The views and opinions expressed in our letters section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hudson Valley One. You can submit a letter to the editor here.
We crave the inspiration
In this Covid year, many of you, new to the Hudson Valley or not, have enjoyed the great outdoors, perhaps more than ever before. Woodstock Land Conservancy (WLC) has worked tremendously hard to keep the trails open for your benefit — like you, we crave the solace and inspiration that nature offers us.
On Ulster County’s spectacular Ashokan rail-trail, the volunteer trail stewards have helped support the 225,000 visitations in the past year. Keeping the trail clean, accessible and friendly (while masking) is a source of great pride for all the stewards. Other hard-working volunteers helped WLC in a trail-building training. They hefted rocks and wielded shovels to build magnificent stone stairs and to make our Sloan Gorge Preserve trail safer, guided by Tahawus Trails, an Accord-based professional trail-building company.
We also worked collaboratively to save our birds and butterflies, creating a burgeoning Pollinator Pathway Program — recruiting more than 140 private propertyowners to plant flowers, shrubs and trees that attract our most crucial bee, bird and insect pollinators, essential to supporting our food web. We thank our project partners, Catskill Center, Woodstock Environmental Commission, Woodstock Transition and some awesome individuals. You can join the Pollinator Pathway by going to woodstocknypollinatorpathway.org.
We’re pleased to be adding more land to two of our existing WLC preserves by year’s end. And at our Israel Wittman Sanctuary a second mile-long loop trail has just opened. Finally, we continue our diligent work to protect the Bluestone Wild Forest, seeking to clarify the severity of impacts from a proposed industrial development, which seem incompatible to the surrounding wild forest and deleterious to the critters, hikers and cyclists who inhabit and explore it.
Why do we do all this? We do it to safeguard the wildlife, trees, plants, land and water, which in turn support us in so many essential ways. We live in a unique and stunningly beautiful place — and we turn to you to support caring for it now and for the many years to come. We give heartfelt thanks to all of you — those we know in our community and those we have yet to meet. We do all love this place so dearly. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Maxanne Resnick, Executive Director
Woodstock Land Conservancy
Woodstock
Feeling betrayed in New Paltz
Betrayed! That’s how many New Paltz residents who live on or near Henry W. DuBois Drive (HWD) feel after reading the draft design report on the Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvement Project for the Empire State Trail released November 11, 2020. Betrayed by Alta Design engineers, superintendent Neil Bettez and the town board, who heard and read our pleas for reducing the rapidly increasing number of cars and trucks that ply the drive and the speed with which they do it.
Oh yes, we are exploring ways of traffic mitigation, they’d said, seemingly earnestly, when we voiced concerns for the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and residents on a residential road never meant to be used as a by-pass to Main Street/Route 299. The “ways” Alta and the town board have thrown around over the past six months:
• Pinch points at corners
• A one-way section of road
• Speed bumps
• Reducing the speed limit
• Enforcing truck restriction
• Installing radar speed signs
• Raised crosswalks
Imagine our shock and anger when there was no written mention of any of these in the draft report. Instead, what was very evident is the proposed increase in the speed limit from 30 to 35 mph under “Critical Design Elements” (ex. 2-7, pg. 2-9). Even at the current speed limit of 30 mph, the operating speed acknowledged in “Speed Data” is 38.6 mph. Increase the limit to 35 mph and drivers will crank it up over 45 mph.
“The project shall seek to include traffic calming measures, where feasible…” states the report. Where feasible? That’s a giant loophole to end up doing nothing. The sole traffic calming action we could find seems to be the addition of “stop bars” to intersections, something we only discovered in the fine print of the drawing’s appendix, but not included in the written report. Why the obfuscation?
The amount of traffic on HWD is about to explode exponentially due to developments at both ends of the road. A huge Stewart’s gas station and the new Zero Place apartment complex are about to open at the intersection with Route 32. A traffic light is to be installed, but traffic lights only bring more traffic. Compound it with a new fire station/police station/town hall and expanded storage facility at the other end of HWD, where it meets N. Putt Corners. Then add the planned CVS and Five Guys restaurant a block away at North Putt and Main Street and HWD is going to be a mess. Carving out a pedestrian/bike path in the midst of this frenzy seems like sheer folly. Meanwhile, the report factored for a 1% increase in traffic per year, but due to the pandemic, the data used was from 2017 — out of date to say the least for all those who live on HWD and know the traffic has worsened significantly in the three years since then.
