Highlands Current Audio Stories

Many, but not all, in city favor proposal

Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou was the first elected official to speak when the state Department of Environmental Conservation held two virtual hearings last month on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the proposed Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail.

The hearings came after the state parks department's release in December of its 709-page review of Scenic Hudson's plans to construct a 7.5-mile linear park connecting Beacon and Cold Spring. Ninety people spoke during the hearings; written comments are being accepted until March 4.

Offering "enthusiastic, unqualified" support, Kyriacou's comments stood in contrast to the reception the project has received from some elected officials and residents in Cold Spring and Philipstown.

"There will be greater access, not only to the Hudson Highlands, but for the first time to large sections of the Hudson River that previously were inaccessible due to the railroad tracks," he said during the Jan. 14 hearing. "Along the Hudson will be flat trail sections, broadening access to those who cannot easily do mountain hikes - including seniors, persons with disabilities, cyclists, runners and those simply wanting less strenuous options."

In addition, he said, the north end of the trail, which would begin at Beacon's Long Dock Park - a former junkyard transformed over 15 years by Scenic Hudson - will link many open spaces: Dennings Point State Park, Madam Brett Park, Seeger Riverfront Park, the Klara Sauer Trail and the city's Fishkill Creek Greenway & Heritage Trail, which is being created in segments around Beacon's perimeter.

Then there's the biggest connection of all: If Dutchess County commits to constructing a trail along 13 miles of dormant railroad from Beacon to Hopewell Junction, the Fjord Trail would connect to the Dutchess Rail Trail, Walkway Over the Hudson and the 750-mile Empire State Trail.

Turn Lane Weighed for Dutchess Manor

Would serve cars at Fjord Trail center

A lane for vehicles turning left from northbound Route 9D into the former Dutchess Manor site is being analyzed as part of the proposal to remake the property as a visitors center for the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail.

In a memorandum submitted to the Fishkill Planning Board for its meeting on Feb. 13, planning consultant AKRF said anticipated traffic volumes during Saturday and Sunday midday and late-afternoon peak hours exceeded the threshold for a left-turn lane for drivers turning into the property.

Aaron Werner, AKRF's senior technical director, said during the meeting that HHFT has "started conversations" with the state Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Route 9D, while engineers for the project examine the feasibility of adding a lane.

Exceeding the threshold "does not automatically mean that turn lanes are required, as other factors, such as impacts to drainage or right-of-way constraints, should be considered," said AKRF.

HHFT's plans for the property include demolishing three additions to the original structure built between 1947 and 2007, restoring a slate roof and adding a parking area with 181 spaces, upstairs offices, bathrooms and an area where shuttles and buses can drop off and load visitors to the Fjord Trail.

While Fjord Trail opponents in Cold Spring have bristled at the number of tourists they say the project will bring to the village, Kyriacou said he welcomes more visitors to Beacon's mile-long Main Street. "The Fjord Trail helps Beacon far more than any ancillary problems that it may create, and that we will manage," he said.

The mayor has worn his support for HHFT for months, donning gear with the organization's logo during City Council meetings. Given the mixed reception the proposal has received elsewhere, he has suggested many times that construction in Beacon begin sooner rather than later.

Kyriacou isn't alone. In 2023, Dan Aymar-Blair and Justice McCray, both members at the time of Beacon's City Council, host...

State agencies work to combat spread

A month ago, avian influenza, or bird flu, was found in a commercial duck farm on Long Island, leading to the deaths of over 100,000 birds. The discovery, coming shortly after the disease was found in birds in Putnam County, led to fears of widespread outbreaks.

While the disease has continued to kill wild birds, the outbreak at the Crescent Duck Farm has so far been the only case of the disease at a large bird farm in New York. And in the weeks since the Putnam and Long Island cases were discovered, there's only been two others confirmed in smaller backyard flocks: one with 50 birds in Ulster County, and a flock of 15 ducks and geese near Syracuse.

H5N1 - the avian influenza strain being found in the U.S. - was also discovered during testing at live bird markets in New York City's outer boroughs earlier this month. Those markets were temporarily shut down by the state.

Elizabeth Wolters, a deputy commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, noted that farms routinely test for diseases such as avian influenza. In New York City, "we were able to get in, quarantine the market, shut it down, get it cleaned up."

