Episodes

  • Rep. Ryan Says He Will Donate Funds

    Rep. Ryan Says He Will Donate Funds
    Feb 7 2026
    Received campaign money from firm tied to ICE
    Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, said on Feb. 4 that he will donate campaign funds he received from employees of a data analytics firm that supplies software for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
    Days earlier, For the Many, a Kingston nonprofit, called on Ryan to donate the funds to immigrant advocacy groups. They had come from employees of Palantir Technologies, a firm co-founded by conservative billionaire Peter Thiel, who also co-founded Paypal.

    Federal immigration officials contracted with Palantir to create software that uses artificial intelligence and data mining to identify, track and deport immigrants. Palantir was scheduled to deliver a prototype of its ImmigrationOS platform to the agency by September 2025 as part of a two-year contract worth $30 million.
    Jonathan Bix, the executive director of For the Many, told the Daily Freeman that the organization had been alerted to the campaign funding via the website purgepalantir.com. He said the group was surprised to see Ryan listed, among all Democratic federal lawmakers, as receiving the most support from Palantir.
    According to the website, Ryan has received $134,600 from Palantir employees, including its top executives, since being elected in 2021. But a search of campaign finance disclosures at the Federal Election Commission shows a total of $93,300 in contributions from 17 individuals who said they were employed at Palantir in that period. Ryan received $36,500 from 11 Palantir employees in 2025, according to the FEC. As of Dec. 31, he had about $2.5 million on hand for his 2026 re-election campaign.
    Rep. Josh Riley, a Democrat whose district includes northern Dutchess County, has received $76,601 from nine Palantir employees since 2021, when he first ran for Congress. He received $15,000 from five Palantir executives in 2025.
    Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes Philipstown, received $9,900 from two Palantir employees in 2024, according to FEC records.

    Purge Palantir said that the Denver-based company appears to be "cultivating relationships with promising, younger tech- and defense-friendly Democrats." Ryan serves on the House Armed Services Committee and Riley is a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
    Although For the Many posted online that it had "we successfully pressured Pat Ryan to refuse future contributions from ICE contractors and to donate past ones to local immigrant defense," Ryan said his decision was not in response to pressure from the activist group.
    "This was something I've been thinking about for a while, even before these last two horrific instances, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, which were straight up murder and in Alex's case … an execution," he told the Daily Freeman. "I've been thinking and working to find all the points of leverage and ways to push back and make clear where I stand, which is strongly against this abuse of power and dangerous and unconstitutional behavior."
    He said he did not believe that ICE should be abolished. "To me, the choice can't be between no border security and Trump's ICE murdering people in the street," he said. "That is not a choice any of my constituents want."
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    4 mins
  • Two Restaurants Shutter in Beacon

    Two Restaurants Shutter in Beacon
    Feb 7 2026
    Matcha Thomas and Nansense close
    Two restaurants in Beacon announced they are closing this month.
    Matcha Thomas, a teahouse that opened in May 2021 said that it will close its storefront at 179 Main St. on Feb. 15. Its owners, the Thomas family, said they plan to "transition into a fully mobile teahouse through our matcha cart."
    On Thursday (Feb. 5), Mohib Rahmati, the owner of Nansense Afghan Burgers and Bowls at 2 Eliza St. said it was his restaurant's last day in business. It opened in August 2024. Rahmati said his family was starting a "new chapter" that required relocation.

    Matcha Thomas was the distillation of years of activism and public speaking for Haile Thomas, then 20, her experience founding and running a nonprofit organization and the recipes from her cookbook Living Lively, published in 2019 by William Morrow. She was assisted by her mother, Charmaine, and sister, Nia.
    In 2020, the family, who lives in Chester, was picking up food from Isamu in Beacon and noticed a for-rent sign across the street and decided it was time to share what they've learned about the health benefits of matcha.
    "With our entire hearts, we thank you for all of your love, support and enjoyment of what we built in Beacon," the family wrote online.
    Nansense began as a food truck in New York City. In 2024, Rahmati and his wife, Komel, moved to Newburgh and began looking for a location for a storefront.
    "Thank you for the love, the loyalty, the conversations, the regular orders and for truly making this place feel like home," the couple wrote on Instagram. "As hard as this decision has been, it's the right one for our family. Beacon, you supported us from Day One, and we'll forever be grateful for that."
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    2 mins
  • Feds Shut Down Library Passport Services

