The Lightbulb Project- Success!

All 52 Light bulbs placed around the City of Newburg are on this unofficial list, but if you are looking for these light bulbs over the course of the next week, some light bulbs may have been moved to different locations.

Watch who's looking at this light bulb
(daylight hours work best when viewing)

 
#1 - #14 Washington's Headquarters:

• 13 light bulbs within the park
• 1 light bulb at the Grand Street Entrance

 
#15 - #20 Liberty Street:

• The Wherehouse: 119 Liberty St. (two light bulbs)
• Mrs. Max Boutique: 101 Liberty St
• Jenny's Floral Design; 85 Liberty Street
• The Vinyl Resting Place: 113 Liberty St.
• Design By Sue: 128 Liberty St.

#21 - #34 Broadway:

• Center divider near City Hall
• Healing Arts Studio: 75 Broadway
• El Solar Café: 346 Broadway 
• DMU Music: 86 Broadway
• Mesh Realty: 79 Broadway
• Anna's Restaurant: 491 Broadway
• Commodore Chocolatier: 482 Broadway
• Broadway Tailor: 281 Broadway
• Sofokles Tax Service: 450 Broadway (two light bulbs)
• Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum: 94 Broadway
• Newburgh City Hall: 83 Broadway
• Ritz Theater: 107 Broadway (two light bulbs)

#35 - #38 Grand Street:

• Newburgh Art Supply: 5 Grand St. (three light bulbs)
• Newburgh Free Library: 124 Grand St

 
#39 - #40 Front Street:

• Downing Film Center: 19 Front St.
• Captain Jake's: 40 Front St

 
#41 - #42 Montgomery Street:

• David Crawford House: 189 Montgomery St
• Edison Power Plant: Montgomery St

#43 Ann Street:

• Ann Street Gallery: 104 Ann St

#44 - #50 Downing Park: 

• 7 light bulbs in the vicinity of the festivities

#51 Bay View Terrace


#52 188 Liberty: 188 Liberty Street

Light bulbs to be found:  0

Thank you to all the artists who participated, Gerardo Castro for curating, and Newburgh Art Supply.

The Lightbulb Project- So Close

Almost all have been spotted, the unofficial updated list only 3 light bulbs shy:

• Washington's Headquarters:
• 13 light bulbs within the park
• 1 light bulb at the Grand Street Entrance

• Liberty Street: 6 light bulbs
• The Wherehouse: 119 Liberty St. (two light bulbs)
• Mrs. Max Boutique: 101 Liberty St
• Jenny's Floral Design; 85 Liberty Street
• The Vinyl Resting Place: 113 Liberty St.
• Design By Sue: 128 Liberty St.

• Broadway: 14 light bulbs
• Center divider near City Hall
• Healing Arts Studio: 75 Broadway
• El Solar Café: 346 Broadway 
• DMU Music: 86 Broadway
• Mesh Realty: 79 Broadway
• Anna's Restaurant: 491 Broadway
• Commodore Chocolatier: 482 Broadway
• Broadway Tailor: 281 Broadway
• Sofokles Tax Service: 450 Broadway (two light bulbs)
• Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum: 94 Broadway
• Newburgh City Hall: 83 Broadway
• Ritz Theater: 107 Broadway (two light bulbs)

• Grand Street: 4 light bulbs
• Newburgh Art Supply: 5 Grand St. (three light bulbs)
• Newburgh Free Library: 124 Grand St

 

• Front Street: 2 light bulbs
• Downing Film Center: 19 Front St.
• Captain Jake's: 40 Front St

 

• Montgomery Street: 2 light bulbs
• David Crawford House: 189 Montgomery St
• Edison Power Plant: Montgomery St

• Ann Street: 1 light bulb
• Ann Street Gallery: 104 Ann St

• Downing Park: 6 light bulbs in the vicinity of the festivities

Light bulbs to be found:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

The Lightbulb Project- Getting Closer

Light bulbs are still appearing around the City, my unofficial updated list (still more to come):

• Washington's Headquarters: 13 light bulbs
• Liberty Street: 6 light bulbs
• The Wherehouse: 119 Liberty St. (two light bulbs)
• Mrs. Max Boutique: 101 Liberty St
• Jenny's Floral Design; 85 Liberty Street
• The Vinyl Resting Place: 113 Liberty St.
• Design By Sue: 128 Liberty St.

