John Boyd Thacher State Park

John Boyd Thacher State Park, is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Even as it safeguards six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, the park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The park has volleyball courts, playgrounds, ball fields and numerous picnic areas with nine reservable shelters. Interpretive programs are offered year-round, including guided tours of the famous Indian Ladder Trail. There are over 25 additional miles of trails for summer hiking and mountain biking, and winter cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and snowmobiling.

http://nysparks.com/parks/128/

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In these inflationary times, always looking for lower cost ways to pass the time

In these inflationary times, always looking for lower cost ways to pass the time. Walked along Meads Road and out to Five Rivers for a while today. 🚶

Walking, bar of course the wear and tear on the boots is free and a good way to see things. No need to hop in a car to drive somewhere when there are scenic views and nice places to walk and explore not far from home. That said by late afternoon it was starting to get a bit chilly with the breeze and the mercury dropping. With the wind, not a lot of wildlife out and about but at least a lot of snow was gone. Cows though were out by the road at Meads Farm. 

How to Look Up Any Tax Assessment Record in New York State by Coordinate

How to Look Up Any Tax Assessment Record in New York State by Coordinate

I was studying the various data services available and discovered a handy little website put out by the state for public use to find out tax assessment records for all counties in New York State.

https://gisservices.its.ny.gov/arcgis/rest/services/NYSTaxAssessmentLookup/GPServer/TaxAssessment/execute

Required Fields:

Y = Latitude

X = Longitude

SpatialReference = 4326 if you want to use latitude and longitude

Kind of a handy endpoint, for your use. It returns a json string. You can also automate the process by using a GET or POST request. For example to pull the tax record for a point at Cole Hill State Forest and get the data back as a JSON text string.

https://gisservices.its.ny.gov/arcgis/rest/services/NYSTaxAssessmentLookup/GPServer/TaxAssessment/execute?X=-74.10192&Y=42.59518&SpatialReference=4326&env%3AoutSR=&env%3AprocessSR=&returnZ=false&returnM=false&returnTrueCurves=false&returnFeatureCollection=false&context=&f=json

Here is what that URL will output it when you request it.

{"results":[{"paramName":"OBJECTID","dataType":"GPString","value":"30986"},
{"paramName":"COUNTY_NAME","dataType":"GPString","value":"Albany"},
{"paramName":"MUNI_NAME","dataType":"GPString","value":"Berne"},
{"paramName":"SWIS","dataType":"GPString","value":"012000"},
{"paramName":"PARCEL_ADDR","dataType":"GPString","value":"Willsie Rd"},
{"paramName":"PRINT_KEY","dataType":"GPString","value":"90.-1-14"},
{"paramName":"SBL","dataType":"GPString","value":"09000000010140000000"},
{"paramName":"CITYTOWN_NAME","dataType":"GPString","value":"Berne"},
{"paramName":"CITYTOWN_SWIS","dataType":"GPString","value":"012000"},
{"paramName":"LOC_ST_NBR","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"LOC_STREET","dataType":"GPString","value":"Willsie Rd"},
{"paramName":"LOC_UNIT","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"LOC_ZIP","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"PROP_CLASS","dataType":"GPString","value":"941"},
{"paramName":"ROLL_SECTION","dataType":"GPString","value":"3"},
{"paramName":"LAND_AV","dataType":"GPString","value":"579885"},
{"paramName":"TOTAL_AV","dataType":"GPString","value":"579885"},
{"paramName":"FULL_MARKET_VAL","dataType":"GPString","value":"982856"},
{"paramName":"YR_BLT","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"FRONT","dataType":"GPString","value":"0"},
{"paramName":"DEPTH","dataType":"GPString","value":"0"},
{"paramName":"SQ_FT","dataType":"GPString","value":"0"},
{"paramName":"ACRES","dataType":"GPString","value":"506.28"},
{"paramName":"SCHOOL_CODE","dataType":"GPString","value":"012001"},
{"paramName":"SCHOOL_NAME","dataType":"GPString","value":"Berne-Knox-Westerlo"},
{"paramName":"SEWER_TYPE","dataType":"GPString","value":"1"},
{"paramName":"SEWER_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"None"},
{"paramName":"WATER_SUPP","dataType":"GPString","value":"1"},
{"paramName":"WATER_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"None"},
{"paramName":"UTILITIES","dataType":"GPString","value":"3"},
{"paramName":"UTILITIES_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"Electric"},
{"paramName":"BLDG_STYLE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"BLDG_STYLE_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"HEAT_TYPE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"HEAT_TYPE_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"FUEL_TYPE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"FUEL_TYPE_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"SQFT_LIVING","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"NBR_KITCHENS","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"NBR_FULL_BATHS","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"NBR_BEDROOMS","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"USED_AS_CODE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"USED_AS_DESC","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"AG_DIST_CODE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"AG_DIST_NAME","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"PRIMARY_OWNER","dataType":"GPString","value":"NYS Reforestation Land"},
{"paramName":"MAIL_ADDR","dataType":"GPString","value":"112 State St Rm 810"},
{"paramName":"PO_BOX","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"MAIL_CITY","dataType":"GPString","value":"Albany"},
{"paramName":"MAIL_STATE","dataType":"GPString","value":"NY"},
{"paramName":"MAIL_ZIP","dataType":"GPString","value":"12207"},
{"paramName":"ADD_OWNER","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"ADD_MAIL_ADDR","dataType":"GPString","value":""},
{"paramName":"ADD_MAIL_PO_BOX","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"ADD_MAIL_CITY","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"ADD_MAIL_STATE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"ADD_MAIL_ZIP","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"BOOK","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"PAGE","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"GRID_EAST","dataType":"GPString","value":"561180"},
{"paramName":"GRID_NORTH","dataType":"GPString","value":"945822"},
{"paramName":"MUNI_PARCEL_ID","dataType":"GPString","value":"0120001026"},
{"paramName":"SWIS_SBL_ID","dataType":"GPString","value":"01200009000000010140000000"},
{"paramName":"SWIS_PRINT_KEY_ID","dataType":"GPString","value":"01200090.-1-14"},
{"paramName":"ROLL_YR","dataType":"GPString","value":"2019"},
{"paramName":"SPATIAL_YR","dataType":"GPString","value":"2019"},
{"paramName":"OWNER_TYPE","dataType":"GPString","value":"2"},
{"paramName":"NYS_NAME","dataType":"GPString","value":"New York State- DEC"},
{"paramName":"NYS_NAME_SOURCE","dataType":"GPString","value":"1-2-SA-a"},
{"paramName":"DUP_GEO","dataType":"GPString","value":"Null"},
{"paramName":"CALC_ACRES","dataType":"GPString","value":"498.300342"},
{"paramName":"ServiceMessage","dataType":"GPString","value":"Match found for entered X:-74.10192 & Y:42.59518."}],"messages":[]}

