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Voice concerns in letter to state parks
The mayors of Cold Spring and Nelsonville and the supervisor in Philipstown issued a letter on Wednesday (April 17) opposing plans to start the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail in Cold Spring.
The letter, signed by Kathleen Foley of Cold Spring, Chris Winward of Nelsonville and John Van Tassel of Philipstown and read aloud by Foley and Van Tassel at meetings, is addressed to Meagan Fitzgerald, the deputy commissioner of the state parks agency and Linda Cooper, the regional director.
State parks is partnering with Scenic Hudson, an environmental nonprofit based in Poughkeepsie, to construct the HHFT, which is proposed to run from Cold Spring to Beacon along the Hudson River. It is the lead agency in the environmental review of the project.
"Having the actual trail enter the Village of Cold Spring by any route would irreversibly change the landscape, viewshed and character of the village as well as the experience of all Philipstowners who consider Cold Spring the heart of our town," the three elected officials wrote. "The trail's necessary size, scale and construction requirements, particularly to meet the accessibility goal identified by the HHFT design team, would be outsized for our small residential village."
The officials asserted that creating a gateway to the trail in Cold Spring, especially a proposed route beginning at the state-owned Dockside Park, would itself become a tourist destination, creating "an unbearable, unsustainable increase in visitor volume that no number of trash cans and toilets will offset."
Instead, the letter advocates simple, "residentially scaled" paths and sidewalks from Cold Spring to an HHFT entrance north of the village, describing that approach as "far more appropriate to our historic, livable community."
Foley said the letter represents the views of the three officials but not necessarily of the Village Board. (Van Tassel said the same about the Town Board.) On Wednesday, Cold Spring Trustee Aaron Freimark remarked that he would have appreciated receiving a copy of the letter before the meeting.
"It is your right to act unilaterally," he said. "But as a courtesy, we're reminded that we work together as a board."
"I accept your good feedback," Foley responded. "At some point, we need to calendar this as a public discussion."
Foley also read comments into the record from an April 3 statement by members of the HHFT Data Committee, which includes two Cold Spring residents and Winward, that was critical of HHFT.
Thanking the Data Committee for its work, Foley said: "We picked people who know their fields and bring expertise ranging from data analysis to public administration to legal perspective; I wanted that to be part of our record."
In a statement on Thursday (April 18), MJ Martin, director of development and community engagement for HHFT, wrote: "HHFT, along with state parks, has been in continued conversation with municipal leadership on the project. Both the letter by the supervisor and mayors and the media statement by the Philipstown members of the Data Committee came abruptly, in the middle of an ongoing process meant to gather information and understand community members' priorities.
"It was surprising to learn municipal leadership is taking this stance, as local support for the Shoreline Trail is well documented in both a survey administered by HHFT and a recent independent survey by a Cold Spring resident. Philipstown, including the villages, is a community composed of diverse viewpoints. It is important that all voices be heard."

Spending plan, capital project could mean dual tax increases
While the breakdown of state aid, property tax revenue and district funding will not be known until next week, the Beacon City School District has set its tax levy for its 2024-25 budget at $47.68 million. That's a 3.91 percent increase over what it collected for 2023-24 and would trigger a modest tax bump.
The levy increase is based on Beacon's tax-base growth factor (one of the highest in Dutchess County), the consumer price index and other factors and does not exceed a state-mandated cap. Voters will consider the proposed budget on May 21.
According to the district, the annual increase for a Beacon resident who owns a home worth $425,000, the median value in Dutchess, would be $88. For Town of Fishkill and Town of Wappinger residents in the district, the estimated increase would be $100 and $106, respectively.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a tentative budget agreement with lawmakers on Monday (April 15); once the plan is finalized, public school districts will know how much state aid they will receive for 2024-25. According to the governor, the budget will include $35.9 billion in school funding, including $24.9 billion in Foundation Aid, which considers factors such as a district's relative wealth and the number of students it serves.
On Monday, Superintendent Matt Landahl told the Beacon school board that he expects the district will receive about the same amount it did last year, which was $30.8 million.
