Highlands Current Audio Stories

250 Years Ago (July 1775)

Benjamin Franklin wrote to William Strahan in England: "You are a member of Parliament, and of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; You are now my enemy, and I am yours."

The mayor of London and the Common Council petitioned King George to end military operations in the colonies.

The Continental Congress requested that each colony establish minutemen units.

Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, arriving at 10 p.m. on July 18 to take command at Lake George in the Adirondacks, found a single sentry on duty. On seeing the general, the soldier quickly tried to awaken the three other guards.

Patriots in New York City raided royal stores in Turtle Bay (East 42nd Street) for supplies, which were sent to Boston and Lake Champlain.

New York observed a day of fasting and devotion, as requested by the Continental Congress.

150 Years Ago (July 1875)

After assaulting and robbing the elderly Levi Washburne in Carmel inside his home at 2 a.m., five "ruffians" harnessed a pair of horses to a wagon and drove to Cold Spring, where they abandoned the vehicle. Two men chasing them took the property back to Carmel. The editor of The Cold Spring Recorder noted that local law enforcement did not continue the pursuit, but that the deputy sheriff in Cold Spring and the sheriff likely knew it would be difficult to get reimbursement from the Village Board for their expenses or a reward.

A horse left untied by a pineapple peddler at Moshier's fish market was found near the Pacific Hotel.

The Cold Spring and Nelsonville rifle clubs held a friendly match, shooting at targets of 50, 75 and 100 yards with Hunter's Pet guns. Cold Spring won, 390-375.

Frederick Osborn, 17, drowned while swimming off Mine Point. "His brother made a heroic attempt to save him, but finding that both were sinking, said goodbye and released his hold," according to The Recorder.

A passenger on the Montreal Express who disembarked at Cold Spring forgot his pocketbook, with a large amount of cash. He rushed to the telegraph office. His message and the train reached Poughkeepsie at the same time, and the pocketbook was found on the seat, undisturbed.

At 7 p.m. on a Tuesday, Miss Kellogg called a girl playing the violin on Main Street for change to her carriage, where they conversed in Italian.

After a series of overnight burglaries and home invasions, the Village Board adopted a resolution "that the constables of the town and police officers of the village be specially requested to arrest and take into custody and detain all persons of suspicious character found roaming through the village at any unreasonable hour of the night, or found under suspicious circumstances at any time justifying their arrest and convent without delay to the police magistrate."

Billy McCormick, jailed in Cold Spring for stealing a barrel of liquor, claimed he was paid $250 [about $7,300 today] for the job but would not say by whom.

A tornado at West Point broke 140 gas hotel lights and moved artillery guns.

After a shot was heard at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, two Fair Street men took their guns to Sandy Landing to investigate. They found a dog belonging to Michael O'Brien, of Garden Street, had been shot dead and supposed it was causing trouble for thieves hiding their goods.

Passengers aboard the Boardman and Cornwall steam yacht complained that young male swimmers waiting for the swell created by the boat would stand naked on the dock rather than jumping in the water in advance of her passing.

Burglars visited B Street, where they attempted to break into the home of James Ball and took a watch from under a mattress in the house of John Butler.

A child in Nelsonville was pushed into the road while he and a playmate jostled to catch a pear falling from a tree, and only skillful horse management by Mr. Mangham prevented ...

Line down from 3 to 9 p.m. but calls rerouted

Dutchess County reported at 3 p.m. on Tuesday (July 15) that its 911 emergency response system was down. It was restored at 9 p.m.

The county said the outage was caused by "an issue with a Verizon fiber optic transmission line. Verizon crews from Poughkeepsie and Kingston worked to restore the lines. Incoming emergency calls were rerouted to 7-digit landline numbers without incident during the outage."

For future updates, see the Dutchess County Emergency Management page on Facebook or download the Ready Dutchess! mobile app.

Glenn Rockman and his longtime partner, Darron Berquist, love many things about their 3,700-square-foot home off Route 9 in Philipstown (shown above): the quiet woods, the modern architecture, the river views.

They also love their electric bill: $21.50 a month.

