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.
Letter guidelines:
Hudson Valley One welcomes letters from its readers. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and submitted by noon on Monday. Our policy is to print as many letters to the editor as possible. As with all print publications, available space is determined by ads sold. If there is insufficient space in a given issue, letters will be approved based on established content standards. Points of View will also run at our discretion.
Although Hudson Valley One does not specifically limit the number of letters a reader can submit per month, the publication of letters written by frequent correspondents may be delayed to make room for less-often-heard voices, but they will all appear on our website at hudsonvalleyone.com. All letters should be signed and include the author’s address and telephone number.
Procrastination
In 2015, the late Jay Wenk proposed charging for parking at the Mountain View parking lot. McKenna was quoted back then as saying, “We do have until next May to come up with and implement a plan to make … [it] a paid lot.” How many Mays have passed since then? Why did he continue to wait to do this, especially since, as I pointed out on numerous occasions, the parking spots were painted, the handicap parking spots were marked and blacktopped, the fences were installed and the shrubbery was planted in the parking lot?
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Anti-Zionism is antisemitism
Jean Pierre-Bloch — a famous French Resistance fighter during WWII and a director of the International League against Anti-Semitism, wrote, “It is scandalous to allow the language of liberalism and democracy to be misused for the profit of a policy that aims at ostracizing Israel from the community of nations.” And he added, “Jean Cassou was perfectly right when he said that anti-Zionism is a wonderful invention: from now on it enables everyone to be antisemitic in total serenity and without embarrassment.” The truth of that is those remarks have been borne out over and over again since the horrendous massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7 and by Iran’s attack on Israel this past weekend.
Those events inexplicably served as reasons, not to sympathize, let alone support, Israel, but to demonize it, ostensibly for its perceived injustices against the Palestinians. But it went far beyond that, and as drones and missiles were – fortunately — being blown out of the skies over Israel, anti-Zionist groups cheered and expressed their solidarity with Iran, the sponsor of terrorism throughout the region, which has sworn to destroy the “Zionist entity.”
The anti-Israel protestors justify their antisemitic words and actions, including the chanting of “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” — whose clear meaning is the annihilation of Israel — by posing as supporters of the Palestinians. Yet none of these sudden friends of the Palestinians has anything to say about the atrocious treatment of the so-called refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, over two million of whom are still confined to camps in order to keep alive the dream of return and the hatred of Israel.
Nor, it seems, do the supporters of the Palestinians have any conception at all of the history of the Middle East. Most of them evidently subscribe to the fiction that there was once a country called Palestine occupied by a Palestinian people that was subsequently colonized by Jews, despite the fact that modern Palestine was carved out of the defeated Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I explicitly to become the national home for the Jewish people, who as Churchill commented, had returned to Palestine “as of right and not by sufferance, and that this was based on their ancient historical connection.”
Rowan Dordick
Woodstock
Overlook Tanka
I walk on Ulster
this rainy Monday at noon
looking at Catskills,
can’t tell what is cloud or peak—
no matter: both beautiful.
Patrick Hammer, Jr.
Saugerties
Music is art
The future of music in Woodstock will be decided at Woodstock’s town board meeting on Tuesday, April 23, 7 p.m., at 76 Tinker Street. If you support music here, please attend and bring others.
Live music is central to Woodstock’s community, its economy, its brand.
The proposed noise ordinance being discussed on April 23 specifically targets outdoor music, making music the most restricted business in Woodstock. If it passes, outdoor music will be limited to a maximum of three hours, twice weekly, Friday/Saturday ONLY.
Woodstock’s hamlet area is also Woodstock’s industrial zone. In it, music will be more heavily restricted than noise from:
- power-saws at our lumberyard
- heavy-equipment at Houst
- engines and pneumatic tools at automobile, motorcycle or small engine repair shops,
which may operate from 7a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday in Woodstock’s hamlet.
