Letter: In Defense of Main Street Liberty

This election season has brought forth many ideas and proposals as candidates make their pitch for office. Many of these are good and valuable and worth exploring. Frequently, however, candidates and their supporters feel the need to promote their candidacy and ideas by claiming ‘how bad things are’ or that ‘nothing is being done about it’. In many cases, such claims are not only uninformed but also quite insulting to the many community activists and volunteers who spend countless hours and tons of energy to make things better for all of us. Whoever claims that he or she has the ‘magic key’ to return our communities to their former prosperity quasi overnight is either incredibly naïve or willingly misleading.

As a case in point: there were several letters and statements recently that commented on Liberty’s Main Street, using words like ‘unsafe’ or ‘sad’ and implying that nobody is doing anything about it. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Liberty, through its Community Development Corporation and Chamber of Commerce, and in close cooperation with municipal and county government, has made great efforts (and progress!) to stabilize and improve the quality of life for all residents. Speaking for the Liberty CDC, we have obtained grant programs to start up Micro-Enterprise businesses ($200k in 2006 and, together with the county, another $185k in 2011), we are working through a $500k grant to assist 17 properties on Main Street with rehabilitation and renovation projects, and we invested more than $250k in a variety of beautification projects. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce and Liberty ALIVE have won grants and awards from Sullivan Renaissance for their projects. Together, we are creating programs and activities to make Liberty more attractive.

Community recovery is a long and arduous road that requires stamina and endurance, and the economic and financial realities in our country add challenges and layers of complexity, but we are committed to seeing it through and we do invite others to join us. Both, the Liberty CDC and the Chamber are always welcoming new members and volunteers. As individuals, we may not agree on everything but we always manage to unite behind our common goal to make Liberty a better community. We find that our energy is better used in working for a better tomorrow than to lament the past and look down upon the present.

Alan Goodman
President, Board of Directors
Liberty Community Development Corporation
167 North Main Street
Liberty, NY 12754
845-798-7458

Liberty CDC donates new set of US Armed Forces flags

The Liberty CDC presented a new set of US Armed Forces flags to the American Legion Post #109 to replace the ones flying at the “Welcome to Liberty” sign at the traffic circle at the Rt. 52/55 intersection.

Alan Goodman, the CDC’s Board President says: “There are many good ways to honor the men and women who serve our country in the Armed Forces – we are happy to support the work of the American Legion with our donation”. The donated set contains flags for the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force as well as a new POW/MIA flag.

Photo: CDC Board President Alan Goodman and Public Spaces Committee Member Jodi Goodman present Dan Ratner, Past Commander Liberty American Legion Post #109 with the set of flags at the ‘Welcome’ sign in Liberty

(Release provided by the Liberty CDC)

Friend this: ‘the social network’ in Liberty on 8/19

The third installment of the 2011 Summer Outdoor Movies series in Liberty, on Friday August 19, will be “the social network”, the 2010 winner of multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes.

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, the movie chronicles the history of facebook – from the early beginnings in 2003 to what has now become a global social network that revolutionized communication – making its creator Mark Zuckerberg the youngest billionaire in history. But such success comes at a price…

Showtime is approximately 8 PM – whenever it’s dark enough to start. The Summer Stage is located next to LaPolt Park and opposite Town Hall at 120 North Main Street.

Liberty Movie Nights are made possible and presented by the Liberty Community Development Corporation, Liberty Rotary Club, the Town of Liberty Parks & Rec. Department, and Floyd & BoBo’s Bakery.

Provided by the Liberty Community Development Corporation

Superhero comes to Liberty

IRON MAN 2 is the opening movie on Friday, August 5, of the 2011 Outdoor Movies Series on Liberty’s Summer Stage on North Main Street.

Robert Downey, Jr. reprises his role as superhero Tony Stark as he battles it out with the bad boys of the world, this time in the shape of Mickey Rourke aka Ivan Vanko. Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson complete the cast of this 2010 movie, described by Roger Ebert as “a polished, high-octane sequel, …building once again on a quirky performance by Robert Downey, Jr.”

Showtime is approximately 8 PM – whenever it’s dark enough to start. The Summer Stage is located next to LaPolt Park and opposite Town Hall at 120 North Main Street.

