Highlands Current Audio Stories

County legislators raise multiple concerns

Call it a "pause" or a "timeout."

Either way, a proposal to use Putnam's outsize surplus to reward residents and businesses by not levying county taxes in 2027 ran aground amid concerns about the benefits to large taxpayers like New York City and Rockland County's experience in the 1980s.

Dan Birmingham, chair of the county Legislature, brought the idea to the Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday (Sept. 23). It was the latest proposal to shift to taxpayers some of the estimated $163 million in unrestricted reserves that Putnam had accumulated as of the most recent audit in 2024. Initially calling the property-tax suspension a pause, Birmingham, who said he paid $800 in county taxes last year, offered to "reframe it" as "a tax-levy timeout."

He expects the surplus to rise again once the 2025 audit is complete, and he called "meager" the $1 million reduction in the $45 million tax levy approved for the 2026 budget. "I don't think we should be drunken sailors; I don't think we should look at this lightly," said Birmingham. "But we should ask the question: Would I like $800 off my tax bill next year?"

Spurred by a $50 million surplus, Rockland County approved a one-year tax holiday in 1987 — considered the first-ever in the state. John Grant, the county executive at the time, said that using $37.7 million of the surplus to eliminate a levy for 1988 would save the average taxpayer $410. Four years later, Grant announced he would be eliminating 276 positions, half of them vacant.

"It was a disaster in Rockland County," said Legislator Amy Sayegh. She said Putnam's surplus allows it to pay cash for projects, rather than borrowing, and earns interest. "I don't want to grab more money from the taxpayer, but I want to safeguard what we have," said Sayegh. "I would support gradually lowering property taxes, but not pausing them for one year."

New York City, described as Putnam's biggest taxpayer because of land it owns, would benefit, as would utility companies. Legally, they could not be excluded. "The concept that the City of New York, NYSEG [New York State Electric and Gas] and Verizon would also benefit from a pause is something that we just can't get around," said Legislator Tommy Regan.

Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley as the Legislature's sole Democrat, said she is a "big fan of services and programs," such as helping local fire departments and emergency medical personnel replace outdated equipment like stair chairs and turnout gear.

Montgomery said she preferred extending and increasing the county's pause on collecting its portion of the gas tax and renewing an exemption from Putnam's sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than $110 before it expires in March. (County Executive Kevin Byrne says he would like to make the exemption permanent.)

"There are always great needs from the towns for emergency services equipment — fire trucks, ambulances," said Montgomery. "Those are the kinds of ways I prefer to give back."

Earlier this month, the Legislature rescinded a 14-year-old policy letting the finance commissioner determine how surplus funds are allocated. Since the policy's adoption in 2012, Putnam's budget surplus swelled from $33.9 million to $191 million in 2024 because of "over-appropriation, underestimation of revenues [and] increased sales tax receipts and other revenues," according to the resolution.

Last year, legislators approved setting aside $6 million of the surplus for taxpayer relief but have not settled on how to use the money. "Maybe this is the year where we can use that for particular town needs," said Montgomery.

After the discussion, the Budget Committee approved a charter amendment that would allow five of the nine legislators, instead of a supermajority of six, to override a county executive's veto of their cuts or reductions to appropriations in a tentative budget. A supermajority would still be needed to overri...

Violinist Gwen Laster reflects on 'colorism'

Though Gwen Laster endured plenty of pain growing up, she forged a career playing the violin in Broadway pits, with her own ensembles and for well-known musicians. Usually pigeonholed as a jazz practitioner, she is classically trained, and some of her instrumental works defy description.

Despite the success, past is prologue, as evidenced by the focus of her first multimedia presentation, Is My Black Still Beautiful? Reflections on a Childhood in Detroit. It's a work in progress that she will perform with readings and live music on Saturday (Sept. 26) and Sunday at The Depot Theater on Garrison's Landing.

