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Saugerties gun show debate continues

Jun 15, 2022 1:00 am

Diane Pineiro-Zucker is reporting for the Daily Freeman with less than a day to go before the Saugerties Town Board decides the fate of the Father’s Day weekend gun show at the Kiwanis Ice Arena, venue manager Rob Klegman says the show will happen while Town Supervisor Fred Costello disagrees. In a conversation on June 14, Costello said he wants to honor the show organizer’s last-minute cancellation announced last week. He said, “I have the feeling I have the support of the board” to finally put the kibosh on the New East-Coast Arms Collectors Associates Arms Fair at the Kiwanis Arena on June 17, 18, and 19. Until the board takes a vote, however, Klegman said he is expecting the show will go on. The ice arena is town property. Costello has said he hoped the town board would agree to refund the arms fair’s down payment for the show as he promised the group's president. Last week, the gun show was canceled “by mutual agreement between the town and the promoter,” according to a joint press release from Costello, David Petronis, president of NEACA and Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra. The decision to cancel was made following a June 8 meeting between the three men. In the press release, Petronis said he had agreed to the cancellation but on June 10, he changed his mind. “At this point, I am asking the town board to disregard my statement that I will cancel the gun show but rather that I be allowed to continue with my contract as written and of your agreement,” Petronis wrote in an email. Costello said Petronis’ change of heart was based on a belief that “controversy equals customers.” The supervisor said, “...[H]e thinks he’s going to have a successful show at our expense. He really doesn’t care about Saugerties. He just wants to make as much money as possible. …” Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

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