Kingston Citizens

They say that things move in seven year cycles. Although the blog has been in existence since 2007,  KingstonCitizens.org has been at it now for just about that long.

…and so,  it is time now to move along. To pass the baton and to witness future new and exciting citizen initiatives in the city of Kingston.

It’s been a full, rich experience with so much to be grateful for. I leave you with this blog, filled with wonderful writings by citizens since 2007.   The Ward Yahoo! Groups will remain open for citizens to participate and to encourage ward-centric dialogue throughout the city with their elected Alderman.

A very special thanks to all of the citizens who lent a hand, had a innovative idea or shared their personal vision for the city of Kingston.

Below are some of KC.org’s “Best of”  accomplishments. Enjoy, and keep the fire burning Kingston citizens.

Rebecca Martin

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Ward 9 Community Meetings
Where it all began.  With a  public meeting to collect petition signatures asking the Citgo Station on Broadway and W. Chester Street to stop  selling dangerous knives  to minors in Ward 9,  a monthly meeting on a relevant topic in the city of Kingston was organized for over a year.  With experts as special guests, residents learned about Mandatory Leaf Bagging, GAR Associates and the reval, Comprehensive Planning and much, much more. Many great resident ideas became programs and even businesses, including the current Organic Buying Club organized by Jennifer McKinley-Rakov.

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PlanKingston.org
PlanKingston.org was a website completely dedicated to encouraging a comprehensive plan in the city of Kingston. Established in 2009, this citizen initiative created “Kingston2020”  (get it?) that led to the City of Kingston applying for $50,000 from the CDBG for monies to go toward a consultant and some visioning.  Low and behold, they won for a Comprehensive Plan back then. Through the grapevine, though – we heard that our planning department learned that the funds were now not available to be used for a CP (I have never quite understood how a grant application could be submitted, won, awarded then taken back on grounds that the idea didn’t qualify. Kind of strange, right?). Instead, they had decided to use the grant award twoard hiring what was to be an “Uptown Manager”.  Business districts in the Midtown and Downtown area were unhappy to not be included – and eventually, the idea expanded to include all three business districts. The city applied for an additional $50,000 to create the “Main Street Manager” position filled by Nancy Donskoj.

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Ward 9 Is Mine!  Visioning on Broadway
Frustrated by the lack of response by the city of Kingston to initiate a Comprehensive Plan, KingstonCitizens.org hosted a visioning session to show how simple it really would be,  titled “Ward 9 is Mine!”  to focus on Broadway between Brewster and W. Chester Streets.  This successful event was moderated, citizens envisioned the changes and it was all documented both with text and a mural painted by two local artists. The mural now hangs in the conference room at the Kingston Land Trust.

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Stop CVS and Replan/Revitalize Uptown Kingston!
Several years back, CVS proposed to build a new location in uptown Kingston.  Residents all over the city were upset by the lack of vision of our city government at that time, and some pointed out their concern of potentially losing our local pharmacy Nekos-Dedricks on North Front Street with what would be three corporate pharmacies within a 1/2 mile radius.  We saw it as another opportunity to illustrate the need for an updated comprehensive plan.  A petition was drawn asking the city for a six month moratorium on any new development on a section of Washington Ave.  By utilizing a Greenway Grant that the city had acquired, we asked for this along with a request that our planning department organize visioning sessions as an excercise (if nothing else) for the said location.  Led by several of our alderman, we had made quite a bit of positive headway. In a turn of disappointing events, the same public officials collaborating with our citizen effort at the last moment during the council vote, requested a moratorium excluding CVS which of course, passed unanimously.   Although the process strained many relationships between citizens and their elected officials, it was an excellent illustration of a well orchestrated citizen movement.

