Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan Press Conference on Coronavirus - 3/8/2020

Video by The Kingston News - YouTube Channel 

“This morning, we were notified by the New York State Health Department that an Ulster County resident has received a ‘presumptive positive’ result for novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This individual recently traveled internationally to France and notified our Health Department that he had symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Upon guidance from our Health Department he drove himself to a hospital where test samples were taken and he was immediately placed into quarantine.

We have been preparing for this contingency for the last several weeks and I am confident in our ability to respond quickly and comprehensively to ensure public health and safety. As a first step, we are activating the Ulster County Emergency Operation Center as well as deploying Health Department staff to focus solely on community mitigation efforts. Public Health officials have already begun interviewing this individual to assess who he may have come into contact with and will notify those individuals. We will continue to update the public to ensure full transparency as the situation develops. Read More

Common Council 3/3/2020 Kingston, NY

Video by The Kingston News link to Agendas & Minutes

Due to COVID-19 and in order to provide safe conditions and continuity for our community, city staff and council members, all Kingston Common Council meetings (that include the monthly caucus, full council and committee meetings) will be held remotely pursuant to Executive Order 202.1 until further notice.

3/13/2020 - City of Kingston Declares a State of Emergency, Mayor Noble Limits Access to Public Buildings 

4/6/2020 - Common Council Meetings Will be Held Via GoToMeeting

Kingston High School MJM Time Capsule Reveal

Video by Kingston City School District - YouTube's Channel 

The Time capsule was found in the cornerstone of the MJM building during its demolition process. The copper box, encased in engraved cement from 1937.

Demolition of old MJM Building 2017

The Myron J. Michael building was built as a junior high school in 1937 to 1938. The demolition is part of a voter-approved $137.5 million renovation and expansion of the high school complex in Midtown  Kingston New York

Andrew Carnegie, Kingston City Library Built 1903

Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo of Kingston City Library; taken on Feb. 21, 2011

The former Kingston City Library building is located on Broadway in the center of Kingston, New York, United States. It is a brick Carnegie library built in 1903 in the Classical Revival architectural style.

It served continuously as the city's library until 1974, when it was closed after a newer library was built in the city's Stockade District. Since then it has been the property of the Kingston City School District, which has used it as the offices for the janitorial department at neighboring Kingston High School. In 1995 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It will soon be renovated into an arts and technology center. Read more.

1890 Civil War monument in front of City Hall Kingston, NY

Daily Freeman >> article by Paul KirBy Dec 20, 2002 

Kingston council approves Civil War monument 

KINGSTON - The Common Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to let a historian establish a monument to local soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

The historian, Olive resident Seward Osborne, has said he will cover the cost of the monument, expected to be in T.R. Gallo Park (formerly West Strand Park) to honor the 20th New York State Militia, a Union regiment whose members hailed from Ulster and Greene counties.

Osborne, who attended Wednesday's council meeting, said the vote by city lawmakers signaled appreciation for the sacrifice the regiment made during the Civil War.

"It says to them that their forebearers care, that there is some real meaning and substance behind their sacrifices and what they gave for these people who voted on this issue," Osborne said.

Alderman Scott DiMicco, R-Ward 1, said the city has taken its history seriously over the years and this is another indication of that commitment.

"We have always been a city that has promoted its past," DiMicco said.

Council Majority Leader Bill Reynolds, D-Ward 7, said it's important for the city to honor the soldiers who "fought in the bloodiest battle in American history."

Minority Leader Robert Senor, R-Ward 8, said the Civil War monument will bring more notice of history to an already-historic part of the city. Senor represents the area where the monument is to be placed.

"I think that it is a blessing to have history out there for the public," Senor said.

Osborne has pushed for the Kingston monument for years but says it was Kingston Civil War historian Walter Witkowski who first suggested the idea to Mayor James Sottile.

Osborne said he need approval by early January in order to get the monument made by the planned dedication date of April 28. It was on that date in 1861 that a throng of well-wishers saw the regiment, known as the Ulster Guard, off from the banks of the Rondout Creek and into war.

About 950 of the soldiers returned from the war 90 days after they left Kingston. They then reorganized in October 1861 and fought in the war until Jan. 29, 1866.

The monument, made of granite, is to be about 5 feet tall, 30 inches wide and 10 inches thick. Osborne is planning an inscription that will read, in part: "The Ulster Guard was one of the top 300 fighting regiments of the Union Army."