Mom and Pop Are Leaving the Station
“Sites that might be developed as part of this initiative, according to the agency, include the stations and parking sites at Mamaroneck, Beacon, Southeast, Harriman, Otisville and Middletown and the parking facility at Port Chester.”
A Man in a Pickle Jumps Into the Brine
“A heightened level of seriousness entered the equation when Mr. Field visited friends in upstate New York three years ago and learned about the Rosendale International Pickle Festival.”
A Modern-Day Noah, and the Water’s Rising
“But was Kathy Stevens, intrepid founder of the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, rethinking just what she had wrought four years ago when she created the menagerie that now includes 18 horses, 8 cows, 25 goats, 9 sheep, 8 pigs, 20 chickens, 2 turkeys, 5 geese, 12 ducks and 5 rabbits? Clearly, she was not.”
Family Says Suspect Wanted to Die
“He went to the Hudson Valley Mall, north of Kingston, hoping to be shot and killed by a police officer, family members told The Poughkeepsie Journal and The Daily Freeman of Kingston.”
A Second Home, A Second Career
“While there are no figures on the number of weekenders who have taken to selling real estate, many popular vacation spots boast one or more.”
New vs. Old, This Time With a River
“But the fact is there are fewer and fewer Springers left. The mayor estimates that they make up 40 to 45 percent of the town. Ed Cretelli, who went to high school with Mr. Phillips and now runs C&E Paint Supply, thinks it’s more like 15 to 20 percent.”
“A grand jury in Ulster County, N.Y., released an 18-count indictment yesterday against Robert Bonelli Jr., 24, who is accused of opening fire at a Kingston mall in February, injuring two people.”
“THE STANDBY — Woodstock, N.Y. THE ALTERNATIVE — Delaware County, N.Y. THE DOWNSIDE — Exceeds the crucial 2.5-hour drive limit from Manhattan.”
A Meditation on Taxes, and Bad Karma
“Still, the two Buddhist centers in Ulster County have one thing other than religion in common — both propose to turn old golf courses into tax-exempt religious properties.”
Country Dinner Parties: Mind Your Manners
“Despite tales of urbanite cluelessness, however, country weekend hosts are locked into a time-honored symbiosis with city dwellers looking for temporary escapes from the asphalt. It is the lack of urban stimulation, after all, that makes the dinner party so crucial to country-house socializing.”
“There is another office in Poughkeepsie with 20 people, but that is for Hudson Valley magazine, a general interest magazine that Mr. Martinelli also publishes.”
Where Snow Is Stubborn, Skiers Can Be Stubborner
“For Belleayre, which is finishing its busiest year ever, opening early in the season and staying open late is part of a marketing plan.”
Cement Plant Along Hudson Is Rejected as Unsightly
“‘Stop the Plant’ lawn signs are a common site in many Columbia County villages.”
“While prices are now rising fast in Catskill, a Victorian that could be bought five years ago for $75,000 would still cost only $150,000 to $200,000, said Lucinda Mellen of the Property Store in Freehold, N.Y. — still ‘a song,’ she noted, compared with prices in Columbia and Ulster Counties.”
Ex-Boyfriend of Woman Found in River Is Arrested
“She disappeared on June 20, 1998, from their home in Newburgh, N.Y.; her skeletal remains were discovered in 2001 near the New York State Thruway south of the town.”
The Taking of the Picture Lasts Longer
“But then ghostly blurry images compacted over time feel right at home in Newburgh, a place of palpable decay and vibrant history, its distilled essence not at all clear.”
“Once an area of ‘poor dairy farms,’ according to Ms. Gillespie-Stoller, the Town of Montgomery has attracted many new residents in recent years: some weekenders, some snowbirds, more commuters.”
“Poughkeepsie is best known as an old, working-class Hudson River town that time and stagnation have left in disrepair and disrepute. But these days it is also home to Huma Bhabha and Jason Fox, a successful New York artist couple who were looking to escape the punishing cycle of ever-rising rents on their Manhattan studios and a depressing tenement apartment.”
