Launching a Year of Celebration

This year--2026--marks the 2ooth anniversary of the birth of Frederic Church, To celebrate, The Olana Partnership is launching a special initiative, Frederic Church 200, to extend this important artist's legacy.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 14, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., you can learn about the conception of this project and what the coming year will entail during a webinar with Sean E. Sawyer, Washburn & Susan Oberwager President of The Olana Partnership, and Elizabeth Kornhauser, Consulting Senior Curator and Chair of the Church 200 Committee, moderated by Sylia Yount, Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in charge of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The presentation and conversation will highight Church's legacy as a national and global artist, with paintings in more than seventy public art museums across the United States and in Europe, and also at Olana. Join the discussion to learn more about how to get involved in the celebration and participate in exhibitions and programs celebrating this important artist's work and vision.

To register for the webinar, click here.

The More Things Change . . .

The Common Council held its organizational meeting tonight, at which it reviewed and adopted the rules of order for 2026. Perhaps the biggest change going forward is that Council meetings will be held later in the month than they have been for as long as anyone can remember. The regular monthly meeting will be held on the fourth Tuesday of the month instead of the third Tuesday, and the informal meeting will be held eight days prior to the regular meeting, which usually works out to be the third Monday of the month.

Council president Margaret Morris suggested that the time of the Council meetings might be changed back to 7:00 p.m., which up until 2022 had been the usual time for Council meetings. Morris polled the councilmembers, and the majority of them preferred 6:00 p.m. or had no preference. It appears the meeting time will remain 6:00 p.m., although toward the end of the meeting, Henry Haddad (First Ward), who had stated his preference for 7:00 p.m., argued that the decision about the meeting time should not be made based on what members of the Council wanted but rather on what the community preferred. He opined that meeting at 7:00 p.m. might better serve the community. 

The rules of order prescribe that, except in "unavoidable or unforeseen circumstances," all resolutions and proposed laws must be introduced at the informal meeting, and that every resolution or law must have at least one member of the Council as its sponsor, whose responsibility it is to present the legislation and explain its intent and the reason for its consideration. Having the informal meeting be the time for introducing new resolutions and legislation is what the informal meeting was intended for back in 2000 when the practice of having an informal meeting was initiated. 

In January 2021, Tom DePietro eliminated all standing committees in favor of having all department heads report to the full Council at the informal meeting. Morris is reversing that and bringing back standing committees, although not the same ones that existed before. Morris has designated five committees:

• Finance--Treasurer's office and economic development
• Safety--Police Department and Fire Department
• Services--Youth Department and Senior Center
• Code and Infrastructure--Code Enforcement Office and Department of Public Work
• Legal--most resolutions and all proposed laws will pass through this committee

Every councilmember is required to serve on at least one committee. Committee assignments have not yet been determined and will be announced at a later date.

The majority and minority leaders for this year and the next were announced. Dominic Merante (Fifth Ward), who previously served as minority leader, will now be the majority leader. (This is what can happen when all the councilmembers are of the same party.) Mohammed Rony (Second Ward) will be the minority leader. The duties of the majority and minority leaders are serving on the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA). 

The Council will meet on January 20 at 6:00 p.m. to vote on paying the bills and on some other matters. 

The recording of the meeting can now be viewed on YouTube by clicking here.

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News About 11 Warren Street

Alexandria Madero, who now represents the First Ward on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, shared the following information about the County's plans for 11 Warren Street. Readers will recall that Madero was a charter member of the 11 Warren Street Action Group. 

I recently met with Ray Jurkowski, County Commissioner of Public Works, who welcomes initial design suggestions from City of Hudson residents. Ideas can be sent to me at alexandria.madero@columbiacountyny.gov and I will forward them to him.

There will be a County Public Works Committee meeting on January 21 to propose a resolution to hire an exterior design consultant. While the public is welcome to attend, please note that there will be no discussion regarding design or scheduling at this time; the focus is solely on the resolution to hire the consultant.

Meeting Details:

January 21, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

County Public Works Committee Meeting

401 State Street--Committee Room

Once the committee approves the resolution, it will go to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote in February. After a consultant is hired, they will provide three schematic concept drawings for review and input at two public input sessions. The dates for completion of schematics and public input sessions are still to be determined, and I will share that information as soon as it becomes available.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Alexandria Madero

Supervisor, Hudson First Ward

An RFP (request for proposal) for a design consultant for 11 Warren Street was issued in September. Nothing is known about who responded to the RFP, how and by whom the responses were evaluated, or even if a decision has been made about who the design consultant will be. There may be some discussion of the proposals submitted in response to the RFP at the January 21 meeting, or it may be the case that the decision has already been made, and the committee will just be agreeing to something that is already a fait accompli. Time will tell.

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Protest in the Public Square

Yesterday, about 150 people gathered in Seventh Street Park to protest the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

Gossips was unable to attend the protest, but a reader provided these pictures.

The main speaker at the event was Malcolm Nance, who said something that resonated with my source and in turn with me. Nance asserted that Kristi Noem was chosen to head up the Department of Homeland Security because of her ability to be cruel. As my source reported, "Shooting her puppy is not a punchline; it's her job qualification to head a secret police force under Trump."

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Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

The holidays are definitely behind us, and the regular rhythm of meetings has resumed.

• On Monday, January 12, the Common Council holds its organizational meeting at 6:00 p.m. It is at this meeting that the Council adopts its rules of order for 2026 and the majority leader and minority leader are announced. Margaret Morris, the new Council president, has made known her intention to reinstate standing committees, so those committees and the councilmembers who will serve on each committee may also be announced. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.   

• On Tuesday, January 13, the Planning Board holds its first meeting of 2026 at 6:30 p.m. The agenda for the meeting suggests that this will be an organizational meeting, with opening remarks from the new chair, Ron Bogle, and brief statements about their background and perspective from each member of the Planning Board. The consultants--legal counsel and engineer--will also be introduced. The meeting will be in person only at City Hall, but it may also be livestreamed on YouTube.

Update: Gossips was informed this morning by Planning Board chair Ron Bogle that the Planning Board meeting on Tuesday and all Planning Board meetings going forward will be hybrid--taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 

• On Wednesday, January 14, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 9:30 a.m. Because the makeup of the IDA is primarily ex officio--mayor, Council majority leader and minority leader, Planning Board chair, city treasurer, city assessor--almost all of the members of the IDA will be different for 2026. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at 1 City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 

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Checking Up on HCSD

As Gossips has already reported, the Hudson City School District Board of Education has initiated the process of searching for a new superintendent. In the meantime, a reader sent the link to tables that show the percentage of students in Grades 3 through 8 in New York who scored proficient on statewide assessment tests in the 2024-2025 school year. The tests are administered in math and in ELA (English language arts--reading and writing). In the tables, school districts are listed in descending order, from highest scoring to lowest scoring.

• The table for math is thirty-six pages long, and you have to click through to page 35 to find HCSD. Of the 608 students who took the test, only 25 percent scored proficient in math.
• The table for ELA is forty-four pages long, and the results for HCSD appear on page 41. Of the 621 students who took the test, 31 percent scored proficient in ELA--reading and writing.

You can explore the tables for yourself by clicking here.

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New Year, New Council

On Monday, the Common Council holds its organizational meeting. At the meeting, the Council president proposes and the Council adopts its Rules of Order for the year. As a preview of the meeting, Trixie's List interviewed the new Council president, Margaret Morris. That interview can be found here. 

SHPO Weighs In on 14 & 16 North Fourth Street

On November 20, two days after it was acknowledged that 14 and 16 North Fourth Street were in a locally designated historic district and the proposal to demolish them needed to go before the Historic Preservation Commission, the project was submitted for comment to the State Office of Historic Preservation (SHPO). Yesterday, January 9, the comments from SHPO were received by the Planning Board. The following is quoted from the letter from SHPO:

We recognize that these buildings may not be readily adaptable to the proposed hotel use, although a version of what appears to be a workable conversion of both buildings is provided in the alternatives documentation. In accordance with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation, new or continued use should be compatible with the historic building and the new use should be deferential to the historic building and its character-defining features. Thus, although the proposed use may not be easily adaptable to the historic building it is the preservation of the building that is paramount when considering impacts to historic resources.

It is our opinion that the proposed demolition of the two State and National Register listed buildings is an adverse impact to historic resources. We recommend that alternatives continue to be considered to avoid adverse impacts resulting from the proposed demolition. . . .

The entire letter can be found here.

The Historic Preservation Commission, which is currently reviewing the proposal for 14 and 16 North Fourth Street, had scheduled a public hearing on the application to take place yesterday, Friday, January 9. At the request of the applicant, the public hearing was postponed, and a new date for the hearing has not been determined. At the HPC meeting yesterday, a member of the public who did not realize the hearing had been postponed spoke in opposition to the demolition.

The picture below, which dates from the end of the 19th century, shows the houses on the east side of North Fourth Street. The two Greek Revival houses in the foreground are being integrated into the Hudson Public Hotel. The two houses in question--14 and 16--appear just beyond the alley. 

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Whatever Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong

Murphy's Law seems to be in control of the city's efforts to update its parking system. Today, the signage explaining how to pay for onstreet parking began appearing in the blocks of Warren Street below Third, but, alas, the signs, which are attached to lamp posts, are positioned so high that it is impossible to scan the QR code or even to read the numbers and codes needed to make a payment.

Photo courtesy Rachel Careau

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Addendum: Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, took issue with the statement that it was impossible to scan the QR code because the signs were positioned too high. He offered this advice: "Just hold your phone up and 'zoom.'" He provided these photographs to demonstrate how it's done.

Gossips stands corrected.

The Superintendent Search

An adage familiar to many, often erroneously attributed to Albert Einstein, is this: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results." It came to mind on Wednesday when, at the Hudson City School District Board of Education meeting, it became known the HYA was been engaged to conduct the search for a new superintendent. HYA is the same search group that brought us Juliette Pennyman, who resigned abruptly and without explanation in August, after serving as HCSD superintendent for only two years.

The video of Wednesday's superintendent search workshop can be viewed here.

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Ear to the Ground

Gossips has learned that Craig Haigh, who has served as code enforcement officer since 2013, has submitted his resignation. 

In September, at the first budget workshop held by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, Haigh requested a 40 percent increase in his department's budget, which would bring it to $234,335. Part of that increase was a $10,000 raise in his salary. Haigh told the BEA, "If I were employed by the state, that would be my salary." He also indicated that he had applied for state jobs, and were he to be offered one, he would take it. The 2026 budget does not include the increases in the Code Enforcement Office budget that Haigh sought, and what he said might happen has happened.

In a city that takes pride in its historic architecture, Haigh is to be commended for his willingness to work with the Historic Preservation Commission. His approach to historic preservation and the HPC was a welcome change from the previous code enforcement officer, who never attended HPC meetings, issued demolition permits without certificates of appropriateness from the HPC, and allowed projects that significantly altered historic buildings to bypass the HPC altogether. In contrast, Haigh has faithfully attended HPC meetings and maintained a good working relationship with the HPC.

Phil Forman, who has chaired the HPC since 2017, said this of Haigh and his work with the commission:

Craig was my partner, friend, and mentor in making preservation a reality in Hudson. We worked together for ten years and hundreds of projects. We shared the conviction that problems are there to be solved and government is about service to the community. I will miss working with him but am grateful for the gift of having done so.

On a personal note, from The Gossips of Rivertown, Haigh was always responsive whenever I contacted him with concerns about activity in historic districts and questions about ongoing projects.  

Haigh said at the HPC meeting this morning that it was the goal to have a new code enforcement officer in place before he left in early February. 

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The Fate of Two Houses

Tomorrow's meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was supposed to include a public hearing on the proposed demolition of 14 and 16 North Fourth Street to make way for an annex to the Galvan Foundation's Hudson Public Hotel, at the corner of Fourth and Warren streets. Gossips learned this morning that, at the request of the applicant, the public hearing has been postponed. A new date for the hearing is still to be determined.

At the December 12 meeting of the HPC, when the proposal was presented, Walter Chatham, who represents Galvan on the hotel project, argued that Hudson is changing and replacing the two houses with buildings compatible in use and appearance with the proposed Hudson Public Hotel was good planning. At one point, Chatham lamented, "Nobody is looking at the city holistically."

Chatham also argued that the surroundings of the two houses were "a harsh urban environment to have a home in," noting, "The houses will be in a very busy place," with Helsinki behind them and Warren Street half a block away. The two houses have been vacant since Galvan took possession of them in 2023. When the houses were part of the Helsinki campus, they were used to house staff and visiting performers.

When the question was asked why the demolition of these houses and the construction of the annex buildings were not part of the original proposal presented to the HPC, it was noted that the original plan was to create additional hotel rooms in the houses, but that plan was abandoned because the challenge of converting a house into hotel rooms proved too great. HPC member Miranda Barry suggested the houses could be used as apartments for hotel staff.

HPC member Hugh Biber observed, "These are two viable historic homes in a historic district. I don't see how we just take them down. Taking them down would go against what we do here." He went on to say, "People come to this town because it represents every architectural movement. This goes against what we are trying to do here."

Chatham maintained they were "the wrong houses in the wrong place" and asserted, "It is an impediment to how our city could develop." He opined that "urban planning should be part of what the HPC does." He tried to discount the historic value of one of the houses by saying its design "has been repeated all over the city." He went on to suggest that, if the HPC denies a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition, the owner (Galvan) "can ignore the buildings until they are deteriorated, so they can argue they are beyond repair."

As stated at the beginning of this post, the public hearing on the demolition of these houses, which was supposed to happen at tomorrow's HPC meeting, has been postponed. When it will be rescheduled is not known. The HPC meeting takes place tomorrow, Friday, January 9, at 10:00 a.m., in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

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New Faces on the Planning Board

The Register-Star reports today that Ron Bogle and Peter Spear have been appointed to the Planning Board: "Hudson Mayor Ferris names two new members to city planning board." 

Bogle, who has impressive credentials--founder and CEO of the National Design Alliance, former president of the American Architectural Foundation and a managing partner in the Mayors' Institute of City Design--replaces Theresa Joyner as chair of the Planning Board. Bogle is the author of two opinion pieces published last year during the Planning Board's review of Colarusso's application for a conditional use permit for its dock operations: "The Cost of Getting It Wrong at the Hudson Waterfront" and "A Time to Listen, Not Dismiss."

Peter Spear, former mayoral candidate and founder of Future Hudson, has spoken for years about the "planning gap" that exists in Hudson. 

A third vacancy remains on the Planning Board, which, according to the article, Ferris expects to fill before the first Planning Board meeting of 2026, which takes place on Tuesday, January 13.

The Latest Information on Parking

This information has been published in any number of other places, but on the off chance that someone may have missed it, here it is again.

As the City of Hudson transitions from parking meters to a new street-parking payment offering, the Office of the Mayor and the Hudson Police Department would like to share the following updates:

• As of today [January 6], the installation of new parking signage is underway. More production delays have set us back a few days.
• To provide residents the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new system, on-street metered parking enforcement is suspended until Friday, January 16th.
• All of Warren Street is now paid parking, including the previously excluded blocks (Front Street to 3rd Street and 8th Street to the Prospect/Worth intersection).
• Other side streets that were previously metered remain subject to parking fees, payable via the new kiosk system or other payment methods on the signage.
• With paid parking now expanded and kiosks located only at municipal lots, we recommend you familiarize yourself with the location of the closest kiosk if you intend to pay with coins (those paying by card will be able to pay by phone/app from anywhere).
• Kiosks that have been installed are being programmed to pay for both municipal lots and on-street parking.
• A valid license plate number is required for all payment options.
• Meter heads will remain at handicap accessible spaces to ensure that individuals with disabilities continue to have multiple payment options.
• As a reminder, payment via the QR code and text-to-park will incur a $.39 per transaction convenience fee while ParkMobile includes a $.60 per transaction convenience fee.
• For those wishing to pay in cash at the kiosks, please note that quarters, half dollars, or dollar coins (no bills) are accepted.
• There are plans to add parking spaces to both the upper and lower sections of Warren Street, including handicap accessible spaces, in the spring.