• Broadway: 14 light bulbs
• Center divider near City Hall
• Healing Arts Studio: 75 Broadway
• El Solar Café: 346 Broadway 
• DMU Music: 86 Broadway
• Mesh Realty: 79 Broadway
• Anna's Restaurant: 491 Broadway
• Commodore Chocolatier: 482 Broadway
• Broadway Tailor: 281 Broadway
• Sofokles Tax Service: 450 Broadway (two light bulbs)

• Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum: 94 Broadway
• Newburgh City Hall: 83 Broadway
• Ritz Theater: 107 Broadway (two light bulbs)

• Grand Street: 4 light bulbs
• Newburgh Art Supply: 5 Grand St. (three light bulbs)
• Newburgh Free Library: 124 Grand St

 

• Front Street: 2 light bulbs
• Downing Film Center: 19 Front St.
• Captain Jake's: 40 Front St

• Montgomery Street: 1 light bulb
• David Crawford House: 189 Montgomery St

• Ann Street: 1 light bulb
• Ann Street Gallery: 104 Ann St

Light bulbs to be found:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

The Lightbulb Project- The Search Continues

More light bulbs are appearing around Newburgh, and so far, I've found about half of them. There is such a range in style and mediums used and even in the subjects the artists chose to create.

My unofficial list (so far):

• Washington's Headquarters: 13 light bulbs

• Liberty Street: 6 light bulbs
• The Wherehouse: 119 Liberty St. (two light bulbs)
• Mrs. Max Boutique: 101 Liberty St
• Jenny's Floral Design; 85 Liberty Street
• The Vinyl Resting Place: 113 Liberty St.
• Design By Sue: 128 Liberty St.

• Broadway: 4 light bulbs
• Center divider near City Hall
• Healing Arts Studio: 75 Broadway
• El Solar Café: 346 Broadway 
• DMU Music: 86 Broadway

• Grand Street: 1 light bulb
• Newburgh Art Supply: 5 Grand St.
• Newburgh Free Library: 124 Grand St

Light bulbs to be found:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

The Lightbulb Project- First Glimpse

Fifty-two artists created fifty-two 'light bulbs", each being four-foot tall (one actually measure in at six feet) outlines of light bulbs, each being uniquely designed. These light bulbs have been sponsored by various people or businesses and are appearing throughout the city. In no particular order, aside from the order I come across them, these are the locations where light bulbs are to be found:

Two light bulbs, sponsored and displayed at The Wherehouse ( 119 Liberty Street)

Light bulbs by
Amanda J. Light (left) and Amanda Holt McDowell (right)

Artist: Amanda Holt McDowell
 "My love of Newburgh, History, Rabbits and most importantly my very talented Mother (who collaborated with me on this project) are my inspirations for my LightBulb Project. I’m excited to be participating with artists so passionate about Newburgh and the arts.

Artist: Amanda J. Light
"My artwork is a map, marking epiphanies and periods of feeling throughout my experience. Art is also my chosen method of communication, a visual common ground for others on the same journey to relate to and perhaps find answers, or questions, in their own lives."


Light bulbs to be found:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

Thank you to all the artists who participated,
Gerardo Castro for curating, and Newburgh Art Supply.

If you've spotted light bulbs, let me know where!

A Taxing Situation

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". 

With that being said, there are several posts that I write, but never publish. I wrote this about two years ago to the day, but note, the nice part comes at the end.

 
Being that my building was a burnout, everything in it is new. In the process of renovating everything, I had a vision in my head as to how I wanted the finished product to look. I can't say the rehab was high end, but we didn't skimp either. There are hardwood floors in every room, porcelain tile in the bathrooms, decorative light fixtures, ceiling fans and recessed lighting generously placed everywhere, stainless steel alliances and full wood cabinetry in the kitchens, full paned windows, mosaic tile in the entryway, and so on...

