Olive

A $33 million infrastructure project in Boiceville that began in 2021 and includes road, bridge, and trailhead upgrades near the Ashokan Reservoir may not be completed until this fall, about a year after New York City officials first estimated, a local official said. The revised timeline came from New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, […]

For the second time in a year, a residential propane explosion is prompting officials to urge residents to inspect their systems and install gas detectors in homes heated by propane, a fuel used by more than 11 million Americans for heat and hot water. “Sometimes it’s human error,” said Olive Fire Chief Chris Winne. “Sometimes […]

A separate building on the property of a one-bedroom home at 16 Mulrooney Road in West Shokan exploded on Monday, injuring a person who was inside at the time, local firefighters said. The person’s condition wasn’t immediately available after the 12:20 p.m. explosion. It caused only a minimal fire and the cause hasn’t yet been […]

Residents gathered at the Town of Olive Meeting Hall in Shokan on Feb. 24 as the state Department of Environmental Conservation began the process of incorporating a newly acquired 900-acre parcel in Olive into the Sundown Wild Forest. The session marked the beginning of the amendment process. DEC officials described it as a scoping meeting […]

In a surprise move Tuesday, the Olive Town Board voted unanimously against a resolution that could have eased restrictions on workforce housing development in the hamlet of Shokan. The proposal would have withdrawn the town from an agreement with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection that limits development of land it acquires. The […]

Officials in the Town of Olive are warning residents about a scam involving emails sent in the name of the town’s planning division requesting payment of exorbitant, fictitious fees.  Supervisor Jim Sofranko said his office began fielding inquiries around Jan. 21 from residents who had received the fraudulent messages. About six people contacted the town, […]

The New York State Department of Public Service said Hudson Valley Water Company was “unwilling or unable” to provide safe and reliable service, citing years of water outages and repeated failures to notify customers during emergencies. The state investigation began in February 2024 following years of complaints from the company’s 435 customers in Ulster and […]

Jason Huppert, an Olive police officer who had been on unpaid administrative leave since May while facing disciplinary hearings for allegedly waving a gun at construction workers, was placed back on the town’s payroll. The reinstatement, which took effect on Nov. 28, was confirmed by Olive Supervisor Jim Sofranko. Huppert, a 10-year veteran of the […]

Olive Town Clerk Dawn Giuditta, who was unseated in November by challenger Kimberly Daley, unexpectedly resigned this week, stepping down a month before her term was set to end. Her deputy, Amanda Winne, also resigned. Giuditta, who has worked for the town in various roles since 1989, surprised many over the summer when she switched […]

After 45 days without potable running water, Boiceville customers of Hudson Valley Water Company had their service restored Tuesday. The Ulster County Department of Health lifted a “do not drink” order for nearly 75 Boiceville residents who had been without water due to arsenic contamination. For nearly two months, county and state officials argued over […]

Joann Rex’s 43 years of peaceful coexistence with the region’s 3,000 bears came to a sudden end on Nov. 12 when she and her husband awoke at 2:30 a.m. to a ruckus in the garage of her Longyear Road home in Shokan. The culprit: A black bear that demolished a storm window and casement window […]

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger and the New York State Public Service Commission traded criticism this week after Metzger urged the agency to take stronger action to help Boiceville residents who have been without potable water for more than three weeks. In a letter sent just days after The Overlook first reported the outage, Metzger […]

The old general store on Route 28a in West Shokan—which has been around in one form or another since 1917, when construction of the Ashokan Reservoir transformed the region—is poised for a new chapter.  Whether you know it as Skin’s Place, the American General Store, or, most recently, Marty’s Mercantile, the vacant shop on Route […]

Dozens of Boiceville residents have been without potable water for nearly three weeks due to what they say is negligence from a troubled water supplier they have been battling for years.  Hudson Valley Water Company, based in Woodbury, supplies water to about 435 customers across the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The company issued a “do […]

Olive voters on Tuesday will decide whether to approve a nearly 50% funding increase for the Olive Free Library. The referendum seeks to expand the taxpayer contribution to the library’s budget from the $193,142 to $289,642, a jump of $96,500. The increase, which would amount to about $59 a year for the average Olive household, […]

The Olive Free Library Association will celebrate the grand opening of its new Shokan Branch on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to noon at the American Legion Hall on Mountain Road. The event will include a ribbon cutting, music, food and community festivities. The branch, more than a decade in the making, comes in […]

After months of pushback from residents who raised environmental and traffic concerns, a proposal to repurpose a former aerospace site in Shokan for warehouse use is advancing toward approval. The Olive Planning Board said Wednesday that the project’s most contentious issue —truck traffic—appears to have been addressed. KSE Suppliers, a wholesale linen provider based in […]

Antonio Lopez, 52, a longtime local resident who owns Lopez Construction & Landscaping in Boiceville, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Aug. 8 during a routine immigration interview in Albany, according to his cousin, Abril Lazaro. Lopez, who was born in Mexico and has lived in the U.S. since the early 1990s, was […]

Politics have never been more local than the race for town clerk in Olive, where the 12-year incumbent flipped to the Republican ticket after losing the Democratic primary in June by a 3-to-1 margin. “I’m not a liberal and I’m not a conservative,” said Dawn Giuditta, 58, who has worked for the town in various […]

Suspended Olive police officer Jason Huppert accused Police Chief Sean Ryan of falsifying or destroying documents relevant to Huppert’s disciplinary proceedings in retaliation for his discrimination complaint to the town supervisor. Huppert, who is on unpaid leave while facing accusations of flashing his gun and badge at construction workers while off duty in 2023, filed […]

Shokan residents packed an Olive Planning Board meeting for a third month to decry a proposed warehouse development on DuBois Road, citing traffic and environmental concerns. KSE Suppliers, a wholesale linen provider based in Hillburn, N.Y., wants to turn a 100,000-square-foot structure at 167 DuBois Road into a storage and distribution hub. Residents said developing […]

The Town of Olive is engaged in an ongoing legal dispute with a former town police officer who was put on unpaid administrative leave following an alleged confrontation with a local construction crew in 2023. Officer Jason Huppert, an eight-year veteran of the Olive Police Department at the time, is accused of getting into an […]

The town of Olive has a blunt response to homeowners worried that the third reassessment in five years means higher taxes are coming this fall: It’s just wrong. “These are never done with that intention,” Olive Town Assessor Diana Carchidi said in an interview. “It’s really about how it’s apportioned—making sure that everybody is paying […]

Boiceville residents and patrons of the Ashokan Rail Trail got an unexpected addition to the landscape last week: a new bridge. Construction was completed on the new crossing that replaces the existing bridge—known locally as the Five Arches Bridge—at the west end of the Ashokan Reservoir over the Esopus Creek near the intersection of Rt. […]

New York State has acquired 900 acres of forestland in Olive, marking the largest expansion of the Catskill Forest Preserve in more than a decade and reinforcing the state’s effort to conserve 30% of its land and water by 2030. Governor Kathy Hochul announced the acquisition on Wednesday alongside the completion of safety and accessibility […]

The Olive Free Library has been awarded a $52,000 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to develop a new makerspace and exhibition area in its lower level. Melissa McHugh, the library’s director and grant writer, said the funds will help transform the downstairs space by upgrading the flooring, ceiling, and […]