While many of the residents on or near HWD were initially skeptical about the bike/ped path, we kept our minds open, listened to the powers that be and in good faith felt that with traffic mitigation, we could live with a pared-down, shared-use version. We’re not getting reciprocal good faith from Alta Design, nor the town officials. They’ve given us a mere two weeks — the two weeks right before Thanksgiving Day, when our minds are focused elsewhere — to read, digest and comment on the 38-page draft design report plus seven appendixes, all dense with bureaucratic legalese and unknown acronyms.
It’s unreasonable timing for us. But it’s perfect timing if you want to ram something through. We asked for an extension and were told: NO. Yet the pandemic was reason enough to use out-of-date traffic data as opposed to commissioning a new count.
Given all the above, we demand an extension to the comment period until early January and a moratorium on the project until the new buildings and offices mentioned above are completed and a new traffic study can be done.
Kemp Minifie, Susan Lodge, Hulda Nigrelli, Bill Minifie, Steve Martits, Vicki Obermeyer, Haden Minifie, Karen Gavin, David Peters, Colby Minifie, June Sanson, Don Kerr, Feebe Greco, Mark Beaumont, Tom Rokjer, Grace Gehman, Stephanie St. John, Noé Dinnerstein, Keith Woodburn, John Giralico, Sara Sogut, Robert Burbank, Kathy Rivera, Greg Olear, Margaret Soussan, Aviv Soussan, Paul Bishop, Rochelle Bush, Ahmed Mansour, Joan Mansour, James Taylor, Naomi Aubain, Michele Taylor, Lou Aubain, Rosemary Nigrelli, Joel Filderman, Bonnie Brown
New Paltz
Lloyd Democrats thank you
The Town of Lloyd Democrats want to thank our public officials, election workers, volunteers and voters for an peaceful, orderly election with unprecedented turnout. In all, thousands of Lloyd residents made their voices heard this November. We saw some of you at the American Legion Hall, waiting patiently to cast your ballots early. We know others chose to vote absentee in record numbers.
No matter how you voted, or which party you support, we are glad you took the time to add your voice to our democracy. Without it, “we the people” cannot communicate what we hope for and expect from our representatives.
We hope to see all of you turn out for next year’s elections and invite any of you interested in supporting local Democrats to join us. Learn more at www.lloyddems.com.
Robert Haskins
The Town of Lloyd Democrats
Highland
Quarryville safety tower
Once again, the Saugerties hamlet of Quarryville is facing an issue that requires government action to protect the health, safety and property values of residents. Ulster County has proposed a plan to build an 180-foot (eighteen-story) public safety radio relay tower on property it owns in the middle of our residentially zoned neighborhood.
We acknowledge that there is a dire need for a public safety radio tower to reach all locations. However, the process for siting has to meet all the necessary criteria.
In the fall of 1991, a business claiming to be a scrap tire recycling operation trucked in nearly a million scrap tires to a long-defunct bluestone quarry that is surrounded by our residentially zoned neighborhood. In reality, it was an illegal tire dump. A tire fire would have brought an environmental, health and economic disaster.
The Quarryville Neighborhood Association was formed with the mission of ending the receipt of any more tires and ultimately the remediation of the site. We met with town officials and the Ulster County commissioner of health. Little help was forthcoming.
The neighborhood association hired an environmental lawyer who enabled us to gain legal standing in the complaint filed by the Department of Environmental Conservation and the NYS Attorney General’s office. Orders to (1) stop taking in tires and (2) start processing onsite tires and then remove them were ignored. Minimal fines were levied. Seeing an impending catastrophe, the Saugerties fire departments ordered them to break up the enormous pile into smaller ones separated by fire lanes.
After increased enforcement, tires stopped arriving, but the piles remained. Eventually, the owner of the property left the state and community members along with the town, county, DEC and NYS Attorney General’s office developed a plan to remove the tires. Members of the adjacent local gun club, offered to work through funding from NYS to load tires for removal to an authorized tire recycling facility. The balance of the tires were shredded on site by a mobile shredding unit, then removed and recycled into products. Abandoned machinery, vehicles and hazardous wastes were removed. The property was then acquired by the Ulster County government for unpaid taxes. That process from beginning to end stretched out for close to a decade. It has sat as a “brownfield” since then.
The county is now trying to rush the tower through to avoid inevitable pushback and input from the community. There was an unpublicized September 17, 2020, Ulster County planning-board presentation that asked for comments to be received by September 30. Almost nobody knew about the tower plan until propertyowners within 500 feet of the site received notice of the October 20 presentation to the Saugerties planning board.
