^{Serving Rhinebeck and Neighboring Towns}

Issue 167 | June 7, 2024

NYC Congestion Pricing is Dead (For Now) //

On Wednesday, in a taped announcement, Gov. Hochul declared that the long-considered, and fought over, plan of charging motorists to enter Manhattan below 60th Street was halted for the foreseeable future due to possible “unintended consequences” for New Yorkers. The plan, which would have generated revenue for public transit via the MTA, would have been the nation’s first congestion pricing program.

"Circumstances have changed, and we must respond to the facts on the ground, not to the rhetoric from five years ago," Hochul said, referring to the origin of the plan, which actually stretches back more than five years. While there had been pushback from commuters in New Jersey and some suburban communities (including in the Hudson Valley), the plan to charge the more than 700,000 motorists entering the core of the city each day was seen by many as a sensible way to raise upwards of $15 billion in revenue for the MTA, as well as encourage the use of public transit and cut down on carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses. 

Hochul’s sudden reversal (she had supported the program as recently as two weeks ago) has angered as many people as it has baffled. Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben was highly critical of Hochul and posted on X on Wednesday that “This is one of the most aggressive anti-environmental (and anti-quality of urban life) actions undertaken by a Democratic governor.”

Some argue that the move by the governor is less concerned with quality of life or the environment and is more politically driven. The website Politico reported that Democratic leaders had approached Hochul with their concerns over congestion pricing's impact on close U.S. House races, and about Democrats losing votes and popularity within the tri-state area if the proposal were to go through. Last month, former President Donald Trump wrote that he would “terminate” congestion pricing in his first week in office if reelected. Trump said the tolls — which aim to reduce traffic, improve the environment and raise money for public transit — were “a massive business killer.”

There is no timeline for when the program might be reconsidered but the MTA has already installed high-tech cameras and E-ZPass readers throughout Manhattan to collect the tolls. In 2019, the agency approved a $507 million contract for installation of the equipment.

Watering Voters is No Longer Illegal //

By Michael Frank

In New York State for the past century it has been a misdemeanor to provide “any meat, drink, tobacco, refreshment or provision” to anyone on line to vote. This law has effectively made it impossible for any nonpartisan group to give sustenance to anyone waiting to vote. [Partisan activity is verboten.] While waiting on long lines hasn’t been an issue in the Hudson Valley, it has been a problem elsewhere in the state. 

Luckily (if you’re in favor of hydrating your fellow voters), a federal judge just ruled that New York’s century-old law is unconstitutional. The suit was brought by the Brooklyn branch of the NAACP against multiple New York State board of elections officials. The NAACP argued that the law criminalizes protected free speech and that the ban prevented the NAACP “and other entities like it from engaging in the protected expressive conduct of encouraging voters to exercise their right to vote.” 

[In the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” this year there’s a bit where Larry David mocks a version of this law in Georgia, because David is arrested for handing someone a bottle of water while they’re on line to vote. Georgia’s law is new, circa 2021, hence David’s skewering, and in the episode his character winds up getting his mugshot taken in the style of Donald Trump in Fulton County jail—complete with spray tan.] 

Humor aside, David was mocking Georgia’s SB202, which bans giving out food or water within 150 feet of a polling place—a law progressive groups cite as specifically designed to make voting more difficult, especially in districts where there aren’t many polling places and where people often have to line up outside. In New York, the court ruled that, “offering a voter a bottle of water and a granola bar, with no mention of any candidate or issue” wasn’t going to impede their ability to vote. Rest assured, the judge wrote, NY State law already prohibits “overtly partisan speech” within the 100-foot zone. 

The bottom line – a snack and hydration are legal forms of rocking the vote. Wrap that water bottle in a mugshot of Larry David as a write-in candidate or of any other candidate, real or imagined, however, and you’re out of luck.