It’s unreasonable for a tourist-town tied to its prolific history of live music to outlaw its brand, and a significant portion of its working artists. It’s unfair for Woodstock to deny the artists, promoters, technicians, and food and entertainment-service workers here their right to continue to earn a decent living off the industry and brand they’ve built over many decades. These folks deserve equal right to sustainable employment in the hamlet as those who repair our vehicles, or any sculptor using power tools to cut and polish stone.
This unprecedented attack clearly infringes on our right to work and everyone’s right to enjoy Woodstock’s rich cultural heritage. It also defies six decades of past practice here. We reject the notion that music is noise. Music is art. As such, this legislation disregards Woodstock’s 2018 comprehensive development plan, and will harm our artists, our local economy and Woodstock’s proud reputation as America’s Original Colony for the Arts.
Please encourage supporters of live music to attend Woodstock’s April 23 town board meeting 76 Tinker Street at 7 p.m.
Michael Mulvey
Woodstock
Hear thee
Silence is spontaneous; a noise must be planned.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
A second Passover for Israel, not so much for Ukraine, Gaza
Israel
The night sky, lit up by incoming missiles, drones, planes
Over three hundred in all, each one, carrying a deadly payload,
Each one capable of turning buildings into rubble, people into corpses,
Burning, maiming, some or many,
Passing over teaming cities, peaceful neighborhoods, pristine fields, productive farmland,
YET
each missile, each drone, is disarmed, made harmless, shot down from the sky,
Is this another miracle, another Passover?
The Angel of Death, once again, persuaded to “pass over” the people of Israel,
Can this be “God’s Mercy’, in our modern era?
A miracle supported by abundant material resources, enabled by western technology,
providing the people of Israel
an “Iron Dome” of protection.
Ukraine
In days gone by, Ukraine also enjoyed a dome of protection,
Its people with enough western tech savvy, and enough supply of missiles
to ward off Soviet attacks
A once vital dome, of perhaps steel, has frayed,
becoming now, a dome of brittle wood, new leaks emerging daily,
as Russian bombs and missiles rain down,
far too many, landing, unimpeded.
Ukraine cities are bombed,
Ukraine villages are decimated
Utilities burn, businesses burn, homes burn,
men, women children, are injured, maimed,
Some die
Wither the resources to rebuild Ukraine’s protective dome?
They languish in the halls of the US Congress.
Gaza
In Gaza, when the bombs start to fall, what most immediately appears, after buildings are hit
Is rubble, rubble everywhere.
The now displaced residents of these homes, families, now mostly tattered and worn, emerge,
beginning their journey south, joining a procession of other, similarly displaced Gazan Families.
They carry with them, all their worldly possessions. Usually it is one bag or valise. Mostly they are walking. This includes young boys who are missing a limb, as a result of a bomb injury and an amputation. Grandmothers using canes and crutches. Fathers carrying ill, and sometimes dying infants in their arms.
As time goes by, other, sadder, more shocking scenes emerge. Children, scrounging through the rubble to find pieces of the wood of the burnt out buildings, to make a fire for the family evening meal. Men, digging through the rubble with their bare hands, in the frail hope of finding a relative, in time to save him/her.
Women giving birth, on the floor of a hospital without anesthesia. Infants and toddlers, so thin from malnutrition, you can almost see their bones through their skin. The list of visual and actual horrors goes on.
There is no “dome” of protection here. No “Passover Miracle.” Not even much hope of relief from the misery by the US Congress, or the worldwide community.
We all, every country, every individual, should live with some level of a “dome” of protection.
This Passover, hopefully, those fortunate enough to live with some “dome” of protection, can find a way to share it, with those who have no, or very little “Golden Dome of Protection.”
Mel Sadownick
West Hurley
Isn’t life hard enough?
Isn’t life hard enough without the challenges presented by the Trumps and the Netanyahus and the Putins and the DeSantises and the Abbotts and the Taylor Greenes and the Gaetzes and the Sacklers and the election and Holocaust and climate change deniers and the Rabid Right and the hate groups and Big Business and the countless other monsters we confront daily? Don’t we have to deal with enough psychic pain and personal worries and losses and practical difficulties without also having to fight off these bogeymen, not only while we’re awake but often enough in our sleep, their having slithered out from under our childhood beds and crawled into bed with our adult selves?