In 1988, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case of Matter of Monroe v. City of Rochester in which the court established a new “balancing of interests” test to allow local municipalities to determine whether a specific project qualified for immunity from local zoning. The Quarryville community requests that the ZBA rigorously enforce the criteria before any consideration of immunity is given.
Allen and Ann Bryan
Bill and Ellen Harrison
Quarryville
Common sense
The pandemic and climate change have many things in common (aside from being termed a hoax by some in our federal administration). Certainly, a staggering death toll is one of the more depressing similarities. And although death by climate is more difficult to quantify, the numbers are escalating from wildfires, extreme storms and excessive heat.
Both the virus and storms target people of color and the marginalized disproportionately. We were reminded of this last week when Central America had its second superstorm in as many weeks, and tens of thousands of impoverished people who contribute virtually no greenhouse gases were left homeless.
In our country, which has an extreme preoccupation with the economy, we are realizing that “open for business” may actually do a disservice in the midst of a global crisis. Even with a new administration that believes in science, there will be no silver bullet to fix the pandemic or climate change. In the end, our personal lifestyle changes will provide the tipping point.
The common-sense approach is to “live more lightly on the earth.”
Dan and Ann Guenther
New Paltz
A great golf tournament
As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish to give my many thanks, along with my sincere appreciation, to all the sponsors, volunteers and players who made the Saugerties Athletic Association’s (SAA) 29th Annual Sawyer Motors/Sawyer Chevy Golf Tournament an overwhelming success.
The tournament had a whole new look to stay in compliance with State and CDC guidelines and mandates. We initiated several proactive measures for the health and safety of players, along with all others. Quite frankly, we did not know what to expect.
The tournament went off as seamlessly as one (I) could expect. Financially, it was our most successful tournament in the 29-year history of the tournament. Considering the unprecedented and very challenging times we currently face due to the health crisis, it was a monumental accomplishment. This would never have been possible if not for the combined hundreds of businesses, organizations and individuals who have taken various levels of sponsorship each year, along with those who have donated and contributed prizes, gifts, etc. Your overwhelming support and generosity is truly remarkable.
Many thanks to our tournament lead sponsor Bob and Larry Siracusano for their tremendous show of generosity to the SAA. Both are truly remarkable individuals. We are most fortunate and lucky to have both of them as part of our great community.
Additionally, we want to thank John and Sara Smith, proprietors of Rip Van Winkle Country Club, the venue host. Their current show of support and generosity continues to be unprecedented, as it has been for the past 28 years!
My many thanks to the tournament committee, along with the other volunteers who play vital roles and work the tournament the day of. To all of you, your tireless efforts, dedication, support and generosity has been unprecedented. I, nor any one person, could ever do without each and every one of you.
None of this would be possible if it were not for all aforementioned, all for the benefit of the SAA, our youth and community. I can never begin to extend the amount of thanks and appreciation equal to your support and generosity.
Again, my sincere thanks and appreciation for your overwhelming generosity, and I wish you and yours a very happy, healthy and safe holiday season, along with hopes you are able to enjoy the season and the wonders of Christmas to its fullest with your family. May 2021 be the year we beat the pandemic and you are blessed with nothing but happiness and good health, along with being your best year yet.
Thank you all, again, and all the best to the best!
Greg Chorvas, Chairman
SAA Golf Tournament
Saugerties
Remembering JFK
On November 22, 1963, sitting president John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in broad daylight, for all the world to see, 57 years ago. In the aftermath, a rush to judgment came upon Lee Harvey Oswald. A cheap old Mannlicher Carcano rifle with mechanical problems was claimed to have been used in the assassination, even though expert FBI and Army sharpshooters who attempted to make the same shot with the same rifle, repaired and at a stationary target, could not make the shot that Oswald purportedly made at JFK’s moving vehicle.
The magic bullet theory has been the basis of the Warren Commission’s report of the events that led to the death of JFK even though erratic travel of the killing bullet goes against the laws of physics. Anyone who was researching the many anomalies around the JFK assassination was called a conspiracy theorist
An interesting connection of the assassination of JFK to the 911 events is “Operation Northwoods,” a 50-million-dollar-a-year military operation detailed in a military document released to the “Assassination Records Review Board” in 1997.
After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, the Joint Chiefs of Staff top brass had prepared and signed a covert plan that would be a false flag attack on the U.S. by orchestrating remote-controlled planes crashing into buildings in Miami and D.C. and commit other terrorists actions for “Justification for the Invasion of Cuba”, the title of the document. Sound familiar to 911 and the war against Iraq? JFK dismantled the military’s diabolical plan and was going to withdraw from Vietnam, but was conveniently assassinated a year later.
