VOLUME XXXX NO. 3 PUBLISHED BY THE PIERMONT CIVIC ASSOCIATION WINTER 2010 Sea Level Rise And Our Evolving Coastline fter a long dry summer dur- newly improved parking lot is the demolished Pagnozzi house next door, ing which the north parking lot result of several factors, one of which is and—visible across the street—the was leveled and graveled with- that at very high tide the lot sits lower three story building that is now the Aout serious intervention by the neigh- than the neighboring river. Thus the VFW Hall. Anna remembers that her boring Hudson and the blacktop was drains that carry storm water into the family used to take ashes out the back topped off and neatly striped, the park- river, also carry the river back into the door to dump in the reeds close behind ers whom the construction process had storm drains when the water is high the house. scattered all over the village returned to enough. A second cause of the flood- An 1876 Rockland Atlas a tidy ordinary-looking parking lot, full ing is that these invading peak tides owned by the library shows the river of hope that the worst was behind them. are higher and more frequent than they close to the houses, and maps from 1893 And then, in early October, as a succes- used to be because of sea level rise due and 1912 show the coastline unchanged. sion of low pressure systems moved to global warming. But the third rea- But a 1927 map shows the land behind slowly up the coast, the north parking lot son the parking lot in particular is so those houses extended much further repeatedly turned into what some wags vulnerable is that it is part of the land into the river. When Parelli Park was took to calling Sanders Lake in honor of that used to belong to the Hudson. constructed in 1980 , the land was built the Village’s mayor. It was back to busi- Below is a picture of Piermont taken up to be level with the property to the ness almost as usual for Piermont whose from somewhere near the north edge south, protecting from flooding the low romance with its tidal river is the story of what is now Flywheel Park, show- lying areas behind it (now the commu- of an evolving coastline, a coastline that ing children swimming in a bay now nity garden and the parking lot) except has in the past been pushed out into the occupied by the Community garden, when the river, moving back into what river by a lust for additional solid land Parelli Park and the parking lot. The was once its territory, poured over the and is now with increasing frequency Mercurio house at 563 Piermont Ave- boardwalk or into the outlet from the being pushed back into the community nue, the house in which Anna Hickey storm drains and back onto the former by the rising tides. and her siblings grew up is right in the river bank. The river has a long history The repeated arrival of tides in the middle of the picture with the now- continued on page 12

Piermont, circa 1930. Children swimming at the current site of Parelli Park, the Community Garden, and parking lot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

President’s Corner Let’s preserve downtown We think the first area the Trust- shopping mall. Piemont for future generations! ees should designate is the one block Fortunately, it didn’t happen. If it That may soon be possible because stretch that most Piermonters call had, downtown Piermont would be a the Village Board is again about to Main Street. (It is actually Piermont totally charmless place. Instead, those tackle the red-hot topic of historic pres- Avenue between Ash Street and Tate empty stores and apartments over ervation. The last time around Pier- Avenue.)That block, especially its west them all have tenants. Our Main Street monters rose up and shouted no. Now side, defines our lovely little village is alive with tourists and residents the Board is planning a much more more than any other single stretch. every weekend. Imagine how different modest 2.0 Version. That unique mix of 19th and early it would have been. On the first go around people feared 20th century buildings is the heart of No one is likely to do that to Main —with some justification—that if their Piermont. Unbelievably, we almost lost Street today but an ambitious restaura- homes were in an historic district they them all in the 1960s. Those were the teur might come in and buy a number might eventually have a problem. They days when President Lyndon Johnson of buildings, rip them down and build worried that they would have to satisfy and his Great Society were handing out a large restaurant. A retailer could the demands of an elitist Historic Pres- generous grants to municipalities that make a similar move. Likely? No. Pos- ervation Board before they could make wanted to rip down blighted buildings sible? Sure. changes to their homes. and replace them with new structures. If the Village Board designates Main This time only a very few parts of Main Street’s buildings were in sad Street as an historic district, we can be Piermont would be historic zones. The state. Most of the stores were empty. sure that Piermont will retain its unique law would stop owners in those areas Almost all of the structures needed flavor and charm for future generations from tearing down their buildings. It major work. Our Mayor at the time to enjoy. That’s what historic preserva- has no other restrictions and adds no wanted to take a wrecking ball to all of tion is all about, isn’t it? special boards. it and build what we today call a strip ~Bob Samuels

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The Newsletter is published three times a year by the Piermont Civic Association, Box 454, Piermont, NY 10968 */45"--"5*0/4t-*()5*/(t*33*("5*0/t450/&803, '6--:-*$&/4&%"/%*/463&% Editor: Margaret Grace 845-359-8884 Contributors to this issue: Fred Burrell, Ron ARBOR HILL GARDEN CENTER OF SPARKILL "/% Derven, Susan Freiman, Joan Gussow, Grace FLORAL EXPRESSIONS, FORMERLY OF TAPPAN )"7&/08 Mitchell, Bob Samuels, Marjorie Smith +0*/&%50(&5)&3*/0/&-0$"5*0/"5 ."*/453&&541"3,*-- /: Advertising: Charlene and Dick Stern 5)&$0.*/(50(&5)&30'5)&4&'".*-:08/&%"/%01&3"5&% #64*/&44&4)"4#&&/&953&.&-:8&--3&$&*7&%#:5)&-0$"-$0..6/*5: (845) 359-0032 8&-00,'038"3%50$0/5*/6&%(3085)"/%&9&.1-"3:4&37*$&

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Piermont Considers Check Valve For North Parking Lot To Control Flooding he village is considering the installation of a large, caded down Ash Street, across Piermont Avenue and into expensive check valve to alleviate the flooding that the parking lot, the check-valve would open and release that occurs during very high tides and storm surges in water immediately or as the tide receded. TPiermont’s North Parking Lot. Piermont Mayor Chris Sand- When the North Parking Lot was originally constructed, ers is skeptical. “I am not opposed to the installation of the the village anticipated that it would occasionally flood. “We valve in the North Parking Lot but I am concerned about had no illusion that we were going to overcome nature, its cost and effectiveness,” said Mayor Sanders. “We put in none at all,” said the mayor. “We wanted to mitigate flood- a check valve on Bridge Street behind the post office when ing as much as possible but we knew we were not going to we rebuilt it and the street still floods.” Critics say that this stop it. When the parking lot was finished, a new outflow flooding has little to do with the valve. They point out that drainage line was installed to handle the surface water on the retaining wall on this part of the Sparkill Creek is just too the lot. That line drains all of the water from Ash Street and low and the water comes over it. areas on lower Piermont Ave as well.” “My biggest concern,” the Mayor continued, “is that we Although the mayor is unwilling to pay for the valve out will spend the money to put in a valve in the North Parking of village funds, Piermont has submitted a grant applica- Lot and that there will still be flooding.” tion for money to purchase and install the valve. Should that The Bridge Street valve cost between $9,000- and $10,000. grant be approved, the village would go forward with the The North Parking Lot is a much larger area so a check valve installation. constructed there would be more costly—perhaps more than The mayor said that there are discussions underway at the double the price of the Bridge Street installation. village level about what to do about high tides and flooding This check valve would prevent the inflow of water looking out 20 years. “We must come up with a 20-year plan through the mechanism when there is an abnormally high but this requires more than talking, it requires action. We tide, even though water would probably seep into the lot need to look at the infrastructure improvements that will be through a variety of cracks and crevices in the ground. needed and at what cost. This infrastructure is likely to be Meanwhile, when the tide recedes, the valve would auto- far more costly than the village can afford. Perhaps we need matically open and quickly drain any water in the parking to consider a regional solution to the problem.” lot. Similarly, if there were a large rain storm and water cas- ~Ron Derven

