Need a New Friend?

Now may be the perfect time to bring a companion animal into your life. The Columbia-Greene Humane Society shared this news today:

The Columbia-Greene Humane Society is pleased to announce a Free Adoption Event, starting Monday, October 19, and ending on Saturday, October 31. During this period, all cats, dogs, and small animals will be available for adoption at no cost.

This special event has been made possible through the generous support of Subaru, as part of its nationwide Subaru Loves Pets® initiative, which aims to support animal welfare organizations and help shelter pets find loving homes.

In preparation for the event, potential adopters are strongly encouraged to submit adoption applications in advance, as same-day approvals are not guaranteed. Early submission helps ensure a smoother process and allows more time for application review.

For more information about animals available for adoption, to submit an adoption application, or learn more about upcoming events, visit www.cghs.org or call (518) 828-6044.

CGHS/SPCA Animal Care Technicians Kim Wolfe (left) with adoptable kittens and Connie Corey (right) with adoptable dog Rubble 

Remembrance of Things Past

For those who remember 336 Warren Street as the VFW Hall . . .

The late Wilson "Harpie" Shea in front of 336 Warren Street in a 2001 ad for the New York Lottery, "If I Had a Million Dollars"

The last vestige of that time remaining on the exterior of the building--the front door--is soon to disappear.

At the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on Friday, the HPC granted a certificate of appropriateness for the removal of the front door, which probably dates from the time the building was the VFW Hall, and its replacement with something more in keeping with the building's new use as an art gallery.

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Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

In the week that starts out with a holiday--once known as Columbus Day, now known as Indigenous Peoples' Day--here is what's happening.

• On Tuesday, October 13, Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 2:00 p.m. The agenda for the meeting includes updates on Depot Lofts, Pocketbook Hudson, Crescent Building, Providence Hall/Schuyler Court preservation, and 620 Union Street. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at One City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

• At 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13, Mayor Joseph Ferris holds a public hearing on proposed amendments to the code regarding vacant buildings and the demolition of buildings and on increasing the penalties for parking violations. The hearing takes place in person only at City Hall.
• Also on Tuesday, October 13, the Planning Board meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting includes a public meeting on the proposal to construct three more three-unit buildings at Mount Ray Estates. Perhaps of greater interest is the discussion and deliberation on the Hudson Housing Authority's proposed redevelopment. The "final, organized application package" requested by Planning Board chair Ron Bogle at the special meeting on September 30 was submitted last Wednesday and can be found here. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

• On Wednesday, October 14, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) resumes its initial review of budget requests for 2027. The workshops are hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click on the department name in the schedule below to join remotely.
• 2:45 p.m.--Treasurer's Office
• 3:00 p.m.--Senior Center
• 3:15 p.m.--Police Department and Parking Bureau
• On Thursday, October 15, the Common Council Code and Infrastructure Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
• On Friday, October 16, the BEA continues its review of budget requests for 2027. The workshops are hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click on the department name in the list below to join remotely.
• 2:30 p.m.--Cemetery, Water and Sewer
• 3:30 p.m.--Sidewalk Improvement District

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Parking: A Reminder

Columbus Day, a.k.a. Indigenous Peoples' Day, is not one of the eight holidays on the eve of which alternate side of the street rules for overnight parking are suspended. Tonight cars should be parked on the even side of the street.

For reference, these are the eight holidays on which the overnight parking rules are suspended:

• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day
• New Year's Day
• Presidents' Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day

Sidewalk Replacement This Week

On Friday, the City issued the following announcement:

Sidewalk replacement on the west side of S 5th Street between Warren and Union streets will begin next week. To allow the crew ample room for work and equipment, and to avoid ticketing and towing, please heed the No Parking signs that have been placed. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

At this point, "will begin next week" probably means work will start on Tuesday.

Public Hearing on Hudson Public Hotel Project

On Friday, the Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing about the buildings at the corner of Warren and Fourth Streets, being renovated to become a hotel called the Hudson Public. A stop-work order has been in place since August for violations of the project's certificate of appropriateness. The HPC is now considering a new application for the project that reflects the work that has already been done.

