The council approved a measure 7-2 to pull $1.2 million directly from the city’s general fund balance for the demolition of the affixed canopies on Wall and North Front Streets. It comes after the city already passed a resolution last month to seek a $1.2 million bond for the job.
Third Ward Alderman Reynolds Scott-Childress, a Democrat, says this won’t increase the demolition’s cost, as the city expects to get the money back with the bond.
"What we want to do is make money available so that as soon as we get clearance, we can begin work on taking the Pike Plan down," he explains.
For months, Kingston has been mired in debate and litigation over the proposed removal of the canopies, which date back to the 1970s. Mayor Steve Noble has said the structure is an unwanted reminder of the Urban Renewal Era, and that the canopies have deteriorated beyond repair. He wants to begin demolition as soon as April, but a court placed a temporary restraining order on the plan last month.
Developer Neil Bender’s William Gottlieb Real Estate, which owns properties on Wall and North Front Streets, has maintained that the canopies are historically significant and that the city failed to maintain them. It filed a second lawsuit in February seeking to overturn the city council's vote on bond funding. Among a slew of other claims, it says the city didn’t properly review the potential environmental impacts of the demolition under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA.
"They really don't know what this Pike Plan is made up of," says Attorney William Hurst, who is representing William Gottlieb Real Estate. "They know there's gonna be dust. They suspect there may be asbestos and other contaminants, but they haven't really looked at it."
Hurst also claims the city is violating open meetings law. Many discussions on the demolition have been pulled into attorney-client privilege sessions, which are closed to the public. The resolution to pull money from the fund balance was not on the initial agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, joining a list of items added shortly beforehand.
Now, Hurst says they’re suing again with similar claims.
“You just authorized this project a month ago based on an extension of indebtedness. Now you’re saying you’re going to pull $1.2 million essentially in cash out of the city’s bank account, and you’ve done it pursuant to this sort of odd, opaque procedure," says Hurst. "Secondly, they did not import or replicate any of the environmental review, so effectively what they did was identify funding and approve the project without doing SEQRA review.”
WAMC has requested comment from the mayor’s office.
Two city councilors — Aldermen Michael Tierney and Teryl Mickens — voted against pulling funds from the fund balance Tuesday night. Tierney, who represents the Second Ward, says the canopies add character to his district.
“I cannot vote for a resolution that, in my opinion, destroys a seminal part of what makes Kingston Kingston," says Tierney. "However, I do support the efforts to make sure that the city repairs any of the facade work that’s going on there.”
Tierney has said he would like to see replacements built once the canopies are removed. Asked if William Gottlieb Real Estate would be happy with the demolition if it got new canopies in the end, Hurst says he doesn’t see how that would make a difference.
“Just like you can’t rebuild the Lincoln Memorial, if you tear it down, with a facsimile, you can’t do that with historic buildings, either," he notes. "Put it this way: an awning built in 2025 is not going to attract a single visitor to uptown Kingston for shopping or tourism.”
