On Saturday, May 14, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., the public can learn about climate change adaptation and view the proposed redesign of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park.
In the initial December 2, 2021 announcement by Future Hudson and The Hudson Valley Collaborative (HVC) “Let’s talk about the Waterfront” there was no indication of who was funding the process and it stated that “The final outcome is a design that can be implemented by the City in the future.” By using the word “can” and not “would”, it seemed like it was another design exercise similar to the Hudson waterfront projects done by architecture students of the Pratt Institute and Columbia University in 2021. After attending the first meeting on December 11th I learned that the process was being funded by the state and would lead to a design which would very likely be built. When the City of Hudson issued a RFP in January of 2022 for the adaptive re-use of the Dunn Warehouse with images of a reimagined waterfront, I began to wonder if the City and the HVC were actually working together on the design process. Why not wait until the end of the design process to learn what the feedback was from the users of the waterfront and what the design recommendations for the park and warehouse were? Since December, the HVC has added nothing to their website and only two posts to their Instagram, one with a graphic of sea-level rise, and another one titled “LET’S TALK ABOUT THE WATERFRONT” (all caps this time) announcing another meeting at the park on May 14th. There was a presentation at the end of January or early February of 2022 by the HVC and their engineering partner, eDESIGN DYNAMICS. I did not find out about it until after it happened. There is no mention of the presentation on HVC’s website or Instagram. I did find four images from the presentation on Future Hudson’s Instagram. There was a presentation by HVC on April 21st at the Basilica. I found out about it the day before and was not able to attend. There is no mention of the presentation on HVC’s website or Instagram. The process has not been what I had hoped and the HVC needs spend some of their $125,000 fee to improve how they communicate with the public.
Remember a few years ago when the Columbia University group came in and wanted the community to "share ideas" to improve Oakdale Park? What became of the "community discussions" and "ideas" and the gathering and the report they put together? Absolutely nothing. What I remember most about the "community gathering" at the library was someone from Columbia U. in the background taking a lot of pictures of everyone talking and sharing ideas la de da. It's so tiring all this nonsense that goes nowhere, mostly coming from people and groups who DO NOT LIVE HERE, who claim to want to help us and have so much to offer in the form of empty talk.
For anyone interested in the work that the Friends of Oakdale Lake have been doing, I encourage you to take a look yourself.
The “Vision for Oakdale Lake” was done by the Hudson Valley Initiative of the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation. It was an effort to make professional urban planning & design available to upstate communities, while providing their students real world learning experiences.
It was led by Kaja Kuhl, who was the executive director of the HVI at the time. The HVI no longer exists, but Kaja continues her work upstate as the Hudson Valley Collaborative.
We are lucky to have access to her expertise and vision.
Because it was a volunteer effort, they organized the work around Eight Areas of Concern to make it easier for the volunteer effort to achieve small victories. Here are the Eight:
[The Future is Bright — Friends of Oakdale Lake](https://www.friendsofoakdalelake.com/the-future)
The claim that nothing has happened is false.
One of the Eight Areas of Concern was: “Murky Waters: Leaves and other debris create excess nutrients that feed algae bloom and sediment at lake bottom; Dumping and left over infrastructure (concrete and steel) create uncomfortable swimming conditions.”
Just last month, they announced the results of a two year survey of water quality, directly addressing this issue: [News — Friends of Oakdale Lake](https://www.friendsofoakdalelake.com/news)
In it’s application for funding for a new comprehensive planning process with the NYS Department of State’s Smart Growth Comprehensive Planning Grant Program, the City of Hudson explicitly references the “Vision for Oakdale Lake” work as “a successful model for public engagement, [that] also facilitated a planning process that was community-directed.”
I don't see the future of Oakdale being that bright, not with a huge apartment complex being built right next door, with hundreds of more cars adding to polluted run off into the lake.
Meanwhile, a firm based in Greenport wants to run a massive gravel dump and truck route immediately adjacent to the Henry Hudson Waterfront Park. Their application is in front of our Planning Board at the moment, and they project a 700% increase in volume of heavy truck traffic over present levels. And the company is claiming that a federal statue prevents ANY upper limit on their volume. We need a lot less energy and effort devoted to re-design of the waterfront, and a lot more directed at the elephant in the room.
So true, the same old talk going on and on for years, ignoring the reality. The elephant is dropping dung heaps in Hudson on a daily basis, and our residents and representatives have become like the clean up crew following them around with a bucket and shovel. How humiliating this situation has become.
Shouldn't the title be LET'S TALK SOME MORE and SOME MORE ABOUT THE WATERFRONT?
ReplyDeleteAnd make a date in the fall to TALK SOME MORE ABOUT WHAT WE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE WATERFRONT.
