Letter from Chip Northrup

‘Make a Tenor Your Tenant’

Edmond Rodriguez, my brother-in-law’s nephew, was in several Glimmerglass Festival performances this season. Like many young artists, he was housed 45 minutes away—at a college dorm in Herkimer.

The lack of nearby housing has become chronic for artists and arts patrons alike, as chronicled in a recent “New York Times” article: (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/arts/music/cooperstown-baseball-glimmerglass-opera.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fk8.Im9K.SWrAmT6V1s6i&smid=url-share).

The Village of Cooperstown code prohibits short-term rentals without a permit, but the same code allows anyone to rent out their house during Hall of Fame weekend. Therein may lie a precedent: The village code could be amended to allow any residential homeowner to rent out a room(s) or an auxiliary dwelling unit if it provides short-term housing for “patrons or employees of charitable cultural events,” which would include staff and patrons at the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, The Glimmerglass Festival, or any bone fide charitable cultural organization that would qualify for a rental incentive exemption.

The rental would be subject to a permit, which, if abused, could be revoked. Might help alleviate the housing shortage for visiting artists and arts patrons. Make a tenor your tenant!

Chip Northrup
Cooperstown