It's not unexpected that bird flu has ramped up across the nation over the past few months, said Kevin Hynes, the wildlife health program leader for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Colder weather favors the transmission of the virus, much like it does for human influenza.

This is also the time of year when migratory waterfowl are moving through New York. With the country having lost half of its wetlands over the past 20 years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, migrating birds have less secluded places to land and end up resting closer to poultry farms and commercial flocks.

Waterfowl can be infected but not get sick, Hynes said. "They're flying around infected; they're shedding the virus through their saliva and their feces, and it goes into the water," he said. "Other birds are exposed to it that way, either other wild birds or domestic poultry that might be in your backyard or at a free-range poultry operation."

The disease's relatively low impact on local commercial poultry can be credited to the departments of Environmental Conservation, Agriculture and Health working together, said Wolters. There has been concern at the national level after the Trump administration fired officials who were working on bird flu and accusations that research about the disease has been withheld by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but Wolters said her contact with federal agencies has been smooth.

"We haven't seen any changes to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's response," she said. "To date, all the information on the detections continues to be posted on its website. It's the same with the genetic sequencing" the agency has been sharing with researchers.

As of Feb. 20, there have been no confirmed human cases of bird flu in New York, nor have any dairy cows been affected. There has been only one confirmed death, in Louisiana, and many people infected have responded well to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu. The symptoms of avian influenza are similar to those of seasonal influenza, although many people infected with avian influenza also get pink eye.

Another reason for cautious optimism: Although H5N1 has been detected in New York state in mammals such as bobcats, racoons, foxes and possums, it hasn't been detected in pigs. That's significant because pigs are genetically similar to humans, said Hynes. "Pigs can be infected with human seasonal influenza viruses," he said. "If they're already infected with that, and they get a new infection at the same time of avian influenza, that could change the viruses' genetic material, and you could end up with a new strain that could potentially be very virulent to people and spread to people in an airborne fashion."

As of now, avian influenza has not spread person-to-person. But every time ...

Eliza Street condominiums incomplete

A lender filed a lawsuit in Dutchess County court this month demanding repayment of nearly $4.63 million from the developer of an incomplete Beacon housing project.

The suit, filed Feb. 4 by Insula Capital Group, alleges that Qele "Charlie" Qelaj, who is listed in a state database as the registered agent of Eliza Street LLC, failed to repay loans of $747,000 and $3,881,950 to construct The Mews at Beacon, a nine-unit condominium development at 53 Eliza St.

The project, which was approved by the Beacon Planning Board in 2019, would have loft-like condos in three buildings around a landscaped courtyard. A representative for the developer said in 2023 that construction was 70 percent complete and Qelaj was getting new financing. Last year the representative said Qelaj had approached a new lender.

Insula said in its complaint that Qelaj requested three extensions on the $747,000 loan, which was taken out in 2021. According to the legal filing, in 2022 Qelaj consolidated two other loans totaling $3.9 million.

In January 2023, the Zoning Board of Appeals granted the project a one-year extension of a variance to construct multi-family units in an area zoned for single-family homes. It also provided an extension on a variance to construct nine units on a parcel that was allowed only six. At that time, the project's attorney wrote in materials submitted to the ZBA that the three buildings had been constructed and would be "completely finished" within 10 months, notwithstanding complications presented by the pandemic.

Insula asked the court to force the sale of the development to pay the debts, plus interest and fees.

416-420 Main St.

The City Council on Tuesday (Feb. 18) approved a second six-month extension of the special-use permit approved in 2021 for the four-story building at 416-420 Main St.

The project merged two lots and will include retail on the ground floor, office space on the second and third and a single apartment on a recessed fourth floor, as well as an outdoor plaza open to the public. Construction had been delayed by "long lead times required to finish interior spaces," according to a memo from the city attorney, but is expected to be complete within six months.

When internet scammers targeted Priscilla Goldfarb last month, she was horribly jet-lagged after traveling 22 hours to meet her son. The 81-year-old Cold Spring resident was in a hotel room in Singapore, getting ready for bed when she checked her phone.

"I had a message from my bank asking me to verify a transaction that I had made on PayPal," she said. "There was an intimation that there could be fraud. They wanted to make sure it was a valid transaction. I absolutely considered clicking on the link. I was halfway around the world. Who knew what could happen?"

