on the south side of state Route
28.
The town bought the land several years ago as a location for a
planned Phoenicia wastewater treatment plant. But buying the land is as
far as things got. The town ultimately dropped the construction plan
amid community opposition, and the land remains vacant.
“After the project was closed, the town had the property
appraised and placed on the market for sale,” said Shandaken Supervisor
Rob Stanley. “There have been no takers ... and now the DEP would like
to know how the town wishes to proceed.”
The city department is interested in the parcel, now appraised at
$107,000, because it can be developed. It also abuts parcels owned by
the city department and the state.
The Phoenicia Library’s move from temporary quarters on Ava Maria
Drive to its renovated home on Main Street is tentatively scheduled for
December, announced library director Elizabeth Potter, who hopes to open
in the updated space by January 1. With the reconstruction nearing
completion, the moving date will depend on when the new shelving is
ready to be delivered, and the library will be closed for two to three
weeks during the transition period. An electrical fire gutted the Main Street building in March 2010. The
$800,000 rebuild was financed through a mix of insurance money, state
grants, personal donations, and fundraising initiatives.
Energy-efficient and handicapped-accessible, the structure has been
enlarged to accommodate a ramp, elevator, and community meeting room. Employees will be getting used to the new technologies of the
building, including lighting, the elevator, and the “passive house”
heat-exchange system, which will require no heating fuel. Staff will
also be getting up to speed on the new computers, provided through a
grant from New York State. Patrons will have to plan ahead once the moving date is firmed up, as
it will not be possible to check out books in Phoenicia for a couple of
weeks. When placing a hold, patrons can specify pick-up at nearby
libraries, such as Olive, Pine Hill, or Woodstock.
When the moving and opening dates are set, they will be posted on the
Phoenicia Library website, http://phoenicialibrary.org, or the
library’s Facebook page.
Woodstock Times article, by Violet Snow on Sep 18, 2014 • 5:00 pm
(Photo by Dion Ogust)
Pharmacist and WellCare founder Ed Ullman’s plans to buy the Phoenicia
Pharmacy have been scotched by the refusal of the Catskill Watershed
Corporation (CWC) to grant him a low-interest loan for renovating the
property. Ullman’s is the second application to the CWC since the
Phoenicia town board’s failure to act on the sewer system proposal
resulted in New York City’s withdrawal of funds from the project in
2012. Both Ullman and the previous applicant, Mike Ricciardella, who was
seeking a loan to renovate the former Al’s Restaurant, were turned down
by the CWC.
Ricciardella succeeded in obtaining private financing for his new
restaurant, now renamed The Phoenician and scheduled to open this fall
in its expanded building on Main Street. Ullman pointed out that
Ricciardella, as owner of three other restaurants in town, has plenty of
collateral, and The Phoenician is not in the floodplain. Ullman,
doubtful about the prospects of getting a private loan for the pharmacy,
has withdrawn his purchase offer.
Due to booming business during a summer that has brought throngs of
thirsty visitors, the Phoenicia Water District has started a project to
reclaim precious spring water for the hamlet to make sure there’s enough
to go around. Water Commissioner Rick Ricciardella said Monday work will soon
begin on carving a road up the mountain across the street from the
district filtration plant to grant access to the half dozen natural
springs that have supplied water to the hamlet for the past 100 years. After a century of thunderstorms, spring thaws and summer
droughts, erosion has gradually restricted the flow from those springs
to reservoirs built to hold the supply, he said.
The Ulster County Legislature has made it county policy that the
former Ulster and Delaware rail corridor that stretches from the city of
Kingston to the Ashokan Reservoir be converted to trail use when the
county’s lease with the Catskill Mountain Railroad ends in 2016.
Ulster County Legislators voted 18-4 on Tuesday to adopt a
resolution that adopts the “segmented trail and rail” plan championed by
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein. That plan calls for a walking
trail only from Kingston to the western side of the Ashokan Reservoir
and a tourist train between Mount Tremper and Phoenicia.
But legislators didn’t completely give up on the prospect of a
future railroad operation in the corridor. Among the amendments made to
the resolution is one that requires legislative approval to remove any
railroad tracks.
