2024, Updated

With the arrival of 2025, our reporters caught up with and updated select stories from the past year

JANUARY

Garrison’s Landing water — Philipstown officials forecast a spring hookup for a new 20-gallon-a-minute well that will serve businesses and homes at Garrison’s Landing, with $750,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan to help pay for the connection. Despite the upfront cost, the line will save Philipstown money. Trucking in water in response to inadequate flows from existing wells costs $25,000 to $30,000 a month, said Robert Flaherty, a Town Board member.

Update: In June, the Putnam County Legislature approved Philipstown’s request to redirect $370,000 in county sales tax revenue to the water district project. The money had been set aside to connect the nearby Garrison Institute. In December, the Town Board approved a $15,489 bid from Claverack Well & Pump Service to install the pump for the well, which the company also dug. Flaherty said last week it should be in service by the end of February.

Farming couple retires —For ardent customers of the Cold Spring Farmers’ Market, the news felt like an obituary: Jay and Polly Armour would not return. They had been among the market’s founding vendors, tending for 35 years to their 24-acre Four Winds Farm near Gardiner. Many especially mourned the loss of the Armours’ heirloom tomatoes. Their reason for stepping away was simple. “My body’s too old for this,” said Jay, 70.

Update: Asked this week how retirement was going, Jay said he was “busier than before.” The couple leases most of their farmland now but still grows tomato seedlings in the greenhouse for spring sales. Last year, they grew 40 varieties and sold more than 13,000 seedlings. They also sell 26 types of vegetables but, unlike in the past, there is no crew to help out. Jay said he planted a small garden but “had trouble scaling down. I planted 20 tomato plants — way too many. I only need two or three.” Avid skiers, the Armours were disappointed with last winter’s conditions so, on the spur of the moment, they embarked on what Jay described as a fantastic eight-day trip to Iceland.

Tallix Foundry sale — The former Tallix Foundry building in Beacon, a nearly 17,000-square-foot structure that drew international attention in 1999 when it produced a 24-foot bronze horse meant to fulfill Leonardo da Vinci’s dying wish, was listed for sale for $1.995 million, or $18,000 per month as a rental.

Update: According to Dutchess County records, the site sold for its asking price, $1.995 million, in March to Niche Modern LLC. No information is available on what the company plans to do at the former foundry, and no plans for the site have been submitted to the Planning Board.

Beacon evictions — Donald Van Voorhees, a 74-year-old disabled Beacon resident, had until Jan. 31 to leave the studio apartment where he had lived for 23 years after the city’s “good-cause” eviction law was overturned by a City Court judge. (Similar laws were also overturned in Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Kingston and Albany.) Len Warner, a member of the Beacon Planning Board, knew Van Voorhees from their early-morning conversations on Main Street, and tried to help. After searching options for low-income renters in and around Beacon, the situation looked dire. A Main Street apartment opened on Jan. 29 and Nick Page, a Dutchess County legislator whose uncle owns the complex, contacted Warner.

Update: After several years of advocacy from housing organizations, Gov. Kathy Hochul in April included a statewide good-cause measure in the 2024-25 budget. In August, the Beacon City Council unanimously opted into the law, which restricts landlords who own more than one unit from evicting tenants except in specific circumstances, including when they have arrears that are not due to “unreasonable” rent increases. Warner said this week that when he last spoke to Van Voorhees, “he was very comfortable and happy” in his new apartment.

FEBRUARY

Beacon Line payments — A St. Louis law firm filed two lawsuits in federal court for 172 individuals and commercial entities who own property along a dormant railroad line that runs from the Beacon waterfront to the Connecticut border. Dutchess County is studying the line as the potential site of a recreational rail trail, but the firm, Stewart, Wald & McCulley, is seeking payment for the “taking of land” in conjunction with conversion projects like the one that could happen along the Beacon line. The federal Surface Transportation Board has issued a “notice of interim trail use” that allows Metro-North, which has no plans to restore train service, to close the 41-mile segment. A second firm, Lewis Rice, also from St. Louis, filed a similar suit on behalf of about a dozen landowners.

