I'm surprised that our dear Mayor hasn't made an announcement yet about how satisfied he is with Galvan's progress and the bright future that lies ahead for all of Hudson, especially those of us living near the 2 proposed monstrous, ugly and out of scale buildings with 140 apartments and retail space and, of course, a serious lack of on and off-street parking. On little N. 7th street. Let's see how long it takes Galvan to finish this, and see how often and badly they and their contractors screw things up and change plans.
The quantifiable extra stormwater runoff going straight into Underhill Pond, thence to North Bay. Unfortunately in Hudson, nobody knows enough to care. Sad.
Not to mention the sewage overflow from the yet to be completed sewage separation - and the polluted run off from the parking lot that will need to be installed right above Oakdale Lake. It's the end of an era.
To be accurate, 100% of this project's runoff will flow into Underhill Pond, and none at all into Oakdale. The collection pipe runs through the small ravine south of the Oakdale parking lot straight to the lower pond which nobody cares about. Well, I do.
But the truth about Hudson's combined sewer overflows (CSO) is that our spills are negligible compared to every other municipality up and down the river that has a CSO system. (CSO incidents and their estimated volumes are reported in annual reports to the NYS DEC Division of Water.)
Rather, Hudson's sewer separation grant from HUD was largely a make-work project, one which circumvented - even through demonstrable fraud - a number of environmental review requirements which I believe would have contradicted this particular separation plan.
Among the reasons not to pursue the current and even more polluting 1940s-era project, Hudson already had a sensible separation plan from the 1980s which the DPW didn't wish to revisit. For the DPW to get the new HUD money, the simplest dumping plan for all north-side runoff into North Bay was low-hanging fruit. Not that the 1980s plan and its benefits/needs analysis was the best alternative, or even the only alternative. But the fact is that no alternatives at all, and no benefits/needs, were considered during the current project's SEQRA review. That "review" was a travesty.
Not to shift blame, but a fish rots from the head. Throughout the state local officials suppose that if Albany is corrupt then why shouldn't they cheat too? At the rotting tail, one can always find residents who argue for cheating too.
Ultimately, though, New York is Home Rule state, which means that it's on residents' heads to understand how their government works and when and how to say No. "We the People" and all that ... just not in sad, corrupt Hudson.
My sense, after 9 years here in Hudson, is that our City Hall is not paying proper attention to a lot of the important, sometimes small, stuff. It just can't figure out how to, or maybe doesn't want to. And City Hall prefers that the public not bother paying attention or asking questions and getting proper answers. There are plenty of commendable city employees, but they all work in a dysfunctional organization, it seems. Yes, even corrupt. B Huston
To my point about small but important details: Both the Villages of Chatham and Catskill clearly notify their residents and others ON THE MAIN PAGE of their websites that their village offices will be closed tomorrow for the holiday. Is there any such helpful, easily-found information on the City of Hudson website? No there is not. This lack of information simply says WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. A sign on the front door of City Hall is simply an inadequate amount of effort and a sure sign of the Mayor and others NOT BOTHERING TO PAY ATTENTION or just not understanding what the important and helpful details are, neither of which are excusable. Unfortunately, this is not unusual -- like the trash bag vending machine in front of City Hall, maintained by DPW, that has never had a sign on it. B Huston
bb - I think the residents of Hudson (residents, not AirBnB owners) don't care. No one shows up to meetings because nothing in Hudson is going to change. Yes, I know, that if they got involved maybe things would. But the level of apathy is pervasive. It always seems there is something that needs to get done and a lot of people get all worked up about it. Until the next thing comes. Years ago it was curb cuts, then sewage, then AirBnB's, then taxes, and on and on and what changed? Nothing. Hudson is really good about patting itself on the back when the City gets written up in some nonsense article about "The Best...", and celebrity chefs and celebrity musicians, etc. but at then of the day what changes?
They do care. It's just that most of the residents are guilt stricken liberals who are afraid to speak out. They worry that if they publicly denounce things like these "affordable" developments with tax giveaways, wasting our money on patronage jobs like "housing justice director," or demand parents and law enforcement hold bad kids accountable, they will be called racist gentrifying colonizers, or worse, Republicans. So they keep their comments to their circle of friends, or whine anonymously in the comment section of Gossips.
Organizations like Galvan are aware of this and that's why they back candidates and astroturf fake activist organizations under the guise of "social justice" or "common good." That way they can label all dissent as the things all good hearted democrats want to avoid.
