In yesterday's Register-Star article about the county's plan to lease a building from Phil Gellert to provide congregate housing, Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer was reported to have said that Gellert "lives two doors down from the building and would be able to address any suspicious activity or problems." It seems unlikely that Gellert lives on Columbia Street. What is more likely is that Baer was referring to the fact that Gellert has an office at 524 Columbia Street, two doors up from the house in question.
Baer's confidence that Gellert would address any problems that arose inspired Gossips to ask City Assessor Garth Slocum for a list of the properties in Hudson owned by Gellert and to publish this photographic inventory of the buildings, with comments about problems known to have occurred in some of them.
451 State Street It was reported in the Register-Star that a man was stabbed in the hallway of this building in December 2002.
102-104 North Fifth Street
339 State Street
221-225 Allen Street It was reported in the Register-Star that in March 2010 police chased a suspect to this building, where the suspect's presumed girlfriend obstructed the pursuit to allow him to escape. During the incident, an officer was bitten by the woman's two dogs.
214 Columbia Street
308 Columbia Street
310 Columbia Street
522-524 Columbia Street
520 Columbia Street
518 Columbia Street
514 State Street It was reported in the Register-Star that this building was the scene of an attempted home invasion in September 2009.
508-510 State Street
29 Eighth Street
2 Fairview Avenue
718-720 Union Street
Entrance to 718-720 Union Street on Cherry Alley
408-410 Warren Street
432 Warren Street It was reported in the Register-Star that this building was the scene of an attempted armed home invasion in October 2009.
86 Union Turnpike
There were two more properties on the list which are not pictured because one lacked a specific address and the other had a property description that did not match what was found at the address. When these two properties can be accurately identified, the inventory will be amended.
With the exception of a few, this is a depressing portfolio of abysmal "housing."
ReplyDelete#308 State is a beauty. Hopefully I can spend some quality retirement time there.
ReplyDeleteThe MOST depressing--from a human standpoint--is the building at 718-720 Union Street. There is no way into this building from Union Street. You have to walk up Cherry Alley from Seventh Street and across a bleak and barren (except for trash) lot to a single unembellished doorway--the door of which, when I was there, was standing open. It was hard to imagine that people actually entered their homes via that route, but when I was about to take the picture, I observed someone doing just that.
ReplyDeleteWith many of these buildings, it's not hard to imagine what they started out being, long before they became part of Gellert's "Northern Empire" and suffered the indignity of having their window and door openings made smaller, some of their windows eliminated, and their facades covered in cheap vinyl siding. I would love to find pictures of these buildings as they once were.
Ask the Tenants how Phil is as a Landlord and send the resullts all over the county. I had a chance to talk to the tenants at 102-104 North Fifth Street, which happens to be the first Hospital in Hudson. They told me this summer (as a friend was thinking on purchasing the building) that it was a hell hole. Bugs, bad plumbing, bad heating, unsafe stairs, etc. Like I said, ask those who already live as his tenants. They will give you an honest picture of his true character.
ReplyDeleteThe "entrance" to 718-720 is also used as Gellerts processing center. Any tenants who default on payment also lose their possessions which are then brought to this site and scavenged for valuables. The rest is eventually taken to the dump - and I mean eventually.
ReplyDelete418-410 was condemned but continues to have tenants.
432 is directly across from the Hudson Police Station - one would think that the things going on in that building would catch their eye but -
Slum Lord is the proper term here. Perhaps a welfare to work program would be perfect for Phil, anything to reduce his take from Columbia County. We can rest assured a portion of the 4% hike in County taxes will find their way into Phil's pockets. But certainly Not his buildings.
ReplyDeleteHow Timely, as Our Town had a nice piece on Columbia Counties status as King of Upstate Housing Costs in sheltering our less fortunate. Incredible that part of the solution is more housing from Phil, in lieu of the Sunset Inn et al. I mean, seriously, 2300/month for 518 Columbia? This isn't nepotism, its just thievery.
Thanks Carole for shining the light on a prototypical Slum Lord in our midst. One whose Obvious connections to City Hall make it all the more egregious.