Apparently the spirit of industry is alive and well in Kingston, where a few old-school businesses from the days when steamships ruled the Hudson are still kicking it. Kingston Happenings has a great post today on two of Kingston's historic purveyors of stuff, Binnewater Ice Company and Feeney Shipyard. The ice business in the early 1900s sounds pretty fierce:
The original buildings were constructed of wood and when they were torched by a competitor, Binnewater Ice Company rebuilt them. A year later, its buildings were destroyed by explosives said to have been planted by another competitor. Determined to continue in the still booming ice industry, Binnewater rebuilt again. Maybe due to all this effort, Binnewater was one of the last local ice companies to install ice manufacturing equipment at its facility – it seems the company really was reluctant to abandon the option of cutting “natural ice” as it held on to its cutting rights on Williams Lake until 1999!
The shipyard, founded in 1904, still employs a few dozen workers and does a swift business in barge and tug repair -- no thanks to New York State, says manager Tim Feeney:
“Our local government wants to do more to attract and retain business, but taxation, compensation costs and environmental review process kill projects before they can get started. These problems, coupled with the utter dis-functionality of the New York State Assembly and Senate, prevent many solid companies from even considering New York as a potential locale for a new or expanding business,” he said.
