2011: how the New York Times reports the Hudson Valley

U.S. Indicts 31 in Crackdown on Newburgh Gangs

“‘Because gang violence and drug dealing on the streets of Newburgh remain intolerable, we mean to and we must put an end to the scourge that calls itself the Latin Kings,’ Mr. Bharara said at a news conference.”

Police Officer and 2 Others Are Killed in Poughkeepsie

“A police officer died hours after being shot in the head in an episode that ended with two other people shot to death near a train station here on Friday.”

Woman Tells of Boy’s Plea for Help After 4 Drownings

“The first sign of the tragedy involved the argument at Ms. Armstrong’s apartment on a hardscrabble block in the center of Newburgh, about 60 miles north of Manhattan.”

A Country Home, by a Modernist at Play

“The Plastic Tent, one of five so-called Symbolic Houses Mr. Johansen designed between the late 1950s and the 1970s, represented a departure from the modernism practiced by his colleagues.”

House Tour: Millbrook, N.Y.

“With a growing family, we wanted more room than an apartment in the city could offer. But we didn’t want to move to the suburbs.”

Light Bulb Saving Time

“Darren Henault, a Manhattan decorator, has already splurged on light fixtures in his Millbrook, N.Y., farmhouse, which dates from the early 19th century, and he is fearful that the bulbs sold in the future won’t be up to snuff.”

Security Checks on Boaters Disrupt Idyllic Life on the Hudson

“‘One time I got stopped four times in one day,’ Mr. O’Brien, 45, an M.R.I. technologist from Orange County, said.”

Horse Farm Prices Take a Tumble

“As a result, places like Warwick have become viable alternatives, especially for people who work from home and only commute to Manhattan two or three days a week.”

The Exurbs, Too, Appreciate an Oasis

“For 20 years Wayne Collier, a construction superintendent in Midtown Manhattan, endured a daily commute of an hour and 45 minutes each way in order to live in the historic town of Hyde Park in Dutchess County.”

Williamsburg on the Hudson

“There is a parlor game people sometimes play, comparing Hudson Valley towns with New York neighborhoods.”

In Catskill Communities, Survivors Are Left With Little but Their Lives

“It was the day after in Prattsville, and in Jewett, Maplecrest, Windham, and other normally placid Catskill communities where the storm’s devastation played out with some of its most ferocious malice about 140 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.”

Upstate Farmers Find That a Fertile Flood Plain Is a Two-Edged Sword

“From the Hudson Valley to areas farther north, along the Mohawk River and Schoharie Creek, New York growers, many of whose farms have been in the family for generations, were dealt a devastating blow by the storm, which dumped heavy rain on the region.”

Radio D.J. in the Catskills Offered a Lifeline During the Storm

“For many of the 49,000 people spread out over the 650-odd square miles that make up Greene County, Mr. Fink became the voice of the storm.”

Once a Fast Track, Now a Real Hike to the Top

“One of the project’s founders is Beacon’s mayor, Steve Gold, who, while campaigning for a City Council position in 1995, asked residents what they liked best about Beacon. Knocking on door after door, he would hear the same answer: the incline railway.”

Upstate Butchers Come to Brooklyn

“Jessica and Joshua Applestone made their name butchering pasture-raised beef, pork and lamb, and teaching others the art, in their shop in Kingston, N.Y.”

After the Storm, Fall Foliage Deals

“In Ulster County, where tourism is a $420 million industry with roughly 40 percent of that accounted for in the fall, tourism officials report that hotels and restaurants are ready for visitors, though a few minor detours might be involved.”

Young Farmers Find Huge Obstacles to Getting Started

“Similar stories prompted the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, a new group that has grown out of the Hudson Valley in New York, to survey more than 1,000 young farmers nationwide in an effort to identify the pitfalls that are keeping a new generation of Americans from going into agriculture.”

Dutchess County Joins the Dance

“In sharp contrast to Westchester these days, Dutchess County is awash in new home construction — fueled mainly by young families in search of rambling colonials, large backyards and low property taxes.”