The bills could be lower, but Central Hudson requires a basic service charge to be hooked up to the grid. The one time the bill was higher, it was because they had accidentally left the air conditioning on for 10 days while on vacation. The only gas the home uses is propane in a backup generator.

This is all possible because Rockman and Berquist live in a certified Passive House, one of a growing number of ultra-efficient homes whose solar panels generate more power than the owners use.

Rockman said they are hooked up to Central Hudson only as a precaution; occasionally, on hot days, the 9-kilowatt solar panel doesn't generate enough power to cool the house. But more often, it's sending electricity to Central Hudson and using a net meter to stockpile credits. Rockman expects to soon replace the backup generator with a whole-house battery that can store the excess production.

Budget Busters

By Brian PJ Cronin

If you're considering making your home more energy-efficient, act now.

The federal budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 will eliminate tax credits for solar panels, heat pumps, induction stoves, insulation and energy-efficient windows after Dec. 31. It also will eliminate, as of Sept. 30, a tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying or leasing an electric vehicle.

The law could lead to higher utility costs because it kills many industry subsidies for wind, solar and large-scale batteries, which made up more than 90 percent of the new energy added to the grid. The REPEAT Project at Princeton University estimates 30 gigawatts that would have been generated by wind and solar annually may be lost.

"Renewables are the cheapest source of new electricity generation, with or without the tax credits that the bill phases out," said Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Although the cost of installing solar and batteries has fallen by 90 percent over the past decade, and wind costs have fallen by 70 percent, the bill "will put a damper on new renewable and energy storage investment over the next decade, which is going to mean less new cheap, clean power getting added to the grid, and higher electricity prices," she predicted.

At this point, "we can't build enough new fossil plants to fill the void that might be left by killing renewables," she said. Due to supply-chain issues, there's a backlog of up to seven years for natural gas turbines, for example. Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced plans to build more nuclear power plants upstate, but that won't happen immediately: The most recent nuclear plants built in the U.S. were years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

"Renewables and storage are the only resources available to be deployed today at reasonable cost," said Levin. "We won't be able to build new, unexpected, unplanned investments in other types of non-clean energy at least until the 2030s."

The budget may mean fossil-fuel plants scheduled for retirement will need to stay open. Over the next few decades, electricity demand is expected to increase by 25 percent, primarily due to the growth of data centers.

Relief could come at the state level if New York moves forward with a "cap-and-invest" plan, said Kobi Naseck, director of programs and advocacy for NY Renews, a progressive coalition. The program was announced by Hochul in 2023; corporations that produce more pollution than allowed would pay penalties that fund the state's climate plans and rebate checks for consumers.

NY Renews forecasts that a cap-and-invest program could produce savings of up to $2,000 a year for households earning less than $200,000 annually.

In Cold Spring, Chelsea Mozen said her Passive House on High Street al...

Westchester buyer to pay $1.8 million for Mase station

Beacon officials have entered into a contract to sell the city's decommissioned Mase Hook & Ladder fire station for $1.8 million.

The buyer, Michael Bensimon, signed an agreement on June 24 to acquire the property at 425 Main St., including the three-story brick firehouse that has stood there since 1911.

Bensimon, who lists a Port Chester, New York, address on the agreement, made a down payment of $180,000. According to the sale contract, which was provided to The Current, he has a 45-day due-diligence period during which the sale can be canceled and the down payment refunded. City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis said he expects the transaction to close by the end of August.

Bensimon and his attorney each declined to comment. Dutchess County records show that an LLC with the same Port Chester address owns 475 Main St. in Beacon, next to the Howland Cultural Center.

Although Dutchess records incorrectly combine three parcels - the Memorial Building at 423 Main St., Mase at 425 Main and the adjacent municipal parking lot - into one, Bensimon plans to purchase only the fire station property. It is in Beacon's Central Main Street zoning district; Planning Board approval would be required to bring a commercial or residential use to the building.

The city will retain the parking lot, which it intends to restripe for a more efficient layout. Bensimon will receive three spaces. Verizon Wireless will retain its lease to place an antenna on the firehouse roof and equipment in a fenced area behind the building.

The site is also part of Beacon's protected historic district, which means that substantial exterior changes to the building would require a "certificate of appropriateness" from the Planning Board.

