Message from the Mayor:Halloween Weekend, new playground, a new business, and more…
Posted on: October 16, 2018 - 4:40pm
Fellow Residents,
We have a wide range of Halloween-themed activities this weekend, a new playground, a new business, James Street update, new electrical rates, a play and, finally, some happy news.
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This Friday, October 19th, from 6PM to 9PM, we have our Friday Night Dead event, up at the Chemka Ghoul (pool) (I’m not responsible for that pun …). There will be the Scary House Walk through the Pool house: from 6-7:30PM, just a little scary for our littler friends, and then 8-9pm they let it… rip for the older kids and adults. There’s live music, food, and activities for the kids. .
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Annual tradition, from 10am to 2pm, pre-registration required. Call the Recreation Department at 478-2380 or email recreation@hastingsgov.org . Put up your best window paintings downtown and show us all your Halloween-themed creativity!
Then from 3:30PM – 4PM, the Halloween Pet Parade ensues. Dress your pet up in something awesome or embarrassing and parade them around downtown.
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Our annual Halloween Parade. Gather with children in front of the Harmon Community Center at noon for the parade, followed then by trick-or-treating downtown, trunk or treating, music, food, games, bounce houses, and face painting.
Uniontown Playground Open
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The Uniontown ballfield and playground are now open. This Village park, at the end of Rose Street, has been *massively* upgraded. The ballfield is now fully Little League-compliant, so we can now host play-off games with outside leagues. Not only that, but our landscape architect somehow managed to shoe-horn in 32 parking spots where there used to be 6, so the local community shouldn’t see the same levels of street parking that used to precede every Little League game. Not only that, but the lot is configured in a way that is safer and convenient, with safe lines of sight. AND, on top of all that, we have completely rebuilt the playground.
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The Uniontown ballfield and playground are now open. This Village park, at the end of Rose Street, has been *massively* upgraded. The ballfield is now fully Little League-compliant, so we can now host play-off games with outside leagues. Not only that, but our landscape architect somehow managed to shoe-horn in 32 parking spots where there used to be 6, so the local community shouldn’t see the same levels of street parking that used to precede every Little League game. Not only that, but the lot is configured in a way that is safer and convenient, with safe lines of sight. AND, on top of all that, we have completely rebuilt the playground.
We worked with the community to design the playground layout: the new play facility is nestled up against a copse of trees (nice shade!), with a thick bed of wood chips, a nice fence, and stonework to finish it off. It was built with the help of local residents, as well as Village Parks & Rec staff and volunteers from the Little League – a real community build. Thanks all around to the many parties involved, from Village staff, the Parks & Rec Department, the contractor, Little League, volunteers and others. You know who you all are. You’ve given us a major upgrade, to be enjoyed for decades.
James Street experiment underway
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The temporary no-left-turn signs are up - a day and a half later than we had planned, but they are up, reinforcing what the electronic sign has been signaling. (Our DPW, which actually does this installation, was short a couple of people these last few days and just couldn’t get to it – apologies for the confusion.) Our Police Department is issuing warnings, and will show up periodically throughout the experiment to enforce the left turn restriction. The temporary left turn signs will be up for close to two weeks. This will give our traffic engineering firm enough data to help us figure out what makes sense.
A New Store
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The Amanda Kupillas Dance studio has now opened in the rear of what used to be Indigo – the entrance is off the parking lot. The studio is currently open from Monday through Friday, with Saturday classes coming soon. Class offerings can be found on the website www.amandakupillas.com. They will also offer a drop-in “mommy and me” open studio on Tuesdays 9:45am-10:45am, starting in November. In addition to classes, birthday party packages are also available. (Information can be found on the website.) Amanda Kupillas Dance will be performing The Nutcracker December 15th at Andrus On Hudson at 11:30am. Tickets are $5 for adults. Kids are free.
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The Amanda Kupillas Dance studio has now opened in the rear of what used to be Indigo – the entrance is off the parking lot. The studio is currently open from Monday through Friday, with Saturday classes coming soon. Class offerings can be found on the website www.amandakupillas.com. They will also offer a drop-in “mommy and me” open studio on Tuesdays 9:45am-10:45am, starting in November. In addition to classes, birthday party packages are also available. (Information can be found on the website.) Amanda Kupillas Dance will be performing The Nutcracker December 15th at Andrus On Hudson at 11:30am. Tickets are $5 for adults. Kids are free.
We have other businesses opening over the next few months, including an Italian restaurant where Tony’s once was, and a sewing studio across from the Library and others to come! Physical businesses in the age of Amazon and the internet face brutal competition. Remember to shop and spend local. It is what keeps our merchants in business.
New ESCO Rates
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Your electric bill has two components – ConEd’s transport network that moves the electricity to your home (the wires and poles overhead, among other things) – and the actual supply of the electricity itself, which is supplied by companies known as “ESCOs” (Electric Service Companies). The default provider for our community *used* to be Con Ed as well. A consortium of Westchester communities (including Hastings) banded together nearly three years ago and ran a competitive bid process where we selected a new default provider for our community that was a fixed price cheaper than what you were previously paying, but it was “green” to boot. Suddenly, the vast majority of the Village (and many other communities) were drawing clean energy. This had the additional benefit of adding to the demand for green energy which brings new providers into the market and helps move us toward a less carbon-intense future.
We have finished the bid process and have secured a flat, guaranteed rate (7.95 cents a kilowatt, 100% non-nuclear green) for the next two years with Constellation, slightly lower than the rate we enjoyed so far for two years. You have to do NOTHING to enjoy this new default pricing. Please be aware that there are other ESCOs out there marketing actively (sometimes ethically, and sometimes not so). You can always select another ESCO other than the default Constellation, but be vigilant in understanding what you are being offered. Make sure you compare apples to apples if you consider a switch.
Laramie Project
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The High School presents “The Laramie Project” this weekend, 7PM on Friday October 19th and 7PM Saturday the 20th. Students are $5.00, Adults are $10, Seniors free. The subject matter is intended for ages 12 and up.
And in the category of local boy makes good, our own football phenom, former Hastings resident and Hastings High School grad Ali Marpet, has just re-signed with the Buccaneers for another five years, for an eye-watering $55 million. Congrats.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski