Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

It's the last week of October and the last week of daylight saving time. Before the darkness of November descends upon us, here is what's happening.

• On Monday, October 26, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) meets at 2:30 p.m. to continue its deliberation about the 2027 budget. At this workshop, the BEA will continue its review of projected revenue. The workshop is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
• At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 26, the Public Works Board holds its monthly meeting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 

• On Tuesday, October 27, the Common Council holds its regular monthly meeting. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m., but Gossips has been advised that the first thing on the agenda is an executive session, so the meeting will not actually begin for the public until 6:30 p.m. Among the items on the agenda are resolutions having to do with financing and grant administration for the redesign of the playground at Oakdale Lake, a project that is expected to cost $1.265,000. 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 28, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) meets at 2:30 p.m. At this meeting, the BEA will begin its overall review of the 2027 budget--projected revenues and expenditures. At last word, there was a $1.5 million gap between them. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 
• At 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) holds a special meeting to approve its 2027 budget, which must be submitted to the NYS Authorities Budget Office by October 31. 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 Friday, October 30, at 2:30 p.m., the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) continues its overall review of the 2027 budget--projected revenues and expenditures. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 

Saturday, October 31, is Halloween. This year, there are two ways to celebrate.

• From 12:00 to 3:30 p.m., Howl-O-Ween: Dog Costume Contest takes place at Upper Depot Brewing Company, 708 State Street. 

• Beginning at 2:00 p.m., Hudson Halloween happens on Warren Street. Here is the schedule of events:
• 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.--Trick or Treating on Warren Street
• 4:00 p.m.--Gather at Seventh Street Park for the parade
• 4:05 p.m.--The parade down Warren Street kicks off
• 4:30 p.m.--The parade ends at Hudson Hall with a Costume Contest

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Early Voting Starts Today

The polling place in Hudson is the new office of the Board of Elections at 11 Warren Street. The schedule for early voting is as follows.

• Saturday, October 24--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday, October 25--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Monday, October 26--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 27--Noon to 8:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 28--Noon to 8:00 p.m.
• Thursday, October 29--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Friday, October 30--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Saturday, October 31--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday, November 1--9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Photo: Lance Wheeler | Facebook

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, on which day the polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. In Hudson, Wards 1, 2, and 3 vote at the Board of Elections, 11 Warren Street; Wards 4 and 5 vote at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street.

Acknowledgment and Gratitude

An enthusiastic "Thank you" to Jonathan of Jonathan's Computer Repair & Sales, who got the Gossips laptop up and running again--soundlessly--this afternoon. 

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Tomorrow morning, the Historic Preservation Commission will deliberate on the application for a certificate of appropriateness for the buildings at the corner of Warren and North Fourth streets, reflecting the work already done in violation of the certificate of appropriateness granted by the HPC in 2023. 

At the public hearing on October 9, Matt McGhee delivered a statement about the work already done. The HPC postponed its deliberation to give themselves time to study and consider McGhee's critique. Gossips published McGhee's statement on October 11, but it is being published again with photographs provided today by McGhee that relate to his statement.

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 the 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 is also 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.

701 Warren Street

260 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-inch wide 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 as 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 the 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 701 Warren Street). This can and should follow the original historic evidence we have.

This 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 this fails to conform to the previous proposals.

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

The HPC meeting happens at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. 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. 

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Considering the Cemetery

Last Friday, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) reviewed the proposed budget for the cemetery. The budget for the cemetery is a perennial issue. As city treasurer Heather Campbell explained, "The cemetery is supposed to be self-funding, but it's not." That's due in part, because, as Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, explained, the perpetual care fund, which is supposed to ensure the maintenance of cemetery in perpetuity, suffered from some "bad investment" in the 1970s, a decade that saw a lot of bad decisions made in Hudson.

At the BEA meeting last Friday, Council president Margaret Morris asked, "Is there some way that we could scale back on the maintenance in the cemetery?" Perry's response was, "Absolutely." He went on to explain what had been done in the past, at the request of former mayor Kamal Johnson and former Council president Tom DePietro:

We took out the part-timers, and I said that means that the old section does not get mowed. And in third week of June, they were getting calls and emails because it looked like a sh**hole, with a foot and a half grass, that everybody uses for their dogs and their walking and their jogging. And they called immediately to hire somebody. Of course, we hire the people in April, so those guys were no longer available. We didn't get people on until July, and then it was a bushwhacking session. And I never had that discussion again.

