New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Nelson Rockefeller

The Adirondack Park Agency At 50: State Leaders Are Missing The Point

by 6 Comments

Gov. Nelson Rockefeller signs the APA ActWell, it’s happened again. Another state budget is proposed by the Executive, wherein the Adirondack Park Agency’s legislated job is mischaracterized by this Governor’s (and former governors’) budget divisions as working “to achieve a balance between strong environmental protection and sustainable economic development opportunities for the residents of the Adirondack Park” (2023 Executive Budget Briefing Book).

Balance is an important goal to strive for in our individual lives. However, nothing in the Adirondack Park Agency law, now reaching 50 years old in May, calls for “a balance between strong environmental protection and sustainable economic development.” [Read more…] about The Adirondack Park Agency At 50: State Leaders Are Missing The Point

Adirondack Mountains National Park? In 1967 There Was A Plan

by Leave a Comment

NYS Ranger Bill Petty, left, guides Laurance Rockefeller, center, and Gov. Nelson Rockefeller on horseback in the High Peaks in 1965 (courtesy Rockefeller Archives)On a fall Saturday afternoon in the early 1990s some friends and I met up with wilderness coalition leader Paul Schaefer (1908-1996) at his cabin in Bakers Mills, northern Warren County, NY. Deciding to spend the night, we drove Paul into nearby North Creek for something to eat.

We tried the area’s hotel. One of the hotel staff took a look at Paul’s red plaid hunting jacket and asked him if could change into something more formal. At that, we turned heel and, walking across the street, entered Smith’s Restaurant.

Paul was immediately comfortable, having eaten here many times. Someone greeted him, a fellow deer hunter who remembered him. We took a booth and Paul ordered a steak. [Read more…] about Adirondack Mountains National Park? In 1967 There Was A Plan

The Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age

by Leave a Comment

Saving Americas CitiesThe most recent episode of Empire State Engagements features a conversation with Dr. Lizabeth Cohen Professor in the Department of History at Harvard, who discussed her Bancroft Prize-winning book Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019). [Read more…] about The Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age

Nelson Rockefeller and the Politics of Wealth: A Discussion

by Leave a Comment

On this episode of Empire State Engagements, a conversation with Dr. Marsha E. Barrett of the University of Illinois about her new article “‘Millionaires are more Democratic Now’: Nelson Rockefeller and the Politics of Wealth in New York,” which appears in vol. 102.1 of New York History (Summer, 2021). [Read more…] about Nelson Rockefeller and the Politics of Wealth: A Discussion

Sampson State Park’s Remarkable Military, Education & Public Health History

by 1 Comment

Sampson Boot sculpture by Felix W. de WeldonThe site of the present Sampson State Park in Romulus, Seneca County, NY was formerly the site of the Sampson Navy Base. As the United States found itself at war following the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, the U.S. Navy had an immediate need for sailors. Basic training bases, or boot camps, were constructed across the country to meet this emergency requirement. [Read more…] about Sampson State Park’s Remarkable Military, Education & Public Health History

Plans To Dam The Upper Hudson Would Have Been Catastrophic

by Leave a Comment

Gooley-Kettle19-511x800On almost every stream, pond or lake in the Adirondacks there is still evidence of lumberman’s dams and lumbering operations.  In the mid-to-late 1960s however, there was a controversial plan to dam the Upper Hudson River in order to supply water and hydro-electric power to the parched, urban, metropolitan area of New York City.

In the early 1960s there had been a severe drought along the entire northeastern seaboard. One of New York City’s answers to the drought problem was to tap the Upper Hudson to supply its seemingly unquenchable need for water. [Read more…] about Plans To Dam The Upper Hudson Would Have Been Catastrophic

The Environmental Movement That Tamed Adirondacks

by Leave a Comment

a wild ideaBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks (Cornell University Press, 2021) by Brad Edmondson shares the story of the difficult birth of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). [Read more…] about The Environmental Movement That Tamed Adirondacks

Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

by 3 Comments

Mike Prescott paddling One day as my wife and I and our dogs walked along River Road at Riparius on the Hudson River, my wife said to me in a folksy manner “just think all this water here, is on its way to New York City.”

It’s true the Hudson River has flowed out of the Adirondack Mountains for millennia, southward towards the Atlantic Ocean. And over the last two centuries or so there have been plans to dam the Upper Hudson for one reason or another. Most of those plans have dealt with using the water resources for some down state endeavor. [Read more…] about Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

Nelson Rockefeller and the Politics of Wealth

by Leave a Comment

Nelson Rockefeller signing legislationThe journal New York History, published by Cornell University Press, has published a free article online by historian Marsha E. Barrett, “Millionaires are More Democratic Now: Nelson Rockefeller and the Politics of Wealth in New York.” [Read more…] about Nelson Rockefeller and the Politics of Wealth

Politics & History On The Crossroads of Rockland History Podcast

by Leave a Comment

crossroads of rockland historyOn the October 2020 episode of “Crossroads of Rockland History,” Clare Sheridan welcomed Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey who reflected on her career as Congresswoman from the 17th District of New York, and then Becky Savell appeared to discuss the life and career of her grandmother Historian Isabelle Savell. After a career as a journalist, and then working for Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Isabelle Savell authored many books, including Ladies Lib: How Rockland Women Got The Vote. [Read more…] about Politics & History On The Crossroads of Rockland History Podcast