Everyone should read Operation Northwoods declassified document to see what the military-industrial complex is capable of and what five-star general and two-term President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was warning Americans about in his farewell address. The final report of the U.S. House Select Committee of Assassinations concluded in 1978 the JFK assassination was a “probable conspiracy,” contrary to the CIA.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Thanksgiving turkey
First our governor Andy Cuomo issues an executive order, no more then ten people allowed in a residence for Thanksgiving dinner, eluding me on what authority. If it was based on a home where there was a carrier, you could get a quarantine, but a blanket order is ridiculous. How do you enforce it without searching the residence? Does he think the Fourth Amendment has been repealed? When asked about enforcement, he said it would be up to each county or municipality, passing the buck like he did with the Covid nursing-home disaster — not his fault when it’s not enforced.
As to his Emmy, is that for ducking and dodging any responsibility for the fact New York is number one in Covid deaths? Did you see him attack the reporter when questioned about shutting down New York City schools. He was the one who was wrong, the shutdown was announced right after his press conference.
Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. The only thing that surpasses his arrogance is his ego — visions of grandeur and illusions of competence. Speaking of ego, how about Dr. Fauci who now says even after we get a vaccine that we have to continue to mask up and there will be other restrictions since even though you received the vaccine and are protected, you may still be carrier capable of transmitting Covid.
He has been wrong from the beginning when he said it wasn’t dangerous, couldn’t be transmitted person to person, we needed a couple of weeks of the shutdown to flatten the curve, only healthcare workers or those who were sick should wear a mask and then reversed every one.
Now we’re getting ready for a second shutdown. Since the first one failed, why are we doing it again? I think they knew it wouldn’t work, as they’ve been talking about a second wave since last summer, about the only thing the CDC has been right about.
Looking at the economic damage, the lives destroyed, what’s happened to school children, many whom will be paying for it the rest of their lives? To Dr. Fauci, I quote what Leo Amery said to British prime minister Neville Chamberlain: “You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing, depart I say and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Police reform process issues
I am so grateful that we have so many grassroots community organizations that are independently exploring the issues and frameworks that form best practices in criminal justice and law enforcement. The New Paltz town-appointed steering committee has finally started meeting with some of the groups in the community.
In one of the meetings that I attended, several members of the steering committee mentioned that there are some groups who have traditionally been targets of police profiling and general disenfranchisement that are not accessible to them or won’t talk to them. Some examples that they cited were the houseless, formerly incarcerated and the undocumented. This is highly problematic but not entirely unsurprising.
A group of people appointed by the town board without previous engagement with groups most disenfranchised cannot hope to represent the desires and aspirations of those who most need to be at the table. I urge the town board and the steering committee to have representatives from groups that advocate for the most marginalized in our community such as ‘Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson’ have a seat at the table and allow them power to make decisions and write the final report.
Gowri Parameswaran
New Paltz
Ped/bike draft plan
One of the often-heard points in favor of a ped/bike trail along Henry W. DuBois (HWD) is that it will make it safer for people (particularly kids) to walk/bike along HWD (i.e. to go to Moriello Pool, Stewart’s, etc.). If safety is, in fact, the priority, then why on earth does the quite complex and somewhat obtuse November draft report suggest raising the speed limit to 35 m.p.h.? Even the proposal notes that the DOT recommends 30 m.p.h.! How will stopping for proposed speed bumps make sense at all with higher speed? We live north of Henry W., and our kids truly have to dodge cars to cross for the bus stop as it is.
Also, if safety is top concern, then why no raised or marked crosswalks?
Slow it down. Why is commentary on the Alta draft design report given a two-week deadline at the busy holiday season? And, why is this 38-page document with seven appendices not presented town hall-style? This proposal is complicated to process and raises a huge flag as to what the intentions are with the suggestion of raising the speed limit. I urge Alta and our elected officials to keep their commitment to transparency of intentions, two-way communication and keep stated focus on ped/bike safety.
Stephanie Basch
New Paltz
Thoughts about our epidemic
The infection rate is about 45 per100,000. This means that many people don’t personally know somebody who is infected with Covid-19. So it’s not surprising that some people think that this epidemic is a hoax. You have to trust the news media to tell the facts.
The fatality rate for our yearly influenza epidemic is about 0.1 percent. The fatality rate for Covid-19 is difficult to determine, since so many people have no symptoms or mild or moderate cases. The best estimate is below three or four percent. Again, how many people know personally someone who has died? There are many stories about the survivors, but you have to trust the news media.
