The Origin of the Language

The Hudson Development Corporation has honored Sam Pratt's FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request and released "records created between January 1st, 2017 and December 31st, 2017 which mention, discuss, originate from, or otherwise concern the A. Colarusso & Son company ('Colarusso')." Yesterday, Pratt made those documents available to a few people, Gossips among them. Exploring the documents provides insight into how such language as this made its way into Hudson's Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) application: "city officials and neighboring business owners support the expansion of Colarusso" (page 18); "Key improvements to be considered . . . reduction of truck traffic through residential areas of the BRIDGE District by re-routing Colarusso trucks onto a widened two-way haul road at the City's south border" (page 47); "On any given fair weather Saturday, brides in their gowns might pose for photos at Basilica Hudson, while just outside gravel is delivered by truck from the Colarusso quarry to the deep water port across Front Street" (page 37). 

The DRI application was not made available to the public until after the award was announced on August 1, 2017. When it was released, Gossips learned that the application had been "totally rewritten" in the six days before it was submitted on June 14. In the records FOILed by Pratt, there's a particularly interesting thread of emails from June 6. It begins with an email sent at 8:55 a.m. by Mike Tucker of CEDC (Columbia Economic Development Corporation) to Sheena Salvino, copying the consultants involved in preparing the application, Kathleen Foley and Juhee Lee-Hartford, and Pat Gareau, whose role in the process is not entirely clear. In the email, Tucker makes this request: "In reaching out to Colarusso to get them on board, it would be very helpful to have a clear description of how we want to portray them in the application to get a sign off so they don't say after the fact that 'we never agreed to this'? If we have some idea of how we see them fitting in, perhaps we can draft some language for me to get them to agree to?" 

At 9:35 a.m., Salvino responds: "I agree that we should get their input and include their work in the application as it is a long lasting industry on the waterfront and we are making every effort to compromise--live & let live." 

At 9:38 a.m., Tucker replies: "Great--I want to be sure I have some direction so that I can find common ground that insures Colarusso is on board and that we haven't offended other constituencies in the process."

At 10:22 a.m., Kathleen Foley, the consultant credited with writing the grant application (see "The $10 Million Women," which appeared in The Highlands Current on August 19, 2017), shares her ideas for taking a "broad approach to the issue of Colarusso" in these bullet points:

• acknowledge the industry positively as a link to Hudson and the District's industrial heritage--it represents the working waterfront that once thrived up and down the river
• identify it as an example of healthy coexistence of uses
• point out the proactive steps that the city has taken, via code updates and permitting processes, to protect the industrial use and weave it into the growing multi-use area as well as mitigate impacts on the environment and public health
• refer to the ongoing work to build a collaborative relationship with Colarusso
• highlight the intention that the traffic and pedestrian rationalization of the southern end of our district will help to streamline the industrial transport as well as improve wayfinding and access for residents and visitors alike

Two days later, on June 8, at 5:05 p.m., Foley sends an email to Tucker and Salvino with the subject line "Advice on Colarusso." The email begins:

In my view, the "working city" elements of our application would work best if we can make reference to our existing heavy industry in the form of Colarusso. It is that operation that has the greatest impact on traffic flow, noise, particulates, etc. It's also the element that seemed to appeal heavily to the state reviewers on their site visit as a positive--active industry in an emerging arts zone.   

After acknowledging that "we are balancing a number of sensitive issues around the gravel mining" and listing those issues as she understands them, Foley concludes, "We have to capture this economic driver with a gentle grip." She then presents her bullet points again, in a somewhat enhanced way:

• Colarusso is a link to Hudson and the District's industrial heritage--it represents the working waterfront that once thrived up and down the river
• identify it as an example of healthy coexistence of uses in our district . . . gravel and galas meet in the BRIDGE district
• point out the proactive steps that the city has taken, via code updates and permitting processes, to protect the industrial use and weave it into the growing multi-use area and mitigate impacts on the environment and public health
• refer to the ongoing work of surrounding business owners and civic leaders to build a collaborative relationship with Colarusso
• highlight the intention that the traffic and pedestrian rationalization of the southern end of our district will help to streamline the industrial transport as well as improve wayfinding and access for residents and visitors alike

To echo an observation made by Pratt, the advice provided by a hired consultant disregards "twenty years of civic struggle, debate, and decision making." Still, in the interest of getting the $10 million, the advice was accepted and followed in the DRI application.

Sheena Salvino and Tiffany Martin Hamilton pose with Juhee Lee-Hartford (second from left) of River Architects, the firm that did the design renderings for the DRI application, and Kathleen Foley (far right), credited with writing the application

Given what we now know about the origin of the language, it's interesting to watch the evolution of one of my favorite paragraphs from the application, one that exemplifies the "gravel and galas," "healthy coexistence of uses," and "live and let live" rhetoric of the application, as it develops over the six days of review and revision. 

June 8

Hudson's BRIDGE District has the look and feel of the post-industrial cityscape that Millennials seek in neighborhoods like Brooklyn's Greenpoint and DUMBO . . . except in Hudson, "post" doesn't quite apply. Hudson is an authentic working city with a working waterfront. Yes, once shuttered industrial buildings are being transformed into performance and event venues or hotels as they are [in] Brooklyn, but in the BRIDGE District they stand alongside structures that continue in their lifetime manufacturing service. A healthy number of such properties are primed for creative redevelopment as mix-used [sic] spaces, supporting and expanding BRIDGE's diversifying economy.

June 12

Hudson's BRIDGE District has the look and feel of the post-industrial cityscape that Millennials seek in neighborhoods like Brookyn's Greenpoint and DUMBO . . . except in Hudson, "post" doesn't quite apply. Hudson is an authentic working city with a working waterfront. Yes, once-shuttered industrial buildings are being transformed into performance spaces, event venues and hotels as they are [in] Brooklyn, but in the BRIDGE District adaptively reused buildings stand alongside structures that continue in their lifetime manufacturing service. And they sit together comfortable in their contrast. On any given fair weather Saturday, brides in their gowns might pose for photos at Basilica Hudson, while just outside gravel is delivered by truck from the Colarusso quarry to the deep water port across Front Street. It goes back to that live and let live philosophy of BRIDGE.

June 14

Hudson's BRIDGE District has the look and feel of the post-industrial cityscape that Millennials seek in neighborhoods like Brooklyn's Greenpoint and DUMBO . . . except in Hudson, "post" doesn't quite apply. Hudson is an authentic working city with a working waterfront. Yes, once-shuttered industrial buildings are being transformed into performance spaces, event venues and hotels as they are [in] Brooklyn, but in the BRIDGE District adaptively reused buildings stand alongside structures that continue their lifetime manufacturing service. And they sit together comfortable in their contrast. On any given fair weather Saturday, brides in their gowns might pose for photos at Basilica Hudson, while just outside gravel is delivered by truck from the Colarusso quarry to the deep water port across Front Street. It goes back to that live and let live philosophy of BRIDGE. This dynamic environment doesn't just appeal to Millenials [sic], of course--older second homeowners and visitors love the aesthetic and feel as well.

The June 14 version is what ended up in the final document. The word in, needed before Brooklyn in the third sentence, never got inserted. In the final version, millennials does not begin with capital letter the first time it appears, but it is still capitalized in the last sentence, added in the final version, where it is also misspelled.

Addendum: Sam Pratt just informed me that any member of the public who wants access to the documents can contact him: sampratt@mac.com.

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