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Stop, Shop and Get to Know
One of the things that came out of the CVS disappointment was an initiative by KC.org called “Stop, Shop and Get to Know”. Here, we could highlight local business (and we began with Nekos Pharmacy) to encourage residents to shop local. One of the great things about each week’s featured business is that they would provide us with an incentive for shoppers (10% off of this or that) that was really great for citizens.   When the Main Street Manager blog and newsletter came about, Nancy Donskoj picked up the idea and ran with it which we were very pleased by. Today, a featured business or person in the “People who make Kingston special” section of her weekly is shared with a growing mailing list.

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The Kingston Victory Garden Project
Years ago, the Kingston Victory Garden Project took hold in Kingston that created a resurgence of gardens for both homes and schools.  Gardens in Kingston is now common place with gardens now in almost all of our schools, an Urban Farm in Midtown (South Pine Street City Farm) and other initiatives and programs that followed such as Healthy Kingston for Kids.  We’re very proud of the great success we’ve had here.

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The 2011 Annual Kingston Historic Bluestone Festival is October 2, Sunday, at The Hudson River Maritime Museum  Grounds, HRMM, free.  There will be music and events, no admission charge.  There will be speakers at the Rondout Heritage Center, across the street from HRMM.  Artists may exhibit at no entry fee and no commission. To register, contact Ed Pell, Director at bluestonefestival@yahoo.com

By Rebecca Martin

“Life is for love
And they say that love is blind
If you want to live easy
Baby pack your clothes with mine
I feel a change coming on
And the fourth part of the day is already gone”   - Bob Dylan

Kingston is a special place. It’s a city with history, potential and proximity.

However, for the past six years, I’ve seen a great deal close-up that could make even the warmest of hearts grow weary. From a host of grass root community efforts come and go to a government who claims it wants citizen input…with limits.

But a change is a comin’ on – and the truths we’ve found ways to dash in the past can no longer be ignored.

For Kingston Citizens, forget national politics. If we can’t get our own home in order, what does it matter what’s happening even a dozen miles away from here?

Here are some items to get your thinking locally.

1. . Your Neighbors:  Do you know them?  Sit on  your front porch from time to time and look at the shape of your immediate landscape. Do you like what you see? Are there things you can help to change?

2. Your Alderman:  What ward do you live in? The Mayoral role is critical, but who is your direct connection to city hall? Get to know them and make yourself known.

3. Your Rights:  See what is written in the charter. Alot needs to be updated – but you have to know what’s law first.

4. Your Assets:  Take a look around. Do you have a city park close to home? In urban planning, the rule of thumb is that an open space is only five minutes away from your door step. Is that the case? If so, how can you improve it? If not, what can you do to help create  it?

5. Schools: We want what’s best for our children. Get involved.

6. Transportation: Does the bus come on time? Are there easy bike pathways? Are you engaged to walk to where you wish to go?

7. Food Sources: Everyone should have quality food choices close by. What’s  closest to you? You should be able to walk to a grocery store. If not, ask your local bodega to carry healthy fresh foods. Better yet, plant a raised bed garden.

8. A Voice:  Is there a place where you feel you can voice your concerns on a regular basis to public officials?

9. Safety: Does your neighborhood have a watch in place?

10. Communications: What’s happening in Kingston?

11. Local Papers:  We need them all….and I mean all of them.

Got other ideas? Post them in the comment section.

Onward and upward. The glass is half full. We’re in this together for as long as we’re here. Que sera sera.

By Rebecca Martin

The current articles in our local papers on test scores being “low” in the higher grade levels at The GW Elementary/Montessori program concerned me in that one might jump to the conclusion that the recent implementation of the Montessori program was unsuccessful.

Over the years, I have come to find that what makes something great or not is typically due to its leadership. In the case of The GW Elementary/Montessori program, a unique opportunity is underway for our youth in the hands of Valerie Hannum, one of the more capable leaders I have come across in my time living in Kingston or anywhere.

