Stephen Gramola, 75, is a Kingston native who has spent much of his life in state prison. He is currently homeless. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kingston Wire: How did you or your family come to Kingston?

Stephen Gramola: It’s my hometown, my parents were born here. I was incarcerated on and off since I was a kid. Just in and out in and out. I went in in ’80; when I came out in ’90 s--t really hit the fan and I got a 19-year bid. But I got free and I couldn’t wait to come back to Kingston. They wanted to send me back up north, but I won the case and now it’s all good. I’m living in a world without crime now.

KW: What do you like about Kingston?

SG: Everything — you got the strip you got the Strand, the Shamrock, the YMCA. Joe Beez, the Stewart’s, the Valero. Just everything. You can go down to the beach and drink, jump in the water, drive a boat. Go up to Woodstock. Ellenville is nice, too. I got family there. Once I was in Samaritan down there once, but I went out a window and found them.

KW: What would you like to change about Kingston?

SG: Nothing. It’s my hometown. I like it how it is.

KW: How do you think Kingston will be different in 10 years?

SG: The population keeps escalating. Everyone you meet now is from Brooklyn. But 10 years, that’s a decade, so who knows what’s going to happen? The mountains will still be there, I can tell you that, but I don’t know what else.