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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bob And Rosemary Cone The Cones developed a deep interest in the community. Bob was one of the founders of the Piermont Civic Associa- tion and the first editor of the Piermont Newsletter. The PCA volunteers planted trees along the west side of Piermont Avenue. They raised money and put up a gazebo and jungle gyms, turning Kane Park into a child-welcoming oasis. Bob was responsible for organizing the Bluegrass Festivals, pop- ular for many years. Bob ran his advertising agency in for 20 years. but then developed a curiosity about photographic chem- istry. He was not a chemist by education, but by reading books, looking up patents in the NY Public Library and experimenting with many trial by error samples, he for- mulated a group of photographic products, which he then started to manufacture on premises in Piermont. He called his company Rockland Colloid. One product, called Liquid Light, is a photographic emulsion that can be painted on most any surface. It is used by many innovative photogra- phers, and forms the image of the largest photograph ever made, in an airplane hangar in California. The Cones at the Griffith Observatory in LA, tracking their Rosemary managed the financial and distribution ends. place under the stars. They made their mom-and-pop endeavor into an international fter more than 40 years in Piermont, Bob and Rose- business with clients ranged from Reikjavic, Iceland to Mel- mary Cone have moved away. They sold their house bourne, Australia. In recent years, they’ve turned over more on Franklin Street in September and have hit the open and more of the business to their son, Robert, who conducts the Aroad with the goal of visiting their children on the west coast manufacturing operation in Oregon. this fall and finding a way to keep warm during the winter. The Cones have been interested in growing plants, rang- “It’s an adventure, better than sitting home,” said Bob. After ing from mushrooms to orchids in a greenhouse Bob built on driving across the , they stayed in Oregon with the south side of their house on Franklin Street, which they their son, Robert and his wife Loretta, who had brought the bought in 1976. They were active farmers in the Piermont Cones their first grandchild, Autumn, earlier this year. They community garden. Rosemary became a master gardener have continued by travelling to visit their daughter, Maggie, accredited by the Cornell Cooperative. in Los Angeles and friends in Arizona. Later they will figure Bob was in the horse cavalry (really) during the late days out where to settle down-- at least temporarily. of WWII where he was taught Morse code. He was one of Bob and Rosemary have been married for 58 years. He the first GI’s in Japan after the war. He later became a ham hails from Cincinnati; she from Miami. After graduating radio operator and with a more modern technology learned from the University of Cincinnati as an English major, Bob HTML to put his business ads on line. A whiz at crossword came to New York and opened an advertising agency. He met puzzles, He enjoys anagrams as a language sport. He named Rosemary in Greenwich Village and they married there. his 39-foot Pierson sailboat Anagram. Bob and Rosemary The Cones bought their first house on Hudson Terrace in spent many winters sailing in the Bahamas. They came in 1962, when Piermont was a factory town with ten bars and second in a race from St. Petersburg, to Havana. few civic graces. “We bought the house without realizing Bob’s ability to figure out the concept of a project and then they had a smoke-belching factory down the hill,” Rose- make it work is remarkable This skill was challenged when mary said. Later they would move to Franklin Street, where Anagram sank at anchor in a Bahamas harbor. The boat, unin- they lived for 38 years. continued on page 12