According to the contract, Bensimon must apply for permits to begin interior renovation of the building within six months of closing, and obtain certificates of occupancy, compliance or other municipal approvals within 18 months.

Mase and the former Beacon Engine Co. firehouse at 57 East Main St. were listed by the city for sale in May. Both became surplus after a $14.7 million centralized fire station opened near City Hall last fall.

Accessory dwellings

Homeowners earning up to 120 percent of the Dutchess County median household income ($97,273) can apply beginning Monday (July 14) for grants of up to $125,000 to create or upgrade an accessory dwelling unit (ADU).

Beacon and nine other municipalities in Dutchess County were awarded $6 million earlier this year through a state program designed to help low- and moderate-income residents build ADUs. The program is being administered locally by Hudson River Housing, a Poughkeepsie nonprofit. See hudsonriverhousing.org.

The City Council on July 7 also adopted amendments meant to simplify regulations of accessory apartments. The law now permits ADUs in all zoning districts but only on lots with a single-family residence. One of the structures must be owner-occupied, and the ADU cannot be used for short-term rentals such as through Airbnb.

A maximum size was removed from the law, but Planning Board approval will be required if the unit is greater than 1,000 square feet and its floor area is greater than 50 percent of the primary building's floor area. No off-street parking is required.

Capital plans

The City Council on Monday (June 7) unanimously adopted a five-year capital plan that details $29 million in equipment purchases and infrastructure upgrades for 2026 to 2030.

The plan authorizes $6.5 million in spending for 2026, a year that will be highlighted by the renovation and greening of the southwest corner of Memorial Park, estimated to cost $400,000. The city plans to resurface the basketball courts, install pickleball courts, construct a softball batting cage and renovate the bathroom at that end of the park for public use.

The adjacent skateboard park has been repaved, with new skating elements and an "art wall" installed. Phase 2 o...

Lost meal demolishes windshield

Christine Ortiz, the owner of Oh! Designs Interiors on Stone Street in Cold Spring, was enjoying an average Monday on July 7, but there was nothing average about what happened at 4:15 p.m. as she stepped outside for a walk.

"I heard a loud crash and thought something had broken, maybe inside the pub" on the corner, she said.

At that same moment, Michelle Kupper was next door, sitting at her desk at the Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub, when she heard what she described as "a loud pop."

Kupper saw Ortiz walk by and joined her. "What in the world happened to my car?" Ortiz asked aloud, as they stared at the Subaru parked in a shared driveway. The rear windshield was shattered.

"My first thought was that a rock had been thrown," Kupper recalled. "Then I thought maybe the heat made it implode."

Kupper peered through the broken glass. She spotted something bright orange.

"It's a fish!" Kupper told Ortiz.

"What do you mean it's a fish?" Ortiz replied. "Are you kidding me?"

To be precise, it was a koi. But how did it end up in the backseat of her Subaru?

Talon marks indicated the fish had been taken by a raptor, possibly an eagle or hawk. Ortiz felt it was unlikely to have come from the brackish Hudson River; koi are freshwater fish. "I felt bad; I knew someone was missing a pet," Ortiz said. "That's why I didn't post anything" on social media.

The mystery of the Stone Street koi would not be solved by Facebook, Instagram or X. It was a story made for the rumor mill and backyard detectives. Neighbors talked to neighbors. Text messages flew around Cold Spring. Residents shook their heads. All but one, that is.

"I heard about it through the grapevine," Garden Street resident Alex Wilcox Cheek said, adding that Teresa Lagerman, who lives across from Oh! Designs, had told him the tale after Ortiz texted her.

"It sounded like some Garrison Keillor Lake Wobegon story," Wilcox Cheek said.

It also sounded close to home. "I know exactly whose koi that is," he thought.

Phil Heffernan, who lives on Church Street and has a koi pond in his backyard, was in California when he received a text from Wilcox Cheek. His pond lies just three blocks due east of where the fish met its end.

Wilcox Cheek sent along one of Kupper's photos. Heffernan confirmed it was his koi, and that it had a name: Lucy.