Update: Stewart, Wald & Smith now represents more than 260 landowners in Dutchess and Putnam counties whose properties are adjacent to the former railroad corridor. The firm has three suits pending in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and attorneys are preparing appraisal reports for trial. In November, Lewis Rice filed a motion for partial summary judgment, asking the court to find the government liable for taking its clients’ property. Concurrently, the firm has begun the appraisal process. Rails-to-trails lawsuits can take years to resolve. Representatives for both firms noted that their lawsuits do not seek to stop the trail and will not affect local plans. In November, Dutchess County issued a report on conditions along the 13-mile segment from Beacon to Hopewell Junction, where, if built, a trail would connect with the Dutchess Rail Trail and the 750-mile Empire State Trail. The report noted that the corridor is in good condition and introduced two options for analysis in another report: converting the corridor into a trail or constructing a trail adjacent to the railroad tracks.

The plight of Palestine — When asked about how he saw the conflict in Gaza ending, Philipstown resident Philip Weiss, founder of the online news site Mondoweiss, which provides news and analysis “regarding the struggle for Palestinian human rights,” responded: “Horribly. There will be a state of stasis that resolves none of the underlying and intractable and somewhat insurmountable issues. You have claims to the same land that appear to be irreconcilable. But stasis within a month, and then it will leave the front pages.”

Update: We checked in with Weiss this week. “In the last year, Israel and Palestine entered a period long predicted, a bloody one-state reality. Anyone can see that this reality is the farthest thing from democracy; it is marked by apartheid and genocide targeting Palestinians. Resistance will never end, including terrorist atrocities like those of Oct. 7. Jimmy Carter, a great leader, told us this, and the Democratic Party ostracized him for saying so. I don’t have faith in left-wing violence, either. I don’t believe that Israel/Palestine is Algeria. Some Jewish settlers will surely leave, but most will not. Many were refugees themselves; generations were born there. The only approach to achieve peace is a political settlement that recognizes the rights of all and grants no group dominance.”

MARCH

Title game — Led by Matt Nachamkin, a 6-foot-7 senior who had been recruited to play for Williams College, the Haldane boys’ basketball team reached the state Class C title game for the second season and a row — and lost by three points for the second time, despite Nachamkin’s 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Update: Nachamkin scored six points, including his first collegiate basket, on Monday (Dec. 30) in an 81-62 loss at undefeated New York University. He said the liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, stresses a varied curriculum and that he’s leaning toward a double major in economics and history. He added that the college game is far more intense than high school. “I knew it would be a step up,” he said, “but it’s even a step up from what I thought it’d be.”

Carvana eyes Fishkill Avenue — The national used-car dealer submitted a proposal to the Beacon Planning Board to occupy 410 Fishkill Ave., one of four parcels in the corridor vacated by the Healey Brothers dealerships when they moved to Poughkeepsie and Fishkill.

Update: The proposal from Carvana, whose business allows customers to select a vehicle online and have it delivered to their home or one of its facilities, was approved in June. In April, the Planning Board permitted Soka Gakkai International, a Buddhist organization, to lease one of the other Healey parcels, at 409 Fishkill Ave., where it plans to open a worship center in 2025. The Planning Board is reviewing a proposal to convert a building at 420-430 Fishkill Ave., also a former Healey lot, to a Dunkin’ coffeehouse with a drive-thru, commercial space and three apartments. A citizen committee appointed by Mayor Lee Kyriacou to study streetscapes, accessibility and other aspects of the corridor continues its work. After a meeting with the City Council in November, council members suggested implementing the committee’s early zoning recommendations.

Butterfly group — The Putnam-Westchester chapter of the North American Butterfly Association held its first meeting on March 21 during a time of significant decline in butterfly populations, which has environmental implications because of their role as pollinators.