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Double Ad vertical.indd 1 3/3/09 2:07:42 PM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From The Library ow much did you spend on renewed. They must be returned to our vice which helps provide greater access your last trip to a major New library. Families and individuals can to the major museums for members of York City museum? Fifty dol- check out one pass at a time, and the our community. Hlars? A hundred?? Or more? Now the passes can be held up to one hour in library can help you with that by pro- advance if you call ahead. A late fee of UPCOMING EVENTS viding free passes to several of the $1/day will be charged to the borrower Our Annual Gift of Art Show and museums. if the pass is not returned on time. Sale opened on Sunday, December 5, Museums presently participating Benefits vary from place to place, but with a lovely reception, and will con- are the Guggenheim, Intrepid, Ameri- typically include free general admis- tinue throughout the month. Please can Museum of Natural History and sion for a specific number of adults and stop by and have a look if you get a the Museum of the City of New York. children (as many as six people total!) chance. Many of our fine Piermont area Passes are available to adult (18 years plus discounts on gift shop and res- artists are included, showing pieces or older) Piermont and Palisades taurant purchases as well as programs that are the right size and price to be Library patrons in good standing. A and special shows. Patrons have been considered for holiday giving. A per- current library card is required to check delighted with them, regaling us with centage of all sales will go to help sup- them out and should be taken with you stories of significant savings and the port the library’s programming budget in case the museum also wants to see pleasure of bypassing long ticket lines for the coming year it. Passes can be borrowed for a period We thank the Friends of the Piermont Make sure to put Sunday, Decem- of three days and cannot be reserved or Library for funding this valuable ser- ber 12, at 2 p.m., on your calendar

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for a special Meet the Author program in the Room on Sunday, gies to cope with a changing climate with Piermont’s own Joan Gussow, March 20 (snow date March 27) from 3 and dynamic, rising waterfront. The often referred to as the matriarch of to 5 p.m. This program will explore the goal is to make communities less vul- the locavore movement, who will talk impact of the rising sea level on Pier- nerable by smart planning, so they can to us about her new memoir, Growing, mont. maintain a healthy relation to the rising Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Putting the issue into an histori- river and enjoy a safe, sustainable, and Vegetables. cal context, Klaus Jacob writes; “Long prosperous future.” Growing, Older begins when Gussow before there was a Village of Piermont, Don’t miss the opportunity to learn loses her husband of forty years to cancer Tappan Indians were fishing and living about our future prospects from this Without a partner, she continues grow- along the shores of the Hudson River, distinguished panel! ing her own year-round diet-while its mean water elevation being some bucking popular notions of how ‘an 3 feet lower than today. In the seven- IN THE GALLERY elderly widowed woman’ should teenth century, the first land patents Black and white photographs by behave. Gussow’s garden becomes were granted to European settlers. Set- Roger Pellegrini will be featured in the teacher, child, therapist, confidant, and tlers of mostly Dutch origin established gallery during January. friend. on the “Slote” (lower Sparkill) a ship Roger Pellegrini was born in New Gussow, in her curious and wryly landing for trade between New York, York City in 1948. Both his father and unflinching manner, uncovers themes the prospering Hudson River Valley, mother were freelance commercial pho- of self-reliance and self-restraint, yield- and the Sparkill’s fertile hinterland in tographers and one of his earliest mem- ing to necessity, and coming to terms what became the NY/NJ state border ories was the red glow of a safe-light in with the realities of the natural world.” region. When the foundations of the the small apartment kitchen on Perry —Chelsea Green Publishers. A found- Onderdonk House were laid (ca. 1738), Street that his parents had converted to ing member of Piermont’s Commu- the water level of the Hudson was more a darkroom. During the 1950’s and 60’s nity Garden, Joan has helped lots of than 2 feet lower than it is today.” Pier- Pellegrini slowly learned all aspects of Piermonters discover the joys of home mont became incorporated as a Village commercial photography, later work- grown food and community spirit. This in 1850,. and as its population and uses ing for other commercial photogra- summer, Joan and her upcoming book changed over the succeeding years, so phers as a professional printer and stu- were profiled in an extensive article did the waterfront and building stock, dio manager. Pellegrini also learned to in the New York Times (http://www. largely unaware of the rising tides. build studio space. During the 1970’s, nytimes.com/2010/08/19/garden/ Between 1856 and now, sea level -- and he and his wife Maureen became part 19garden.html with it the Hudson—has risen by 16.8 of the urban pioneer movement that We’ll try to have a good supply on inches (1.4 feet), as measured by the converted unused commercial space hand – just in time for the holidays! tide gauge at NYC’s Battery Park. south of Canal Street (now known as Sea level will rise, at an accelerating Tribeca) into artists’ lofts. This interest Piermont and the Rising Hudson – rate, another 2 to 4 feet by the end of led them to Piermont where, in 1976, An Informative Panel Discussion, fea- this century, and even faster thereafter, they purchased The Silk Mill on the turing panelists Klaus Jacob of Lamont- all because of global warming. Sparkill Creek and converted it to loft Doherty Earth Observatory, a Piermont How will Piermont survive this spaces over a period of ten years. resident who has organized the discus- onslaught? This panel will provide Pellegrini’s; interest in Photography sion, as well as William Ryan, also of some scientific, historic, and environ- itself never waned and he has contin- Lamont-Doherty, Sacha Spector of Sce- mental (climate science) background, ued to photograph and print his own nic Hudson, and Kristin Marcell, of the as a basis for future considerations work through the years. He has little New York State Department of Envi- about how river communities can to say about his own work, believing ronmental Conservation, will be held develop effective adaptation strate- continued on next page