The best way to estimate the true infection rate, which will lead to a better estimate of the death rate, is to choose a population (group) and test everybody in that group. Testing whoever shows up at a testing site doesn’t give any sort of a true estimate.
Public health officials are now calculating excess deaths over a year ago, which will count people who never made it to a hospital and people who didn’t go to the hospital or get needed healthcare for fear of becoming infected. This determines the direct and indirect deaths attributable to SARS-CoV-2.
I think that those heartless fools who don’t wear masks should vow not to go to the hospital if they become infected. Let them be free to fight Covid-19 at home.
Andi Weiss Bartczak
Gardiner
Thanks for the pump test
Over the last several years the Village of New Paltz has invested significantly to figure out how to safely provide more local water, so we can buy less to keep our water bills down. Our purchased water currently comes from the NYCDEP. We have had some success in our search for local water supplies and are in the midst of completing engineering designs to connect new groundwater wells on the municipally-owned water treatment plant property on Mountain Rest Road, as well as wells on the north side of the Moriello Pool park property off North Chestnut Street.
We recently investigated whether water could also be sourced from two wells that the SUNY NP Foundation had hoped to use for a potential apartment complex next to our Cherry Hill water tanks. The wells, drilled and tested in 2012, had shown that they could provide enough water for the planned Park Point complex. The driller’s original well logs also suggested the possibility for even higher yields since high-production fractures were encountered in the upper 200 feet of two of the better wells. The apartments were never built, and the wells remain on site.
The Moriello family owns the property and graciously allowed us to perform an updated flow test to see if these wells could support higher yields desired by the village and to assess whether the yields were sustainable after the recent long dry summer.
Our testing was conducted this October. Various nearby residential well owners allowed us to monitor water levels in the nearby aquifer areas. We began the test at combined rates over 100 gallons per minute as suggested by the driller logs (approximately 20 percent of New Paltz’s daily usage.) However, as the pumping test proceeded the yields dwindled. We learned that the wells may tap high-capacity fractures but the recharge needed to replenish and sustain the higher yields is limited. Once our test ended, the aquifer water levels took some time to recover.
Correspondingly, the village has elected not to pursue investing to connect these wells to our Cherry Hill water tanks, but we appreciate having had the chance to evaluate the possibility.
We owe gratitude to the NYSDEC and NYSDOH as their staff expeditiously reviewed our test proposal allowing us to perform the analysis this fall. Their prompt reviews allowed the test to occur during the very dry summer conditions, essentially consisting of a stress test for these wells.
We also thank the Moriello family and the Cherry Hill neighborhood. In particular, we monitored six nearby homeowner wells using data loggers to ensure we understood how pumping these wells might impact the broader area. These generous homeowners received data plot summaries detailing groundwater levels in their wells before, during, and after the test.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Thanksgiving
This is a very personal holiday for which thanks is the first part of the definition.
Thanksgiving usually is a time when our senses come alive.
Is it the smell of the turkey roasting in the oven; the aromas from cooking and baking? Is it the beginning of the holiday season of food, family and faith? Is it the excitement of the things to come?
What words come to mind when asked: “What are the five senses?” List them, perhaps.
Yes, most all hear, smell, touch, taste and see, but perhaps not all our senses are as strong as they once were.
What thoughts do we conjure up linking the senses to Thanksgivings past?
Just like this year’s Thanksgiving, our senses list may find a new priority order. Take time to think of the list of words, one at a time. It may help add peace rather than anxiety to Thanksgiving this year.
It will be a different Thanksgiving because of the Covid-19 crisis. How are you adjusting? How are you helping yourself and others?
Allowing your senses and sensibilities to come alive?
This Thanksgiving, let us have the sense to be thankful to still be alive in spite of the pandemic.
Be thankful to be able to make a difference.
The protocols are the recipe.
For now, imagine seeing the turkey or snow, hearing family and friends together, feeling hugs from guests, smelling and tasting the different foods and taking freely your own deep breath of fresh air. Then give thanks.
Patricia Houk
New Paltz
No chance of discussion
In his letter of November 11, John Habersberger paints a grim picture for the future of our country. Apparently, when a president loses an election, his party will do their best to prevent the new president from doing a good job. Their only goal is to make the new president look bad so that they can regain control in the next election.
Meanwhile, the rest of us suffer so that we can be saved by the next president and their party. We are in a pathetic spiral of self-destruction. We owe our children better.
Mr. Habersberger is also upset at the indignities heaped upon Trump during his presidency. I would remind him of the vile epithets hurled at the Obamas for eight years. Where was his indignation then? Where was his outrage that the Republican Party obstructed government for ten years by holding up virtually every bill passed in the House of Representatives?