I try to take the good with the bad, to grin and bear it, not groan and bare it as I’m doing now. But the bad seems badder lately, making the good more necessary than ever but harder than ever to find, and if found, to enjoy; making fun seem like escapism, a guilty pleasure. Never has the biblical advice “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die” felt more apt. And indeed, only religion or spirituality — only faith; only notions like “God” or a “Higher Power” — seem sufficient to quiet the human capacity for complaint I’m so ably demonstrating here.
But what about those who see “God” and company as merely human constructs, and who are thus unable to find solace in them? What do we do to avoid becoming embittered, or going mad? So far my only answer is: We do the best we can, with good friends if we’re lucky and good deeds if we’re virtuous.
Thanks, HV1. I needed to get that off my chest.
Not that it won’t be suffocating me again in an hour.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
NYS must prioritize pedestrian safety
Open letter to NYSDOT officials:
As you already know, pedestrian safety has been top of mind for the New Paltz community more than ever lately since the tragic death of a SUNY New Paltz student, Raymond Rattray, walking home from class on Route 208 earlier this year. At the April 10, 2024 Village of New Paltz board meeting, we unanimously agreed to formally request NYS DOT to implement the following necessary pedestrian safety improvements on the state highways that serve as the Village of New Paltz’s main pedestrian thoroughfares:
1. Install rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFB) at the intersection of Southside Avenue and Route 208. As two of our village’s largest apartment complexes, where a majority of tenants attend class or work at the college, are on Southside Avenue, to say that this intersection is one of the busiest pedestrian pathways in our village is an understatement.
2. Narrow the abnormally long crosswalk at Oakwood Terrace and Main Street by installing bump-outs to extend the curb into the street. This long crosswalk at this site leads to countless cars going around cars that are yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk, so in addition to narrowing that crosswalk, installing RRFBs at that location would make a lot of sense too.
3. Establish crosswalks on Main Street at Prospect, Harrington, Duzine and Joalyn. Each of these locations is a regular pedestrian pathway. Our Main Street serves as the pedestrian part of the Empire State Trail through New Paltz, and not having any place to cross safely between the Tops Plaza uptown and Manheim downtown makes for a deadly section of the Empire State Trail.
In voting to send this letter formalizing these much-needed requests to the DOT, the village board also agreed to share this letter far and wide.
Mayor Tim Rogers
Deputy Mayor Alexandria Wojcik
Trustee Stana Weisburd
Trustee Stevie Susta
Trustee William Murray
New Paltz
The Earth is whole, why aren’t we?
The mosaic of my contemplations emerges, each piece a shard of thought reflecting the complex whole of my perspective. From a height akin to the astronauts’ gaze upon Gaia, the Earth presents itself not as a fractured landscape of nations but as a cohesive, living entity. Yet, descending into the realm of human constructs, the image distorts into a jigsaw of political divisions, where hopes are misplaced in institutions unable to nurture our deepest aspirations.
In America, we have mistaken our survival for a journey of isolation, distancing ourselves from the global village, clinging tightly to what we possess, blind to the possibilities of what we could share. This isolation is orchestrated by a cacophony of emotionally stunted politicians, the raucous offspring of an unholy union between money and confusion. Their rhetoric, amplified by the contortions of well-funded legal minds, ensures that the ancient caste systems, dividing the wealthy from the poor, remain as entrenched as ever.
The unwelcome advent of the pandemic has served as a stark teacher, laying bare the fallacies of our disconnection. With every life it claims, it underscores our shared vulnerability, delivering a grim lesson on the folly of our divisiveness. It knows no borders and recognizes no political affiliations, mocking our illusions of separation with a virulence that spans the globe. Our refusal to acknowledge our interconnectedness and to see ourselves as part of a larger whole threatens to be our undoing, our collective hubris paving the path to extinction.
