Topics range from affordability to bikes and firefighters

In a repeat of last year's budget deliberations, Beacon City Council members on Monday (Oct. 27) debated with Mayor Lee Kyriacou and City Administrator Chris White whether the city has done enough to advance affordable housing.

Each year, after the mayor introduces his budget proposal in October, department heads present their spending plans. Their proposals typically review accomplishments, notable projects scheduled for the following year and any changes in spending.

This week, after presentations on the highway, water and sewer and wastewater departments, the discussion turned to "council priorities." A year ago, council members sparred with Kyriacou and White over affordability before adding $75,000 to the 2025 budget for a communications plan and studies on affordable housing and non-vehicular transportation. The money had not been spent, Finance Director Susan Tucker said on Monday.

This year's discussion centered around a proposal to create a director of housing solutions. Kingston and Hudson have hired similar staff, while Beacon officials have suggested that Ben Swanson, who has been Kyriacou's assistant for four years and will become the deputy city administrator in 2026, could work on housing.

Kyriacou said on Monday that he believes Swanson, who has a law degree from New York University, has "far better qualifications" than anyone the city could hire. Instead of bringing in someone new, "I'd rather start with expertise," the mayor said. In addition, Beacon's planning consultant, Natalie Quinn, who worked for the Poughkeepsie Planning & Zoning Department from 2018 to 2022, could be a resource, he said.

That led Paloma Wake, who, along with Amber Grant, will return to the council next year, to argue that housing has not gotten enough attention. "We've been stuck in the same place" on the city's requirement of 10 percent below-market rate units in new developments of 10 or more for four years, she said.

"We've been hearing that the Housing Authority has the potential to build more [subsidized housing] for a while," Wake said. "There is a need to be even more proactive. What I really want to see out of this budget cycle is a clear commitment to resourcing this issue."

The city's 10 percent affordable (or "inclusionary zoning") policy is an outlier in the region because it demands something of developers without a giveback, such as added density or reduced application fees, Kyriacou said. The council has been reluctant to consider a giveback for a higher affordable percentage, but "I am more than willing to go there," he said.

He noted that Beacon accounts for 20 percent of the affordable housing stock in Dutchess, although the city comprises only 5 percent of the county's population. But with yearslong waiting lists at subsidized complexes in Beacon, we "still need to be doing everything we can to be ambitious enough to meet the need," Wake said.

The council agreed to put inclusionary zoning and the effect of short-term rentals on the housing market on a workshop agenda.

From there, Molly Rhodes, who is leaving the council to become a Dutchess County legislator, inquired about the cost of conducting a bike study. Earlier this month, members of the Beacon Bicycle Coalition presented the council with a petition signed by 1,000 people requesting a study on bike lanes and other infrastructure.

Beacon does not have the resources to do that immediately, said White, but an agreement with the county Transportation Council for an inventory and gap analysis of sidewalks could lead to a report on bikes.

Some council members appeared frustrated. "Every time we discuss [priorities]," the administration's response is: 'What do you not want to do? You're asking for too much,' " said Pam Wetherbee.

"We know in our own lives that if we do one thing, it precludes us from doing another," said White, who added that the city has received funding commitments to repair sidewalks, ...

Group celebrating 25 years of grantmaking

Seamus Carroll is convinced his daughter's journey from Haldane student to Apple iPhone designer began with Destination Imagination, the global problem-solving competition for K-12 students.

Haldane's program introduced her to skills such as soldering and wiring, he said, setting her on a path that led to studying electrical engineering as an undergraduate and computer science as a graduate student. In 2014, Haldane middle schoolers involved in Destination Imagination won a state championship before traveling to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to compete in the global finals.

The students' success is owed in part to the Haldane School Foundation, a group of can-do parents who, since the organization's founding in 2000, have raised and donated over $1.5 million to support Destination Imagination and other enrichment programs spearheaded by the district's teachers. With a new logo and branding, the group will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Nov. 8 during its annual fall fundraiser at the Glynwood Center in Philipstown.

Carroll and other early board members say the nonprofit's founding occurred during a time of frugal school boards and tax-weary property owners. However, with families moving into Philipstown who sought extracurricular experiences for their children, a group of residents decided to raise private donations to supplement Haldane's budgeted programming.

