Perseverance Has Its Rewards

The Planning Board meeting tonight went on for two and a half hours and included a presentation of the proposal to expand the FASNY Museum of Firefighting, a project that was granted its needed variances by the Zoning Board of Appeals last month; a public hearing on the proposal to situate storage units on the vacant lot at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Oakwood Boulevard, which a historic marker indicates is the site of Camp Kelly, where the 128th Regiment assembled during the Civil War; and a public hearing about Colarusso and their quest for a conditional use permit for their operations in Hudson--all of which I will report on in the fullness of time. But those who stuck around until the bitter end, as I did, learned about a brand-new proposal.

It seems that the owner of Chatham Printing & Copy Center has purchased Johnny's Ideal Printing--the business not the buildings--and plans to relocate the business to the ground floor of 25 North Fifth Street, a building owned by Galvan Asset Management.

At the end of a long evening, the Planning Board voted unanimously to waive a public hearing and grant site plan approval. What Gossips wanted to know was what was happening with the two buildings on Warren Street where Johnny's Ideal is now located. I asked Jason O'Toole, who, as the director of property management for Galvan, had presented the proposal to the Planning Board. He said didn't know. There wasn't a chance to ask the new owner of the business what he knew about the fate of the buildings, but whatever it may be, Gossips is prepared to assist in their restoration by directing the new owners to this image from the post card collection in the History Room of the Hudson Area Library. Those are the two Johnny's Ideal buildings at the lower left.

I shared this post card with someone recently and commented, "Too bad someone isn't wanting to restore them"--the Johnny's Ideal buildings. It may well be that someone soon will be wanting to do just that.
COPYRIGHT 2019 CAROLE OSTERINK