Q: I’m new to the area, and I wonder if you know where I could find one piece of info. How do the Village of Cold Spring, Village of Nelsonville and Town of Philipstown relate to each other from a governmental perspective? Are both villages in Philipstown, or are all three separate? We live in North Highlands but our mailing address is in Cold Spring. I think we’re in Philipstown because we’re for sure not in the village. I assume I’m not the only one confused. ~ Julie Sissman
A: Far from it. New York has at least three layers of local government, starting with county, town and village; the only states with more layers are Illinois and Indiana. Here is an explanation, using the latest edition of the state’s Local Government Handbook.
County
New York has 62 counties, including Dutchess (home to Beacon) and Putnam (home to Philipstown). Twenty-three counties, including Dutchess (1967) and Putnam (1977), have charters, which allow an administrator (in this case, an elected county executive) who operates independently of the Legislature.
City
In New York, you live in a city, a town or on a reservation. A city has a charter and usually a mayor. New York has 62 cities; Beacon (pop. 15,541) and Poughkeepsie (pop. 32,736) are the only two in Dutchess. Putnam and 20 other counties do not have cities.
Town
A town has a supervisor who presides over a board. The state has 933 towns, including Philipstown (pop. 9,731). To confuse things, a city and town can share a name. For instance, there’s the City of Newburgh and the Town of Newburgh.
Village
A village is part of a town and has a mayor or manager. The state has 535 villages, including Cold Spring (pop. 1,993, incorporated 1846) and Nelsonville (pop. 630, incorporated 1855). Seventy-two villages are part of two towns, and five are part of three towns.
For drivers, the boundaries of Cold Spring are just past Whitehill Place on northbound Route 9D, just east of Parsonage and Cedar streets on Route 301 and just past Bank Street on southbound 9D. Nelsonville’s southern boundary roughly follows Healy Road to Main Street and takes in some of Fishkill Road. Its northern and eastern boundaries touch the Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve.
Hamlet
Hamlets are part of towns but unincorporated, meaning they don’t have their own local government. Philipstown’s hamlets include Garrison, North Highlands and Continental Village. Garrison’s borders on Route 9D are at Philipstown Park to the north and just past the entrance to the Philipstown Recreation Center to the south. North Highlands extends north from Route 301 on Route 9 to its intersection with Carol Lane; on Route 9D, it extends north from Cold Spring to near the Breakneck Tunnel. Continental Village is east of Route 9 in southern Philipstown.
Postal service
Your letter address only indicates which post office processes your mail. The Garrison post office serves the 10524 ZIP code (Garrison and Continental Village), while the Cold Spring post office delivers to the rest of Philipstown under 10516.
This Q&A was fun to read and showed I don’t know our municipal lines nearly as well as I’d thought — I could have sworn Graymoor was in Garrison. It also speaks to a bigger issue: What’s the point of all those lines? Maybe it’s time to redraw them in the name of unity (and clarity). Do we need one town, two villages and who knows how many hamlets to see to the affairs of just 10,000 people?
We all get along for the most part; we share common interests; we depend on each other regardless of ancient boundaries. So let’s erase the divisions, scrap a layer of government and become one big village, or a town with no villages, or New York’s newest (and smallest) city.
Yes, it’d take a fair bit of thinking, debating and doing to pull it off, but we’re capable of all that. We could finally speak with one voice to the Putnam County Legislature — and maybe claw back some of our sales tax revenue in the process. As a Garrison resident — actually, I think we might live in Forsonville — I’m ready to shout it from the hills: One love, one gov!