Update: The group, led by Charlie Roberto, has about 25 members from Manhattan, Connecticut and Westchester, although none so far from Putnam County. “We need more young people,” Roberto said. It led field trips to spots in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester in 2024, but a July butterfly count indicated there is still work to do. A few species are doing OK, but “monarchs continue to be down,” he said. Roberto believes the improper use of pesticides is having a significant impact. “People use them without realizing what they’re doing,” he said. “They don’t read the labels and have no idea how long pesticides last or that they affect our drinking water.”

Alternate route? — Work is underway on the Breakneck Connector section of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, but the rest of the 7.5-mile route, especially between Cold Spring and Breakneck, remains uncertain. Various routes are being considered as part of the state’s environmental review, but a new possibility that would avoid Dockside Park in Cold Spring has come up. It would begin at the Cold Spring train station and hug the western side of the tracks as it heads north to the village border.

Update: A draft of the environmental report was released in December. The report reviews various alternatives and concludes that none of them balance the environmental impact that the routes would have with the needs that the trail would address as effectively as the chosen route, which begins at Dockside. However, the report notes that because the alternate route that begins at the train station was suggested while the report was nearing completion, it has not yet been studied.

Extreme future — The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) released a report detailing the ways in which each region of the state will be affected by climate change. Annual average temperatures in Dutchess and Putnam counties are projected to increase between 4.1 and 6.1 degrees by the 2050s and between 5.7 and 10 degrees by the 2080s, compared with the averages between 1981 and 2010. The state’s average temperature has increased by 2.6 degrees over the last century. The report said that, without “serious action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” that cause global warming, New Yorkers can expect the decades to be significantly hotter, with many more extreme weather events. The final part of the report, scheduled to come out at the end of 2024, will detail the economic costs of climate change on the state.

Update: The analysis of the economic impacts of climate change is now expected in the spring.

APRIL

Ceiling collapse — The ceiling in the library at the Boscobel mansion in Garrison collapsed, prompting the historic site to close the home to tours. The collapse damaged the room, its contents and adjacent rooms, but no one was hurt.

Update: Abigail Addams of Boscobel noted this week that the ceiling was made in the 1950s of a concrete material that weighed 50 percent more than plaster and that the fasteners gave way to gravity. The collapse prompted a full-scale renovation of the historic house, she said. All furniture, decorative objects and window treatments were moved to the lower gallery and some were sent out for conservation. Boscobel also cleaned its HVAC system and all textiles, paintings and furniture. It hopes to reopen the mansion in the spring or early summer.

Pot station — Kamel Jamal, who owns the Beacon Bread Co. and Ziatun, was awarded a state license allowing him to grow, process and distribute recreational cannabis and to sell retail buds and other products. He applied as 463 Station Inc., a reference to the former police station he owns at 463 Main St. In 2023, Jamal hosted a state-approved “showcase” there, a program that gave farmers and processors places to sell buds and edibles while awaiting the opening of more dispensaries.

Update: In November, the state Cannabis Control Board approved Jamal’s use of 463 Main St. as a retail location. On Dec. 28, Jamal announced on The Station Dispensary’s Instagram page that he plans a soft opening soon at what he described as a “state-of-the-art” cannabis business.

Former principal sues — Daniel Glenn, principal of South Avenue Elementary in 2021-22 and 2022-23, filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court, alleging that discrimination and a racially charged workplace led to his dismissal. The Beacon City School District responded in June, saying that Glenn failed to provide evidence to back up his claims and asking that the case be dismissed.

Update: Glenn amended his complaint in July to include details about incidents that he said showed discrimination by district officials. The case was automatically referred to a mediator. According to court records, conferences have been scheduled and rescheduled five times since.

