Corning (city), New York

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Corning, New York
A view of Corning from the banks of the Chemung River
A view of Corning from the banks of the Chemung River
Corning, New York (New York)
Corning, New York
Corning, New York
Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 42°8′53″N 77°3′25″W / 42.14806, -77.05694
Country United States
State New York
County Steuben
Area
 - Total 3.3 sq mi (8.5 km²)
 - Land 3.1 sq mi (8.0 km²)
 - Water 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km²)
Elevation 932 ft (284 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 10,842
 - Density 3,489.5/sq mi (1,347.3/km²)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 14830-14831
Area code(s) 607
FIPS code 36-18256
GNIS feature ID 0947476
Rockwell Museum
Rockwell Museum

Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany, New York financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.

The City of Corning is at the western edge of the Town of Corning and in the southeast part of Steuben County.

The city is the headquarters of Fortune 500 company Corning Inc., formerly Corning Glass Works, a manufacturer of glass and ceramic products for industrial, scientific and technical uses.

It is also home to the Corning Museum of Glass, which houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of glass objects from antiquity to the present. The museum houses The Rakow Library, one of the world's major glass research centers.

The city's other major cultural attraction is the Rockwell Museum of Western Art [1] It contains an important collection of Western American painting and sculpture assembled over the past 40 years by Robert F. and Hertha Rockwell.

The city has been cited several times by American Style magazine as one of the top twenty-five small city arts destinations in the U.S. -- most recently in June 2007.[citation needed]

Since 1979, Corning Country Club has annually hosted The Corning Classic, a stop on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. The city has commercial air service available at Elmira-Corning Regional Airport in the nearby town of Horseheads.

Contents

[edit] History

The first settlement in the town was made near the site of the future city in 1796. The community was set apart from the Town of Corning as a village in 1848. Corning was incorporated as a city in 1890. As the glass industry developed, Corning became known as the "Crystal City."

The Corning area's first real industry was lumber. The first settlers used the area river systems to transport logs and finished lumber in fleets downstream to buyers. This gave rise to large mills which helped to develop the area. Rafting of lumber began to wane as timber was depleted. At one time the mills of the Corning area were reputed to be among the biggest in the world. After the lumber was depleted the great mills moved north to new forests.

East, across the Chemung river from Corning, lies Gibson, New York, the site of a feeder canal for the Erie Canal system. Some of Corning's early prosperity came from the feeder canal system exposure. Canal cargoes from Corning included soft coal, limber, tobacco, grain, and whisky. From April 22 to December 11, 1850, the canal season that year, the newspaper reported that 1,116 boats left the port of Corning. Tolls for the year totaled $54,060.39. Among items shipped were 46,572,400 pounds of coal. The canals best peacetime year was 1854 when 270,978 tons of freight was hauled. The American Civil War brought an abnormal amount of business with a peak of 307,151 tons hauled in one year.[1]

After the Civil War, an industrial boom occurred in the region. Ingersoll Rand opened during this period in Painted Post, just north of Corning.

Corning became a "railroad town" in the 1880s. Corning became the scene of smaller railroad lines busily weaving webs of tracks connecting the major trunk line to smaller communities.

[edit] Geography

Corning is located at 42°8′53″N, 77°3′25″W (42.148142, -77.05697)[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km²), of which, 3.1 square miles (8.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (5.18%) is water.

Just upstream from Corning, the Cohocton River and the Tioga River merge to form the Chemung River which flows through downtown. The river was an important source of power in the early history, and is part of the attractiveness of the region today. The river is prone to floods, as rain water runs off quickly from the steep hillsides of the area, the worst recent flood being in 1972, as the remnants of Hurricane Agnes dropped fifteen or more inches of rain in the area within a short time. The entire downtown area was flooded, with severe damage. Downtown has been refurbished and has become somewhat gentrified.

Flooding is now controlled by a system of dams upstream from Corning.

Interstate 86 (Southern Tier Expressway), New York State Route 352, New York State Route 414, and New York State Route 415 are major highway connecting by Corning. County Road 40 leads into the city from the south and County Road 41 from the north. US Route 15 proceeds southward from Painted Post, west of Corning.