If you have any questions, please email parkingbureau@cityofhudson.org or doreen.danforth@hudsonpoliceny.org. We appreciate the public's patience and understanding as these updates are implemented and will continue to provide information as it becomes available.

Meeting Meriting Attention

Tonight, Wednesday, January 7, the Hudson City School District Board of Education meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting, a Superintendent Search Workshop, takes place in the Senior High School library. The announcement of the meeting does not indicate that the meeting will be livestreamed, although school board meetings typically are. If it is livestreamed, it can be viewed here on YouTube.

Hudson Loses a Luminary

In the night between Sunday and Monday, Ellen Thurston passed away. She was 94.

When Ellen settled in Hudson in 1996, her life had already been one of brilliance and achievement, from starting out as an aspiring actress to working for NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts), but, as a friend said recently, she "found her voice" in Hudson. 

There was very little that happened in Hudson in the past thirty years that Ellen wasn't a part of. She served on the board of Friends of Hudson during the legendary battle against St. Lawrence Cement. She represented the Third Ward on the Common Council for six years (2006-2011) and on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors for four years (2012-2015). In 2016, soon after she retired from public office, the Hudson City Democratic Committee created the "Ellen Award," to recognize individuals and institutions in Hudson that contribute to the welfare of the city and make Hudson a better place. Ellen was its first recipient. In 2009, she planned and orchestrated Hudson's Quadricentennial observance, "Henry & Hudson: The Namesake Celebration." She was the originator and an organizer of the Mrs. Greenthumbs Day garden tours. For years, she published "Ellen's List," an exhaustively comprehensive list of events happening in and around Hudson. She even did the "Thursday Afternoon Show" on WGXC for a few years with Tom DePietro.

The Hudson Opera House was the cause dearest to Ellen's heart. She was a member of the Hudson Opera House Board of Directors, on and off, for more than twenty years. In 2022, she was named the first Director Emerita. On her 91st birthday, in 2022, the elevator at the Opera House, by then known as Hudson Hall, was dedicated to her in recognition of "her generous support and exceptional service."

Ellen's greatest passion and the contribution that brought joy to the greatest number of people was Winter Walk. Ellen took the reins as chief organizer of Winter Walk in 2001, when the event was in its fifth year, and for the next seventeen years she worked tirelessly for months each year conceptualizing new elements, persuading businesses to participate, lining up entertainers, curating vendors. Winter Walk in 2019, the first year Ellen did not organize the event, was dedicated to her, the "Queen of Winter Walk," for her enduring love and commitment to Hudson's favorite holiday tradition.

Ellen was one of Hudson's great treasures. Inventive, witty, generous, and kind, she was the very definition of indefatigable. Her circle of friends was wide, and she was loved and admired by all who knew her. It is impossible to gauge the impact for good Ellen had on Hudson, just as it is impossible to imagine the last thirty years in Hudson without her. Rest in peace, dear friend, as the community of Hudson mourns you and celebrates you.

A Tale of Two Houses

This pair of houses--210 and 212 State Street--was brought to my attention several weeks ago by a reader. According to the reader, who lives not far from these two houses, they have been abandoned and decaying for years.

The two houses, considered to be one property, appeared last year on the foreclosure list. The list indicates that $3,655 is owed in back taxes and penalties on the property. On the foreclosure list, the owner is identified as the City of Hudson. 

The assessment roll indicates that the City of Hudson took ownership of the buildings in 2006 from an entity called Good Samaritan Housing. It seems reasonable to think they were seized in a tax foreclosure proceeding. In the two decades since then, there have been a few tax foreclosure auctions, but these houses have never been included in such an auction.

