Hudson Valley

Hudson River Regions

Hudson Valley and the Catskills

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New York State

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New York State has 62 Counties. Each County is divided up into Towns. Some call them Townships. Delaware County is divided up into 19 Towns. Each Town contains Incorporated Villages or Hamlets. The Incorporated Villages have a governing body. The Hamlets have no governing body. Sometimes there are just a group of houses. The Villages usually have a Village Board, with a Mayor. The Towns have a Town Supervisor and the Counties have a County Board of Supervisors. Some Cities such as Oneida and Rome are not a part of a Town but are within a County jurisdiction, while the City of Sherrill, is a part of the Town of Vernon, within Oneida County.

NY State
Map from http://www.nysac.org/

Banking Department: 800-522-3330

Business Permits: 800-342-3464

Columbia County

Delaware County: Animal Control -607-746-6573; Assessor -607-746-2236

Dutchess County

Education Department: 845-339-4270

Greene County

Governor: Albany - 518-474-8390; NYC 212-417-2100

Jails: Columbia County 518-828-3324; Dutchess County 845-452-8500; Greene County 518-943-3527; Orange County 845-294-6166; Uslter County 845-338-3644

Juvenile Correctional Services: Ulster County 845-338-7489

License Plates: Columbia County 518-828-3350; Ulster County 845-339-6740

New York State Offices: 518-474-2121

New York State Police: Claverack 518-851-3111; Ellenville 845-626-2800; Highland 845-691-2922; Hunter 518-589-6312; Kinderhook 518-758-7010; Kingston 845-338-1702; Margarettville 845-586-2681; New Lebanon 518-794-8445; Pine Bush 845-344-5300; Stephentown 518-733-5900

Parks & Recreation: NY State 800-456-2267; Dutchess County 845-297-1224; Ulster County 845-311-0186

Road & Weather Conditions: NYS Thruway 800-847-8929

Senior Citizens Services: Columbia/Greene County 518-943-4332; Ulster County 845-331-9300

Sheriffs Office (non emergency): Columbia County 518-828-0601; Delaware County; Dutchess County 845-452-0400; Greene County 518-943-3300; Rensselaer County 518-270-5448; Ulster County 845-338-3645

Voters Registration Information: Columbia County 518-828-3115; Delaware County; Dutchess County 845-431-2473; Greene County 518-943-4191; Uslter County 845-331-9300

NYS Office for the Aging: Albany, NY 12223-1251; 518-473-5108; New York State Office for the Aging (http://aging.state.ny.us/). A public service to older New Yorkers, their families and others. Find help, explore aging, discover news and events, help family caregivers, link to more resources.

NYS HIICAP: Albany, NY 12223-1251; 518-473-5108; Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance (http://hiicap.state.ny.us/). Free, accurate and unbiased consumer help with Medicare, managed care, Medigap insurance, long term care insurance and more for Medicare beneficiaries, their families and others.

NYS Aging Well Village: Albany, NY 12223-1251; 518-473-5108; Aging Well Village (http://agingwell.state.ny.us/). Health and wellness for mature adults seeking to start or maintain a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition, fitness, healing, medications, safety and more.

The Empire State

Statewide News Network: Statewide daily e-newspaper for entire State of New York

New York State Maps

State Motto

Excelsior (Ever Upward). In 1784, during a tour of the State's harbors, waterways and fertile interior, George Washington referred to New York as the "Seat of Empire." Since then, New Yorkers have worked ambitiously to live up to the State's motto and to make "The Empire State" the national leader it is today.

State Flag

The device of arms of the State flag was adopted in 1778 and the present flag is a modern version of a Revolutionary War flag. It is dark blue with the State Coat of Arms in the center. The Coart of Arms shows Liberty and Justice standing either side of a shield upon which is emblazoned the sun rising behind a range of mountains. A three-masted, square rigged ship and a Hudson River sloop signify commerce. Beneath the shield is the State motto. The original is at The Albany Institute of History and Art.

State Fruit

Apples were introduced in the 1600's by European settlers who brought seeds to New York. Dried apples where a staple for colonists and hard apple cider was a popular drink.

State Tree

The sugar maple yields a sweet sap for syrup and sugar in the spring; its heavy crown of leaves turns to brilliant colors in autumn. The wood makes fine furniture and burns well in woodstoves and fireplaces.

State Flower

The rose, wild or cultivated, in all its variety and color, was made the State flower in 1955. Ever popular, it was at the top of a school children's poll of favorite flowers in 1891.

State Muffin

Apple Muffin, created for the Bear Road Elementary School children in North Syracuse, who were instrumental in getting the Governor to sign a bill making it the official State muffin.

State Fish

Found in hundreds of lakes and ponds in the Adirondack Mountains and scattered in cool, clear streams throughout the State, the native brook trout, called brookies or speckles, provide fine angling and the best of eating.

State Bird

The once-prolific, red-breasted bluebird has been making a comeback from low numbers in the 1950's. Many people provide special nesting boxes along fence rows for bluebirds. They winter throughout the State.

State Animal

To provide beaver pelts to European markets, fur traders settled in the early 1600's near our present capital at Albany - to trade with Indians. Adult beavers are 3 to 4 feet long and weigh 40 to 50 pounds.

State Gem

The wine-red garnet which is an eye appealing gem as well as a prized industrial abrasive, is the State gem.