But Goldfarb hesitated. "I know that I am more likely to be subjected to scam attempts because of my age," she said.

Rather than click on the email link, she called the customer service number listed on the back of her credit card. "They told me they had not sent me any fraud alerts," said Goldfarb.

Goldfarb was one of about 20 seniors who attended a presentation held Feb. 13 at the Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison on avoiding scams and identity theft. The program was organized by Philipstown Aging at Home and led by Ryan Biracree, the digital services librarian.

I attended at the insistence of my wife, who tells our children that I'm vulnerable to scams because I once responded to a robocall claiming to alert me to a problem with my Amazon account. I spoke with a lovely woman with a foreign accent for 10 minutes before my wife said, "Who are you talking to?" and made me hang up. For the record, I did not share any personal information.

"You may think that you're too smart to fall for something," Goldfarb told me. "But anybody can fall for something. It's that sense of urgency [the scammer creates], that you could be in jeopardy."

Protect Yourself

• Scammers often pretend to be from an organization you know, like the IRS, Amazon, Medicare or your local utility. They create a sense of urgency and demand payment. If you get this kind of call, hang up and call the organization directly.

• Scammers claim there is an urgent problem, such as a family member with an emergency. Don't act immediately. Tell them that you'll call them back. Or ask them a question that only the family member would know.

• Scammers claim you have a computer virus. Hang up on anyone you don't know. If you get a popup warning on your screen, don't call the number.

• Scammers say you won a prize but you have to pay a fee to collect.

• Scammers will pressure you to act immediately. Resist.

• Scammers tell you to pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer, a payment app or gift cards.

• Block unwanted calls and text messages.

• Don't use customer-service numbers you found through a Google search. Start by visiting the merchant's website.

• Don't give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn't expect.

• If you get an email or text message from a company you do business with and you think it's real, it's still prudent not to click on any links. Instead, contact them using a website you know is trustworthy.

• Before acting, talk to someone you trust.

Source: Federal Trade Commission

Online scams are a growing business. In 2023, they cost U.S. residents an estimated $12.5 billion, almost four times the losses in 2019, according to FBI data. That's a conservative estimate because only 20 percent of cybercrime is reported. New York ranks fourth in losses, with over $700 million. Californians lost three times that.

The scams vary. There are phishing emails or robocalls that claim to be from your bank, Amazon, your health insurer, the IRS or the Social Security Administration, where scammers ask for personal information to help clear up a "problem with your account." There are also phony job offers, phony investment opportunities, romance scams where suitors seek your money and phony medical cures for everything from erectile dysfunction to poor eyesight.

There are computer security scams: You get an email or call allegedly from Apple or Google telling you that you n...

Concerns include community character, funding

The Cold Spring Village Board on Wednesday (Feb. 19) received a report from a consultant it hired to examine how the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the Hudson Highland Fjord Trail addresses potential impacts on the village.

Ted Fink of Greenplan, who attended via Zoom, reviewed his 42-page analysis with the board and went over what he considers shortcomings, including:

New York State Parks, the lead agency for the DGEIS, chose the generic approach to assessing the Fjord Trail, rather than a Site-Specific Environmental Impact Statement. A more detailed analysis may be required in certain areas, such as the proposed route from Dockside to Little Stony Point, he said. "The Little Stony Point to Dockside stretch is a perfect place for a site-specific deep dive," Mayor Kathleen Foley said in response. "Drill down at a level of specificity that the village, our waterfront and our community deserve. Once you build in the river, there's no going back."

The assessment of HHFT's impact on village character is inadequate, Fink said. The DGEIS relies on a consultant's assessment of regional impacts rather than Cold Spring's vision of itself. State courts have stated that defining community character is the municipality's prerogative, he said.

The relevance of Cold Spring's Comprehensive Plan, Local Waterfront Revitalization Strategy and local zoning law assessments is not adequately considered, said Fink. DGEIS statements of "no impacts" are not substantiated and the assessment of zoning laws fails to address impacts on residential areas, he said.

New revenues are needed to offset village HHFT-related expenses, he said, despite the DGEIS conclusion that HHFT will have no impact on community services funded by the village. Details regarding a required HHFT endowment have not been made available for public review as part of the review process, he said.

