TechCity will host fireworks on July 4

Motorcades on July 5 will honor essential and frontline workers

A fireworks display will light up the night sky over TechCity in the town of Ulster next weekend as a way for Ulster County to both celebrate the Fourth of July and honor the essential workers of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a Facebook Live event Thursday, County Executive Pat Ryan announced plans for an “Independence Weekend Salute” to essential workers that will include a drive-in, socially distanced fireworks display at which attendees must stay in or near their vehicles. The fireworks will be shot off the night of Saturday, July 4, Ryan said, and there will be motorcades in communities throughout the county on Sunday, July 5 to honor the workers.

“I think for a lot of us, it’s going to just be a chance to finally have some sense of normalcy to celebrate this holiday, to have a way to honor those that we thank every day in our updates, that we feel so much gratitude to, and just to

kind of feel good and celebrate, which I know we’re all looking forward to,” Ryan said.

Kingston and Saugerties, which annually put on two of the biggest Fourth of July fireworks displays in the region, announced previously that their events had been canceled because of the pandemic.

Parking lots at TechCity, 300 Enterprise Drive in Ulster, will open at 7:30 p.m. July 4, and the fireworks will start after dusk. Admission is free and will be on a first-come, firstserved basis.

No alcoholic beverages will be allowed.

“We want to be safe and responsible while we celebrate,” Ryan said.

Regarding the motorcades, Ryan said Ulster County will join the event being hosted by the city of Kingston, while others will proceed through various other communities so residents can cheer essential and frontline workers.

Ryan said he also will recognize a few people who he said exemplify the heroism and selfless service shown by so many of the workers.

The Kingston motorcade is to begin at 4 p.m. at Dietz Stadium. It will feature and recognize people “who have gone above and beyond during the pandemic,” according to a press release from the County Executive’s Office.

Dutchess County previously announced it will have three drive-in fireworks ceremonies, all starting at 9:30 p.m. July 4. The locations are the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, 6636 U.S. Route 9, Rhinebeck; Dutchess Stadium, 1500 state Route 9D, Fishkill; and the Silo Ridge Field Club Equestrian Center (Keane Stud), 217 Depot Hill Road, Amenia.

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In other local coronavirus news:

• Ryan said he and other county executives have been trying to get clarification from the state about whether malls, movie theaters and gyms might be allowed to operate when the Mid-Hudson Region enters Phase 4 of the reopening process, which could happen as early as July 7. State officials have said those businesses will have to hold off, but Ryan said he believes they can reopen safely as soon as the new phase starts.

The Pyramid Management Group, which owns the Poughkeepsie Galleria in Dutchess County, issued a statement Thursday that said while it appreciates the state’s concerns about public health and safety, any reporting that suggests heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems within enclosed shopping centers are more likely to distribute the coronavirus than those within restaurants, barbershops, office buildings, museums and already-open retailers “is simply false.”

“The quality of overall air circulation in our shopping centers, which also benefit from considerable open and airy corridors, is as good or better than those venues that have been allowed to reopen,” the statement said. It also said the relative risk might be lower because “we have done more than is necessary based on health and safety recommendations to improve the existing airfiltration systems within our shopping centers to bolster the quality of airflow within our centers.”

• Ryan’s office said his staff is working with the Kingston school district to ensure its planned graduation ceremony for Kingston High School’s Class of 2020 complies with state and local guidelines.

The school district announced earlier this week it plans to hold a graduation ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. July 17 at Dietz Stadium, contingent on

the Mid-Hudson Region being in Phase 4. It’s unclear, though, whether large-scale gatherings will be allowed that soon.

• Ryan said Ulster County as of Thursday had had a total of 1,800 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 198 were active, 1,513 patients had recovered, and 85 had resulted in death, he said. Ryan said only one county resident remained hospitalized with COVID-19 in a local hospital.

• The New York Unified Court System said all courts in the state, outside of New York City, will be in Phase 3 of a return to in-person operations by Friday, June 26. The goal of Phase 3, it said. is to increase foot traffic in courthouses in a measured manner and to extend the types of proceedings to be heard in person to include child-support matters; selected plea and sentencing proceedings; preliminary hearings in criminal cases for defendants being held in jail on felony complaints; arraignments of defendants who were issued appearance tickets; some bench trials in civil matters; and essential Family Court matters.