Corning is nestled among scenic hills common to the southern tier of New York State.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 10,842 people, 4,996 households, and 2,667 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,489.5 people per square mile (1,346.0/km²). There were 5,509 housing units at an average density of 1,773.1/sq mi (683.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.94% White, 2.84% Black or African American, 0.34% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.79% of the population.

There were 4,996 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 40.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,780, and the median income for a family was $46,674. Males had a median income of $39,805 versus $27,489 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,056. About 9.1% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.4% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Politics

Most local officials are Republicans. The Corning area typically votes Republican, though some outsiders have deemed its constituents "moderate" Republicans.[citation needed] Amo Houghton, the area's long-serving U.S. Congressman, was a moderate Republican, and his successor, John R. "Randy" Kuhl, says he follows in his moderate footsteps.

[edit] Federal representatives

The citizens of the City of Corning are in New York's 29th Congressional District held by Congressman John R. Kuhl, a Republican.

[edit] State representatives

The citizens of the City of Corning are in New York's 53rd Senate District held by George Winner, a Republican. Corning is the 136 Assembly District held by James Bacalles, a Republican, and former Mayor of the City of Corning.

[edit] City mayors

Republican Joseph Nasser served for many years as Corning's mayor, and the Nasser Civic Center, headquarters of city government, bears his name. The City's former Mayor is Frank Coccho. Coccho beat incumbent Republican Mayor Alan Lewis, becoming the first Democratic mayor since 1953. On November 6 2007, Tom Reed, the head of the city's Republican Party, was elected to replace Coccho. [2] The final vote tally was 1,866 (60%) for Reed versus 1,317 (40%) for Coccho [3] Anti-fluoride activist Kirk Huttleston received one write-in vote.

Frank Coccho had been dogged during the election by an alleged incident where he made inappropriate sexual comments to a female Civil Service Employees Association]] (CSEA) labor relations specialist during a meeting on June 11, 2007, and claims of nepotism for appointing his wife, Betty Coccho, to the City Council, who was confirmed by council vote[4] [5].

The CSEA decided not to pursue the sexual harassment charges stemming from the incident with the female labor relations specialist (Kelly Sue Comfort), although Coccho admitted making the remarks. "Comfort said the mayor called her "little lady," referred to local strip bars and used the phrase "hard in hand" during the June 11 meeting. Coccho admitted making the remarks to Comfort, but said they were taken out of context." [6]

The CSEA also complained Coccho retaliated against employees in the Code Enforcement Office when he learned that they had met outside of work hours with Mayoral candidate Tom Reed. Improper practices charges dealing with Coccho's alleged retaliation against the City's Code Enforcement Office for meeting with his rival were later dropped. [7]

At one point in the mayoral campaign, when faced with the allegations of making an inappropriate sexual remark to the CSEA female labor representative Coccho was quoted by News Channel 10 as stating "We'll leave it up to the voters. Come November 6, we'll find out, we'll find out what a big, bad dog I am,". [8] Coccho also claimed during the election that the editor of the city's official newspaper, the Corning Leader [9], had personally attacked him, his family and his heritage by referring to Coccho as the "Teflon Mayor". Coccho responded by proclaiming he was not Mafia. A News Channel 10 reporter quoted Coccho as saying, "If I'm a bad legislator, a bad mayor, so be it. That's their opinion. But I'm not Mafia, which they referenced, and my wife is not a puppet. I can't control her, in council chambers, here or at home." [10]

In a December 16, 2007 editorial, the Corning Leader revealed Deputy Mayor James Nelson (a Republican) had not remained neutral during the election as he had proclaimed, but continued to remain loyal to Coccho (a Democrat). [11]

Soon after taking office, Mayor Reed removed the blue velvet ropes in the Council Chambers purchased by former Mayor Coccho to keep the public away from the Council's seating area. The ropes, which had become an image of Coccho's administration, were often seen as a symbal of Coccho's growing arrogance. In the January 8, 2008 edition of the Corning Leader, it was reported Coccho's wife, Betty, wanted Reed to return the velvet ropes. Backed by Democratic Committee Chair, Hilda Lando, the two also protested the new seating assignment Mayor Reed had imposed. The public, outraged Coccho and Lando were spending time on such petty issues, voiced their displeasure in over 30 postings on the Leader's website underneath the article. The postings, often vicious, repeatedly called into question the womens' lack of maturity [12]

