Highlands Current Audio Stories

Slam Allen wants a smile on your face

Slam Allen has got it figured out. He spoke with The Current while driving up I-95 from Miami after a monthlong gig on the Brilliant Lady, a new mega cruise ship that plies the Caribbean and anchors in Aruba and Jamaica. For half the year, he plays guitar for two hours a night and relaxes the rest of the time.

"Those gigs are a beautiful situation, man," he says. "They give guest artists a nice cabin with a balcony and free food."

His parents moved to the Monticello area from Alabama, and Allen retains that drawl, which he brings to the Towne Crier in Beacon on Saturday (Jan. 24). He still lives in the Hudson Valley and has played at the 54-year-old club since its early days in Pawling.

Born into a musical family, Allen earned the cruise ship gigs by developing a gritty, down-home sound rooted in the blues and soul, paying his dues in dive bars.

After 9/11, he moved to Chicago, birthplace of the electric blues, to see if he had the chops to hang with the masters and ended up touring with harmonica giant James Cotton for a decade before taking his guitar on the road as a solo performer.

Allen explored working with major labels but says he disliked what he discovered. "I didn't want anything to do with that system," he says. "They control you and try to change you."

He has performed in all 50 states and 10 countries, a career that derives in part from his nasty guitar tone and infectious onstage exuberance. Having a flashy Art Deco-style six-string also helps.

His playing balances feel and technique with felicity and sets of tasteful tunes are paced with extended endings, call-and-response with the audience and a stroll through the crowd to flirt, joke and pose for selfies.

"Back in the 1990s, when wireless equipment was getting started, I was the first guitarist in the blues community to do that," he says. "People called me crazy but, now, they're all doing it."

Blues is an obvious influence, but Allen says he also plays soul, R&B, funk and reggae "that makes people feel good." Other influences are apparent, but when he plays a B.B. King song, he channels the master's style.

"I studied the man and how he related to the audience, but my first major guitar influence was George Benson," Allen says. "And I learned from the entertainers in the Borscht Belt during the 1980s when I worked in the hotels."

For Allen, there is something deeper than the music. He preaches about the power of positivity and calls himself the SoulWorking Man: "I'm on a mission to work people's souls and put smiles on their faces," he says. Reminded that the blues are equated with sadness, he responds: "It depends on who's playing it."

Allen doesn't use set lists. "I channel the energy in the room, and the guitar is my delivery system," he says. "I'm not pulling from church or the Bible, but from that spiritual energy we all have. I believe in it and manifest it."

The Towne Crier Cafe is located at 379 Main St. in Beacon. Slam Allen will perform at 8 p.m. with guitarist Elly Wininger; tickets are $25 at townecrier.com or $30 at the door.

Planning Board has change of heart about project

A vote on a proposal to construct a three-story addition onto the historic Telephone Building at 291 Main St. in Beacon will not come for at least another month.

The attorney for the applicant requested an adjournment during the Planning Board's Jan. 13 meeting after a straw poll showed, once again, that the project lacked sufficient support for approval.

Three of five members (with two absent) said in November that they would not approve the application. In December, with six of seven members present, the board gave architect Aryeh Siegel the go-ahead to proceed with a symmetrical facade on the addition and voted, 4-2, to authorize the city attorney to draft documents approving the project.

That brought the application, first introduced in November 2024, to the Jan. 13 meeting. With one abstention, five board members voted to complete the environmental review of the project and certify that it would not have significant adverse effects.

From there, Board Chair John Gunn called for a straw poll on approving the proposal. Three members said they would not approve, two said they would, and a sixth board member (with one absent) was undecided.

"I'm curious, what changed?" Gunn asked, noting the December vote to move forward.

David Jensen, one of the "no" votes, said that Beacon requires additions to historic buildings to "not damage or obscure the character and defining features" of a structure "to the maximum extent possible." As proposed, he said, the addition "will almost entirely obscure the view" of the Telephone Building's gold-leaf cornice, a feature that is "singularly unique within our city," from the west.

Taylor Palmer, the project attorney, said the applicant would appeal in court if denied. "We have met the full letter of all the laws — the zoning law, the [central Main Street] regulations, the [historic district] regulations," he said. "All of your consultants have characterized it in such a fashion." It would be a shame, he said, "to have to litigate an issue that was already resolved, and for an application that fully satisfies your code's criteria."