Valerie came to Kingston a little over a decade ago with her family as principal of the Robert Graves Elementary school. As a former Montessori child, teacher and administrator from the Pennsylvania area, she brought her rich background into our public educational system. After ten successful years there, Valerie wrote a proposal for funding to create a ‘Public Montessori’ in Kingston making Kingston 1 in just over 300 in the nation. In what the Legislature reported as being ‘one of the best educational proposals they had ever read’, the monies were approved for a $350,000 start-up in 2008/2009 – just three short years ago!  Superintendent Gerard Gretzinger had the foresight to select the GW Elementary School as the pilot for the program. It’s a legacy that he can be most proud of as he reaches his retirement in the new year.

Experienced educators, respected and trusted in our community, enthusiastically stepped up to the plate for the rigorous training. To become a certified Montessori teacher is an enormous commitment of time and resources. Pre-K teachers (The Childrens House) requires 1,800 hours of study, while Elementary certification is a whopping 3,600 hours. Pre-school staff have by now successfully become certified, and come November all of the Elementary staff will be fully certified too.

With the upper grades having only just begun their transition from public to Montessori last fall, it is obvious that it will require time to implement what is a long term solution to the dilemma of education.  In addition, 80% of the children attending the GW Montessori School are eligible for free or reduced school lunches, illustrating that many of the students are at or near the poverty line. With the demographic of the upper grades heavily populated by the poorest of all in the city of Kingston and given the recent economic hardships, it’s unfair to expect that the children “perform” to meet mainstream test requirements. I’m not letting them off the hook by saying so. It’s just that it is far more complicated then simply basing a child’s development on something as one dimensional as test scores in this case.

The Montessori method is about making a long term impact. Studies show that Montessori children are well prepared for later life academically, socially, and emotionally.  They are ranked above average on such criteria as following directions, turning in work on time, listening attentively, using basic skills, showing responsibility, asking provocative questions, showing enthusiasm for learning, and adapting to new situations. But if it’s test scores that we’re particularly distracted by, missing from these recent articles was that The GW Elementary/Montessori program’s 4th graders scored 87.5% overall in Science. It’s an impressive piece of data proving that the new Montessori materials are making an early impact.

One of the primary reasons families choose to live in any community is on the basis of the quality of its schools, and the GW Elementary/Montessori program is the only school in the city with a waiting list.  In fact, numerous parents can attest to having chosen this particular neighborhood specifically because of GW’s outstanding reputation far beyond Kingston.  Demand was so great last year that another classroom was added to make room in the first weeks of enrollment. An added benefit is that the classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse. Children are exposed to all different nationalities, languages and socio-economic backgrounds. Mixed age classrooms give the older children a chance to act as ‘mentors’ while the younger children benefit to learn from their older classmates.

This kind of quality eduction in midtown Kingston brings something that generally is only afforded to children who have the monetary means, as a Montessori education can cost upwards to $10,000 – $15,000 per year, more in larger cities. In Kingston, the school tax is a very large portion of the community’s burden, and it behooves the Kingston School District to heed this trend by not only supporting the GW program for our own children’s sake, but in proudly promoting its asset to attract families to the city as is critical to our overall economic stability.

I encourage you to call Valerie who will happily take you on a tour of the school.  Better yet,  meet her out front of the school on  any given morning of the school year where she greets students one by one with a hug or a handshake. You will be amazed at the overall quiet and calm of the students throughout the day that is not imposed by an adult.  Instead, you’ll witness the students engaged in their work activities, supported and encouraged to be the very best that they can be.
Additional Reading:

* Harvard Business Review:  Montessori Builds Innovators

* The Wall Street Journal: The Montessori Mafia

* University of Virginia:  Montessori Education Provides Better Outcomes Than Traditional Methods, Study Indicates.

* Science Magazine:  Evaluating Montessori Education

By Rebecca Martin

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. Here is a fine and welcomed example of it.

I am so impressed with the recent effort made by Ward 9 Alderman Hayes Clement and Ward 4 Alderwoman Shirley Whitlock. With the support and guidance of Kingston Cares (A program of Family of Woodstock)  up to 25  youth have been organized to perform public service work while in return, having a hand in making their neighborhood more beautiful, making a positive impact in the community overall  and earning a most valuable $50 gift card for back to school supplies.