State Fossil

During the Silurian Age (over 400 million years ago), Eurypterus Remipes, an extinct relative of the modern king crab and sea scorpion, crawled along the bottom of the shallow, brackish sea that extended from Buffalo to Schenectady and south to Poughkeepsie, roughly along the route of the New York Thruway.

History

Five days after the Declaration of Independence, the people of New York met in convention in Kingston to vote their support and form their own state government. Although their state was the scene of nearly a third of the battles fought in the American Revolution, and their major port and city was occupied, New Yorkers still managed to supply large quantities of food, clothing, lead and iron to General Washington, as well as to serve valiantly in the Continental Army.

New Yorkers saw the christening of the American flag when the Stars and Stripes was first flown in battle at the defense of Ft. Stanwix in Rome.

The Colony of New York became a state on April 20, 1777 with the adoption of its first constitution - 12 years before the Federal Constitution. After the adoption of the Federal Constitution, New York City was chosen to be the nation's first capital and was the site of the inauguration of George Washington as President on April 30, 1789.

Government

A number of presidents have been closely associated with the history of New York State, including Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Elected officers of the state government, chosen for four-year terms, are the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller. Legislative power of the state is vested in two houses: the Senate, consisting of 61 members, and the Assembly, consisting of 149 members.

Geography

The total area of New York State is 49,576 square miles (47,939 land and 1,637 inland water).

The geographic center of New York State is located in Madison County, approximately 12 miles south of Oneida and 26 miles southwest of Utica.

There are four mountain ranges in New York State: Adirondack, Catskill, Shawangunk and Taconic.

The highest point in New York State is Mount Marcy, Essex County in the Adirondacks - 5,344 feet above sea level.

The Hudson river is 306 miles long, and drains an area of 13,370 square miles. Its average discharge is 21,500 cubic feet per second. The Hudson's most distant source is in Essex County. Lake Tear of the Clouds in Hamilton County is the highest lake in the State - 4,320 feet above sea level - and is considered the source of the Hudson River.

There are 6,713 natural ponds, lakes and reservoirs of one acre or more, 76 with an area of one square mile or more. There are 1,745 square miles of inland water, including some 4,000 lakes, ponds and reservoirs. Oneida Lake is the largest lake completely within the State. Other prominent lakes are the Finger Lakes, Otsego Lake, Lake George, Lake Placid and Lake Champlain, which is 107 miles long. The State has 70,000 miles of rivers and streams, 127 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline, 9,767 miles of shoreline which includes 8,778 miles of lake shoreline, 231 miles of shorefront on Long Island Sound, 548 miles of bayfront in Long Island area and 83 miles of shorefront of islands near Long Island.

There are 10 miles of shorefront on Long Island Sound, 548 miles of bayfront in Long Island area and 83 miles of shorefront of islands near Long Island.

There are 10 natural fresh-water lakes of 10 square miles or more; the largest, Lake Champlain in Clinton (Essex County), covers a 490-square-mile area and includes islands that total about 55 square miles.

Lake Erie borders on New York State for an airline distance of 64 miles. Its surface area in the U.S. totals 5,002 square miles.

Lake Ontario forms the northern boundary of New York State for an airline distance of 146 miles, and the area in the U.S. is 3,033 square miles.

At the site of the Falls, the Niagara River spills 40 million gallons of water 180 feet downward each minute across a ragged ledge nearly 2/3 of a mile wide.

The New York State Barge Canal System is the longest internal waterway system in any state (800 miles or 1,280 kilometers) carrying over 2 million tons per year.

New York State has 58 counties, 62 cities, 557 villages and 931 towns.

Taughannock Falls in the Finger Lake region is the highest falls at 215 feet.

New York is a world capital with headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.

Other Brief Facts

The total length of the New York State boundary is 1,430 miles:

New York City was chosen to be the nation's first capital and was the site of the inauguration of George Washington as President on April 30, 1789.

Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian-born navigator sailing for France, discovered New York Bay in 1524. Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch, reached the bay and sailed up the river now bearing his name in 1609, the same year that northern New York was explored and claimed for France by Samuel de Champlain.

In 1624 the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at Fort Orange (now Albany);

In 1625 Peter Minuit is said to have purchased Manhattan Island from the Indians for trinkets worth about $24 and founded the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (now New York City), which was surrendered to the English in.

Canadian line /445miles; Vermont line/171; Massachusetts line/50; Connecticut line to Long Island Sound/81; along the ocean around Long Island to the New Jersey shore/246; New Jersey line/93; Pennsylvania line/344 miles to the beginning of the Canadian line in the middle of Lake Erie. The boundaries are fixed by accepted agreements and are marked by natural watercourses or monuments.

The first railroad in America ran between Albany and Schenectady, a distance of 11 miles.

The Catskills are the home of the legend of Rip Van Winkle, brown trout and flycasting.

"Uncle Sam" was a meatpacker from Troy, New York. During the War of 1812, Sam Wilson stamped "U.S. Beef" on his products and soldiers interpreted that as Uncle Sam. His caricature later came to personify the United States. His gravesite is located in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.

New York was the first state to
(1) preserve an historic site (Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh);
(2) establish a state park (Niagara Reservation); and
(3) declare land "forever wild" (the Adirondack and Catskill forest preserves) in the State Constitution.

The term "The Big Apple" was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s who used the slang expression "apple" for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time - THE BIG APPLE.

Hudson Valley boat launch sites