The Planning Board also began its review on Jan. 13 of a proposal to construct a 49-space parking lot and add five parking spaces to the employee lot east of Dia Beacon. In addition, a storage building would be constructed along the south end of the employee parking lot.

The additions would be visible from the roadway and nearby houses, so "screening is going to be key," Planning Consultant Natalie Quinn said. Board members questioned the design of the storage building. "This seems wildly out of context to that, almost like a blemish, a pimple, in an otherwise really well maintained and really nicely curated grounds," Gunn said.

Sidewalk repair

Beacon anticipates receiving $150,000 to $200,000 in Community Development Block Grants in 2026. The funds have been spent in recent years upgrading sidewalks, including, last year, on South Avenue and West Center Street. The city said this year's allocation will be used to repair sidewalks in front of South Avenue Elementary. The council has scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 17.

Appointments

The City Council on Jan. 20 approved Mayor Lee Kyriacou's appointments of Marisa Lomonaco and Holly O'Grady to the Conservation Advisory Committee, Andrew Kurtiak to the Tree Advisory Committee and Samuel Schmitz to the Traffic Safety Committee.

Kyriacou named Phillip Stamatis to chair the Conservation Advisory Committee, replacing Sergei Krasikov, who now represents Ward 3 on the City Council.

Intermunicipal agreement

The council on Monday renewed, through Sept. 30, 2031, an agreement to share assessor services with the Town of East Fishkill. Kathy Martin was reappointed in October to the position for a six-year term. Beacon pays 30 percent of her salary, benefits and training.

Hotel tax

The City Council approved a resolution asking state legislators to extend the city's ability to im...

Restrict parking ahead of weekend storm

Cold Spring and Nelsonville have issued parking restrictions due to pending snowfall, and Cold Spring on Jan. 23 declared a storm emergency from Sunday to Tuesday.

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne declared a state of emergency effective 12:01 a.m. Sunday and asked people to "stay off the roads during the duration of the storm, allowing county, town and village highway crews, police and fire personnel and other essential service providers to do their jobs."

Huge Storm Approaches Highlands

In Cold Spring, no parking will be allowed on village streets between 5 a.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Tuesday to enable plow access. For updates, call 845-747-7669.

Update (Jan. 27)

Parking restrictions were extended to 7 a.m. Wednesday. The following daylight hours restrictions apply during clean-up: Major paths for first responders, areas around the school, and Main Street, continue to be prioritized for snow removal.

Cleared for daytime parking: South side of Main Street; north side of Main Street from Route 9D to Fair Street; Church Street; Garden Street; west side of Cedar Street.

Clean-up will continue on Wednesday prioritizing Locust, Fair, Market between New Street and Lower Main Street, Furnace, Kemble between Main Street and Wall/Rock streets), Orchard and Stone.

In addition, the village said no parking will be permitted on either side of the following narrow streets from 5 a.m. Sunday until village crews can complete snow removal: Furnace Street, Garden Street, Kemble Avenue (from Rock Street/Wall Street to Main Street), Locust Ridge, Market Street (from New Street to Lower Main Street) and Stone Street.

The village said the following streets will be marked with temporary no parking signs: Academy Street, Church Street, Main Street (from Route 9D/Chestnut Street/Morris Avenue to Lunn Terrace) and Orchard Street. It said crews will remove snow on one side, then move the signs to the opposite side of the street.

Alternative parking is available at the American Legion lot on Cedar Street (south end only; do not use the Ambulance Corps spaces); the Haldane ballfields lot on Route 9D (no permit is required during snow emergencies); the village lots on Kemble Avenue, The Boulevard and New Street; and the Fair Street municipal lot.

Nelsonville has restricted parking all day on Sunday and Monday, with emergency parking available on Adams Avenue and on the west side of the Secor Street lot. On Monday, the village said that crews would remove snow from Division Street and Pearl Street on Tuesday.

For updates, bookmark our Storm Resources Page.

Expected to bring up to 13 inches of snow

Bread was flying off the shelves, salt was being loaded into trucks and utility workers nervously watched forecasts on Thursday (Jan. 22) as a huge winter storm that could bring catastrophic damage, widespread power outages and bitterly cold weather barreled toward the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

The massive storm system is expected to bring a crippling ice storm from Texas through parts of the South, potentially around a foot of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C., New York and Boston, and then a punch of bitterly cold air that could drop wind chills to minus-50 degrees in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.