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From The Library continued from previous page that art in general is over-analyzed. As itself to me.” him have been left as they were the day he understands it, “When it’s good, Daniel Kazimierski has exhibited they were shut down or deserted. Each there’s nothing much to say. A good his work in numerous solo and group abandoned site has a past, an unknown photograph is its own reward and will shows in the Americas and Europe. His span of history filled with pleasant and silence your mind for a moment.” work is in many private and public col- some rather unpleasant memories. In February, we are pleased to fea- lections. He taught photography and Farrell’s photographs honor and doc- ture Lens-Less Photographs: Pinhole filmmaking at New York University, ument those mostly forgotten places Camera Images by Daniel Kazim- International Center of Photography, and offer them a second chance to be ierski. About his work, Kazimierski and other colleges and universities, remembered. writes: “For the past 27 years, I have and led workshops in historical pho- been working almost exclusively with tographic printing processes .Presently Christopher Farrell, a lifelong resi- a lens-less apparatus. I have always he is Head of the Photography Depart- dent of Rockland County, is a graduate been attracted by the intuitive way one ment at Trevor Day School in Manhat- of SUNY New Paltz with a degree in comes to use what is essentially a cam- tan. He and his wife, artist Page Simon, Photography who works as a freelance era obscura: there is no viewfinder, no are Piermont residents. photographer. shutter, nor any other controls. Through Kazimierski will host an opening An opening reception for the exhibit the years, I have built many cardboard reception for the exhibit on Sunday, will be held on Sunday, March 6, from 2 and wooden cameras, all of them fit- February 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. All wel- to 4 p.m. Again all are welcome! ted with a tiny aperture made by drill- come! ing a sewing needle into a thin piece of In March we will show ABAN- FIRST FRIDAY FILM SERIES brass. Only a small piece of black tape DONED: photographs by Christo- January: The Kite Runner (2007) – functions as a shutter. Giving myself pher Farrell. Since the day he explored Friday, January 7, at 7:30 pm. A heart- over to an unpredictable result, I point his first abandoned building, Christo- wrenching tale of lost friendship and the camera, uncover the aperture, and pher Farrell of Sparkill has been fasci- redemption, The Kite Runner well allow the camera to absorb the image. nated by the myriad of questions that serves Khaled Hossieni’s best-selling Exposures are lengthy, and I cherish each one raises: how did the building 2003 novel set against the repeated the quiet, meditative moments while end up this way? Will it ever again be traumas of Afghanistan (from the 1978 the image is formed. Only later on, as it was? Many of the abandoned hos- Soviet invasion to the Taliban takeover). in the darkroom, that image presents pitals, factories, or houses that interest It also boasts one of the best perfor-