In 1953, the previous owner of Heffernan's home had built a 4-foot-deep kiddy pool. In 1990, Heffernan converted it to a fish pond that he keeps well-aerated with "supercharged bubblers" for up to 30 koi. "I always had an aquarium as a kid," he said.

Flight Risk

July 21, 2024: A fish damaged a Tesla parked in a driveway in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, about a mile from Raritan Bay. After the car alarm went off, the owners investigated and found scales and blood on the broken windshield. They suspected the eagles who had a nest in their backyard.

July 13, 2021: Building inspectors in Neenah, Wisconsin, found one of their sedans in the city lot on Monday morning with the hood caved in and a carp, probably from Lake Winnebago, lying on the asphalt nearby.

Sept. 5, 2016: Lisa Lobree was walking on Labor Day in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia when she was hit in the face by a 5-pound catfish. "I smelled disgusting," said Lobree, who suffered a cut and had some swelling.

While he has never seen an eagle near the pond, hawks are common and the week before Lucy was taken he saw a large peregrine falcon in the backyard.

Koi prefer the pond bottom, where the water is coolest. But Heffernan said when temperatures surpass 90 degrees - as they did the week Lucy was taken - the water warms and loses oxygen, and the fish surface to gulp air from the atmosphere.

"An eagle would not have dropped that fish; they have claws the size of my hands," he said, adding that on that hot afternoon the hawk would have seen "a mat of koi" on the pond's surface.

"The hawk's eyes were bigger than his claws and he grabbed the biggest fish he could," Hef...

Seeks to annul approval for Route 9 project

The Revolutionary War is over, but a preservation group is continuing its battle over a hotel and retail project planned for Route 9 on a part of a historic site used in the late 18th century as a supply depot for the Continental Army.

Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot and two of its members, Brenda and William McEwing, filed a lawsuit on June 27 in which they asked a state judge to nullify the Fishkill Planning Board's approval of Continental Commons.

The lawsuit names the town, its building inspector, the Planning Board, the Planning Board chair and GLD3 LLC and Snook-9 Realty, development companies owned by Domenico Broccoli.

As proposed, Continental Commons would combine a 90-room hotel with a restaurant, visitors' center and a replica barracks that would house a museum devoted to the history of the Fishkill Supply Depot. Established under Gen. George Washington, the 74-acre Revolutionary War encampment stretched from Philipstown to the Village of Fishkill and parts of what is now Beacon.

The 10.5-acre site, which contains a Speedway gas station owned by Broccoli and a burial site that Friends of Fishkill Supply Depot say may contain the remains of war dead, is across Route 9 from Dutchess Mall and across Snook Road from the Van Wyck Homestead, a former headquarters for the supply depot and current home of the Fishkill Historical Society.

The plaintiffs contend that the final site plan signed by the Planning Board chair in April is invalid because the developers failed to fulfill two conditions from the preliminary approval in December 2023 - a work permit from the state Department of Transportation and a letter confirming required excavation.

They also claim the site plan and a special-use permit issued to the project have expired because the developer failed to meet a deadline to apply for building permits within a year of site-plan approval. The Planning Board granted the developer multiple 90-day extensions, the most recent of which expired June 12.

Among the exhibits submitted with the lawsuit is a May email from the state Department of Transportation, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request, stating that the agency had yet to issue a final work permit. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs have made multiple requests to the Planning Board under the Freedom of Information Law for evidence that the conditions of the preliminary approval have been satisfied.

Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot and the McEwings also appealed a state judge's decision in 2020 to reject their attempt to overturn the Planning Board's determination that Continental Commons would not have a "significant adverse impact" on the environment or historical resources. Judge Maria Rosa said she did not have the power to "substitute her judgment for that of the agency." The appeal, filed in May 2021, is still active.

Broccoli has also gone to court. In March, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit he filed accusing members and supporters of Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot of conspiring to "devalue" the property so they could buy it for "pennies on the dollar."

That same month, Broccoli alleged in a lawsuit that statements made in 2023 by Louise Daniele, a former member of the Fishkill Town Board, caused him "reputational harm, substantial emotional distress and humiliation and damage to his key business relationship."