    Feds Shut Down Library Passport Services
    Feb 6 2026
    Howland, Butterfield could lose $20K in annual revenue
    The federal government has notified public libraries that double as Passport Acceptance Facilities that they can no longer offer the service.
    Librarians at the Howland Public Library in Beacon and the Butterfield Memorial Library in Cold Spring are trained to accept passport applications, which are sent to the U.S. Department of State for processing. The libraries charge a $35 fee for each application, which brings in $20,000 to $30,000 annually. The Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison does not offer the service.
    "It's a horrible cut," said Gillian Murphy, the Howland director. "I don't see any reason for it."
    In a notification to libraries across the country, the State Department said they must end passport services by Thursday (Feb. 12). Although libraries have acted as Passport Acceptance Facilities for years, the State Department said that the Passport Act of 1920 "does not explicitly allow for public libraries, which are organized as nonprofit, charitable organizations, to collect and retain execution fees for processing passport applications."
    Libraries process applications for people who have never had a passport or whose passport was lost or stolen. They also accept applications from patrons whose last passport was issued when they were younger than 16 or more than 15 years ago or whose name has changed. They do not process adult passport renewals. Librarians undergo a background check before being trained to complete the forms and check proof of citizenship and identity.
    Murphy noted that participating libraries are audited annually to demonstrate "that we've accounted for each one, followed up, tracked it, filed it away and done it right."
    A bill introduced Jan. 9 in the U.S. House would amend the Passport Act of 1920 "to authorize certain public libraries to collect and retain a fee for the execution of a passport application." Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes Philipstown, and Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, are co-sponsors.
    Where to Go Now
    Outside of libraries, the closest Passport Acceptance Facilities are the West Point Post Office (dub.sh/westpoint-passport), the Putnam County Clerk's office in Carmel (dub.sh/putnam-passport) and the Dutchess County Clerk's office in Poughkeepsie (dub.sh/dutchess-passport).
    At the Butterfield Library, Director Johanna Reinhardt said she received notification from the State Department about six weeks ago and learned that Feb. 12 was the end date 10 days ago.
    "Any loss for us is a big loss in terms of revenue, because we are a small library that continues to grow," she said. "We get the people who come from other neighboring communities [for passport services], who haven't been here, and they end up coming back for programs we offer. The biggest loss is just the ability to provide a much-needed service that people appreciate."
    On Tuesday (Feb. 3), Murphy was in Albany, along with thousands of other librarians, to lobby state lawmakers. She said that during a meeting with state Sen. Rob Rolison, whose district includes the Highlands, she made the point to inform him about the new State Department policy.
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    4 mins
  • A Bluesman with a Seeger Vibe

    A Bluesman with a Seeger Vibe
    Feb 6 2026
    Guy Davis to perform at Towne Crier in Beacon
    Guy Davis knows how to have fun. One of his favorite jokes as he tunes his guitar is, "Sorry, I'm having trouble with my G string."
    But once he sinks into a song, the room is transported. "Playing is a personal thing that hits my soul," he says. "The music takes me on a trip to the country, where there's rivers, grass, rocks, trees; come with me, and I'm a happier camper."
    Davis also travels back in time to a specific place, evoking the 1920s and 1930s Mississippi Delta blues and ragtime era, when guitarists mimicked the piano by playing multiple parts at a time using a thumb pick to drive the rhythm and either bare fingers or metal banjo picks to pluck the chords and melodic lines.
    "People watched Blind Blake play and asked him, 'Where's the other guy hiding?'" Davis says.
    The son of prominent actors and activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee — who befriended Pete Seeger during the Civil Rights era — Davis will bring a Towne Crier audience into the wilderness and back to the past on Feb. 15.

