'Tis a Puzzlement
We've been hearing a lot about alienation of waterfront land in the past year or so--in connection with the eviction of the Furgary Boat Club last summer and the sale of 4.4 waterfront acres to St. Lawrence Cement in 1981. New York State has laws, which have been in place for a hundred years, governing the use of publicly owned waterfront land, and these laws have led people to question over the years the appropriateness of leasing public dock space to a private entity for its exclusive use. Despite some people's misgivings, the City of Hudson continues to lease "the river facing dock located at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park" to Guy Falkenheimer of Hudson River Cruises, Inc.
The lease is specific about the permitted use of the space. (Click the image of the paragraph to enlarge it.)
What is permitted, according to the lease, is "one tour boat and one water taxi." The lease also specifies that the tenant "shall leave sufficient room on the dock for the docking of another large vessel." What the drafters of the lease probably had in mind with the latter specification were such things as visits from the replica Half Moon and the sloop Clearwater and Dutch Apple Cruise boats docking to pick up and discharge passengers. In recent days, however, "another large vessel" has appeared at the dock.
A little online research indicates that this third vessel is the Tahiti Queen, which lost its dock space in Peekskill. According to the Tahiti Queen website, the tour boat is owned by Hudson Valley River Boat Tours, but it is now docked in Hudson, displaying on its wheelhouse the same phone number that appears on the Spirit of Hudson and the Hudson-Athens Ferry.
The lease specifies that the tenant "must obtain the written permission of the landlord [that's the City of Hudson]" to moor another tour boat at the dock, but queried yesterday, Common Council president Don Moore told Gossips he had no clue about the boat and how it came to be there.
In a very similar case, the 1971 "Matter of Lake George Steamboat Co. [et al] v. [Mayor] Blais et al," the Supreme Court reversed its earlier judgement that the municipality "had no authority" to offer a lease of its dock to the tour boat company.
ReplyDeleteBut the appeal and reversal was couched in specific circumstances that don't apply in Hudson. One of those was apparently the decades-long leasing arrangement that the Village of Lake George had already enjoyed with the tour boat company.
Perhaps this explains the language in Resolution No. 3, September 20, 2011, which is the lease between Hudson's Common Council and the owner of the Spirit of Hudson.
The lease begins with an historical fabrication:
"Whereas, Hudson Cruises Inc., the operators of the Spirit of Hudson, has leased space at the Henry Hudson River Front Park since 2003; and,
"Whereas, the lease has expired and a new lease is necessary to allow them to continue to operate at the premises ..."
Untrue! but we must keep in mind that this lease was approved by the same Common Council which approved the LWRP and its ill-gotten environmental impact statement.
In fact, in 2003 Mayor Scalera took it upon himself to write a 5-year lease for his friend Guy Falkenheimer (or possibly his business associate?), without the council's knowledge.
For this reason the so-called "lease" was never valid, which is perhaps why it was not renewed by the same Mayor Scalera when the "lease" expired before the 2008 summer season.
Afterwards, Hudson Cruises Inc. would continue to operate at the city dock for another THREE SUMMERS with no lease, not even a fake one!
Then, in the autumn of 2011, the same idiotic Common Council that finalized the LWRP gave Falkenheimer his FIRST lease, retroactive as of June 2011.
The following law was already in the City of Hudson code in 2003, which explains that the mayor has no authority to enter into such contracts without the council's authorization.
"§C12-23 - Power to lease city property: The Common Council shall have exclusive power to lease to property belonging to the City, including the hall in the City Hall, so-called, the markets, wharves and piers of the City. ..."
The actual story is perfectly emblematic about how the City of Hudson continues to operate. Despite what residents like to tell themselves, I don't believe that very much has changed here.
I don't understand why people have a problem with this. The Spirit of Hudson adds value to our waterfront and it isn't keeping anything else from using that space. What would any of the complainers suggest that area be used for at this time?
ReplyDeleteLawfulness not too much of a concern?
DeleteIf the only ends we're able to see are good enough, then does it follow that the means we never see are probably good enough too?
That's the basic recipe for "boss rule," which I for one reject.
Any chance Spirit, CLC, Sloops, Parachute, Kites etc have made campaign contributions to any of these public “servants”? The City Council might want to brush up on the Morlan Act ASAP.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a few riverfront park users would like to be able to the see the river, the river traffic, wildlife, etc. without a boat(s) docked at the riverfront.
ReplyDeleteI recall a time when the NYS boat launch was a place where people could enjoy seeing the river, the lighthouse, mountains etc.