In a motion filed May 8, Daniele denied that she defamed Broccoli when she said that Board Member John Forman should recuse himself from votes involving Continental Commons because he rented office space from Broccoli's cousin and the developer donated to Forman's 2012 state Assembly campaign. In June, Daniele filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Scientists install first public monitors

Eli Dueker pointed to a projected map of the U.S. covered in green dots.

Each represented a sensor used to produce air-quality reports on hot summer days, or when Canadian wildfire smoke blows south into New York.

"Notice this Hudson Valley-shaped hole here?" asked Dueker, the director of Bard College's Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities, during a presentation in Poughkeepsie. There were no green dots.

Desiree Lyle, who manages the Community Sciences Lab at Bard, explained that the lack of local sensors means that apps must rely on data from elsewhere "and come up with an algorithm that approximates what the air quality might be in the Hudson Valley."

This is the problem that Bard is working on through its Hudson Valley Community Air Network (dub.sh/hvair-network). The lab has so far installed four sensors that provide real-time data through justair.app, a website created by JustAir, an environmental justice technology company.

The devices, which also measure air temperature and humidity, are located at Bard near Red Hook, Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center in Kingston and the roof of the Adriance Memorial Library in Poughkeepsie, where the June 24 event was held.

The program came about after Kingston's Conservation Advisory Council asked Dueker where they could get data on air quality to identify the largest sources of local pollution. Due to the lack of sensors, there was no data.

Darren Riley, a computer scientist who co-founded JustAir, had run into the same problem. After moving to Detroit from Houston, where he grew up, Riley developed asthma. His new Michigan neighborhood was within one of the most polluted ZIP codes in the country, and many residents struggled with respiratory health issues even before the pandemic swept through.

Riley said that when the community asked local officials to address the air pollution, they kept hearing in response that there was no scientific data to prove that the neighborhood was polluted. He helped create JustAir to obtain it.

Along with the four sensors mentioned earlier, Bard has installed about a dozen air-quality monitors made by PurpleAir in the doorways of Hudson Valley libraries. "It's another way that libraries continue to be bastions of knowledge," said Dueker.

The data from those monitors is posted by PurpleAir online. There are only a few of the company's sensors in the Highlands, with a notable exception being the tent at Hudson Valley Shakespeare. But they come with challenges. They start at $275 each and are placed wherever someone feels like putting one up; Riley said that he's seen the sensors on back porches next to charcoal grills. And because PurpleAir owns the data, it could disappear if the company shuts down or is sold.

PurpleAir charges $500 in annual licensing fees per sensor to allow its data to be posted on a public website such as JustAir. That's a steep price, but over the past few months, the Trump administration has removed an enormous amount of public climate data. "There's no way the Environmental Protection Agency can be with you everywhere you go to make sure that you're safe and healthy," said Dueker. "The only folks who can do that are the people who live and breathe and work and drink water in the town or the city that you live in."

During the Poughkeepsie presentation, Riley displayed a map of the JustAir network in Detroit. The sensor readings were shown as brown, reflecting one of the worst possible ratings. "This is what we mean by environmental justice," he said. "For some people, the world is already on fire."

HVS goes to source of hit film shot in Garrison

During the Great Depression, Thornton Wilder wrote a play called The Merchant of Yonkers, which flopped. Revising it in the 1950s as The Matchmaker, it might also have passed as The Taming of the Scrooge, as miserly and miserable businessman Horace Vandergelder repents at the end.

This is the raw material that Broadway impresario David Merrick turned into the musical Hello, Dolly!, which debuted in 1964, won 10 Tony Awards and ran for 2,844 performances (The Matchmaker played 486 times on Broadway).

Though the story is set in Yonkers (and Manhattan), producers for the 1969 Hollywood version shot several scenes at Garrison's Landing in part because Vandergelder indicates that the train station is less than a minute from his house.

A yellowing window decoration created for the movie set is still preserved on the ground floor of a brick office building that served as an inn during the 1800s, when the play takes place.

The Matchmaker is a subversive screed against greed that critiques capitalism, champions adventure (mentioned 17 times) and calls for the redistribution of wealth: Money, says Nance Williamson, who portrays Dolly Levi in the ongoing Hudson Valley Shakespeare production, "is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow."

