Mystery Point Sold to Billionaire Philanthropist Boards Weigh in On
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Congratulations to Haldane and Garrison School graduates | See page 6 FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 69 MAIN ST., COLD SPRING, N.Y. | www.philipstown.info Boards Weigh Mystery in on Butterfield Point Sold to Zoning Change Billionaire Importance of village char- Philanthropist acter, fiscal analysis cited Along with conservation By Michael Turton easement, public access he Cold Spring Village Board con- said to remain tinued its “all hands on deck” ap- Tproach to moving the Butterfield By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong project forward at its June 18 meeting. Members of several other boards were he Open Space Institute and Sce- on hand to discuss zoning amendments nic Hudson on Thursday (June 13) proposed as part of the redevelopment Tannounced the sale of 129-acre of the former hospital site — changes re- Mystery Point in Garrison to a Michigan quired before ground can be broken on billionaire who pledged to retain public the project proposed by developer Paul access to hiking trails and welcomed a Guillaro. conservation easement to protect the Discussion centered on changing the property in the future. site’s zoning from the current B4 (medi- The $4-million-plus sale by the en- cal and health care facility district) to vironmental organizations came as a B4A (medical and health care mixed use group called the Being Institute — which district). Participants included members itself wanted to acquire Mystery Point — of the Planning Board, Historic Dis- mobilized Philipstown trict Review Board (HDRB) and Special residents and circulated Board for the Local Waterfront Revital- a petition expressing ization (LWRP). The Zoning Board of concerns that “this jew- Appeals (ZBA), whose Chairman Donald el on the Hudson will be MacDonald was unable to attend, sub- closed off to the public As twilight approaches, trees frame a mitted comments in writing. and the mansion torn view of the Hudson River at Mystery down in the hands of HDRB lays out concerns Point. At right, the old mansion stands a pharmaceutical com- in evening solitude. The most critical and extensive com- pany owner.” Photos by L.S. Armstrong ments came from the HDRB. In its con- A news release from cluding remarks, the board stated that Open Space June 13 iden- “the redesigned site should be worthy of tified Mystery Point’s the architecture, public spaces and com- Haldane District buyer as Jon Stryker, of munity it will join. … The HDRB does Kalamazoo, Mich., “an not feel that the B4A zoning amendment architect and leading does so.” Among its broad criticisms, the Among State philanthropist in social HDRB said the proposed zoning comes justice and animal conservation.” “dangerously close” to spot zoning and Leaders for Graduation Rate With a net worth of $1.3 billion as of that legal counsel should be sought in March of this year, the 55-year-old Stryk- that regard. It also said that the zoning Field project is set to go; er ranks 360th on the Forbes Magazine should “encourage … broad and sensible list of 400 wealthiest Americans. Accord- concepts without locking the developer Thorpe likely new board ing to Forbes, he is one of three heirs to and the village into a specific site plan president a medical equipment company and has that is at best a rough idea at this stage.” financially supported conservation of By Kevin E. Foley apes, gay rights, the re-election of Presi- dent Barack Obama, and the Priorities he Haldane School USA Action political PAC, and founded Board meeting the Arcus Center for Social Justice Lead- TTuesday, June 17, ership at Kalamazoo College, his alma ended the board’s aca- mater. demic year with a dis- OSI stated that Mystery Point was sold cussion of graduation “subject to a conservation easement that success, the fine-tuning permanently ensures that the property’s of some pending proj- scenic and natural character is retained.” ects, a brief discourse on OSI said that the Hudson Highlands Land future organization and Trust will hold the easement and that Superintendent Mark Villanti thanks Part of the old Butterfield Hospital Photo by M. Turton an appreciative send- “the parcel’s parking area and extensive outgoing Haldane Board President off to Michael Junjulas, network of public trails, including on-foot Michael Junjulas for his three-year term who presided over his access to the Hudson River, will continue of service. The board presented Junjulas The HDRB went on to make numerous last meeting as board president. to be managed by the Open Space Insti- with