I Grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY

A 50 year journey through the Queen City and America

Poughkeepsie New York, Queen City of the Hudson, and the crossroads of my American experience. It is urban, suburban, and rural. It is rich and poor, blue-collar and Ivy League, black, white, and everything in between. A 90-minute train ride south on the Hudson Line will deposit you in the middle of Manhattan, New York, the greatest city on the planet. A 20-minute car ride Northeast on route 44 will take you to the sleepy town of Pleasant Valley which more than deserves its name. If you head 30 minutes west across the Mid-Hudson Bridge, you’ll find the bohemian delight of New Paltz, and the beauty of the Catskills and the Mohonk Mountain House. Whatever Poughkeepsie doesn’t have is nearby, and all of it converges in this small city of 30,000 to make it one of the most unique places in America.

Growing up on the Boundaries

I came to Poughkeepsie from upstate New York with my family as a toddler in 1973. My first memories are of the Corlies Manner Apartments off Flannery Avenue in the center of the city. Back then it was the Corlies Manner projects, one of several public housing developments built in the late 40’s and early 50’s to accommodate the Baby Boomers. Similar to most government housing then and now, it was dirty, crowded, and loud. We didn’t live there long as like everyone else…