Book Names Beacon As Art-Friendly Town
“Peekskill is out. Beacon is in. At least, that is the report from the fourth edition of John Villani’s 100 Best Art Towns in America: A Guide to Galleries, Museums, Festivals, Lodging and Dining, which was published by Countryman Press last month.”
Women Find Their Place in the Field
“Cheryl Rogowski planted her seeds of change in the black soil of Orange County, N.Y., in 1994. Her parents, first-generation Polish-Americans, built the W. Rogowski Farm, starting in the 1950’s.”
“In the Catskills, along the Hudson River and on Long Island, indeed, pretty much anywhere there is established bus or train service, car-free weekenders can be found.”
“We want to see some of the sights that the Hudson River School painted, if any of those places still exist. Can you suggest an itinerary, book or pamphlet that would guide us?”
In the Garden of Yin, Yang and Yeats
“But Innisfree’s beauty rests in its curative effect, no matter the season. ‘It’s a place of great spirit,’ said Mish Tworkowski, a jewelry designer from Manhattan who has a weekend home nearby. ‘An astringent for city life.'”
6 Prisons, 2 Visiting Days and a Taxi Fleet
“Business had slowed, after all, as the early morning crowd of mostly black and Hispanic prison visitors thinned out and a new group of travelers — white and middle class — hopped off the train and took the short walk to Dia:Beacon, the modern art museum that opened here in 2003.”
Healing Buildings and Healing Souls in the Catskills
“The search for affordable real estate has brought some very disparate people together and created some odd juxtapositions: Jewish residents with neighbors who believe Jews are ‘cursed’ unless they embrace the Twelve Tribes version of Jesus, and gay homeowners alongside a group that pronounces, on its Web site, that ‘homosexual behavior is immoral.'”
Wonderful in Summer, Closed Up in Winter
“WHO — Pearl Lau, 53, an artist and art teacher in Brooklyn. WHAT — 2-room bungalow. WHERE — Spring Glen, N.Y.”
“As one frequent weekend host, Mish Tworkowski, 42, whose country home is in Millbrook, N.Y., put it: ‘Having weekend houseguests is really the only chance we have in our oversubscribed lives to spend ‘family time’ with friends.'”
We All Scream for… Kosher Socks?
“He and his shlepping brethren deal in dry goods and borscht belt diversions, helping to relieve the ennui of a long summer day while providing refreshments or a desperately needed replacement for the skullcap that ended up at the bottom of the lake.”
In Catskills, Learning to Live Near Bears
“Biologists attribute the increase to the reforestation of large swaths of former farmland, as well as a growing number of second homes in mountainous communities like Woodstock.”
Small Towns: Weekend Houses Where Everyone Walks
“WHERE: Cold Spring, N.Y. WHAT: 3-bedroom house. HOW MUCH: $549,000.”
Where 80 Is Young, All Friends Are Old Friends
“It is, in a sense, not entirely surprising that the few remaining Catskill bungalow colonies to have held out against the influx of Orthodox Jews would be made up of Holocaust survivors.”
A Mountaintop Retreat With an Artistic Air
“Cragsmoor is no longer the bargain it once was. In the last five years, housing prices have edged ever closer to those in Woodstock and New Paltz, said Carolyn Peters-Baker of R.J. Smith Realty in neighboring Ellenville.”
Audits of Schools’ Finances to Extend Throughout State
“Upstate districts where state auditors have started to scrutinize the books include Catskill, Mount Vernon, Sullivan West and Windham-Ashland-Jewett.”
“WHERE — Jewett, N.Y. WHAT — 3-bedroom house. HOW MUCH — $1.3 million.”
Ex-Employee Kills Himself After Shooting 3 in Factory
“The violence badly shook employees of the factory, Verla International, and residents of the hamlet, New Windsor, N.Y.”
Vassar’s Alumnae House in Poughkeepsie
“If you always wanted to go to Vassar, but not pay the tuition, here’s your chance.”