Letting emerging painter Ambrose Kemper (Blaize Adler-Ivanbrook) in on her plan to marry Vandergelder and free up the hoarder's lucre, she says that the value of cash is to trickle "like rainwater. It should be flowing down among the people."

The play also explores the toll that work takes on the toilers, unable to live a life with much leisure or pleasure. When Manhattan hat shop owner Irene Molloy (Helen Cespedes) loses herself dancing and imbibing at the fancy Harmonia Gardens restaurant, she says, "to think that this goes on in hundreds of places every night while I sit at home darning my stockings."

It's worse for Cornelius Hackl (Carl Howell), chief clerk at Vandergelder's hay, feed and provisions store, who awakens at 6 a.m. and closes shop at 9 p.m. He sleeps in the bran room and only gets Sundays off.

When Hackl, 33, asks for another evening to himself after getting an ersatz promotion, Vandergelder (Kurt Rhoads) tells his charge that he should get up earlier and close the shop at 10 p.m.: "If I'd had evenings free [as a young man], I wouldn't be what I am now!" he thunders, with irony.

The grueling work schedule hinders Hackl's personal life and he finds it difficult to speak with women in a social setting. In rebellion, he talks his apprentice Barnaby Tucker (Tyler Bey) into playing hooky and heading into Manhattan - vowing not to return until they've kissed a woman.

According to the script notes, "farces are notoriously tricky to stage." After spotting Vandergelder (who is visiting the city to propose to Molloy), they duck into her hat shop. Things get hairy when the wayward clerks are inevitably discovered.

As directed by Davis McCallum, HVS's artistic director, several scenes feature the stage and house filled with actors screaming, running amok and almost colliding with each other.

The book is peppered with witty jokes and pithy insights, but the main comedic thrust rests in the situations and shenanigans. As Miss Flora Van Huysen, upon whose townhouse everyone descends during the wee hours, Katie Hartke channels a humorous Nora Desmond from Sunset Boulevard.

Like The Comedy of Errors, the other offering at HVS through early August, The Matchmaker unfolds like a zany sitcom and concludes on a high note: Clerk Hackl finds a wife, the artist Kemper is approved to marry Vandergelder's niece and Dolly gets to spread the manure around. All's well that ends well.

Hudson Valley Shakespeare is located at 2015 Route 9 in Philipstown. Tickets are $10 to $100 at hvshakespeare.org or at the door. The Matchmaker runs on select evenings through Aug. 3.

Their comments range from angry to anguished, some typed in all caps and punctuated with exclamation points.

An 80-year-old retiree who said his charges from Central Hudson are outpacing last year's 2.5 percent increase in his Social Security check is among the 182 people submitting comments in response to the utility's latest request to increase the rates it charges to deliver electricity to homes and businesses.

A single mother who said she lived with two children in a 700-square-foot house while earning $1,400 a month bemoaned the surge in her monthly bill from $100 to more than $200. "If the rates keep going up, I will have to freeze to death together with my teenage sons," she wrote.

For the homeowners, renters and business owners who have been railing against Central Hudson's rising costs online and in public hearings before the state Public Service Commission, the frustration goes beyond the company's latest request to raise rates. Its pending three-year plan is lower than the company's original request but would still add $18 per month during that period to the average customer's bill.

Those customers, along with residents served by New York state's other utility companies, are paying the most in at least 25 years for electricity, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Utility bills statewide averaged 25 cents per kilowatt-hour in March, compared to 19 cents in March 2015. Nationwide, energy bills are forecast to continue rising through next year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

"It's unbearable for customers," said Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon and other areas served by Central Hudson. "We get complaints all the time about their costs and their service."

Extreme Weather Powers Demand

by Brian PJ Cronin

The spikes in energy bills come as Americans feel the increasing effects of climate change, including more frequent "heat dome" events like the Highlands experienced last week when temperatures reached into the high 90s.

Those events spur even greater electricity usage as residents crank up air conditioners and fans to sustain themselves.

Don't expect a trade-off from warmer winters, however. Climate change is also manipulating the polar jet stream, pulling colder air from Canada south in the winter. This past winter, those polar-vortex events allowed freezing temperatures to blanket the Highlands, adding higher heating bills to the higher cooling costs residents faced during the summer.

