Kingston Housing Smart Task Force Applications Open

Midtown Parking Lots Green Infrastructure Project Completed

Mayor Noble's Tuesday Radio Show

NYSERDA Grant to Make City Buildings Fossil Fuel-free

New Year's Eve Concert

Two Kingston Projects Awarded NY Restore Grants

New Kingston Hospital at 105 Mary's Avenue

Mayor's Message:

Dear Friends -

While I wish everyone a happy holidays, I do want all to be aware of the potential for a tidal flooding event tomorrow, which is expected to impact businesses and residences near the Hudson River and Rondout Creek areas. Road closures in these areas may be necessary due to flooding.

At this point, the water level rise is predicted to begin at around 6:00am on Friday, and is expected to rise above flood stage by 12:00pm.

In addition to the possibility of tidal flooding, the National Weather Service is forecasting that Ulster County, will be impacted by a major multi-hazard storm with snow, heavy rain leading to flash freezing, and high winds. Wind speeds may be 35-55mph across Ulster County. The multi-hazard storm has the potential to cause power outages, flying debris and/or loose objects, and hazardous travel conditions.

Please use caution when traveling in the next few days!

-Steve

Kingston Housing Smart Task Force Seeks Applicants

The City of Kingston joined the Ulster County Housing Smart Communities Initiative in November 2022.

The Housing Smart Communities program provides guidance, technical support, and incentives for local municipalities working to address housing and affordability challenges and encourages municipalities to follow twelve “Housing Smart Actions,” which include establishing a housing community outreach campaign, creating a municipal housing action plan, and implementing other innovative housing solutions.

Kingston’s Office of Housing Initiatives is seeking members to join a Housing Smart Community Task Force to guide and support the implementation of all or some of the Housing Smart Actions. Per the City of Kingston’s commitment in its Comprehensive Plan, the City is committed to developing all levels of housing. Individuals from the public, non-profit and private sector are encouraged to apply. Task force members should live or work in the City of Kingston and should have a background or interest in housing issues.

The task force is expected to meet quarterly at City Hall, with the first meeting held in early 2023. The term for the Housing Smart Community Task Force is two years. The application deadline is January 15, 2023.

The Kingston Housing Smart Task Force application can be found at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/kingstonhousingtaskforce

Midtown Parking Lots Project Completed

The Midtown Parking Lots Green Infrastructure Project is substantially complete. Tree plantings and final landscaping will be completed in the spring.

The project included reconstructing three public parking lots using green stormwater infrastructure: the Cornell Street parking lot, the Prince Street lot (by Monkey Joe) and the lot at 658 Broadway (by the former Sea Deli).

Green infrastructure practices, like the use of bioswales and porous pavement, prevent untreated stormwater from entering closed drainage systems. By integrating green infrastructure into parking lots and along sidewalks, stormwater can be filtered before the water enters rivers and streams.

The Cornell Street lot has a new configuration, which connects Fashion Lane directly to Railroad Avenue. In addition, Thomas Street and Saccoman Lane are now one-ways to provide for better traffic circulation.

“This project supports our efforts to help protect the waters of the Rondout Creek and Hudson River by incorporating green practices into new construction projects, while also meeting the need for parking in the heart of the Midtown business district,” said Mayor Noble. “These lots were in varying degrees of disrepair, and now are not only improved with green infrastructure, are newly paved, striped and beautifully landscaped. We are continuing to invest in the Midtown neighborhood, and encourage residents and visitors to use these newly designed parking lots to shop and dine in Midtown Kingston.”

 

Funding for the project came from the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC)’s Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP).

More information at https://engagekingston.com/midtown-parking-lots. 

Mayor Noble's Tuesday Radio Show

Mayor Noble hosts a weekly radio show on Tuesdays at 5:00pm which airs live on Radio Kingston and the City of Kingston Facebook page.

Last week, Mayor Noble spoke with the City of Kingston's Parking Supervisor Vincent Perry about holiday parking, Snow Emergency rules, and more.

NYSERDA Grant for Fossil Fuel-free City Buildings

The City of Kingston has received $1.8 million in grant funding from NYSERDA’s Carbon Neutral Community Economic Development program to convert City Hall and the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center (AMNC) into fossil fuel-free buildings.