Not a conservative, but thanks for proving my point. Some of us are tired of grifting being masked as altruism, especially in the support of billionaires
the us, not benefitting from his payola, have been tired for long over a decade. your prance here is turgid and merits the cloak you signal— behold my reactionary appraisal— from behind. the real malefactors are in plain sight, union jack, if you relish a look.
Someone please educate me... how much property does Galvan own in the City of Hudson? Percentage wise? That's your answer to why Galvan can get permission to build this without adequate parking.
Not sure? Just seems like Galvan would have "influence" in town because it owns so much property? I've always found it unsettling that Galvan owns so much property in town... but no one really talks about it much?
It's not fair to say no one talks about the acquisition of Hudson by Galvan. Gossips has talked about it a lot, although admittedly not so much recently because monitoring the activity is almost a full time job. But for a sense of things, take a look at these posts: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-acquisition-of-hudson-when-will-it.html https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-acquisition-of-hudson-first-ward.html https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-acquisition-of-hudson-third-ward.html Since these posts were published, Galvan has sold some properties, particularly on the south side of town, and acquired others. Maybe the time has come to inventory the Galvan holdings again.
Thank you for sharing those links. The last link was February 2018 and it is SHOCKING to see how much real estate Galvan owns. I've been visiting (or living) in Hudson for more than 30 years, and decades ago Hudson was notoriously a "corrupt" town. With this much real estate owned by Galvan, and the influence that Galvan has in this town, one can't help but think some leaders in Hudson are still corrupt? Galvan is afforded favors? Issues are overlooked?
Let's start with how many names they can be found under and what they are - at least 4, I think. My favorite being Community Homesteads or some such nonsense.
It's called Hudson Homesteads, and they are a number of buildings that were constructed by Housing Resources of Columbia County in the early 2000s. https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-great-pretenders.html Galvan acquired them when it took over Housing Resources in 2014. https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2014/06/stunning-news.html
I'm surprised that our dear Mayor hasn't made an announcement yet about how satisfied he is with Galvan's progress and the bright future that lies ahead for all of Hudson, especially those of us living near the 2 proposed monstrous, ugly and out of scale buildings with 140 apartments and retail space and, of course, a serious lack of on and off-street parking. On little N. 7th street.
ReplyDeleteLet's see how long it takes Galvan to finish this, and see how often and badly they and their contractors screw things up and change plans.
The quantifiable extra stormwater runoff going straight into Underhill Pond, thence to North Bay. Unfortunately in Hudson, nobody knows enough to care. Sad.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention the sewage overflow from the yet to be completed sewage separation - and the polluted run off from the parking lot that will need to be installed right above Oakdale Lake. It's the end of an era.
DeleteTo be accurate, 100% of this project's runoff will flow into Underhill Pond, and none at all into Oakdale. The collection pipe runs through the small ravine south of the Oakdale parking lot straight to the lower pond which nobody cares about. Well, I do.
DeleteBut the truth about Hudson's combined sewer overflows (CSO) is that our spills are negligible compared to every other municipality up and down the river that has a CSO system. (CSO incidents and their estimated volumes are reported in annual reports to the NYS DEC Division of Water.)
Rather, Hudson's sewer separation grant from HUD was largely a make-work project, one which circumvented - even through demonstrable fraud - a number of environmental review requirements which I believe would have contradicted this particular separation plan.
Among the reasons not to pursue the current and even more polluting 1940s-era project, Hudson already had a sensible separation plan from the 1980s which the DPW didn't wish to revisit. For the DPW to get the new HUD money, the simplest dumping plan for all north-side runoff into North Bay was low-hanging fruit. Not that the 1980s plan and its benefits/needs analysis was the best alternative, or even the only alternative. But the fact is that no alternatives at all, and no benefits/needs, were considered during the current project's SEQRA review. That "review" was a travesty.
Not to shift blame, but a fish rots from the head. Throughout the state local officials suppose that if Albany is corrupt then why shouldn't they cheat too? At the rotting tail, one can always find residents who argue for cheating too.
Ultimately, though, New York is Home Rule state, which means that it's on residents' heads to understand how their government works and when and how to say No. "We the People" and all that ... just not in sad, corrupt Hudson.
My sense, after 9 years here in Hudson, is that our City Hall is not paying proper attention to a lot of the important, sometimes small, stuff. It just can't figure out how to, or maybe doesn't want to. And City Hall prefers that the public not bother paying attention or asking questions and getting proper answers.
DeleteThere are plenty of commendable city employees, but they all work in a dysfunctional organization, it seems. Yes, even corrupt.
