Ellenville is on the rise. Since the pandemic, an influx of new residents have joined forces with longtime locals to revitalize the community. As new businesses have popped up—and existing ones have gotten spruced up—there’s been a palpable sense of optimism in the village. But that’s not to say that Ellenville doesn’t still have its struggles.
At the end of 2023, when Evan Trent took over as mayor following Jeffrey Kaplan’s 21-year term, he had only been on the job for a couple of weeks before discovering that the village was facing an approximately $1 million budget hole. The budget gap resulted from a mix of factors over the years: failed property sales, decreasing sales and mortgage tax income, stagnant sewer rates with rising operating costs, and an unexpected forgiveness of a significant water bill payment from the Nevele Grande Hotel.
As a result, the Ulster County Legislature allocated about $170,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds to address budget shortfalls, while Ellenville tapped into $500,000 from its Mountain Money fund (originally formed in 1996 from selling land to the Open Space Institute). Additionally, Trent and the Village Board appointed Elliott Auerbach—former mayor, village manager, and state deputy comptroller—as interim village manager. Now they’ve tightened down their 2024-25 budget to prioritize the essentials.
“We just really need to have a good year,” says Trent. “And it’s just about looking at what we need to do specifically. We have basic services, you know: street department, police department, water, and sewer. And those are the kind of things we’re really focused on this year—making sure our base-level services are functioning well and efficiently. Getting through this budget year, and then we can start to look at what we can do to be more proactive.”
Trent, who works as an IT specialist for the Ellenville Central School District, prioritizes investing in the village’s youth. He aims to keep them in Ellenville or ensure they return with their skills, and one key plan he had hoped to pursue was building a youth center. Despite financial constraints, he still retains the goal.
“One of the things that’s been frustrating is that the municipality of Ellenville is very different from the community of Ellenville,” says Trent. “And I don’t want what we’re dealing with on the municipal side to cloud over a lot of the great things that are going on in our community.”
A Festive Summer
As for the great things in the community, Trent highlights the Ellenville chapter of the NAACP, which has been active for over 40 years. “They have one of the most active branches in the Northeast, and you wouldn’t think that some of these things would exist in a small mountain town,” says Trent. He also notes the Smiley Carriage Road that runs from Minnewaska State Park and Sam’s Point to Berme Road Park in the village as an overlooked asset.
But summer is promising a vibrant set of events and activities. On Wednesday, June 5, Market on Market, an outdoor farmer and artisan market, kicked off its weekly 2024 season. The event—a farmers’ market meets community hangout with picnic tables—takes place on the lawn of Morning Sunshine—a cafe, market, and specialty grocer that sells beer, wine, and cider during the market.
Housed in the village’s circa 1928 Home National Bank building, the Borscht Belt Museum debuted with a pop-up show called “Vacationland!” last July. Now, it’s gearing up for its second exhibit this month: “And Such Small Portions!” which will explore the culture and humor surrounding food in Borscht Belt resorts and bungalow colonies.
On July 27 and 28, the museum will be hosting its second Borscht Belt Fest, a festival featuring a street fair with vendors and traditional Jewish food along with workshops, lectures, exhibits, film screenings, and comedy shows (this year’s lineup is still in the works, but last year’s included comedians Rachel Feinstein, Yamaneika Saunders, and Dov Davidoff). “Andrew Jacobs, our board president, really poured his heart and soul into it,” says Auerbach, who serves as a museum board member. “If not for him, I don’t think we’d have the museum we have today.”
The Borscht Belt Museum also organized the Borscht Belt Comedy Club, a series of monthly stand-up comedy shows at Shadowland Stages, which has also been bustling with its own events and activities. This summer, the theater’s 2024 lineup includes heartwarming dramas like “Dear Jack Dear Louise” and energetic musicals like “Beehive: The `60s Musical.”
“Our season this year skews toward lighter fare,” says Brendan Burke, artistic director. “It’ll be a little bit of a respite from a pretty tumultuous summer, especially with politics and with the election and everything else that’s going on. The themes for a lot of these plays loosely have to do with connection. We wanted to get people to sit back, enjoy, and be reminded of how we are more common than we are separate.”
