A Mardi Gras parade that was to be held Saturday February 21 in the Rondout business district of Kingston was canceled because the business group that sponsors it could not afford to pay for police protection and insurance and the city refused to foot the $1,400 bill.
But Kingston Mayor James Sottile, who refused to rescue the Mardi Gras parade, agreed to provide a $1,000 credit to the Ancient Order of Hibernians, of which he is a member, to stage a St. Patrick”™s Day parade, that costs about $2,500.
While some business owners in the Rondout area called the decision a slap in the face, other city officials said it highlighted the need for hard and fast guidelines to police department accommodation of civic events. City business leaders, however, hope the tempest can help create a more unified business climate in a city where the political and commercial interests have often seemed at odds and where visitors to one part of the city too often ignore the other parts.
Kingston Police Chief Gerald Keller in February said that because of cuts to his department”™s overtime budget, officers no longer would be assigned to traffic control and patrol duties at events in the city unless paid for by the sponsoring organizations. “We have made it clear that we do not have the money to pay for these events,” Keller said Feb. 18.
Sottile backed the decision, saying in published remarks, “The city cannot continue to cover the overtime for these festivals. We can”™t do business they way we have done it.” He did not return a call for this article, but press accounts say that he favored extending the Hibernians “a credit” due to the fact they paid a $1,000 fee toward defraying city expenses for the parade for the last five years.Â
Business leaders want to leave that controversy behind and concentrate on the newly formed Business Alliance of Kingston (BAK) and its proposal to hire a “main street manager” to help coordinate the efforts at increasing revenue for commercial endeavors in the City”™s three separate business districts, downtown in the Rondout, uptown in the Stockade district and in Midtown. And they note businesses are already taxed at a higher rate than residents, a bone of contention some say has led to an upsurge in empty storefronts instead of thriving businesses. And they wonder what the taxes are being paid to do, if not help foster safe civic events.
“One might imagine that is what taxes are for,” said Patrice Courtney, a spokeswoman and member of BAK, regarding using police to facilitate business events. But she said the city budget is in trouble and business interests can not rely on politicians to help revive business in the historic city. That is the point behind BAK.
“Somebody has to do the nitty-gritty work,” said Courtney. “There are active talented business members out there and we”™re better off meeting together and discussing our concerns than stonewall them or cut corners.”
Larry Zalinsky, treasurer of the Rondout Business Association, is also a director of BAK and endorsed it by saying it would help bring more attention to the views of business owners in the city. Ultimately he said, that will help residents as well as business owners.
“In the past, there has always been this separation of the business districts,” said Zalinksy. “And I think the business people are now taking the attitude that we are all Kingston.”
For example, Zalinsky said a shuttle bus should be running constantly along Broadway in the city to bring visitors to each of the three commercial centers. He said currently visitors who come to the Rondout often do not visit other parts of the city because they lack transportation or knowledge of where to go. He said there are restaurants, art galleries and festivals throughout the city, but little coordination. He said that in addition to a shuttle bus, Kingston should do more to highlight its status as the first capital of New York state with an enormous array of historic buildings, including several stone houses from before the Revolutionary War.
But almost no one who casually visits the city knows all this, Zalinksy said, adding people need to be educated about the many attractions the city holds. “Kingston really has been unable to do that, there is no real effort at marketing this city. It”™s by accident they find us.” Â
“I feel too often it”™s like we put up a sign that says closed for business,” said Zalinksky. “We have to say, ”˜Welcome.”™”
