The Jiffy: Stories From Upstate New York

Here at The Jiffy, we're in the throes of Breathless Leaf Peeping Season, and this is when I try to spend as much time in the woods as possible. I've been following a story about the Zena Highwoods in Ulster County, overlapping the towns of Woodstock, Saugerties and Ulster. In 2023, developers bought 624 acres here to build a private golf community with villas and a helipad. That was scrapped after public opposition, and its replacement plan is a 30-lot subdivision on about 106 acres on the Town of Ulster side. The only proposed access is Eastwoods Drive, a narrow gravel road in Woodstock that today serves five homes, and it runs through a critical environmental area full of vernal pools where Jefferson and marbled salamanders breed. Zoe Keller, a Woodstock resident and an illustrator whose detailed graphite and digital drawings of at-risk species have appeared everywhere from the New York Times to the National Museum of Wildlife Art, grew up next to these woods. Zaneta Sykes, a Filipinx sound artist and nature recordist, spent a year recording this forest on each solstice and equinox. In this episode, they walk with me through the Israel Wittman Sanctuary, a 123-acre preserve in the Zena Highwoods, to talk about their collaborative project: an album and book called "Invitations from the Land: the Zena Highwoods," released in partnership with the Woodstock Land Conservancy. UPDATE: Since producing this episode, a public hearing on Zena Development has been scheduled in the Town of Ulster, on Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. at the Town of Ulster Town Hall at 1 Town Hall Road in Lake Katrine, N.Y. Zoe says all are welcome and encouraged to attend and comment. To R.S.V.P. to their September 25 event, "Celebration of Zena: An Immersive Forest Experience," visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-zena-an-immersive-forest-experience-tickets-1992515084254 To learn more about Stop Zena Development, visit: https://www.stopzenadevelopment.org To follow Zoe Keller, visit: https://www.zoekeller.com To follow Zaneta Sykes, visit: https://www.soundartmagic.com The following stories from The Overlook were helpful in producing this episode: "Zena Homes Returns To Woodstock Planning Board As Opponents Pack Meeting" - https://theoverlooknews.com/zena-homes-returns-to-woodstock-planning-board-as-opponents-pack-meeting/ "Zena Homes Opponents Regroup As Project Advances In Ulster" - https://theoverlooknews.com/zena-homes-opponents-regroup-as-project-advances-in-ulster/ "Woodstock Officials Blast Ulster Over Zena Homes Development" - https://theoverlooknews.com/woodstock-officials-blast-ulster-over-zena-homes-development/

Coming to you from the Leaf Watch Desk in the Woods of the James Cave Instagram Feed to officially kick off this year's Leaf Watch series! Every year, at around this time, I travel into the woods to give you breathless coverage of one of the biggest seasons for the Hudson Valley: Leaf Peeping Season. And we look at the changing of the leaves through the experience of a single leaf, our Leaf Watch Leaf. To vote for this year's leaf, become a Friend and cast your vote. I'll announce this year's Leaf on Sept. 14. Along the way, we'll hear woodland-related stories, such as how artists Zoe Keller and Zaneta are working to save Zena Woods, and we'll spend time with Julia Whitney Barnes, who frequently travels into the woods to collect specimens for her cyanotypes. It's all coming soon to The Jiffy, a podcast and newsletter about the arts and sciences of upstate New York. Subscribe to the newsletter here: www.thejiffy.xyz/subscribe

In the final episode of this year's CSA (A Content Series on Agriculture), I talk with Mary Jo Dudley to learn about the H-2A visa farmworker program. Last summer, I spent a season at MX Morningstar Farm in Hudson trying to understand how they produce their CSA (a community supported agriculture) share. Part of the answer that season was four guys from Guatemala, who came here on H-2A visas. I spent time with them in the fields and in the house where they lived, and I sat in on a few interview sessions run by Mary Jo Dudley. Mary Jo Dudley has worked alongside farmworkers in New York for decades. She's the former director of the Cornell Farmworker Program and now directs Migrant Advocacy and Support. To get in touch with Mary Jo, you can contact her here: [email protected] CSA Part 1: "Cow Parade" https://www.thejiffy.xyz/podcast/s/the_jiffy_stories_from_upstate_new_york/cow_parade CSA Part 2: "Betsy And Brona" https://www.thejiffy.xyz/podcast/s/the_jiffy_stories_from_upstate_new_york/betsy_and_brona

I took a boat ride out to the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse to catch up with my friend Rodney Russo. Rodney volunteers with the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society to provide history and information to touring visitors. His station is at the top of the lighthouse, mostly on the catwalk outside the lantern room. "I walked all through the lighthouse, and then I got up here, and I says, 'Oh, there's nothing better than this,'" Rodney explained. To book a tour, visit https://halps.org/saturday-lighthouse-tours To read my recent article about the Hudson Athens Lighthouse preservation project, visit: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/p/hudson-athens-lighthouse-2026-update Sign up for The Jiffy newsletter here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/subscribe Support The Jiffy by becoming a member here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/upgrade

Over at The Jiffy Newsletter, I've been working on a series that looks at the culture and industry of the local cinema scene here in the Hudson Valley. I'm calling it "The Jiffy's Summer At The Movies." In part one, I interviewed Mike Burdge and Diana DiMuro, who closed their Story Screen Cinema in Hudson to much heartbreak for us moviegoers. In this episode, I sit with Paul Sturtz, co-director of Upstate Films, to learn about how a nonprofit organization stays alive. You can read my interview with Mike and Diana here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/p/what-really-happened-to-story-screen-cinema Follow Upstate Films here: https://www.instagram.com/upstate_films Sign up for The Jiffy newsletter here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/subscribe Support The Jiffy by becoming a member here: https://www.thejiffy.xyz/upgrade