Before the public hearing started, Walter Chatham, the project's advising architect, acknowledged they had failed to return to the HPC for approval of specific materials. He also spoke of the three pieces of original marble that, according to the certificate of appropriateness granted in 2023, were supposed to remain in place. He explained that one of the marble columns is still there, now encapsulated in new material. The other two pieces--a column and a lintel--have been preserved, and the intention is to use them somewhere in the building, as ornament, possibly in the bar.

The only person to speak at the public hearing was Matt McGhee, who delivered a lengthy critique of the building in its present state. His statement follows.

Thanks to the historic examples we have at hand to guide the outcome of restoring this importantly placed and widely visible building on Warren Street, 402 Warren St. can be as noble as it once was and a valuable asset for the people of Hudson.

The end wall (facing the alley) of the historic row houses has an installation of electrical feeds on the brickwork, destroying the former beauty of that wall. These feeds could have just as easily been placed on new alley building’s large blank wall. The original historic moldings on the roof end were replaced with plain squared-off lumber.

The three historic buildings should have period-appropriate 6-over-6 windows. The 2-over-2 windows in the new infill buildings should remain, in order to distinguish the new from the historic construction.

The historic houses on North 4th Street had a white coating at the attic level, down to and including the relief brick molding only. The area above the second floor windows was free of any coating and should remain so. Therefore the new, bright white pointing in that area needs to match the existing pointing. This also is the case for areas of the west facade of 402 Warren St. Two windows on the North 4th Street (west) side of 402 are missing their marble sills; it would be nice if they could be replaced.

The west facade at present does not conform with the original west elevation drawing as far as the corner treatment is concerned. It comes across as a heavy-handed interpretation of the west side of 701 Warren Street. The 260 Warren St. building’s east side would be a better prototype for the west side of 402 Warren Street.

There were three original marble pillars on the main facade of 402 Warren; two were removed from the doorway and one was covered over at the far right-hand (east) side, adjacent to the new building on Warren Street. These pillars were all 14 inches wide and made of hard marble. There are similar 14-inchwide pillars on two buildings in Hudson at 260 Warren and 701 Warren Street.

701 also has a doorway with an opening 3 feet 4 inches wide, with one surviving marble pillar. This is very similar to the original doorway (now removed) as shown on the granite arcade elevation drawing as having an opening of 3 feet 3¾ inches. The over-door transom original to the building, also shown in the drawing, has been eliminated; and the replacement doorway opening is 46.5 inches (3 feet 9.5 inches) wide. This interferes with the harmony of the four openings on the left of the doorway; in the granite arcade elevation drawing all of the openings on either side of the doorway are the same, at 5 feet each, and the outer pillars were 20 inches wide; the remaining pillars are 1 foot 2 inches (14 inches) wide. The newly proposed division of the marble lintel is too short and should be much longer, and the original marble molding across the top of the lintel should be replaced to be more like 402 was and as 701 Warren St. currently is. The removal of original historic material is very unfortunate and justly should be restored to match in appearance and size the transom, door, and paneled side walls of the recessed entryway with a stone flooring of white marble, which was in place, and like the doorway at 701 Warren. The marble pillars should be restored in size and type. The end pillar, now covered over, and the pillars from the door opening demonstrate that all the pillars were 14 inches wide (the same as 260 and 702 Warren Streets). This can and should follow the original historic evidence we have.

The old (2023?) south elevation drawing appears the same as the earlier granite elevation drawing and conforms to a greater degree to the historic examples we have to guide us in this endeavor. Yet what we see on Warren and North 4th Streets now has a lack of uniformity in the size and placement of the pillars and openings of the colonnades, historic and new, and thus fails to conform to the previous proposals.

There is none of the refinement of the historical, pre-modernist, understated interpretation of Classical design.  

