Beware Botanical Vandals

Last year, in June, Gossips reported about the savage "pruning" of the smoke bush at 446 Warren Street: "A Different Kind of Vandalism." 

Today, a resident of the 100 block of Warren Street told Gossips she discovered (and foiled) two men trying to steal bamboo from her backyard. They were equipped with an axe and a variety of clippers. According to the would-be victim of today's attempted vandalism, one of the men looked very much like one of the men captured by security cameras in last year's smoke bush mutilation, and the vehicle involved was a dark SUV similar to the one in the smoke bush incident. 

Gossips shares the following warning: "Local people should keep their eyes open if they have smoke trees or other valuable/unusual shrubs on their property." It is speculated that the botanical vandals may be selling the clippings to designers in the New York City's floral district.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK

Mark Your Calendars

A public hearing on the petition for charter change has been scheduled for Monday, March 31, at 6:00 p.m. The hearing, which is being held by the Common Council, will be in person only at City Hall. To review the petition for charter change that has been submitted to the Common Council, click here.

Money for Festivals and Events

Every year, the City allocates a sum money--in recent years, it's been $30,000--to support "events and projects that encourage the promotion of Hudson as a destination for overnight and day-trip visitors." 

Photo: David McIntyre | Chronogram

The Common Council Finance Committee, which decides how the money will be divvyed up, is now accepting applications for funding. To be eligible, the event must take place between May and December 2025. The maximum award for any project is $5,000. Requests for amounts greater than this will not be considered. Applications are due by Monday, April 14, at 5:00 p.m. Applications must be submitted online, using the form found here. 

To see what events were funded last year, click here. Questions about the application process can be addressed to Rich Volo, chair of the Finance Committee, at richvolo@cityofhudson.org.

Rally for Ukraine

On Saturday, March 22, at 11:00 a.m., there will be a rally in the Public Square, a.k.a. Seventh Street Park, in support of Ukraine's independence. 

  

On February 28, the U.S. voted against a United Nations resolution condemning Moscow's actions and supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity. In doing so, the U.S. voted with Russia, North Korea, and Belarus and not with our European allies. This shocking vote was a wakeup call for those invested in maintaining the world order established with the formation of NATO in 1949, which has largely maintained peace in our lifetimes. The rally on Saturday calls on the U.S. government to continue its support for Ukraine in its struggle to resist Russia's illegal invasion of its country.

Speakers at the rally will include Malcolm Nance, a national security expert who has been a contributor to MSNBC and who served in the Ukrainian Army's International Legion. Other speakers will be members of the local Ukrainian-American community and representatives of groups supporting Ukraine.

The rally is sponsored by IndivisibleColumbiaNY, Columbia County Democratic Committee, Medical Relief for Ukraine, Ukraine Solidarity Capital District, and THIRD ACT Upstate New York.

Of Interest

Since just about everyone Hudson lives in an old house, this may be of interest. The iconic series This Old House is coming to Radio Catskill (WJFF 90.5 FM) with a new weekly show called This Old House Radio Hour. The following is quoted from a press release:

Starting Sunday, March 23, Radio Catskill brings a beloved staple of home improvement to the airwaves with This Old House Radio Hour, airing at 7 a.m. every Sunday. For over four decades, This Old House has been America's go-to source for expert advice on home improvement, craftsmanship, and restoration. Now, listeners can tune in for a weekly hour-long dive into the spirit of do-it-yourself culture, inspiring people of all skill levels to take on projects big and small.

Jenn Largesse, longtime This Old House personality and editor, will serve as host of This Old House Radio Hour. In addition, episodes will feature fan-favorite talent from This Old House, including general contractor Zack Dettmore and plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, as well as a new generation of craftspeople.

Recurring segments include:

• Ask This Old House: Have a question about plumbing, electrical work, roofing, or landscaping? This Old House experts will tackle real listener queries, solving household mysteries and offering step-by-step advice.
• My Old House: Prominent figures like American Pickers' Mike Wolfe, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, musician Rosanne Cash, filmmaker Ken Burns, and actor Alessandro Nivola share heartfelt stories about the homes that shaped their lives.
• Save This Old House: In collaboration with Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein, whose popular Cheap Old Houses social accounts boast over three million combined followers, listeners explore the potential of historic properties—some available for as little as $10—and debate what it takes to bring them back to life.
• What's That Sound?: A fun, interactive game where listeners guess the sound of a tool or job site activity for a chance to win prizes.
• A Simple Fix: Quick, simple, and actionable solutions for common household problems such as clogged drains, squeaky hinges and fridge doors. . . .

Learn more at www.thisoldhouse.com/radiohour.

