Saturday, May 22, 2021

Tenant Engagement Continues

The Hudson Housing Authority is planning to do something with its properties, but it is not clear what that will be. On Wednesday, Farzana Moshi of the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition presented the results of a survey conducted among current HHA tenants. There were 108 survey responses, and they indicated that the majority of respondents wanted a full rehab of Bliss Towers. 

The majority of the respondents also indicated that they would prefer staying in Hudson to relocating to another community.

Alderman Rebecca Wolff (First Ward), who sits on the HHA Board of Commissioners, questioned the survey results, saying the survey did not make it clear that there was the option of "taking down the tower and building new buildings." HHA commissioner Claire Cousin suggested there needed to be a face-to-face meeting with tenants "to find out if they really want a rehab and not demolition and new construction." She said a tenant had told her it wasn't clear what would happen if the building gets knocked down and asked rhetorically, "When you re-create an entire neighborhood, what's the process for the tenants?" 

Smith commented, "We're back to square one. The survey was supposed to tell us what the people want." Wolff similarly observed, "The major question that the survey was to give us the answer to is not here."

In the end, it was decided to have a facilitated meeting, patterned on the World Cafe model, during which, as Cousin described it, "We discuss how this could actually happen, and we tell people what we know." That meeting is to take place on Wednesday, May 26, at 6:00 p.m. in the community room at Bliss Towers.
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7 comments:

  1. j kayMay 22, 2021 at 6:56 PM

    Sounds like you do not like the answer you got, which was "rehab the buildings".

    People tend to like what there is, and want to stay with it.

    Your answer may not be better, even though you think it is. Why not accept the results to rehab the building ?

    and please stop rehashing it.

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  2. man bites dogMay 23, 2021 at 8:33 AM

    If bliss tower is rehabbed, then this diminishes Eric reason to build and rob the city of Taxes. Look at his mouthpieces and how they responded to the survey.

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  3. Signe AdamMay 23, 2021 at 9:07 AM

    People want to feel safe. Of course they want to have their living circumstances improved. Of course they don't want to be forced to relocate. Change, even for the better, is never easily accepted. If there is an alternative, it needs to be clear. People will choose rehab over demolition because it requires that no one will be forced to live "somewhere else" or "in limbo." It is risky to choose demolition because people need assurances that during reconstruction their needs will be met. Unless there is a clear reliable plan(which seems unlikely in Hudson!) rehab is the only reasonable choice.

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    Replies
    1. j kayMay 23, 2021 at 9:22 PM

      The City has had millions run through its fingers, but little has been spent on Bliss Towers.

      Most municipalities, those as large as New York City, behave in the same way. The politicos talk shelter, but rarely maintain or repair it.

      In New York, public housing has furnaces that are 40 years old and not working well, but the managers continue to stall repair and replacement.

      It is called "bureaucracy", always a poorly functioning group.

      Listen to those who want to rehab their building. Those are the ones you should care about.

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    2. Carole OsterinkMay 24, 2021 at 9:33 AM

      The Hudson Housing Authority is independent of City government. It is HUD (that is, Housing and Urban Development, a federal government agency) that was responsible to maintain and repair Bliss Towers, not the City of Hudson.

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    3. Signe AdamMay 25, 2021 at 7:47 AM

      Thank you for that clarification.

      Delete
  4. P. WinslowMay 23, 2021 at 9:21 PM

    Usually a landlord would not ask a tenant these kinds of questions. Isn't it up to the HHA to decide what to do with the place and if the building(s) are too decrepit, unmanageable and need to be demolished and replaced, does the HHA need the permission of the tenants to do that?

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