Park there now & enjoy the view of docked boats of various sizes, shapes, etc.
Is this what is to become of the peoples park or is it time to act like an Egyptian?
By adding more docks without adding more slips, the City just adds to congestion at waterfront. The docks are paid for with tax payer dollars and maintained with DPW labor. They should not be reserved for exclusive use by any special interest group, regardless of their campaign contributions.
ReplyDelete...this tub, talk about liability, had two busloads of Hasidic Jews on it the other night and almost tipped over docking when they all went to the port rail to watch the swabee. well this tub took in about fifteen hundred squid, i figure, for this one trip alone and they pay the city five hundred for that spot for the entire year while a hot dog cart license costs three hundred! i'll bet the merchants on Warren St. wish for rents like that or property taxes in a similar vein. to top it off they park their cars at the tub, on the grass, on our city park. i have watched WW II veterans walk to the boat but the crew is too lazy i guess.
DeleteI watched the Spirit tub come in the next night after the near-tipping incident. You should have heard Falkenheimer yelling at the singings Hasids over his intercom to get to both sides of the boat!
DeleteIt's a good question how the crew's self-chosen parking places next to the gazebo square with the Public Trust Doctrine. I think it's a straight-out violation.
Following is the state's rule book on the alienation of public and waterfront lands, but do you suppose a single alderman has cracked it?
http://nysparks.com/publications/documents/AlienationHandbook.pdf
They all wait to see what Roberts says, and that's good enough for them.
When the city offered the land for the Eleanor's pole shed, that cannot have been legal. I'm glad that the Eleanor-enthusiasts went elsewhere because, taken in context, they were probably being used.
Does City Hall really care?! Do the aldermen care?! Does the Common Council President care?! Roberts (well ...). Do any of them read anything or know ANYTHING?!
A pox on all of them!! They work for us; it's not the other way around.
Last week I noticed that Falkenheimer had moved his boat up to the very north end of the floating dock. For the first time in years (all documented), this would allow room for another like-sized boat, a requirement specified in his 2011 lease - his first valid lease.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this because I know the terms of his lease, and the fact that he has never honored them.
It was only when the Tahiti Queen showed up that the improved behavior made sense. Otherwise, he'd have continued taking up the whole dock. After all, the city is not watching. The Common Council doesn't care if residents are exploited, or at least they won't stand up to what's wrong.
Aldermen everywhere are nearly always motivated by their own interests first, and less so by their constituents whom they'd prefer would disappear.
The catalogue of Falkenheimer's law-breaking is long and getting longer, but the good old boys have always lived by their own rules. A timid council assures that nothing will change anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteAbout five years back, on a night like tonight, the 100 year old oak behind TC's shack went tan theta. If not for the forty-foot limb, forty feet up, TC's place would have been flattened...Within thirty minutes, chain saws were buzzing. By the time Ni Mo arrived, Captain Bobby's shredder was "screaming" limbs into smithereens.
When the sun came up the next day, a group began to gather at the water's edge, that would amaze the Amish. TC's roof was on by the end of the next day, tar paper waiting for shingles, and Captain T was dry.
Rugged Ron did the finish work in his own time, took a month or two but done without cost. "Put your money up and work for free". No labor cost and donated material.
The Spirit of Hudson, is not a boat. It's a place were men can neither be bought nor sold. The "Spirit" of Hudson is a free place to meet, and slip the water's edge.
1Riparian
That's a commonsensical way of looking and doing, really a disposition as old as the hills. It's a sense that ultimately but slowly evolved into our shared rights, including our riparian rights which came very early.
DeleteBut now it's time to get out of the way of the bureaucrats, cuz they've invented something even better that replaces all that.
It's easy. First you give up your traditions and rights, and then you learn to trust your betters.
Your betters are technicians, and they'll do it all: LWRP, GEIS, Zoning, BOA Program, Vision Plan, Truck Route ... and you don't have to do a damn thing because no one will ever ask your input.
Who can't understand the future in that? It's the New Freedom, and if you can't embrace it you'll have to be removed.
It's the same old characters; only the plot mutates.
I can't tell if we're living into "1984" or "The Invasion of the Bodysnatchers," but I recommend fighting it wherever one finds it.
Clear example of the Big 0's failed stimulus. Hundreds could use this municipal wharf. Instead the City restricts our precious eastern shore for private (commercial) use. How many "stimulus" dollars were spent on too few (subsidized) jobs?
ReplyDelete