fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Ward 2 preview: Republican newbie Seth Allen takes on council stalwart Tom Hoffay

by Jesse J. Smith
April 14, 2016
in News, Politics & Government
2

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Aug. 25, 2011 edition of the Kingston Times.

Since being appointed to the Common Council’s Second Ward seat to fill an unexpired term in 2008, Democrat Tom Hoffay has been one of the council’s most active members. He’s pushed for citywide initiatives like the Green Jobs Pledge and ward projects including the restoration of the Pike Plan canopy and a proposed redesign of a troublesome intersection.

But Republican challenger Seth Allen, a 27-year-old newcomer, hopes to turn some of those accomplishments into vulnerabilities by capitalizing on voter discontent over some of the changes impacting Uptown Kingston.

The Second Ward encompasses the heart of Uptown Kingston. It holds the Stockade District, home of the county office building and courthouse, dozens of small professional services offices, Kingston Plaza and some of the city’s most popular restaurants and taverns. The diversity extends to the residential sector in a ward which takes in stately restored Victorian houses along Albany Avenue, modest working-class homes on the avenues east of Broadway, apartments in mixed use buildings in the business district and the Governor Clinton senior citizens’ apartments.

At left, Seth Allen. At right, Tom Hoffay. (Photos by Dan Barton)

Politically, Ward 2 is considerably less diverse. Democrats make up 42 percent of the ward’s 1,179 registered voters and outnumber non-affiliated voters who make up 31 percent. Registered Republicans are just 17 percent of voters in the ward.

Hoffay, 63, became Alderman in May 2008 after he was appointed by Mayor Jim Sottile to fill an unexpired term left by the resignation of Jennifer Ringwood. But his relative newness to elected office belies far deeper political experience. He was chairman of Kingston’s Democratic Party in the late 1980s and headed the Ulster County Democratic Committee for the whole of the 1990s. His political pedigree extends to Albany, where he worked as a regional representative for then-attorney general Eliot Spitzer from 1999 to 2006. Currently, he works part-time as a grant writer for State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill.

Since taking office, Hoffay has embraced a series of progressive urban planning initiatives including the Complete Streets program to make Kingston more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, an initiative to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and efforts by the Kingston Land Trust to create community gardens and preserve open space.

“You have new people coming in to the city and they have some great ideas, and they’re finding the money to do these things on their own,” said Hoffay of the new generation of quality-of-life programs. “The city needs to encourage and nurture that kind of stuff.”

Page 1 of 3
123Next
Tags: election 2011Pike PlanSeth AllenTom Hoffayuptown
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Jesse J. Smith

Related Posts

New York’s speeders targeted in traffic enforcement surge through June 15
Crime

Ellenville woman arrested for allegedly abusing disabled patient

June 20, 2025
Bear cub rescued by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputy
News

Bear cub rescued by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputy

June 19, 2025
New Paltz police officer indicted on range of charges
Crime

New Paltz police officer indicted on range of charges

June 19, 2025
Woodstock music option draws ire
Politics & Government

Back to the future for Woodstock noise ordinance 

June 19, 2025
Woodstock sports bar opens at golf club 
Business

Woodstock sports bar opens at golf club 

June 19, 2025
Bill to blanket social media with warning messages in NY awaits governor’s signature
News

Bill to blanket social media with warning messages in NY awaits governor’s signature

June 18, 2025
Next Post

The record so far in New York: Cities wary of frackers' overtures

Please login to join discussion

Weather

Kingston, NY
72°
Showers in the Vicinity
5:19 am8:36 pm EDT
Feels like: 72°F
Wind: 5mph SSE
Humidity: 87%
Pressure: 29.99"Hg
UV index: 0
MonTueWed
99°F / 72°F
100°F / 73°F
93°F / 70°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing