LATEST VIDEO: Exploring Beacon
The latest in our series of videos from filmmaker Josh Aronson highlights the many aspects of Scenic Hudson's work in Beacon (Dutchess County) by documenting a family's day trip from New York City. Visit our video gallery for more films in the series.
PLANTING SEEDS BLOG: A Saturday in Beacon
At pickup at my son's school, a mother, a recent transport from England, asked about ideas for day trips out of New York City. After listening to the suggestions of apple picking in Connecticut or visiting the beach on Long Island, I could not resist putting in my plug for a trip up along the Hudson.
Having just spent the day myself in Beacon, I rattled off a few stops from our adventures on the Hudson.
BACKYARD MATTERS: When Thinking INSIDE the Box Makes Sense
Why old factories, empty storefronts and derelict warehouses are the key to the future of cities... and why they too often sit vacant.
In New York's City of Poughkeepsie -- headquarters of Scenic Hudson, the organization I head -- a former department store that sat empty for decades recently was transformed into apartments and offices. A dozen miles down the Hudson River, in the City of Beacon, the thrilling art museum Dia:Beacon, which wows visitors from around the world, fills a former Nabisco box-printing factory.
Why am I writing about old buildings? Because they're excellent examples of adaptive reuse -- rejuvenating existing structures for new purposes -- and in addition to revitalizing downtowns, such projects benefit the environment. They relieve development pressure on forests that offer recreation and sequester carbon, and on working farms supplying fresh local produce. They also lower the natural resources consumed by construction -- 35 billion board feet of lumber annually alone.
This once-derilect box factory is now the site of one of the world's foremost contemporary art museums.
Ned and Tara Sullivan Honored
Tara and Ned Sullivan (center) enjoying the Hudson with daughter Annie (left)
At its 50th-anniversary celebration on Nov. 15, the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum in Cornwall, Orange County, honored Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan and his wife, Tara, for devoting their lives -- as activists, government officials and environmental leaders -- to ensuring people will always enjoy the Hudson River's natural treasures. The event, held at the Powelton Club in Newburgh, also feted the convergence of the couple's careers in 2009, as Tara has served as executive director of the Quadricentennial and Ned is spearheading Scenic Hudson's 400th legacy initiative to Save the Land That Matters Most. Sen. Charles Schumer and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey served as honorary co-chairs of the event.
The museum's Outdoor Discovery Center is located at Kenridge Farm. Scenic Hudson prevented the potential development of this historic 178-acre property in 1993
The Scenic Hudson Decision Lives On
Our successful battle to block the proposed hydroelectric plant on Storm King Mountain led to the 1965 "Scenic Hudson Decision."
Over the years, the right of standing, won in the 1965 "Scenic Hudson Decision," has been eroded by court rulings increasingly limiting those eligible to claim harm from a proposed development. But a recent court decision in which Scenic Hudson participated provides a broad new interpretation of standing, while another ruling strongly affirms environmental laws enacted in the wake of the Scenic Hudson Decision. Ned Sullivan's leadership role on a new state panel charged with streamlining the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) also means we'll have a voice in decisions affecting this keystone law essential for safeguarding our natural treasures.
Landmark ruling extends standing
In its Oct. 26 ruling in In the Matter of Save the Pine Bush v. Common Council of the City of Albany, New York's Court of Appeals significantly broadened those who could claim standing to include members of organizations who use, study or enjoy a resource at risk. This landmark decision reversed a lower court ruling (Society of Plastics Industry v. County of Suffolk, 1991) that limited standing to those living near a proposed development. Supported by amicus briefs from Scenic Hudson and other environmental groups, the nonprofit Save the Pine Bush argued that plans to construct a hotel just outside Albany's Pine Bush Preserve would destroy habitats of the endangered Karner blue butterfly and hence the enjoyment of its members, who don't live near the preserve but regularly visit it
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