Their efforts enabled 57 Haldane seniors to travel to New Orleans to help Habitat for Humanity rebuild in the area following Hurricane Katrina, brought in educators from a Colorado wolf sanctuary and underwrote a weeklong program for teachers who learn about the Hudson River and apply their knowledge to classroom activities.

"There's a bunch of people who had the means to go to a private school, and probably would have, if some of these things didn't materialize," said Joe Curto, an early board member.

When the foundation began, according to Curto, the Haldane board was "black and white" about the curriculum - "If it was good enough for me, it's good enough for you" - and the budget battles were brutal. In June 2000, the month the foundation incorporated, district voters rejected, by a 916-666 vote, a proposal to spend $24.4 million on a dedicated high school building. (Voters approved the facility in 2002.)

Claudio Marzollo, already "involved in too many things," remembers declining his wife's invitation to attend one of the first organizational meetings for the foundation. "I said, 'If I go, I'm going to get roped into doing something.' " His wife returned home as the vice president, and Marzollo eventually joined the board.

The group began holding fundraisers, such as a wine tasting at The Chalet and a Snow Ball. A Harvest Ball at Incredible Caterers on Route 9D was the first big event, said Curto, with live music and an open bar. "We raised a ton of money, and then it became an institution," he said.

Becoming legitimate in the eyes of Haldane's administration and faculty took some time, said Carroll, but they eventually welcomed the foundation "as a source of funds to do good stuff that they couldn't get in the budget." Grants, which are awarded in the spring and fall, focus on experiences rather than computers and software, which are less durable than a memory.

"It was trying to get the kids to do things that they wouldn't get to do without the funding," said Carroll. "There were a lot of field trips that wouldn't have happened if the foundation didn't pay for them."

Grants usually total around $60,000 annually, said Kristen Sherman, the current president. Along with field trips to destinations like Washington, D.C., and Frost Valley, recent awards include $3,500 to cover printing costs for The Haldane Outlook, a student-run newspaper, and $4,900 for a middle school robotics club. (Editor's note: The Highlands Current received five grants from the foundation between 2018 and 2024 to support its Student Jou...

Says she has been branded 'disloyal'

The chair of the Philipstown Republican Committee has resigned from the party's countywide organization, saying it is "in crisis" and has branded her disloyal for supporting a fundraiser for sheriff candidate Larry Burke.

Cindy Trimble, in an Oct. 16 letter to Chair Andres Gil, said that the Putnam County Republican Committee is "challenged by internal disagreements and divisions that have affected endorsed candidates, incumbent candidates and dedicated committee members." She and other members of the Philipstown committee have formed a separate organization, the Philipstown Republican Club, she said.

One reason for the breakup, said Trimble, is that she has been "targeted for disloyalty" for attending an event for Burke, a Philipstown resident and Cold Spring police officer who is challenging Brian Hess, the acting sheriff and Republican candidate for the position. If he wins, Burke would be the third consecutive sheriff from Philipstown, along with the late Kevin McConville and his predecessor, Robert Langley Jr.

Gil said on Tuesday (Oct. 28) that he asked Trimble to resign and that committee leaders are expected to support the candidates endorsed by the county, "regardless of whether or not they actually chose that person." He highlighted Trimble's attendance at the Burke fundraiser and an August post on Burke's Facebook page.

Although Burke is a "lifelong Republican," according to Trimble, he is running as an independent because the county committee chose Hess over Burke and others who interviewed to be the party's candidate after McConville abandoned his re-election campaign due to illness. McConville died in September.

"My decision to attend [Burke's fundraiser] was based solely on friendship and community support, not politics," said Trimble, adding that she supported Hess's nomination by the county committee and has distributed his campaign signs.

According to Trimble, other officials and members of the county Republican Committee "have openly chosen to support non-endorsed candidates over endorsed candidates, support non-incumbent candidates over incumbent Republicans, support write-ins over endorsed candidates, support Democrats over Republicans and support Conservatives over Republicans."

In a photo on Burke's Facebook page, Trimble is shown with several Philipstown Democrats at a community meeting she organized. According to Burke's post, "Cindy had invited all concerned residents of Philipstown to come out, meet me and take part in a Q&A."

Gil called that "conduct unbecoming of a leader in our party." He said: "We should never be asking a person to vote a certain way. But as a leader of the party, you are supposed to support the endorsed and nominated candidates."