Liberty Movie Nights are made possible and presented by the Liberty Community Development Corporation, Liberty Rotary Club, the Town of Liberty Parks & Rec. Department, and Floyd & BoBo’s Bakery.

Free Outdoor Movie Nights are coming back to Liberty on August 5

From August 5 to September 9, Friday Nights will be Open Air Movie Nights on the North Main Street Stage in Liberty. The Liberty Movie Nights Crew is ready to show a variety of movies for all ages:

Fri, Aug 5: Ironman 2 (2010 / Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke)
Fri, Aug 12: Secretariat (2010 / Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Scott Glenn. And a horse)
Fri, Aug 19: The Social Network (2010 / Jessie Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake)
Fri, Aug 26: Country Strong (2010 / Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw)
Fri, Sep 9: Cars (2006 / voices of Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Owen Wilson)

Now in the 3rd year, Liberty Movie Nights are a community project of the Liberty Community Development Corporation, Liberty Rotary Club, the Town of Liberty Parks & Rec Department, and Floyd & Bobo’s Bakery.

All shows are free and will begin around 8 PM, weather permitting. Rain dates will be arranged as possible.

Groundbreaking on new Park in Village of Liberty

On Saturday, April 30, Phoenix Enterprises, led by Dan Ratner Jr., broke ground on the new Liberty Park behind LaPolt Park Stage, through volunteer efforts supported by Liberty Chamber of Commerce, Liberty CDC, Liberty Police Department, Sullivan County District 6 Legislature Jodi Goodman and Liberty Town Council Maurice Gerry, accompanied by local supporters and friends. Park will include large green area, picnic area, BBQ pits and more. Plans are for park to be completed this summer. Volunteers and donations welcome. Please contact chair@catskills.com to get involved or call 845-292-9797.

2010 Census shows Liberty population growth

Liberty’s population is on the rise. The 2010 census shows a population increase of over 10% in the Village. While the Town (excluding the Village) only had an increase of 2.6%. There could be several factors to the over 10% increase in the Village including, Ideal Snacks, the opening of Liberty Commons, low cost of living (comparative to Orange county), etc…

The Village population went up to 4,392 – an increase of 417 over the past 10 years. This is a clear signal that families are investing in Liberty’s future. Personally I moved my family of 6 here from Orange County within the last 4 years. We took advantage of the low housing prices and the ability to live in a small village that provides great municipal service. I know of several other families who have as well.

The town’s population increase was only by 253. Still it’s very encouraging to see the our Town as a hole has increased it’s population. Rural communities like ours have shown huge decreases across the country as people move back to urban area. This continued increase should be a clear sign to potential investors that our Town is viable and there are people to here to take advantage of your services.

Now, lets get some more jobs here so we can keep this population increase going!

Liberty Pride 2011 – Kick-off meeting on Wednesday, March 16

Everybody is invited to join Liberty ALIVE, the Liberty Chamber of Commerce, the CDC and other community groups as we are getting ready to kick off the 2011 Liberty Pride activities with a public meeting on

Wednesday, March 16, at 7:00 PM upstairs in the Volunteer Ambulance Corps building at 178 Mill Street.

The purpose of the meeting is to present & discuss ideas for this year’s beautification projects and activities, specifically in preparation of the application to Sullivan Renaissance for 2011 grants. There will also be sign-up sheets for volunteers to become part of the work activities that will happen throughout the summer.

PR Courtesy of the Liberty Community Development Corporation

Liberty CDC Meeting Moved to Feb 16th

Due to the expected weather situation on Wednesday, the Liberty CDC’s Annual Meeting has been cancelled for February 2 and rescheduled for Wednesday, February 16. The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM, with the location yet to be confirmed (likely: Liberty High School Media Center, as before).

Liberty CDC moves date of Annual Meeting to Wednesday, February 2

 The CDC has decided to postpone its Annual Meeting for one week. The new date is Wednesday, February 2, again beginning at 7:00 PM in the new Media Center of the Liberty High School on Buckley Street. The meeting is open to the public, for more information contact the Liberty CDC at (845) 292-8202 or info@liberty-cdc.org

We’re going to try and stream the meeting live from the High School… Stay Tuned…