Days when my taxes were almost non-existent

In researching another property in the vicinity, I was reviewing the tax roster for that building. Out of curiosity, I looked at my place, and found I was the second highest assessed property on the street, the only one higher being a building that had twice as many units, and its taxes being only slightly higher than mine.

I'm not trying to shirk my responsibility to pay taxes or dispute the fact that the City needs the revenue, but my reward for making my building as nice as I could is being charged more than anyone on the block, while other buildings reap the reward of their lesser taxes by doing as little as possible to improve anything. If the City wants to preserve their historic district and wants people to make improvements, they need to come up with a better way to determine how taxes are assessed. Sure, the value of the building is the main driver, but there should be other factors that either help moderate amount you're paying or reward you for improvements. For example, when filing income taxes, I can deduct expenses I incurred in making the improvements, and something similar should be imposed when the school and property taxes are calculated.

The assessed value of the property should remain in line with the market value, but there should be some sort of rebates or discounts offered to encourage improvements, like discounting the taxes due a fraction of a percent for every so many dollars you reinvest in the property.

Now for the nice part. With ideas buzzing around in my head again, I called the tax assessor about a particular property, to see what would be the final impact of a project I have in mind. Talking to her, she mentioned a 444A Historic Real Property Alternation or Rehabilitation Exemption. Basically, you do not get taxed on the improvements you do for ten years, but note the percentage of what you don't get taxed on decreases over the ten years. This gives you a chance to be rewarded for the effort, and even helps you ease into those higher taxes without going into shock. It even buys you time to get things in order before you get that big tax bill.

The form is even linked onto the City's website (along with a number of other exemption forms), so there was no need to jump through hoops in order to find it. Even the phone call was painless- I called the number that was posted on the city's website, Joanne Majewski (the assessor) answered the phone herself on my first try. No voice mail, no pressing ## to reach so-and-so, no holding on, as we've so come to expect when dealing with official agencies. I know, saying that last part wasn't nice.

It was only adopted by the city a couple of years ago, so unfortunately, it can't help me with my prior project and my current taxes, but it definitely helps making a new one much more tempting!

It's Illuminating

Last night, I had a chance to hear about ideas for Newburgh Illuminated, a three day festival, scheduled for June 21-23, 2013. Even though the event is more than a year away, ideas are in abundance. Those ideas reflect many aspects of Newburgh's history and culture, and initial plans are to have events throughout the city, in places like (in no particular order) Washington's Headquarters, the Waterfront, Downing Park, and too many more places to mention. The assortment of venues being considered include different music genres, arts, historical information presented in fun and interesting ways, and plenty of activities for the kids.


The Hudson River being a part of this celebration goes without saying, and what would a festival titled "Newburgh Illuminated" be without paying homage to Thomas Edison?

See more on the image below in "New Light for Newburgh and for the Nation".

New Light for Newburgh and for the Nation

A Picture Perfect Dinner

 Last night, with weather being hot, muggy and at times wet, it wasn’t an ideal night to be outside, but at the same time I didn’t want to stay home. Having one of my urges to try something new, I went to a dinner fundraiser at the old train station.

The Railroad Playhouse (at the old West Shore Station; 27 South Water St.) hosted the spaghetti and meatball dinner fundraiser to benefit Northeast Gateway to Freedom (104 Broadway) in support their Newburgh Kidz Summer Initiative, a free program for kids (1^st through 12^th grade) in the city of Newburgh.

It didn’t matter that I was by myself and didn’t know a single person in the place. I tend to occupy myself by taking pictures, and as soon as my camera came out, that broke the ice. Kwajae, one of the Kidz at my table noticed its size and was eager to try it. I took out a point and shoot camera for the sake of simplicity, asked him if he wanted to take some pictures for me, gave him a quick rundown on the camera (push this button, hold it from the sides because of the touch screen, and be careful where your fingers are not to block the lens) and sent him on his way, with the instructions simply to take pictures of anything in the room that looked interesting. Not wanting to be left out, his cousin Khalil was just as eager to try the camera, we went through the routine again, and off he went working his way around the room. Before I knew it, I had two miniature photographers taking pictures for me, and that set the tone for an entertaining evening; the entertainment not just being the people on stage. 