B Huston
To my point about small but important details: Both the Villages of Chatham and Catskill clearly notify their residents and others ON THE MAIN PAGE of their websites that their village offices will be closed tomorrow for the holiday. Is there any such helpful, easily-found information on the City of Hudson website? No there is not.
DeleteThis lack of information simply says WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. A sign on the front door of City Hall is simply an inadequate amount of effort and a sure sign of the Mayor and others NOT BOTHERING TO PAY ATTENTION or just not understanding what the important and helpful details are, neither of which are excusable. Unfortunately, this is not unusual -- like the trash bag vending machine in front of City Hall, maintained by DPW, that has never had a sign on it.
B Huston
Frightening !!
ReplyDeletebb - I think the residents of Hudson (residents, not AirBnB owners) don't care. No one shows up to meetings because nothing in Hudson is going to change. Yes, I know, that if they got involved maybe things would. But the level of apathy is pervasive. It always seems there is something that needs to get done and a lot of people get all worked up about it. Until the next thing comes. Years ago it was curb cuts, then sewage, then AirBnB's, then taxes, and on and on and what changed? Nothing. Hudson is really good about patting itself on the back when the City gets written up in some nonsense article about "The Best...", and celebrity chefs and celebrity musicians, etc. but at then of the day what changes?
ReplyDeleteThey do care. It's just that most of the residents are guilt stricken liberals who are afraid to speak out. They worry that if they publicly denounce things like these "affordable" developments with tax giveaways, wasting our money on patronage jobs like "housing justice director," or demand parents and law enforcement hold bad kids accountable, they will be called racist gentrifying colonizers, or worse, Republicans. So they keep their comments to their circle of friends, or whine anonymously in the comment section of Gossips.
DeleteOrganizations like Galvan are aware of this and that's why they back candidates and astroturf fake activist organizations under the guise of "social justice" or "common good." That way they can label all dissent as the things all good hearted democrats want to avoid.
wowser, On Blogger since October 2022.
Deleteunion jack, cribbing this drivel from the city journal?
Not a conservative, but thanks for proving my point. Some of us are tired of grifting being masked as altruism, especially in the support of billionaires
Deletethe us, not benefitting from his payola, have been tired for long over a decade. your prance here is turgid and merits the cloak you signal— behold my reactionary appraisal— from behind. the real malefactors are in plain sight, union jack, if you relish a look.
DeleteSomeone please educate me... how much property does Galvan own in the City of Hudson? Percentage wise? That's your answer to why Galvan can get permission to build this without adequate parking.
ReplyDeleteEducate me: how does the volume of property owned lead to a “pass?” Particularly when most of it is off the tax rolls?
DeleteNot sure? Just seems like Galvan would have "influence" in town because it owns so much property? I've always found it unsettling that Galvan owns so much property in town... but no one really talks about it much?
Deleteat minimum 76 parcels. here, https://columbia.sdgnys.com/viewlist.aspx?sort=owner&swis=1006&ownernamel=GALV
DeleteIt's not fair to say no one talks about the acquisition of Hudson by Galvan. Gossips has talked about it a lot, although admittedly not so much recently because monitoring the activity is almost a full time job. But for a sense of things, take a look at these posts:
Deletehttps://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-acquisition-of-hudson-when-will-it.html
https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-acquisition-of-hudson-first-ward.html
https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-acquisition-of-hudson-third-ward.html
Since these posts were published, Galvan has sold some properties, particularly on the south side of town, and acquired others. Maybe the time has come to inventory the Galvan holdings again.
Thank you for sharing those links. The last link was February 2018 and it is SHOCKING to see how much real estate Galvan owns. I've been visiting (or living) in Hudson for more than 30 years, and decades ago Hudson was notoriously a "corrupt" town. With this much real estate owned by Galvan, and the influence that Galvan has in this town, one can't help but think some leaders in Hudson are still corrupt? Galvan is afforded favors? Issues are overlooked?
DeleteLet's start with how many names they can be found under and what they are - at least 4, I think. My favorite being Community Homesteads or some such nonsense.
DeleteIt's called Hudson Homesteads, and they are a number of buildings that were constructed by Housing Resources of Columbia County in the early 2000s.
Deletehttps://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-great-pretenders.html
Galvan acquired them when it took over Housing Resources in 2014.
https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2014/06/stunning-news.html
DeleteWell, Tom, a former mayor became employed by Galvan after his term, and the current mayor has Galvan as his landlord, so draw your own conclusions