CLERMONT – This holiday season, the New York State Police (NYSP) Troop K started an investigation into a Columbia County farmer accused of severely neglecting and abusing nearly 40 animals. At the time, authorities withheld the name of the farm, and even the name of the town in which it was located, as they pursued their investigation. On Tuesday, March 17, the NYSP in conjunction with the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office arrested Andrea Nussinow, age 57, of Blue Star Farm of Clermont.
According to the state police, “Nussinow was charged with 35 counts of Agriculture and Markets Law [section 353], including the overdriving, torturing and injuring of animals, or failure to provide proper sustenance, an unclassified misdemeanor.”
Mia Genovesi, founder and director of Godspeed Horse Hostel in Amenia, offered her assistance when the animals were seized in January. She helped rescue the 38 animals, including 21 horses ranging in age from 6 months to their teens. There were also six sheep, two goats, two cows, one donkey and seven cats brought to Godspeed. They were in very poor condition.
At the time, Genovesi explained how badly abused the 38 animals were. She said there is something called the Henneke Scale that veterinarians use to determine if animals are at their appropriate weight. According to the scale, a one is considered emaciated and a nine is considered obese. She said two-thirds of the animals rescued in this case were on the “low end” of the scale.
She heralded the recent arrest and praised the investigators.
“This is a victory for animal rights as well as animal rescuers, activists and supporters,” said Genovesi last week, who is also the animal control officer for the town of Amenia. “We are very pleased.”
Currently, she added, she is using three farms in Amenia to house half the animals; five of which remain at Godspeed.
“They are doing amazing now and we wanted them to have larger enclosures and plenty of pasture,” said Genovesi.
It was on Dec. 2, 2019, that the NYSP in Livingston received a complaint of possible animal neglect on Nevis Road in the town of Clermont. An investigation led to three search warrants for the property, which were all executed in January 2020.
A “continued investigation with the help of local and state veterinary professionals along with the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office” led to the Nussinow’s arrest last month.
When asked if the justice system is strict enough when ruling on animal abuse cases, Genovesi was blunt.
“Short answer, no,” she said. “I am of the opinion that animals, as sentient beings, have the same vulnerabilities and need for guardianship as a human baby, and should be afforded exactly the same laws that protect people. I do not know where the disconnect lies with the lawmakers, in not recognizing that.”
She added that she “changed the mission of Godspeed of just horse rescue to outreach for all animals: companion animals, dogs, cats, domestic animals, horses, farm animals and wildlife.” She’s also lobbying Albany about changing animal cruelty offenses from misdemeanors to felonies.
“That’s why I’m vigorously working with lobbying organizations to help change the laws up in Albany,” Genovesi said in January. “I would like to see any kind of animal cruelty be a felony, with jail time, because statistically, people who abuse animals go on to abuse people.”
Nussinow was arraigned before the Columbia County Court, and released on her own recognizance. She is next scheduled to appear before the town of Clermont Court on May 20, at 5 p.m.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
Amenia Town Hall on Route 22.
AMENIA — After gathering comments from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals, as it considers adding alternate members to those boards, the Town Board discussed possible changes to local laws governing those boards at its meeting on Friday, Oct. 3. The meeting date, usually on a Thursday, had been changed to accommodate a holiday.
In recent weeks Town Board attorney Ian Lindars has been compiling comments from the affected boards along with comments from the Town Board. The new laws may bring the appointment of two alternate members to each board. Alternate members are likely to be required to attend all meetings and be prepared to be seated if needed and be familiar with the applications being discussed. They would also need to take training required of all board members.
Lindars will prepare a draft of the new local laws to be reviewed by the Town Board and the affected boards.
As the Town Board begins work on the town’s annual budget negotiation process and anticipating an increase in some budget lines to accommodate major projects, the board unanimously approved three resolutions. The first will override the tax levy limit imposed on municipalities by the state of New York, a limit generally tied to the rate of inflation.
A public hearing on the proposal to override the levy limit was set for Thursday, November 6, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.
