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September 21, 2017 - In This Issue:
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A Message From Mayor Steve Noble:
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Dear Friends,
It was a great honor to welcome Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday, where he announced that the City of Kingston was selected as the winner of the second round of the Governor's $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI.)
As some of you may remember, in 2016 the City applied for the first round of DRI funding. That application focused on our Midtown section of Kingston and while we were not successful in the 2016 DRI competition, it was the foundation of a series of successful applications for Midtown during the state's Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) later that year. In fact, nearly $4 million was awarded to the City of Kingston and its partners through the CFAs for Midtown projects.
When the Governor announced that there would be a second round of DRI funding, we reviewed the funding guidelines and found that we could prepare a highly competitive application focusing on our Uptown area (dubbed the Stockade Business District in the application) that would allow us to develop and implement high-impact, transformative projects capable of benefiting not only the Stockade, but the entire city, county and Mid-Hudson region.
Here was the criteria we had to meet under this proposal:
- The downtown should be compact, with well-defined boundaries;
- The municipality, or the downtown's catchment area, should be of sufficient size to support a vibrant, year-round downtown;
- The downtown is able to capitalize on prior or catalyze future private and public investment in the neighborhood and its surrounding areas;
- There should be recent or impending job growth within, or in close proximity to the downtown that can attract workers to the downtown, support redevelopment and make growth sustainable;
- The downtown must be an attractive and livable community for diverse populations of all ages, including existing residents, millennials and skilled workers;
- The municipality should already embrace or have the ability to create and implement policies that increase livability and quality of life, including the use of local land banks, modern zoning codes and parking standards, complete streets plans, energy efficient projects, green jobs, and transit-oriented development;
- The municipality should have conducted an open and robust community engagement process resulting in a vision for downtown revitalization and a preliminary list of projects and initiatives that may be included in a DRI strategic investment plan; and
- The municipality has identified transformative projects that will be ready for implementation with an infusion of DRI funds within the first one to two years.
I want to thank our team who worked day and night to create our application and presentation, including Brenna Robinson and Kristen Wilson of my Office of Economic and Community Development, Megan Weiss-Rowe from our Office of Communications and Community Engagement, Tim Weidemann from the Ulster County Office of Economic Development, and Micah Blumenthal and Sarah Carlson, two of our community's incredible advocates and artists.
I also want to thank Ulster County Executive Mike Hein. He has been an indispensable partner, sharing staff, guidance and support. Most importantly, we share a vision. A strong Kingston is a strong Ulster County. While I think we can both agree that this process has brought the City and County even closer, moving this Downtown Revitalization Initiative forward will require a seamless partnership between us and I appreciate Mike's commitment to this initiative and, more broadly, to our City.
Both the grant application and the presentation I gave to the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council earlier this summer required us to tell the story of Kingston and demonstrate that we have a vision for sustainable equitable development, a model that ensures that all of our residents and business owners can benefit from this investment by the state. As you can imagine, it's difficult to sum up in just a few words what makes Kingston so special. And so while we talked about public and private investments being made in the Stockade, strategies for job creation, improvements to infrastructure and transportation, and a wide variety of opportunities to support economic development, our story ultimately ended up being about what I consider to be the greatest strength of Kingston- our people. Hard-working, passionate, persistent people. This award and the wonderful things that will follow is as a result of each of you who have chosen to call Kingston home, to locate your business here, to shop here, to contribute here. So, finally, thank you all. This is the beginning of another exciting journey for Kingston and I look forward to continuing to build a strong city together.
-Steve
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City of Kingston selected as winner of $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative
Mayor Noble was pleased to welcome Governor Andrew Cuomo to the City of Kingston on Wednesday afternoon. Governor Cuomo traveled here to announce that the City of Kingston was selected as the winner of the second round of the Governor's $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative!
Now that Kingston has been selected, we will be connected with experts in the field who will work with us to develop a Strategic Investment Plan, which will help us to expand our community's vision for revitalization and identify projects to be funded through this award. As we gain more information about the process, we will keep the public informed.
To view the City of Kingston's winning application,
click here.
To view addition pictures from the announcement,
click here.
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| Governor Cuomo makes the announcement |
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Celebrate Kingston!
The City of Kingston is proud to co-sponsor a free theatrical event featuring an evening of history & community with short films and rare photographs about Kingston, plus live music & dance
Saturday, September 23 (Art Walk Weekend 2017)
Gallo Park - Rondout Waterfront
7pm - 9pm
Free!
(Rain date 9/30)
- Short films including: the emerging Midtown Arts District; local photographers Gene Dauner and Mickey Mathis; 80th anniversary of Kingston's Model Train Club; musicians Pauline Oliveros and Ione; Uncle Willy and Boxer Billy Costello; and other surprises.
- Historic photographic presentations of Kingston: Then & Now
- Dance performance by the Center for Creative Education, with a twist!
- Live music by New York Funk Alliance and others
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Art Walk Kingston 2017
Art Walk Kingston is a celebration of the arts and the local community in its 2nd year during the weekend of September 23 and 24th. The public is invited to explore three distinct areas of the city of Kingston and immerse themselves in a range of art and events presented by over 90 artists. Paintings, photographs, drawings, ceramics, jewelry, and sculptures are just some of the artworks that will be on display at home studios and galleries across the city. Performers have scheduled a wide variety of events, including poetry readings/performance at the Lace Mill, Celebrate Kingston, a multi-media exhibition featuring short films, music, dance, and O+ Mural walking mural tours. Details can be seen on the interactive map on facebook as well as in the printed map-booklet available at marked locations.
The tour meanders through the City of Kingston including studios and art galleries in the Rondout, mid-town, and uptown. Each of the three Kingston neighborhoods are walkable and parking is available in each of the locations. Online and print maps will guide visitors to the studios and merchants open with Art Walk Kingston special offerings.
"We are eagerly counting down the days until this year's Art Walk in the City of Kingston," said Mayor Steve Noble. "This is an excellent event that offers residents and visitors the opportunity to see firsthand the variety of arts-based businesses located within our community. The arts have become a major economic engine in our City and the Art Walk offers a glimpse into this brilliant hub of creativity and passion. All are welcome to join me as we traverse our beautiful city and visit the diverse artists, performers and businesses contributing to our community's growth and development."
Open studios include artists using a wide variety of creative approaches including Susan Whelan's ceramics studio filled with fantastical owls, contemporary sculpture by Harris Diamant, jewelry by Sara Beames, and mixed-media paintings by Ann Haaland, furniture by Johnny Poux Design and handmade musical instruments by Chris Andersen.
Visitors can see participating artist studios located in the historic Kingston warehouses, such as painter Charlotte Tusch at the Lace Mill, and Kingston Ceramics Studio and Raychel Wegenroth's Hudson Valley Silverworks at The Shirt Factory.
Performance and experiential events will be included during the Art Walk Kingston weekend, including live readings and performances at the Lace Mill, O+ mural tours on Saturday afternoon, and a Shakespeare-inspired art exhibit opening by Judy Sigunick at the LGBTQ Center.
Arts Mid-Hudson serves as an organizing partner for Art Walk Kingston in collaboration with community volunteers and artists.
For more information, visit
www.ArtWalkKingston.com or visit the
Facebook event.
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Wurts Street Bridge to be closed temporarily
A firm retained by the New York State Department of Transportation will be performing an inspection of the Wurts Street Bridge. To perform the inspection, they must close the bridge to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The inspection has been scheduled for Monday, September 25th through Friday, September 30th. During this time,
Wurts St. will be closed between Abeel St. in Kingston Connely Road in Port Ewe from 9:00am-3:00pm each day. Traffic will be detoured to Route 9W during the closure periods.
Thank you for your patience!
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City of Kingston Announces Design Review Meeting of the Kingston Greenline's Hasbrouck-Delaware Parklet to be held on Tuesday, September 26th
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Comprehensive Plan Zoning Sub-Committee
Public Forum
Mayor Steve Noble and the Comprehensive Plan Zoning Sub-Committee are pleased to announce an upcoming public forum to be held on Thursday, September 28th at 6:00pm at City Hall, located at 420 Broadway. This will be one in a series of forums regarding the ongoing effort to update the City of Kingston's zoning.
The theme for this month's public forum will be "Consolidation and Reformatting of Residential Districts and Bulk Standards." There will be a presentation at the beginning of the session that discusses the current code, why this topic is important and what has been discussed by the Zoning Sub-Committee so far regarding potential changes. Participants will then be invited to break up into smaller groups where citizens can provide comments and ask questions. Each group will be facilitated by a City staff member.
The next forum in the series is scheduled for Tuesday, October 17th at 6:00pm. The focus of that forum will be on the roles of the Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Heritage Area Commission, and the Planning Board. A third forum will be scheduled in November and will focus on Form Based Codes and Overlay Districts.
Starting in early 2018, a series of meetings will be held by the Mayor in order to more thoroughly discuss topics of interest, many of which may require additional educational presentations, case studies from other places, etc. These would include but are not limited to: affordable housing; urban agriculture; parking requirements/waiver; etc.
For more information, contact Suzanne Cahill, Planning Director, at [email protected] or at 845-334- 3957.
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Employment Opportunities and Exam Announcements
The City of Kingston recently posted a number of civil service exam announcements and job vacancies.
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Upcoming Municipal Meetings
Monday, September 25th
Civil Service Commission
9:30am
City Hall
Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission
Special Meeting
6:30pm
City Hall, Conference Room #1
Tuesday, September 26th
Police Commission
4:00pm
Kingston Police Department
Community Development Committee
6:00pm
City Hall, Conference Room #1
Wednesday, September 27th
Tree Commission
3:30pm
City Hall, Conference Room #1
Climate Smart Kingston
4:30pm
City Hall
Public Safety/General Government Committee
6:30pm
City Hall, Conference Room #1
Heritage Area Committee
7:00pm
City Hall, Conference Room #2
Thursday, September 28th
Comprehensive Plan Zoning Sub-Committee Public Forum
6:00pm
City Hall, Council Chambers
Friday, September 29th
No meetings scheduled at this time.
To stay up to date on all municipal meetings each month, check out our monthly calendar
here. Most meeting agendas and minutes can be found
here.
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Kingston Happenings 
The City of Kingston often receives requests to share upcoming events happening in our community. Our partners at
KingstonHappenings.org
do an excellent job of centralizing this community information. So while our website is the best resource to gain information about City of Kingston sponsored events and important municipal information, Kingston Happenings can give you a greater preview of community events. Check them out today!
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