A Visit from the Governor

Last Friday the Catskill Interpretive Center (CIC) was honored to host the Honorable Governor Cuomo. The Governor started his day with a "Ride the Catskills" tour of the region, beginning in Minnewaska State Park.

He then made his way up through the Catskills with 35 other motorcyclists, most of whom were either members of the Fire Riders, a New York firemen bike group or the Blue Knights, a New York policemen's bike group. Plus one special guest, Paul Teutul Jr., from American Chopper.

Governor Cuomo with Jeff Senterman, Executive Director of the Catskill Center and Michael Drillinger, Catskill Interpretive Center Coordinator.

At this point guests had gathered at the CIC where they enjoyed a delicious luncheon of locally-sourced foods from Taste of NY and Mary's Cooking, a local favorite.

Basil Seggos, the new Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (with whom the Catskill Center partners with to operate the CIC) then introduced the Governor for some brief remarks. The Governor described tourism in New York State as "big, big, big, big business" mentioning the economic impact, state-wide of tourism. This lead to the announcement that the Governor would be releasing $5M in funds towards promotion of the Catskill region, along with $7M in improvements to Minnewaska State Park. 

After lunch the Governor met with regional community members before riding off on his own Harley!

The Catskill Center applauds the Governor's commitment to the Catskills and we look forward to working closely with his administration. Part of our advocacy work includes our annual Catskill Park Awareness Day event where we meet with state legislators to discuss our priority requests for the region, including appropriate support for stewardship of public lands, especially with an increase in visitors that the Governor's announcement will surely bring.