In the Highlands, a winter storm warning is in effect from late Saturday through Monday afternoon, with a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain expected. According to the National Weather Service, the Highlands should receive about 7 inches of snow, or up to 13 inches at the high end. There is a 10 percent chance of more than 18 inches, it said.

On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency. Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino issued an emergency order restricting travel from 5 a.m. on Sunday to 5 p.m. on Monday and closing county offices on Monday.

Serino's order restricts travel on roads except for emergency vehicles and essential personnel such as medical and health facility personnel; law enforcement and public safety personnel; first responders; utility, maintenance and public works personnel; snow removal, sanding, salting and clearing operations personnel; facility operations persons deemed necessary for plant operations by their employers; and public and government personnel involved in emergency operations. There will be no public bus service on Sunday or Monday, and parks will be closed.

See dutchessny.gov/stormupdates for updates. Anyone in Dutchess County who needs emergency shelter should call 2-1-1 to receive assistance in finding a shelter.

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne declared a state of emergency effective 12:01 a.m. Sunday and asked people to "stay off the roads during the duration of the storm, allowing county, town and village highway crews, police and fire personnel and other essential service providers to do their jobs."

Forecasters are warning the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. About 160 million people were under winter storm or cold weather watches or warnings — and in many places both.

The storm was expected to begin Friday in New Mexico and Texas, with the worst weather moving east into the Deep South before heading up the coast and thumping New England with snow.

Parking Restricted Ahead of Storm

Cold air streaming down from Canada caused Chicago Public Schools and Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa to cancel classes Friday. Wind chills predicted to be as low as minus-35 degrees could cause frostbite within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.

The cold punch coming after means it will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and power lines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days. Roads and sidewalks could remain icy well into next week.

Freezing temperatures are expected all the way to Florida, forecasters said.

Advice from New York State

Avoid travel if possible. Expect delays and closures. If you can't avoid traveling: Clean off your vehicle before driving, drive slow and don't use cruise control, leave extra distance between vehicles and don't crowd the plows. Roads can be slick even if they just look wet.

Practice safe shoveling: dress warmly, stay hydrated, move only small amounts of snow and take frequent breaks.

If you are stranded in a vehicle, avoid carbon monoxide poisoning by running the motor for 10 minutes every hour. While your car is running, open the windows slightly for fresh air. Keep your exhaust pipe clear of snow.

Tips to operate generators safel...

250 Years Ago (January 1776)

The Continental Congress said that Queens County appeared unwilling to support the Revolution because it refused to send deputies to a convention there. They declared the residents to be unprotected against the British and that no one should do business or communicate with them.

A 47-page pamphlet called Common Sense, written by an anonymous patriot, was published on Jan. 10 and widely distributed. Its author (Thomas Paine) argued that there were two major flaws in British governance: monarchy and hereditary rule. "We have it in our power to begin the world anew," he wrote. "America shall make a stand, not for herself alone, but for the world." (After the war, the New York Legislature gave Paine a 100-acre farm in New Rochelle.)

Col. Henry Knox reported that his train of 59 cannon and mortars seized from the British had reached Albany from Fort Ticonderoga and that residents helped to drag the heavy artillery across the frozen Hudson River. From there, Knox and his troops marched south to Columbia County before turning east toward Boston.

Alexander Hamilton, 21, formed a provincial artillery company in New York City.

Gen. Philip Schuyler led a force of 3,000 patriots to Johnstown, northwest of Albany, where they forced Sir John Johnson and 700 Loyalists to surrender their weapons.

150 Years Ago (January 1876)

The Cold Spring Recorder reported that Dennis McCarty, a brother of James McCarty of the village, had been aboard a steamer that struck a submerged log about 20 miles from Memphis, overturned and sank within minutes. The seven crew members and 16 passengers managed to escape by riding the detached pilot house to shore. The Minneola had been going at full speed with 900 tons of freight, mostly furniture.

It was 47 degrees on New Year's Day.

Although a horse owned by William Ladue survived a tumble from the railroad bridge over the Foundry Cove and was able to swim ashore, it died the next day.

Abner Merritt, the milkman, said he was attempting to break up a dogfight at the corner of Pine and Parrott streets when a man rushed from a nearby home and punched him, apparently because he wanted to see which dog would win.