Area Red Lobster Gets Reheated //

Red Lobster, the ubiquitous seafood restaurant franchise, recently declared bankruptcy and is in the process of closing a good portion of its restaurants across the country. The news came after reports of bad dealings with a global seafood conglomerate and private equity firm as well as a poorly thought out “all you can eat” shrimp promotion that may have seriously overextended the corporation when too many people took them up on the offer, but this remains in dispute. 

After the bankruptcy announcement, the company began to advertise opportunities to purchase various items via auction, including refrigerators and cooking equipment. Last Week Tonight, the HBO weekly satirical news show hosted by John Oliver saw an opportunity to do a segment on corporate greed and poor judgment, while also pulling a grand stunt: he offered the winning bid on the entire contents of the Red Lobster restaurant located in the Town of Ulster just outside of Kingston. 

Oliver installed all the decor, booths, and furnishings of the restaurant, including stocked lobster tanks, in the New York City studio where the show is taped. “The frustrating thing is it seems just about any random idiot could run a Red Lobster better than these companies have done, but there’s really only one way to put that to the test,” Oliver said in the episode.  

While this was obviously a stunt done for laughs, what about the losing bidders? Local business owner Eric Deising, owner of Deising’s Bakery in Kingston, said he had put in a bid on a 36-inch flat grill/oven and lost to Oliver. ​​"John – he's just beating me all over the place," Deising told News 12 Westchester, laughing. "Congratulations on your new store."

New Affordable Housing Resource //

Following the April affordable housing discussions held at the Parish Hall at the Church of the Messiah, several community members worked with Rhinebeck’s Starr Library to put together a compendium of information and resources on the issue, including just about everything you might want to know about affordable housing and the effort to create more of it in the Hudson Valley. Check it out here.

Do you love walking at Blithewood Garden at Bard College? You can support the restoration of this historic garden by buying tickets to a July 7 concert at Bard’s Spiegeltent: Choro Das 3, a sister-trio from Sao Paolo, creates innovative interpretations of choro, bossa nova, and other styles of Brazilian music. The concert begins at 3PM. Tickets are $29.50-$69.50. Proceeds benefit the Blithewood Garden Rehabilitation Project. At the Spiegeltent, Bard.

Friday, June 7th, 6:00PM

Opening reception for “Global Eye: Travel Photos of Manny Neiro 1959-76.” Exhibition runs through June 29. At Morton Library, 82 Kelly St., Rhinecliff.

Friday, June 7th, 7:00PM

CultureConnect fundraiser, “Baila Conmigo! Come Dance with Me!” The festivities begin at 7PM. Purchase tickets, if still available ($85) and inquire about sponsorships at https://www.cultureconnectrbk.org/june7fundraiser. At Hudson Hollow Barn, Staatsburg.

Saturday, June 8th, 4:30PM

"An Artist’s Alphabet,” local author Linda Chase talks about the life and work of her late husband, artist Tom Blackwell, a painter in the photorealist genre. The accompanying exhibit will be on view through August 31. Register via the Starr website. At Starr Library, 68 West Market St., Rhinebeck.

Sunday, June 9th, 2:30 and 3:30PM

Drag Story Hour with Heath Bar and Katarina Mirage. Two sessions with stories curated by Starr Library that celebrate diversity, kindness, and self-expression. At the cozy book nook at BeckHook Pride, Church of the Messiah, 6436 Montgomery St. (Rte. 9), Rhinebeck.

Saturday, June 15, 6:00PM

Upstate Films 2024 Jubilee fundraiser, with cocktails, performances, live auction and dinner. Tickets $250-$1,000. At the Spiegeltent, Bard College.

Wednesday, June 19th

Juneteenth National Independence Day, commemorating the ending of slavery in the US.

Saturday, June 22, 4:30PM

Hudson Organ Trio plays jazz. FREE. The second of four concerts in the Roger Phillips Concert Series. Sponsored by Arts Mid-Hudson. Bring a chair or blanket, but the concert will be indoors if the weather doesn’t cooperate. At Starr Library, 68 West Market St., Rhinebeck.