Euro-tent looks to bring a new vibe to Midtown
The advent last summer of the Midtown Farmer’s Market, which sells fresh local produce every Tuesday afternoon on the site of the former vice-epicenter King’s Inn on Broadway, planted a seed on a depressing stretch of Broadway, a seed that a few weeks ago led to a second, spectacular blooming — the erection of a...
Kingston, the muse: Martin’s new album draws from local inspiration
Rebecca Martin is known in Kingston as one of the city’s most committed and effective community activists. She was the first executive director of the Kingston Land Trust, which has become a formidable force for conservation, green spaces, and community building in the city. But she is also a nationally known jazz vocalist, and her...
Kingston After Dark: T-Shirts, gin and visionaries
A wise man (and Hyde Park resident) once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” FDR was talking about overcoming the Great Depression, but the words still ring true today. I was listening to the awesome indie band Titus Andronicus’ album Local Business and was inspired to write a positive column...
Rock star or no, the rent’s still due
The Kingston landlord at the center of legal showdown over Garth Hudson’s music memorabilia archive says he’s been unfairly portrayed as a greedy opportunist out to take advantage of a local legend. In fact, Mike Piazza says, Hudson and his wife, “Sister” Maud Hudson, have ignored his attempts, going back several years, to settle the...
Kingston After Dark: Comeback
This month marks 20 years for me as a musician and writer in these parts. Growing up in the rock scene of the HudsonValley and eventually moving into music journalism as well as performance, I have gotten to talk to and meet so many amazing people and hear countless cool songs and share great memories...
Kingston landlord wants to sell Garth Hudson’s stuff; lawsuit stops it, for now
In a career that spanned five decades and countless gigs and studio sessions, Garth Hudson amassed a trove of recordings and music memorabilia spanning the golden era of rock ’n’ roll. Now, the onetime multi-instrumentalist for The Band is suing a Kingston landlord for allegedly selling off parts of the collection in what Hudson’s wife says...
Hugh Reynolds: Stronger every day
After more than 25 years of covering Old Dutch Men’s Club’s Washington Day dinners I ducked last year’s. The triumvirate of obscure speakers didn’t sound interesting, nor the prospect of a catered meal after years of hogging out on all-you-can-eat home-cooked roast-beef dinners. Given the generally negative comments about last year’s dinner, I wasn’t planning...
Locals have a number of techniques to stay spry until spring
You don’t need a quote from a psychologist to tell you how depressing and de-motivating winter can be, especially in the last few weeks before spring finally hurries up and gets here. Locals are finding all sorts of ways, both physical and mental, to get through the season without losing it completely. One such person...
Images of divinity: Tamme Stitt-Spiezio helps women find inner goddess
Tamme Stitt-Spiezio has been pursuing and capturing human essence since she was 18 years old. Skip-tracing the missing, conducting surveillance as a drug task force officer for Columbia County, arresting people as a Fishkill police officer, tracking people as a private investigator and photographing people as an artist. Stitt-Spiezio owns two businesses — one which...
BSP hosting 1913-style New Year’s Eve bash
In the unlikely event that the Mayan calendar was inaccurate and you, in fact, are on the hook for a New Year’s Eve party dress after all (Editor’s note: It was, and you are.) why not make it a vintage one? Uptown Kingston will be welcoming Jan. 1, 2013 as it did Jan. 1, 1913...
Fred Johnston’s house, revisioned
Every year the downstairs rooms of the Fred Johnston house are decorated for the holidays, but this year they’ve also gotten a spring cleaning of sorts: the clutter has been cleared and contemporary art pieces brought in and put on display. The “revisioning,” as the Friends of Historic Kingston (FHK), which owns and manages the...
Mark Hogancamp creates own world, in one-sixth scale
Life hadn’t been easy for Mark Hogancamp. Married and divorced, a Navy vet, he sketched superheroes and designed showrooms for a local lighting company while struggling with alcoholism and homelessness. Twelve years ago, he suffered a near-fatal beating at a Kingston bar that left him disabled. The loss of his Medicaid-covered rehabilitation therapy a year...