Employee arrested — A former Stonecrop Gardens employee was arrested and accused of secretly filming girls in 2018 and 2019 as they used a public restroom. A criminal complaint accused John Towers, 54, of Mahopac, of making more than 800 hidden-camera videos that also captured women inside stalls as they used the toilet. Towers had worked at Stonecrop for 20 years. He was released to home detention on a $200,000 bond secured by his house.

Update: The case has been postponed nine times, most recently on Dec. 26, while prosecutors and Towers’ attorney discuss a plea bargain.

Indian Point wastewater — The company decommissioning the Indian Point nuclear power plant south of Philipstown asked a federal judge to overturn a new state law that bans the discharge of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River. It noted that wastewater from spent fuel pools was routinely discharged during the 50 years the plant operated.

Update: There has been little movement on the lawsuit since April, and the issue of what to do with the wastewater is unresolved. Holtec announced in December it had discovered elevated cesium-137 levels in one of about 40 soil samples taken near a former training building. Holtec also announced that it has begun preliminary investigations to see if, once the plant is decommissioned, the site could be turned into a data center.

MAY

Greeting visitors — The Beacon Welcome Center in Polhill Park, situated to greet visitors climbing the hill from the Metro-North station, reopened in the spring under a partnership between the city and Dutchess Tourism.

Update: Volunteers who staffed the center logged 342 hours from the first weekend in May to mid-November. They assisted 1,124 people and were recognized on Dec. 16 by the City Council for their service.

JUNE

Beacon arrest — Two years after Lionell Pittman Jr., 32, was shot and killed in a parking lot at the Forrestal Heights apartment complex on West Center Street, police arrested Naije Perrette, 25, of Beacon, who was charged with murder, contract killing, intentional murder and conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty.

Update: Police subsequently arrested two more suspects, Khyree Pratt, 23, and Zyree Downing, 24, both imprisoned for other crimes, and brought them to Beacon to be arraigned on murder charges. That left one recent unsolved killing still under investigation, that of Rene Vivo, a 65-year-old veteran known as “Scout,” who was stabbed near the intersection of South Brett and Main streets on Christmas Day 2021. Chief Tom Figlia said this week that while there were no new developments he could share, the investigation “is still very much open and active.” As with the Pittman case, “oftentimes crimes like these take years of hard work and dedication by investigators,” he said.

Clearwater finances — After announcing in May that it was nearly insolvent, the Beacon-based environmental nonprofit said it had raised $347,000.

Update: A task force of staff and volunteers dedicated to overhauling Clearwater’s business model has been meeting for the past few months. Executive Director David Toman said that at least one new program introduced in 2024 — the “pay what you can” sails — will return. Clearwater is looking forward to more environmental advocacy, which took a back seat to the financial emergency. “The new administration at the federal level has made many statements that are not environment-first but are, in my opinion, short-sighted economics first,” Toman said.

JULY

Constitution Island — The historic Constitution Island, located just south of Cold Spring, welcomed tours for the first time since 2012. Owned by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the 280-acre island is maintained by the nonprofit Constitution Island Association.

Update: Vinny Tamagna, the association chair, said weekend tours for 30 participants operated at capacity on the last Saturday of June, July, August and September. Saturday tours of the Warner House and grounds will be offered in the summer of 2025, along with an event planned for October. Trail maps and interpretive panels explaining the island’s Native American history are being developed, he said, and the island will soon begin hosting school field trips, as it did in the past. Programming in 2025-26 will focus on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Laura Mayer will succeed Tamagna, who now lives in Florida, as chair, although he will remain on the board.

Rabbi Brent steps down — After 13 years leading the Beacon Hebrew Alliance, Brent Spodek became the synagogue’s rabbi emeritus.

Update: Spodek has continued his work as a premarital counselor and advises couples on enhancing their communication skills. He has also become part of the team behind Togethering, a series of retreats for interfaith couples. He and his family remain active members of BHA. In September, the synagogue welcomed his successor, Justin David, who has been a rabbi for 25 years in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. He is the author of Longing: Jewish Meditations on a Hidden God and this year received his doctorate in education from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. In a humorous twist, David also officiated the wedding of Spodek and his wife, Alison, in 2001.