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Half Page ADS.indd 1 4/7/09 1:30:03 PM  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ mances by a child actor (Ahmad Khan terpiece? This biting and tragic satire Mahmoodzada), you will ever see. set in an opulent country home over Directed by Marc Forster, also starring a weekend, captures the frenetic emo- Winter Reminders From Homayoun Ershadim, Khalid Abdalla, tions of France on the cusp of World Piermont’s Department Zekiria Ebrahimi, The Kite Runner is a War II. This film was recently given a stunningly beautiful film whose main spectacular restoration and rerelease. If Of Public Works protagonists you will not soon forget. you love cinema, you simply must not February: Defending Your Life (1991) miss this rare screening of one of the With the winter months upon us -- Friday, February 4, at 7:30 p.m. A near- most influential films ever! we would like to remind Village perfect comedy about the Just-Afterlife, All films are FREE and introduced residents to not throw snow from filled with mild jokes and visual gags, by Marc Farre, who hosts a lively dis- their driveways or walkways onto yet leavened with sly profundity. Direc- cussion afterward. the streets or sidewalks as it could tor Albert Brooks plays a yuppie who is Our popular Toddler Storytime refreeze and may cause injuries or killed in a car accident and goes to Judg- will continue on Mondays at 11 a.m., accidents to both pedestrians and ment City, a kind of post-death waiting and Moon River Music Together drivers. room where he, along with thousands with Catherine will meet on the third of others, are subjected to a trial (com- Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. Also, if you have a fire hydrant plete with prosecutor, defense attor- Both are lots of fun and provide a good in front of your house you can help ney and judges) to see if he is worthy way for young children and their care- the Fire Department by clearing to advance to the next stage – or con- givers to meet one another and learn the snow from around the front demned to return to another dreary life about the library. and sides of the hydrant. on earth. Co-starring Meryl Streep, Rip The library is open Monday through Torn, Lee Grant, Buck Henry and even Thursday, 10-8 p.m.; Friday, 12-5 p.m., After the holidays our crew will Shirley MacLaine! and Saturday, 12-4 p.m., and is closed be picking up Christmas Trees on March: La Règle du Jeu (The Rules Sundays except for special programs. Tuesday January 4th and Tuesday of the Game) (1939) – Friday, March For more information, please call 359- January 18th as part of our tree 4, at 7:30 p. Widely considered one of 4595. recycling program. the two or three greatest ever made, ~Grace Mitchell and French director Jean Renoir’s mas-

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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trustee Gussow Makes Her Case Editor’s note: Joan Gussow won re- Anyway, as far as I could tell from vital: to make sure that whatever election in November to a third term as the minutes, my only unique contribu- change occurs does not make the Vil- Piermont Trustee. When Joan came before tions were: lage lose its special character. the Piermont Democratic Caucus, to ask One: my suggestion that we move And I realized as I read the minutes, to be their candidate, she made a speech, into the post-modern age with a com- that what I had mostly been engaged excerpted here, which so accurately and posting toilet for the skating pond. This in, other than trying to keep asking humorously describes the work of a Trustee idea turned out to be so outrageous difficult questions, was to try to bea in this small village,, that we thought we’d that it would have won an unpopular- useful part of a team that had had to share it with our readers. ity contest, make a lot of difficult—and sometimes And my second, perhaps my most unpopular decisions. “What am I good for that you should important contribution—long ago Our biggest problem this year, of re-elect me?” assigned to me by Fred Devan—is to course, was the budget. Which was “…since I began my professional offer the motion to adjourn Board meet- universally unpopular. life as a Time Magazine researcher, I ings. Chris counts on me so much that I’ll say no more about it other than decided to do my homework by look- when I missed a meeting a few weeks to point out once again that with all of ing through the minutes of the meet- ago, he said he considered calling me us working very hard to cut the bud- ings of the last two years to see what on his Blackberry to see if I could move get to the bone we managed to increase I had done. for adjournment from home. spending scarcely at all that we kept Now, as those very few of you who But seriously, I believe that most of expenses down while giving employ- come regularly to board meetings us who live in Piermont think we are ees a small raise—by cutting our own know, they are not always a barrel of privileged, that it is a very special place. salaries. And that the reason taxes went fun; they are often long and sometimes And because it’s a special place—not a up was because the recession drasti- they’re even hostile. suburb, but a real village, very close to cally reduced our income from the And if you think they’re demand- —it is vitally important State, something over which we had ing to sit through, just try reading to keep it that way, despite all the pres- no control. through the minutes where even the sures for change popularity brings. None of us is happy with the result. few moments of levity and hostility are Of all our responsibilities on the But those of us on the board worked very missing! board, that’s the one I consider most hard to make it as good as possible.

