Day: July 28, 2026💾

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Colorized LiDAR, The Noses

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The Noses of the Mohawk River are a break in the hills where the Mohawk River Runs. This is a scared site for many of the Native Americans and an important travel corridor since the Colonial era. Today, this natural passageway is crossed by the Erie Canal/Mohawk River, then to the north of the river two railroad tracks, a two-lane section of NY 5. To the south of the river is four lanes of the NYS Thruway (built on filled in portion of the Mohawk River), and two lanes of NY 5S. There also is the Mohawk Valley Welcome Center, brought there by the Thruway Authority and Power Authority. This site has not always been considered that sacred -- the Sprakers Unlined Landfill for Canjahoharie's waste from the 1960s to 1980s is located one portion of the bank mined away for travel, and much of the travel corridors through the valley are built on rubble through former marshlands.

Colorized LiDAR, The Noses

Map: High Falls Reservior
Map: Duck Pond
Map: Hadley Mountain Trail
Map: Empire State Topography

The Independence Party of New York

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The Independence Party of New York officially ceased to exist as a ballot-qualified political party in November 2020. It was completely dissolved by state law on January 1, 2023. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The party’s erasure from New York politics occurred in two distinct stages:

1. Loss of Ballot Status (2020)

The party lost its automatic ballot access following the November 2020 gubernatorial-cycle election. The state instituted stricter threshold laws requiring minor parties to secure at least 130,000 votes (or 2% of the total vote) every two years to maintain a permanent ballot line. The Independence Party failed to hit this metric. [1, 2, 3]

2. Legal Dissolution and Name Ban (2023)

Though it operated temporarily as an independent group trying to petition its way back onto ballots, New York passed a law in December 2022 that permanently banned political organizations from using the words “independent” or “independence” in their official names. [1, 2, 3, 4]

  • The Reason: Lawmakers cited data showing that roughly 85% of New Yorkers registered under the Independence Party actually intended to register as politically unaffiliated, independent voters. [1]
  • The Outcome: The law officially took effect on January 1, 2023, effectively dissolving the organization and barring any future candidates from running under that name. Subsequent legal challenges to overturn this ban were struck down by federal appeals courts. Later state senate actions worked to automatically convert remaining registered party members back to unaffiliated status. [1, 2, 3]
Map: Severence Hill Trail
Map: Gilman Lake