New Paltz Public Access (NPPA) Channel 23 has taken on a new urgency these past six months as the public-health crisis has resulted in the physical closure of so many institutions that people count on: government offices, houses of worship, schools, colleges and most venues for organized exercise like gyms, yoga and dance studios. In response, NPPA committee chair Anton Stewart and program coordinator Bob Fagan requested to utilize the small conference room in the New Paltz Community Center to house their equipment and hopefully utilize as their television studio.
“Because of Covid, the Community Center is essentially closed,” said New Paltz town supervisor Neil Bettez at last week’s virtual board meeting, conducted through Zoom. “Groups aren’t meeting there. We have no birthday parties or other rentals … for gatherings and celebrations; there are no Boy Scouts” or other normal usage of the facility, located off Route 32 North, adjacent to the Moriello Pool park and playground. “I spoke with Chuck [Bordino, town recreation director], and he said it would be fine if they wanted to use it for at least the next six months.”
Helping public access
Councilperson Alex Baer said that she wanted the town board to support the move and acknowledge the work that NPPA has been doing since March. “Bob and Anton have done such a great job with Channel 23 and put so much energy into it, and state-of-the-art presentations of programming and livestreaming of events,” she said. “They’ve put an incredible amount of time into expanding their programming, and I think if we can help provide them a fixed physical space so they weren’t constantly having to move their equipment around that would only help them continue to grow.”
Bettez noted that, beyond the programming they’ve traditionally done, which always includes coverage of almost all local government meetings (streamed live and uploaded on YouTube for later viewing at www.youtube.com/channel/UCx_gKl1M_G1YAumRIihs__Q), Stewart and Fagan have been filming worship services for the public who are not able to attend religious institutions because of the restrictions on the number of people at gatherings.
“We purchased a lot of new equipment with our own money, so that we can basically stream from anywhere to Channel 23,” Fagan explained to Hudson Valley One. “We’ve been streaming two pastors who have been doing a remembrance service every Friday for those we’ve lost in Ulster County due to the virus. We’ve also been following the Black Lives Matter protests throughout New Paltz and the county, as well as the Celebration of Essential Workers Parade.”
“I see it as a trial run,” said Bettez at the August 20 meeting. “We can see how it goes for six months, because I think that people are going to need things to look forward to.” He couldn’t resist a joke. “We have a long year ahead of us, and then we have to get through October,” he said.
YMCA programs have priority
With the New Paltz schools announcing recently that classes would be going remote until at least the first week of October, Bettez noted that the YMCA may be wanting to extend its current usage of the Community Center and Moriello park and playground for Camp Wiltmeet. “They traditionally do a pre-care and aftercare program at Duzine and Lenape, but with the schools being closed until at least October 4, they’re looking at possibly extending their summer programming. They’re crunching the numbers, trying to see if they can make it work. And I think we have to waive any fee we would normally charge for the Community Center if they need to utilize it.”
Councilperson David Brownstein wanted to make sure before he voted to allow Channel 23 to utilize the Community Center’s small conference room that it would not interfere with the YMCA’s usage. “Kids are not going back to school, and we have to support the Y or any organization that is trying to do something to for our kids and families,” he said. “We need to make sure that we’re not taking any space away from our kids when they really need it.”
Bettez concurred. The town would agree to let Channel 23 move if it didn’t impact the transition from the YMCA’s summer programming to potential fall programming.
The supervisor said later that he wanted to waive fees for groups trying to organize outdoor activities in the town’s various parks, including the Field of Dreams, the ballfields by the Recycling Center, the Millbrook Preserve, and Moriello park and playground.
“We have baseball and softball on the fields right now, and I know soccer is opening up registration,” said Bettez. “We want to support our residents being active and utilizing our parks. We know that being active is critical, as well as social interaction, as long as it’s done in a safe manner. And anything done outside is better.”
For information on NPPA, visit www.townofnewpaltz.org/public-access-television.
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