German Consul General David Gill recently strolled down Front St. in Port Jervis to meet assorted local doers and see their accomplishments. The possibility of a new fruitful relationship between Germans and Port Jervians hovered.
Mayor Kelly Decker met Gill in front of Foundry 42, where Gill and his companions bought coffee for the road. Decker told Gill about urban renewal decades ago that resulted in the unfortunate replacement of bluestone sidewalks with concrete, but Gill’s focus was elsewhere.
“There’s all this green here!” he said. “Germany has more density, less stretches of green through the villages.”
He also noted the recycled content of his coffee cup.
Then a new Dial-a-Bus carried Witt, his wife Sheila, his head of press, Eva Maria Marks, and several Port Jervians, who came as guides to show the Gills city highlights. The bus wound up the curvy road to the top of Point Peter, as Gill heard from his companions about Port Jervis past, present and future.
Mike Ward, Outdoor Club of Port Jervis president, showed off Point Peter recreation possibilities and enthused about the ever-lengthening trails, new lean-tos on a restored Point Peter campground, the upcoming Stone Challenge, with competitors carrying rocks, and the Port Jervis Transportation Center being created, with 20 train cars soon to arrive. Gill noted that Berlin too has a transportation museum. Leading the tour was Valerie Maginsky, executive director of Port Jervis Community Development Agency, who briefed Gill on the city’s history and economics.
Milford Mayor Sean Strub later said he had sparked Gill’s interest in the visit at a Fourth of July party, where, in a chance encounter with Gill, he encouraged Gill to check out the blossoming tri-state area, since Gill’s diplomatic role focuses on New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He had already toured Milford and was now devoting a few hours to Port Jervis.
Gill’s role as consul general, representing Germany in the U.S., he said, includes “explaining German politics, culture and economics to Americans,” and understanding what goes on in the U.S. in those realms.
Speaking of which, returning to Front St., Gill met Emmet Garnham emerging from Haven for Heroes, his store full of comic books, games and related collectibles, who introduced himself and his mission.
“Interest in collectibles went insane during Covid,’ Garnham said. Spiderman creations soared to prices in the millions.
Down Front St. a little ways, Cory Puopolo and Martin McDonough appeared with city officials by a deep wide hole, the site where they are building a hotel with a rooftop bar overlooking the city.
“The hotel will be 74 feet tall, compared to the Beast next door, which is 48 feet,” said Puopolo.
“It will be the Times Square of Port Jervis, with a New Year’s Eve ball drop,” added McDonough. “The train station is right here. We hope people come from the city and stay. It will be open next summer.”
The pair also bought 29-31 Front St. and plan to tear it down, Puopolo said.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll need to demolish it to make way for a seven-story apartment building,” he said. “The amount of work it would need to support a structure of that size isn’t worth it. We can easily mimic the old look of the building in a more efficient and safer way than trying to preserve it. The building doesn’t have a lot of architectural features on the outside, and the inside has been stripped of everything that was historic previous to us buying it.”
Retail businesses will occupy the ground floor, and underground parking will be available for the co-op apartments, Puopolo said.
Then Paul Cox emerged from the Beast, the building where renovation is under way next to the hotel in progress. He invited the visitors inside to see what goes on there. Cox’s creations were very visible—custom motorcycles, knives and leather goods.
“Is there anything you don’t make?” asked Gill, noting his familiarity with metal work.
He had grown up in East Germany and trained to be a plumber before going on to theological seminary and then, in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he became Head of Administration of the Parliamentary Special Committee for dissolution of the GDR Ministry of State Security, the secret police.
“Anne and I connect on metal work,” Cox said of his wife and partner in the Beast venture, Anne Rogers.
Separate artist spaces and a coffee shop will also be carved out of the vast space. Erin Ralph, who will take on the coffee shop, said that a loft area upstairs will have a fireplace and be the site of cultural events, a yoga studio, salons and co-working.
Jim Blanton then appeared on Front St. to show Gill what he and his husband Dan Radtke had done to transform a condemned 23,000 sf building into the Phoenix, a location for ground floor shops, which are already in place, and apartments above, with both historical features and modern amenities, that are beginning to be inhabited.
As for Gill’s response to this parade of enterprise, he said, “I’m getting a feeling about life outside Manhattan and how political differences are handled. German visitors ask where to go—now Port Jervis is on our radar. It’s beautiful. I’ll come back with my family and talk to my chamber of commerce colleagues about it.
Asked how the current transition in German politics was affecting him, as Angela Merkel leaves office and the parties reposition themselves, Gill said that the changes would not influence his work.
“The major parties agree that the U.S. is their most important ally in the world,” he said. “The foreign service doesn’t have political appointees who change with different leaders, as happens in the U.S. With internal politics, there are some differences on climate change and integrating refugees, but they’ll need to compromise and build a coalition, as the strongest party only has 25% support.”
The Green Party is part of the government and has a strong voice, he added.
Gill also continues to be involved with how communities deal with their past, both in the U.S. and in Germany. He said he would soon be headed to Jamestown, where he would speak at events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals.
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Great Article and wonderful visit :)