It’s that simple. Correctly identifying what is needed coupled with little bit of common sense and organization goes a very long way in the short and long term.

Below are photos taken from Kingston Care’s website – and the PRESS RELEASE  announcing the effort.

The Clean-up Squad works on Van Buren Park.

Graffiti and grit no more.

What's next?

By Rebecca Martin

As many know, the South Pine Street City Farm located at 27 South Pine Street off of Greenkill Avenue in Midtown Kingston has transformed a city lot into a farm to help feed the community local, organic vegetables. As of yesterday, Farmer Jesica Clark is offering a ‘farm stand’ where neighbors can purchase fresh from the garden vegetables right at the farm. Her stand should be in place by Friday – and you can bet that come fall, the Kingston Land Trust will do a big push in helping to make it known.

It doesn’t get any better than that for a city like ours. Unless, of course, you’re growing your own food yourself.

Special thanks to Hugh Cummings of Hugh Name It Builders who donated his time and materials in building the Midtown stand.

Tillery is (L-R) Becca Stevens, Rebecca Martin and Gretchen Parlato. They will be performing a benefit concert for Chiz's Heart Street alongside Larry Grenadier (Bass) and Julian Lage (Guitar).

Tillery (Rebecca Martin, Gretchen Parlato and Becca Stevens) with Larry Grenadier and Julian Lage perform at Chiz’s Heart Street 106 West Chestnut Street Kingston New York on Sunday, August 28th at 1:00pm.   All proceeds to benefit the Heart Street Food Pantry and Homeless Shelter.

Kingston, NY -  Mary “Chiz” Chisholm runs Heart Street, a house that provides residents suffering from mental illness a safe and loving home.  It also is one of the food pantries in the city of Kingston that feeds local families on a regular basis.  ”Heart Street is a homeless shelter for the mentally ill or for those who have floated down the path of drugs and alcohol. Schizophrenic or bipolar or many other names that do not describe the inner heart but give structure to the why of homelessness,” Mary says. “To sustain this work, we are having a BBQ benefit and concert at our house to bring together the many segments of the Kingston community”.

By Rebecca Martin

For years, I have been working with Megan Weiss of Kingston Cares out of the Everett Hodge Center.  The garden space in front had caught my attention as a potential location to create a garden to grow food and to use as a showcase in the neighborhood to inspire others who might wish to do the same.

Today, the front garden thrives due in part to donations from the Bruderhoff Church Community (with a fence to mark a clear boundary) and “The Dig Kids” Urban Farming Program (created by the Kingston Land Trust) where five youth were paid in 2011 to work with Farmer Jesica Clark, a first generation organic farmer and the creator of the South Pine Street City Farm in Midtown, Kingston. (Have you seen the garden lately by the way? The sunflowers in the center are enormous!)

Back to Megan. At only 25 years old, she has the wisdom of an elder with the children.  I don’t know how many are aware of the impact she has made, though soon I have a hunch that is all about to change.

Larry and I were offered a performance as part of Laura Hartman’s  wonderful Jazz Series that takes place at Stella May Theater off of Greenkill Avenue right around the time I learned that Kingston Cares was losing its funding come September. I suggested that we do a benefit for them to literally ‘buy’ a little time.

What started as a simple concert has now grown due to a relationship struck  between Stella May and the Ivan Lajara of the Daily Freeman after the civic engagement panel took place in July. With live streaming of the event being a success,  ’The Freeman Sessions’ was created.

I hope you’ll try to make it to support Kingston Cares on Tuesday night – and to enjoy an evening of warmth and music.  Thanks to the Freeman Sessions, however – if you cannot get out that evening you can watch it at home.  Please consider making a donation.

For more, read all about it in the DAILY FREEMAN  - an excellent piece written by Paula Ann Mitchell.