ReplyDeleteIn the initial December 2, 2021 announcement by Future Hudson and The Hudson Valley Collaborative (HVC) “Let’s talk about the Waterfront” there was no indication of who was funding the process and it stated that “The final outcome is a design that can be implemented by the City in the future.”
ReplyDeleteBy using the word “can” and not “would”, it seemed like it was another design exercise similar to the Hudson waterfront projects done by architecture students of the Pratt Institute and Columbia University in 2021.
After attending the first meeting on December 11th I learned that the process was being funded by the state and would lead to a design which would very likely be built.
When the City of Hudson issued a RFP in January of 2022 for the adaptive re-use of the Dunn Warehouse with images of a reimagined waterfront, I began to wonder if the City and the HVC were actually working together on the design process. Why not wait until the end of the design process to learn what the feedback was from the users of the waterfront and what the design recommendations for the park and warehouse were?
Since December, the HVC has added nothing to their website and only two posts to their Instagram, one with a graphic of sea-level rise, and another one titled “LET’S TALK ABOUT THE WATERFRONT” (all caps this time) announcing another meeting at the park on May 14th.
There was a presentation at the end of January or early February of 2022 by the HVC and their engineering partner, eDESIGN DYNAMICS. I did not find out about it until after it happened. There is no mention of the presentation on HVC’s website or Instagram. I did find four images from the presentation on Future Hudson’s Instagram.
There was a presentation by HVC on April 21st at the Basilica. I found out about it the day before and was not able to attend. There is no mention of the presentation on HVC’s website or Instagram.
The process has not been what I had hoped and the HVC needs spend some of their $125,000 fee to improve how they communicate with the public.
Remember a few years ago when the Columbia University group came in and wanted the community to "share ideas" to improve Oakdale Park? What became of the "community discussions" and "ideas" and the gathering and the report they put together? Absolutely nothing. What I remember most about the "community gathering" at the library was someone from Columbia U. in the background taking a lot of pictures of everyone talking and sharing ideas la de da. It's so tiring all this nonsense that goes nowhere, mostly coming from people and groups who DO NOT LIVE HERE, who claim to want to help us and have so much to offer in the form of empty talk.
Delete
DeleteFor anyone interested in the work that the Friends of Oakdale Lake have been doing, I encourage you to take a look yourself.
The “Vision for Oakdale Lake” was done by the Hudson Valley Initiative of the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation. It was an effort to make professional urban planning & design available to upstate communities, while providing their students real world learning experiences.
It was led by Kaja Kuhl, who was the executive director of the HVI at the time. The HVI no longer exists, but Kaja continues her work upstate as the Hudson Valley Collaborative.
We are lucky to have access to her expertise and vision.
Because it was a volunteer effort, they organized the work around Eight Areas of Concern to make it easier for the volunteer effort to achieve small victories. Here are the Eight:
[The Future is Bright — Friends of Oakdale Lake](https://www.friendsofoakdalelake.com/the-future)
The claim that nothing has happened is false.
One of the Eight Areas of Concern was:
“Murky Waters: Leaves and other debris create excess nutrients that feed algae bloom and sediment at lake bottom; Dumping and left over infrastructure (concrete and steel) create uncomfortable swimming conditions.”
Just last month, they announced the results of a two year survey of water quality, directly addressing this issue:
[News — Friends of Oakdale Lake](https://www.friendsofoakdalelake.com/news)
In it’s application for funding for a new comprehensive planning process with the NYS Department of State’s Smart Growth Comprehensive Planning Grant Program, the City of Hudson explicitly references the “Vision for Oakdale Lake” work as “a successful model for public engagement, [that] also facilitated a planning process that was community-directed.”
I don't see the future of Oakdale being that bright, not with a huge apartment complex being built right next door, with hundreds of more cars adding to polluted run off into the lake.
DeleteAnd a trail around the lake that at some points is so full of tree roots that it is dangerous to all and impassable to some.
DeleteMy first impressions after scrolling through HVC's meager website: It's worthless and the group is possibly some sort of scam.
DeleteMeanwhile, a firm based in Greenport wants to run a massive gravel dump and truck route immediately adjacent to the Henry Hudson Waterfront Park. Their application is in front of our Planning Board at the moment, and they project a 700% increase in volume of heavy truck traffic over present levels. And the company is claiming that a federal statue prevents ANY upper limit on their volume. We need a lot less energy and effort devoted to re-design of the waterfront, and a lot more directed at the elephant in the room.
ReplyDeleteSo true, the same old talk going on and on for years, ignoring the reality. The elephant is dropping dung heaps in Hudson on a daily basis, and our residents and representatives have become like the clean up crew following them around with a bucket and shovel. How humiliating this situation has become.
DeleteP. Winslow and Peter who mentioned it - Great analogy
Delete