Perry maintained that the old section of the cemetery--the part of the cemetery that has been determined to be National Register eligible--is a city park not a cemetery, and people expect it to be maintained as a park would be. He concluded, "The part-time portion of this [budget] is $80,000. That's the price of having a pristine cemetery that nobody complains about and everybody uses as a park."

Several years ago, the idea of using sheep or goats to keep the grass trimmed in the old section of the cemetery was suggested by Friends of the Hudson Cemetery. Gossips did a post about the idea in 2018: "Sheep May Safely Graze." Other cemeteries--one in New York City, one in Schenectady, and several in the UK--use sheep to tend the grass. Why couldn't it be done here? The steep slope of the old cemetery and the seemingly random placement of the headstones and monuments make mowing a challenge, but those things would not be a problem for sheep or goats. That idea was never seriously considered. Perry made reference to it on Friday when he told Morris, "At least you spared me the goat discussion again." 

When Perry spoke of the goat discussion, Campbell mentioned clover, referring to the idea being promoted by advocates for the cemetery, for the environment, and for a balanced city budget of replacing the grass in the old section of the cemetery with a low-growing, weed-resistant ground cover that does not require mowing. There are several possibilities, clover being one of them. The grass could be replaced with ground cover one section at a time over time, and different areas could possibly have different types of ground cover--clover in some places, creeping thyme in others, sweet woodruff somewhere else.  

Perry, however, dismissed the idea, saying that seeds from trees would drop into the clover and germinate, causing unwanted trees to sprout. When asked if that didn't happen with grass, too, he explained that the mowers chopped up the seeds.

Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, speaking about something else altogether, is reported to have said something that seems apt here: "The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery."  

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You Oughta Be in Pictures

Here's news for anyone who aspires to be in a movie. Thin Edge Films will be shooting next month in Hudson and Catskill, and they are looking for background extras of any physical type. Anyone who is interested should submit a photo, along with their height and weight and general size, to Lisa at thinedgefilms@gmail.com.

They are also looking for two stand-ins: a man and a woman who generally resemble the people in the photos below. The man should be about 6'1", and the female about 5'5". Those meeting the requirements should contact Lisa at thinedgefilms@gmail.com.

Announcement from Mayor's Office

The following announcement was received from the Mayor's Office. 

Through the Small Business Administration, eligible homeowners, renters, businesses, and private nonprofits may apply for physical damage loans to assist in recovery from the July 28-July 29, 2026, storms.

Eligible small businesses and private nonprofits may also seek an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) for disaster-related operating costs, even without property damage. The physical damage deadline is November 23; EIDL applications are due June 24, 2027.

Please click here and refer to the attached Fact Sheet for more information. If you have additional questions, please reach out to Patrick Gant of the US Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Recovery at patrick.gant@sba.gov.

The State of the City and Its Budget

At last night's informal Common Council meeting, Council president Margaret Morris referred members to the most recent Treasurer's Report, which can be found here. The specific information in the report Morris referenced is on page 2: the actual amount of the unassigned fund balance and what is recommended.  

The recommended minimum for unassigned funds is two months' operating expenditures, which for Hudson is $2,623,614. Calculating according to the requirements of New York State Comptroller's Office, Hudson's unassigned fund balance at the end of 2025 was $1,409, 849. Commenting on the situation, Morris said, "If that was being looked at by the comptroller, there's a very good likelihood that in next year's report of cities under stress, with those numbers, that we will be considered a city under stress."

Morris also told the Council that "in the first pass" of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment's review of the budget for 2027, there is a more than $1.5 million gap between projected revenues and requested expenditures. In the past, such budget gaps have been closed by taking money from the fund balance. It appears that won't be possible this time.

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Sidewalk News

The following statement was released today by City Hall.

Due to a materials delay, sidewalk replacement on the west side of N 5th Street between Warren Street and Prison Alley did not begin today. Work on that segment of sidewalk will be performed next Monday and Tuesday.

Both sides of N 5th Street between State Street and Long Alley are scheduled for replacement next Wednesday through Friday. Please heed the No Parking signs to allow the crew ample space for work and equipment, and to avoid ticketing/towing.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

A Statement from the Mayor

Mayor Joseph Ferris issued the following statement about the Planning Board's decision on Hudson Housing Authority's redevelopment plan:

Today's Planning Board vote is a win for both the residents of Bliss Towers and the city. Phase One of the redevelopment project ensures that not only will everyone who calls Bliss home be able to have safe, modern housing, it also means that every single one of them will be able to continue to call Hudson home. As a community, we are stronger when those who are at risk of being priced out can be sure that their housing is stable, affordable, and livable.

