click to enlarge I had a visitor to my office recently from out of town. As I rarely receive guests anymore, it was quite a treat, especially given that I got to show off our new digs in the Fuller Building, a renovated shirt factory here in Midtown Kingston that s smart in that industrial chic way. As we sat in the luxurious confines of the Place Where the Magic Happens (aka my office), my visitor asked after the state of Kingston. (Rest assured we were masked, gloved, gowned, and double-bagged.) While she didn t live terribly far away Woodstock, in fact she had not been to Kingston for many months and was curious to see what all the fuss was about.
A review of Jo Ann Beard s
Festival Days, an anthology of 30 short stories, essays, and plays, plus five short book write-ups for your April reading
By Diana Testa
The Revitalization of Newburgh is Finally Happening.But For Whose Benefit? click to enlarge
This mural on the side of a building between Liberty and Johnes Streets commemorates
Frederick Douglass’s visit to Newburgh in 1870. Twelve years ago I was participating in a community clean-up of a vacant lot in downtown Newburgh when someone found a deer leg. The rest of the deer was nowhere to be found. The cleanup ended for the day shortly after that, on account of temporary demoralization. That lot has since been transformed into a lush and sustainable urban park, complete with sculptures that double as public cell phone charging stations and massive, stately photographic portraits of Newburgh residents peering down from the wall of the once-and-future Ritz Theater. If you re looking for one thing to symbolize the positive changes happening in Newburgh today, stand on the corner of Broadway (the widest main street in America) and Liberty Street
click to enlarge In August 2019, Jessica Eaton s boyfriend talked her into taking a big leap: moving in. The pair had been dating for about a year and a half, shuttling between her place in the Catskills and his in Westchester. Eaton (not her real name) is a single mom to a teenager who was going through a rough patch, and her boyfriend suggested they move in with him for a fresh start in a new school district. I was reluctant because I m used to being independent, she recalls. But he told me that he wasn t going to be spending much time at home as he traveled a lot for business. I was willing to give it a try, especially for my daughter. The first few weeks of cohabiting went well and the affluent community had its perks. Still, Eaton and her teen had their ups and downs as they tried to gain a toehold on their new life.
(October 23–November 21)
Planetary rulers Mars and Pluto get stress tested this month in anticipation of the Full Scorpio Supermoon April 26. This is to strengthen your emotional immune system against the virus of self-deception. Mars square Neptune April 9 is your first inoculation: discern paralyzingly extreme idealism from executable, high-minded goals. You ll never get anything done while waiting for conditions to be perfect . The second dose comes at the Sun s square to Pluto April 16, asking you to forgo individual glory for the sake of a team victory, Subsuming ego gratification for the greater good builds up antibodies of true humility.