Ear to the Ground

Today, Governor Kathy Hochul awarded more than $270 million to build and preserve 1,800 units of affordable housing throughout the state. First on the long list of projects to receive funding is this one--the only project in the Capital Region: 

• $9.5 million for Mill Street Lofts in the city of Hudson, Columbia County: A newly constructed 70-unit mixed-income infill development on city-owned land.

It seems bizarre to me to describe this project as "infill." Also, I thought the City was selling the land to Kearney and splitting the profit with the Hudson City School District as payment for agreeing to drop the "reverter clause" in the deed that conveyed the land to the City in 1983. 

The entire announcement can be found here.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK

Change Coming to Warren Street

It's been almost six years since Mexican Radio closed in August 2019, after nearly twenty years in Hudson. Since then its building at 537 Warren Street has stood empty.

At long last, it appears the building is to be put into service once again as a restaurant, one that was described as having "a general store feel." Last Friday, the proposed changes to the exterior of the building, to make it ready for its next life, came before the Historic Preservation Commission. One of the proposed changes is the removal of the mural on the east side of the building, which was painted by Stirling Krusing in November 2009. The mural was painted on metal siding. Under the metal siding there is brick, and the plan is to remove the metal intact so that the mural can be preserved.

The colorful paint that distinguished the building when it was a Mexican restaurant is being replaced by somber black. 

The most significant changes proposed are to the east wall of the building, along the pocket park, where the addition of a number of windows and doors is being proposed. 

The plans for the building will be the subject of a public hearing on Friday, March 28, at 10:00 a.m. Because the renderings reproduced here suggest extensive changes to the pocket park, which is city property and not actually part of the project, the HPC suggested that new renderings be prepared for the hearing public that focus on the building and represent the park more as it currently is.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK

HHA Update

When the Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) made the initial presentation of its redevelopment plans at the Planning Board last week, Alex Gorlin, the architect for the project, said the next step is developing elevations, which will show what the buildings are going to look like. It seemed implied that the project would be returning to the Planning Board at its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place on April 8. Putting those two things together, it seemed the long-awaited elevations might be ready next month.

At the HHA Board of Commissioners meeting yesterday, however, Jeffrey Dodson, HHA executive director, said they would not be returning to the Planning Board in April, because they wouldn't be ready. He made no mention of elevations, nor did he elaborate on what needed to be done before they would be ready to go back to the Planning Board.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK 

Another Initiative for Change

Hudson often suffers from county government's bad ideas, the latest being the acquisition of 11 Warren Street for use as county offices. Is it possible that having the county governed by a full-time leader, elected by the voters in the county, could benefit Hudson? The case for replacing Matt Murrell, the current chair of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, with a full-time county executive is made in this press release from the Columbia County Democratic Committee.

Columbia County Deserves a Full-Time, Elected Leader

Columbia County is governed solely by the Board of Supervisors (BOS), a part-time legislative body comprised of Town Supervisors. Supervisors typically split their time between day jobs, managing their towns, and serving on the BOS.

Only four counties out of 62 in New York State are still governed by a BOS, with Columbia County being the largest of the four. Every other county in NYS has either a full-time, elected County Executive or a County Manager/Administrator, putting us at a distinct disadvantage.

Our county has a budget of nearly $200 million, supervised part-time by Stockport's Town Supervisor, Chairman Matt Murrell. The Chairman's role is "part-time," meaning no individual works full-time to manage or oversee county governance. The Chairman was not selected by voters; rather, he was installed by politicians, bypassing direct public accountability. Mr. Murrell received less than 500 votes in his last election. There are over 61,570 residents in our county. Why should he get to make decisions for 99.2% of residents who never voted for him? Part-time leadership means we're getting part-time results.

Matt Murrell

On March 1, a petition to establish a full-time, elected County Executive began circulating. In just over two weeks, hundreds of voters across the political spectrum have already signed because Columbia County deserves better. Organizers for this effort intend to gather 5,000 signatures to place the referendum on the ballot. Following the submission of signatures, there will be town halls and information sessions before a vote on the referendum this November.

"This effort is borne out of hundreds of residents throughout our county who are frustrated with our current ineffective model of government. Matt Murrell is lashing out at Democrats and bragging about raising our taxes and fees when he should be laser-focused on keeping costs down and making sure government works for everyone," said Sam Hodge.

Our current form of government lacks vision and a comprehensive plan for the future. Sales tax revenues are declining, yet no strategy has been proposed to address the shortfall. Taxes continue to rise amid an affordability crisis gripping the county, with no solution being offered.

Our population is shrinking, but there's no initiative to attract new residents. Schools face declining enrollment as families are priced out of the area, yet no action is being taken. Our community college is laying off workers, and our hospital is struggling--cutting services and staff--while leadership offers no plan to turn things around.