I also want to applaud the Planning Board for the work they've done on this application. Having watched every meeting and public hearing, it is clear they took a strong eye for what their responsibilities are as [a] Board to the application before them while ensuring the public had extensive opportunities to comment in person and in writing. They are a testament to what it means to be public servants.

Watch for Yourself

The video of this morning's Planning Board meeting is now on YouTube. It is a little more than 17 minutes long and can be viewed here.

Compatibility Is Not Design Excellence

This morning, at a meeting that started at 8:35 a.m., the Planning Board voted on a resolution granting site plan approval to Phase 1 of the Hudson Housing Authority's redevelopment plan. The resolution can be found here. 

Prior to the vote, Planning Board chair Ron Bogle invited each member of the Planning Board to comment on the project. Veronica Concra said the project as proposed was not perfect, but it was a huge improvement. Kali Michael said it was the best decision for the city and the residents. Peter Spear maintained, as we reported previously, the proposal was "unacceptably institutional." Gene Shetsky said the project was something "we as a city need." Nathan Woodhull opined, "We did a lot of work with the applicant to make the project better." Sara Black said she was "excited for the residents of Bliss to have a safe and dignified place to live."

Before calling for the vote, Bogle made a lengthy statement. What he said about the comprehensive plan and architectural compatibility is particularly interesting.

The comprehensive plan expresses our aspirations for Hudson's future. It isn't a zoning ordinance and doesn't establish the same specific, enforceable development requirements. Nevertheless, our zoning code expressly identifies conformity with the comprehensive plan as a criterion in site plan review.

One of the plan's important aspirations, and a topic that has been a central focus in our discussions, is to repair the harm caused by urban renewal. But the plan doesn't precisely define what constitutes repairing that harm or prescribe how it must be accomplished.

That leaves room for reasonable differences in interpretation, as we've seen firsthand in our deliberations. Some view replacing Bliss Towers with new housing as a significant step toward repairing that harm. Others believe the proposed buildings perpetuate too much of the character of the development they're intended to replace.

Both perspectives deserve consideration. The challenge for this board is that the comprehensive plan establishes broad goals without prescribing exactly how they must be achieved. Our responsibility is to determine whether the proposal is reasonably consistent with those goals, while also applying the more specific requirements of our zoning code. That requires judgment, and reasonable people may reach different conclusions.

Our zoning code requires us to consider whether the height, location, and design of the proposed buildings are compatible with the existing and historic character of the surrounding neighborhood.

Compatibility isn't the same thing as design excellence. . . .

Several characteristics of the proposed design are relevant to that judgment.

The buildings are substantially lower than Bliss Towers, although some are taller than the two- to three-story buildings characteristic of much of Hudson. The proposed brick, stone, and warmer colors reflect materials familiar throughout the city. The articulation of the façades creates a rhythm suggesting individual buildings rather than one uninterrupted wall.

Perhaps most importantly, the buildings establish a more direct relationship with the street and leave open the possibility of connecting First Street to State Street in Phase II. That's a significant departure from the urban renewal approach embodied by Bliss Towers.

These characteristics don't necessarily produce the level of architectural excellence I would wish for Hudson. But in my judgment, taken together, they provide a reasonable basis for finding that the proposed design satisfies the City's current compatibility standard. . .

Throughout this review, we've confronted an important distinction between our aspirations for Hudson and the regulatory standards that guide the City's development.

Today we aren't here to judge those standards. We're obligated to apply them fairly, consistently and with our best judgment.

Bogle's comments also touched upon the future of Bliss Towers, acknowledging that the Planning Board has not "identified a workable mechanism that guarantees demolition independently of Phase II" and the Planning Board's action on Phase I " will not, by itself, resolve the future of Bliss Towers." 

According to a timeline created by Mountco, HHA's development partner, if all things go as planned, construction of Phase 1 will not be completed until July 2029 and the demolition of Bliss Towers will not happen until December 2029.

 

As previously reported, the vote to grant site plan approval was 6 to 1, with only Peter Spear voting against it.

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Site Plan Approval Granted

This morning, the Planning Board voted 6 to 1 to grant site plan approval to the Hudson Housing Authority plan for redevelopment. Only Peter Spear voted no, maintaining, as he has all along, that what was proposed was "unacceptably institutional."