June 14, 2024 - In this issue: | |
Fourth of July Festivities Announced | |
Winner of Post Office Park Monument Contest | |
2024 Children's Day Parade | |
Kingston Hosts Department of State's International Leadership Program | |
Bicycle Skills Rodeo Tomorrow | |
Ulster County Arts & Culture Plan Launches Monday | |
Mayor Noble's Tuesday Radio Show | |
Weekly Roadwork Update + Upcoming Paving | |
City of Kingston Job Opportunities | |
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Mayor's Message:
Dear Friends -
Happy Flag Day! I will be attending the Kingston Elks Lodge Flag Day celebration today at 6:00pm. All are welcome! The Elks Lodge is located at 143 Hurley Avenue, and the event is rain or shine.
The City of Kingston, along with Harambee Kingston, will celebrate Juneteenth with two special events. Starting tonight with a concert at Old Dutch Church, featuring Juma Sultan’s Aboriginal Music Society, a 10-piece afro-funk ensemble, with a pre-concert talk by drummer and master teacher Ubaka Hill, who also serves as the Program Coordinator at Harambee.
On Saturday, June 15, an all-day event starting at the Pine Street African Burial Ground and moving to Harambee’s African Cultural Headquarters, will feature live music, theatrical performances, children’s activities and more. For more information and a full line-up, visit www.harambeekingstonny.org.
Wednesday, June 19 is Juneteenth, and is a City of Kingston holiday. Municipal offices will be closed. Trash/recycling will not be picked up on Wednesday, and will be delayed one day.
-Steve
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Fourth of July Celebration Announced | |
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Ole Savannah, Brickmen Kitchen + Bar, and O’Connor & Partners will sponsor the fireworks display on the Fourth of July. The fireworks will be set off from a barge in Rondout Creek just after dark.
Leading up to the fireworks, this year’s celebration will include entertainment sponsored by the City of Kingston. Starting at 6:30pm, the Gottasee Band, a 7-piece ensemble, will play a mix of R&B, Motown, disco, classic rock, pop country, and contemporary favorites on the City stage in T.R. Gallo Park. The Center for Creative Education’s Energy Dancers and Drummers will also perform throughout the evening’s entertainment.
Parking will be limited. UCAT will run a free shuttle service, making regular pick-ups from the Kingston Plaza (adjacent to the ballfield off Westbrook Lane), from the Cornell Street parking lot (Thomas Street lot near Little Italy), and along Broadway at the Governor Clinton, the Andy Murphy Center, and Yosman Towers, dropping off at Garraghan Drive. There will also be a continuous shuttle from the parking lot at Kingston Point Beach. Busses will start picking up at 5:00pm and the last bus will depart the Rondout at 11:30pm.
In the event of severe weather on July 4, the fireworks and entertainment will move to Friday, July 5, 2024, with 4 Guys in Disguise performing prior to the fireworks.
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Winner of Monument Contest Announced | |
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The winning design of the Post Office Park Small Monument Competition is by Hudson Valley sculptor and architect Richard Scherr.
Richard Scherr was an architect and instructor of architectural design for over 40 years and is an author on design theory. He currently practices as a sculptor in his local studio.
Launched in April, the Small Monument Competition called for proposed monument concepts to be fabricated and permanently installed at the new Post Office Park, which is currently being constructed at the corner of Broadway and Prince Street. Applicants were asked to provide design concepts that pay homage to the post office that stood on the site but was razed during urban renewal in 1970. Built between 1904-1908, the building was a notable limestone and granite structure with a rounded façade with Classical and Beaux Arts elements.
Fabricated in steel, the work will feature a representation of the iconic post office cupola, leaning as if in a state of falling, and supported with eight poles symbolizing resistance to the building's destruction. It will be placed on a round pedestal near the entrance to Post Office Park’s south side at Broadway and Grand Street. Installation is expected to take place in late June 2025.
The Post Office Park Small Monument Competition has been made possible with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. More information at https://engagekingston.com/post-office-park-small-monument-competition-winner-announced.
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Winning sculpture concept | |
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Happy Kingston Pride Weekend! Tomorrow, we will be re-painting and refreshing the crosswalks Uptown at the Wall & John Street intersection. TO help paint, join us tomorrow, Saturday, June 15, starting at 8:00am. Everyone is welcome!
There are tons of great events planned throughout the weekend. For the full line-up of Kingston Pride events, see here.
To support the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center, visit https://lgbtqcenter.org/
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Mayor Noble painting the first pride crosswalk in 2018! | |
2024 Children's Day Parade on July 12, 2024 | |
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The 54th Annual Children’s Day Parade will be held on Friday, July 12, 2024. The theme this year is board games.
Registration for participation in the Children’s Day Parade is now open at https://kingston-ny.gov/childrensdayparade
Parade Route: The parade will step off of Pine Grove Avenue onto Broadway at 6:00pm. The parade will proceed up Broadway and onto Albany Avenue, make a right turn onto Clinton Avenue and then another right turn onto Westbrook Lane. Floats and units will then continue down Westbrook Lane, pass the Herzog’s lumberyard, and will take the next left towards the back of Herzog’s store.
For more information, contact the Parks and Recreation office at 845-481-7330 or ejohnson@kingston-ny.gov.
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Kingston Hosts DOS International Visitor Program | |
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This week, Mayor Steve Noble, Kingston’s Sustainability Coordinator, and the Climate Smart Kingston Commission welcomed a group of 24 visitors from 23 countries via the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The program was created to strengthen U.S. engagement with countries around the world and cultivate lasting relationships by connecting foreign leaders with their American counterparts. The focus of the trip was visiting ‘Sustainable Cities’ to explore and exchange best practices in environmentally sound creative urban planning and the design and maintenance of infrastructure systems in urban areas, and to consider methods of collaboration among national and international specialists as a means of furthering the resilience of cities.