Asked about the remaining Philipstown Republican Committee members, Gil said that the county GOP has only received Trimble's resignation but is "looking into the matter, and we'll address the matter appropriately."

Burke said on Tuesday that Gil's call for Trimble to resign is "deeply disappointing" and that he was "extremely saddened" that her personal support for him became an issue. Attending a community event or fundraiser is a "fundamental right" that should not be subject to pressure or penalties, he said.

"Her resignation is a sad reflection of the state of local politics, where loyalty to individuals too often outweighs loyalty to principle," said Burke. "I hope her situation reminds everyone that integrity and

Second public hearing scheduled on parking changes

The Cold Spring Village Board, at its Wednesday (Oct. 22) meeting, tabled recommendations from the Planning Board to approve 32 parking waivers for 1 Depot Square and 37 Main St.

Since 2010, the board has granted waivers to businesses for $250 each, as payment in lieu of providing the required number of off-street spaces required by the Village Code when parking is unavailable.

At the meeting, Mayor Kathleen Foley questioned the effectiveness of the waivers. "The physical reality of the village is that the parking waivers don't help us," she said. "It's cash in the door, but it doesn't get us closer to solving the [parking] problem."

When waivers were initiated 15 years ago, (the first six were issued to Frozenberry, then at 116 Main St., where Angie's is located now), the village population didn't more than double on peak tourist weekends as it does now, she said.

At 1 Depot Square, the code requires 14 off-street spots for a planned addition of a 1,250-square-foot event space at the south end of The Depot Restaurant. Angie's Bakery and Café also plans to move and expand at 37 Main St., which would require 18 off-street spots. Both locales are busy sections of the village.

Brian Tormey, the owner of 37 Main St., said that while there is space behind the building, it isn't suitable for customer parking, for logistical and safety reasons.

Greg Pagones, who owns The Depot, said he's been using space owned by Metro-North adjacent to the restaurant for staff parking since 2007 through an informal agreement with the railroad. Pagones said Metro-North indicated several years ago it intended to formally renew the agreement, but that hasn't happened.

Foley expressed concern over the lack of a contract with Metro-North. "If we enter an agreement based on the concept that that space is available to you, and a year from now, MTA says, 'Nope, you're out,' we've made decisions about parking based upon space you don't control," she said to Pagones.

There was discussion as to whether Depot Square, often described as a private road, is actually a public street, and whether that status would affect off-street parking. Documents related to the street date to the mid-1800s.

"There is a public right-of-way that encompasses essentially all of the roadway and the parking on either side," said the Planning Board attorney, Jonathan DeJoy. "On top of that, the street has been used as a public street for decades."

The board tabled a decision on the parking waivers pending consultation with its counsel. "We want to find middle ground that allows entrepreneurial efforts in the village to flourish," balanced with quality of life for residents, Foley said.

In an Oct. 24 email, she described the situation as a quandary. "The practice of parking waivers has kicked the can for new developments down the road for a decade," she wrote. "Now the board has no option but to deal with the reality on the ground, weigh pros and cons, along with property rights, and make the best decision we can for the widest interests of the village. It is by no means a simple question."

In other business …

A second public hearing will be held on Nov. 12 at Village Hall on proposed changes to Chapter 126 of the Village Code, dealing with vehicles and traffic. The revisions proposed include limiting free parking on the east side of High Street to the section between Haldane Street and Northern Avenue and extending parking limits on both sides of Fair Street to include the section north of Mayor's Park to the village limits.

Twenty-four winter parking permits will be available for the municipal lot on Fair Street. Permits cost $40 and are valid from Nov. 15 to April 15.

250 Years Ago (October 1775)

The Committee of Safety for New York ordered repairs to the barracks and hospital at Albany in preparation for the arrival of colonial troops.

The royal governor in New York City, William Tryon, took refuge on a British warship, the HMS Duchess of Gordon, in the harbor.

Fearing a British attack, the Continental Congress ordered all sulfur and brimstone supplies taken from Manhattan and stored farther up the Hudson River.

150 Years Ago (October 1875)

Seward Archer at Breakneck Hollow was closing the woodhouse at the Baxter-Pelton place when he spotted movement in a small upper window. Thinking it was a chicken, he climbed a ladder and groped around the loft until he caught hold of a man's leg. "What are you doing here?" he yelled. Retreating down the ladder, he went to retrieve a gun. The intruder followed and ran off with Archer firing after him. The man shot back with a pistol, but only after he was at a safe distance.

