TOMKINS COVE - Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday to see what 100 pounds of dynamite can do to a chimney.

Some clapped, some cheered the 475-foot smokestack's demise as the looming landmark tumbled on the shore of the Hudson River.

The explosion at Mirant's Lovett Generating Station was part of the company's plans to demolish the plant, which was closed in April.

Braving the rain, many spectators on West Shore Road expressed mixed feelings about losing the smokestack.

It was built in 1968 and reconstructed in 1987 during Orange and Rockland Utilities' coal reconversion.

In 1999, O&R sold the plant to Southern Energy, which became Mirant New York in 2001.

Kenny McElroy, 49, of Fort Montgomery, who grew up in Stony Point, said he thought the demolition symbolized the financial crisis facing the town.

"Look at the economy now. Look at everybody's taxes.

Everybody is out of work," McElroy said, noting that his mother and relatives still live in Stony Point, which is losing its major commercial taxpayer, Lovett.

"But at least we don't have to see black smoke."