Once upon a time, the space off Prison Alley, behind 540 Warren Street, was treated as if it were a pocket park, one of the several created during Urban Renewal. The picture below, taken in 2013, shows a hedge, a bit of grass, and a segment of wrought iron fence, a remnant of fence savaged from someplace in Hudson. Although it's not shown in the picture, there was also a bench.
As more evidence that this was a park, back in 1999, when the Common City decided to ban dogs from all city parks, a "No Dogs Allowed" sign was posted in this space.
Today, however, the bench is gone, the remnant of wrought iron fence is gone, the wooden fence separating the park from the yard behind the building is gone, and it appears that now the park does nothing more than give access to a parking space.
Update: A reader provided some information about this space behind 540 Warren Street. It appears on the 1911 Sanborn map as part of the parcel that includes the passage from Warren Street to Prison Alley. On the map, it is identified as 540½ Warren Street.
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ReplyDeleteThe city needs to assert itself and either reclaim the parcel or offer to sell it off to the owner of 540.
ReplyDeleteEntirely true, UJ. Don't expect a sale anytime soon, though.
ReplyDeleteThe electric boxes (or at least one) on the right in the picture, I believe, control the lights in the city parking lot across the alley. I recently saw a DPW worker inspecting the insides of one of the boxes.
Moreover, sadly and certainly of concern, the example of this "mall" is just part and parcel (!) of city hall's consistent neglect and lack of proper attention to city property and public spaces, and if this city is ever going to shake off its ugly, dysfunctional past and present to move into the 21st century, it needs to figure out how to put an end to this nonsense that only hurts us all in the long run. Just try and walk the red concrete walkway from Warren to the alley in this "mall" (public space) without falling on your chin over one of the many tripping hazards it has to offer, including wide cracks, holes from missing concrete, raised concrete slabs, not to mention the ugly, useless leaning tree ready to fall on someone or their child (or both). This neglect has been on display for years (same is true in the pocket park across Warren!). In any other small town with a bit of decent leadership and self respect, the walkway and park would have been completely redone years ago and never allowed to reach such a sad, insulting and dangerous condition in the first place. Is this walkway ever mentioned at council meetings by department heads or council members? No.
Do you think the mayor or the dpw superintendent cares what that well traveled and important walkway looks like or how unsafe it is? Ha! Welcome to Hudson! If the people at City Hall, including council, can't get something as simple as this fixed, who will? Hint: Out with the mayor, in with a competent city manager with a pair of eyes who might actually WALK around to assess our situation!
Need another example of the malaise in City Hall? Walk to nearby 516 Columbia and gaze upon the lovely vacant lot often full of litter and with a very old and mostly dead tree in the middle ready to fall over in a gust. First, though, look at, and be careful of, the sidewalk there in front of this city owned property - it's the worst section on the entire block and one of the worst in the entire city! It's a vacant lot owned by the city for at least ten years that could be bought by someone to build a house on and actually live in, an idea the city apparently cannot get behind. Hmmm... The city has owned this property for how many years and the issue of getting rid of it never arises because...why?
Answer: Because our ship is not being steered properly and may just crash and sink someday due to inattention.
All this obvious lack of attention makes me wonder if city hall is paying enough attention to where and how our money is spent and if it is spent properly-- you know, who is making sure the ship isn't leaking too badly.
We all deserve so much more and so much better.
Thank you for this, Carole.
ReplyDeleteWhat an unbelievable of what the planning gap costs us : a park!
Hiding in plain sight.
I can't wait until Hudson finds itself with the capacity to invest in its public spaces.
In the long run, it might make sense for the city to simply shed this property. The so-called "park" was small, off-the beaten path and underutilized. So, perhaps the city should offer to sell the parcel to whoever is parking there.
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