Laster, who lives in Beacon, goes for the jugular, twisting a slogan from the Civil Rights era into a sarcastic query that refers to "colorism" — discrimination in the Black community toward people with darker skin.

"It's still happening with my family," she says.

The blunt approach is unsurprising because she has always carried the Civil Rights torch, writing the Black Lives Matter Suite in 2014 and performing with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez at President Barack Obama's first inaugural ball.

"During the pandemic, I wanted to get more involved in social justice and current events, and when the whole planet came to a standstill, I asked, 'Wait a minute. Who am I right now?' " she says.

Inspired by The Hero With an African Face: Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa and other books, she "lined up three string players and improvised a composition based on what I read."

Laster's first theatrical foray stems from a short memoir with the same title. This weekend's production includes a dancer, three actors, a five-piece band and projected visuals.

The ambitious work is supported, in part, by a Guggenheim Fellowship, which she won in 2025 — one of 198 artists selected from 3,500 applicants. She also received a MacDowell Fellowship to polish the piece.

Several songs on the soundtrack let the guitar, bass and drums loose on funky grooves, some of which evoke the heady 1960s. Laster grew up three blocks from the original Motown studio in Detroit and a stone's throw from the church led by the Rev. C. L. Franklin, father of Aretha.

As freeways tore through the city and the Civil Rights Movement pushed for generational change, a riot roiled her neighborhood in 1967 after the police raided an illegal bar. "I remember tanks in the streets," she says. "My parents sent me to another part of town."

Against this dramatic backdrop, her songs mine the personal with titles like "Ancestral Baggage," "Skin White" and the affirmative "Yes My Black is Beautiful." In "Key to My Room," she longs to "be like the light-skin girls with hair down to their knees."

String quartet interludes and endings alternate with the upbeat pop-oriented parts. Bassoon, bass flute and piano augment "Dirty Ashtrays." In "Ancestral Baggage," the West African kora sounds like a banjo.

Through the written word, Laster expanded her dramatic vision and learned to convey her message with clarity. "I began to write because it crystallizes and articulates feelings that music cannot directly express."

The Depot Theater is located at 10 Garrison's Landing. Tickets are $30 at depottheater.org; the show begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Tree damage spurs emergency dam repair

Damage from a falling tree is rarely considered good fortune.

But supporters of preserving Sylvan Pond, a Continental Village fixture bounded by Aqueduct and Ridge roads and Lake Court, hope the tree that toppled onto the beloved neighborhood pond's dam in July during a storm will become just that.

A decades-long respite for both residents and wildlife, the 2.8-acre, county-owned pond is subject to an ultimatum issued in 2024 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation: Repair the dam or drain the water. Now, Tom Feighery, Putnam County's public works commissioner, and neighbors are awaiting the DEC's verdict on whether the repairs will allow the pond to stay.

Not only did the tree fall across the dam, but roots embedded in the structure caused damage, Feighery told the Legislature's Physical Services Committee on Tuesday (Sept. 22). The repairs were completed to the DEC's specifications, he said. "The tree coming down may have been a blessing," said Feighery.

Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley in the Legislature, agreed. Montgomery, who has lobbied for an alternative to draining Sylvan Pond, said she visited it with neighbors on Sept. 9. "When I arrived, there was a wonderful heron there and snappers galore," she said. "I understand the community's concern and wanting to preserve it."

Not only did the tree fall across the dam, but roots embedded in the structure caused damage, Feighery told the Legislature's Physical Services Committee on Tuesday (Sept. 22). The repairs were completed to the DEC's specifications, he said. "The tree coming down may have been a blessing," said Feighery.

Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley in the Legislature, agreed. Montgomery, who has lobbied for an alternative to draining Sylvan Pond, said she visited it with neighbors on Sept. 9. "When I arrived, there was a wonderful heron there and snappers galore," she said. "I understand the community's concern and wanting to preserve it."

