About the "Greenspace" Workshop

Believing what I reported, that the first presentation at the "Greenspace" Workshop at Bliss Towers yesterday was to begin at 4:30 p.m., I showed up at 4:20 p.m., only to discover the presentation was already underway, and I had missed most of it. I learned subsequently that the presentation began with a slide show of parks depicted in fine art (the first example was Claude Monet's The Parc Monceau) and transitioned into images of iconic public squares in European cities. Ultimately, architect Alex Gorlin got to a conceptual rendering of the green space being contemplated for the Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) project, which, if you look closely, yields some hints about what the complex of buildings being proposed might look like.

Curiously, the buildings in the rendering shown on the screen in the picture above resemble the current Bliss Towers more than they do any other building in Hudson.

There was a fairly good turnout for the first presentation, but only about half the people there were actually HHA tenants. The rest were elected officials, HHA commissioners, and interested residents from elsewhere in the city. The participants were given eighteen amenities that might be included in the proposed green space--a potpourri of options that, with a few exceptions, seemed familiar to those who have been through a few park planning exercises in recent years.

1. Toddler's Playground
2. Children's Playground
3. Slide & Playground with Topographic Change
4. Basketball Courts
5. Dog Park
6. Physical Fitness Area
7. Murals by Local Artists
8. Reflecting Ponds and Sailboats
9. Pickleball & Tetherball
10. Splash Park
11. Shade Pavilion
12. Chess & Checkers
13. Fragrance Garden
14. Vegetable Garden
15. Botanical Garden
16. Sledding
17. Pedestrian Street
18. Bicycle Lane

Those attending were given Post-Its and asked to write their preferences. People at the first presentation identified playgrounds for kids, a vegetable garden, a dog park (also described as "for kids," because "kids love dogs"), outdoor fitness equipment, and a shade pavilion or trees as things they would like to see included in the green space.

Regarding the buildings, rather than the heights varying between three and seven stories, all the buildings in Phase 1 and 2 of the project are now to be either four or five stories.

Although the plan for parking on the site is being described as "underground parking," it was explained that it would actually be "drive in," from the rear of the buildings labeled B1 and B2 in the drawing above. The grade level is lower there than at the front of the buildings, on State Street. The plan was originally for two levels of underground parking, but that has now been reduced to one. It seems NYS Homes and Community Renewal had suggested eliminating the underground parking altogether to reduce the cost of the project, but Eu Zambuto of Mountco said yesterday they were "fighting back for underground parking to preserve green space." 

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