Everything that he hated in Obama he embraced in Trump. Obama — too much golf. Trump — huh? Obama — ruled by executive order. Trump — huh?
There is no chance of discussion when hypocrisy is the guiding principle.
Ted Reiss
New Paltz
On the road to freedom
The truth will set you free, but half-truths won’t set you half-free.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Design for Henry DuBois Drive
I have read extensively the Alta report for the design of Henry DuBois Drive (see walkbikehwd.weebly.com/documents/html).
As a longtime citizen of New Paltz, I am appalled that a supposed “trail,” i.e., The Empire State Trail, will be nothing more than an expensive and poorly designed thoroughfare which will be less safe than it is now.
This idea is the implementation for a long-needed bypass for our village and town that has turned into a sporting highway for bicyclists and pedestrians and thousands of cars. It is unbelievable that this rolling road, which has poor visibility and numerous stop signs, should be changed in character to that which it cannot be.
Probably two million dollars will be spent on turning this already crowded vehicle roadway into “The Empire Trail,” attractive to tourists and children supposedly walking to Moriello Pool or buying ice cream while bicyclists whiz by at 25 m.p.h. And trucks and motorcycles rumble by in a veritable cavalcade.
The people who moved to town wanted peace and quiet, blocks away from the commercial avenue of the village. Those who plan with such hubris should be careful what they wish for, or they will see a town and village turned into an urban nightmare.
Susan H. Lodge
New Paltz
Who are we really?
I saw my first TV in our neighbors’ living room in Poughkeepsie in 1950. Remember it vividly. When my family got one, it was Mickey Mouse Club and later Dick Clark. After the show, we turned it off. It was not company. We had phones, pets, neighbors, books and chores. Now I hear, “TV is my companion.”
To have companions, particularly in Covid, we need to be aware of how careful they are. Do they get close to people without masks? Do they carry guns or threaten you or others? Do they pretend to be nice and then steal your stuff? Are they being mean or killing people?
Even if you watch something that seems safe, is it? Are those on the screen telling you the truth? Are they saying things to get you to buy stuff or are they intentionally creating fear?
Do people on TV say things that our favorite teachers, ministers or parents never would have said? Is it alright for people on TV to lie to us, to try to persuade us to do mean things or to just make life seem terrible or scary so that we are anxious, fearful and forget who we really are?
Who are we really? We are all in this together. We’re neighbors. We share this place; this town, state, country, this earth. We live with people who are different, but not generally mean or cruel.
Let’s decide who we welcome into our home and our hearts. Maybe call a friend? I would like to be part of a neighbor-to-neighbor call group of likeminded Hurley folks. If this appeals to you, please attend a Hurley Democratic Zoom meeting in the near future or get in touch with Hurley Dems.
Bardet Wardell
Hurley
An election for the ages
Age 78, is the new #46 because of the backlash at the voting booth. Trump was going to be prevented from tearing our democracy apart with four more years in the oval office. Hmmm …. Those electoral numbers look strikingly familiar! 306! As I recall, Trump referred to this as a “landslide” in 2016. We’ve been saved from fascism by the skin of our teeth! This was way too close for comfort. It was big. Frankly, a mandate, as Trump had said for four years ago about his win.
There was a huge celebration. People celebrated like never before, perhaps ever. We have never seen anything like it. The world beautifully celebrated a tremendous defeat of Trump and his fascism. Fireworks and cathedral bells! Banged pots and pans! Celebrations all over Europe and other global areas. The whole world did have a huge sigh of relief right along with us.
We were not the only ones dancing in the streets. Just maybe, the biggest spontaneous eruption of joy since the end of World War II. That they can’t dispute. Epic! Not just in America but the wider world, too. That sigh was heard all around the world. Epic!
Repeat, the world cheered! Not just Democrats. I never ever was more thrilled to welcome a real president (Biden) to our world. We have all suffered enough. But sadly, over 70 million voters in our country didn’t cheer.
Hopefully, many Americans will return from the Trump twilight zone dimension to the real world once he has left. And the more he delays and refuses to concede, the more we get to call him a loser! You’d think for a guy who sees himself as the ultimate brand builder, he’d see that he’s destroying what is left of his brand.
But one thing will never be forgotten. Trump was fired by citizens and voters and forever will be one of history’s greatest losers.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
My Woodstock burial
A funny thing happened on the way to my funeral. I had made all the plans for my burial with my dear friend Ken Peterson. He knew where my plot was, had my clothes and funeral music in storage, my casket picked out, and had set up a trust to pay for it all.
