I’m hereby launching yet another section of this newsletter called “The Kingstonian.” It’s about various aspects of my life in the Kingston, N.Y. area, along with my impressions of the way the area has changed and is changing, and how I, something of a “pioneer gentrifier,” fit into all of that.
It’s something I’ve been meaning to begin for some time, at least since I discovered, about a decade ago, that my ancestors were here from the 1860s to the 1920s, and that my great-great-great grandparents are buried in a cemetery that’s just a mile walk from my house.
Since this year marks 20 since we moved up in 2005—after losing our East Village apartment—I feel like it’s time to get going on this.
A while ago I declared that I no longer wanted to write about the area I live in—to “💩 where I eat.” But over the past few years, as more New Yorkers have migrated to the Kingston area, and I’ve investigated my ancestral roots here, something has shifted in me. I realize that I have ideas I want to explore and things I want to say.
I suppose the difference is I’m not eager to pursue all of that in a journalistic way, like I used to, which always got me in trouble with my neighbors on all sides of whatever issue I was covering. (And one time led to a town bully calling me on the phone and threatening me.) I want, instead, to pursue this in a memoiristic way. (Which will no doubt also get me into trouble, too. It’s an occupational hazard I suppose I’ve made some amount of peace with after much grappling.)
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Where to begin…I guess I’ll start with now.
Five people so far have texted or emailed me a link to this negative review of Audrey Gelman’s Six Bells Countryside Inn on Main Street in Rosendale, by J Lee in Interview—people who know I lived there from 2005 until 2014 before moving further north to Kingston, and wrote about various aspects of the town for The New York Times, New York Magazine, and other outlets.
I’ve felt somewhat triggered since I learned a year ago that Gelman was buying what was most recently The 1850s House, a boutique hotel, and converting it into a more upscale extension of her new brand, The Six Bells. Given that I still have a soft spot for my crazy old hippie town, I have very mixed feelings about this new venture—a combination of dread, and relief that something with the vague potential to succeed has come in there.
When I first learned of Gelman’s plans, I fully expected the more progressive factions of “The People’s Republic of Rosendale” (as a once popular bumper sticker put it) to share my mixed feelings. Actually, I expected them to oppose the new hotel in any and every way possible.
My expectation was based on what happened nineteen years ago, when a group led by AOL co-founder Steve Case put the wheels in motion for converting the low-frills Williams Lake Resort into what was originally intended to be an exclusive Miraval hotel, spa, and condos, with high-end shops, and a helicopter pad. I wrote about it for the Times in 2007.
The reigning sentiment at the time was “Keep Rosendale weird!” and it bears mentioning that the opposition had a powerful effect. Nearly two decades later, the new resort at Williams Lake is no longer slated to be a part of the posh Miraval universe; it remains in an early state of construction; and the scope of the project has been greatly scaled back, in response to the movement.
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I’m all for weird, but I’ve also come around to believing Rosendale has resisted change and development to its detriment. It has remained largely commercially stagnant since long before I arrived in 2005. With the exception of a few businesses that have gone the distance, like the now defunct Rosendale Cafe, The Big Cheese, The Rosendale Theatre, Postmark Books, and Bill Brooks’ barber shop, most don’t really thrive or stick around long.
I’m not the only one who thinks Rosendale could benefit from a bunch of new shops and restaurants. (And J Lee’s review touches on the dearth of places to eat and shop when staying at Six Bells.)
In June, when I attended a friend’s birthday party there, I overheard two diametrically opposed opinions about what should happen to Fann’s Plaza, the shopping mall that time forgot, with a sad old Kodak film development booth deteriorating at its edge.
In my friend’s backyard, a handful of town elders spoke vehemently of the importance of shutting out a politician who wanted to develop Fann’s.
But in the front yard, residents in their 30s, 40s and 50s spoke about how great it would be if that same politician were elected, and if that led to someone constructing a low-impact, mixed-use residential/commercial development there, adding much needed housing, and new businesses.
I’ve since heard more people espousing the latter sentiment, and I agree. The tide seems to be turning in that direction; more people are realizing that Rosendale could use a major upgrade. Although, I’m not sure Six Bells is going to spark it.
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Before people started sending me the Interview piece, I thought I might want to book a stay at Six Bells for the express purpose of writing about it. But J Lee might have covered it. I already had a hunch I’d hate the place, and the review supports it.
24 years in Rosendale for Creekside Acupuncture! :)
Fascinating that your family was here! And I read the review of that hotel. Not sure that's the best way to upgrade the area.