Nichols exhibited at his store a beautifully handwritten Family Register and the Lord's Prayer done on Bristol board with pens of various colors. It was the work of a young blacksmith who roomed with Morgan Putter.

Levi Bailey showed the editor of The Recorder a turnip that resembled a small boy, with its roots as the arms.

Charley Merritt, charged with assault, had to be "ironed" [handcuffed] by Officer McAndrew after his arrest on Garden Street to get him to the cells at Town Hall. The next day, Merritt escaped but was chased down. Justice Ferris sentenced him to four months in the Albany Penitentiary.

The Cold Spring Library Association hosted a debate at the Reformed Church on the question: Resolved, that capital punishment ought to be abolished.

Addison Merrick rented the store in Goodsell's building to open a grocery. "The addition of two grocery stores to our former number at this decreased season for business is, to say the least, a bold attempt," said The Recorder.

After receiving a letter from his father in Cuba, Vincent Louise sailed for the island to address "political troubles." Louise was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

J.A. Tait had a rough Wednesday, according to The Recorder. In the morning, he fell from his wagon and hurt his arm. In the evening, his horse ran away. He returned home to find the doors locked, because the ladies had gone on a visit. He propped a ladder to reach an upper window, but it broke and sent him tumbling.

Milt Lawrence complained that a list published in The Recorder that said he had received assistance from the poor master was in error. The Recorder investigated and concluded Lawrence was correct: He had not requested aid. Instead, according to a "credible informant," Mrs. Lawrence had needed to see a doctor, but her husband was drunk and r...

Also: Cold Spring wants Fjord Trail hearing

Mayor Kathleen Foley reported at the Wednesday (Jan. 14) meeting of the Cold Spring Village Board that the redevelopment project at the former Marathon Battery Co. site on Kemble Avenue "is gearing up to go."

The 12-acre parcel — zoned for mixed-use, planned-unit development — is the largest undeveloped tract in the village. The Kearney Group owns the property but has not yet applied to develop it.

The mayor said the Kearney Group is "sensitive to the fact" that the last major development in the village, at the former Butterfield Hospital site, had been "sort of put upon us and was not driven from need first."

In an email to The Current, Foley said the property owner wants to take "a community-forward approach" to ensure "the public has many opportunities to participate in visioning for redevelopment." Sean Kearney, president of Kearney Group, lives in Cold Spring with his family. "He wants to ensure that what he builds looks and feels like Cold Spring," Foley said.

She said a visioning process for the site will be hosted by the village and led by Speck Dempsey, a planning firm known for developing walkable neighborhoods. The Kearney Group will pay the cost of Speck Dempsey's work.

In her email, the mayor outlined a tentative timeline for public engagement that includes:

March 2026: A public talk on walkable places led by Speck Dempsey and including examples from other communities.

April 2026: A weeklong series of public workshops to collect input, with a planning exercise that incorporates community feedback and culminating in a presentation sharing initial site concepts.

Summer 2026: A presentation of a refined proposal or proposals that reflect public comment and site goals.

Fjord Trail

The Village Board will ask the state parks department to hold a public hearing on the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, which was released Jan. 7. The FGEIS includes responses to comments the agency received on the draft statement, including an extensive submission by the village.

The decision to request a public hearing was made at a special meeting of the Village Board on Jan. 8 and discussed again on Jan. 14. The FGEIS is "a massive document, roughly 1,000 pages," Foley said, adding that it contains "a lot of findings of no adverse impact, which is obviously problematic for us as a village." She said while state parks is not obligated to hold a public hearing, village attorney John Furst advised the board to request one.

In other business …

The board approved a law amending Chapter 126 of the Village Code, Vehicles and Traffic, which includes revisions to parking regulations on several streets. The revisions, which were the subject of two public hearings, include eliminating parking along Fair Street except for the municipal lot at Mayor's Park; restricting parking on Northern Avenue; and providing free public parking on the east side of High Street from Haldane Street to Northern.

The board approved a new Village Code chapter governing the Justice Court. Chapter 125 includes residency requirements for the justice, associate justice and court clerk.

The Stage One water emergency declared in September, which required conservation measures due to low reservoir levels, has been rescinded. The reservoirs are above 90 percent capacity.

The Cold Spring Fire Co. responded to 10 calls in December, including five activated alarms, and single incidents of a chimney fire, a lost hiker, an injured hiker, an elevator rescue and a medical emergency assist.