I was sad to outlive Ken, he was a true Woodstock treasure. When Ken died, I contacted the Lasher Funeral Home and was assured all the arrangements were still in place and would be honored. Then I died in faraway Idaho, my son and the Idaho funeral home tried to contact the Lasher Funeral home to coordinate my Woodstock burial. For three days, and counting, I have laid waiting to start my homeward journey, but no response from Lasher’s.
I am sad to think how Ken would feel knowing that today the only thing buried by the Lasher Funeral Home are his, and its, commitments and Ken’s good name.
I have written many letters to the editor over the years, and promise this will be my last. Woodstock, you are truly a magical place.
Jean Lasher Gaede
by Chet Gaede, Power of Attorney
Woodstock
The latest “lynching”
It is so disturbing to witness this latest lynching of a black candidate, all in the name of fighting anti-Semitism. This time it is the Democratic senatorial candidate, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who dared to bring up the suffering of the Palestinians.
His words spoken at a sermon in 2018 bear repeating. “We saw the government of Israel shoot down unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey. And I don’t care who does it, it is wrong. It is wrong to shoot down God’s children like they don’t matter at all.”
Why is the Israel lobby attacking Rev. Warnock for words like these? Doesn’t the lobby know how important his campaign in Georgia is to controlling the US Senate?
Part of the explanation is the deep ties that the Israel lobby has with racist movements in America. For example, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) has been funding attacks on black movements and the left for decades. More recently, according to the Boston Review, the ADL has been pushing high school and university boards “to characterize Palestinian human rights demands as violations of American Jews’ civil rights.”
But there are other reasons as well. Israel is a racist state, built on the ethnic and religious concept of Jewish supremacy. White Christian nationalists want the same freedom to marginalize and terrorize people of the wrong faith and ethnicity here in the US. The radical right sees Israel as a kindred state, and the Israel lobby has come to the same conclusion.
Fred Nagel
Rhinebeck
Indifference?
The intent of Woodstock’s town code section 192 is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Town of Woodstock. The law, that prevents irresponsible disposal of litter, solid waste and/or toxic or hazardous materials on any public or privately owned lot, etc. within the boundaries of the Town of Woodstock, is in place in order to protect our environment.
Why have such a law if it is not going to be enforced? Section 192.8 states: “in addition to the fine imposed shall be the costs incurred by the town for removal of illegal materials and the proper disposal of such… and for any reasonable attorney fees paid by the town to enforce compliance.”
According to [town supervisor Bill] McKenna, who voted against a resolution relating to dumping in Woodstock, “the only recourse for dumping is a fine …. It is difficult and time-consuming to build a case.” Difficult and time-consuming. Are those valid reasons not to uphold values of environmental preservation and conservation?
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Twenty two a day
“If a soldier kills an enemy.
He must dig two graves.
One in the earth for his enemy.
One in his soul.
Or he will not return.”
Reading this poem on Veteran’s Day stirred my reflections about moral dislocation. I wrote this poem on my return trip to Vietnam in 1994 with a group of healthcare professionals out of the West Haven Veterans Administration.
The constant prompt for me to return to moral dislocation is how many veterans continue to take their lives. What I understand is the germ of why so much suicide continues with our veterans is not coming off the battlefields they fought upon, where they waited to be killed. Of course there is great fear of death on the front line, but If you survive, the primary feeling is you are grateful.
What gets overlooked by the mental-health field, religion and philosophers is that the aftereffects of killing your human enemy, last until you die. Killing humans has been welded into us as an immoral act.
The core of all our religions tell us “Thou shall not kill.” In our education we are taught that civilizations occurred because humans made laws to prevent killing, and made the punishment death if you broke the law. All our lives we observe that animals of the same species seldom kill each other. Within the first 18 years of our lives we have been fully educated that killing another human being is wrong except for the small caveat, unless they are trying to kill you or your family. This particular point gets used by politicians, and the military to enlist and send soldiers to war with what they believe is good moral reasoning.
We should go to war to kill those who are trying to kill us has historically never been fully clear in almost any war we’ve been in. The military is ordered by our politicians to make our soldiers willing to kill who they tell them the enemy is.
If the politicians and military cannot accomplish making our enemies nonhuman monsters that deserve being killed, soldiers will have guilt, shame, and self hatred germinate in their minds, psyches and souls when they return from war. This is what I feel is taking many of the lives of the 22 veterans who commit suicide each day.