A government bond belonging to George Haight that had been stolen from the foundry safe was redeemed with the U.S. Treasury by a bank in London.

A large dog belonging to William Birdsall, while inside Boyd's drugstore, mistook the plate glass in the upper part of the door for open air and jumped through it. He was startled but not injured.

William Lobdell narrowly missed serious injury when he lost his grip on a butcher knife and the point struck the bone of the nose at the corner of his left eye.

An intoxicated miner who loudly claimed at a local barber shop that his pocket had been picked found the money in his other pocket.

After several Dutchess County farmers complained about missing sheep, two Germans who owned a slaughterhouse in Poughkeepsie informed police that two young men had been selling them mutton and promised to bring them a fat cow. One suspect gave his name as William Smith, but two men from Cold Spring who visited the jail said that, in fact, his name was Spellman and he was known in the village for his thievery.

George Purdy of Cold Spring won top prizes at the annual Newburgh Bay Horticultural Society fair for his Isabella grapes, greengages and quinces.

The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad banned newsboys from throwing books, newspapers, prize packages or circulars into the laps of passengers.

A double-decked canal barge carrying $2,000 worth of coal [about $59,000 today] sank in 100 feet of water near West Point. The crew escaped on smaller boats.

Two railroad detectives arrested H. Freeman, a German peddler well-known in Cold Spring, with a huge pack stuffed with ladies' corsets. He said Isaac Levi had paid him $2 [$59] to retrieve the pack after it was thrown from a freight train near Stony Point. After being jailed on $1,000 [$29,000] bond, Freeman retracted his confession, saying he had found the corsets by happenstance. During a search of the Levi home, one of Levi's sons swung a pitcher and hit a detective in the back of the neck.

When William Smith caught a thief stuffing cabbages into a bag on the Undercliff estate, the culprit asked for leniency, then stood up, punched Smith in the face and ran.

Two preachers from Poughkeepsie spoke from the vacant lot at the corner of Main and Stone streets to what The Cold Spring Recorder called a "small and changing audience" about the need for a national ban on liquor sales.

100 Years Ago (October 1925)

James Nastasi covered a home on Pine Street occupied by grocer John Sackal with Elastic Magnesite Stucco, which its manufacturer claimed was weatherproof, fireproof and crackproof.

E.L. Post & Son offered home demonstrations of the Hoover vacuum cleaner, available on an installment plan with $6.25 [$115] down.

The Playhouse in Nelsonville was screening The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil DeMille, and Circus Days, starring Jackie Coogan.

A Columbus Day celebration at Loretto Hall included performances by soprano Rita Hamun of the Metropolitan Opera House and four rounds of sparring by boxer Joe Col...

Applicant argued project would be 'low intensity'

The Fishkill Planning Board earlier this month voted unanimously to deny an application to build a 51,500-square-foot self-storage facility just outside of Beacon, ending more than three years of review.

The project sought to construct a two-story building with 333 self-storage units on a partially wooded, 4.7-acre parcel at 1292 Route 9D, between Van Ness Road in Beacon and Interstate 84. It would have required a special-use permit because the site is in Fishkill's restricted business zone, which does not permit self-storage facilities. To receive the permit, the Planning Board had to determine that the use is "substantially similar" to others allowed in the district, such as hotels, restaurants and offices.

The board's attorney, Dominic Cordisco, explained during its Oct. 2 meeting that the application failed to meet any of the four criteria required to establish similarity: consistency with the town's comprehensive plan; consistency with the intent of the restricted business zone, which limits uses adjacent to neighborhoods; no adverse impacts to public health and safety; and no greater intensity of traffic, parking, noise and other impacts than allowed uses.

Because it failed the substantial similarity test, the application was ineligible for Planning Board review. "It is, in effect, a denial, but it is the process that is laid out in the [town] code," Cordisco said.

Cordisco said that the applicant had argued that a self-storage facility would be "low intensity" compared to uses allowed in the zone, "but that's not the test. The test is whether it's substantially similar and compatible with the district."

Many residents, including from Beacon, had opposed the project. Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou last year asked the town to investigate alternative entries, saying that southbound drivers on 9D would likely make illegal left turns or U-turns to get into the facility. Kyriacou and others predicted that traffic would increase on nearby residential roads as drivers turned around to get to the site.

