[FREE] Serving Philipstown and Beacon Unhittable Page 24 APRIL 26, 2019 161 MAIN ST., COLD SPRING, N.Y. | highlandscurrent.org Metro-North Raises Fares Increases all Highlands tolls except weekly and monthly from Beacon By Chip Rowe etro-North increased its fares on Sunday (April 21), including M those for passengers on trains that stop in the Highlands on their way to and from Grand Central Station. Another hike is expected in 2021. The increase was approved on Feb. 27 by the Metropolitan Transportation Author- ity board by a 12-2 vote. Neal Zuckerman, a Garrison resident who represents Putnam County on the board, voted “yes” but expressed concern for Hudson Line riders, noting they are among Metro-North’s best customers in terms of what they pay. (The representatives for Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties have one collective vote on the board, but the Dutchess and Rockland seats are vacant.) SWEET SURPRISE — A young seeker checks for treasure during the annual Easter egg hunt at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Garrison on April 21. Photo by Ross Corsair (Continued on Page 5) Does Cold Spring Need Another Traffic Light? Challenge Plus, tire marking by police “It’s a dangerous situation.” the state Department of Transportation, The village currently has only one signal, at which has jurisdiction over Route 9D, for Haldane ruled unconstitutional the intersection of Route 9D and Main Street, and was told that a traffic study would about three blocks north of Chestnut Ridge. have to be conducted before a light could Board Seats By Michael Turton Corey said she spoke with officials from (Continued on Page 6) Garrison has two ena Corey wants to see red — the bright red of a traffic signal she candidates for two spots R says is desperately needed in Cold Spring so seniors can safely cross Route 9D By Chip Rowe for postal, medical and other services offered at the Butterfield redevelopment project. chool district voters in Cold Spring and Corey, who is one of more than 60 residents Garrison will go to the polls on May 21 of the Chestnut Ridge apartment complex S to elect Board of Education trustees across from the project, addressed the Cold and consider proposed budgets for 2019-20. Spring Village Board at its April 23 meet- There are three candidates for two open ing, pointing out that while a light has been seats on the Haldane school board and discussed for years, “now we have a medi- two candidates for two seats in Garrison. cal center, a [county] Friendship Center and At Haldane, Jennifer Daly is seeking a post office” at Butterfield. “I don’t dare her third, 3-year term on the five-member cross 9D to get to any of those buildings; it is board, while Laura O’Connell and Sean impossible to cross that street.” McNall are newcomers. Laura Hammond, North and southbound traffic combined who was appointed to the board in 2015 with vehicles entering and leaving Butter- and elected to a full term in 2016, is not Rena Corey at the April 23 Village Board meeting Photo by M. Turton field create “a menace” according to Corey. (Continued on Page 8) 2 APRIL 26, 2019 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.org FIVE QUESTIONS: T.C. BOYLE By Brian PJ Cronin .C. Boyle is the author of 16 novels, psychedelics were being used in psychiatry have easily gone into writing scripts and including World’s End (1987), which again. I thought I should write a book set making all sorts of money, and I’ve been peti- is set in the Hudson Valley and won between 1962 and 1964 when psychologists tioned to do that since I first came to Los By Michael Turton T like Timothy Leary were letting this psycho- Angeles. But what I’m interested in is the joy the PEN/Faulkner Award for the best novel of the year, and The Road to Wellville active drug get out of the lab. of literature. It’s my life. I inherited the culture, (1993). The Peekskill native When I read your books, it and I want to pass it on down. What driving habits get will be honored on May 3 by seems like you are having There’s a rumor that you used to under your skin? the Desmond-Fish Library fun. Are you? live in the gatehouse of the Osborn at its annual dinner. I’m glad it appears that way. All Castle in Garrison. True? Your latest novel, writers must struggle to get into Yes! It was the last house we lived in Outside Looking In, is the unconscious place where the before we moved to Iowa for the Iowa Writ- When I’m on my about the early days of miracle happens and the narra- ers’ Workshop. There was no longer a gate LSD. What inspired it? tive