All posts by Lynn Woods

Preservationists seek to restore Staatsburg Calvert Vaux mansion that prefigured Central Park
Local History

Preservationists seek to restore Staatsburg Calvert Vaux mansion that prefigured Central Park

·1 comment·

The abandoned mansion is off the beaten path, seemingly stuck in a time when the Hudson Valley was a sleepy backwater. The Point, as it is known, is sequestered at the end of a winding road in a forested section of Mills-Norrie State Park, located in Staatsburg. It’s set at an angle on a high promontory of the Hudson River, which glimmers through the thick growth of trees. The windows are boarded up, the roof of the large stone portico at the entrance has half collapsed, the porch is gone and the bare lawn is surrounded by a utilitarian chain-link fence; yet the Gothic-style building, with its tall gables graced by carved verge boards, bay windows and squared-off, compact mass, exudes an echo of fairytale magic. Constructed of bluestone, whose soft, faded gray tones blend in with the site, the house has a cottagelike intimacy.

With space secured on Broadway, Kingston Food Co-Op is taking shape
Community

With space secured on Broadway, Kingston Food Co-Op is taking shape

·Comments closed·

While retail stores have blossomed in Kingston filling empty storefronts, the city lacks the practical, day-to-day kinds of shops that decades ago, before supermarkets, malls and big-box stores, made it a true commercial center with residents able to do all their shopping on foot. For residents lacking cars — and for those of us who wish we could spend less time driving — that’s a problem. So the advent of the Kingston Food Co-op, which was announced last March and so far has between 260 and 300 members as well as a building on Broadway in Midtown, is welcome news.