"Everything that we're reading is that school districts in the 'save harmless' [no decrease] category, which Beacon is, should not be expecting an increase in Foundation Aid," he said. "That's been the messaging for the last several weeks."
Despite flat funding, Landahl said the district plans to maintain small class sizes, full-day pre-K, expanded extracurricular clubs, access to collegiate and advanced coursework, and salary increases and professional development opportunities for employees. A pilot program to support reading instruction for elementary students would also receive funding.
"It may not be a budget where we have a laundry list of things we're adding next year, but it's a budget where we're really proud to be keeping these wonderful things in place that we've fought hard to get," Landahl said.
The district intends to implement a "position-control" policy to determine, case-by-case, whether to replace staff members who resign or retire. The policy isn't meant to cause panic, the superintendent said, but administrators will look "at every single aspect of the district" in trying to save money through attrition.
Positions funded by federal American Rescue Plan funds will be reviewed, along with contracts, most of which are for services provided by the Dutchess Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).
In addition to the budget and three board seats, the May 21 ballot will include two propositions related to student transportation and one to allow the district to borrow money for a proposed $49 million capital project.
The first proposition would allow the district to purchase a second electric school bus. Voters approved buying one electric bus last year but it has yet to be purchased. The district has received conditional approval from New York State for vouchers providing $257,250 for each bus, which, including a charger, sells for $495,000.
The second proposition would permit the district to spend $485,000 to buy three 72-passenger, gas-powered buses.
(State law requires that school buses purchased after 2027 run on electricity; all 50,000 gas-powered buses in New York must be replaced by 2035.)
The third proposition asks voters to approve an initiative for capital improvements across all six district school buildings. It would include heating, ventilation and energy-efficiency upgrades, new roofs on some buildings, secure visitor entrances and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, among many other repairs.
Many classrooms will re

Says feds should have final say on discharge
The company decommissioning the Indian Point nuclear power plant south of the Highlands sued New York State in federal court on Thursday (April 18), asking a judge to overturn a law that bans the discharge of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River.
Citing the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, its filing claims the 2023 law is a "blatant infringement on the federal government's exclusive right to regulate the discharge of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants."
"The failure of New York State to respect federal law and follow the facts and science of the issue left us no other means for remedy," it said.
The state Assembly and Senate approved the law after Holtec announced last year that it planned to discharge more than 1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater from spent fuel pools. Holtec noted that radioactive water had been routinely discharged into the river during the 50 years the plant operated.
Although the water would be filtered, that process would not remove tritium, a radioactive isotope. According to the lawsuit, "Holtec's plan to treat and dispose of the tritiated wastewater in the Hudson River from Indian Point fully satisfies NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] regulations and is well within federal limits on radiological discharges."
That failed to mollify many residents, elected officials and environmentalists, who argued that, even if the effects were negligible, the perception of a "radioactive river" could harm the local economy and property values.
In the spring of 2023, Assembly Member Dana Levenberg and state Sen. Pete Harckham, Democrats whose districts include Indian Point, introduced the legislation to prohibit discharges. It passed both houses with bipartisan support.
Holtec's lawsuit notes that the initial version of the bill cited "the protection of drinking water and health and safety," while the final version only mentioned economic concerns.
Victoria Leung, a staff attorney for the environmental organization Riverkeeper, said that while the federal law preempts state regulation in the field of nuclear health and safety, "it does allow for states to regulate its own interests, such as economic interests."
"So we don't think it comes in conflict with federal law," she said. "We maintain that this law is an appropriate exercise of state power as it seeks to regulate the state of New York state's economic interest, not nuclear safety."
In a statement on Thursday (April 18), Harckham said: "Holtec's litigation does not change these facts: The New York State Senate unanimously approved legislation to stop the dumping of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson, and the governor signed it into law because most residents want to protect this vital waterway, as well as the economic activity generated by the river."
The next meeting of the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board is scheduled for Thursday (April 25). In a statement, the board said that it did not plan to discuss the lawsuit but would continue presentations on alternative methods of wastewater removal.