An inquiry to city treasurer Heather Campbell yielded the following information. Campbell said the property's appearance on the original foreclosure list inspired her to do some sleuthing. It turns out the houses are not actually owned by the City. According to Campbell, the property was conveyed to Hudson Property Holding Corp in 2010. It was under Hudson Property Holding's name until 2024, when the assessor changed the owner on the assessment roll to the City of Hudson because the property transfer in 2010 was either not filed or not correctly filed. The last deed information the county has is from 2006, when the property was transferred to the City in foreclosure proceedings.

The current ownership of the property is unclear, but whoever the owner is, the two houses should not have been permitted to sit vacant and decaying for the past twenty years. In his inaugural speech on Saturday, Mayor Joe Ferris spoke of pursuing all means to increase the available housing in Hudson. It is hoped that providing some incentives to salvage vacant buildings such as 210-212 State Street and make them habitable dwellings again might be part of the plan. It has been demonstrated that it can be done. Here is one example.

66 North Third Street in 2012

66 North Third Street in 2018

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Ear to the Ground

Although it has not been officially announced, Gossips has confirmed that the new mayor's aide and ADA coordinator is none other than former mayor of Hudson (2016-2017) Tiffany Martin.

Photo: Shannon Greer | Facebook

Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

The only event in the coming week is the possibility of rain and hail on Friday, but, as 2026 gets off to a leisurely start here in Hudson, there are three meetings. (The new year really gets rolling next week, when the Common Council has its organizational meeting, with a new president and three new members, and the Planning Board holds its first meeting of 2026, with a new chair and two new members.) 

• On Tuesday, January 6, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6:00 p.m, The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• On Thursday, January 8, the Public Works Board meets at 5:30 p.m. Since the ADA coordinator is an ex officio member of the Public Works Board, and the role of ADA coordinator is typically held by the mayor's aide, this meeting may reveal whom our new mayor has chosen as his aide. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

Update: The Public Works Board meeting has been canceled.

• On Friday, January 9, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.  

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News of Parking in the New Year

As anyone who's been on Warren Street in the past few weeks knows, the heads of most of the parking meters have been removed. Since December, the month of free parking, is now over, the question is, "What next?" The question is addressed in the following communication from HPD Chief Mishanda Franklin.

As we begin the New Year, I would like to thank everyone for their support and understanding during my maternity leave. I am grateful for the dedication of the Hudson Police Department and the continued support of our community partners throughout the City of Hudson. I would like to welcome the new City Administration and look forward to continuing the collaborative work already underway to maintain Hudson’s safety and strength.

Improving communication with the public remains a priority. Beginning, Monday, January 5, 2026, a weekly incident and arrest log will be posted to the City Website. Please note that certain information will be removed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). We will also continue to use Facebook and the Hudson Hub to share pertinent information including events, press releases, parking restrictions and parking bureau updates. Additionally, I will be making a concerted effort to meet with local business owners and residents to listen to concerns.

PARKING BUREAU UPDATE:
As part of recent changes, most meter heads have been removed. A limited number remain in handicap accessible spaces to ensure individuals with disabilities continue to have multiple payment options. At this time, no additional kiosks will be installed on Warren Street. Our plan is to program all existing kiosks, except for the kiosk located at AMTRAK, to accept payment for both municipal lots and on-street parking. In the interest of transparency, we want to evaluate kiosk use before introducing additional recurring costs to the City.

Signage will be installed outlining payment options, including QR code payment, Text-to-Park, or ParkMobile (pay by phone). A photo of the signage [appears below] for reference. As a reminder, a valid license plate number is required for all payment options. Please note that payment methods using the QR code payment and Text-to-Park will incur a $.39 per transaction convenience fee while ParkMobile includes a $.60 per transaction convenience fee. Because ParkMobile is already an established and familiar payment option we chose to expand its availability throughout the City of Hudson.

Due to unforeseen production delays, signage is expected to be completed Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Although Police Commissioner’s Order 2025-09 expanded the metered parking area on Warren Street effective January 5, 2026, enforcement of this change will not take place until signage is installed. Parking Enforcement is anticipated to begin on Friday January 9, 2026. We encourage the public to use this time to familiarize themselves with the updated parking procedures and payment options.