The mayor was authorized to sign a memorandum of agreement with the the fire company to provide $147,419 toward the company's 2026 operating expenses. The Town of Philipstown will pay $68,450 for fire protection services.

The Cold Spring Police Department answered 77 calls in December, including 28 assists to other agencies, seven alarms, five traffic stops and single incidents involving an overdose, hara...

Outlines precautionary measures and plans

After receiving more than 650 comments on a draft, New York State on Jan. 7 released its final environmental impact report for the proposed Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, a 7.5-mile linear park connecting Beacon and Cold Spring.

The Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement, at 833 pages plus appendices, adds precautionary measures to minimize the trail's impact on the environment, as well as the development of an emergency management plan, a natural resource management program and a commitment to monitor traffic and visitation.

Like the draft, the final report concludes that the trail, including a section south of Little Stony Point in Philipstown that would have a boardwalk on pylons in the Hudson River, is the best way to address the effects of increasing visitation to the Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve and nearby communities.

In one 957-page appendix, the state responded to nearly every public comment received on the draft, including from those who believe the HHFT should begin at Little Stony Point rather than Dockside Park in Cold Spring, which the state owns. In response, the state said eliminating that section "would defeat the project's purpose of addressing pedestrian safety issues in this important geographic area."

Of the proposed paths the trail could take from Cold Spring, the state says only one is feasible: starting at the Metro-North station and following the east side of the tracks to Little Stony Point. It has its downsides, according to the state: It would be narrower and steeper, require two pedestrian bridges and "limit the [trail's] ability to highlight the natural beauty of the Hudson River shoreline."

The final report also examined "The Upland Alternative," an alignment proposed by Protect the Highlands, that would replace the Dockside-to-Little Stony Point route with one that runs along the east side of Route 9D and through the Breakneck Tunnel.

The report concluded that the Upland Alternative has too many downsides, including passing over private driveways, rebuilding hiking trails to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the construction of a 300-foot retaining wall along Fair Street near the tidal pond.

"This alignment also would be counter to prior public opposition to the Fjord Trail traveling along these streets," the report states. It says that renovations to the Breakneck Tunnel by the state Department of Transportation are not designed to accommodate large numbers of pedestrians.

The report does not examine proposed changes to the former Dutchess Manor on Route 9D, which will become a visitor center. Because those renovations have "independent utility" from the rest of the trail, they are undergoing a separate environmental review led by the Town of Fishkill Planning Board. But the report does include updated traffic projections related to Dutchess Manor.

The report also does not address the costs of the trail, which the state said is beyond what is required in its environmental review. (The construction costs of the alternate paths were considered in the earlier scoping document.) The report states that "HHFT is required to provide reasonably satisfactory evidence to the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation commissioner that it has financing or financial commitments sufficient to cover the full cost of construction before each phase of construction may begin."

Other notable changes from the draft include:

The report lists several steps to minimize the impact of construction. Flags would be placed atop cranes and other equipment to prevent golden eagles and other raptors from attempting to build nests. Wildlife crossings, in the form of culverts and elevated trail sections, would allow passage for wildlife such as timber rattlesnakes, making it less likely that hikers would encounter them. And HHFT has told the state it will undertake a "comprehensive natural resource management program" led by an ecologist....

Clients apprehensive as detentions rise

A different reality existed in late November when Joe Lavetsky helped a Hudson Valley man from Turkmenistan apply to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In that reality, Lavetsky, a Beacon-based immigration lawyer, represented a model candidate for naturalization: a taxpaying green-card holder with letters of support from the correctional facility where he works and the fire department for which he volunteers.

Then there is reality since Dec. 2, when the Department of Homeland Security announced a pause on applications for asylum, green cards and naturalization for immigrants from 19 countries, most of them African and Muslim. The announcement came six days after an Afghan native granted asylum killed one member of the National Guard and wounded another in Washington, D.C.

Lavetsky, who specializes in green-card and citizenship cases, said he has recently represented people from three of those countries — Cuba, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The Turkmen is "a really good guy" who has had a green card since 2021 and is ready to become a naturalized citizen, he said last month. But the application "is going nowhere anytime soon."

Lavetsky and other immigration attorneys have a front-row seat to the fear and anguish of immigrants whose hopes of remaining in the U.S. are being delayed or dashed as the administration of President Donald Trump works to fulfill his vision of mass deportations.

