Letter to the Editor: Help Save Belden House

To the Editor,

Residents of Putnam County owe a thank you to those elected officials who recently contacted the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to save the Belden House, a classic and rare example of American Gothic design on city watershed next to West Branch Reservoir in Carmel that now faces obliteration.

As many in Putnam know, in the late 1990s the DEP deemed Belden House no longer useful to NYC's water supply purposes and ceased investing in its upkeep. Meanwhile volunteers' tireless efforts over the last 25 years to preserve it with the support of the DEP and our county government have gone nowhere.

At the urging of Friends of Belden House (www.friendsofbeldenhouse.org) Legislator Greg Ellner requested DEP Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush prioritize efforts to reach an agreement on stewardship and expenses before years of official and shameful neglect take their final toll. Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne and Putnam County Legislators William Gouldman, Toni Addonizio and Erin L. Crowley co-signed Legislator Ellner's letter.

Fortunately, Commissioner Rush pledged to “work together with our neighboring communities and to come up with any creative solutions there may be for the property.”

We hope more Putnam residents and elected officials join this eleventh hour initiative to restore and maintain this iconic structure as soon as possible.

Alexandra Ballantine
Friends of Belden House
Brewster, NY