March 19 2025, Maura (M) and Ron (R) by Amanda (A)
A: Okay, here we go. I’m here with Maura and Ron, and we are here to talk about
Rosendale and what we value the most, what matters most, what we love about
our town and what we think could make it even better, and what we hope to see
in the future; and why we love it, why we have these hopes. So, tell me, what do you love about our town, Rosendale?
M: Well, I’m from New Paltz originally and Rosendale, just as a local kid, I always found myself in Rosendale. First it was because a lot of my parents’ friends were artists or gay, and felt very comfortable here and there was a lot of creative energy obviously, and then some of the restaurants and bars became little haunts. It’s remained this small tight-knit community that hasn’t allowed for much corporate development, and what I see in a place like New Paltz which is unrecognizable to me now, I just feel like we’re stuck in time. There’s something very simple about all of our daily interactions, like going to the Big Cheese for coffee, going to the post
office. I really like it. I like knowing my neighbors. And I also really like that there isn’t this need or this greed for “more” which lots of places that I once really loved, Woodstock, New Paltz, have become bigger versions of what they once were and no longer appeal to me, and Rosendale, even despite the New York Times trying to exploit us, has managed to hold on to something and I don’t ever want that to change. I can’t at this point be a homeowner here but it’s certainly a place I’d love to own a home because I think it’s something really precious and not really like something you find in a lot of places in America anymore.
A: Thank you so much. That was great.
R: Yeah I think to piggyback off what Maura was alluding to is the sense of community here. You can go just about anywhere and say hello to somebody, start up a conversation. People [are] very open to talking and meeting new people, seeing old friends out and about, and I always say if you want to meet up with somebody that you haven’t seen in a while, go to the post office at 11:30 because they close at noon, everybody’s there between 11:30 and noon on a
Saturday. So go to the post office, you’ll see it’s true. I’m sure people have said this, it’s like Cheers, where everybody knows your name. You can walk in any place that’s local and it
has a sense of community. You know, you’re having a cup of coffee at the Big Cheese,
somebody will come in. You might not know them from a hole in the wall but you’ll start up a conversation and say “Hi” and they’ll be like oh, I haven’t see you around here…you know whether they’re from Brooklyn or from here…and not everybody from Brooklyn is bad! [laughing]
M: That’s right! My dad’s from Brooklyn
A: My mom’s from Brooklyn!
M:…and I went to Brooklyn College.
R: But you know…I know, they buy a place for too much money and they paint the house black but, you know, that happens sometimes. If they stay here long enough they become part of the community. And yeah, it’s nice, it’s comfortable, it’s a slower pace, like Maura was saying about New Paltz and Woodstock, they’re unrecognizable from how they were 20-30 years ago, and now Rosendale…it can’t grow like that. There’s no room for it to grow. So we’re kind of safe here. And I say this to people: Rosendale, the bigger Rosendale – Tillson, Bloomington – it’s had the same population since the 50s. The population of the town is like 6,000 people. That’s what it was then. That’s what it is now. It just can’t grow beyond a certain — there’s no place to develop huge tracts of land and make it, you know, unaffordable housing. I want to see more affordable housing because so many people I know are in danger of losing their place, or not being able to afford to live here. So if there’s…that’s a priority for me, let’s really work on it, and not just give it lip service. More affordability. I used to be a big fan of Airbnbs. Then it got to the
point where like…one person should not own 10 Airbnbs. Have one. Have two, on your property or something like that.
M: I don’t participate in Airbnbs.
R: We need to develop a system where locals can stay here and afford an apartment or
to buy a house, that’s my priority. But anyway, going back – the sense of community is so powerful here, and it’s just – I mean look at this beautiful day. It’s quiet. We’re on the river here. [birds singing in the background]
M: Also the colors of the houses here. I love every single…that house is stunning. Every house on James Street…Main Street is stunning. I really do think that it has this charm and creative spice.
R: And we have the trestle and the Rail Trail and Springtown Road and Joppenbergh. Can’t forget Joppenbergh.
A: No, we can never forget Joppenbergh. It’s always there. Thanks guys. What do you think that we could do even better? You mentioned affordable housing Ron. What else do you think could make Rosendale even better?
M: Two things that drive me crazy pretty regularly. Where are the garbage cans? There’s litter all over all over the place. Dog poop. The municipal aspects. It was something that really drove us crazy as…my parents were homeowners in the town of New Paltz and there were no municipal services provided.
I found that during the winter here in Rosendale, property owners are expected to clear the area of sidewalk in front of their property and a lot of people were not doing that. We had a lot of ice and there was a lack of compliance with that and I think it’s a municipal service that really would benefit the fun of Rosendale in the summer, even in the winter, is the walkability, and if you can’t, or you have some sort of disability, inability to move with total ease, you’re gonna get trapped or you’re gonna have a really hard time walking down the sidewalk, or down your stairs.