The report understates HHFT's potential impact on emergency services, he said. Village police and other first responders have expressed concern in particular about Dockside Park, which has only one road in and out.

Fink was asked to condense his findings and provide an executive summary that highlights the major concerns. The board will review the update at its Wednesday (Feb. 26) meeting.

In other business …

After closing a public hearing, the board granted a 10 percent property-tax exemption to volunteer first responders with two years of service. Putnam County, Philipstown, Nelsonville and the Haldane and Garrison school districts have enacted similar legislation.

Democrats endorse newcomers for seats

Four of the seven members of the Beacon City Council will not seek re-election in November, and the Beacon Democratic Committee has endorsed four newcomers to fill the seats.

Jeff Domanski (Ward 2) and Pam Wetherbee (Ward 3) will not seek re-election; Molly Rhodes (Ward 1) is leaving to run for the Dutchess County Legislature; and George Mansfield (Ward 4), appointed in January to fill a vacancy, is not running to keep the seat.

The Democrats have endorsed Lastar Gorton (Ward 1), Zach Smith (Ward 2), Sergei Krasikov (Ward 3) and Carolyn Glauda (Ward 4), as well as incumbents Amber Grant and Paloma Wake for the two at-large seats.

The Democrats also endorsed Yvette Valdés Smith for District 16 on the Legislature, which includes Ward 4 in Beacon and parts of Fishkill, and Rhodes for District 18, which includes Wards 1 to 3. The latter is held by Nick Page, who will not seek a fifth term.

For the past two elections, Democratic candidates for the City Council have run unopposed.

Gorton is a life coach and author who was grand marshal of the 2024 Spirit of Beacon Day parade; Smith is a data scientist who serves on the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail Visitation Data Committee; Krasikov chairs the city Conservation Advisory Committee and co-chairs the Fishkill Creek Watershed Alliance; and Glauda is programs and outreach manager for the Southeastern New York Library Resources Council and a member of the city's Traffic Safety Committee.

In an email, Mansfield, who previously served seven terms before returning to the council this year, said Thursday that "there were so many good, qualified people stepping up to run that I decided these new voices and perspectives would serve the city well."

The Democrats also endorsed Dan Aymar-Blair, a former council member who was elected in November as Dutchess County comptroller. He is serving the final year of a four-year term held by Robin Lois, who resigned to take a state job, and will run in November for a full term. He may face Will Truitt, the Republican chair of the Legislature, who filed to run for the position.

The news has been overwhelming this past month. Much of it you've already forgotten. But I bet most of you will not be able to forget about the plastic spoon in your brain.

Earlier this month, a team of researchers led by scientists at the University of New Mexico published a paper about the apparently increasing amount of microplastics being found in the human body, particularly in the brain. The researchers found that brains from people who died in 2024 contained about 50 percent more microplastics than brains from 2016. The age of the deceased didn't matter.

How much plastic? The 2024 brains averaged around 7 grams, or about the same weight as a plastic spoon. Some caveats: The researchers only studied 52 brains, and while that might seem like a lot of brains, it's relatively few for a scientific study. Also, all 52 brains came from New Mexico. Perhaps New York brains have fewer microplastics, although it seems more likely we have more.

The situation in New York was already pretty bad when I wrote about it for The Current in 2019. But as Shannon Roback of Riverkeeper pointed out, it's hard to say if it's getting worse without more data. Microplastics in the Hudson River have been measured over the years, but never consistently and never in the same places.

That could soon change. Later this year, Riverkeeper will roll out a more robust version of its public monitoring program at more than 200 locations in the river and its tributaries. The organization already tests regularly at over 100 locations for fecal bacteria, temperature, salinity and chlorophyll. The new system will allow it to sample phosphorus and nitrate, as well, and although Riverkeeper itself doesn't have the capacity to test for microplastics, Roback is hoping that the system can be used by state and federal agencies that do.

California is in the process of setting limits on how much microplastics are allowed in drinking water. To calculate those limits, scientists are trying to determine what microplastics do to us. It's known that plastics act as endocrine disruptors, which affect the body's hormonal and reproductive systems. Low sperm count has been linked to microplastics because - I'm so sorry to tell you this so soon after telling you about the plastic spoon - they're in testicles, as well.