AUGUST

Beacon schools ban phones — The Beacon school district enacted a policy requiring middle school and high school students to place cellphones in “designated areas” at the beginning of each class.

Update: Superintendent Matt Landahl said this week that students and teachers have adjusted well. Breaking Beacon, published by the high school’s newspaper club, reported that the policy was initially unpopular but became less contentious as the year went on. Several students told the paper that their grades and social interactions had improved.

Kids in business — A children’s business fair held on the lawn of St. Mary’s Church in Cold Spring attracted 15 entrepreneurs from ages 6 to 14. They sold greeting cards, doggie cookies, coffee, baked goods, chai tea and flowers.

Update: Julie Arora, a Garrison resident who organized the fair, has plans for two fairs for Saturdays in May and October. If the village agrees to provide a permit, she hopes to attract as many as 25 children and teens to host booths on the sidewalks in front of village shops.

SEPTEMBER

Couple convicted — A federal jury found a former Beacon couple guilty on Sept. 27 of killing the wife’s ex-husband, who disappeared in April 2020 after dropping off his two teenage daughters at 10 W. Church St. following a custody visit. After a two-week trial in White Plains, Jamie Orsini, 38, and Nicholas Orsini, 36, were each found guilty of carjacking resulting in death and conspiracy to commit carjacking in the disappearance of Steven Kraft.

Update: On Dec. 13, the Orsinis filed separate motions for acquittal or a retrial, claiming they were convicted based on insufficient evidence. In Jamie Orsini’s filing, her lawyers argue that the government’s case “was based entirely on circumstantial evidence and rank speculation that no rational jury could have found sufficient.” They said the government also failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kraft, whose body was never found, had been killed.

MTA capital plan — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a $68 billion capital plan that runs through 2029 and would, among other upgrades, shore up the Hudson Line against the effects of climate change. The plan only identified the source of half the funding; Neil Zuckerman, a Philipstown resident who represents Putnam County on the MTA board and heads its finance committee, said “it’s the responsibility of the governor and the Legislature” to provide the rest. The four-member MTA Capital Program Review Board had until Dec. 25 to approve the plan.

Update: On Christmas Eve, two members of the Review Board — Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie — voted no, citing the uncertain funding. They said the issue “can be solved during the upcoming legislative session in the context of the state budget negotiations.”

OCTOBER

Jan. 6 conviction — A federal judge in Washington, D.C, found a former Beacon man guilty of a felony and four misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. William Joseph Pepe, 35, was identified by prosecutors as president of the Hudson Valley chapter of the Proud Boys, who they said coordinated travel and lodging and, using earpieces and radios to communicate, dismantled barriers and broke windows. Pepe was arrested six days after the riot and fired from his job at Metro-North in Brewster. Pepe was released until his sentencing, which is scheduled for March 11.

Update: On Nov. 11, Pepe asked for his case to be paused until Jan. 20 because he expects to be pardoned by President-elect Donald Trump. On Dec. 18, the court said it “is not inclined to continue sentencing based on uncertain events that may or may not occur” for a specific defendant. In another case, Gregory Purdy, a 2016 Carmel High School graduate living in Hopewell Junction, and his uncle, Robert Turner, each asked to be released from custody pending their sentencing because Trump has promised pardons. A judge denied the motion and scheduled a hearing for today (Jan. 3). Purdy and Turner, who are representing themselves after dismissing their lawyers, have been incarcerated since their felony convictions in June; Purdy’s younger brother, Matthew Purdy, convicted of two misdemeanors, was released until sentencing.

Reporting by Brian PJ Cronin, Chip Rowe, Jeff Simms, Leonard Sparks and Michael Turton