Without cuts, spending is expected to rise about 7.8% for the 2026-2027 school year, a figure that would require a large increase in school taxes and for the district to spend a significant amount of its unassigned fund balance--excess money that is supposed to serve as a rainy day fund.
But the situation is worse than that. Even if the school board were to approve a budget that would raise taxes by the maximum allowable amount this year--5.8%--and spend the maximum allowable amount of the unassigned fund balance, the district would be $2.58 short, or more than 4% of the total proposed budget of $63.1 million.
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| Photo: cityofhudsonyouth.org |
Greenagers, Inc., an education and conservation nonprofit, will be doing trail work in conjunction with local students at Oakdale Park from April 1 to April 10. A section of the forest loop trail will be temporarily closed on April 1 and April 2 due to tree work near the trail. Please observe any trail closure signs and exercise caution if you are in the woods during this period. As a reminder, all dogs must be kept on leash at all times in Oakdale Park.
Jenkins was a sea captain in Nantucket often traveling to London where he argued before the House of Lords for the rights of the colonists’ maritime trade activities.
Along with Alexander Coffin, He was instrumental in carrying important messages from France to the Founding Fathers. He also loaned money to the Continental government.
“The vessels of Nantucket … played an important part in the early days of the Revolution through being used as the medium of the conveyance of important letters to the Colonial authorities.” --The History of Nantucket, Alexander Starbuck
In spring 1783 Seth and his brother Thomas Jenkins purchased the Hudson River port of Claverack Landing on behalf of a group of proprietors. Along with other families, Seth returned in the fall with his wife Dinah, her mother Dinah Coffin Folger, and their four children, to begin the settlement. They lived on their boat while their house was built.
On May 14, 1784, the first meeting of the Proprietors was held in Seth’s house. He was on the committees that laid out the streets of the city and had the city incorporated by the state. He headed a project to build a bridge over the great hollow on Main Street. He was the first mayor of Hudson and served from 1785 until his death in 1793, whereupon his brother Thomas became mayor and then was followed by his son Robert.
Seth and Stephen Paddock began a sailmaking business, and Seth was involved in other businesses in Hudson.
In 1791 Thomas Jefferson and James Madison traveled in the Hudson Valley to examine its flora and fauna and meet with local political leaders. They breakfasted in Hudson with Seth Jenkins, who owned a large distillery, and tried to persuade him that wine from France was superior to molasses from the British West Indies in making spirits. Jefferson subsequently wrote to Jenkins about the matter. Jefferson’s object was to encourage trade with France rather than dependence on the British West Indies.
Jenkins answered his letter a couple of weeks later complaining that the low cost of wines might serve a good purpose if “that heavy Duty was out of the way,” which Jefferson was imposing! He also mentioned that he had carefully read Jefferson’s report on American cod and whale fisheries and found it quite thorough, then added that some whale fisheries in Nantucket will be moving to France, perhaps another jab at the American government for its policies regarding duties on American goods.
Years later President Jefferson would sign the Embargo Act of 1807 prohibiting American ships from trading in all foreign ports. This act was to force Britain and France to respect American neutrality during the Napoleonic Wars, but had a devastating effect on American trade. It was repealed two years later but by then it had destroyed Hudson’s whaling industry.
Hudson, 5 July 1791. Acknowledging Jefferson’s letter of 21 June about cost of “low Wines” in southern France, Jenkins states that if “that heavy Duty was out of the way,” they might serve a good purpose. But at present they “cannot answer for Distilling in this Country.”
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| East Gate |
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| West Gate |
Built during what the History of Columbia County, New York (1878) called the "era of turnpike roads," the Columbia Turnpike was meant to link New York farmers near the Massachusetts border with the Hudson River. The History goes on to state that the Dutch settlers in the area were originally against the construction of such a road, because they believed that if their grandfathers didn't need one, then they wouldn't either. It is thought, however, that New Englanders were able to assert their influence, and since there were settlers from out east in the town of Hudson, and New England was just past the Taghkanic Hills, "a turnpike-road between these two points was inevitable." The turnpike was chartered in 1799 and stretched through six towns, covering 20 miles, and it is stated that the first toll was taken in November of 1800.
Friends of East Gate announced today that reconstruction of the historic East Gate Toll House will enter a major new phase in early April, when the building's original early 19th-century timber frame will be mounted onto its newly completed foundation along NYS Route 23, just west of the Massachusetts border in Hillsdale.
Motorists traveling along Route 23 this spring will be able to witness the long-anticipated reassembly of one of few surviving tollhouses in New York State—a visible milestone in a preservation effort that began nearly a decade ago.
Friends of East Gate was established in 2016 with a mission to save the East Gate Toll House from collapse and restore it as a landmark of early American transportation history when the building was added to the National and New York State Registers of Historic Places. Since then, the structure has been carefully investigated, stabilized, and supported to prevent further deterioration.
Constructed following a 1799 act of the New York State Legislature, the East Gate Toll House served travelers on the Columbia Turnpike, a toll road organized by the founders of the City of Hudson—known as the Proprietors—that connected the Hudson River to the Berkshires. The East Gate was one of three tollhouses along the route.
Given the structure’s fragility, it was carefully dismantled to preserve its historic fabric. Its original timber frame and many salvageable materials were documented and safely stored for reuse. A new foundation was constructed in 2025—safely set back from the roadway—preparing the location for reconstruction.
The historic timber frame will be raised and secured onto the foundation by Babcock Timber Framing of Lanesborough, Massachusetts, marking the moment when the building will once again stand along the historic turnpike corridor.
Work will continue throughout the spring and summer to restore the exterior structure. Additional fundraising will be required to complete the building’s historic details and interior, ensuring that the tollhouse can serve the community as an educational and cultural resource.
“This is the year the East Gate Toll House gets back on its feet,” said James Wagman, chair of Friends of East Gate. “After years of planning, stabilization, fundraising, and careful preparation, the public will finally be able to see this historic structure rise again in the landscape where it stood for two centuries.”
The reconstruction represents a significant step in preserving regional history and the legacy of the Columbia Turnpike—one of the earliest transportation corridors linking local farms and industry to Hudson River markets—and restoring a rare surviving example of vernacular toll house architecture.
“Reconstruction is only the first step,” Wagman added. “We are now beginning the search for a responsible tenant—ideally a nonprofit or low-impact business—that will help sustain the building, support public interpretation of its history, and ensure its long-term vitality.”
The Hudson City Police Department has concluded its investigation, determining that the individual responsible was a cousin of Justin Weaver, who carried out the act as a prank.
According to an official statement, "As a follow-up to this matter, the suspect has been identified as an acquaintance of Mr. Weaver, and the act was intended as a practical joke. Consequently, the case is now closed."
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| Photo: Cole Wilson for the New York Times |