Amenia, N.Y; A ‘Laid Back’ Place Becomes a Hot Property
“There are two Amenias. The town center is a single block, deserted after dark, with a couple of antiques stores, a Sears, a synagogue, a law office, a post office and perpetual plans by the town to spruce things up. Then there is backcountry Amenia.”
Smaller Watershed Resort Proposed
“Mr. Hinchey also called for the developer, Dean Gitter, to sell 1,240 acres of his land on the east side of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center to the state for use as a forest preserve.”
Bringing Art Back to Life On the Hudson
“Ms. Jacks plans to erect signs at each of the locations with reproductions of paintings and a short history of the artists who painted there.”
The Religious and the Greens Could Be an Influential Pair
“Religion seems to be everywhere these days in American politics — except in the Northeast. But in fact, you can’t turn a corner in the Catskills without passing a religious retreat.”
“Concrete without a fancy name is still used by custom fabricators like Get Real Surfaces in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which has a celebrity clientele.”
Rooms With Views Replace Factories on Hudson’s Banks
“In historic Kingston, the first state capital, in Ulster County, a developer wants to transform an abandoned cement plant into 2,182 rental and condominium apartments and town houses.”
Newburgh, N.Y.: Finally, A Confirmation of a Rebound
“And this detail, like Newburgh’s affordable homes, exquisite architecture, spectacular views and pioneering spirit, is yet another reason, residents say, to root for its recovery. ‘We were drawn to the grittiness,’ said Rachel Andrews.”
In Their Diversity, Mourners Honor the Spirit of a Leader
“Many credit Mr. Islam, who died on Oct. 21 (the cause was liver failure), with helping to put Poughkeepsie on a more positive path.”
Sexual Offender Is Arrested in Killing of Ex-Companion
“A convicted sex offender facing charges of raping his former companion’s mother killed the daughter on Tuesday and then set fire to her New Paltz apartment building, the Ulster County district attorney said yesterday.”
A Country House? Let Renters Pay the Mortgage
“The northern region of Ulster County, at the foot of the Catskill Mountains and about two hours from midtown Manhattan by car, seems to offer nearly ideal conditions for residential real estate investment.”
“The men, each in his own speeder, preceded a small train, packed with camera-wielding tourists, on a short trip along the Esopus Creek at the edge of the Catskills.”
Her Son Is Safe Now, but Other Soldiers Remain
“He died in Ramadi on Sept. 19, becoming at the time the 11th soldier from the mid-Hudson Valley area to die in connection with the war. He was 27.”
Finding the Perfect Tree Can Become a Perfect Outing
“Farms ready to lend you a saw and sell you a conifer are dotted all over the countryside, but one place to find the essential elements — fresh air, a rural setting and acres of aromatic evergreens — is the rolling hills of Dutchess County, N.Y., east of the Hudson River.”
Ferry + Train – Car = No Bridge Woes
“Newburgh residents ‘are looking forward to tourism and economic development, and all those sorts of things,’ said Aquanetta Wright, of Newburgh, who sells coffee and muffins from a stand she sets up at the Newburgh dock every morning.”
“Attending a Ramble works like this: You request an invitation at levonhelm.com, and if you can be accommodated, you pay a $100 ‘donation’ to help with expenses.”
Shaking Off the Rust, New Suburbs Are Born
“The area was the fourth most popular destination for expatriate New Yorkers, after Miami, Orlando and Poughkeepsie, another industrial area being recycled as a bedroom city.”
“After all, in a world where the fickle finger of celebrity and fame can tap almost anyone, what more inspiring contemporary fable can there be than the still-unfolding tale of the Teutuls, who have gone from plain old metal-bending working folk in Orange County near Newburgh to become perhaps the greatest real-life, real-folks, reality show success story of them all?”
| introduction | ||
| 2002 | 2009 | 2016 |
| 2003 | 2010 | 2017 |
| 2004 | 2011 | 2018 |
| 2005 | 2012 | 2019 |
| 2006 | 2013 | 2020 |
| 2007 | 2014 | 2021 |
| 2008 | 2015 | 2022 |
| methodology |