ICE, in a news release issued Dec. 31, said its officers are focused on removing criminals: "While ICE's law enforcement officers risk their lives to arrest the worst of worst criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, child sex abusers, terrorists and gang members, they have faced a 1,347 percent increase in assaults and an 8,000 percent increase in death threats against them thanks to the lies and smears from sanctuary politicians and radical activists, and hoaxes spread by the media.

"Their heroic efforts have led to historic results, helping DHS remove more than 622,000 illegal aliens, including tens of thousands of the worst of the worst criminal offenders."

But the agency also targets immigrants applying for asylum, legal permanent residence (green cards) and naturalization, advocates say. More people are being detained when they show up for what used to be routine check-ins with ICE or hearings in immigration court, said Rubie Alicea, an attorney with Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, which has offices in Peekskill.

At the end of November, ICE detentions nationally (53,520) and at its facility in Goshen (166) were more than two times higher than a year earlier, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Nearly three-fourths of detainees, 73.6 percent, had no criminal convictions, according to TRAC.

Amid the agency's push, accompanying clients to those appointments "is the most stressful thing," said Alicea, who mostly handles deportation cases and has represented people from Dutchess and Putnam counties. "It's hard for me," she said. "I cannot tell them not to go, but I cannot guarantee they will not be detained."

In addition to pausing asylum, green-card and citizenship applications, DHS said that anyone approved for those benefits since Joe Biden's inauguration as president on Jan. 20, 2021, will be subject to a "comprehensive re-review, potential interview and re-interview."

Some of the affected are immigrants who have overstayed their visa but later married U.S. citizens and are applying for a green card, said Lavetsky. Detaining them "never happened in the past," even during the first Trump administration, he said. But now, even if they have a strong application, Lavetsky warns them that they may be detained during their interview.

He has started accompanying clients to interviews at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices in Albany and Manhattan. At a recent interview for the client applying for a green card after marrying a ...

Weekend rooms in Beacon begin at $693 per night

The Mirbeau Companies, which operates boutique spas in New York and Massachusetts, plans to open its latest facility, Mirbeau Inn & Spa Beacon, in April at the redeveloped Tioronda Estate on Route 9D.

Reservations are available at beacon.mirbeau.com beginning June 1, with rates ranging from $533 per night on weeknights to $693 on weekends. Earlier dates and additional rooms will become available as the opening approaches, said Ed Kellogg, a partner in the family-owned hospitality business. A shuttle will be available to pick up customers at the Beacon train station. The spa is also hiring.

The opening marks the end of the first phase of redevelopment at the historic property, once the home of Craig House, the country's first privately licensed psychiatric hospital. The estate, including its centerpiece, a 14,000-square-foot, neo-Gothic mansion built in 1859 for Civil War Gen. Joseph Howland and his wife, Eliza, has sat empty since the hospital closed in 1999.

"We're really happy that we were able to find this opportunity," Kellogg said. "We think it's going to be a success right from the beginning."

The company, which owns a day spa in Albany and three resorts (in Rhinebeck and Skaneateles, New York, and Plymouth, Massachusetts), purchased the 64-acre estate for $10 million in 2022. The Planning Board approved its application to redevelop the site in December 2022, and construction began in February 2024.

Tioronda was one of the grand estates of the Hudson Valley in the 19th century. After Howland died in 1885, his widow donated the property for the care of the mentally ill. Part of the estate was purchased 30 years later by two doctors who opened a hospital specializing in addiction treatment, calling it Craig House.

It became the treatment center of choice for the rich and famous. Zelda Fitzgerald and comedian Jackie Gleason spent time there. Frances Seymour, the wife of Henry Fonda and mother of Peter and Jane Fonda, committed suicide at Craig House in 1942. Rosemary Kennedy, the older sister of President John F. Kennedy, spent years there, and Marilyn Monroe was rumored to have been a patient.

In 2003, a hedge fund manager and philanthropist, Robert Wilson, purchased the property but never developed it. In 2017, his estate sold it to an investment group led by developer Bernard Kohn.

Mirbeau "was looking for where else in the Hudson Valley we could meet our room demand," Kellogg said, when the Tioronda property became available.

The Beacon location will be the company's "biggest of everything. Biggest acreage, biggest opportunity," he said. The restored mansion will have seven guest rooms, including Gen. Howland's.

