Schumer tours Beacon projects, lauds success

By Maeleeke J. Lavan
Poughkeepsie Journal

 

Darryl Bautista/Journal Beacon Mayor Clara Lou Gould, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., center, and Scenic Hudson's Steve Rosenberg discuss Beacon's economic development Friday with city officials and business leaders.

BEACON -- Economic initiatives in the city are leading the way for a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

During a visit Friday with local officials and business leaders, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., saw first-hand the city's growing success.

''I love economic development projects, especially ones that makes sense,'' Schumer said of several initiatives under way in the city.

Representatives from Dia Center for the Arts, Metro-North Railroad, the Beacon Cultural Project and Scenic Hudson met with Schumer and Mayor Clara Lou Gould at city hall to discuss new and future projects.

Schumer visited the city to obtain a better grasp of what's happening now and what could be in the future.

Dia Center for the Arts will open in May, Scenic Hudson has planned developments, including a hotel and restaurants along the Hudson River, Metro-North is working to expand the train station and the Cultural Project has several ongoing projects throughout the city.

Some projects are nearing completion while others are in the beginning stages, but all will have a significant impact on the city's future.

Schumer compared the possibilities for Beacon to the neighborhood of Soho in Manhattan.

''It was the arts that took an old industrial neighborhood and turned it into one of the jewels of the city,'' he said. ''The same thing can happen in Beacon. It's industrial ... it has beautiful scenery.''

Bringing back the city's vitality and creating jobs are just some of the benefits these projects will bring to the area, Schumer said.

Checks out train station

After the briefing, Schu-mer took a trip to the Beacon Train Station, where he view-ed riverfront property owned by Scenic Hudson and Dia.

He also traveled by the Beacon Terminal factory complex and stopped in a deli on Main Street for a snack.

Prior to his briefing on the city's economic future, Schumer presented a Purple Heart to the LaGrange family of James Liccione.

Liccione was wounded in 1942 -- by a sniper's bullet or an enemy booby trap -- during the American occupation of Adak, one of the islands in the Aleutian chain.

Liccione's wife, daughter and two of his eight sons accepted the Purple Heart on James' behalf three years and one day after his death.

''I'm proud of my dad,'' said Connie Liccione, James' only daughter. ''I know if he were here, he'd be very happy and proud.''