Until we have more data on which plastics in our daily lives are making their way to our brains and nether regions, it's hard to know what actions could be most beneficial. Roback said that while municipal water systems filter out most microplastics, using a charcoal-activated filter at home, such as a Brita pitcher, might add an additional layer of defense.

In the meantime, the surest way to reduce the plastics getting into us is to reduce the plastics being made. One bill floating around Albany, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, would require companies to lower the amount of single-use plastic packaging by 50 percent over the next 12 years, ban the use of 15 so-called "forever chemicals" used to create them and make companies responsible for the costs of disposing of what can't be recycled.

When I spoke to state Sen. Pete Harckham about the bill last year, he was optimistic that it had been revised enough in previous sessions to make it to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk. Although the bill did pass in the Senate, 37-24 (Sen. Rob Rolison, whose district includes the Highlands, voted no), it got lost in the chaotic shuffle of the session's final days when Hochul announced a last-minute pause on congestion pricing.

But momentum appears to be growing. New Jersey has announced its own version of the bill. If both New Jersey and New York pass plastic-reduction legislation in 2025, it could spur national changes. According to Jeremy Cherson of Riverkeeper, the fact that the bill has been kicking around the New York Legislature for years has given global companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi more time to water it down through lobbying and political dona...

Beacon artist depicts Earth under siege

Zac Skinner walks the talk. Concerned about environmental degradation, he takes his young sons to remove trash along the banks of the Hudson River and donates a portion of his art sales to the nonprofit Earthjustice.

No surprise then, that his symbolic paintings are saturated with stark reminders that the Earth is under siege. In two of them, oil pipelines guide the eye. In "Pop-up Farm with Vortex," a maelstrom threatens a ziggurat.

"I'm going for post-industrial landscape," Skinner says. "They can be dark, but I intend them to be a hopeful dark."

Skinner, 43, is one of three artists featured in a group show, Home is Where the Heart Is, on display at the Garrison Art Center through March 9. He will also participate in an artist talk with Amy Cheng, Erik Schoonebeck and Greg Slick at the art center at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 22).

A practicing Buddhist whose work reflects his travels in Asia, Skinner enjoys camping and many of his pictures depict structures in the wilderness, like a pyramid, temple, monastery or wooden meditation hut.

"For the smaller ones, I like to feature a prominent entryway to make them more inviting and inhabitable," he says. "They provide a sense of hope and a safe space as shelter from the storm."

Hailing from the Syracuse area, Skinner earned an MFA from The School at the Art Institute of Chicago. Since moving to Beacon in 2014, he's used the area as a launch pad to show works in Texas, California and Korea.

In addition to exhibiting in group shows at Kube Art Center and the former Theo Ganz Studio, he has mounted solo shows at the BAU Gallery and the now-closed Matteawan Gallery, all in Beacon, as well as the Garrison Art Center.

A solo show at No. 3 Reading Room in Beacon led to a limited-edition book, Atlas Trap, published by Traffic Street Press. Owner Paulette Myers-Rich paired Skinner's relief prints of endangered species with poetry by Greg Delanty in a 40-copy print run.

As a painter, Skinner works with many media, including tempera, egg-based paints used widely until the Renaissance. Some of the bleaker works are created with special charcoal, like "Cliff Shelter No. 1 with Storm Clouds," on view at Garrison Art Center.

"Abandoned Hut by Dried Steam Bed"

"Atmosphere Bubble and Ruins in a Dead Landscape"

"Cliff Dwellers with Aloe Vera Garden"

"Cliff Shelter No. 1 with Storm Clouds"

"Pop-up Farm with Vortex"

"Survival Camp with Water Collector, Kale and Oil Pipeline"

His approach also hops around. "The alchemist in me likes to experiment with materials and depictions," he says. "I don't have a style, really, I just keep inventing my way through the images."

Some pieces feature charred landscapes, barren trees and lots of stumps. Clouds are often ominous. The ones gathering in "Abandoned Hut by Dried Stream Edge" (on view in Garrison) and "Survival Camp with Water Collectors, Kale and Oil Pipeline," evoke Van Gogh's swirling brush style.

The large dabs that make up the majestic purple mountains in "Atmosphere Bubble and Ruins in a Dead Landscape," which hangs in his studio at Kube, also channel the Dutch master. The painting's pillars could represent Stonehenge or the detritus of an abandoned highway overpass.