While information on the history of Sylvan Pond and how Putnam became its owner are scant, in March 2024 Neal Tomann, then the interim manager for the county's Soil & Water Conservation District, told the Philipstown Town Board that the DEC was concerned a major storm could fill the shallow pond and send floodwaters toward downstream properties along Sprout Brook Road. Tomann described the dam as "highly improvised" and said it would cost about $750,000 to rebuild. The DEC has classified the pond as Class B, meaning it could cause severe damage to nearby properties if it fails.

Soon after, Zoila Morell, whose property abuts the pond, submitted a petition to the county with 200 signatures supporting preservation. "In the same way that we love farmland in Putnam County, we love wetlands, we love our ponds, we love our animals, we love the creatures that we live next to," Morell said on Tuesday.

An engineering firm estimated that raising the dam's embankment would cost $339,000, while widening its spillway would cost $522,000. Removing the dam would cost $354,000. The emergency repairs, which included adding soil to the top of the dam, improved the structure, said Feighery. "It's actually in good shape now," he said.

In 1987, when Marie-Louise Best and her family toured the house they would buy on Aqueduct Road in Continental Village, they noted the view of Sylvan Pond from the windows.

Eight years later, neighbors and a crew from the Philipstown Highway Department worked together to pull mattresses, hardened bags of cement, a cash register and other debris from the water.

In a paean Best wrote for the Putnam Reporter Dispatch after the cleanup, she quoted Henry David Thoreau, who described a lake as "a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature."

"It is such a pretty view," said Best in 2024. "In the fall...

Company ending local landline service

Verizon is seeking to end landline service for customers in Philipstown and Beacon, and across the state, as early as Nov. 30, citing the cost of maintaining copper wires for a shrinking number of users amid a shift to cellphones.

An application filed Sept. 9 with the Federal Communications Commission seeks approval to end Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) in New York, eight other states and Washington, D.C. Verizon and other telecommunications companies such as Optimum provide cellphone and voice-over-internet (VoIP) services.

Only about 750,000 of 28 million homes and businesses in those states, or 3 percent, have a landline, according to Verizon, although the National Center for Health Statistics says that 38 percent of New York adults have landlines and 3 percent have only landlines.

Verizon says hardwire service is "too slow to meet modern needs"; infrastructure costs billions to maintain because copper costs are rising, replacement parts are harder to find and the metal's value makes the system prone to theft.

"Every dollar Verizon spends maintaining aging, little-used copper infrastructure diverts critical investment away from future-ready networks that customers across the country demand," the company said in a statement. "This is a win for states and consumers alike."

Verizon said that most of its copper-line customers will be able to replace their landlines with mobile or voice-over-internet service. Those services comply with regulations governing 911 availability because cellphones with sufficient charge can continue to operate during power outages or be charged via a vehicle, laptop or power bank.

In addition, Verizon said its equipment for fiber-optic and wireless phone service comes with rechargeable batteries that last up to four hours when electricity is out.

38.4

Percentage of New Yorkers with a landline

3.1

Percentage of New Yorkers with only a landline

1.6

Percentage of U.S. residents with only a landline

3.5

Percentage of U.S. residents age 65+ with only a landline

95

Percentage of U.S. households in 2003 with landlines

20

Percentage of U.S. households in 2025 with landlines

6.5 million

Number of U.S. residents who cut the cord in 2025

Source: National Center for Health Statistics

Justin Allen is skeptical. He said his parents, who are in their 80s and don't have cellphones, lost landline service to their Philipstown home in June when a thief cut copper wiring on Route 403. He said they were without service until Aug. 8, when Verizon supplied them with a Wi-Fi-based phone system, which they used until the landline began operating again on Aug. 21.

A wireless connection is "just not consistent in an area with so many hills," said Allen, who also lives in Philipstown and uses Verizon's mobile service and its fiber-optic internet service. At home, "I get very little cell service" but good internet, he said. Most of Philipstown is not covered by FIOS, Verizon's fiber-optic-based internet service, he said.