I found this handy enough, I wrote short PHP script that I can execute as needed to pull up property data and output it into a CSV spreadsheet format for bringing up in OpenOffice Calc. If you enter more then two words, it searches by address, otherwise it uses the first and second parameters as coordinates.

if ($argc > 2) {
	$address = "";
	for ($i = 1; $i <= $argc; $i++) 
		$address .= "$argv[$i] ";
		
	$address = urlencode($address);
	
	$json = file_get_contents("https://gisservices.its.ny.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Locators/Street_and_Address_Composite/GeocodeServer/findAddressCandidates?Street=&City=&State=&ZIP=&SingleLine={$address}&outFields=&maxLocations=1&matchOutOfRange=true&langCode=&locationType=&sourceCountry=&category=&location=&distance=&searchExtent=&outSR=4326&magicKey=&f=pjson");
	$coord = json_decode($json);
	
	$lat = $coord->candidates[0]->location->y;
	$lng = $coord->candidates[0]->location->x;
}

else {
	$lat = $argv[1];
	$lng = $argv[2];
}

if ($lng > 0) $lng *= -1;

$json = file_get_contents("https://gisservices.its.ny.gov/arcgis/rest/services/NYSTaxAssessmentLookup/GPServer/TaxAssessment/execute?X={$lng}&Y={$lat}&SpatialReference=4326&env%3AoutSR=&env%3AprocessSR=&returnZ=false&returnM=false&returnTrueCurves=false&returnFeatureCollection=false&context=&f=json");

$prop = json_decode($json);

foreach ($prop->results as $line) {
	echo '"'.addslashes($line->paramName).'","'.addslashes($line->value).""n";
}

With this script, you can load a nice version of tax record in your favorite spreadsheet.

