Since Steve took office in 2016, he has been working to make Kingston welcoming, inclusive, and forward-thinking. These qualities made Kingston appealing to those seeking to relocate before, during, and after the pandemic. These new residents are our neighbors – and they have become part of the fabric of our community.

To accommodate this growth, Steve has focused on developing our economy in smart and sustainable ways and investing in quality-of-life improvements for all who live and work here.

Under Steve’s leadership, the City of Kingston is thriving. The basis of his economic development strategies is smart growth- with an emphasis on quality of life improvements, like building new sidewalks, fixing underground utilities, enhancing our public transportation, creating socially responsible and progressive policies, preserving our historic assets, protecting our natural resources, and making the city’s largest investment into quality housing in decades.

To spur economic development, Steve has focused on re-writing our 1960’s era zoning code. The project known as Kingston Forward, will bring Form-Based Code to Kingston which will create a more flexible, easier to navigate code that will attract economic development in a smart and sustainable way.

Other Key Initiatives

Downtown Revitalization Initiative

In 2017, Kingston received $10 million as the winner of the State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). The DRI funds were awarded to Kingston in order to advance public and private investment in the Uptown Stockade District and, more broadly, to support the entire City of Kingston to grow responsibly and become a model community for equitable economic development in the Mid-Hudson Region. In July 2018, the City’s Strategic Investment Plan was approved and six of the City’s priority projects received funding under the DRI. The Dietz Stadium and Andretta pool project is one of those priority projects. Phase 1, the Andretta Pool is now complete and work on Dietz Stadium has now started.

Archtop Fiber – Steve is excited to be working with Archtop Fiber who will be bringing Fiber Optic Cable to residential and business customers in Kingston. This will provide the first competitor to Spectrum which will not only provide greater choice, but higher speeds than currently available. This will help all those who work in Kingston’s growing tech community.

Parks

2022, the first State Park in the City of Kingston was officially opened. Sojourner Truth State Park connects to the Hudson River Brickyard Trail, the Empire State Trail, and the Kingston Greenline, and has incredible views of the Hudson. This park will continue to evolve over the next few years and will not only serve as an economic driver for our community but will be a beloved natural asset for generations.

Our Kingston Parks & Recreation Department has been a refuge for many these last few years and for decades prior. We have continued to invest in staffing and equipment in the department and it shows. In addition to the hundreds of children served by Parks’ programs, the dozens of sports leagues, and the wonderful community events, we were also able to build a new shade structure at Van Buren Park, a brand-new playground at Kingston Point Beach, our first-ever youth soccer field, and an environmentally sound parking lot at Kingston Point Park, using green infrastructure. We installed a 49kW solar panel array on the Andy Murphy Center, which will produce enough electricity to power the entire building.