Editing Rosendale (CDP), New York (section)

=== Rise of hippie movement ===
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" |"Friendship is measured among these hippie types by passed swigs of wine: the communion of the hip."
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| style="text-align: left;" | —Chris Farlekas, 1976<ref name="village-dies" />
|}
The man who suggested that the underground facility have a public exhibition was a local personality, Billy Guldy.<ref name="cave-open" /> Guldy was born around 1940 in Kingston, and, by the 1970s, had become a leading figure in Rosendale Village's [[hippie]] movement. He declared himself a [[Monarch|king]],<ref name="village-dies" /> and frequently dressed as one. He owned a bar called "The Well",<ref name="riot">{{Cite news |newspaper=New Paltz News |location=New Paltz, NY |title=Rosendalers Respond To Riot |date=1975-07-07}}</ref> and a hotel in the village,<ref name="warp">{{Cite news |title=A Depression-flavored time warp, where freaks, former beats and the new hip meet—on one side of the street |newspaper=[[Daily Freeman]] |location=Kingston, NY |date=1976-09-26}}</ref> and his portrait was painted on the door of a local bar. He declared [[Halloween]] a national holiday, ran for [[President of the United States|president]], and led 200 people in a parade down Main Street.<ref name="village-dies" /> At one point Guldy took a bus to [[Yankee Stadium]] to give baseball player [[Fred Stanley (baseball)|Fred Stanley]] the "key to Rosendale".<ref name="warp" /> Some older residents considered Guldy crazy,<ref name="village-dies" /> and former village trustee Harold Schoonmaker felt "there's something wrong with a man that walks around the streets barefoot, wearing a robe and derby". The village's children viewed Guldy favorably and were quite friendly with him.<ref name="warp" />

Some of the village's more traditional residents felt overwhelmed by the influx of [[beatnik]]s, and locals were conflicted over whether Rosendale's transformation into an [[art colony]] would benefit the village in the long term.<ref name="village-dies" /> A major clash between the hippies and village police occurred at a bar on June&nbsp;21, 1975, causing over 150 people to show up to see what was going on.<ref name="warp" /> Although "there were many people actively involved" in the riot, only Guldy was charged.<ref name="riot" />

A group that opposed the hippie movement managed to keep Guldy off the mayoral ballot in 1975. He became a [[write-in candidate]] for village trustee, with his friend, poet George Montgomery, running for mayor. Montgomery lost the election to Raivo Puusemp, a sculptor from [[SoHo]]. After his election, Puusemp chided Guldy for being a poor [[role model]] for the village youth.<ref name="warp" /> Puusemp was not a native of Rosendale and had not lived there long.{{sfn|Kaprow|2003|p=209}} By early July 1975, Puusemp had appointed a village [[Animal control officer|dog warden]] after a dog bit a child and was allowed to run about the streets unrestrained.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Warden Named After Dog Injures Child |newspaper=New Paltz News |location=New Paltz, NY |date=1975-07-02}}</ref>