On Sunday, January 20, 2008, the Leader ran a rambling letter to the editor by Betty Coccho trying to clarify her position by blaming Mayor Tom Reed. In her letter she made bizarre statements such as "the City Council is the highest tribunal of our government". Her letter claims the purchase of the ropes and changing of seats had originally been done by "council consensus" eventhough she admits "neither issue was recorded in the council minutes". Despite this bold claim, she never explains how the council made a decison by "consensus" without violating open meeitngs laws. Coccho and her husband are self-proclaimed champions of New York State's Freedom of Information Law.

Betty Coccho gave her pundits, who claim she is immature, further ammunition when on February 4, 2008 she cast the only dissenting vote against naming the Corning Leader as the City's official newspaper. Coccho gave no explanation, although it was widely speculated her vote was a feable attempt to strike back at the newspaper for a series of unflattering articles and editorials about her husband's performance as Mayor and her actions on the City Council. The Corning Leader is the larget employer in the City's 6th Ward which is represented by Coccho herself. At the same meeting she also cast the only dissenting vote against approving Mayor Reed's appointment of resident Bud Dailey as a temporary member of the Assessment Review Board with no explanation given. Dailey had been the Chairman of the Review Board for 10 years, before Coccho's husband (Mayor Frank Coccho) abruptly ousted Daily from the board in 2007. Daily claimed he was removed soley because he was a supporter of Tom Reed who was a mayoral candidate at the time.

[edit] Government

Since 1995, the City of Corning operates under the Council-Manager form of government with the City Manager serving as the Chief Executive Officer. The first City Manager was Suzanne Kennedy who served until July 1997. In July 1997, Mark L. Ryckman was appointed as the City's second City Manager.

[edit] Education

Corning has eight public elementary schools, two public middle schools, two public high schools and Corning Community College (CCC). Middle schools include Corning Free Academy (CFA) and Northside Blodgett. Elementary schools include Kent Phillips, Hugh Gregg, Winfield Street, William E. Severn, Calvin U. Smith, Lindley-Presho, Erwin Valley, and Frederick Carder school. There are also some private schools, the most popular being All Saints Academy, a K-8 Christian school. High schools include East High School and West High School.

[edit] Social

Recently, the Corning Area School District has implemented the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (grades 6-10) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (grades 11-12). The Corning middle and high schools were authorized as "IB World Schools" in February 2005.

[edit] Places of interest

  • Chimney Rocks-- A group of tall rock formations that stood east of Corning. The rocks are no longer there but were so named because they were tall and narrow like chimneys.
  • Bloody Run-- An area near Gorton Creek, it was the site of a battle between forces of American Generals John Sullivan and James Clinton and Native American Villagers. This battle was part of a campaign directly ordered by George Washington to break the control of the Iroquois Indians in the area. It was called Bloody Run for the reports of bloody creek water coming from the battle scene.

[edit] The flood of 1972

The flood of 1972 was a major event for the area. On June 22 1972, the storm that had been Hurricane Agnes struck the southern tier of New York. The storm combined with a storm system from Ohio to drop six to eight inches (203 mm) of rain in the Chemung River basin. This ultimately overwhelmed the flood control systems of the time and the Chemung river broke through the dam system on Friday, June 23 at 4:00 a.m. By 9:00 a.m. the river crested and began to recede. In the Corning area, eighteen people were killed and untold millions of dollars of damage was incurred. The river receded within hours leaving mud which can still be found in basements of homes and businesses in Corning to this day. This "flood mud" is a lasting reminder of the effects of the flooding.

Corning's Gaffer Tower

Corning

Corning

[edit] Famous residents

[edit] Sister cities

Corning has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities, Inc. (SCI):

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.corningny.com/history4.shtml
  2. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Municipalities and communities of
Steuben County, New York
County seat: Bath (village)
Cities

Corning | Hornell
Towns
Villages
Hamlets
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