The postal service, which is not supported by taxes, faces a $10 billion deficit this year, due largely to the ubiquity of email. In order to reduce the annual shortfall, hours have been cut back at rural post offices over the past few years. In 2013, the Lake Hill and Mount Tremper post offices were cut to four hours per day of counter time, and Chichester is slated to make the same reduction. “I understand it’s a major change for some of us,” said Fitzpatrick. “We will do everything we can to make it seamless.”
A Phoenicia icon has been on the market since early April, with
pharmacist Marty Millman contemplating retirement after 34 years in
business at the Phoenicia Pharmacy. Millman, about to turn 78, is
selling both the building, with an asking price of $395,000, and the
business, also priced at $395,000, in the hope that he can find a buyer
who will keep a pharmacy in operation at the site. The Gordon Brothers Pharmacy operated for several years on the south
side of Phoenicia’s Main Street, where Ruth Gale Realty is now located.
Phillip and Joe Gordon built the present pharmacy building in 1950. When
the Millmans arrived, they rented half of the building at first, then
bought it from the Gordons in 1981. The Head-to-Toe Shop sold ladies’
clothing in the other half until that shop folded, when proprietor
Dorothy Cutrone went to work for the pharmacy.
Story from the Chronogram on the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice.
The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice will be held on July 30-August 3
When the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice returns to the Catskills this July, it will have raised the bar—about two octaves higher.
Celebrating its fifth season this year, the festival welcomes countertenor Brian Asawa to its mainstage. Asawa is one of the world's foremost countertenors, having brought his powerful, flexible, and impressively high vocal range to such world-class venues as the Metropolitan Opera, the Palais Garnier in Paris, and Madrid's Teatro Real. Capable of singing within typically female vocal registers—contralto, mezzo-soprano, and sometimes even soprano—countertenors are today relatively rare. The festival will feature Asawa in this summer's edition of "Voices of Distinction," a program of some of the most exceptional vocal works of the Baroque period. The artist will also host a free lecture titled "The Art of I'castratti," in which he will discuss the historic, long-abandoned practice of castrating young singers as well as the vocal aesthetic of a modern countertenor.
Another high note of the festival, and an accent of this year's Spanish theme, will be a staging of Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." Based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comic French play of the same name, the opera buffa is one of the most popular and widely performed operas in the world—few today can hear its overture without Bugs Bunny coming to mind. Festival Executive Director Maria Todaro and internationally acclaimed baritone and Phoenicia newcomer Lucas Meachem will top the bill, singing the principle roles of the beautiful Rosina and the clever Figaro.
A sign outside the former Hanover Farms stand on state Route 28 in Mount Tremper announces the business’ relocation.
Photo by Jay Braman Jr. The embattled Hanover Farms stand has left the town of Shandaken for neighboring Olive and has changed its name. Closed since last year for violating Shandaken restrictions
regarding its size, the farm stand is relocating to the Olive hamlet of
Shokan. “FARM STAND RE-OPENING AT OLD BANK IN SHOKAN!” states a sign at
the business’ former location on state Route 28 in the hamlet of Mount
Tremper. The site to which Hanover is moving, also on Route 28, was
occupied by a Bank of America branch until the spring of 2013. Hanover
owners Al and Alfie Higley have been setting up their business in a tent
in the bank’s paved parking lot, near the former drive-up window. A sign at the new site proclaims the business’ new name: Greenheart Farmstand.
The
Mid Hudson Valley from New Paltz to Saugerties is taking a pretty good
beating at the moment. Frequent lightning, heavy rain and hail are
impacting this region, please post observations below.
"Aside from the terrific unspoiled wilderness feel of the area, and the
wonderful neighbors, the best thing about owning a home in Chichester is
the opportunity to belong to the Chichester Property Owners
Association," says Marrazzo. "It's like a private club, with about 100
members, representing about 35 different families, mostly descended from
people who owned summer places here in the 1940s."
The Shandaken Planning Board is expected to take a long, hard look at
the details of a controversial plan to allow the New York City
Department of Environmental Protection to buy homes and businesses in
local hamlets and villages.
NEXUS kicks off the official opening of Maverick's 100th season.
(Photo by Dion Ogust)