In an emergency, "if you can't get the call out, minutes can be lost," said Allen. "That's a big concern."

Kathy Smelter said she lost landline service after Verizon began replacing copper wiring along Route 9D in July. She said she called customer service multiple times before service returned. Now she is among the Philipstown residents who received letters this month notifying them of the company's application to the FCC, its replacement services and how to file objections.

"This will leave this area without service because we don't have fiber optics and most of us have only up to two bars on our cellphones," said Smelter, whose home had landline service since her husband built it in 1970. "Smoke signals," she said when asked about alternatives. "And that's not going to work in the winter because the snow will put out the fire."

Poughkeepsie 'HOPE Center' will open in 2027

After four years of discussion, community pushback and a federal lawsuit, the Dutchess County Legislature on Sept. 14 approved transforming a county-owned building in Poughkeepsie into a homeless shelter.

When it opens next year, the HOPE Center (for Homeless Outreach & Program Engagement) at 23 Oakley St. will be the county's only shelter, serving residents of Beacon and elsewhere who lack housing. It was approved as part of a package of resolutions to address housing instability.

Although the vote was 23-2, many legislators said they voted "yes" because few other options seem available: A temporary housing center on North Hamilton Street needs urgent structural repairs.

"The county has wasted four precious years during a growing crisis; we have far too many people who have nowhere to go but the streets, and we have an emergency shelter that is on the verge of catastrophic failure," said Lisa Kaul, a Democrat who represents the town of Poughkeepsie and is challenging Rob Rolison for his state Senate seat. "We need a place for people as soon as possible."

Kaul said that the "bad decisions of the county and of the previous mayor have left us with a bad situation," a reference to Rolison, who was Poughkeepsie's mayor before being elected to state office in 2022. His district includes Beacon and Philipstown.

After four years of discussion, community pushback and a federal lawsuit, the Dutchess County Legislature on Sept. 14 approved transforming a county-owned building in Poughkeepsie into a homeless shelter.

When it opens next year, the HOPE Center (for Homeless Outreach & Program Engagement) at 23 Oakley St. will be the county's only shelter, serving residents of Beacon and elsewhere who lack housing. It was approved as part of a package of resolutions to address housing instability.

Although the vote was 23-2, many legislators said they voted "yes" because few other options seem available: A temporary housing center on North Hamilton Street needs urgent structural repairs.

"The county has wasted four precious years during a growing crisis; we have far too many people who have nowhere to go but the streets, and we have an emergency shelter that is on the verge of catastrophic failure," said Lisa Kaul, a Democrat who represents the town of Poughkeepsie and is challenging Rob Rolison for his state Senate seat. "We need a place for people as soon as possible."

Kaul said that the "bad decisions of the county and of the previous mayor have left us with a bad situation," a reference to Rolison, who was Poughkeepsie's mayor before being elected to state office in 2022. His district includes Beacon and Philipstown.

After Dutchess County purchased 23 Oakley St. in 2022 to create a housing shelter, the plan immediately hit roadblocks. Nearby residents complained, and inspections revealed that the property needed significant repairs. The county considered selling, but in 2024 it received a $13 million state grant.

Last year, the city and two residents filed a federal lawsuit to stop the project, arguing that the shelter should not be placed in a lower-income community still recovering from the racist redlining of the 1930s and urban renewal of the 1950s and 1960s. It argued the plan violated the Fair Housing Act and city zoning codes.

"If someone doesn't qualify for the program, or if they're denied a bed, or if they're unable or unwilling to comply with the requirements of the shelter, what happens to those people?" asked Jamar Cummings, the city chamberlain, or recordkeeper, for Poughkeepsie, who lives near the Oakley Street site, at the Sept. 14 meeting. "They don't disappear. They end up in our parks. They end up in our doorways and other public spaces. So, how does that help Poughkeepsie?"