First national standards for local drinking water
The Environmental Protection Agency last week issued the first national standards for a class of chemicals that shut down the drinking water supply in Newburgh and have been detected at lower levels in Beacon and Cold Spring.
The EPA standards issued on April 10 cap at 4 parts per trillion the legal limit for PFOA and PFOS, two types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They have been called "forever chemicals" because of their duration in the environment, and the human body.
The new maximum for PFOA and PFOS is more stringent than New York State's 10 parts per trillion. In addition, the EPA set limits of 10 parts per trillion for three other PFAS chemicals and declared that no level of PFOA and PFOS in drinking water is without risk.
PFAS chemicals, used for decades in nonstick cookware, water-repellant clothing and other consumer products, as well as firefighting foams, have been linked to various health problems, including cancer, low-infant birthweights and high cholesterol.
The operators of as many as 10 percent of the 66,000 drinking-water systems covered by the standards nationwide may have to take action because their PFAS levels exceed the revised guidelines, according to the EPA. Based on recent tests, Beacon and Cold Spring would be exempt as of April 18.
According to the most recent report available, the level of PFOS measured in Beacon's water supply topped out at 2.4 parts per trillion in 2022, and PFOA levels were measured at 1.88 ppt.
The most recent report for Cold Spring, provided by the Putnam County Health Department, shows PFOA levels of 1.59 parts per trillion in the fourth quarter of 2021. Neither PFOA nor PFOS was detected in any other test that year.
Newburgh's primary water supply, Washington Lake, was shut down in May 2016 because of high levels of PFOS (140 parts per trillion); the city began buying water from New York City. Authorities said the contamination came from runoff from Stewart Air National Guard Base that contained the residue of firefighting foams.
More recently, the Putnam Valley Central School District installed a filtration system in a well that supplies its elementary school after tests showed levels of 38.3 parts per trillion for PFOS and 23.3 ppt for PFOA. The district traced the problem to the Putnam Valley Fire Department's use of foams at its firehouses.
Jonathan Jacobson, whose state Assembly district includes Beacon, is a longtime Newburgh resident who consumed the city's contaminated water before it closed Washington Lake. "The need for these new standards is not just theoretical," he said. "It is personal to me and my neighbors."
Newburgh, Putnam Valley and Dutchess County are among the municipalities suing 3M, DuPont and other companies that manufactured and used the chemicals.
3M, which said in December 2022 that it would cease making PFAS by the end of 2025, announced last year that it would pay $10.3 billion over 13 years so operators of public systems can treat contaminated water and test for the chemicals. Twenty days earlier, Chemours, DuPont and Corteva said they would pay a combined $1.2 billion into a fund to settle claims.
In addition, the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in 2021 includes $1 billion for public water systems and the owners of private wells to test their water for PFAS and treat contamination.

Magazzino exhibit shares 1960s work by talented, but troubled, artist
One takeaway from the exhibit Germinal at Magazzino Italian Art in Philipstown is how often the artist, Mario Schifano, shifted visual and technical gears over just 10 years, from 1960 to 1970.
In Italy, the groovy 1960s collided with lingering post-World War II malaise and radical politics. Schifano visited New York City three times during the period, hobnobbing with jazz masters and hanging out with Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg.
A cheeky account states that "the Rolling Stones stole his girlfriend," Anita Pallenberg (who dated Brian Jones and had three children with Keith Richards). Later in the decade, Marianne Faithfull left Mick Jagger for Schifano.
One photo in the exhibit shows Jasper Johns preparing a libation as Schifano relaxes. The Italian's extensive photos and films of old New York are priceless, but he also picked up a heroin habit and did not return to the city after interest in his work waned.
He continued to create, but ill-gotten fame grew with successive arrests. After spending time in a mental institution and with a band, he died in 1998 at age 63. He had exhibited all over Europe and around the world, from Tokyo to Los Angeles and South America.
This show, curated by Filippo Fossati, reimagines and streamlines the museum's Schifano exhibition from last fall, focusing on the period when his dalliances in New York City and Italian politics informed his work.
At first, the artist's textured monochrome paintings attracted the interest of Leo Castelli and Ileana Sonnabend, among the world's most renowned art dealers at the time.