When McGhee completed his statement, Phil Forman, who chairs the HPC, asked McGhee to submit his statement in writing so the HPC could deliberate on what he said before making a judgment about the project. McGhee agreed. It was also announced that the HPC would accept written comments on the project until its next meeting, which will take place on October 24. Written comments should be submitted to hpcclerk@cityofhudson.org.  

Charles Gottlieb, attorney for the Galvan Foundation, requested that the stop-work order be lifted for interior work, noting the installation of an elevator was in progress when the stop-work order was issued and citing the urgency of continuing the interior work. (It was earlier revealed thar Galvan hoped to open the hotel before the holidays.) Forman responded, "We are here because your team did not follow what was approved in the certificate of appropriateness." Nick Fox, director of code enforcement, agreed to review the case to see if the statute allowed for interior work to resume while the violations that had to do with the exterior remained unresolved.

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Progress at Charles Williams Park

Work on the connecting trails from the north end of Third Street to Charles Williams Park is underway. A reader sent these pictures of the status of the project yesterday.

Photo: Win Jackson

Photo: Win Jackson

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Happening This Weekend

A rare opportunity presents itself this weekend. Historic Hudson is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an open house at the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, Hudson's only National Historic Landmark. On Saturday, October 10, from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., you can visit this remarkable house, hidden on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility, and see for yourself this amazing elliptical staircase.

To RSVP for the event, contact information@historichudson.org. Enter the site at 53 Worth Avenue.

Also this weekend, on Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., it is Hudson Open Studios. This year's self-guided tour features fifty-one local artists opening their studios to the public, offering an intimate look at the vibrant and diverse creative community that thrives in Hudson.

Over the course of the weekend, you will have the opportunity to step inside working studios, meet artists in person, and experience a wide range of work, including painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, and more. In addition to open studios, local artists' work will be on display at the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, during Historic Hudson's open house at the architectural landmark. A map of the locations and participating artists is available here.

Inside the Northern Empire

Back in the day when it was easy to find a cheap apartment in Hudson, many of those apartments were located in buildings owned and managed by Phil Gellert, who called his real estate holdings in Columbia County "Northern Empire." Over the years, Gossips has done a few posts about Gellert's properties in Hudson. "Gellert Gallery" inventoried the twenty buildings he owned in Hudson in 2010. In 2016, in 2018, and again in 2023, Gossips revisited some of the Gellert properties that then had new owners.  

In 2023, it was announced that The Spark of Hudson had purchased what was described in the press as "the last of the properties" that made up Gellert's Northern Empire in Hudson. One of those properties was this one: 7-9 South Seventh Street.

Not long after its acquisition by The Spark of Hudson was announced, the building was back on the market. It was recently purchased by Billy Shannon, who was once a reporter for the Register-Star, for a time wrote a blog called Hudson River Zeitgeist, and now publishes what he calls Middle Sphere on Substack. Because the building used to be owned by Gellert, Shannon sought Gellert out to speak with him. Yesterday, Shannon published their conversation, which can be found here. It makes fascinating reading.

At one point in the conversation, Gellert makes reference to a building he owned on Allen Street, where there was a fire in May 2020.

Photo: Julie Metz

In his conversation with Shannon, Gellert says of the building:

We had a fire about maybe six years ago on Allen Street, and the building was completely renovated. It was a nice building. As I said, I had over 30 buildings in Hudson. This one was probably as nice as any building around.

Gellert's statement makes it sound like he was responsible for the renovation of the building. That is not true. He sold the fire-damaged building, and it was the new owners who salvaged it and restored it. The following pictures show the building when Gellert owned it, the building today, and the building in 2022 when its restoration was getting underway.

Back in 2011, Gellert ran afoul of the Historic Preservation Commission when he removed (and discarded) doors and sidelights from the entrances. Although the doors were probably not original to the house, which dates to 1835, they were at least a hundred years old, and sidelights may well have been original detail. The doors were replaced with mismatched metal doors, and the area around the doors filled in to make the smaller doors fit. This, of course, was done without a certificate of appropriateness from the HPC.

The HPC required him to replicate the doors and the sidelights as they had been.