    Since his appearance in the hip-hop film Beat Street in 1984, Davis has done plenty of acting, and in 2023 he produced the Broadway revival of his father's play Purlie Victorious, which received six Tony Award nominations.
    After hearing a didgeridoo in Australia, "I fell in love immediately," he says, and learned the circular breathing technique required to maintain the wind instrument's drone; the sound is like Tuvan throat singing.
    "It helps with my harmonica playing," says Davis, who squeezes out exquisite notes on the harp. Routinely covered by guitar media outlets, he also has two Grammy Award nominations.
    Although Davis gravitated toward acoustic blues and began recording regularly in 1993, he still tours while juggling acting gigs and other projects.
    Playing harmonica, putting a metallic slide on the ring finger of his left hand and using a 12-string guitar expand his sonic palette. The repertoire mixes originals and covers of the old-timers. His own work, delivered in a raspy voice, fits the period's vibe.
    Davis crossed paths with Pete Seeger as a kid at Camp Killooleep in Vermont, a magnet for the folk music community, and learned banjo from one of Seeger's brothers, John.
    "We lived in Mount Vernon and, one day, Pete was hanging out in our living room," he says. "When we moved to New Rochelle, there he was again."
    Davis often tagged along when his parents visited Beacon, picking out Leadbelly tunes and listening to recorded relics, some of which seeped into his playing style.
    "It was low-key; we weren't trying to accomplish anything," he says. "He influenced all the songs on my 1978 Folkways album Dreams About Life" and sang backup on one track.
    Davis sailed on the Clearwater, Woody Guthrie and Sojourner Truth many times. In the 1970s, he participated in fundraisers to finish the boats and often opened for the folk bard.
    "Once, in Poughkeepsie, we got there early and we were hanging out at a fountain," he says. "Soon enough, there's Pete with his pants rolled up, splashing around in the water, pushing the garbage to the side and getting all the kids in the area to take it away."
    After a 2019 concert in Albany, one newspaper reported that the bluesman had reflected Seeger's "greatest gift," which was not his singing or songwriting but "his ability to turn an audience of strangers into close friends by getting them to sing along. Davis had just accomplished the same thing."
    The Towne Crier is located at 379 Main St. in Beacon. Tickets for the Feb. 15 show, which begins at 7 p.m., are $25 online or $30 at the door. See dub.sh/TC-guy-davis. To download or order music, see guydavis.com.
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    4 mins
  • State: Haldane Can Boost Levy by 5.5%

    State: Haldane Can Boost Levy by 5.5%
    Feb 6 2026
    Amount is nearly twice 2025-26 cap
    The Haldane school district can increase its property tax levy by as much as 5.53 percent for 2026-27 while staying within the state's tax cap formula.
    If the five-member board approves an increase at that level, it would be nearly twice the 2025-26 increase, which was 2.8 percent, well below the state cap for that year of 3.38 percent. The state calculates the cap for each district annually.
    The primary cause of the jump in the cap is borrowing costs for Haldane's $28.4 million capital plan, according to administrators, who shared the calculation at the Tuesday (Feb. 3) school board meeting.
    In November 2024, voters approved a plan for the district to borrow money for a series of campus upgrades, including a 17,300-square-foot addition to the high school. The plan also includes changes to the campus traffic flow, new student support offices and security upgrades. The cap formula allows districts to collect higher taxes for debt payments on voter-approved capital improvements.
    How is Cap Calculated?
    To calculate how much they can raise taxes, most districts in the state, including Haldane, Garrison and Beacon, each year must use a state-mandated formula with as many as a dozen factors… Read more.
    The district plans to recommend a budget on March 3. The board will adopt a budget on April 21, and district residents will vote on the spending plan on May 19, along with the board seat held by Peggy Clements.
    Under state law, if the proposed levy is at or below the cap, the district needs only a majority of voters to approve the budget. If the district proposes a levy that exceeds the cap, the budget must be approved by 60 percent of voters.
    Under the current proposed state budget, the district said it expects to receive a 1 percent increase in foundation aid, or about $30,000 more than last year, when it received $3 million. Administrators said that most districts are expected to receive the minimum increase, which is designed to ensure equitable education funding regardless of local property wealth.
    It also will receive $10,000 per student for its pre-K program, or $4,600 more than in 2025-26. The program has a maximum of 18 students, so the district will receive $82,800. New York hopes to have pre-K in every district in the state by 2028-29.
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    3 mins
  • Beacon Taqueria Lawsuit Dismissed