The emotionally juvenile politicians likened to unruly children lost without direction navigating a world without moral guidance. The paths they tread are lit only by the flickering neon of power and greed, the once hallowed halls of education and spirituality now silent, their teachings on virtue and morality drowned out by the incessant din of the digital age. Decisions are made not with contemplation but with the impulsive click of a button; our connections to one another are superficial, transient, and lost in the ether of cyberspace.
Yet, from the chaos, a glimmer of understanding, as if the Earth itself beckons to its antibodies, rallying them in defense against the disease of domination. Protests and revolts, from the heart of black communities to the streets of Russia and the steps of the Capitol, manifest as the immune response of a body politic in distress, a collective attempt to purge the toxins of tyranny and injustice.
Trust, that delicate filament binding us, demands the currency of truth and the luxury of time to flourish. In our rush for immediacy, our debates and decisions compressed into the span of a heartbeat, we lose sight of the essence of our shared humanity. The virus, in its blind, unyielding hunger, understands what we have forgotten: in the grand tapestry of existence, every thread is intertwined, every life connected. Ultimately, it is not through division but through unity, not through segregation but through solidarity, that we may find our salvation, our path back to the garden from which we have strayed.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
Spirituality and reality
Regarding Ron Stonitsch’s comments about those of us who believe in divine intervention in our lives as being ”delusional.” With all due respect to Mr. Stonitsch, and others like him, in order to recognize God’s divine hand in our lives, one must be “born again,” this time to the spirit, as Jesus asserted in his teachings in the New Testament. News to many is that those teachings were not about “religiosity” as Mr. Stonitsch apparently believes, but about spirituality, which is the condition of one’s relationship with the spirit God. Mr. Stonitsch, like many others, including myself at one time, who having not had the spiritual experience of being “born again” (John 3.3 NKJ), find it hard to believe the reality of the power and existence of God in our lives. So, we who have experienced divine intervention in some way, are experiencing a spiritual principle and not a “delusion.” Meanwhile, inexplicably, innocent children die young and ruthless mafia underboss Sonny Franzese lived to be 103. Regardless, I cannot deny what I and millions of others have collectively experienced and know firsthand to be, by another name, amazing grace.
Then we have the John Butz’s letter asserting that those of us calling for a ceasefire have a “nonchalant callousness towards Israel.” I’m sorry, but many of us have little sympathy for anyone responsible for starving and dehydrating 1.5 million innocent civilians, mostly women and children. The reality is that is not a “consequence” of “the pursuit of Hamas.” Those who allow and enable such a horrible thing to happen are the ones “callous” and “nonchalant” about the dignity of human life. The reality is that there are limits to self-defense as elucidated in the Genocide Convention of 1949, and to identify such crimes being committed by Israel is necessary if we are to retain our common humanity. The reality is bombing all of Gaza’s hospitals, ambulances and targeting medical people’s homes is not pursuing Hamas, but paving the way for the complete demise of Palestinian life, creating the environment of “real genocide”. Mr. Butz obediently parrots the Israeli official propaganda narrative, that targeting the World Kitchen staff, and killing seven of them, was simply “a mistake.” The reality is Chef Jose Andre notified the IDF of their exact travel plans and that their staff convoy was clearly marked as possibly could be? Mr. Butz castigates ceasefire advocates about the “survival of Israel.” At the same time he makes no mention of the failure of the IDF to use its advanced hi-tech surveillance and sophisticated weaponry to stop the ragtag Hamas invasion on October 7. The reality is, Israel could have done so in “ten minutes” according to a retired IDF officer. Most of the world, “sick of it all” like Mr. Stonitsch, wants a permanent ceasefire now, as it knows, that what is taking place in Gaza is “real genocide”, unlike denialist, Mr. Butz.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Balancing village budgets while providing parking spot rotation
On April 10, Village of New Paltz trustees held a public hearing on our tentative budget. We are proposing our ninth budget without an increase to the property tax rate of 4.912 per $1,000 of assessed value. For example, if one’s house was assessed at $300,000, then their village property tax bill would have been no more than $1,474 for each of the last nine years.