On-street parking rates remain unchanged at this time; however, may be increasing in the near future as previously discussed. We are working with City Administration to ensure changes are fair, reasonable and considerate of the community. A town hall or public meeting is also being considered for public input.

If you wish to share your thoughts or concerns on parking-related matters, please email parkingbureau@cityofhudson.org or doreen.danforth@hudsonpoliceny.org.
We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as these updates are implemented and will continue to provide information as it becomes available.

And Hudson Has a New Mayor

The ceremonial swearing-in of Joe Ferris as mayor of Hudson took place this afternoon at Hudson Hall, before an audience that included, among many others, two former Hudson mayors (Rick Scalera and Tiffany Martin), Assemblymember Didi Barrett and Sam Hodge (who will be challenging Barrett in a primary next year), newly sworn-in Columbia County Sheriff Jackie Salvatore, and Hudson's new Common Council president Margaret Morris. 

Ferris took the oath of office, which was administered by Columbia County Court Judge Briand Herman, with his left hand raised and his right hand resting on a book held by SJ Williams, current chair of OutHudson.

In his inaugural speech, Ferris told those assembled, "I stand here not just as Hudson's new mayor but as our city's newest municipal employee." Later in his speech, he again referred to himself as the city's newest employee. Ferris spoke of his family's history of public service and stressed his commitment to being accessible to his constituents, scheduling regular town hall meetings in each of the city's five wards and, starting in February, holding open office hours at City Hall. He declared his administration would assure that "everyone feels heard." He quoted Cicero, in Latin and in English, prefacing it by explaining it was something his father had said in the New York State Assembly: "Salus populi suprema lex esto. The welfare of the people should be the supreme law." 

In terms of specific plans for the future, Ferris spoke of the Galvan Foundation's gift of Hudson property to Bard College, promising to work to ensure the transfer of millions of dollars in real estate would not have a harmful effect on the city. He also spoke of the "uncertain financial times" currently facing the city and asserted, "Taxpayers cannot bear more"--a particularly timely comment since most of the people present had just received their 2026 property tax bills, reflecting a 3.9 percent increase in city tax and the new $100 Sidewalk Improvement District (SID) fee.

Ferris spoke about housing and affordability and said he was eager to begin the work of updating the city's zoning code, a project for which the City recently received a $180,000 grant in the State's Regional Economic Development Council initiative. He talked about making changes to the zoning to allow the construction of "the housing we want." The only specific change he mentioned was allowing the construction of accessory dwelling units, a zoning amendment that has already been made. He spoke of the need for housing "at different price levels." He said he was ready to appoint three people to the Planning Board who shared his ideas about zoning and housing, but he did not identify who those three people were. The first Planning Board meeting of 2026 is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, so we will find out then, if not before then, who the new people on the Planning Board will be.

He concluded his speech by talking about intersections and safety, positing, "Everyone in Hudson has at least one intersection they will do everything to avoid." He shared his goal to make walkability in Hudson easier and safer.

The new year and the new administration begins in earnest at City Hall on Monday.

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Now, Then, and What Happened in Between?

The Register-Star reports that Joe Ferris took the oath of office this morning in a private ceremony at City Hall, witnessed by "a group of close friends": "Joseph M. Ferris sworn in as Hudson's new mayor." The only statement from Ferris quoted in the article is this:

It still hasn't quite sunk in. . . . It's the first day. It'll become more real as I'll start answering emails and phone calls and talking with constituents. It's exciting."

As Gossips pointed out earlier this week, we know very little about our new mayor's plans, aside from his intention to make his first priority improving the safety of ten intersections in the city. Earlier this week, we were also reminded that when Kamal Johnson started his first term in 2020, he had already announced his appointments to commissionerships, various regulatory boards, and the five-member "legal team" he had assembled. That team included a name that had not previously been heard in Hudson government and has not been heard since. The following is quoted from a Gossips post published on December 31, 2019: 

Daniel Arshack, who is a recognized criminal defense attorney, will serve as "Special Waterfront Counsel" and "lead attorney on updating the Hudson waterfront plan." Presumably that means the LWRP (Local Waterfront Revitalization Program).