"For years, community members have come here and cried, literally kids, regarding the shelter and saying not to have it in our community, because we don't want it here, we want other things, and that...

Smaller school district savings often exceed state limit

Since 2022, the Garrison school district has watched its unassigned reserves —sometimes called a "rainy day fund" to cover unanticipated expenses — grow to $2.85 million, about 18 percent of its 2026-27 budget of $15.5 million. That's more than four times what state law allows, which limits savings to 4 percent of a district's budget.

Haldane reported at its board meeting this week that its unassigned reserve is $1.28 million, about 4 percent of this year's $32 million budget. Haldane has about 775 students in pre-K to 12th grade. Garrison, which does not have a high school, has about 200 students in pre-K through eighth grade.

The Beacon district, with 2,400 students, has kept its fund balance at around 5 percent. As of June 2025, it had $4.6 million reserved as part of $87.7 million in planned spending. This year, the district expects to have a slightly smaller balance, although it is awaiting the results of its annual audit. "We stay right in that range," said Ann Marie Quartironi, the deputy superintendent. "We run pretty lean."

The state levies no penalty for exceeding 4 percent. "We generally recommend that district officials reduce the balance to comply with the law," said Mark Johnson, a spokesman for the New York State Comptroller's Office. "School districts are funded substantially by taxpayers and accumulating more surplus funds than permitted can result in taxpayers providing resources that are not needed for current operations."

Many school districts exceed the 4 percent limit. Of the 673 New York districts, 227, or about a third, had unassigned balances above the limit in 2023, according to a study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Ten percent, including Garrison, had balances between 10 and 20 percent, and 3 percent had balances over 20 percent.

Dan Jasnow, president of the Garrison school board, said the district wants to lower its unassigned reserves. "We are targeting the 4 percent," he said. "We do take that statutory obligation seriously." Garrison's tax rate this year, at $8.47 per $1,000 of full value, ties with Pocantico Hills, in Westchester County, for the lowest of the 88 districts in the Lower Hudson Valley.

"The primary reason the unassigned fund balance has increased in recent years is that certain contingency expenditures that districts must plan for did not materialize," said Superintendent Greg Stowell. They include special education placements which, when coupled with transportation costs, can run as much as $300,000 per student. In addition, the district, which contracts with three local high schools for its eighth-grade graduates, receives partial reimbursements for tuition sent to O'Neill High School in Highland Falls when payments exceed those allowed under a state formula.

"Because these costs can fluctuate significantly from year to year and can have a substantial impact on a small district's finances, the district budgets prudently for them," Stowell said. "When actual expenditures come in below projections, those funds remain in year-end fund balance."

The last time Garrison's unassigned fund balance was under 4 percent was 2022, said Joseph Jimick, the district's business manager. The fund peaked during the 2024-25 school year at $3.2 million, about 22 percent of its $14.7 million budget. It would have been higher, but the school board allocated $1.5 million to balance the 2025-26 budget.

Jimick said the fund balance for 2026-27 would have been $4.65 million, but the district allocated $1.8 million to balance the budget and made smaller contributions to accounts mandated by law for specific purposes, such as the Teachers' Retirement Contribution Reserve, Employees' Retirement Contribution Reserve, Unemployment Insurance Reserve and Employee Benefit Accrued Liability Reserve. Those contributions lowered the balance to $2.85 million.

Drawing down the fund balance to the 4 percent limit all at once would be imprudent, ...

Fishkill project would use Beacon water, schools

A developer has scaled down a plan to build hundreds of apartments on Route 9D just north of Beacon, which the Fishkill Town Board earlier rejected.

On Sept. 10, Fishkill Development LLC submitted an application to the Planning Board to build Riverview Market & Lofts on 50 acres bounded by Route 9D, Hudson View Drive and North Lockey Woods, South Half Moon and North Half Moon roads. Hudson View Park Co. owns the property and in 2017 proposed a 463-unit complex called Rolling Hills.

