First and Union Streets

Gossips has received word that Eric Galloway has a new plan for the corner of First and Union streets, which is scheduled to come before the Historic Preservation Commission at their next meeting on Friday, March 11, at 10 a.m.

Back in 2006, Galloway's plan for this corner got fast-tracked through the HPC, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Planning Commission, with Rick Scalera--in one of the rare periods in the last two decades when he was not the mayor--acting as cheerleader, but the project was never pursued. The original plan, if memory serves, called for the construction of four townhouses--three facing Union and one facing First--and the rehabilitation of the surviving house on First at Cherry Alley. According to reports, the new plan still calls for four townhouses--two facing Union and two facing First--but involves the demolition of the surviving house. It seems that after five more years of abandonment and neglect, the house has been deemed beyond salvation by Galloway and his team.

Not everyone is happy about the idea of developing this lot. In recent years, stealth gardeners have taken over the care and keeping of the vacant lot and transformed it into a community garden and urban playground, where people from the neighborhood gather on summer nights to play badminton.

One has to wonder why Galloway, who owns so many buildings standing empty in Hudson, has chosen to move forward on this plan for new construction.