Mayor's Message

City of Kingston Opens Restore NY Grant Application Ideas

Rondout Neighborhood Center Black History Week Honorees

Kingston & Sokyryany, Ukraine Sign Sister City Agreement

Kingston Eats! Campaign Returns

City of Kingston Job Opportunities

Mayor's Message:

Dear Friends -

A friendly reminder about a survey from the City of Kingston’s Department of Housing Initiatives in partnership with Family of Woodstock, HomeShare Woodstock, and the Kingston Housing Task Force, to gauge public interest for a home share program in Kingston.



Family of Woodstock created a home sharing program, HomeShare Woodstock, and is looking at the potential to expand the program into Kingston. A public interest survey, which can be found here, will be open until March 8, 2024.

-Steve

City of Kingston Opens Application for Restore NY Grants

The Office of Grants Management is gathering proposals for possible submission to the Empire State Development (ESD) Restore NY grant program and as required by ESD, will submit the two strongest concepts in an initial Intent to Apply pre-screening phase.

The Restore NY grant program provides municipalities with financial assistance for the revitalization of commercial and residential properties for projects involving the demolition, deconstruction, rehabilitation and/or reconstruction of vacant, abandoned, condemned and surplus properties.

Once submitted by the City of Kingston, applications are scored against specific ESD guidelines and how strongly they meet the program goals to encourage commercial investment and improve the local housing stock. Priority will be given to projects in Empire Zones and Brownfield Opportunity Areas and those that leverage other state or federal redevelopment, remediation, or planning programs. Priority will be given to projects from economically distressed communities. A minimum 10% match from the organization is required. Before submitting a potential project to the City, interested candidates should familiarize themselves with the program guidelines posted on the ESD website.

Interested organizations should complete the City's short project form by 12:00 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2024:

Past Restore NY Grant awards include $1.15 million to support the St. Joseph’s Lofts project in Uptown Kingston, an adaptive reuse project to a former schoolhouse into three floors of office space and an event center. In 2022, $1.5 million was awarded for The Center for Photography at Woodstock to adaptively reuse and rehabilitate the 40,000 sf former cigar factory in Midtown Kingston, and $840,000 for the Barrel Factory Lofts Project, an adaptive reuse of a 120-year-old warehouse in Midtown into a mix of live-work spaces for artists, commercial flex spaces, and amenities spaces. In 2017, a Restore New York grant assisted with the cost of demolition of the former Mid-City Lanes bowling alley at 20 Cedar Street, the now-home of RUPCO’s Energy Square, a mixed-use residential, commercial, and nonprofit space.

Cigar factory builing, future home of the Center for Photography at Woodstock, in Midtown Kingston

Rondout Center Black History Week Honorees

This week, the Kingston Parks & Recreation Department hosted its annual Black History Week at the Rondout Neighborhood Center.

On Tuesday, at the Soul Food Night and celebration of Black Entrepreneurs, local business owners A.C. Martin of 1 N Only Cakes/Di Sweet Spot, Jalani Lion of Dark Arts Tattoo, and Chone Johnson of Caring Connectors were honored. Congratulations to the awardees, and thank you for your leadership in the community!

Rec Commissioner with honorees A.C.Martin, Jalami Lion and Chone Johnson

Kingston & Sokyryany, Ukraine Sign Sister City Agreement

This week, Mayor Noble met virtually with Mayor Vasyl Kozak from Sokyryany, Ukraine to sign a partnership agreement, officially making Sokyryany and Kingston sister cities. With this pact, Sokyryany and Kingston pledge to work toward mutually beneficial exchanges that will strengthen our culture, society, and economies and, as partners, will make every effort to promote peace and international understanding. Sokyryany currently has 1,700 of its citizens fighting the war against Russia, and has lost 97 lives in the war effort to date. The City of Kingston stands ready to assist and support Sokyryany in its war recovery and future endeavors.

Thank you to Mayor Vasyl Kozak and his team, the translators for today’s meeting, engaged resident Tim Distel for facilitating, and the Kingston Common Council for passing the resolution. We are honored to call Sokyryany our sister city!

Kingston Eats Campaign Returns

The City of Kingston's Department of Health & Wellness is relaunching Kingston Eats this March, which features a vegetable and a fruit of the month. March's veggie and fruit are: cabbage and mangos!

Kingston Eats includes events such as gardening, tastings at community organizations and restaurants throughout Kingston, pop-ups at the Kingston Farmers Market, and partnerships with the Kingston City School District.

Join one of four upcoming free community cooking workshops. The first cooking workshop is for kids and families on March 19 at the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center.

For more information, visit http://livewellkingston.org/kingston-eats/.

City of Kingston Job & Board Opportunities

The Kingston Parks and Recreation Department is now accepting applications for a number of seasonal positions:

• Summer Camp Counselor
• Summer Camp Director
• Tennis Instructor
• Pool Attendant
• Lifeguard
• Park Ranger
• Seasonal Laborer
• Recreation Assistant

Pay rates range from approximately $15-$24/hour based on the position, applicant education background and prior experience. For

detailed listings of each position, and to download the seasonal staff

application, please visit https://kingston-ny.gov/recvacancies.

Upcoming Civil Service Exams include:

Project Manager on April 13, 2024

Current job openings include:

Building Inspector

Senior Building Inspector

Motor Equipment Mechanic 

More information available at https://kingston-ny.gov/employment.

The City of Kingston has over 25 boards & commissions, and we're always looking for volunteers to serve the community.

Currently there are openings on:

• Zoning Board of Appeals
• Kingston Housing Authority
• Complete Streets Advisory Council
• Conservation Advisory Council

Application at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KingstonBoards.

The City of Kingston is also seeking residents to serve on Kingston’s Rent Guidelines Board.

On July 28, 2022, the City of Kingston declared a housing emergency and formally opted into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), and in doing so, is required to maintain a Rent Guidelines Board. The Rent Guidelines Board is made up of two tenant representatives, two property owner representatives, and five members of the public. There is currently one vacancy for a member of the public​​.

The Rent Guidelines Board meets annually and as needed to set guidelines for rent adjustments. The Division of Housing and Community Renewal assists the Board in making its annual determination.

Applicants must have at least five years of experience in finance, economics, or housing. Board members must be residents of the City of Kingston. For more information on the eligibility requirements for the Board, click here. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 8, 2024.

The application is at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/rentguidelinesboard.

The Kingston 311 app, website, and phone system allow residents to quickly and easily report issues and submit service requests.

The Kingston 311 app, available for Android & iPhones, is a fast and simple way to connect to City officials in non-emergency situations. Photos can be attached to illustrate service orders.



This system is a valuable resource to submit municipal service requests. Examples include:

• Streetlight replacement
• City signage, including overgrowth blocking traffic signs
• Snow removal, reporting parking violations, and other snow-related issues
• Parks & playground repairs
• Report graffiti or vandalism
• Trail issues

Dial 311 from any phone within City limits to reach us, use the app or visit www.kingston-ny.gov/311/