At the informal Common Council meeting last night, Council president Margaret Morris provided an update on the sale of the Dunn building to Hudson Brewing Company. She said that the State of New York had rescinded $400,000 in grant meant for the redevelopment of the building, and Hudson Brewing was looking into other sources of funding to make up for that loss. She also said that Hudson Brewing and the City were working on a definition of "stabilization," since the contract of sale will include a stipulation that Hudson Brewing will be penalized if they fail to stabilize the building within twelve months of closing.
This morning, Gossips received the following statement from Mayor Joseph Ferris:
Earlier this month, my office unearthed a September 5, 2025, letter [attached and pasted below] the previous administration received from New York State Empire State Development (ESD). The letter informed the City that ESD had terminated the $431,640 in Restore NY funds designated for the Dunn Warehouse. This letter was sent before the City of Hudson issued the second Dunn Warehouse Request for Proposal.
Both RFP respondents included the Restore NY funds in their financing plans.
Over the past few weeks, my office was in frequent communication with State officials in an attempt to reverse the funds termination. When it became clear that was not possible, we worked closely with the Hudson Brewing team to investigate other government grant funding opportunities to cover the cost of stabilizing Dunn Warehouse.
While that effort was unsuccessful, Hudson Brewing is evaluating their options. My office remains committed to a future for Dunn Warehouse that brings this historic building to life and allows a local small business to continue to grow.
I am eager to work with Hudson Brewing and the Common Council moving forward to make this vision a reality.
The following is the letter from Empire State Development referenced above.
September 5, 2025
Mayor Kamal Johnson
City of Hudson
520 Warren Street
Hudson, NY 12534
Re: City of Hudson Dunn Building RESTORE IV, Project #127,483
Dear Mayor Johnson:
On February 13, 2017, City of Hudson Dunn Building RESTORE IV was awarded a $500,000 Restore NY–Round 4 funds for the project located at Broad and Water Streets. The grant was subsequently reduced to $431,640.
Since that time, numerous attempts have been made by Empire State Development staff to gather project information to develop and issue an Incentive Proposal that would identify the project scope, budget and schedule, and provide the terms and conditions of the award. To date, however, we have been unable to issue an Incentive proposal for your grant award. The failure to progress on project development over an extended period of time, lack of responsiveness to ESD requests for status or progress updates, and failure to update and submit a realistic and implementable timeframe for project completion has resulted in the termination of this grant.
ESD will terminate its commitment of $431,640 to fund the above-referenced project.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me at (518)270-1130. We wish you the best of luck in future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Michael Yevoli
Regional Director, Capital Region
There was also $1 million in DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) funding designated for the stabilization of the Dunn building that was redirected to the Hudson Housing Authority redevelopment project lest the City lose that money altogether.
COPYRIGHT 2026 CAROLE OSTERINK
QQ: When Mayor Ferris says his administration “unearthed” the letter, where exactly was it found (whose inbox, which physical office etc.), and who received it originally?
ReplyDeleteIt was addressed to Mayor Kamal's office, but did Kamal see it? Was it handled by a clerk or Mayoral Aide Weaver? Was it shared with Housing Justice Director Michelle Tullo, who oversaw the RFP?
It matters because the Kamal administration issued that RFP just twelve days later, and both bidders reportedly treated the dead grant as available.
Between the unauthorized Mill Street contract extension, the Dunn mess and the Bliss 2.0 review ahead, Hudson is proving to be a remarkably difficult place to build.
P.S. A throwback to the time Kamal still had not met Joe for the mayoral transition more than a month after the election, a handover so smooth it made the Times Union.
Talk about demolition by neglect ðŸ«
ReplyDeleteThis part of the ESD letter stands out: “lack of responsiveness to ESD requests for status or progress updates.”
ReplyDeleteThey should have tagged Mayor Johnson on Facebook. Easiest place to reach him.
The lack of management in City Hall -- across multiple administrations -- is just stunning. To my mind, in my experience, it is unheard of for correspondence not to be stamped "received" with a date and time included, with a distribution list attached by whomever opened and routed the mail. It worked this way in the NYS Assembly offices I staffed in; at the Office of Management and Budget; at Columbia University when I was running a think tank at the Graduate School of Business, at every private company I've worked at or run, and in my own offices. It's basic management to be able to say when something arrived, who received and who did what with it. This is especially true in a public office.
ReplyDeleteKamal will never stop being the "gift that keeps giving" when it comes to negative externalities of his time in City Hall. The man was, and likely still is, incapable of accomplishing anything, even basic paperwork management. Now, his fabulous incompetence has cost a local business an opportunity and the velocity required to do a deal. Nice job, Kamal, you must be very proud of your tenure as our mayor -- you blew up our budget, mired us in needless litigation, destroyed public trust in the mayor's office and you did it all while giving yourself massive pay raises. Brilliant.
Incredible. Whenever I think I've seen it all, I quickly get a reminder that I haven't.
ReplyDeleteSo Kamal is sent a letter stating the termination of a grant, he eats it instead of telling Tom about it a couple of weeks before an RFP still containing the terminated grant money is put out? To note, the committee later created to review the incoming proposals would contain Kamal as one of its members.
Are we to assume that Kamal never saw the letter or is it more likely that he did but forgot about it?
This only tells me that the mayor has not contacted ESD in almost 7 months. Something he should have done on day 1 like many other things. In my many conversations with ESD one where a million dollars was moved from one project to bliss they stated that the restore grant would remain. You can’t unearth something when you literally are the keeper of the files. You should be able to show a timeline of them reaching out and me not responding. ESD made a mistake and to save face they told Joe to blame me and like the little sweat ball that he is he did. As far as public trust goes the public just voted me as runner up for the best public official and I’m not even in office. Union Jack don’t you work in a school district? That’s all I'm a say about that.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the tunnel scene from the Blues Brothers ("There was a hurricane, I ran out of gas, the rain caused a flood -- it's not my fault!").
DeleteIt's both your faults: yours for not managing at all; his for not following up since he took office. You can't elevate your failure to an accomplishment by pointing to your successor's failure.
But you were on the committee that evaluated the proposals at a time when that grant had already been revoked, no?
DeleteI fail to see how your response speaks to that. The issue is not Joe discovering a letter that he didn't know existed but rather you receiving said letter and telling no one.
We updated the RFP and removed the one million that went to Bliss. I would have just removed both grants if I knew. Everything decision I made as mayor I always stood on whether people agreed or not.
DeleteI love how everyone is quick to assume the previous administration received the letter yet turn a blind eye to the current administration NEVER being present in the office aside from the well-advertised "office hours". Every single day Mayor Johnson had "office hours" because he was always there. Mayoral Aide Martin quite boldly and unabashedly does not come to the office at all any longer whilst proudly walking her dog during the workday throughout our lovely "Friendly City." Who do they have to answer to? Nobody. Absolute power corrupts absolutely- Joseph Conrad. You may not care for the previous administration but we never took advantage of our positions. I welcome proof that the ESD notification was received and not acted upon. I'll wait....
ReplyDeleteAnyone implicitly or explicitly accused of wrong-doing has of course the right to defend themselves. But it has to be done in a way consistent and reconcilable with reality. What you are writing here is just bonkers.
DeleteJoe's statement which included the original email dated Sept 5th, 2025 is proof of its existence and delivery.
The subject of this blog post, and the amateur and immature comments that follow it, especially from the past administration, demonstrates why we need a professional city manager. The city’s fate can no longer be trusted in the hands of politicians who measure their success on things like getting second place in an online user-submitted “best of” poll ran by a dying newspaper that has a subscriber count that’s a tenth of the local meme accounts.
ReplyDeleteThis city faces major infrastructure and budget problems and we don’t have time for unserious people to point fingers and kick the can down the road. Time to hire a professional under a contract and be held accountable to their job and the people. Time for the circus to leave town.
It’s exhausting enough having a president who’s sassy and bitter on the internet, we don’t need it on the local level.
Tassilo-
ReplyDeleteBecause I respect you, I'll respond to you. The mere fact that a document is dated and marked sent does NOT mean it was received and ignored. The folks on here are smart enough to know that. We can tap dance around the absent current mayor and aide til the cows come home but it's the truth. Yes, perhaps this isn't the correct post to comment on it, but I figured I'd multi-task and cover a couple topics. We can also admonish the previous administration as childish and immature but allow and praise others who regularly curse, degrade, and belittle those with different mindsets. I'll say this: When people begin defending themselves, it is not from a place of aggression. It's from a place of having had enough. Again, I'll wait for the proof of the claims made that we received the ESD letter and did nothing....
Lord Acton, not Conrad, Justin.
DeleteRe: "Power tends to corrupt" Heart of Darkness was published roughly a decade after and echo the theme for sure. Mandatory reading in African high schools without $45k of funding per student per year.
A small slip, and we don't want to do the Michael B errata thing, but it is an awkward one in a comment that lectures on factfulness.
The real observation is Kamal against Kamal. At noon, he says the mayor is the "keeper of the files." At 1pm he says he "would have removed both grants if (he) knew."
Pick one.
Either way, a $400k grant notice reached City Hall and nobody acted.
That is not a Kamal problem or a Ferris problem.
It is the argument for a professional City Manager.
At what point do most NYS grant making organizations put Hudson on some sort "Enhanced Review" list for administrative and technical fouls.
It is not permanent, just ask MountCo, the HHA development partner who was on the real estate developer's equivalent for a while and then moved their business into Hudson Valley.
And no matter who dropped the ball, let's all attempt to work together to ameliorate the situation for Hudson Brewing Company, the rightful future occupants of the Dunn building.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm still no less bewildered about what happened here, in reference to your other response I'd like to say that criticism of the previous administration may not automatically be born in a place of aggression either.
DeleteWhat annoys me beyond words right now is that Hudson appears to be doing its utmost best to sabotage the sale of Dunn to the HBC. First it was the uncalled for intervention by the HDC (or rather portion of its board) and now this.
Not only do I think that HBC is one of Hudson's best run business, the people behind it are also my neighbors just a few houses down. When I heard about the plan, I was ecstatic. All I see now is it getting jeopardized through intent, incompetence, or carelessness.
I wholeheartedly 100% agree with everything you said here. I'm happy someone else sees this!
DeleteHCS-
ReplyDeleteHugo, you have proven how book smart you are and it has always been impressive. There are cracks in your intelligence, however. But that is what makes us all human. I quoted Heart of Darkness for a reason that resonates with me and in no way am I going to defend that quote. It was not, as you categorized, a small slip just because it was used in a way that you feel inappropriate or wrong. See, this is the problem. Your thinking has always had blinders. Very linear and unable to actually feel and put yourself in someone else's shoes. Regardless, you and I have always gotten along and I would hope neither of us would want to change one another because, from my perspective, it leads to more engaging conversations rather than underhanded digs at someone who you perhaps look at as either intellectually inferior or misinformed. But make no mistake...we all think you are brilliant and have a lot to offer our city. Again, as I am reiterating now for the third time, all I am asking for is proof that we received the ESD letter and did nothing about it. Simple as that. If that proof can be produced, then I will absolutely have egg on my face and own it. However, I'm not going to sit back and watch this forum jump to the conclusions that you are jumping to without any proof. It's not fair and it's not right. That's all.
Justin, a letter from a governmental agency that is dated and signed, timely as to its contents, is presumptively sent and promptly received (whatever that may mean). Let's not play "the check is in the mail and must have gotten lost" -- the PO delivers nearly everything entrusted to it. Where's the more likely friction? The PO that delivers mail for a living or the amateur government actors who are perhaps doing their best with what they have but are unmanaged?
DeleteAlso, regarding the prior administration's accessibility to its citizens, I'll remind you that it was your boss (along with his lap dog, Tom) who refused to meet with the charter change initiative which, by the way, gathered more valid signatures than Kamal did on his last nominating petitions. That's not accessibility; that's exclusivity. Imagine, a sitting mayor refusing to meet with a committee of his constituents who want to discuss a matter of public importance.
I will respond to you, John Friedman, because I also respect you. The key word you stated is "presumptively". As a lawyer, and a good one, you know that does not hold up in the court of law or in reality of what is or what is not. As for Mayor Johnson not wanting to meet with the initial Charter change folks, well, we all see how that played out. Part of being a mayor, which most people don't see, is paying attention to the people pushing agendas and narratives and being cognizant of the motivations and the behind the scenes antics that were all too prevalent. Coming from a group of folks so academically accomplished and self-described superior, you failed to meet a simple deadline. That speaks volumes about what other errors and missteps were taken by submitting a rushed, error-laden attempt at winning something that should have been a genuine, collaborative effort. You can stick to the narrative that Mayor Johnson was unwilling to collaborate, but I know the facts of the matter and anyone in his position would have decided it was a moot point when he did. Like Hugo, you are one of our city"s brilliant minds and I just hope at some point we can all work cohesively together instead of constantly trying to find ways to rip each other to shreds.
ReplyDelete