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The second big thing that I worked problems turned up when our new build- stepped slowly and gingerly; we were on closely was the completion of the ing inspector began trying to enforce our not happy doing it, but we did it. That’s north parking lot. village code and discovered we couldn’t what you put us in office to do. Now there are some of us who rather give new Certificates of Occupancy Finally, to end on a happy note. like having parts of Piermont scruffy. because stores on Main Street could not Most people who have lived in the vil- And the North parking lot met a lot of supply the off-street parking required by lage for any length of time worried a our scruffiness needs. But it really wasn’t the code. We haven’t finished, but we’re lot about what would happen when Al functional—and it flooded regularly. getting there. Bartley, the always dependable head of However, the first plan for it had Another contentious issue the board the DPW decided to retire. And when parking jammed in everywhere—it worked on was setting up a fee sched- he did, there was a lot of worry about would have held almost twice as many ule for events that took place in the how we could possibly replace him. cars as are there now. And despite the Village and required street closings or As a member of the Board that need for parking, we felt it important— extra police and DPW attention—i.e. decided to entrust Tom Temple with in maintaining the character of the vil- taxpayer money. that heavy load, I am very proud. He lage—that the lot not end up looking This one looked for a while as if it has done a remarkable job filling giant like a Wal-Mart parking lot. So Chris would defeat us. But it’s now in place shoes, managing his crew perfectly and I spent a morning in my living and functioning well. through floods and snowstorms and room relaying it out and most of our Then, we had finally to resolve the everything else nature could throw at ideas survived relatively intact. fate of the Playgroup which had a long him. Thank you Tom for making the So it’s now paved, and by next history in the village and for some Board that appointed you look good. month will be planted with handsome people a loving one. How do you end So being a trustee is about being on grasses, by volunteers. a program for little children that sim- a team. I am happy to have served on A related activity—a committee on ply won’t pay its rent when the law the team that accomplished these and which I sit as a board member has been requires that village-owned properties other often difficult tasks, and I would struggling with setting a parking policy cannot allow free use of their facilities ask you to allow me to continue to for the entire town—trying to resolve by a profit-making enterprise? We all serve. Thank you.” Joan Gussow

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11 Double Ad vertical.indd 4 7/15/09 1:00:04 PM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sea Level Rise continued from page 1 Bob And Rosemary Cone continued from page 4 here. Test borings in the old parking lot taken when prepara- sured, was restored from electronics to settee cushions by tions to build the library were going forward found river-edge Bob and Rosemary. It sailed again for many years. peat moss more than 100 feet down. Bob is willing to take chances in life more than most According to Dr. Klaus Jacob, Piermont’s resident expert on sea people. They have had a lot of good fortune, a large part level rise, the river was about 2 feet lower than it is today when of which was their marriage. While most of us settle our the foundations of the Onderdonk House were laid around 1738; lives within the coverage of our insurance policies. Bob present forecasts are that after rising at the rate of about a foot a and Rosemary have made adventure a policy of their lives. century, sea level rise will accelerate well beyond that, adding As Bob said, “Most of us have a lot more freedom than we another two to four feet to its present level by the end of our own use.” century, a figure that does not count the often two foot higher ~Fred Burrell tides caused by storm surges. Where will that put the coastline? No serious investigation of that question has been carried out. However, no Piermont resident who ventures out during one of our significant weather events needs to be told that the combination of rising waters and more intense rainstorms already causes serious flooding, not only in the north parking lot and its environs, but along the tidal portions of the Sparkill Creek, most notably in Bogertown whose streets flood as often as twenty times a year. And there is simply no avoiding the fact that things are going to get worse. The issue is what should be done, and by whom? Fortunately, in just a few months, we’ll have a chance to learn more of the facts from the experts and carefully examine some of the options. On March 20 from 3-5 p.m. the Library will host a panel discussion on the topic “Piermont and the Rising Hudson,” organized by Dr. Jacob and featuring experts from Lamont, Scenic Hudson and the State Department of Envi- ronmental Conservation. The panelists will lay out what will confront this historic waterfront community and what options exist for what Dr. Jacob calls “progressive adaptation” (for more program details, see “From The Library”, this issue.) What the panel hopes to do is encourage the village as a whole to engage in thoughtful, forward looking planning, working to “develop effective adaptation strategies” that will make the community less vulnerable. Save the date! glaze Xf!pggfs!qbjou!zpvs!pxo qpuufsz-!nptbjdt-!qbsujft! '!tqfdjbm!fwfout/

