Housing Issue in Philmont

This evening, Gossips received the following press release from the Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC), regarding an apartment building on Main Street in Philmont known as Richardson Hall. The building is/was owned by the Galvan Foundation and is presumably one of the properties in Columbia County being conveyed to Bard College. 

The Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC) is calling for immediate action after learning that Richardson Hall, a Galvan/Bard housing project in Philmont long known as senior housing, has been evacuated.

Residents, many of whom are seniors and people with disabilities, have now been placed at the Churchtown Firehouse. For years, residents have complained about conditions at Richardson Hall, just as many tenants across Columbia County have complained about having to rent from Galvan-controlled housing.

This crisis did not happen overnight. The evacuation of Richardson Hall raises serious questions about Galvan's responsibility, but it also raises questions about Columbia County's role, oversight, and absence when it comes to housing.

"Residents should not have to wait until a building is evacuated before their complaints are taken seriously," said Shirle Cross, Co-Founder and Board Chair of HCHC. "These are seniors and people with disabilities. They deserved safe, stable, accessible housing long before they were forced into an emergency shelter situation."

HCHC has attempted to reach out to Galvan regarding these concerns. We have also regularly asked our state partners to hold a public town hall meeting with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) so tenants and community members can speak directly about unsafe housing, tenant protections, housing discrimination, and the lack of accountability in Columbia County.

The evacuation of Richardson Hall shows exactly why that kind of public meeting is urgently needed.

"We need more than private conversations and closed-door decisions," said Shirle Cross. "Residents deserve answers. The public deserves answers. Galvan must be held accountable, and Columbia County must explain where it has been."

HCHC is calling on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, state officials, federal officils, and housing agencies to act immediately.

We are demanding:

• Safe and accessible temporary housing for all displaced Richardson Hall residents.
• A clear plan for permanent housing that does not further harm or displace residents.
• A public review of Galvan's role in the conditions at Richardson Hall.
• A public explanation from Columbia County about what oversight took place and what complaints were received.
• A review of the County's fair housing responsibilities, including the role of the Fair Housing Officer.
• A public town hall with NYS DHCR and state partners focused on unsafe housing, tenant protections, fair housing, and accountability.
• Protection for residents from retaliation for speaking out.

Columbia County cannot continue to be absent when it comes to housing, especially when seniors, people with disabilities, low-income tenants, and other vulnerable residents are the ones being harmed.

From an HCHC lens, housing is not just about buildings. Housing is about health, safety, dignity, civil rights, and whether people can remain in their communities without being ignored or pushed aside.

"The County must stop acting like housing is someone else's problem," said Shirle Cross. "When seniors and people with disabilities end up in a firehouse because their building has been evacuated, that is not only a landlord problem. That is a public failure."

HCHC stands with the residents of Richardson Hall and calls for immediate action, public accountability, and long-term housing solutions rooted in fairness, safety, and dignity.

The press release does not explain why the tenants were evacuated or what problems existed in the building prior to today, but given that we are in the middle of a heat wave, it's not unreasonable to suspect that a failure of the air-conditioning system necessitated moving the tenants to the Churchtown Firehouse.