City Receives Over $750k From State

POUGHKEEPSIE – The City of Poughkeepsie has been awarded more than $750,000 through a New York State Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program grant to address flooding and promote public access along the edges of the Fall Kill Creek.

The city is partnering with the Northside Collaborative, created by the Poughkeepsie-based environmental group Scenic Hudson and including 20 local organizations working on community projects in northside neighborhoods.

“We are very excited about this project and are pleased to receive this grant,” said Mayor Yvonne Flowers. “The Fall Kill Creek is an absolute gem, but it’s been underutilized for far too long. The creek runs through the heart of Poughkeepsie’s northside neighborhoods and ultimately can serve as a great connector through a greenway along the creek, as well as serving as destinations for educational programs and recreational opportunities.”

The city is receiving $765,150 from the New York State Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program for this latest initiative, known as the Fall Kill Blueway Waterfront Design Guidelines.It will include developing specific design strategies to address deteriorating flood and retaining wall conditions, mitigate flood risk, improve biodiversity and waterway health, and increase public space along the creek.

“The guidelines developed through this award provide a blueprint for mitigating flood risk; enhancing access; and the public’s enjoyment of this important natural resource,” said Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. “This is yet another example of how the Department of State’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program is helping communities transform their shorelines, address climate risks, and improve ecological health in New York’s diverse and abundant waterways.”

“Scenic Hudson congratulates Mayor Flowers and the City of Poughkeepsie for securing this important grant,” said Ned Sullivan, President of Scenic Hudson. “In many ways the history of Poughkeepsie is the history of the Fall Kill; It is an important, but largely neglected, tributary of the Hudson River. Thanks to Governor Hochul and the Department of State for recognizing the impact that this renewed waterway will have on the city. Creating spaces to congregate on the once forgotten Fall Kill, along with recent collaborations on public park improvements in the city’s Northside, will benefit residents throughout the city, as well as visitors, for generations to come. Poughkeepsie is now poised for a very promising new chapter.”

The project also will implement the city’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program created, in part, to incorporate principles of sustainability and potential impacts of climate change.
Five sites have been selected for preliminary designs addressing the deteriorating conditions of the walls along the creek’s edges, shoreline stabilization of the Hudson River near the Fall Kill mouth, buffers to mitigate flooding and creek contamination, and public access to the waterfront.

Those locations include Waryas Park, Dongan Square Park, Brookside Avenue, The Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn Lot, and the City Department of Public Works’ Lot. City officials selected those sites to study a variety of creek edge conditions that overall reflect common conditions throughout the city and region.