To allay concerns, project officials said they would post directions online and petition GPS providers to use routes avoiding residential streets.

A consultant hired by the town said that self-storage businesses are typically located in commercial or industrial zones. There is a self-storage facility on Route 9D, about a half-mile from the proposed site, and another nearby on Route 52.

After voting, Planning Board Chair Jonathan Kanter noted that 1292 Realty LLC's request for a refund of $30,820 in application fees had been referred to Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra. Albra said on Oct. 23 that the request was denied because, according to Cordisco's review, the costs incurred by the town and its consultants were "reasonable and necessary given the procedural and substantive issues and concerns posed by this application," including, in June, the unusual step of the Planning Board authorizing the town planner to finalize an environmental impact statement on the project.

Records detail hundreds of accidents

Julia Stalder first thought the object emerging from the darkness on April 11, 2024, and hurtling toward the windshield of the Toyota Highlander she steered south on Route 9 looked like a "big black boat."

It was, in fact, a Chevrolet SUV being driven north by a Garrison man. As it rolled into Stalder's path, she turned right toward the shoulder to avoid the impact and save two lives: hers and a then-11-year-old daughter riding in the back.

With the Highlander shuddering from the sudden braking as it headed off the road, south of Skyline Drive outside the Cold Spring Mobile Home Park, "I thought, 'I am going to die in this moment; this is how it ends,'" said Stalder.

Both she and her daughter are survivors, however, of one of the nearly 500 one- and multi-vehicle crashes that occurred from 2020 to May 2025 on the serpentine, 14-mile stretch of Route 9 between South Mountain Pass and Carol Lane, where cars and trucks often exceed the 50 mph speed limit and residents confront tight windows when trying to enter from side roads that bisect at sharp angles.

Those accidents, which fell last year after rising in 2022 and 2023, range from minor fender-benders to head-on collisions and rollovers. They are chronicled in traffic reports and data obtained by The Current through a Freedom of Information Law request to the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

Some information is missing. For example, the 2025 reports do not include one for the crash near Graymoor that killed a Beacon man, Norton Segarra, on Jan. 17. But the reports and data show that, along with the deaths of Segarra and three other Highlands residents since 2020, nearly 200 people have been injured and businesses and residences lining the route have suffered property damage.

More than 25 percent of the mishaps occurred at or near seven intersections: Fishkill, Indian Brook, Old Albany Post North, Snake Hill/Travis Corners and Stone Ridge roads, and Routes 301 and 403. According to reports from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office deputies and state troopers responding to the incidents, most stem from drivers following too closely or driving at unsafe speeds, swerving to avoid deer or other animals, and/or failing to yield.

For years, elected officials and residents have cited some of those behaviors in a litany of letters petitioning DOT for remedies. While the agency has refused to lower the 50-mph speed limit, it is installing a long-sought-after light where Snake Hill and Travis Corners meet Route 9, just south of the entrance to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare campus at the former Garrison Golf Course.

It was at that intersection that Jacob Rhodus of Beacon collided with a motorist who turned left onto Snake Hill Road just as he passed through the intersection while driving south on Route 9. Less than 3 miles north, a driver who took to a shoulder in July 2023 struck Daniella Benavides as she retrieved trash cans from the end of the driveway of her house along Route 9.

She and her husband, whose children are 3 and 6 years old, are selling "because we can't live on this road anymore," said Benavides. "We feel unsafe living on the property."

'I remember seeing the sky'

Even before being struck, Benavides had concerns. In the five years that she and her husband have lived on the northbound side of Route 9, just south of the Garrison Volunteer Ambulance Corps, at least two vehicles have crashed into the stone wall at the end of their driveway. They've witnessed three accidents in the past year, she said.

On July 14, 2023, as she walked to the end of the driveway to retrieve trash cans, Benavides noticed that traffic had slowed - because of a school bus or car stopped while waiting to turn left into a driveway, she believes. About four cars south, Benavides saw a Toyota turn into the shoulder. As it headed toward her, she realized, in a "weird, slow-motion moment," there was no time to move out of the way.

"I remember seeing the sk...

Aspiring Eagle Scout spruces up namesake

Daniel O'Sullivan, an aspiring Eagle Scout, is sprucing up a decaying granite eagle.

