Public info session planned to discuss upgrades including new platform, parking and station improvements

Upgrades are on the way for those hopping on the train between Poughkeepsie and Hudson with much-needed parking lot improvements and a new, high-elevation platform to enable a more accessible Hudson River railway.

Originally built in 1914, the building at the Rhinecliff station was closed in December 2022 “due to its deteriorating condition,” according to a January 2026 meeting with the New York State Department of Transportation, the US Department of Transportation and Amtrak. The station typically serves 24-26 weekday trains, and approximately 219,000 passengers last year.

In the spring of 2023, the Rhinecliff station was listed as part of the Empire Corridor campaign to boost rail transit by improving travel times and accessibility from Albany to New York City.

Plans for upgrades to the Rhinecliff station include a new pedestrian crossover bridge, interior and exterior improvements to the station building, parking lot remediation including drainage work to help with flooding, accessible bathroom upgrades, and a new 1,000-foot ADA-compliant high-level platform. The superstructure and decorative railings of the station’s southern pedestrian bridge “will be retained,” according to the report, but the bridge will be upgraded to comply with current code and accommodate the new platform height.

To learn more about what’s coming down the line, head to the Rhinecliff Station, Platform, and Interlocking Project Open House on Thursday, July 30, 2026 at the Morton Memorial Library, located 82 Kelly Street in Rhinecliff, beginning at 5pm. Attendees can review the station’s updated design illustrations and speak directly with NYSDOT and Amtrak staff, who will be available throughout the session to answer questions and gather input from residents and commuters. Spanish language interpretation will also be available.

…there is still no parking where there are ‘No Parking’ signs.

Lake Sophia is a great new attraction for our region, as we noted last week, and, like any good place especially on a warm summer day, there are capacity limits and certain times can be more crowded than others. Parking for Lake Sophia is available in designated lots in the state park, and local officials are reminding visitors to abide by the ‘No Parking’ signs.

“First Avenue from Kingston Street to the Kingston City line has and will continue to be No Parking on either side of the roadway,” the City of Kingston said. “This has been in place for years, and while some of the signage has seen better days, there is ‘No Parking’ allowed.”

The city added that the Department of Public Works will be installing temporary signage for clarity until the permanent signs are upgraded. Those not following posted signage will be ticketed and towed by the Kingston Police Department, if deemed necessary, city officials added.

Lake Sophia at Sojourner Truth State Park is located at 100 Sojourner Truth Way, Kingston (New entrance right off Route 32). Swimming hours 10am – 5:45pm daily through Labor Day weekend. Sojourner Truth State Park is open daily from dawn to dusk. Cost of admission is $8 per vehicle. There is no fee if you walk, bike or take the Ulster County Nature Bus into the park.

A few weeks ago, our neighborhood group chat dinged throughout the day with updates: “Bear at our house an hour ago. Now at the neighbors…” “We took in the bird feeders.” “My husband scared it off.” “Are the garbage cans okay?”

If your neighborhood has been rustling with an increase in black bear activity lately, you are not alone.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, most bears spotted this time of year in unlikely or unusual places not typically seen – from backyards and suburban streets to residential communities – are either young males learning to live on their own, older males looking for a mate or mother bears looking to feed her cubs.

“Juvenile male bears that denned up with their moms last winter got booted out this spring,” according to DEC biologists. “No matter how big and furry they look, these bears are about 18 months old and are just trying to figure out how to live on their own. Juvenile males need to disperse and find a place to call home where they can find food, shelter, and eventually a mate. Juvenile female bears, however, are often allowed to move in next door to their moms, so most wandering bears are males.”

“These young bears are often lonely and lack the fully developed survival skills of an adult bear,” BearWise biologists note. “They are also hungry and inquisitive and will check out anything that seems as if it might be a source of food. Like human teenagers, they are at a very impressionable stage of life. If they quickly discover that human places should be avoided, they will be forced to learn to support themselves as wild bears. If they find the backyard pickings are easy, they start down a road that is often a dead end for them.”

Sightings may also include adult male bears who are roaming far and wide in search of a mate, biologists say. Bears may mate several times in the early summer with the potential for cubs from a single liter to have different fathers, but “female bears rarely leave their home ranges; for the good of the gene pool, they let the males come find them.”

In addition to boys on the prowl, mother bears may be on the move to find food for their little ones: “Mother bears may have between one and six cubs depending on her for their survival. Natural spring and early summer food sources such as grasses and developing plants are just not as calorie-dense and nutritious as the nuts and fruits that ripen later in the year. So mother bears often need to travel further from their dens looking for food.”

“Cubs take after their parents in several ways: they are super-smart, learn quickly, and are very adaptable. So if mom teaches them to raid the garbage or bat down bird feeders or sends them in through pet doors to see what’s in the kitchen, it creates a whole new generation of problems for people and bears.