We Americans have cultivated multiple trains of thought to justify why we’ve been involved in so many wars. An army of historians have not truly figured out why morally we’ve entered these wars. The aftereffects of war are driven by moral dislocation, and is why so many women and men take their own lives. They do not feel morally justified in killing, and in today’s wars with drones and advanced weaponry, those who press buttons and pull levers are killing vast numbers. Even if you work in the mailroom or the toolshed, you have supported killing and will carry this truth for the rest of your life.
America needs to dig a grave in its soul so that we can return to help our vets dying by their own hands.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
Design for Henry DuBois Drive
The New Paltz public hearing on regulating short-term rental use of dwellings within the village’s residentially-zoned districts that is being considered by the village board remains open. We are seeking your feedback.
The proposed law intends to protect the health and safety of village residents and visitors, and aims to stop absentee landlords/investors from buying homes in residentially zoned neighborhoods and turning them into the equivalent of full-time mini-hotels. The City of Springfield, MA, for example, recently passed a similarly spirited law.
These regulations intend to safeguard village residents and visitors by protecting and preserving housing affordability; our culture of volunteerism; the village’s balance of commercial and residential neighborhoods as enacted by zoning and related local laws; and the safety of residents and visitors via regular code enforcement inspections.
The prohibition on short-term rentals shall not apply to permanent residents within residential zones of the village who are able to demonstrate, with written documentation, in a form acceptable to the village code enforcement officer or other building department official, such as voter registration or utility bills, that such individual(s) occupy the property in question for no less than nine months out of each calendar year.
The prohibition on short-term rentals shall not apply in commercially zoned districts within the village (including zones B1, B2, and G) or to commercial hotel/motel businesses or bed-and-breakfast establishments operating exclusively as such and which are lawfully licensed or permitted for such use pursuant to the Village Code and regulated by applicable state, county and local laws, rules and/or regulations.
Short-term rentals (defined as rentals of less than 30 days) located in all commercial and/or residential-districts require annual inspections per Village Code Chapter 129, Article II.
Share comments to assistant@villageofnewpaltz.org or at either of the next two village board meetings on December 9 and 16.
Mayor Tim Rogers, Deputy Mayor KT Tobin,
Trustee Michele Zipp,
Trustee Alexandria Wojcik,
Trustee William Wheeler Murray
New Paltz
Pandemic pain
None of us like to deal with pain. Pain hurts. That’s why so many of us take pills. It’s very hard to function well when we are in pain, whether it’s just a nagging headache or something worse. Drugs have really helped to alleviate symptoms for many people who have had lots of pain.
But let’s not forget, that’s physical pain we’re talking about. And then there’s the never-ending issue of addiction to pain relieving pills, which is such a major problem today. But that’s all based on dealing with physical pain.
The ongoing pandemic and all the restrictions on our lives are the direct cause of intense emotional pain as well, that most of us are being forced to deal with at this time. But how well are we dealing with it? The fear of getting sick, or even dying from the dreaded virus, along with the barrage of negative news reports we are hearing each and every day, are major triggers for the rise of overwhelming painful emotions. Suicides are increasing. Domestic violence is on the rise, as is alcoholism, drunk driving and violence in general.
Wearing a mask, social distancing and constantly washing our hands frequently, and then having to deal with those defiant people who appear to be totally in denial about the virus threat? Well, it’s a lot, and the resulting isolation leads to confusion, anxiety, impatience, loneliness, boredom and all kinds of negative toxic thoughts. Please remember that if you are experiencing any of these thoughts or feelings, you are not alone. There is nothing wrong with you. In fact, it’s proof that you are very normal. It’s a very dark time in our lives, and it’s here to stay, at least for a little longer.
Once you understand that it’s actually a healthy sign that you are in emotional pain, the next step is crucial for learning how to decrease the emotional intensity you are feeling. What to do?
Last week I listened to a friend who was complaining a lot. In the past, whenever she would complain I would get impatient, and find creative ways to end the call. But this time I listened with compassion. I was well aware of my own pain because of the pandemic, and somehow it helped me listen to her with a newfound calmness.
At the end of the call she thanked me for listening. She was in a much lighter place. So was I. I felt deep caring for her, and I understood her pain. She sounded relieved and more at ease for having been heard. In addition, she was then able to listen to me too.
At this time I think we all need permission to talk about what hurts. We are all being weighed down by the unrelenting challenges. Reaching out to a friend or family member is a wonderful first step to let them know that you care about them. And learning to listen to each other’s pain may prove to be a gift.
It’s not about problem-solving, and it doesn’t make the dark time go away. But it may very well lighten up people just a little bit. And that, in itself, may be a real blessing.
Marty Klein
Woodstock
Join the family! 