The building closest to Route 9D, a 1978 hospital wing, has been demolished, replaced by a chateau that will house the spa and 63 rooms. It will offer massage, facials, hand and foot therapy and other body treatments, as well as yoga, personal training and private classes. An open-air canopy will connect the chateau and mansion.

The bones of the Howland mansion "were in great shape, much better than we expected," Kellogg said. "It was built like a fortress."

The brick exterior, now scrubbed clean, reveals the structure's evolution. Darker brick gives away the addition that Richard Morris Hunt, Howland's brother-in-law, designed in 1873. A third shade of brick indicates another addition, believed to have been completed in the 1970s.

Mirbeau suspects smaller additions were made to the west wing of the mansion in the 1920s or '30s, Kellogg said, although there's no documentation. The clue is a slope in the floor that suggests new construction.

Photos by Ross Corsair

The original floors, mostly maple and oak, have been refinished. The entrance to the mansion has been rebuilt to be accessible to people with disabilities; the new doors are identical to the originals, he said.

The guest rooms have electric fireplaces and a view of Cornwall to the west a...

Had been excluded by Legislature for two years

Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley on the Putnam County Legislature, has been named as the chair of one of its committees for the first time since she was elected in 2019.

Montgomery, the only Democrat on the nine-member Legislature, had been shut out of committee assignments for the past two years by the Republican chairs. In 2024 and 2025, she served only on the Budget and Finance Committee, which includes every member.

This year, Dan Birmingham, who was elected chair on a 5-4 vote with Montgomery's support, assigned her to chair the Health, Social, Educational & Environmental Committee and appointed her to Protective Services.

Over the years, Montgomery had repeatedly requested to be part of both committees based on her experience managing group homes for the developmentally disabled, volunteering for the Philipstown Ambulance Corps and dispatching 911 calls.

Other than Budget and Finance, the Legislature's committees each have three members. They meet monthly and consider whether resolutions will be sent to the full Legislature.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve on both the Health and Protective Services committees," Montgomery said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan. 14). "These committees sit at the heart of how we protect public safety, support vulnerable residents and allocate resources responsibly, especially at a time when federal decisions are creating uncertainty for local governments and communities.

"A key priority for me is strengthening policies and funding that support effective collaboration between law enforcement and social services, particularly around mental health and crisis response. I'm looking forward to doing the work, asking hard questions and helping ensure that Putnam County remains prepared, compassionate and fiscally responsible."

Committee Assignments

Dutchess Legislature

Molly Rhodes (D) (Beacon Wards 1, 2, 3)

Budget, Finance and Personnel

Public Safety

Public Works and Capital Projects

Yvette Valdés Smith (D) (Beacon Ward 4)

Majority Leader (ex-officio on all committees)

Putnam Legislature

Nancy Montgomery (D) (Philipstown/Putnam Valley)

Health, Social, Educational & Environmental

Protective Services

State Senate

Rob Rolison (R) (Highlands)

Aging

Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders

Cannabis

Children and Families

Crime Victims, Crime and Correction

Labor

Local Government

State Assembly

Dana Levenberg (D) (Philipstown)

Correction

Environmental Conservation

Housing

Libraries and Education Technology

Local Governments

Jonathan Jacobson (D) (Beacon)

Cities

Corporations, Authorities and Commissions

Election Law

Insurance

Labor

Local Governments

Oversight, Analysis and Investigation (chair)

U.S. Congress

Mike Lawler (R) (District 17, including Philipstown)

Financial Services

Foreign Affairs*

*Lawler chairs the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee.

Pat Ryan (D) (District 18, including Beacon)

Armed Services

Transportation and Infrastructure

U.S. Senate

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

Aging

Appropriations

Armed Services

Intelligence

Charles Schumer (D)

Intelligence

Rules and Administration

In January 2025, Amy Sayegh, newly elected as chair by unanimous vote, excluded Montgomery from any committees. When asked by The Current for an explanation, she would only say that she was "using my best judgment" in making assignments.

In January 2024, Paul Jonke, then the new chair, excluded Montgomery for the first time. He claimed in a letter that her "inability to work collaboratively, and to act professionally and collegially," and the fact that she had "disturbed meetings" and violated the rules of order justified his decision.

He also cited her criticism of Republican legislators for making decisions in secret caucus meetings, "even after you have been provided with conclusive authority that such discussions are entirely proper, ethical and protected by state law."

On Jan. 7, Birmingham defeated Bill Gouldman to bec...