About Poughkeepsie

Poughkeepsie serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is known as "The Queen City of the Hudson." Poughkeepsie is the principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties.

Poughkeepsie has a number of notable institutions for arts and entertainment. The Bardavon 1869 Opera House, located on Market Street just below Main Street, is a theater which has an array of music, drama, dance and film events. It is also the home of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic.

The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, located down the street from the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, hosts concerts, professional wrestling, and trade shows and has an ice rink next door for hockey events.

The Chance, located at 6 Crannell Street in downtown Poughkeepsie, hosts live rock concerts with local as well as major artists.

The collections of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College chart the history of art from antiquity to the present and comprise over 15,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, and glass and ceramic wares.

The Barrett Art Center at 55 Noxon Street offers exhibits, classes, lectures, and demonstrations focused on the visual arts. Twice yearly it presents nationally acclaimed shows, juried by curators of notable museums. It also operates Barrett Clay Works at 485 Main Street, with studio spaces for individual artists, and a street level space devoted to instruction in various methods of "working clay" for children through seniors.

Cafe Bocca, located at 14 Mount Carmel Place, is the newest business to open in Poughkeepsie's Mt. Carmel neighborhood. Cafe Bocca features weekly original music from area artists, art exhibits, and poetry events.

Locust Grove, the home of Samuel Morse and a National Historic Landmark, features representative paintings by Morse, as well as historically important examples of telegraph technology.

For shopping and movie theater entertainment, the Poughkeepsie Galleria is located in the Town of Poughkeepsie. The mall, which opened in 1987, consists of two floors with 250 shops and restaurants to enjoy. The Regal Cinemas theater has 16 screens. Current anchor stores within the mall include Macy's, J. C. Penney, Target, Best Buy, H&M, and Sears.

The Mid-Hudson Children's Museum, located at 75 North Water Street, serves the city and region as an educational resource center, family destination, and tourist attraction.

The Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center at 9 and 12 Vassar Street provides venues for both professional and amateur artists to showcase their talent in music, dance, and the visual arts.

Bananas Comedy Club is a comedy club that presents comedians such as Jim Norton, Rich Vos, Patrice O'Neal, and Nick DiPaolo. Jimmy Fallon started his career performing at the club.

In 2011 Empire Cruise Lines began the operation of the first dinner and tour boat to call Poughkeepsie homeport in nearly two generations. The M/V Mystère is a 60 foot double decked tour boat which departs from Waryas Park, 29 North Water Street, in the City of Poughkeepsie.

By Geoffrey Gonzalez