Little Water Place

Poughkeepsie

by Anne Pyburn and photographs by Natalie Keyssar, July 27, 2010

It began as a rest stop on the footpath down the river, halfway between Albany and Manhattan, long before those place names existed. To weary travelers, it was “uppuqui ipis ing,” roughly translated as “The Reed-Covered Lodge by the Little Water Place,” a phrase that the earliest European residents found difficult to pronounce, naming a locality they found easy to love. The footpath was to become Market Street south of Main, and the city in the middle of the Long Reach—a 10-mile straight stretch of Hudson River—seemed well favored from the start.

“Poughkeepsie,” wrote James H. Smith in his History of Dutchess County, NY (1882), “is one of the most beautiful and attractive cities in the State, and one of the most delightful of the many charming localities in the valley of the Hudson with its varied associations, its mountains of wonderous [sic] grandeur, its fruitful plains, and vales of rare scenic beauty. In varied natural scenery it is scarcely surpassed by any; while for wealth, culture, refinement—all those qualities which adorn a noble life—it is the peer of all.”
Mayor John Tkazyik sounds a lot like Smith, if Smith were reincarnated as a hip, thirtyish businessman with energy to spare. “It’s dynamite,” he says. “We’re on fire here. The Walkway has just erupted; it’s terrific, it’s brought out hundreds of thousands of visitors and residents. It’s a national attraction, a unique park with such beautiful scenery. It’s breathtaking to walk upon this bridge that once sat empty and run down, to see this marvel come alive.”

The railroad bridge that has been revamped into a park was a marvel in its own right when it opened in the 1880s, the longest bridge in the world and a true masterpiece of contemporary engineering. It lay dark and unused for a quarter century, closed by a fire. But the ambitious dreams of a few visionaries turned out to match the will of the wider community after all, and the Walkway Over the Hudson opened in 2009 and promptly filled up with fundraisers, charity walks, musical events, weddings, art shows, and just plain folks of every description out to get a breath of air. A 2007 impact study projected 267,700 visits a year, leading to $14.6 million in direct spending and $1.3 million in overall tax revenues The Walkway folks have reported happily that the projections were a bit off: 450,000 visitors showed up within the first few months.

Meet the Breathless Mayor
That would seem to be the way things are going in the big little city on the Hudson. With a population of just about 30,000, Poughkeepsie (aka Po-town, PK, and a host of other monikers) is not immune to the issues facing small cities everywhere; in the ‘70s and ‘80s, things were looking a bit bleak. The explosion of retail along Route 9 and an ill-considered plan to remake Main Street as a pedestrian mall spelled, some said, the end of the urban center.

Anyone who thought Poughkeepsie was down for the count certainly had another think coming. In the past decade, it’s been one thing after another; under the leadership of Tkazyik and his predecessor and mentor Colette La Fuente, so much is popping that the mayor gets breathless trying to list it all. “We’re putting in steps from the Walkway to Washington Street right now, and next year there will be an elevator installed from Waryas Park. Waryas Park, our waterfront, that’s our jewel in the crown. Other cities may have redeveloped their waterfronts faster but ours is going to be bigger and better. Waryas Park has the boat docks—the Clearwater has been here half a dozen times this year, along with a bunch of cruise lines. The park is being used to capacity—the egg hunt, the parades, the Kids Expo, the big Fourth of July bash, weddings, community events. A lot of major walks start and end there. And we just signed a licensing agreement to restore the icehouse—it will be a place to get refreshments and food."
The mayor is quick to point out that his city has 19 parks in all, in which his administration is busily replacing picnic tables and resurfacing ball courts. “A lot of people can’t get away on vacation right now; it’s important that they have places to play and feel welcome.”

The city’s west end is richly blessed: Along with the Walkway’s opening, its historic train depot—designed by the same folks who brought us Grand Central Station—has experienced major restorations over the past several years. These helped spark revisionings like that of the Victorian Dooley Square warehouse, which has been converted to retail, offices, and restaurants, and the success of neighboring spots like Mahoney’s Irish Pub, occupying the former Vassar Brothers Brewery.
Stalwart Institutions
Up on the former Main Mall—now a proud boulevard once again—the onetime Luckey Platt building, vacant for decades, has become a mixed-use residential and retail space. “We’ve got absolutely great tenants,” says the mayor.

“It’s all young, hip people with fresh energy—a city vibe,” says Luciano Valdivia, a resident of the Luckey Platt project. He’s fresh from a meeting with Mayor Tkazyik about the area’s prospects for revitalization, being one of the key players in the creation of a new night spot opening shortly in the neighborhood—the Bull and Buddha, an Asian/fusion lounge that all concerned are hoping becomes a landmark. “It’s going to be unlike anything this area has seen before—major sushi bar, lots of dining space—presided over by a seven-foot-tall Buddha from Thailand. So far, the Buddha seems pleased.”  The mayor is certainly pleased. “They’re adding 85 parking spots! And the place will be exquisite. That area’s coming back fast. We’re restoring a building on Academy Street. The Artist’s Palate [another Main Street restaurant] is doing well.

“It’s been a long time since Main Street was really bad,” says Valdivia. “It’s a perception thing, and people should come see what we’re doing. There’s this alley here that was a blight on the landscape and kept getting vandalized with spray paint. We commissioned graffiti artists, and now there are murals—an urban feel, that’s what we’re aiming for, hip urban.”