    Beacon Taqueria Lawsuit Dismissed
    Feb 6 2026
    Also updated: pedestrian suit and Beacon foreclosure
    A state judge has dismissed a Beacon business owner's lawsuit against his former landlord because of a technicality.
    Milan Nigam, the owner of Tito Santana Taqueria, filed suit in June, seeking at least $400,000 in damages. He alleged that Lindley Todd LLC failed to make required repairs to the restaurant at 142 Main St. before the City of Beacon shut it down in May for code violations.
    According to the lawsuit, Nigam "repeatedly" notified landlord Joe Donovan between 2022 — after Nigam bought the restaurant — and May 2025 of "sewage flooding the basement, rotten flooring and fire-panel faults." That month, the building department identified seven violations, including floor joists that, when viewed from the basement, showed "evidence of severe deterioration due to wood-boring insects." An engineer's evaluation and a building permit would be required before repairs, the department said.
    In July, Lindley Todd LLC asked Judge Christi Acker to dismiss the lawsuit. The company said that six of the seven violations cited by the city were due to Nigam's "actions or inactions in violation of the lease."
    Acker dismissed the suit on Jan. 28, ruling that Lindley Todd was not properly served with the summons and complaint. According to court documents, the papers were served by hand to Sean Noble, a Lindley Todd property manager, on July 7 at 134 Main St.
    While Lindley Todd owns 134 Main and employs Noble, he is not a member of the LLC and was not authorized to act as a manager within the context of state law, Acker ruled.
    Pedestrian death
    Attorneys for the City of Beacon on Jan. 28 filed their opposition to a request for Acker to reconsider her dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the family of a resident who died after being struck in a Main Street crosswalk.
    The family of Carla Giuffrida, who was hit in December 2021 at the intersection with Teller Avenue, filed a lawsuit in 2023 against the driver, Jacqueline Milohnic, and her husband (who owned the car), the city and Kearns Electric, the company that services Beacon's pedestrian signals. On Dec. 10, Acker dismissed the suit against the city and Kearns.
    Giuffrida's adult children, Lindsay and Mauro, asked Acker to "renew" her decision, citing the city's installation of a leading pedestrian interval at the intersection as evidence that Beacon officials knew the roadway was dangerous. They also said city attorneys had not disclosed the installation of an LPI before Acker's ruling.
    In materials submitted in January, Beacon's attorneys called the Giuffridas' request "a legal, factual, procedural and logical impossibility" since the family did not present any new facts challenging Acker's decision to grant summary judgment. Instead, the only "new fact" involves the use of the LPI, which city attorneys said Acker found to be irrelevant because its absence was not the primary cause of the accident.
    If installation of an LPI four years after the accident proves responsibility, "no defendant would make any changes to a site after an accident if such measures would result in liability," the attorneys said. An expert who submitted testimony for the Giuffrida family failed to explain how installation of an LPI "would have prevented an accident in which a driver was blinded by sun glare and a pedestrian crossed with a red pedestrian signal," they argued.
    Mews foreclosure
    The Mews at Beacon, a partially constructed condominium complex at 53 Eliza St., will be auctioned on Feb. 13 at the Dutchess County Courthouse in Poughkeepsie.
    A state judge granted Insula Capital Group's request for summary judgment in August and appointed an attorney to determine the amount due and whether the property could be sold. The attorney filed a report in October stating that the developer, Qele "Charlie" Qelaj, owes Insula $5.97 million plus costs and interest.
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    4 mins
  • Magazzino Adds Community Room

    Magazzino Adds Community Room
    Feb 6 2026
    Spazio Aperto will host films, talks, relaxation
    Voices carry in the two main spaces of the Robert Olnick Pavilion at Magazzino Italian Art, especially in Gallery 2, a 1,000-square-foot cube where sound bounces around until it hits the 31-foot ceiling.
    Entering the newly opened Spazio Aperto (Community Room) on the lower level, however, visitors experience quietude because of a sound treatment that dampens the decibels. Despite the subterranean location, one wall is a window that opens to a courtyard and lets in a surprising amount of light.
    "It's an adjunct to the store in the cafe upstairs [on the second floor], but there are more books and magazines downstairs, where people can enjoy a moment of relaxation after their visit," says Luciana Fabbri, the museum's communications coordinator. "It's a place to sit, reflect and decompress."

    Taking advantage of the space, the museum is ramping up its educational outreach and public events. Fabbri directs the programming, which kicked off in November with a symposium exploring the career of Japanese glass artist Yoichi Ohira, who moved to the island of Murano near Venice and created stunning designs executed by Italian artisans.
    The current series is Cinema e Cioccolata: movies and hot chocolate. In part, the festival fills a void left by shuttered local movie theaters, particularly in Fishkill, says Andrea Connor, the visitor services coordinator, although the local fare skews toward niche works such as La Chimera, shown last month, a drama about tomb raiders in central Italy during the 1980s.
    On Feb. 13, Magazzino will screen Habeus Papam (We Have a Pope), a 2011 film about an identity crisis suffered by the Catholic Church's leader that finds him roaming the streets of Rome in disguise.
    The romantic Hollywood comedy Moonstruck will play on Feb. 27. "It's a fun film about how Italian identity in the post-war period got reinvented as the U.S. reshaped Italian culture," says Fabbri.
    The final showing, on March 13, is Fire of Love, an Academy Award-nominated documentary about scientists who study active volcanoes up close and personal, including Sicily's Mount Etna and the island of Stromboli.