Again, Shannon's "A conservation with Phil Gellert" makes interesting reading.

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Work Has Begun

Here is news for anyone who hasn't been down to Mill Street in the past few weeks. Work has begun on the trails connecting the north end of Third Street with Charles Williams Park.

The plan is for two trails: a direct one that involves stairs and a longer one with switchbacks. The paths of both trails are shown on this map: the direct route in purple; the switchback route in orange.

Constructing the trails is being carried out by the Columbia Land Conservancy in partnership with Tahawus Trails LP, a professional trail design and construction company, and is part of a larger project to restore Charles Williams Park and connect it with the Greenport Conservation Area and its network of trails. For more information about the project, click here.

Work on the trail is expected to be completed by mid-November.

House for Sale . . . Finally

Earlier this week, the City issued an invitation to bid on the house at 98 Paddock Place, which the City took possession of through foreclosure in 2017. Competitive bids for the property will be accepted until noon on Friday, October 30. The announcement that appears on the City of Hudson website follows.

The City of Hudson, New York, will conduct a sale of a surplus land and building as identified below by sealed bid pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the Instructions to Bidders on file with the Hudson City Clerk. Pursuant to the foregoing, sealed bid offers to purchase the subject land and building, collectively known as ‘the Property,’ will be accepted by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment [BEA] at Hudson City Hall, 520 Warren Street, Hudson NY 12534 until 12:00 pm on October 30, 2026. The bids will be opened and publicly read aloud at a special meeting of BEA after 12:00 pm on October 30, 2026, at City Hall, 520 Warren Street, Hudson, New York 12534.

The Property consists of one parcel of land with improvements thereon located at 98 Paddock Place, Hudson, New York 12534, bearing tax map number 110.6-2-30.  The minimum required bid is set at $211,929.90.

The BEA of the City of Hudson reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Any bid is subject to (1) the designation and approval of the BEA, (2) approval of the Common Council, and (3) subject to all applicable laws and regulations pertaining to disposition of property by a municipal entity. All property sold through the sealed bid process is sold “as-is, where-is” pursuant to the . . . [sic]. Prospective purchasers are urged to examine and investigate the property prior to bidding.

All bids must be submitted on the City of Hudson Bid Form and received by the Hudson City Clerk, 520 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12534, no later than 12:00 pm on October 30, 2026. Interested bidders may obtain the bid package at the Hudson City Clerk’s Office.

Transformations in Hudson

Over the years, we've seen the transformation of the exteriors of many buildings in Hudson. Below are a few examples.

Whether it's a dramatic rescue and restoration or a change of ownership and predilection, what we rarely get to see is how the interiors are transformed. An exception is 105 Warren Street, the exterior of which hasn't changed in close to twenty years. 

105 Warren Street in 2011--Photo: Historic Hudson

Recently, there was an article about 1o5 Warren Street in Upstate House: "The Gallery Next Door." The article includes several photographs of the interior of the house as it is today. It also includes this account of how the current owner, Elizabeth Moore, discovered the house: "In the summer of 2013, Moore's out-of-the-box way of seeing led her to a run-down Federal-style row house off the beaten path of Warren Street." Alas, that statement is not quite true.

In 2008, Rural Intelligence featured an article about the house: "Hudson: Revising History on Warren Street." The article is introduced in this way:

Hudson resident Belinda Breese relates the saga of her house, one of the town's earliest and among its proudest. Built in the late 18th century by a whaler from Providence, R.I., it later became a brothel; still later, welfare apartments. Now it has come full circle and resumed its rightful place as one of the jewels of Warren Street. 

The article, which recounts in some detail how Breese, with the help of talented artisans, delved into the shambles of the 200-year-old house, discovering "old moldings, fixtures, mantles, door frames, and window glass," and "turned a crack house into a gem." The article includes a number of photographs of the interior of the house after Breese had completed her restoration. 

Readers are encouraged to read both articles to gain insight into how the interiors of historic buildings can change and evolve.

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