a formal citation. Photo by K.E. Foley specific recommendations on a range of In a discussion about the recent high tute and will remain largely unchanged issues from the size of proposed residen- school graduation ceremony, which Jun- graduation rate. It’s the four-year rate and open to the public, with the exception tial lots on Paulding Avenue and pro- julas praised as “just great,” Superinten- that gets reported,” Villanti said, refer- of a 21-acre residential area.” posed size, scale and density of senior dent Mark Villanti offered perspective on ring to the success rate of students in Tally Blumberg, OSI’s senior vice presi- citizen condominiums to the nature of Haldane’s success rate. He noted proudly the fifth and even sixth year of studies dent for programs, said Monday, June 17, proposed commercial development and but modestly that Haldane’s over 93 per- toward a diploma. “If we’re going to have that the Mystery Point site sold for $4.38 parking. The HDRB also concluded: “It cent graduation rate helped make Put- higher standards, we have to recognize million. She said that the conservation is critical that the redevelopment of the nam County’s rate the highest in New that all students will meet them in four easement restricts construction of other Butterfield site look and feel like Cold York state. The statewide average rate is years. Haldane’s rate in the fifth year of a homes at Mystery Point but that the fate Spring. It should augment and reinforce 74 percent. cohort is 98 percent.” of the historic, circa-1890 Livingston the existing (Continued on page 3) “People don’t talk about the cohort Villanti also (Continued on page 5) house remained (Continued on page 3) 2 June 21, 2013 The Paper www.philipstown.info | Philipstown.info Mouths to Feed in a 65-degree lake to faux-rescue one another and the rock-climbing instruc- tors can navigate rain-saturated preci- Death Defiance pices and the outdoorsmen and –women can start fires with wet bark, then they By Celia Barbour can all decide whether or not to risk eat- ing a raw egg yolk. oday, just before lunch, I left the It was my French cousin Christine kitchen and stepped out onto who introduced me to this kind of sal- Ta great, sloping field where 25 ad dressing. When I was 14, she came people were standing in a circle, hold- over from Paris and lived with my fam- ing hands. These people, the counselors ily in Indiana for a year, a bad tradeoff, and staff of the camp where I’m cook- geographically, as far as I’m concerned. ing, were waiting for me. When I joined One day, in our big Midwestern kitchen, them, I listed what they would find on she showed me how adding raw yolk to the table when they went inside: beet oil and vinegar made them emulsify so slaw, red pepper soup, savory tarts, that they lost their will to separate and spinach salad made with spinach that instead came together into a thick, silky had been picked a few hours earlier sauce. I was amazed. from the farm a hundred yards away, At that time, my only experience of rosemary-garlic croutons and honeydew raw eggs was the scene in Rocky where melon. And then I told them about the the hero cracks several into a glass and salad dressing I’d just whisked up, us- gulps them down before his morning ing the raw yolk of an egg laid by one of run, to the enormous, shrieking disgust the farm’s many hens, along with lemon of the audience. For the rest of the year, juice, Dijon mustard, sea salt and olive invoking that slimy beverage was the oil infused with garlic. I said the dress- seventh-grade class’s favorite way to ing could kill them but that they were gross one another out. adults and could decide for themselves But Christine’s dressing wasn’t gross whether to take the risk. at all; it was breathtaking. I wrote The camp director eyed me as if she down her recipe on one of my mom’s were making a mental note to take me recipe cards and added it to our recipe aside afterward for a little check-in. box. Yet before I turned 20, I’d stopped I went back inside. making it, alarmed by news reports Once, last summer, I’d asked her if I that raw eggs could kill you. After that, could serve a dish that included home- I shunned them for decades. made mayonnaise made with raw egg and Then I started getting eggs from was told absolutely, unequivocally no. So small, sensible farms — beautiful eggs, I had a hunch that my dressing was not, with deep-yellow yolks and thick, cling- strictly speaking, OK. But it wasn’t defi- ing albumin — and I decided it was time Photo by C. Barbour ance that made me flaunt the rules. It was to be brave. Eating mousse, mayonnaise simply this: The kids aren’t here yet.