    A small army of employees deploys chairs for events at Spazio Aperto, but the spot is usually occupied by a sleek bookshelf, a white rectangular table with eight padded chairs, places to repose that resemble small haystacks and an electric-green modular couch whose components can be manipulated into multiple positions, including flat as a bed.
    The books on the shelves include Italian and American Art: An Interaction 1930-1980s and Italian Futurism: 1909-1944. The museum also sponsors a robust publishing program distinguished by its brown paper dust jackets. Many of its 18 titles accompanied exhibitions and feature artists and topics relevant to its post-World War II focus.
    Limited-edition prints by prominent Italian artists line the walls and, in a corner, five panels by students from La Scuola d'Italia in Manhattan emulate the style of Piero Manzoni's Achrome series, six of which hang in the gallery above in an exhibit that ends April 13.
    To enter Spazio Aperto, which is open during museum hours and for events, visitors pass an exhibition featuring Ohira's exceptional glassworks. For anyone interested in the glass-blower's art, this must-see show runs through May 4.
    Magazzino Italian Art, at 2700 Route 9 in Philipstown, is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Monday. Admission is $20 ($10 seniors, students, persons with disabilities, $5 ages 5-10, free for veterans, Philipstown residents and members). See magazzino.art.
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    4 mins
  • Democratic Candidate Drops Out

    Democratic Candidate Drops Out
    Feb 5 2026
    Six challengers remain to take on Lawler
    One of the seven declared candidates to challenge Rep. Mike Lawler has ended his campaign.
    John Sullivan, a former FBI official who lives in Rockland County, said on Instagram on Jan. 30 that he is no longer in the race for the Democratic nomination to oppose Lawler, the Republican incumbent who represents District 17, which includes Philipstown.
    Those still seeking the Democratic nomination are John Cappello, a Rockland native and former defense attaché at the U.S. embassies in Israel and Serbia; Peter Chatzky, a tech company founder and village trustee in Briarcliff Manor; Cait Conley, a West Point graduate from Orange County and former director of counterterrorism for the National Security Council; Beth Davidson, a Rockland County legislator; Effie Phillips-Staley, a Tarrytown trustee who is a nonprofit executive; and Mike Sacks, a lawyer and former TV journalist from Westchester.
    Jessica Reinmann, who founded the nonprofit 914Cares in Westchester County, dropped out in November. Rep. Pat Ryan, whose district includes Beacon, has endorsed Conley.

    Among the candidates, Chatzky reported having $5.5 million in campaign funds as of Dec. 31, although he has loaned his committee $5.75 million. Conley had $1.2 million and Davidson $738,000. The other three candidates reported having less than $30,000 each on hand.
    To appear on the June 23 primary ballot, candidates must submit at least 1,250 signatures of registered voters in the district on a nominating petition by April 6.
    House District 18
    Ryan, a Democrat, has one challenger so far. Sharanjit Thind registered with the Federal Elections Commission last fall to run as a Republican for the District 18 seat. In his most recent campaign finance filing, through Dec. 31, he said he had not raised or spent more than $5,000. Ryan reported having $2.5 million.
    According to his LinkedIn profile, Thind is the founder and CEO of NuWay Media Group, a Manhattan-based marketing firm, and was a Nassau County human rights commissioner from 2012 to 2018. He grew up in a Sikh family in Kapurthala, Punjab, India, and holds an MBA and a postgraduate diploma in journalism.
    Putnam County
    Kevin Byrne, a former state legislator, is completing his first, 4-year term as county executive after running unopposed in 2022. On Jan. 22, Brett Yarris, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully in November for a seat on the county Legislature, filed with the state Board of Elections to challenge Byrne.
    In a statement, Yarris said that his filing is "simply an exploratory committee and an official decision has not yet been made" about whether he will run.
    Yarris campaigned last year to represent District 5, which includes the hamlet of Carmel and part of Lake Carmel, but lost to Jake D'Angelo, who won 53 percent of the vote. D'Angelo had earlier defeated incumbent Greg Ellner in the Republican primary with 63 percent of the vote.
    According to his campaign website for the Legislature seat, Yarris is the founder and CEO of The Behavior Movement, a special-needs fitness company, and Football Behavior, an analytics platform. He also serves as vice chair and treasurer of the Putnam County Soil & Water Conservation District board.
    Byrne has about $119,000 on hand, according to a campaign finance report filed with the state.
    State Senate
    Two Democrats, Lisa Kaul and Evan Menist, have filed to challenge Republican incumbent Rob Rolison, who is seeking a third term in the 39th District, which includes Beacon and Philipstown. If necessary, a primary vote would be held on June 23. Ryan has endorsed Kaul. The challengers each had about $22,000 in campaign funds as of Dec. 31, and Rolison reported $15,000.
    State Assembly
    No one has filed with the Board of Elections to challenge Dana Levenberg, whose district includes Philipstown, or Jonathan Jacobson, whose district includes Beacon. Both are Democrats.
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    5 mins