On July 20, coinciding with Upstate Art Weekend, Shadowland will be hosting a celebration for the vibrant geometric murals adorning its campus, designed by artist Amy Park and inspired by theatrical lighting. Park and her partner, sculptor Paul Villinski, transformed a department store downtown into a studio space. They’ve recently added five rolling walls and will be hosting “Pastoral,” a group exhibition, for Upstate Art Weekend. Designer Alpana Bawa will be showcasing work by Jeffrey Gibson (who is representing the US at this year’s Venice Biennale) in her eponymous clothing boutique for the weekend as well.
The Common Good bookstore and bar, the brainchild of Matthew Goldman, is scheduled to open in mid to late July. The store will occupy the middle and far right bays at 119 Canal Street. The leftmost bay is currently occupied by Pawel Zolynski’s exhibit “Old, New & Stupid,” which features his multimedia artwork through July 28.
The bookstore plans to stock both fiction and nonfiction books and will include a separate area for children’s literature. There will also be a full bar to accommodate 10 to 12 people, with a cocktail-forward menu featuring local spirits. The Common Good will also offer an array of prepared foods: hot and cold sandwiches, salad, a meat and cheese plate, as well as snack options and seasonal offerings.
Goldman’s vision is to make the store a community space where people can gather. “The name is obviously a little playful, because we’re selling goods, but it’s what I want the store to be about,” says Goldman. “We’re a very isolated, hyper-individualistic society at the moment. There’s fewer and fewer times we come together, acting in accord for the broader interests of a community—of the common good. I really want to elevate students in the area and have events for people of all ages.”
Looking Ahead
Outside the center of town, there are major developments set to bring economic growth and job opportunities to the region. In September 2023, the Nevele Grande Hotel was sold for $5 million to 1100 Arrow LLC as part of plans by New York City-based developer Somerset Partners to create an entirely new facility with lodging and a 126-unit housing development.
On March 19, the historic resort’s century-old Winter Lodge building caught fire, resulting in a devastating blaze that kept firefighters from 10 companies busy for 15 hours. While the main resort building and other structures were spared, all that remained of the Winter Lodge was a stone fireplace.
“[The fire] was sad—the place was one of the original homes of the Slutsky family,” says Barbara Hoff, a well-known village advocate affectionately known as the “fairy godmother of Ellenville.” Hoff, who has run Top Shelf Jewelry on Canal Street for 42 years, witnessed the fire from her home. “They lived there as they owned and managed the hotel, and many of the Slutskys still with us remember that as their home for a timeframe. But the developer owns the property now, so we’ll see. We’re all anxious.”
The cause of the fire is still unknown. Despite the loss of the Winter Lodge, the development plans for the Nevele property are expected to proceed. “The fire was limited to that older building,” says Auerbach. “After talking to Somerset, I have a sense that most of the buildings would be taken down anyway.”
Chicago-based cannabis wholesaler Cresco Labs has been working to construct a marijuana facility in Wawarsing on the site of the former Channel Master and Schrade knife factory, which closed 18 years ago. Cresco claimed the project will provide 75 immediate jobs to the surrounding area by the spring of 2023—and 375 once it’s fully up and running—but has yet to create any local jobs, as the facility has yet to be built.
“Cresco has been very upfront and forthright about the challenges they are facing,” says Auerbach. “Federal banking regulations threw them a curveball, as well as the Office of Cannabis Management on the state level. But they’ve become a community member, gotten involved, helped organizations out, and planted a flag here. As far as the village’s perspective, they’ll be another outside water user. Both revenue streams will be a tremendous help.”
Despite the uncertainties surrounding these developments, there remains a sense of hope for the future of Ellenville. “We went from a bustling downtown, to people being scared to park their cars here, to now having no parking spaces in Ellenville,” says chef Marcus Guliano of Aroma Thyme Bistro. “When I opened in 2003, I was the only formal sit-down restaurant, and I couldn’t get farmers to deliver here. The village has come a long way in the past five, 10 years, and a tremendous way in the past 20. It’s really exciting to see what we have going on now and what’s in store for our future. I think the best is still to come.”
