Newer to Midtown's gustatory landscape is the Beverly, a gastropub and cocktail bar in a turn-of-the-century tavern opened by Trippy Thompson and Jennifer Constantine, the couple behind Rosendale's hip hang Market Market. "We wanted to have another spot, in Kingston, but one that was different [than the more brunch-and-lunch-oriented Market Market]," says Thompson. "We also wanted to be part of an area that was evolving—Uptown and the Rondout are great, but they're already established. Midtown is funkier and still reinventing itself. People are really excited about what's happening here, with all of the arts initiatives that are being launched." Indeed, driving Midtown's current burst of revitalization is the advent of the artist work/live loft buildings the Lace Mill (just across Foxhall Avenue from the Beverly), the Shirt Factory, and the forthcoming Pajama Factory and Brush Factory, all of them disused manufacturing buildings whose reclamations are being overseen by developer Mike Piazza. Further signs of the influx of artistic spirit into Midtown include the arrivals of two new galleries: ArtBar, on Broadway, and Greenkill, on Greenkill Avenue. There's even a farm hidden away in the city's midsection: The Kingston YMCA Farm Project, tucked in behind the Y and a radiology clinic off Pine Grove Avenue, educates and empowers young people by directly engaging them in sustainable food production on an urban farm.
Do the Strand
The Rondout-West Strand Historic District—or as it's also known, the Strand, or, most commonly, the Rondout—sits along the Rondout Creek, an estuary of the Hudson River. The section is populated with striking brick buildings that date from its 19th-century heyday as a shipping center. Once the tough realm of canal diggers, ice cutters, dockworkers, brick makers, and brewers, the area was a city unto itself before being officially incorporated into Kingston in 1872. The 1960s and '70s saw vice and decay set in, but in the '90s urban pioneers and restaurateurs began reinvigorating the neighborhood's West Strand block to help make the Rondout into the lively entertainment spot it is today. In addition to such attractions as the Trolley Museum of New York, the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and the Rondout Lighthouse (the Irish Cultural Center of the Hudson Valley, an outgrowth of the waterfront's popular Hooley on the Hudson festival, has proposed a plan to the city and hopes to break ground in 2017), the area features a wealth of fine eateries, such as Ship to Shore (New American fare), Armadillo (Mexican), Brunette (wine bar with small plates), Ole Savannah (barbecue, craft beers), and mainstay Mariner's Harbor (seafood). Quality shops include Clove and Creek, which sells locally handcrafted housewares and gifts; On the Hill Antiques, a multidealer emporium; and Hops Petunia, an award-winning floral shop focused on ground-breaking creations.
Besides being such an easily walkable, self-contained district, the Rondout is a homey haven to several cozy inns. Unveiled last month is the Forsyth B&B, a renovated, two-story 1830s brick house located on Abeel Street, one block from the waterfront, that boasts four spacious and charming guest rooms, private baths, and a casual-chic mix of modern and vintage furnishings. "When we first visited Kingston we were just so struck by what a beautiful, interesting community it is, with just the right balance between the feelings of 'city' and 'country,'" explains innkeeper Tamara Ehlin, an event planner whose husband, architect Charles Mallea, had a hand in the Forsyth's redesign. "Every day when I wake up and walk out the door, I just kick myself at how lucky I am to live here." Ehlin is also a pastry chef, and, yes, her confections are, if you will, the icing on a stay at the inn.