Riverview Market would consist of 142 townhouses and condos. According to David Niemotko, the project architect, the complex would have 3,500-square-foot and 2,372-square-foot townhouses with three bedrooms and two-story flats with a 2,100-square-foot, two-bedroom condo on each floor. Each unit would have a garage.

Fishkill Development would also construct seven buildings on Route 9D with a combined 91,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. The largest, 53,000 square feet, is eyed as a grocery store, and there would be spaces for restaurants or a coffee shop, said Joe Modaferri, the project's engineer.

Beacon would supply water, and children who live in the complex would attend the Beacon City School District. Because the site encircles property owned by Fishkill, the project needs the Town Board to approve easements, Modaferri said.

Anthony Brozier, the Planning Board's vice chair, said he appreciated that the plan had fewer housing units than Rolling Hills. But he said a grocery store on 9D would draw shoppers from both directions. "You're going to have people trying to make lefts out, lefts in," he said. "I got heartburn looking at this thing right now."

Fishkill Development's proposal comes nine months after New York's highest court sided with the town in a yearslong dispute triggered by a newly elected Town Board ending the review of a rezoning request for Rolling Hills.

The state Court of Appeals on Dec. 18 affirmed two decisions in which judges dismissed a lawsuit filed by Hudson View Park Co. against Supervisor Ozzy Albra and the Town Board, which voted in April 2020 to end its review.

Hudson View Park Co. argued that a 2017 agreement approved by a previous Town Board obligated Albra and the new members to continue the review. The agreement said Fishkill would not end its review "until it reaches a final determination on the merits in its legislative judgment regarding the best interests of the town based upon empirical data and other objective factual bases."

The developer, which sought reimbursement for $1 million it says was spent during the application and review process, failed to sway the Court of Appeals, which joined the lower courts in ruling that the so-called "term-limits" doctrine "prohibits one municipal body from contractually binding its successors."

The decision "clearly stated that the will of the people was what democracy was all about," said Albra, who campaigned against the project during his successful run for supervisor in 2019. "The people chose to vote for me to stop the project, and that is exactly what happened."

Hudson View Park Co.'s plan included 30 buildings with 68 affordable housing units and 24,000 square feet of retail. During a Planning Board hearing in 2019, an attorney for the project described it as "a walkable community with open space and neighborhood-scale retail/commercial space."

Legislature weighing reduced health premiums

Hundreds of former Putnam County government employees sick of the share of retiree health insurance premiums they pay are on the cusp of a cure.

On Sept. 8, the Legislature's Personnel Committee voted to slash premiums after complaints from retirees represented by the Civil Service Employees Association, Putnam's largest union. Legislators Toni Addonizio, Amy Sayegh and Dan Birmingham voted to send the proposal to the full Legislature for consideration. The changes will benefit retirees who pay $77.53 to $1,099.14 toward the monthly premiums charged by the New York State Health Insurance Plan, which covers local government employees.

NYSHIP charges Putnam $1,611 per month for retired individuals and $3,663 for families, but the county's rates drop for the nearly 90 percent of retirees enrolled in Medicare as their primary insurer — to $596 for an individual, $2,262 for a family plan with one Medicare enrollee and $1,633 for a family with two Medicare enrollees, according to the Personnel Department. (It is common for retirees to carry secondary insurance to make up for Medicare's coverage limits.)

Putnam has seven income-based rates for retirees. Anyone receiving a pension of $65,000 or more pays the highest rate, 30 percent of their premium. Everyone else pays 8 percent to 25 percent, depending on their pension size.

That would change to four rates — the highest set at 20 percent for retirees receiving $85,000 or more annually. Those making less but at least $30,000 will see their share lowered to 17 percent. People making $20,000 to $29,999 will pay 10 percent instead of 13 percent, and pensioners making less will remain at 8 percent or 10 percent.

