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is a city in Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany along the Hudson River. The population was 23,456 at the 2000 census. Kingston is the core city of the Kingston, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lies in the northernmost part of the New York-Newark-Bridgeport NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.
In 1777 Kingston became the first capital of New York. Shortly after the Battle of Saratoga, the city was burned by British troops moving up the Hudson River from New York City, disembarking at the mouth of the Rondout Creek on the formation the Dutch had named
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The area was a major granary for the colonies at the time, so the British burned large amounts of wheat and all but one or two of the buildings. There is some debate over exactly how much of a fight was put up against the British; one third of the local militia regiment was still to the north at Saratoga, and one third was to the south manning several forts (which were captured days before by the British). This would have left approximately 150 militiamen to defend the city against approximately 2,000 British regulars. In 1797, the capital was reestablished at Albany.