"We need a full-time advocate to work with our Federal and State partners. A full-time, elected leader will be accountable for getting Columbia's fair share in State and Federal funding to improve our programs and infrastructure. There's money out there that we could be applying for but aren't," said Mike Dvorchak, Hillsdale Town Supervisor. "With the possibility of Medicaid cuts and a recession around the corner, now more than ever, it's important to have someone full-time, accountable to voters at the helm."

Fifty-eight out of 62 counties have adopted a different form of government due to the shortcomings and inefficiencies of the Board of Supervisors model. Given the chaos in Washington, D.C., we need a full-time professional, not a part-time amateur. It's time to move Columbia County forward. We deserve better.

The Board of Supervisors (BOS) will continue to serve as the county's legislative body and partner to the County Executive in governing Columbia County. Its responsibilities include, in part, approving the proposed budget, enacting local laws, and confirming nominees for county positions. If the County Executive vetoes an action by the BOS, it can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the BOS. This is typical for all other upstate counties in NYS.

To learn more about the initiative, to sign the petition, or to volunteer to help in the effort, send an email to columbiacountyforward@gmail.com or visit columbiacountyforward.com.

A Street, B Street, or Alley?

Last Friday, Walter Chatham returned to the Historic Preservation Commission with a revised design for an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on Partition Street, behind 123 Union Street. It will be remembered that Chatham had originally proposed an ADU that was a smaller version of the original house. 

Chatham started his presentation by challenging a statement made by HPC member John Schobel at the February 14 meeting: "Neither the public nor the commission shares your vision of Partition Street as a street of nice little houses." Chatham took the HPC on a tour, in photographs, of Partition Street, from Fifth Street to Front Street, pointing out the actual houses on the street (there are four by Gossips' count), accessory dwelling units, and buildings that were neither carriage houses nor garages, arguing that Partition Street was already a street of houses. He called Partition "a street in transition" and told the HPC, "You need to decide whether you want this to be an A street, a B street, or an alley."

Chatham then presented the new plans for the building. The materials have changed from brick to wood siding, the height of the building has been reduced by 18 inches, and the orientation of the building has been changed. Rather than facing Partition Street, it is now at a right angle to Partition Street, with a gable end facing the street. There will still be some decorative elements that relate to the main house--for example, lintels over the windows that mimic in wood the lintels on the main house--but the overall design was been "simplified to the point that it would be appropriate to a B street."   

The "pedestrian entrance" to the house (the living quarters are on the second floor) is on the west side of the building. On the east side, there is a paved area which accesses the two-car garage on the ground floor of the building and functions as a parking area.  

Reacting to the new plan, HPC member Hugh Biber said, "I think it's a good solution." Phil Forman, who chairs the HPC, concurred, "I also appreciate the analytics of what's going on on the street."

John Schobel said he appreciated the change in material and the change in orientation, but he pointed out that this was a new application which is "drastically different from what we had before, and we need another public hearing." 

Biber responded, "We've addressed the public's concerns," expressed at the public hearing on February 14. Other members of the HPC agreed that Chatham had addressed the primary concerns, although scale and mass remained an issue. Schobel pointed out that because this was being considered a new application and Chatham had not yet submitted the new application, they couldn't vote on this until the next meeting, so having a public hearing would not necessarily delay the approval process. Forman, however, thought otherwise: "I think this becomes a very weird use of public hearings if we layer on public hearing on top of public hearing on top of public hearing."   

Victoria Polidoro, legal counsel to the HPC, commented, "Since this is technically a new application, you could have a public hearing." And so it was decided that there would be a public hearing on the revised building on Friday, March 28.

After the decision was made to hold a public hearing on the new application, Chatham delivered what he called "a quick little speech." He told the HPC, "The general feeling among people outside of Hudson--and this is universal--is that Hudson is an impossible place to get anything done in, because the people on the boards and the citizens can create a kind of 'doom loop'. . . and what is happening, in my opinion, is that larger developers, with on-staff attorneys, engineers, etc., are beginning to define the character of the city, because a small developer can't move forward, and I include my client on this project as a small developer because he's doing tiny houses all over the city. So, I'm just gonna say that opposition is very good, but when it turns into an opposition to a building type or a kind of idea about how the city should grow, you have to be very careful, because by stopping smaller projects from advancing efficiently, you're opening the door to only large projects defining the character of the neighborhood, and I don't think anyone on this conversation wants that."

At one point in his speech (the point at which I inserted the ellipsis), Chatham said he wasn't speaking specifically about the HPC, but his plaint would have better been addressed to the Planning Board, where one of his projects, the small apartment building proposed for Fairview Avenue at the edge of the neighborhood known an "the Boulevards," has been under review for more than a year, since June 2023, while the review of Mill Street Lofts seems to be moving forward with much greater efficiency. In this instance, the difference may not be big developer as opposed to small developer, but rather that Mill Street Lofts has the sanction and support of City Hall, particularly of the mayor, who appointed all the people currently on the Planning Board.