We have successfully balanced village budgets by focusing on covering expenses with revenues. For example, we make sure parking enforcement expenses are offset by revenue from meters or the new mobile parking app, plus overtime tickets. Other streetscape related expenses needed to make locals and visitors want to come here include stormwater management, trash collection and streetlights, and these are also partially offset by parking revenue.
Because of our county’s limited sales tax sharing agreement, parking revenue is needed, as we anticipate only 1.6% of total general fund expenses to be covered by FY 24/25 sales tax. Over 95% of the 4% local share (excluding NYS’s 4%) goes to Ulster County and the City of Kingston. The remainder is split by the other 23 towns and villages in Ulster County.
Some vehicle users have expressed displeasure having to pay parking meters or use a mobile parking meter app. In response, some, who are not necessarily village property taxpayers, have proposed that parking fees be eliminated. For example, spaces could be free for up to two or four hours.
This would unbalance our budget, as we would still have the expense of local government staff to provide enforcement for space rotation.
Staff would still monitor how long vehicles stay in spaces, write overtime tickets and handle various issues for those staying longer than two or four hours. Expenses for these staff would be comparable to the staffing we have now but perhaps as much as 85% of the revenue would be eliminated.
If 85% of the parking revenue we have included in our fiscal year 24/25 budget were eliminated, village property taxes would go up 29%. Village property taxpayers would then be paying for everyone’s parking, unlike now where vehicle users pay for their own parking.
The prospect of a 29% tax increase could be quashed if we eliminate all parking enforcement tasks and staff completely. However, some business owners may object.
In May 2019, the owner of The Bakery at that time, David Santner, wrote a letter to the New Paltz Times, after the village enabled downtown parking meters on Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m., where he said:
“The truth is that downtown parking meters exist primarily to manage the limited number of parking spaces available in our business district and to ensure that parking is available when people come downtown to shop.”
and
“The new parking meter regulations went into effect in October 2018, so I compared sales on each Sunday beginning in October to the Sunday the year before. It should be noted that during this period our overall sales were fairly even from year to year. However, on Sundays our sales increased by an average of 15% from one year to the next. The only exception was December when the meters were bagged for the holidays. During December our Sunday sales did not increase compared to the prior year.”
There is no question that paying for parking is a hassle, or that hoping you didn’t misinterpret a parking sign is stressful. I know this feeling well as I triple check parking signs anytime I visit a community where I am unfamiliar with their parking rules.
The most equitable approach to parking involves paying for what we use as individuals. It would be unfair to shift that expense to local owners or renters where they pay for enforcement via property tax or rent increases.
We welcome alternative suggestions where businesses preserve their need for spot rotation, as long as local taxpayers aren’t responsible for paying for parking spot rotation. We anticipate adopting our no-rate-change budget for the coming year at the next Village of New Paltz Board of Trustees meeting on April 24.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
So-called patriots prefer to hate
In a world of chaos and confusion,
Where truth is often an illusion,
There stands a group of individuals,
Who claim to know the essential truths.
They speak of love for their nation,
Yet their actions speak of manipulation,
Spinning lies and false information,
To further their own selfish ambition.
These so-called patriots, full of hate,
Spread misinformation at a rapid rate,
Their hearts devoid of empathy or grace,
Welcoming America’s potential disgrace.
They refuse to engage in honest debate,
Ignoring facts that don’t fit their hate,
Blinded by their own narrow view,
They cling to lies they know aren’t true.
Like drowning men, they drag others down,
In their quest to save their fragile crown,
Creating a sea of deception and fear,
Their essential truth is far from clear.
So beware the MAGAt falsifiers who claim to lead,
In their web of deception, they feed and feed.
America’s fate hangs in the balance dire,
As they continue to stoke the trumpeting fire.
So let us stand against the tide,
With courage and conviction by our side,
For in the face of lies and deceit,
The essential truth will never be beat.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Arizona GOP to Arizona women: Get a bus ticket!
Last Tuesday, the Arizona legislature confirmed that the Russian-Republican Party wishes nothing more than to control women’s bodies, no matter the danger to a woman’s health and certainly without regard to the right of women to bodily autonomy.
The day before, by a vote of 4-2, the Arizona Supreme Court left standing an 1864 law enacting a near-total abortion ban that punishes providers with prison time. Democrats introduced legislation the next day to repeal the law. It would have forced Russian-Republicans to go on the record by voting against repeal. Instead, the Russian-Republicans called a weeklong recess to avoid voting at all.
Arizona voters, like other Americans, overwhelmingly support abortion rights. Voting to prohibit abortion is a loser for Arizonans seeking elected office. According to WaPo, “Despite having supported abortion restrictions in the past, two Arizona House Republicans representing districts that Biden won in 2020 said they opposed Tuesday’s ruling. And Kari Lake — a staunch Trump ally running in one of the most closely watched Senate races this cycle — called the ruling ‘out of step with Arizonans’.”
Lake, a loser like the Former Guy (she lost the governor’s race last year because Arizona voters know flimflammery when they see it) “previously celebrated the overturning of Roe and once expressed support for the 1864 bill.” Now, she’s called on the state legislature and governor to “come up with an immediate common-sense solution that Arizonans can support.” Voters will see through her latest flimflam and place Ruben Gallego in the seat vacated by political chameleon Kristen Synema.
In regard to events in Arizona, Fox News commentator Steve Moore said on Monday that “having to get a bus ticket” to see a gynecologist “isn’t the worst thing in the world.” What drives Russian-Republicans to inflict such cruelty on women?
In November, Arizona voters will almost certainly vote yea on the slated constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights as a constitutional right. As it should readers of this newspaper.
It’s all about voting. Antiquated, anti-woman legislation drives pro-Biden voters to the polls. Please rally around Biden and the entire down-ballot Democratic ticket.
William Weinstein
New Paltz
TDS rages on
As the November election draws closer, we can see our TDS twins, William Weinstein and Neil Jarmel, shifting into high gear with their unrealistic bias and, all the while, still totally incapable of commenting on all the problems forced upon the everyday citizen for 3 1/2 years by their inept and uncaring Joe Biden, as well as the puppeteers pulling Biden’s strings.
William Weinstein comes up with this new hilarious moniker, the “Russian-Republican Party.” What is that? The Russian hoax, championed by the Democrats and their loyal pocket buddies at CNN and MSNBC, fell flat on its face after a 2 1/2-year sham led by Robert Mueller. If there was such a thing as a Russian-Republican Party or Trump-Russian collusion, you can bet that Mueller and his army of Democrats would have found tons of evidence in 2 1/2 years to prove their witch hunt but, as we all know, NOTHING was found! And, William refers us to an article in the New York Times, which is nothing more than a printed version of the severe bias we’ve all been accustomed to hear on CNN and MSNBC, the REAL sources of fake news.
It’s obvious that William is perfectly satisfied with our current miseries and would love to see four more years of this, as he encourages everyone to support ALL democratic candidates up and down the ballot starting at the top with the comedy duo of Biden/Harris.
FBI director, Christopher Wray, warns the USA that we should all be concerned about terror threats on our own soli. Thanks to Biden’s grossly unvetted open border and 1.7 million gotaways already in our country, these threats WILL eventually be carried out … not a question of IF, but WHEN. Neil, William and all their other TDS cohorts must not have any children or grandchildren since they never speak to this point which shows NO concern for future generations. How can ANYONE be so blind to this now inevitable reality? … and with great thanks to their “stellar” President.
John N. Butz
Modena
No housing deal without statewide Good Cause Eviction
Good Cause Eviction would provide protections from unreasonable rent hikes and evictions for roughly four million tenants across the state. But the measure is at risk of being left out of a long-awaited housing deal due to the influence of bad landlords and big developers on our state legislators. Our legislators owe it to New Yorkers to pass universal Good Cause and maintain existing rent regulations. Then they need to do more.