This appointment raised the hope--however briefly--that there might be an effort finally to get Hudson's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program reviewed and approved by the Department of State. Hudson's history with its LWRP has been long and problematic. There are ninety-five communities in New York that have LWRPs, but Hudson is not one of them, despite more than twenty years of on-and-off trying. 

Hudson submitted its first LWRP to the Department of State for approval in 2004. Approval was not forthcoming. In 2005, a year after the document was submitted, Charlie Butterworth, then Superintendent of Public Works, who had led that first LWRP effort, received a twenty-two-page letter from the Department of State outlining the proposed LWRP's shortcomings and giving counsel on how to proceed. 

In 2006, work on a new LWRP commenced, with a committee led by Linda Mussmann and Cheryl Roberts, aided by the consulting firm BFJ Planning. That effort resulted, after five long years, during much of which work took place out of the public eye, in the LWRP we have today, a document that was adopted by the Common Council in November 2011 but was never approved by the Department of State. It should be pointed out it was never not approved either. Apparently, it was never actually submitted to the DOS. It is not entirely clear what happened, but this explanation seems most likely. A condition for approving the LWRP, imposed by the DOS, was that ownership of a nine-acre waterfront parcel just south of the dock--then owned by Holcim (formerly St. Lawrence Cement), now owned by Colarusso--be transferred to the City of Hudson. After the LWRP was adopted by the Common Council, Roberts, who was then city attorney, was negotiating with Holcim's attorneys in Switzerland to make the transfer happen. In February 2013, the Common Council passed a resolution authorizing the transfer, but two months later, in April 2013, the Common Council passed a resolution rescinding the earlier resolution because Holcim "has not agreed to enter into all necessary contracts in a timely manner." It turns out Holcim was, at the same time, negotiating with Colarusso for the sale of the property, and Colarusso wanted those nine acres for a staging area. Colarusso took ownership of the property in 2014. It seems likely the City postponed submitting the LWRP to the Department of State until the condition of the land transfer was met, and because the condition was never met, the LWRP was never submitted, and because the LWRP was never submitted, it was never approved. 

Given the announced appointment of a "special waterfront counsel" at the beginning of Johnson's tenure as mayor, it seemed the LWRP might be a focus of attention for the Johnson administration, but that has hardly been the case. Not only was there no initiative to revisit the document and update it for Department of State review, but also, during the Planning Board review of Colarruso's application for a conditional use permit for its dock operations, Johnson appointee Victoria Polidoro, legal counsel to the Planning Board, adamantly maintained that the LWRP was not legally binding, and the Planning Board granted a conditional use permit that ignores both the spirit and the goals of the LWRP. 

During the Johnson administration as well, a new comprehensive plan was created which gives very little attention to the waterfront. Any mention of the waterfront is relegated to sixth place in the plan's "Big Ideas": "Improve public, open, and "third spaces." Point 6.3 (there are only three) under this "Big Idea" is: "Continue making the Hudson waterfront a location for recreation, the arts, and connection between Hudson residents." In the section of the comprehensive plan labeled "Actions," this is found (on page 110):

The waterfront is central to the city's identity and should be used for connection, leisure, recreation, and supporting the arts. The City of Hudson and other community organizations should continue community-oriented programming that promotes residents' sense of belonging. The City should also encourage the creation of a civic space along the waterfront that can serve the community year-round.

Land use regulations should ensure that any future waterfront development aligns with these community priorities. For instance, industrial activities and high-density housing may not be suitable in this area. . . .

Ironically, the Common Council adopted the new comprehensive plan in October 2025, and a month later, in November 2025, the Planning Board granted Colarusso a conditional use of permit that allows intensified industrial activity at the waterfront.  

Two years is not a very long time, but it is enough time for Ferris to assemble a committee, one small enough and committed enough to be effective, for the purpose of updating the 2011 LWRP so it can be submitted to the Department of State for review. After more than twenty years, it is high time Hudson had a proper and properly ratified LWRP.

COPYRIGHT 2026 CAROLE OSTERINK