The best advice: Don’t approach any bears you see. Don’t intentionally feed bears. Make sure there’s nothing around your property or home that will attract bears including cleaning up around the BBQ, don’t leave food in cars that are parked outside, don’t feed the birds if bears are spotted in your area, and store indoors and bring out your garbage cans the morning of pick-up, if you can. And tell your neighbors if you see bear activity so they can prepare as well.

Salsa Dancing Nights
Monday, July 27, 2026 from 6:30 to 7:30pm
Cost of admission: Free
8000 Mall Walk, Yonkers
Feel the rhythm with high-energy Salsa nights at Cross County Center! Learn new moves from live instructors from Ballet Folklorico de las Americas and dance the night away with live Latin music performances on select Mondays. All events are open to the public, most are free to attend, and guests can enjoy complimentary parking in Cross County Center’s convenient open-air setting. Website

Ulster County Beekeepers' Association Monthly Meeting
Monday, July 27, 2026 at 7pm
Cost of admission: Free
Virtual and in-person at the New Paltz Rec Center, 3 Veterans Drive, New Paltz
Featuring speaker Alex Bournery and his invention, The Bee Window, A Habitat to Observe a Swarm. Website: Website

Please note: Due to heavy rain the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, the Dutchess County Office for the Aging is postponing this week’s senior picnic from Tuesday to Friday, July 31, 2026. All registered attendees will be contacted via phone.

Music in the Parks
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 from 6-7:30pm
Cost of admission: Free
Kingston Point Beach, Kingston
Featuring The Professors Jazz Ensemble at Kingston Point Beach. Continues August 19 with Soul City Band at Kingston Point Beach, September 19 with M’Bollo featuring Amadou Diallo at TR Gallo Park. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, picnics, and bug spray.

Waterfront Wednesday with Arm-of-the-Sea Theater
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 with doors at 6pm, show at 7pm
Cost of admission: Free with suggested donation of $15 adults, $7 kids
Arm-of-the-Sea Tidewater Center, 57 E. Bridge St, Saugerties
Waterfront Wednesdays is Arm-of-the-Sea Theater’s weekly summer performance series at our seasonal cultural space, the Tidewater Center. Join us for a variety of pre-show activities and displays for all ages before the show. This year's show features a playful Dog and a thoughtful Snail who guide a disheartened Everyman through a series of medicine tales in the hope of re-sparking joy and elemental wonder. These medicine tales show the magic of DNA, the cycles of the cell, and glorious processes of photosynthesis, awakening the most downtrodden hearts. Developed with support from the Jim Henson Foundation and the Upstate Coalition for a FairGame. Opening acts TBA. Website

Music in the Parks
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 7pm
Cost of admission: Free
Mills Mansion
Featuring Flirtin’ with Disaster at Mills, August 5 starting at 6:30pm with the Way Behind The Sun at Mills, and August 12 with the West Point Military Band at Vanderbilt. Rain location: Taconic Offices, 9 Old Post Road, Staatsburg. Updates will be posted on the Hyde Park Recreation Facebook page: Website

Free Movies in the Parks
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 8pm
Cost of admission: Free
Green Street Park, Beacon
Showing of “Lilo and Stitch” at the Green Street Park. Continues August 5 with “Grease” at Memorial Park, and August 12 with “Space Jam” at South Avenue Park. Website

The Keeper Screening and Talk with Jon Bowermaster and John Lipscomb
Wednesday July 29, 2026 at 7pm
Cost of admission: $15
Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston
Come to the Homeport Barn for this special screening of The Keeper by Jon Bowermaster! Like many rivers around the world – the Hudson, America's First River and the Birthplace of the American Environmental Movement – boomed as a growing human population used it for transportation, sustenance and, for many years, a dumping ground. The river paid a price for all this use and abuse, struggling against its share of contamination. For the past nearly three decades the river's poet laureate and literal "eyes on the river," Captain John, has been at the forefront of each of those fights, taking on industrial and human pollution, suffering the losses and celebrating victories. While he has had successes on the Hudson, committing a life to protecting a river is a never-ending fight. Today, John Lipscomb is one of more than 300 “Keepers” around the globe, looking out for their respective rivers. This screening will feature a talk with Jon Bowermaster and special guest John Lipscomb. Website

Pollinate HV Gallatin Meadow Walk
Thursday, July 30, 2026 from 4:30 to 6pm
Gallatin
Tour the PollinateHV case study site in Gallatin, a three-acre former hayfield now stewarded for plant and insect biodiversity, with special attention to deer overabundance and management. This tour is led by Eli Arnow, Forest Health Task Force Chair at The Understory. Continues August 8 in Gardiner, and August 27 in Red Hook. Register