In his expansive studio at 791 Broadway, he created many large works, some of which conveyed motion as stencil-like people beat feet, hands extended as if marching down an urban street. One is clearly derivative of Da Vinci.
"Elemento per grande paesaggio" (1962)
"Compagni compagni" (1968)
"La testa della madre 1913" (1965)
"Futurismo rivisitato a colori" (1965)
"Ultimo autunno" (1964)
"Particolare di propaganda" (1962)
The works on display at Magazzino are smaller, including an installment of his recurring series Propaganda, which incorporated interpretations of the Coca-Cola and Esso (precursor to Exxon) logos beginning in 1962 and earned inevitable comparisons to Warhol.
His handlers wanted Schifano to keep knocking out single-color works, but he rebelled and they dropped him. The show features abstracts, what he called "anemic" landscapes, more realistic landscapes and two loud, strident images of workers holding hammers and sickles.
There is also one painting from a series of collaborations with poet and neighbor Frank O'Hara, who wrote on the canvas: "There was a lot of static - Lately deciding to be relatively evil or not I bought a wrist radio." He added: "Images were shy and oblique and I love Federico Fellini more than grass."
Schifano overlaid several works with plastic or plexiglass, including an untitled collage with yellow strips of jagged Perspex hanging from the top and "52 Delle Grotte Alley from the Inside in the Early Morning," which depicts a window with an interior perspective but is covered by what resembles the material used to cover fluorescent lights.
Recurring motifs include words and slogans splashed across canvasses along with outlines of wood rulers and drafting tools, as if left on the table of a quasi-abstract artist.
Many works are embellished with random, geometrically rigid shapes disconnected from the rest of the image, like the red strips punctuating "Anemic Landscape I" and a bright-green rectangle that clashes with the unfinished red, white and brown canvas in "Propaganda Detail."
Schifano painted flourishes around a photo of his artistic heroes, the Futurists from the early 1900s, although their faces are blanked out. Pieces from another series were influenced by his infatuation with television.
The exhibition's title is drawn from the artist, who claimed t

Beacon building sold; last day is April 21
Richie Kaplan, the proprietor of Max's on Main, has sold the building that hosts what he contends is "Beacon's oldest bar."
Kaplan plans to close Max's, at 246 Main St., on April 21. The well-worn establishment's future is unclear; a former restaurant and bar owner from Brooklyn identified as the buyer did not immediately respond to an email or text asking about plans for the 1870 building.
Regardless, Kaplan, 71, said it's time for a change. Day and night, he scrambles with a stooped gait to bus tables and tend to customers. Soon, he will take down the whimsical wall decorations and babysit his grandchildren.
"I hear Foreigner needs a drummer," he said, with a laugh.
A wooden phone booth sits in the lobby for the upstairs apartments. The tenants must leave by mid-June, according to one resident. Only six people occupy the 20 rooms, she said, adding that some pay $500 a month.
Setting up the gear for a gig at Max's, Steve Mittelstadt said he was disappointed to hear the building has been sold. "It's a great place to come in, watch football and see people you know, but gentrification is unavoidable," he said.
"This is one of the last remaining community-based, family run gathering spots, and it's going to be hard to replace," he said. "A lot of people will sorely miss it, but we can only hope that whoever comes in keeps it the same."
During some downtime just before midnight on April 6, Kaplan and Shirley Hot, the owner of Pandorica restaurant, another mainstay on Main Street, reminisced about Joe's Irish Pub (now Momo Valley) and the crime that once plagued the city.
"We stayed open until 4 a.m. - we were crazy," said Kaplan, referring to his brother and partner, Harvey, who died last year. Max's, named for their father, opened in 2006. "There was an army of drug dealers; we escorted people to their cars at night."
Hot, who blames her hearing loss on the bands at Joe's Irish Pub, remembers when "no one wanted Beacon. It was a depressed city and now, 25 years later, we can't afford to stay. There's been so many changes and so much turnover on Main Street, it's incredible."
Max's on Main, at 246 Main St., is open through April 21 from noon to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, noon to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday. See maxsonmain.com or call 845-838-6297.