While retirees pay less under the new plan, Putnam will pay more. Because NYSHIP does not announce new rates until the end of the year, the county's increase will not be known before Oct. 1, when the tentative budget is due. But Birmingham, who chairs the Legislature, asked the Finance and Personnel departments to compile an estimate for a special meeting he plans to call this month to approve the changes.

Jane Meunier-Gorman is a retiree who would benefit. She told the Personnel Committee in July that she began working for Putnam County in 1985, when retirees paid an annual flat-rate contribution for health insurance. Since retiring from the Health Department in 2024, Gorman said her annual pension is $50,000, and her bill for county health coverage totals $10,000. "When I retired after 39 years, and I got my first bill, I couldn't even breathe," she said in July.

Putnam jettisoned the flat rate in 2004, when it had risen to $200 a year for individuals and $400 for families. Citing the "burden on the taxpayers," legislators approved a system that set rates based on date of hire, age at retirement and length of service. In 2015, the Legislature approved contribution rates by salary ranges, beginning at 8 percent for retirees whose annual pensions were $9,999 or less and rising to 30 percent for those receiving $65,000 or more.

"The feeling was that it was more equitable to look at pension amounts rather than just years of service," Adriene Iasoni, acting personnel officer, told the committee in July. "If you just look at years of service, you can have folks whose earnings are on the lower end, and they may be paying the same as somebody who's at a much higher annual salary."

The change raised the total amount pensioners would contribute to Putnam's estimated $4.7 million in costs from $357,000 to $609,000. By 2025, retirees were paying $1.2 million of $7.9 million. This year, the costs rose to $8.8 million, with retired employees contributing $1.3 million.

State education officials expand assessments

State education officials this week eliminated the requirement that public school students pass standardized exams to graduate from high school.

The Regents exams have been in place since the late 19th century, be administered in English, math, science and social studies. But beginning with the 2027-28 school year, New York State will no longer require a score of 65 or better on five of the exams. (The state said it will continue to administer assessments required by federal laws such as the Every Student Succeeds Act.)

Instead, students will have the option to demonstrate proficiency in other ways that, according to the state, "draw on multiple sources of evidence," such as classroom assessments, capstone projects, performance-based learning experiences and teacher observations. Details for those are expected to be adopted next year.

In a statement, state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said that "a single test, taken on a single day, cannot fully capture everything a student knows, can do or needs to be ready for college, careers, civic life and the future."

By adapting the measure of proficiency, the state is "raising the bar not only for what counts as achievement but also for how well we prepare young people for the future they will inherit," she said.

The 17-member Board of Regents, which oversees education statewide, approved the change on Monday (Sept. 14). A Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures, which gathered input from parents, students, educators and other stakeholders before releasing its findings in 2023, recommended less emphasis on standardized tests.

By November 2024, its recommendations had been condensed into a plan called NY Inspires, which includes four "transformations" of the educational system. The first transformation, the Portrait of a Graduate, was adopted in July 2025.

It identifies six attributes — (1) academically prepared, (2) creative innovators, (3) critical thinkers, (4) effective communicators, (5) global citizens and (6) reflective and future-focused — that students must demonstrate proficiency in to graduate. The attributes emphasize "whole-child development" and may also be measured in a variety of ways, including portfolios, projects and presentations of learning, according to the Education Department.

On Monday, the Regents approved another transformation that will take effect in 2027-28: the transition from three diplomas (local, Regents and Regents with Advanced Designations) to one. Students will have the opportunity to add seals and endorsements to their diplomas noting academic achievement. The final transformation, redefining the 22 course credits required for graduation, is pending.

Not everyone is sold on the changes. In an essay published last month by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a former New York City schoolteacher questioned how the Portrait of a Graduate's attributes would be measured, and whether so many alternative assessments could be implemented equitably.

