(File photo by Phyllis McCabe)
Faced with dire threats last December from town, county, state and federal officials if he didn’t clean up his TechCity properties, owner Alan Ginsberg did what he usually did: Nothing. This week the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced it would begin an emergency partial cleanup of the former IBM property and potentially hold Ginsberg personally liable for its costs.
At a press conference this morning in one of the former IBM buildings over which Ulster County is asserting ownership, county executive Pat Ryan said that the days of Ginsberg “thwarting our economic potential are almost behind us.” He vowed to exert maximum pressure on the long-time owners, who owes more than $12 million in back taxes. According to a county press release, Ginsberg had so far failed to respond satisfactorily to EPA’s December notice that he was under Superfund law personally responsible for the proper removal and cleanup of asbestos-laden demolition-debris piles at the Town of Ulster site.
Ulster town supervisor Jim Quigley said the EPA action was “a ray of sunshine through the clouds of pessimism.” But he reminded the small audience of journalists and fellow public officials assembled in the shadows of the building’s half-light that the weather was still cloudy.
Think positive!!!
Once it is cleaned-up by the EPA, bulldoze the entire complex for a clean slate and either get one or more of the
digital giants: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, or other cloud services to build servicing, cloud service data facilities,
warehousing.
Or simultaneously develop a plan through NY’s Private and Public Universities and literally establish and build from scratch a new university – including academic campus, green space, research facilities in engineering, data, and bio-med; dorms and faculty, staff, and graduate student housing. This site is prime for such a use and could put several thousand undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and support staff into the Ulster-Kingston area which would be an epic economic boon to the region.
Can’t get blood from s stone.
Turn it all into affordable apartments and be done with it.
Mr. Ginsburg is not the first person to not have headed caveat-emptor in buying a property in the county. It’s a free country, and he’s free to go.
A new modern drive-in movie theatre. That would be better than empty, nontaxpaying, useless buildings.
Town of Ulster – believe it when you see it. Nothings gets through here
Good luck. You can “bill the owner”, but what makes you think he’ll pay? Just another dunning notice he’ll ignore.