These bills aren't just a source of frustration and anxiety anymore. They're literally a matter of life and death. Between 1999 and 2023, 21,518 deaths recorded in the U.S. were attributed to heat as the underlying or a contributing factor, according to a study published in Aug. 2024 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The total number of deaths nationwide doubled from 1,069 in 1999 to 2,325 in 2023, according to the study. In New York state, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation in a report published in June 2024.

Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration fired the entire federal staff responsible for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps more than 6 million families avoid utility shut-offs. A representative from New York's Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance said that the state had already received its LIHEAP funding for the year, but next year is in doubt.

Part of this year's funding is going toward the state's Cooling Assistance Program, which will help approximately 18,000 households purchase either an air conditioner or a fan. The application window for the program is closed, but New Yorkers who suffer from asthma may still be eligible. See dub.sh/cooling-help for more information.

Customers face costs on two fronts: the rate utilities bill for electricity supply, whose prices f...

Low ridership, cost drive MTA decision

Commuter ferry service between Newburgh and Beacon will not return after being suspended since January, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said last week.

NY Waterway has operated the Beacon-to-Newburgh ferry under contract with the MTA since 2005, but the company in March announced that its weekday rush-hour service was discontinued indefinitely due to damage at the Beacon dock.

On June 23, Evan Zucarelli, the MTA's acting senior vice president of operations, said during a Metro-North committee meeting that the initial suspension of service was triggered by "typical river icing." However, subsequent assessments "revealed significant damage" to the floating ferry dock the MTA attaches to Beacon's pier, "requiring long-term solutions," he said.

After reviewing ridership, which had been "steadily declining" prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the $2.1 million annual cost of the service, the ferry will not return, Zucarelli said. An average of 62 riders used the ferry each day in 2024, down from "approaching 250" per day at its peak in 2008, said Andrew Buder, Metro-North's director of government and community relations. Ridership usually doubles over the summer, but last fall did not rebound to match its numbers from a year earlier, Buder said.

"Even with that, we don't see a drop in ridership on the [Metro-North] train correlating to the drop in ridership on the ferry," he said. "If those people are still using the train, they're just choosing to get there a different way."

Bus service costing $1.75 per ride will continue ferrying commuters between the two cities on weekday mornings and afternoons for the rest of the year, after which it will become free. The MTA has been working with New York State to expand the frequency and coverage area of the service, Zucarelli said. When pressed by an MTA board member, he said the agency would consider implementing free bus service before 2026.

Another factor in the decision, Zucarelli said, is that Beacon is "actively developing plans to activate its dock area for tourism," while in Newburgh, where the MTA had been using a temporary dock, city officials are preparing for similar growth in 2027 with the opening of the $14.3 million Newburgh Landing Pier.

The MTA's license to attach its ferry dock in Beacon expired June 30, and the agency notified the city that it did not intend to renew the agreement, City Administrator Chris White said.

Neal Zuckerman, a Philipstown resident who represents Putnam County on the MTA board, pushed back against the plans during the June 23 meeting. "It is counterintuitive to me that, at the same time you've mentioned that both Newburgh and Beacon are enhancing their waterfront, that we are finding that use of the waterfront is not valuable," he said.

Zuckerman said that what's happening on the Newburgh waterfront is "shockingly nice," while Beacon is a "TOD [transit-oriented development] dream, because it was once a moribund, empty area." Then, when Dia Beacon arrived in 2003, "it created an extraordinary resurgence" in a community that, because of the MTA, was "an easy one to get to."

Whether ferry service returns or not, restricted access to the dock has hindered the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, which would typically dock in Beacon for at least six weeks out of its April-to-November sailing season.

Clearwater has had to reschedule school sails aboard the sloop to depart from either Cold Spring or Poughkeepsie, while some fee-based sails for private groups and pay-what-you-can community sails, which draw about 45 people per outing, have been canceled, said David Toman, the organization's executive director.

"Our core - the idea of getting people out on the sloop, out on the water - provides a unique impact that you can't get otherwise," he said. "It is critically important to be in Beacon and be able to serve the community from that access point."

Steve Chanks, an art director who lives in Newburgh, often ...