As it turns out and was explained by Nick Zachos, who is a member of the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, the inability of anyone to access the HHA meeting on Zoom on Monday was not intentional in any way. However, the fact remains that the architects and the board have not been very forthcoming about the plans for the project. What we do know is they are proposing to extend First Street, which now only goes from Union Street to Columbia Street, north from Columbia to State, and to close State Street to vehicular traffic between Second Street and the new extension of First Street.
We also know that what is being proposed for the current HHA property--the site of Bliss Towers, Columbia Apartments, and the park and basketball courts on the north side of State Street--are buildings that will surround a landscaped courtyard with parking on the perimeter. What we don't know is what those buildings will look like. Since no one is sharing their ideas of what might be, we are left to speculate, based on clues we have been given.
Revonda Smith, who chairs the HHA Board of Commissioners, has repeatedly made reference to 280 North Pearl Street in Albany as a building that should be emulated here in Hudson. At the October meeting of HHA, Claire Cousin, also a member of the HHA Board of Commissioners, supported that notion. This is 280 North Pearl Street.
And then there are the architects, Alexander Gorlin Architects. According to an article found online, this firm has been designing affordable housing in New York City for two decades, but the only affordable housing project featured on their website seems to be this one, completed last year in the Bronx.
This is not to say that these designs will be imposed on Hudson. Rather it is an appeal to HHA and their architects to be more forthcoming about what it being planned for our city. In the absence of actual information, we can only imagine.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CAROLE OSTERINK
Bulgaria, 1962.
ReplyDeleteSo they respond to longstanding criticism of an eight-story tower in a park -- Bliss Towers -- by suggesting a seven-story tower in a park? What is wrong with these people?
ReplyDeletewithin city limits where real estate is scarce, the only way to accommodate the population is to build up.
DeleteNow is the time to get this right, to build something that Hudson residents can be proud of. As a native New Yorker, born in the Bronx, I know. Now is the time to come up with something aesthetically pleasing, functional, and admired by the residents of Hudson. This city made mistakes with its choices in the 60's and 70's, and we can't let that happen again. Make the planning process transparent. And let's make sure that the consultants used don't give us a cookie cutter design that was intended to work elsewhere, because Hudson is not "elsewhere." And let's hold our city leadership accountable for these rare opportunities, and learn from recent decisions like selling to "mall" at the bottom of Warren Street for County offices.
ReplyDelete