There were a lot of houses that were having issues with gutters and it just turned into like ice rinks all over the sidewalks and so yeah, just managing the snow and ice on the sidewalks, I think, is just a no-brainer if you’re paying taxes it should be something that’s allocated for. Same with garbage. The only way to really learn things is to be shown and a lot of people in New York City and other places that are more urban don’t realize what they’re doing sometimes, even as silly as that sounds, littering in New York City is not quite the same, and there’s a mentality and an attitude. Teaching people that are visiting or tourists about the protections and you know conservation of the area is really something that matters to me. I just recently found out that a hunter had gone onto someone’s private property and killed something and then disposed of the organs in the water. Well,that’s not okay, you can’t do stuff like that…of course a wild animal is gonna wind up eating it, probably, but at the same time there’s like a water source that’s been contaminated with potential bacteria and parasites. I’d have concerns around the dog poop and it wouldn’t it wouldn’t hurt to put some garbage cans out.
A: We had some…people used them but then it was unclear who was responsible for emptying them so they just sat there and then they got taken away eventually.
R: I’d like to see some of the…like Willow Kiln Park and the community rec center have more events, you know, summer music concert series on the town property. They seem to be very underutilized. We have a ball field that I seldom see used by the local people. We have a huge gazebo, I mean unless the pool is open in the summer nobody uses that out there.
A: Oh, the pavilion?
R: Yeah – there could be concerts there, there could be activities. The Willow Kiln Park has a stage that’s so underutilized. You know you go to these – I don’t want it to become a touristy town – but you go to other places that might be considered touristy towns and the village green has a concert every night. I don’t care whether it’s a polka band or a rock concert or a quartet, you know, a symphony quartet. Why not have these things? Musicians and artists are willing to play often for no charge, it would be nice if they can get paid, but you know an alternating
concert series in Willow Kiln Park. Not so difficult to do.
A: What are your hopes for Rosendale’s future?
R: More restaurants, more good quality restaurants.
M: I would love to see a used bookstore and/or a record store, somewhere where I could afford some of the clothing. Maybe just like a funky little shop that is affordable and focused, geared towards the people who live here.
R: We need more shops. Local mom and pop shops, not McDonald’s or Applebee’s, real, you know, down home shops. We have a Main Street, supposed to be the backbone, the lifeline of America, not someplace for people to drive through at 70 miles an hour, you know who you are
people! Stop it!
M: I saw somebody drive somebody off [the road]…they like pulled over…
A: On Main Street?
M: Yeah
A: Wow
M: Yeah
A: Yeah it can be a little bit “wild west” scary sometimes. I’ve seen some things.
A: I’d like to see some more of the shops that we have open a little bit more frequently. Some of them are just, you know, part-time…
R: Sometimes they can’t, they’re struggling to…I’d like to see more support from the town government for local shops. They seem to get very little if any support. We have a municipal parking lot. That should be enough to allow a small place to open up without needing additional parking. From the municipal lot you can get to either end of Main Street in a five-minute walk. Other towns do it without parking on your business site, just…that’s why we have a municipal lot. Put some money into that damn thing, make it look a little nicer. Make it more accessible.
A: Thank you guys so much. Do you have anything else to add?
M: I mean I think that you just hit something about the accessibility, that’s, like, what would you do if you had any sort of handicap here?
R: I have one last thing [group laughter] We need more kindness.
M: Aww, Ron, you mushbag. [group laughs]
A: Yes, can you expand on that thought? In what way?
R: I think the local people that live here full-time get it and the weekenders, they just, they don’t always like, say hello. You know, walking down the street you see your neighbor, say hello. I
know you’re not used to it, you’re from New York City, you keep your eyes on the ground…
A: I think that’s part of it, yeah.
R: …tail between your legs, but lighten up! [laughs]
A: So more friendliness.
R: Yeah, but you can’t dictate more friendliness, you can only present it.
A: I think maybe we also need to be a little more welcoming too.
R: Yeah. That couldn’t hurt.
M: They’re probably like “what do people do here?” [Amanda laughs] Right? I mean that’s the best part of Rosendale and also kind of a downfall. It’s so quiet by night.
A: It has gotten quieter at night since the pandemic. Places aren’t open late anymore.
M; I love that.
A: I love it too.
R: It would be interesting to ask these questions to both locals and people who are weekenders.
Ask the locals what they think the weekenders do when they’re not up here and ask the weekenders what they think the locals do. It would be an interesting little experiment in psychology. Because *I* think all the people who come up from the city are, you know, computer nerds, that the rest of the time they just work for some corporation, an anonymous corporation, and I think *they* just think we’re all just vagabonds. [laughter] who somehow hang out at the local place and drink coffee, or we’re crazy artist musicians, and they’re probably right to some
extent, but some of us have real jobs.
A: I would love to see some of the restaurants open later again, because I love that it’s quiet at night but I do miss being able to go out and hear live music you know sometimes like 10 o’clock at night.
R: We need a diner. Anybody want to open up…
M: I do actually! I love that idea!
A: The Truss and Trestle is a diner.
M: Do you remember when it was “32”?
R: Are they open late?
A: I don’t know if they’re open late. I know they’re open at night. I never went to “32” lunch. A greasy spoon right?
M: Oh my god I loved that dump. [laughter]
A: Nostalgia! I like going to Truss and Trestle on the weekend in the morning.
R: I went there today. It was good.
A: It’s good and the staff is friendly. I think we could just keep talking. This is so great though. I do appreciate it. I think that’s good. I’m gonna stop, thank you guys so much!