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Reader’s Write “Can’t Piermont Do Better?” Most of us take pride in the fact that we live in a visu- ally attractive village. For this reason, I have been puzzled about why nothing has been done to improve the appearance of the small bridge over the Sparkill Creek (the one next to the Silk Mill apartments and Canzona’s market). My understanding is that the bridge had to be made one-way because it could not safely hold the weight of two vehicles going in opposite directions at the same time. To enforce this restriction, numerous orange and white plastic tubs have been placed around the edge of the bridge. These tubs, which have been in place for several years, are quite unsightly, as anyone who passes this way on car, foot, or bicycle can attest. It is also my understanding that the village has no present expectation of being able to repair the bridge to enable it to carry two-way traffic again, lacking the funds to do so. That Rockland Road Bridge. Photo by Fred Burrel being so, wouldn’t it be sensible to replace the plastic tubs with planters and other landscaping that would enforce the serve as a model). If necessary, I bet that village residents same single lane set-up? would chip in to help make this happen–I know I would! Piermont is fortunate to have not only an excellent DPW Perhaps if others besides myself let the village board department, but also a resident landscaper, Dan Sherman, know that they think this eyesore should be remedied, the who has said that he would help with this effort if the village’s board will decide to take action government gave him the go ahead (the bridge just south of Marjorie Smith the post office has several attractive planters on it that could

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14 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Piermont Votes iermont has 1823 registered voters: 968 Democrats, 348 Republicans, 86 Independence Party. 10 Conservative Party, 3 Working Families Party, 7 Green Party, and 401 Pvoters with no party listed. Of Piermont’s registered voters, 1650 vote on a regular basis. How did Piermont vote in this year’s election? 994 of us voted. Looking at just the votes in the governor’s race, we voted 717 for Cuomo, 237 for Paladino, and 21 for other candi- dates. How about 2008 Presidential Race? 1387 Piermonters voted. 944 for Obama/Biden, 417 for McCain/Palin, and other candidates shared 15 votes. Now, how about the 1980 Presidential Race? Piermont was still NEW ADS to size.indd 2 2/27/09 1:57:56a factory PM town. 962 Piermonters voted. 422 for Carter/Mondale, 384 for Regan/Bush, and 98 for Anderson/Lucey. 210 Ash Street What a year ’80 was, with John Anderson’s Libertarian Piermont, NY 10968 party on the ballot, and Angela Davis running as a vice-pres- idential candidate on the Communist line. 845-398-2433 The Rockland County Board of Election has lots of fasci- nating data on its website. http://www.co.rockland.ny.us/ BOE/ElectionResults.htm 5IF*DF$SFBN4UPSFXJUI4P.VDI.PSF Piermont voting records are listed for Piermont’s two elec- tion districts—Orangetown Election Districts 1 and 33. ~Margaret Grace

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