It seems ironic that Chatham characterized his client for this project as a "small developer." His client for 123 Union Street and for most of the projects Chatham presents to the HPC is Eric Galloway, who is having a huge influence on defining the character of many neighborhoods in Hudson. (Galloway is not the client for Chatham's project on Fairview Avenue.) It is impossible to find a block of Union Street below Third or Allen Street below West Court Street without several houses that have been restored or reimagined by Galloway. His influence is also seen on Warren Street--202-204 Warren Street, where the graceful original porticos were trashed and replaced with decidedly less graceful ones; 260 Warren Street, where "white gunk" was applied to the original marble plinths and lintels; 364 and 366 Warren Street;  402-404 Warren Street, which Galvan is transforming into a hotel; and 449 Warren Street, pretty much an entirely new building, constructed by Galvan in 2014, from which one can see 501 Union Street, which Galvan covered with lime wash in violation of the stipulations in its certificate of appropriateness. Beyond that, Galloway is reimaging and re-creating an entire section of the city, which he has dubbed the "Depot District." 

In no way can Galloway be considered a "small developer." 

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK

Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

In the week the includes St. Patrick's Day and the vernal equinox, here's what is happening.

• On Monday, March 17, the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meets at 6:00 p.m. HHA made an initial presentation of its redevelopment project to the Planning Board on Tuesday. That presentation can be viewed here, beginning at 1:26:46. The plan to extend First Street from Columbia to State, which hasn't been mentioned lately, is apparently still part of the plan. Any kind of underground parking, however, has been abandoned. Monday's meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person in the Community Room at Bliss Towers, 41 North Second Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

• On Tuesday, March 18, the Common Council Finance Committee meets at 5:15 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• At 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, the Common Council holds its regular monthly meeting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• On Wednesday, March 19, the Zoning Board of Appeals meets at 6:00 p.m. Although no agenda is as yet available for the meeting, it is expected that the meeting will include a public hearing on the area variances needed to demolish a single-story structure at 9 Partition Street and construct in its place a three-story single family dwelling. The meeting takes place in person only at City Hall.

Update: The agenda for the ZBA meeting is now available and confirms that a public hearing for 9 Partition Street is on the agenda, as is 105 Union Street, listed under "New Business." Click here to view the agenda. 

• On Thursday, March 20, the vernal equinox takes place at 5:01 a.m. It's the first day of spring. Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s, but it may also rain.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK

Last but not Least

At Tuesday night's Planning Board meeting, just minutes before 9:00 p.m., which, according to its chair Theresa Joyner, is supposed to be a "hard stop" for Planning Board meetings, the board heard a presentation on Zoom by Wendy Andringa of Assemblage Landscape Architecture DPC, the group that has been working for close to a decade on a climate-adaptive redesign of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park. 

In her presentation, Andringa presented the timeline shown below of past and future work. It should be noted that the project is being funded primarily by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, although the City was required to provide a $75,000 match for the most recent grant.

Introducing Andringa and the project, Joyner told the board: "This company is the company that was hired by the City to beautify the Henry Hudson waterfront, and they've already been in contact with Colarusso. They're going to try to work together [with them], along with public comments and Planning Board comments, because the part that they've been hired to design is the part right next to [the dock area]."

The project is focused on the area of the park known as "Rick's Point." The plans include restoring the woodlands along the southern edge, along the property line with Colarusso; restoring the shoreline to make it more responsive to flooding; creating rain gardens to absorb water; "greening" Rick's Point and creating a fishing pier; and restoring the historic railroad trestle.

Andringa's presentation can be viewed here, beginning at about 2:21:12.

A couple of interesting things came out in the discussion that followed the presentation. When Planning Board member Gini Casasco asked about maintenance of the area going forward, Andringa said they were working with the Conservation Advisory Council and the Columbia Land Conservancy and went on to say that the CLC was "spearheading a Friends of Hudson Parks." Curious. This is the first time Gossips has heard of any such initiative. 

Joyner pursued the question of Andringa being in contact with Colarusso. Andringa said they had "reached out" to Colarusso and want to coordinate the design so that "together we can find a solution that works for everyone." She went on to say, "The first step will be to meet with Mr. Colarusso." Joyner urged Andringa to submit comments to the Planning Board and keep them informed, because, as she said, "We are in the process of granting a conditional use permit to Colarusso. If there is anything that you think we should impose on them that helps with your project, please submit that to us." In making this statement, Joyner seemed to struggle to find the right words, but the fact that she settled on saying they were "in the process of granting" rather than "in the process of reviewing" seems telling.

COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK