Saturday, January 15, 2022

What a Difference a Decade Makes

This afternoon, an inquiry from a reader sent me searching through old Gossips posts. In the quest, I stumbled upon a post published in August 2011 that linked to a Register-Star article written by a reporter who has long since moved on: "Galloway seeks to have impact on city." The article, which is recommended reading, is an interview with Eric Galloway and the late Henry van Ameringen, written soon after they, as Galvan Partners, had acquired 400 State Street and a few months before they announced the formation of their not-for-profit Galvan Initiatives Foundation. 


Galloway, speaking of the foundation, is quoted in the article as saying, "We know it is going to have the historic buildings or the social and architecturally significant buildings we will keep in perpetuity for the benefit of Hudson." The buildings he was talking about at the time were the birthplace of Hudson's most celebrated hero, General William Jenkins Worth; the Robert Taylor House, the oldest surviving house in Hudson, erroneously referred to in the article as "the Dutch house"; and 400 State Street, referred to in the article as "the library." 

In 2022, "in perpetuity" seems to have taken on a new meaning. The General Worth birthplace was sold last year for $1.025 million, the Robert Taylor House is suffering demolition by neglect, and Galvan is looking to relinquish the task of restoring and maintaining 400 State Street to the City and its taxpayers.
COPYRIGHT 2022 CAROLE OSTERINK

4 comments:

  1. Galloway has been, is and will always be full of shit. Before he ran his scam of an NFP, before he even came to Hudson, he was using his law degree (yeah, I know) to work a grift. I will find the case citation on Lexis and provide Gossips a link to it soon. It’s the genesis of his “NFP” business — wherein he attempts to strong-arm his client - a church - so he and his partners could steal their office building in Manhattan. It’s like a bad novel but one that set its sights on Hudson and, unlike his late husband, refuses to die.

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    1. Thanks, John. I did a post about the lawsuit you mention in 2012 https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2012/04/conceived-in-iniquity-and-born-in-sin.html, but with the general lack of institutional memory in Hudson, it is worth writing about again.

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  2. I don't know exactly when Galvan bought the Charles Alger house on Allen, nor when they started working on it, but it has been a couple of years at least. The Galvan sign on the facade reads WORK IN PROGRESS. I also don't know when they blocked the full length of the sidewalk with the netting for the scaffolding, but I haven't seen anyone working on the building in the past few weeks since my regular walks began taking me past there. I also haven't see any posted 2-week sidewalk permits from the city allowing them to block the sidewalk, which of course is a code violation worthy of City Hall ignoring. What I have seen Galvan busy building is their "brewery" at 7th and State, which they were granted permission to renovate much more recently than the Alger House. It's like having a child who won't clean up after themself, messes all over. But worse.
    B Huston

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  3. I read that entry from April 17, 2012 and the prescient comments also. So sad ! Yet there are people who tell themselves Galvan has good things to offer. Maybe but not if Hudson's City government doesn't negotiate responsibly. Their incompetence is astounding.

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