Wild Garden Tour at Bellefield with Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley
Thursday, July 30, 2026 from 5 to 6pm
Cost of admission: Free
Beatrix Farrand Garden at FDR Historic Site, 4097 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park
Join a tour provided by the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association of the Bellfield Historic Site’s new Wild Garden. In the spring of 2024, volunteers planted these stimulating new gardens. The association’s volunteers planted hundreds of herbaceous native plant plugs in a new wild garden surrounding the walled site. We’ll hear about the experimental approach their team has been using to keep deer from the plants as they get established and learn about the work the group is doing to save this significant garden. The Garden Association is a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the work of Beatrix Farrand, a renowned landscape designer who helped shape American gardens in the first half of the 20th century. Registration is required. Website

NYSDOT Rhinecliff Station Project Public Open House
Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 5pm
Morton Memorial Library, Rhinecliff
View design illustrations of the NYSDOT’s Rhinecliff Station, Platform and Interlocking Project and speak directly with NYSDOT and Amtrak staff.

Rock the Quarry Festival
Friday, July 31, 2026 at 6:30pm
Opus 40, Saugerties
Featuring Cindy Cashdollar, Jack Petruzzelli, Jay Collins’ Gravy Train, Storey Littleton, Sandy Bell, Laura Stevenson and more. Website

Lights Across the Hudson
Friday, July 31, 2026 from 7 to 9:30pm
Cost of admission: Free
Walkway Over the Hudson
Hudson Valley Hospice Foundation invites the community to the Walkway for a luminary event celebrating those we have lost. Website

Guitar Grand Champion plays Mining Songs in Historic Cement Mine
Friday, July 31, 2026 at 7pm
Cost of admission: $15
Widow Jane Mine / Snyder Estate, 668 Rt 213, Rosendale
Finger-style guitar virtuoso and thumb-picking Grand Champion Henry Ferland will perform in the the underground natural amphitheater at the Widow Jane Mine in Rosendale. Ferland simultaneously plays melody, rhythm, bass, and percussion, often while singing and will perform traditional mining songs (Doc Watson, Merle Travis, etc) as well as folk, bluegrass, and Americana originals. The mine has unbelievable acoustics and this is the perfect marriage of venue, talent, and repertoire. Website

The Great Hudson River Fish Count
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Various locations on the Hudson River
During the fish count, participating organizations encourage visitors to help collect fish using seine nets, minnow traps, or rods and reels. Seining involves pulling a 30-foot net through the water and checking out the fish, crabs, and other river-life caught in the mesh. The fish are identified, counted and released back into the river. Website

Mid-Hudson Comic Con
August 1-2, 2026
MJN Convention Center, 14 Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie
High-energy, family-friendly event showcasing the best of comics, anime, gaming and fandom with artists, vendors and collectibles. Website

“Small Space - Serious Veg / Techniques from the Roosevelt Home Garden" with Anna deCordova, MS, NPS Horticulturist Part of Beatrix Farrand Garden Series of Garden Talks
Saturday, August 1, 2026 from 10:30-11:30am
Cost of admission: $15, free for members
Beatrix Farrand Garden at FDR National Historic Site, 4097 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park
Whether you lack sun, soil, space, time, water, money, physical capacity or “all of the above” - we’ve got ideas for how you can still enjoy growing your own vegetables. Join us in the Small Space Garden Exhibit at the Home of FDR to explore creative ways to grow food when your garden resources are limited. We’ll explain the concepts and their many applications, and you’ll go home with a lot of big ideas for a little garden. Space limited. Register

Opiod Overdose Response Training
August 1, October 3, November 7 and December 5, 2026 from 1-2pm
30 Harriman Drive, Goshen
Learn basic information about opioids and how they work, overdose trends in Orange County, signs of a potential overdose, how to use Narcan spray. Every participant will receive a free Narcan kit. Register

Bernie Williams Jazz in the Vineyard
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Cost of admission: $61 and up
Millbrook Winery and Vineyards
Back by popular demand, former New York Yankees centerfielder and jazz musician, Bernie Williams and his Band of Friends, will once again be performing at Millbrook Winery. Website

Trivia Night Fundraiser at Sloop Brewing Company for Blodgett Memorial Library
Sunday, August 2, 2026 from 4-5:30pm
Cost of admission: $20
Sloop Brewing Company, 755 East Dr #106, Hopewell Junction
Test your knowledge while supporting a community landmark! The Friends of Blodgett Memorial Library is hosting our next Trivia Night. Join us on Sunday, August 2 for five rounds of general knowledge trivia. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Blodgett Memorial Library, to support building renovations and special projects. No more than 4 people per team. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

New York Stage and Film 2026 Summer Season
Continues through August 2, 2026
Marist University and the Bardavon, Poughkeepsie
Featuring 11 new plays and musicals. Website