"The goal with the overt message is to prevent indifference over time," he says. "I am compelled to represent myself, and my convictions, to inspire inner strength."

The Garrison Art Center, at 23 Garrison's Landing, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Monday.

He just wants to work on the drums all day

To commemorate four centuries in business, the Zildjian cymbal company commissioned Aaron Latos to build 400 snare drums from the same alloy that goes into their rides, crashes and high hats - staple elements of a jazz or rock drum set.

Recipients include Sheila E., drummer's drummer Steve Gadd (Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover") and tatted celebrity Travis Barker of Blink 182 (who survived a plane crash and dated Kim Kardashian).

The anniversary passed in 2023 and Latos, who moved last year to Beacon with his wife and two young children, is 10 units shy of fulfilling the order. In the meantime, he's trying to perfect the manufacturing process for his own line of snares, tom-toms and bass drums crafted from nickel silver, which he assembles nearly from scratch in his Newburgh shop. Only the washers and tension rods clamping down the hoops that tune and tighten the drumheads are machined off-premises.

By year's end, he plans to move the lathes, drills and rollers to a space in Beacon double the size of his current spot.

Latos, 36, hails from West Virginia and made a living drumming in recording sessions and touring with country singer Margo Price. He performs around town with the Stephen Clair Band and takes on select students and studio projects.

Drummers are notoriously picky about their gear and setup. Drum and cymbal angles must hit every time. Some prefer wood over metal snares. Others argue over tuning techniques. Every cymbal sounds different and comes in myriad shapes and sizes.

Latos is so detail-oriented that he patented a snare drum throw-off system, the mechanism that lifts and holds down the coiled snare wires that add snap to the two and four beat of nearly every pop and rock song. His patent for the butt plate, which anchors the snares, is pending.

"I'd have more patents, but they're expensive," he says.

As far as he knows, Latos is the first to make nickel steel drums. He digs the sound, but the manufacturing process is like wrestling an alligator and presents "the most annoying and frustrating fabrication characteristics" that are "difficult to cut and work."

The raw material arrives in long, flat sheets, like the plies of wood used in most drums. Labor consists of rolling, shearing and brazing them together. His loud, hefty snare drums pay homage to models used by big band jazz drummers in the 1920s and '30s designed to cut through 17-piece outfits in the days before specialized microphones.

Weighty shells for his floor and rack toms are capped by silvery stainless steel and solid brass copper-colored hoops. Bass drums come with brown wood hoops. The end results are so striking that each piece looks like a sculpture.

A basic snare costs $2,000 and a full drum kit starts at $10,000. Customers range from doctors and lawyers to pros, including Bob Meyer, a jazz cat and early adopter, Jeremiah Green of Modest Mouse (who died in 2023) and Harvey Sorgen, who has played with Hot Tuna, Derek Trucks and Paul Simon.

Latos' workshop is relatively tidy, although gold and silver shavings litter the floor, including the rug in the cozy corner with a couch, turntable and pile of vinyl records capped by Mel Torme, Chuck Mangione and Haitian group Bossa Combo discs.

"Every 22 minutes or so, I come over and flip the record," he says. "It helps me focus on what I am doing and what I should be doing."

Latos Drums is located at 11 Spring St. in Newburgh and at latosdrums.com.

Prentice, Maasik announce campaigns

Nat Prentice and John Maasik announced last week that they plan to campaign for two open seats on the Philipstown Town Board.

The Philipstown Democratic Committee last month endorsed two other candidates, Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch. The seats are held by Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, who are not running for second terms.

Prentice and Maasik are both Democrats. If at least three candidates gather the signatures needed to appear on the ballot, a primary will be held in June.

Following a career as an investment manager in New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia, Prentice in 1999 purchased the Garrison home where he grew up. He is a commissioner for the Garrison Fire District, president of the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce and the Putnam County Business Council and a board member for Stonecrop Gardens and Paramount Hudson Valley Arts. In 2018, he served as chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee.

Maasik, a marketing executive, has served on the Philipstown Recreation Commission since 2012 and as a board member for Friends of Philipstown Recreation since 2014. A 20-year resident, he also volunteered for Scouting America and the Philipstown Soccer Club.