Working families like mine are dealing with skyrocketing costs of living, meaning a $100 rent increase might as well be an eviction notice. Good Cause would protect tenants from such a tragedy, but the real estate lobby is fighting for a watered down version that would leave out Upstate New York. Hundreds of thousands of renters live in small towns and rural areas that are unlikely to “opt in” because of politics, leaving our communities vulnerable. This would be a travesty for Upstate tenants, who deal with the price-gouging landlords and fears of retaliatory eviction common to all New York renters. We deserve the same protections, and the only way we’ll get them is if they apply statewide.
Good Cause is just the first step in addressing our worsening housing crisis. We need more comprehensive solutions out of Albany, including investment in affordable housing and statewide expansion of rent stabilization, like we’re seeing throughout the Hudson Valley. But first, we need to keep people in their homes right now. Good Cause Eviction is our best starting point.
Claire Cousin
Candidate for State Assembly (D-106)
Work zone awareness
National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 15-19, but safety is our top priority of the State Department of Transportation all year long. In 2023, New York’s Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement Program went into effect, focusing on speed violations within construction and maintenance zones along New York’s highways. The crews working on our highways are our families, our neighbors and our friends — working to keep New Yorkers moving.
The key message is for drivers to remain alert at all times. Avoid typical distractions like the use of your cell phone and please focus on your surroundings as it could be the difference between a safe journey or a crash resulting in damage, injury and possibly the loss of life.
Sadly, recorded speeds have been excessive. We have zero tolerance for speeds at 20, 30 or 40+ miles per hour over the speed limit through work zones and ask motorists to please slow down.
We anticipate a very active construction season as we work to repair and enhance the state highway system in the Hudson Valley. We appreciate your patience in allowing us to do these critical jobs safely and effectively.
Your community is our community. Let’s make 2024 a banner year for work zone safety.
Lance MacMillan, Regional Director, Hudson Valley
New York State Department of Transportation
What difference it makes!
Secretary of State Clinton gave us a lesson on public (televised) congressional hearings, exploding in the faces of incompetent congressmen, “What difference, at this point, does it make”? She was right. She paid no price for standing over the three coffins in a Dover AFB solemnly speaking to their families about courage and loss. They had died fighting in Benghazi, with no help sent for 12 hours.
Some of you will recall that the president could not be found. He was in Vegas for a fundraiser.
None of you will recall the dead Ambassador’s name. It is Chris Stevens, and he died 9/11/12. Who could have guessed? He went down fighting after warning for months of the danger his position was in. Hillary, then his boss, still draws a crowd. Bill still brings in bags of money for the party.
What kind of person risks their life for America? Real, good Americans do!
The ruling class is going to hold on to the DC swamp for as long as they can. They are there for the money. We name bridges after them, as though they GAVE us something of themselves. Please consider NOT electing their kind this fall. Consider Gina Raimondo, she gets things done.
Paul Raymond
New Paltz
Thank you to the artists!
The April 7 auction to benefit the Woodstock Library was a resounding success. On behalf of the board, I would like to especially thank the following artists who donated their own work: Scott Ackerman, Richard Baronio, Bruce Bundock, Cynthia Carlaw, Melanie Delgado, Iris Fodor, Mary Frank, Linnea Gad, Mary Anna Goetz, David Hall, David Hornung, Joel Iskowitz, Paula Kagan, Andrew Kirschner, Alan McKnight, Joan Monastero, Jenny Nelson, Nancy O’Hara, Robert Ohnigian, Judy Pfaff, Eileen Power, Doug Sheer, Alan Siegel, Samantha Taylor and Grace Bakst Wapner.
Dorothea Marcus
Woodstock
We desperately need new leadership in Woodstock
Woodstock’s priorities are a bit bewildering. An auction was recently held for its new library, which raised over $30,000. Meanwhile, Woodstock’s water supply is becoming increasingly contaminated with arsenic, phosphorus, flourene, nitrate, zinc, chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, dichloroacetic acid, halocetic acids and trichloroacetic acid, thanks to the town supervisor’s inaction on the illegal Shady Dump. Regardless of who should have to pay for the promised clean-up and haven’t, wouldn’t it be nice if the wealthy patrons who raised money for a library that was planned without a sprinkler system and sufficiently stable second floor, and has its own environmental waste problems, found drinking water as sexy as an out of place, “state of the art” library.
