The Business of New Paltz with Mayor Tim Rodgers and Garvan McColosky
by Jesse Smith for Ulster Strong (photo by by Lauren Thomas)
Six years after COVID sent shock waves through its economy, wiping out longstanding businesses and leaving many smaller Main Street storefronts empty, a new New Paltz economy has emerged as a wave of well-heeled downstate transplants join SUNY New Paltz students and seasonal tourists who have long served as the town’s economic lifeblood.
“The business environment in New Paltz is thriving,” said Garvan McColosky, owner of Garvan’s Gastropub on Huguenot Street. “COVID was probably a turning point for a lot of places. New Paltz has become very much a desired place to come and visit, and a desired place to come and live.”
Set amid locust trees in a 1759 Huguenot house, adjacent to a golf course in the town just north of the village line, Garvan’s Gastropub since 2016 has built a dedicated following among local foodies. It has a reputation for fresh, local food served in an elegant environment while also building a clientele among the tourists who flock to the town every summer and fall. Prior to opening the eatery McClosky, who emigrated to the U.S. from County Donegal Ireland, managed former Main Street mainstay Shea O’Brian’s where he saw firsthand the economic mix of New Paltz’s students, tourists and longtime locals.
“New Paltz has a huge advantage over other towns in the Hudson Valley in that every year you have two-and-a-half, 3,000 19-year-olds coming in, and that’s forever,” said McClosky. “If you’re coming here to do business, you’re going to be faced with people who are very willing to try you out, and who will 100-percent support you if you’re good.”
Offering a different view, Town Supervisor Tim Rogers acknowledged “tailwinds” for businesses in New Paltz, including the student population and the seasonal influx of tourists. But, Rogers said,the picture of a thriving business sector was clouded by other post-pandemic economic realities which have made the town more and more unaffordable for longtime-locals.
“With inflation, with the tariffs being levied by the federal government, there is this widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, the people who are actually working in the jobs that fulfill the needs and demands of [students and tourists],” said Rogers. “So, it’s a complicated picture.”
New Paltz Town Supervisor Tim Rodgers
Rogers said that he had observed a number of new businesses open in the heart of town recently, including a smoothie shop and several beauty and wellness-based enterprises while longtime fixtures like the water street market appeared to be thriving. Rogers credits the town and village’s longtime strategy of smart growth for helping create an environment where businesses like Garvan’s can thrive.
For example, Rogers said, all new construction in the village must be multi-story with ground-floor commercial space while the town has sought to combat sprawl and preserve open space by guiding developers to build in places with existing sewer and water infrastructure. Rogers said he had recently read an interview by his friend, Mayor Robert Cantelmo of Ithaca - another college town - who shares his views on the importance of smart growth strategies for creating a healthy economic environment.
“Like, me, he’s also a big proponent of building out the core of your community,” said Rogers. “It’s cleaner, it’s better for you and it gives your small businesses a fighting chance.”
But if careful decisions around land use can be a boon to New Paltz small businesses, McClosky said they can also create hassles. A few years ago, when he tried to get an approval to make his pandemic-era garden dining area permanent, he said, he found the process “clunky” and needlessly complicated.
“It was aggravating,” said McCloksy of the drawn out and contentious approval process. “Generally, I have to say the town has been very good to deal with but that was a situation where I felt we could have been supported a little bit better.”
Clunky permitting processes aside though, McClosky said he remained bullish on New Paltz as a place where a smart business owner who understands the town’s population and its needs can thrive. McClosky said he was especially hopeful that a few more higher-end establishments, like the Gastropub, would pop up to compliment New Paltz’s many dining options for cash-strapped collegians and make the town as much a destination for food tourists as rock climbers and leaf-peepers.
“It’s a very special place, people are so welcoming,” said McClosky of his adopted hometown. “And it’s very much a town that will support a good business.”