The monument, which sits on a hillside near the entrance to the Haldane campus, was erected in 1899 by Daniel and Julia Butterfield when the property was their estate, known as Cragside. Daniel Butterfield, a Civil War general credited with writing "Taps," commissioned the statue to memorialize Gen. George Washington and his 3rd Regiment, which was posted during the Revolutionary War at Constitution Island.

Over the decades, the eagle had become grimy, with moss, mildew and dirt filling every crevice. Parts of the beak and the feathers have broken off.

O'Sullivan, a senior at Haldane High School who is a member of Troop 437, based at the Garrison Fish and Game Club, said the idea for the project came from Principal Julia Sniffen. "There have been people in town who wanted to get the eagle restored for quite some time," he said. An Eagle Scout project restoring an eagle sounded "perfect," and he liked the project better than his initial idea to build a Little Free Library box.

O'Sullivan's plan is to clean the eagle, build a flower bed around the base and install an informational sign. He considered trying to restore the eagle's broken beak and wings but decided the monument was too fragile. "I don't want to mess it up," he said.

To pay for materials, O'Sullivan recruited his mother, Tara, to organize a GoFundMe campaign, which quickly raised $700.

On Oct. 11, O'Sullivan led a team of volunteers bearing scrub brushes that included other Scouts, his younger siblings James and Margaret, his parents and his grandparents. They used a cleaner called D/2 Biological Solution that's typically used to clean headstones. O'Sullivan said he expected to finish the project by this week.

After his bird work, O'Sullivan will have two merit badges remaining - cooking and communication. Scoutmaster Gary Gunther said Troop 437 has had several Eagle Scouts in recent years, including twins Louis and Patrick Ferreira, who graduated from Haldane in 2024. Louis built standing desks for the high school, while Patrick constructed a gaga ball pit at Tots Park in Cold Spring. O'Sullivan's classmate, Daniel Campanile, who has received his Eagle Scout rank, made improvements at Village Green Park in Nelsonville.

O'Sullivan hasn't settled on what he wants to do after graduation next year. He enjoys fixing cars and is studying auto mechanics through Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES. As the drummer for a rock-punk band called Michigan, he is also interested in music production.

TOWN BOARD

The five-member Town Board, which includes the supervisor, will have three seats on the ballot on Nov. 4.

John Van Tassel is running unopposed for his third term as supervisor on the Democratic and independent Philipstown Focus lines.

The other two seats are held by Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, both Democrats, who were elected in 2021 but did not seek second terms. They will be succeeded by Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch, who won a four-way Democratic primary in June. Prentice will appear on the Democratic line, and Rauch on the Democratic and Philipstown Focus lines.

The Philipstown Democratic Committee endorsed Rauch and Ben Cheah before the primary and subsequently endorsed Prentice. Cheah would have appeared on the Philipstown Focus line on the November ballot but withdrew. To read responses to questions posed by The Current to Prentice and Rauch before the primary, see highlandscurrent.org/town-board-2025.

Because of a new state law that pushes most town and village elections to even-numbered years, Prentice and Rauch will serve three years, rather than four, with their seats on the ballot in 2028. At the same time, the supervisor position, usually a two-year term, will be on the ballot again next year. New York's highest court on Oct. 16 unanimously turned away a challenge to the law, which is designed to put town and village elections on the same ballot as national ones.

TOWN JUSTICE

The ballot will also include a town justice seat with one candidate, Fred Clarke, whom the Philipstown Democratic Committee nominated. A lawyer in private practice, he has lived in Cold Spring for 25 years and previously worked with the Putnam County Legal Aid Society and in marketing and communications.

The seat is open because of the resignation in June of Camille Linson, who was elected to a third, 4-year term last year but moved out of the area. Luke Hilpert was appointed to succeed her until the election and has announced a write-in campaign to keep the position. The other town justice is Angela Thompson-Tinsley, a Democrat elected in 2023.

COLD SPRING BOARD

Mayor Kathleen Foley is running unopposed for her third, 2-year term. There are also two open trustee seats on the Village Board, which will be filled by John "Tony" Bardes and Anthony Hall, who are running unopposed. They will succeed Eliza Starbuck, who resigned earlier this year, and Aaron Freimark, who did not run for a second term. Hall was appointed in July to complete Starbuck's term.

COLD SPRING JUSTICE

The judge's seat at the Cold Spring Justice Court is up for grabs - the ballot will not list any candidates, meaning the position will be awarded based on write-in votes.