 

 On stage entertainment included inspirational songs sung by Pastor Rosey and Vinnie, keyboard playing (sorry, I didn't get a name, but if anyone knows, please let me know!), and a violin solo by Moline. 

 

 

Kidz were called on stage at times and recited short biblical verses. When Kwajae was called up, he suddenly turned shy and didn’t want to go. He had still wanted to try the big camera, so I made him an offer- if he went on stage, he could use the camera after.  Up to the stage he went, quickly doing his thing while trying to hide behind his hand. As soon as he was done, on we went to take pictures with the big camera, with his cousin wanting to do the same thing too.

   

 All the while food was being served by attentive servers. Dinner included the obvious spaghetti and meatballs, that being the dinner theme, as well as salad, pizza, breads, beverages, and a myriad of desserts to choose from (including homemade Italian Ices from Simple Gifts and Goodies). In addition, raffles were taking place throughout the course of the evening, with a wide assortment of prizes being given away.

The dinner was prepared by TheWherehouse (119 Liberty Street) and Simple Gifts and Goodies (19 Liberty Street). Panera Bread (1278 Route 300) and the Pizza Shop at the Railroad Playhouse (27 South Water Street) contributed to the meal.

Collaborators included American Cleaning, Baptist Temple, Minard Farms, Guardian Self Storage, Bon Ton, Aglow International, Dutch Sheets Ministries, Hudson Valley Christian Church, ARC, Stairway Ministries, Triumph Textile & Knitting, His Table Ministries, Simple Gifts & Goodies, Adams, Natures Pantry, Mother Earth, Shop Rite, A & P, Panera Bread, Skonberg Family Chiropractic Care, Windsor Dental, Pine Hill Farm, Clegg Bros, Stewarts, Cornwall Presbyterian, Soho Two, ADR Bulbs, Sorbello Landscaping, Star Quality Painting, Thomas O Miller, Sullivan County Correctional Facility, StewartsShops, Price Chopper, City of Newburgh, Little Sisters of the Assumption, Elozua Studies and Morehead Honda.

City Sidewalks

When it came around to doing the sidewalk in front of the house, many options came to mind. Being that it was a brick building, the first thing that popped into mind was a brick walkway, perhaps in a herringbone pattern, but matching old bricks get tricky, not to mention what vintage bricks cost. Another thought was cobblestone, but there was nothing style-wise to tie the cobblestone to. Looking up and down the block, I saw mostly uneven blacktop. Even if it formed a consistent look along the street, I couldn't picture asphalt sidewalks 100 years ago, so I refused to have anything blacktopped .

Considering form, function, and budget, we laid a cement sidewalk. Cement was the most durable option we had being that slate or stone is more susceptible to the elements and traffic. If they are not cemented in place, water (snow or rain) seeps in  in the colder months, that water freezes, slowly dislodges the stones over time. If the stones are cemented into place, the mortar tends to wear away and then you still have the problem of the stones being displaced.High foot traffic also displaces these walkways over time. The biggest factor we considered was what was the best when it came time to start shoveling snow off of the sidewalk.

 As a small compromise to having a cement sidewalk, we stenciled a brick border around the sidewalk. It wasn't the bricks I wanted, I had even considered inlaying real bricks for the border, but another thing working against us was the seasons changing. It was late fall when we were finally done with anything that had to run underground from the street to the building, and wanted to get the sidewalk in before winter hit.

Laying the sidewalk took a day. With as much cement as we needed we had a truck deliver premixed cement, we'd spend less time and money just going with the cement delivery, not to mention a cement truck is better equipped and has more control than if you were trying to mix it yourself..

 As the sidewalk was done and we were roping off the sections of fresh cement, I was wondering if the smooth finish would survive the night, wondering if I'd find names, drawings or who knows what etched into the cement the next morning. I'm happy to say that nothing was disturbed overnight, and the sidewalk had set just as we left it.

Christmas in the City