progresses. Some days I get to open, just Osborn going up and down bike, drivers who I wrote Drop City [a final- there, some days I don’t. It is a to and from the castle in his Mercedes- ist for the 2003 National Book kind of a high, to create art. But, Benz while our raggedy dogs chased at his don’t signal. Award] about the high hippie as with any drug, once the high wheels. We had entry to all that property. times of the late ’60s, of which I is gone, you crash. So Those hills around and in back of the castle, have some personal knowl- on the good days, those trails, are still magical to me. edge, and I always I am having fun. What is it like returning to wondered how we You’ve Peekskill? got to those times written about I come back frequently. It’s my home and from martinis the influence my heart. My closest and oldest friend still and cigarettes. that writing lives there in his boyhood home that we’ve Meanwhile, teachers had played in since he was three-and-a-half after I finished on you. Is years old. My son, serendipitously enough, The Terranauts that why you now lives in Hastings. What I do is rent [2016], I read teach at USC, a car, go to Fahnestock and hike the old all these arti- T.C. Boyle to repay that trails and then drive around Peekskill and cles about USC photo debt? Putnam Valley, muttering to myself with ~ Mark Roland, Beacon how LSD One hundred tears streaming down my cheeks. and other percent. I could Tailgating is a serious one and people do it a lot here in New York. ~ Christina Metrailer, Beacon Lack of patience, disregard for pedestrians SUPPORT and speeding. DONATE TODAY AT: highlandscurrent.org/ support Highlands Current, Inc., has tax-exempt status as a federal 501(c)(3) enterprise, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. ~ Ed Currelley, Cold Spring highlandscurrent.org The Highlands Current APRIL 26, 2019 3 NEWS BRIEFS J. Carlos year. It is only the second CCA formed in the Salcedo From Beacon to Newburgh state, after one in Westchester. outside the Ali Muhammad on ballot for mayor building at 3691 Route 9 ormer Beacon City Council Member Wanted: Climate in Philipstown F Ali Muhammad will be on the ballot Coordinator that county in November as the Independence Party development candidate for Newburgh mayor, but he City looking for part-time employee officials hoped was unable to force a June 25 Democratic to transform he City of Beacon is looking for a part- primary with incumbent Torrance Harvey. into an time employee to manage its Climate The Orange County Board of Elections T international Smart Communities program. According last week upheld Harvey’s objection to business to a job listing posted at cityofbeacon.org, Muhammad’s Democratic nominating "accelerator" the position will require 30 hours per month File photo by petition, disqualifying 117 of its 341 signa- coordinating volunteers and looking for Michael Turton tures. A candidate needed 259 signatures energy savings within municipal operations. from registered party members. County officials told the City Council At the same time, the board rejected earlier this year that Beacon would benefit Harvey’s objection to Muhammad’s Inde- from hiring a person to manage the efforts pendence Party petition, which required Accelerator Hits the Brakes required to be certified by the state as a 18 valid signatures. Climate Smart Community, which would No Republicans submitted nominating The project was slowed further when qualify the city for a number of grants. The Route 9 business petitions. EDC President Jill Varricchio left the orga- application deadline is May 3. incubator on hold nization in November. She has yet to be Harvey was appointed mayor last year to replaced. (EDC Chairman Richard Weiss complete the term of Judy Kennedy, who could not be reached for comment.) died in April. Muhammad served on the Another Candidate for 18th By Michael Turton Beacon council from 2014 to 2017 before J. Carlos Salcedo, the building’s owner Plans to run as independent n “accelerator” project aimed at and president of Jireh Resources, says he moving to Newburgh. enticing foreign companies to remains optimistic. He is winding down cott Smith, a former member of A invest in Putnam County seems to his business after three decades, which State Funds Clean Energy S the Middletown City Council, has have hit the brakes. will make the building available. Salcedo announced he will challenge Rep. Sean In June, the Putnam County Economic would act as landlord and provide consult- Budget provides $1.4 billion Patrick Maloney for his seat in the U.S.