Justice Thomas Costello, who has served for 24 years, decided not to seek re-election to a seventh, 4-year term. However, he did so after an April deadline for candidates to file paperwork with the Putnam County Board of Elections to appear on the ballot. There are other ways for candidates to get on the ballot after the April deadline, such as an independent nominating petition or a being nominated following a party caucus, but no candidate took those routes.

Under state law, only village residents are eligible to serve, unless the Village Board adopts a local law that expands the residency requirements.

The Cold Spring Justice Court has two judges. The second, the associate judge, is appointed by the Village Board. Until June, Linson held the position, but she was replaced by Hilpert, who is campaigning as a write-in candidate for Costello's seat. This week, he received the endorsement of the Cold Spring mayor, Kathleen Foley.

PUTNAM LEGISLATURE

The Putnam County Legislature has nine members, including Nancy Montgomery, its sole Democrat, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley. She was elected in 2024 to her third, 3-year term; her seat will be on the ballot again in 2027. Each member is limited by county law to four terms.

Three seats will be on this year's ballot for voters els...

Beacon store merges brothers' interests

Jonathan Garcia's plan for retirement was to pursue coffee roasting and open a cafe. His older brother Joseph wanted to open a gaming store where people could hang out, play roleplaying games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons or card games like Magic: The Gathering, and make some friends.

One day in 2019, as the brothers sat in a business class together at Dutchess Community College, they had a revelation: Why not combine the two ideas?

Another revelation quickly followed. "Why wait until we're old?" said Jonathan.

Last month, they opened Mana Potion Tabletop in Beacon. Alongside Warhammer figures and Pokémon decks, customers will find bags of freshly roasted beans and blended teas from the brothers' fantasy-themed Mana Potion Coffee line. The decaf, for example, is called Slumbering Dragon; the jasmine green tea is known as The Teamancer.

Joseph is a former film teacher drawn to role-playing games because they remind him of making movies, with a mix of storytelling and improv, he says.

Jonathan, who is working on his master's degree in business at SUNY New Paltz, has been warned by professors that most businesses fail in their first year because they can't attract enough customers. If his professors had been to the store's opening, they might have given him an A. "That door never stopped swinging," Jonathan says.

The foot traffic hasn't slowed much. Even on a late Wednesday afternoon, customers filled a table while playing a battle royale variation of Magic: The Gathering called Commander. Hardcore gamers regularly bump elbows with newbies. Some customers say they haven't played since they were children but want a refresher. The coffee roaster in Connecticut who taught the brothers the trade was inspired to help them because he played Dungeons & Dragons as a kid.

"We're meeting people who you wouldn't think would be into these games," says Jonathan. "They're an accountant, or they work for Verizon, but they're also into Warhammer." That's not surprising: RPGs have become a huge industry. Last year, the hosts of a D&D podcast, Dimension 20, sold out Madison Square Garden.

Add in the shortage of places in Beacon for teenagers to gather, and it's no wonder Mana Potion has been busy. "Not everyone can go to the bar or out for a $30 hamburger every night," says Jonathan. "You can come here, grab a table and start playing."

There have been a few miscalculations. The store stocks Settlers of Catan sets, but the game is so popular that it seems like everyone already owns it. Although gaming events throughout the week - including D&D for children on Saturdays and Warhammer tournaments - draw customers, Catan events have been a bust. "People didn't want to sit down with a bunch of random people and play a five-hour board game," says Jonathan.

Because the store has been so busy, Jonathan hasn't had enough time to play many games himself. That part of the business has fallen to Joseph, who said he usually runs a different game every night.

When Joseph started a Cyberpunk Red campaign, two players accidentally chose the same name for their characters. They decided their characters were identical twins, and they've since created a comic book together about them. "They took what I made for the game and created something new with it," Joseph says.

While Warhammer miniatures and Magic cards are bestsellers, the brothers' extensive knowledge of gaming has led them to stock deep cuts as well. Shadowdark, for example, is an indie variation of classic D&D released in 2024 that's become a cult hit. The game's rulebook is displayed prominently.

"People see that and say, 'Oh, you guys get it,' " says Joseph. "They can see right away that we understand this hobby."

Mana Potion Tabletop, at 192 Main St. in Beacon, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, see manapotioncoffee.com.