At the July Common Council meeting, Alderman Robert Donahue (Fifth Ward) shared this opinion about South Bay: "It's a swamp, and it's always been a swamp!" That's not surprising coming from Donahue, who seems to be of the generation and mind-set of Art Koweek, who back in 1984 was quoted by Hudson Valley Magazine as saying of Hudson's waterfront, "It's an industrial area. Let them go out of town to get access to the river." What's surprising is that Alderman Geeta Cheddie (First Ward) seems to share Donahue's lack of vision about South Bay. Rumor has it that she recently told a constituent that she didn't understand why anyone cared about South Bay since it was just a swamp full of dead fish.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Just a Swamp?
At the July Common Council meeting, Alderman Robert Donahue (Fifth Ward) shared this opinion about South Bay: "It's a swamp, and it's always been a swamp!" That's not surprising coming from Donahue, who seems to be of the generation and mind-set of Art Koweek, who back in 1984 was quoted by Hudson Valley Magazine as saying of Hudson's waterfront, "It's an industrial area. Let them go out of town to get access to the river." What's surprising is that Alderman Geeta Cheddie (First Ward) seems to share Donahue's lack of vision about South Bay. Rumor has it that she recently told a constituent that she didn't understand why anyone cared about South Bay since it was just a swamp full of dead fish.
and our town will be a swamp full of dead stores if international corporate gravel mining gets their version of upper river valley prosperity - it's all just figures on the books in switzerland - vs - us local upstart peons - SO - who really cares about Hudson after all ?!?!?
ReplyDeleteCarole,
ReplyDeleteThank you for exposing Alderman Cheddie's hostility to any positive vision of the waterfront. Her allegiance to Linda Mussmann, the author of this flawed plan, is breathtaking in its myopia. If Linda is for it, Geeta is for it. Regardless of what the people want.
Victor Mendolia
Chair
Hudson City Democratic Committee
I hope Ms. Cheddie realizes she was elected (by a very slim margin) to represent her constituents in the First Ward - the majority of whom most definitely do not want Linda Mussman's plan for the waterfront. Ms. Cheddie, if you read this, I challenge you to do your job and represent our interests- not Linda Mussman's.
ReplyDeleteWhat Linda and Geeta *think* they're doing is somehow representing the working class people of color. What they don't realize is what a disservice they're doing by towing that falsehood around like a show pony. Not only are they insulting the potentials of that population, they're insulting the rest of us by purporting to have economic justice in their parade of bullshit. Linda will do anything to move the trucks away from her real estate investments, and Geeta will do anything to look like she's Fighting for the underprivileged. Will this grandstanding do anything but sell us out to multinationals who would rather use us as kindling if it saved them a buck? No. And TSL will still get big checks from the NYSCA to press play on the VCR and buy signs to keep Helsinki customers from parking in their lot.
ReplyDeleteA retail and commercial and recreational waterfront would be of so much more benefit to all the wards, including 2nd and 4th, and would create a great many more jobs than Holcim or O & G - as the Valley Alliance said 'one trucker, two truckers?' I see many more jobs in restaurants, shops, marine outlets, sporting outlets - it seems like a no brainer to me.
ReplyDeleteNo brainer, hardly how about all the jobs that could be created with a port that imports and exports abroad? Maybe that vacant plant nearby is as valuable as they believe it is.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous you must be tripping if you can in vision a port with imports and exports...pray tell what will we be exporting? The only thing worth setting out to sea now are the small minded lot of politicians that will be getting the boot come election time.
ReplyDeleteThe vacant plant with trees growing out of the roof ?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't look very valuable to me - or them - if this is their idea of 'valuable.'
Shipping the produce of Columbia County farms to New York City by way of the river would be a benefit to the farmers and the environment.
ReplyDelete