Here’s another example. At the recent town board meeting, the first half of the agenda was taken up by the “beautification committee,” who gave a presentation on signage and how it should be smaller, more uniform and more artistic. Of particular concern were the sandwich boards, you know, the ones that small businesses need to attract customers. Yes, the committee had a job to do, but these people are acting like it’s 20 years ago. We live in a town now where the environment is under attack by predatory developers and complicit town leaders, where people can’t afford to live anymore and have to use the food pantry, where ethics violations and lawsuits are flying around like Frisbees, where a culture of racism and sexism in the police department has been brushed off, where our wonderful school is being closed and where our laws and procedures have given way to a fiefdom.
We desperately need new leadership. We need to reverse the trends and priorities that are turning the progressive town that we came here for or proudly grew up in into a suburban mockery.
Alan M. Weber
Woodstock
Response to April 1 article “Revised Woodstock hotel plan”
I am saddened, but not surprised, that development plans for Mike and Anthony´s Woodstock garage are pushing forward. In this paper, the new owner, a proprietor of elite restaurants in the city and now here, says he wants to “help the needs of the community.” Yet, targeted customers aren´t humble townies.
His Sylvia replaced the historic Joyous Lake. A community gathering place for decades, the Joyous Lake employed some of Woodstock´s marginalized people. (Most of whom, for many reasons, we lost during the post-Covid economic boom.)
Silvia sells half-a-dozen oysters for $22 and entrees, $30-$48. Good Night is of the same ilk. Where we had used clothes, memorabilia, art and sewing workshops, now you can call ahead for a table and eat ¨gochujans and ´nduja¨ while utilizing town parking ¨across the street in the municipal lot.¨
The developer´s goal isn´t just to “build something that everybody is happy with,” but also to make lots more money catering to extravagant whims of wealthy clientele.
Fortunately, our planning and zoning boards have a different mission. Their responsibility is to the town. They must answer the questions, “What best serves Woodstock and her residents? What do we need?” Not a boutique hotel (15 rooms!) or a fancy dining establishment, we´ve got those.
How about a humble grocery, the likes of which we´ve not seen since CVS replaced Grand Union 20+ years ago? Or something that will serve the real needs of all Woodstockers, not just the super-rich?
Developer´s priorities are always to fatten their bank accounts. Our town must unite to ensure that those goals don´t undermine ours. We need a functional, healthy home where Woodstockers can live and work and not be bulldozed by the self-serving interests of new money.
Boards, we entrust you with this responsibility.
Karina Flores Reininger
Woodstock
Earth Day fair in New Paltz
This Saturday, April 20, the flags of the United Nations will fly again along Huguenot Street as part of the annual Earth Day fair on the grounds of the Reformed Church. This is the 21st celebration of this popular rite of spring here in New Paltz. You will be able to check out tables filled with fun activities for the kids as well as information and ideas to help you lower your carbon footprint and enjoy a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle. This year’s theme is Planet Vs. Plastics. Experts will be available to answer your questions about composting, cutting out single-use plastics in our daily routines, community solar subscriptions and the benefits of purchasing an electric vehicle. Speaking of EVs, you will be able to hop on board an electric bus from the UCAT fleet once again this year.
There will be plenty of food and drinks, plus musical performances by some of our favorite local musicians.
Come early (arrive by 10 a.m.) for a guided tree identification walk prior to the start of the fair at 11 a.m. Festivities will end at 4 p.m.
Once again Interfaith Earth Action, the Caring for Creation Committee of the Reformed Church of New Paltz and the New Paltz Climate Action Coalition are sponsoring the event, which will happen rain or shine.
Mark Varian
Gardiner
Join the family! 