During their visit to Kingston, the international guests visited many of the City’s sustainable development initiatives and partnerships including Energy Square, Lace Mill, Broadway Streetscapes project, the Greenline and Empire State Trail, municipal solar installations, and electric vehicle infrastructure. They toured the Rondout Creek and Hudson River waterfront’s Weaving the Waterfront resiliency and adaptation projects, as well as the Kingston Land Trust’s Mason Hill Land in Black Hands acquisition, the YMCA Farm Project and the UCRRA Composting Operation. The visitors were part of an international roundtable discussion with local elected officials, and Mayor Noble had the opportunity to lead the group on a kayak tour on the Hudson River!
In addition to Kingston, the visitors traveled to Washington, D.C., New York City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and New Orleans.
As the first city in New York State to be certified as a Silver Climate Smart Community, the City of Kingston is a leader in sustainability. More at https://kingston-ny.gov/sustainability.
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Bicycle Skills Rodeo Tomorrow! | |
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Join the Travel Well Focus Team of Live Well Kingston for a bicycle skills rodeo for all ages at Forsyth Park on Saturday, June 15, from 1:00-4:00pm.
The event will offer basic bicycle safety education on the hour. A few bicycles will be available, but participants are encouraged to bring their own. Helmet fitting and giveaways will be available.
There will also be an opportunity for public input for the design of a “traffic park”-- sometimes called a traffic garden, transportation park, or safety village – a painted surface on an abandoned tennis court at Forsyth Park that looks like a streetscape and would be geared toward users of all ages to practice their bicycle, scooter, or walking safety skills in a low-stress environment. Traffic parks are a great place to teach kids to ride. When young kids learn traffic rules, they are more likely to become better, safer users of the transportation system as they get older.
Once created, the space will be available for the public, students, and the YMCA bicycle program, and can still be used as overflow parking during events.
For project updates visit: https://livewellkingston.org/focus-teams/travel-well/kingston-traffic-park/
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Example of a traffic park | |
Mayor Noble's Tuesday Radio Show | |
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Mayor Noble's weekly radio show, "It's the Mayor" airs on Tuesdays at 5:00pm on Radio Kingston.
This week, Mayor Noble spoke with Recreation Leader KC Keegan-Twombly, and Kevin Gilfeather, former Parks & Recreation Superintendent, discussing all the youth programs and events for the summer, indoor & outdoor activities, including nature programs and more! Click below to hear their conversation.
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Ulster County Arts & Culture Plan Launches Monday | |
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The Ulster County Arts & Culture Plan’s Virtual Public Launch will take place on Monday, June 17 from 5:00– 6:30pm.
The Ulster County Arts & Culture Plan is the first-ever County-led planning process to generate a vision and action plan to strengthen and grow our arts and cultural landscape. Input from community members of all ages and backgrounds is crucial to the success of this plan.
Register for the June 17 Virtual Meeting
An overview of the planning process and information about upcoming events can be found here: Ulster County Arts & Culture Plan
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Paving + Weekly Roadwork/Infrastructure Update | |
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Paving-- the next round of paving in 2024 will be Elizabeth Street from Washington Avenue to Marius Street and Wall Street from Greenkill Avenue to Henry Street. Preparation in the area has already begun. Milling is expected to begin on Monday, June 24, 2024, with paving expected to be completed by Friday, June 28, 2024, weather depending.
Wurts Street Bridge-- NYSDOT has paved/striped Abeel Street at the bridge.
Central Hudson-- Gas main installation/construction will continue on Wall Street from Franklin Street to Henry Street, Linderman Avenue from Washington Avenue to Wall Street, Furnace Street, and Warren Place. Expect road closures and/or lane closures in areas of active construction.
Service replacements will continue on Saint James Street and Fair Street. Lane closures and/or detours are expected.
Central Hudson’s paving contractor will be restoring the following streets, starting Wednesday, June 19 or Thursday, June 20, weather depending. The schedule is subject to change. Each street will be posted 24 hours in advance of milling/paving.
Day 1 – Levan Street
Day 2 – Brewster
Day 3 – Orchard Street (mill)
Day 4 – Orchard Street (pave)
Day 5 – Dietz at Melvin
Day 6 – W. Chestnut (mill)
Day 7 – W. Chestnut (pave)
Day 8 – New Street
Day 9 – Montrepose
Paving will be one lane in the area where the gas line trench was made, as well as paving any other patches in the street that were impacted.
Post Office Park-- crews will continue preparing site for plantings in August/September.
Prospect Street Sewer Project-- test pits with lane closures. Road will remain open to traffic during this work.
Clinton Avenue Uptown Transportation Improvements Project-- no construction work next week.
Weekly roadwork updates will be posted on the City website here.
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City of Kingston Job & Board Opportunities | |
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The Kingston 311 app, website, and phone system allow residents to quickly and easily report issues and submit service requests.
The Kingston 311 app, available for Android & iPhones, is a fast and simple way to connect to City officials in non-emergency situations. Photos can be attached to illustrate service orders.
This system is a valuable resource to submit municipal service requests. Examples include:
- Streetlight replacement
- City signage, including overgrowth blocking traffic signs
- Snow removal, reporting parking violations, and other snow-related issues
- Parks & playground repairs
- Report graffiti or vandalism
- Trail issues
Dial 311 from any phone within City limits to reach us, use the app or visit www.kingston-ny.gov/311/
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Sent on behalf of:
Mayor Steven T. Noble
845.334.3902
mayor@kingston-ny.gov
The purpose of this newsletter is to share important information, project updates, pictures and news from the City of Kingston. For more detailed information, visit:
www.kingston-ny.gov
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