The success of NY Inspires will "depend on whether the state builds a system that's consistent and rigorous, or settles for one that clings to abstract ideals," said Meredith Coffey, the author.

Rosa says equity is at the core of the plan. "It's about ensuring that every student, regardless of background, has the opportunity to demonstrate their learning in meaningful ways," she said. "That also means ensuring instruction and assessment reflect the diverse cultures, languages and lived experiences of New York's students."

Music Circle loosens up classical traditions

Classical music is entering a new realm, says Akiko Sasaki, artistic director of the Howland Chamber Music Circle, which kicks off its 2026-27 season — its 34th — on Sunday (Sept. 20) with a sold-out performance by the Miró Quartet. The group last played Beacon more than 20 years ago and credits the Chamber Circle's co-founder, Gwen Stevens, with boosting its career.

Diversity among players and the music is inevitable, as evidenced by this year's eclectic program. Adopting an unorthodox dress code, the Catalyst Quartet plans to play three pieces by jazz saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera during the series' final concert, scheduled for May 30.

Also pushing the envelope: The cellist in the brash, young Poiesis Quartet cross-dresses, the violinists sport tattoos and each member provides pronouns. The program for the Oct. 18 gig lists two works written by composers born after 2000; a selection by Lili'uokalani, the deposed queen of Hawaii (1838-1917); and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16.

"The classical world has absorbed so many influences throughout its history, and we want to surprise people with how broad it can be," says Sasaki. "It's not stuffy and stodgy anymore."

Expanding further, the Chamber Circle commissioned a song by composer Shawn Okpebhdo that evokes Paul Robeson, a classically trained vocalist with ties to the Peekskill Riots in 1949 and the late folk singer Pete Seeger, who lived near Beacon. Two years in the making, the premiere is scheduled for Feb. 21 when Trio Alfiori (piano, vocals and clarinet) performs.

Harpist Bridget Kibbey's Bach to Brazil adds a percussionist and violinist to round out what is perhaps the season's most ambitious program on Nov. 14; the marketing copy evokes a "sonic voyage" to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Germany, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

This year, the annual four-concert Piano Festival will include the premiere of a commission for Beethoven specialist Michael Stephen Brown (March 21). The chamber society is one of many underwriters, says Sasaki. Composed by Michelle Ross, the piece is inspired by the Piano Sonata No. 30, completed in 1820.

The program for Grammy winner Michelle Cann (Feb. 7), known for performing historically overlooked music, along with the staples, will be announced closer to the date.

Evren Ozel, 27, plans to bookend Summerland, by American composer William Grant Still, on Jan. 27 between pieces by Debussy and Schumann. "We booked Evren the day he made the final round [in 2025] of the Van Cliburn competition," which is held every four years in Fort Worth, Texas, and draws pianists from around the world, says Sasaki. "His technique is tremendous, and his playing has a maturity and intensity that draws people in."

Inon Barnatan (March 7), "a regular with just about every major orchestra, is known for an intellectual, poetic approach to familiar music that makes it feel new," she says. The Chopin-heavy program will be augmented by works from Thomas Ades, John Field and Karol Szymanowski.

Other small combos include the Dorian Wind Quintet (Nov. 1), a cello/piano duo (April 18) and the Maeve Trio, a violin, cello and piano ensemble, on May 2.

On Sunday, the Austin-based Miró Quartet will mix things up by adopting an informal approach to fashion and onstage presence. Cellist Josh Gindele, a founding member, says the group also mines the past for obscure material, such as recording every string quartet by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983).

Though serious about the music, they converse, joke around and try to make their shows feel like "you're in a bar," says Gindele.

Despite performing "thousands of times" since their last appearance for the Howland Cultural Center two decades ago, he remembers the venue "being like a library [which it was, until 1976]. We were young, so any gig was good, but it sticks out because we developed a relationship with Gwen Stevens; she and other Hudson Valley promoters went...