The funding will allow the two historic buildings to become clean energy hubs and achieve carbon neutrality by using solar, heat pumps, and a thermal energy network. The funding will allow for more solar power and EV charging on-site, and the installation of stormwater and thermal infrastructure. Once completed, there will be no systems using fossil fuels, and both buildings will have highly efficient envelopes. The upgrades to City Hall and the AMNC will also improve their resiliency from climate impacts such as heat waves, severe storms, flooding, and power outages.

“This grant is one of the largest the City of Kingston has received and will be the largest influx of funding to make our historic City Hall and Midtown Center less polluting, more resilient, and become some of the first municipal buildings in New York State to get off of fossil fuels by decarbonizing the energy sources,” said Mayor Noble. “I am extremely proud of the work our staff have done to create a more sustainable city government. This grant from NYSERDA is a huge step forward for us and will allow us to demonstrate that even historic buildings in our historic city can go green. I want to thank Governor Hochul and NYSERDA for their continued support of Kingston and I want to also thank Julie Noble, the City’s Sustainability Coordinator for implementing our City’s vision for a better future for the next generation of Kingstonians.”

 

The total project cost is expected to be approximately $3,259,000. The City of Kingston will seek additional funding opportunities. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2025.

New Year's Eve Concert Event

The City of Kingston, in collaboration with Ars Choralis and Old Dutch Church, will co-host a special New Year’s Eve event at Old Dutch Church.

Forward Together, a classical chorale concert performance based on Langston Hughes's poem, Let America Be America Again, is the culminating event of the 150th Anniversary of the City of Kingston celebrations. The event is free, open to the public, and appropriate for all ages.

More information about the Forward Together event can be found here.

In addition to the concert event, Mariner’s Harbor is sponsoring a midnight ball drop in T.R. Gallo Park, which will be open to the public.  

Two Kingston Projects Receive NY Restore Grants

Two redevelopment projects in the City of Kingston have received Restore New York Communities Initiative grants for a total of $2,340,000.

This week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced more than $102 million awarded to 64 projects throughout New York through the Restore New York initiative, which supports municipal revitalization efforts, helping to remove blight, reinvigorate downtowns, and generate economic opportunity. The program, administered by Empire State Development, is designed to help local governments revitalize their communities and encourage commercial investment, improve the local housing stock, put properties back on the tax rolls, and increase the local tax base.

The City of Kingston-based projects awarded Restore New York grants were:

The Center for Photography at Woodstock ($1.5 million): The Center for Photography at Woodstock will adaptively reuse and rehabilitate a 40,000 square foot former cigar factory to allow the organization to relocate from a much smaller space on Broadway in Kingston and expand its growing arts and cultural programs in Midtown Kingston.

The Barrel Factory Lofts Project ($840,000): The Barrel Factory Lofts project is an adaptive reuse of a 120-year-old warehouse originally used as a Barrel Factory in Midtown Kingston that has been vacant for 15 years. The 18,000 square foot building will be redeveloped into a mix of live-work spaces for artists, commercial flex spaces, and amenities spaces.

CPW on Broadway

New Kingston Hospital at 105 Mary's Avenue

As of Wednesday, December 14, 2022, the Kingston hospital on Broadway is closed and the new HealthAlliance hospital is open at 105 Mary’s Avenue.

The new HealthAlliance hospital is a state-of-the-art, two-story, 79,000 sq ft. facility that was funded with $88.8 million from the New York State Capital Restructuring Financing Program. With this over $100 million investment into accessible healthcare right here in heart of our city, this hospital relocation fits with our overall vision for improving the daily health and wellness of all our residents in the City of Kingston. We are a growing community, and this hospital expansion meets the needs of our residents. 

My role as Mayor is to ensure that our residents have the services they need to live a vibrant, healthy life and that is not possible without a well-funded, well-staffed hospital system. I am hopeful that WMC Health will be good partners in this effort.

I want to thank Governor Hochul, WMC Health, and our community for rallying behind this investment in local healthcare. I want to thank the dedicated healthcare workers who serve our residents each and every day, and who are working to make this move seamless. I look forward to opening this next chapter of healthcare here in Kingston. 

To hear more about the move and new facility, listen to Mayor Noble's conversation with Dr. Doyle, Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer of HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, on Radio Kingston here.