OBJECTID 30986
COUNTY_NAME Albany
MUNI_NAME Berne
SWIS 12000
PARCEL_ADDR Willsie Rd
PRINT_KEY 90.-1-14
SBL 9.00000001014E+018
CITYTOWN_NAME Berne
CITYTOWN_SWIS 12000
LOC_ST_NBR Null
LOC_STREET Willsie Rd
LOC_UNIT Null
LOC_ZIP Null
PROP_CLASS 941
ROLL_SECTION 3
LAND_AV 579885
TOTAL_AV 579885
FULL_MARKET_VAL 982856
YR_BLT Null
FRONT 0
DEPTH 0
SQ_FT 0
ACRES 506.28
SCHOOL_CODE 12001
SCHOOL_NAME Berne-Knox-Westerlo
SEWER_TYPE 1
SEWER_DESC None
WATER_SUPP 1
WATER_DESC None
UTILITIES 3
UTILITIES_DESC Electric
BLDG_STYLE Null
BLDG_STYLE_DESC Null
HEAT_TYPE Null
HEAT_TYPE_DESC Null
FUEL_TYPE Null
FUEL_TYPE_DESC Null
SQFT_LIVING Null
NBR_KITCHENS Null
NBR_FULL_BATHS Null
NBR_BEDROOMS Null
USED_AS_CODE Null
USED_AS_DESC Null
AG_DIST_CODE Null
AG_DIST_NAME Null
PRIMARY_OWNER NYS Reforestation Land
MAIL_ADDR 112 State St Rm 810
PO_BOX Null
MAIL_CITY Albany
MAIL_STATE NY
MAIL_ZIP 12207
ADD_OWNER Null
ADD_MAIL_ADDR
ADD_MAIL_PO_BOX Null
ADD_MAIL_CITY Null
ADD_MAIL_STATE Null
ADD_MAIL_ZIP Null
BOOK Null
PAGE Null
GRID_EAST 561180
GRID_NORTH 945822
MUNI_PARCEL_ID 120001026
SWIS_SBL_ID 1.20000900000001E+024
SWIS_PRINT_KEY_ID 01200090.-1-14
ROLL_YR 2019
SPATIAL_YR 2019
OWNER_TYPE 2
NYS_NAME New York State- DEC
NYS_NAME_SOURCE 1-2-SA-a
DUP_GEO Null
CALC_ACRES 498.300342
ServiceMessage Match found for entered X:-74.08836 & Y:42.59480.

Largest School Districts in New York State

Covering nearly 700 square miles, Saranac Lake Central School District is the state’s largest school district. Below is the list of the 50 largest school districts in New York State by the area they cover.

School District Square Miles
Saranac Lake Central SD 685.1
Town of Webb Union Free SD 494.5
Poland Central SD 478.3
Long Lake Central SD 387.3
Northern Adirondack Central SD 372.9
Adirondack Central SD 369.8
South Lewis Central SD 369.2
Malone Central SD 364.2
Camden Central SD 331.2
Schroon Lake Central SD 330.3
Clifton-Fine Central SD 320.2
Ausable Valley Central SD 309.3
Tupper Lake Central SD 294.1
Onteora Central SD 287.5
Indian River Central SD 283.6
St Regis Falls Central SD 277.7
Piseco Common SD 268.2
Indian Lake Central SD 265.7
Randolph Central SD 261.6
Sullivan West Central SD 256.1
Lowville Academy & Central SD 256.1
Edwards-Knox Central SD 254.0
Colton-Pierrepont Central SD 251.7
Beaver River Central SD 237.4
Corning City SD 235.2
Thousand Islands Central SD 233.7
Newcomb Central SD 232.2
Yorkshire-Pioneer Central SD 229.2
Gouverneur Central SD 226.6
South Jefferson Central SD 221.3
Parishville-Hopkinton Central SD 219.7
Johnsburg Central SD 219.2
Central Square Central SD 208.2
Hadley-Luzerne Central SD 205.6
Sandy Creek Central SD 204.3
Taconic Hills Central SD 202.3
Wells Central SD 199.5
Harrisville Central SD 197.5
Lake Pleasant Central SD 196.9
Monticello Central SD 195.9
Tri-Valley Central SD 195.1
Delaware Academy Central SD At Delhi 192.6
Canisteo-Greenwood Central SD 192.3
Carthage Central SD 189.5
Dolgeville Central SD 185.5
Penn Yan Central SD 182.7
Cattaraugus-Little Valley Central SD 182.2
Cobleskill-Richmondville Central SD 181.5
Saranac Central SD 181.2
Lake Placid Central SD 178.1

Data Source: NYS Education Department, School District Boundaries, calculated based on area of districts as shown in the Shapefile. https://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/inventories/details.cfm?DSID=1326

House Pond Trail

February 5, 2023 Morning

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Mostly cloudy and 28 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south breeze at 14 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 17. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 11 am. 🌡️

Still kind of cold ❄ this morning but I guess it’s an improvement from what it was yesterday. Still with that breeze it’s an improvement from what it was yesterday. I’ve turned down the heat, closed the cabinets under the sink and aren’t wearing a full face mask or gloves 🧤 for the morning walk 🚶 which I delayed for a bit.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 41 degrees at 3pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 3rd. South wind 10 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1890. 10.4 inches of snow fell back in 2014.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 31.4° from the due south horizon (-39.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:33 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (242°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (249°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:14 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 6 seconds with dusk around 5:43 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon in the east-northeast (69°) at an altitude of 6° from the horizon, 251,699 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:17 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 39 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 11 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 27 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 12 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1948.

Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until Daylight Savings Time 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 6:59 pm with dusk at 7:25 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 60 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 44 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 2012.

Tree on Recently Burnt Hillside

February 4, 2023 Morning

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Why so negative? ❄️ I mean it’s a beautiful day, just cold as shit. I think it was about negative eleven when I woke up, but it’s warming up fast I tell myself. My bedroom was only 45 degrees at six o’clock when I awoke though I didn’t notice it at all until I actually looked the thermometer in my bedroom. 🛏 I am just used to the cold, after all this winter camping and because I keep my heat low as I like to keep my heating bills down. I left the cabinets open under the sink, and there were no issues with frozen pipes, though the water was cold coming out of the sink for a few seconds before hot water arrive from the hot water heater. I have to admit I probably let the water run more washing dishes then I should have 🍽 but the warm water was nice. Probably won’t take a shower 🛀 until tomorrow, just because I’m not going anywhere, and it would be cold getting out of the shower.

Sunny and -9 degrees in Delmar. 🌞 There is a northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is -26. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 10 am. 🌡️ I am waiting a little bit on my morning walk, until it’s at least zero degrees on and I can put on the face mask, gloves and thermal underwear. I don’t think it’s as windy as they say from looking at the trees, though there was some good good gusts for a while yesterday. Going to be in the 40s tomorrow, and most of the week.

Things warmed up quickly though inside ♨️ when I turned on the portable electric space heater. Technically my bedroom has baseboard electric heat to supplement that gas radiators downstairs, but I never use them. They smell so bad until the dust burns off, are expensive to run, and don’t put the heat right where I want it like a little electric space heater. Electric heat is much quicker then gas for sure, especially with the 220 volt 40 amp circuits or whatever they are. Maybe I could make it even warmer in here, but I don’t want to pay for the heat in this cold weather. I did patch up more air leaks around the door, it seems pretty good now. What can I say, it’s an inexpensive, run down apartment.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 15 degrees at 3pm. 19 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -26 at 8am; Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1991. 15.5 inches of snow fell back in 1926.❄

Until it warms up, 🤖 I am working on some maps and data analysis using my laptop. Already the wind is slowing, so I am hopeful to get out in a bit. But I have some interesting ideas of maps and data I can extract. I noticed that NYSUT has posted electronic spreadsheet versions of the school aid runs, 🤖 so I can use it to make maps. Also, I want to do some things with sunset and length of day and make some interesting maps. But I am hoping it will be warm enough, I won’t be spending all day inside. That would be a bummer for a Saturday. But it’s so cold right now.

While my plans aren’t set in stone, 🥌 I am leaning towards a hike out to Five Rivers today, 🐦 assuming it gets warmer, the wind remains calm and I can bundle up. I want to get my steps in. I did go to library last night to work on some projects for a while, and I don’t like going there on the weekends when it’s crowded, but I’ll see how cold it is later on. Maybe at least I can go for a walk 🚶‍♀️ around the superblock, and get 2 1/2 miles if I wear gloves 🧤 and my full-face mask. 🫠 Maybe Meads Road, I like seeing the farm country and cows at that way. 🐃

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 31.1° from the due south horizon (-39.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:32 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (242°). 📸

The sunset is in the west-southwest (249°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:13 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 7 seconds with dusk around 5:42 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (73°) at an altitude of 16° from the horizon, 252,240 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:16 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 15 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 9 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 25 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 13 degrees at 9pm. Three degrees below normal. But a warm up! Maximum wind chill around 4 at 6pm; South wind 7 to 13 mph. Cold but not nearly as cold as this morning. And warming up throughout the night. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 17 degrees. The record low of -15 occurred back in 1918.

Looking ahead, next Saturday is Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day 🥛 when the sun will be setting at 5:23 pm with dusk at 5:50 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 26 and 12 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. That will feel like a heat wave compared today, though the 8-14 day outlook looks even warmer then average. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1981.

Evening Rays Over Center Square