There is an article today in the New York Times about Hudson that isn't about our fair city as idyllic weekend escape. Instead it's about Bill Hughes and his effort to open a cannabis dispensary: "When the Weed Wars Came to Warren Street."
It is recommended reading, even though it contains a few inaccuracies and characterizes Gossips in this way:
The troubles of Hudson rarely escape The Gossips of Rivertown, a tireless if cranky blog that serves as a digital town square. It chronicles the most incremental zoning meetings like events of global magnitude. Reader comments flare like torpedoes.
Only in Hudson does the equity license go to the person with the most equity.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Hudson has sole proprietorship of the rich getting richer, but welcome to the revolution, comrade.
DeleteHa! Nothing wrong with people who work hard, take risks and innovate doing well.
DeleteAnd we already had the revolution, Michael. It was for individual rights, capitalism, and liberty in 1776.
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The more Hudson-specific sequel to this well written and deeply researched NYT story might be about the people who have discovered an even better business model: monetizing Albany grants and regulations while calling it “doing good.”
Exploiting minority business owners for social capital and gleefully violating state regulations; ain’t it grand.
DeleteTireless? Absolutely. Cranky? Never. Now, off to read the article!
ReplyDeleteI’m pleased that this article paints Gotham and its owner in the appropriate light.
ReplyDeleteGotham is a fine shop. So is Riverbend. So, for that matter, is Gold Leaf out on Fairview. But they’re businesses and the one thing anyone who has actually owned and run a successful business will tell you is how bloody hard it is to make money.
ReplyDeleteThat’s why Bill Hughes is having such a hard time: he’s never been in business, never run anything like a business. Yes, someone will always have more assets than you. That’s the way of the world. By the way, if Bill’s idea (a third dispensary in a town of 5500 population) is so good, why isn’t his pal Tyson investing? And, bear in mind, that Bill has Albany connections more vital and based on relationships than anyone else mentioned in the article. The bottom line is his idea is weak due to his timing, he’s vastly undercapitalized and fighting an uphill battle as the wannabe third mover.
In addition to using the likenesses of minority vendors in its marketing but *not* stocking those products because of “the aesthetic”, Gotham also touted its selection of black- and brown-owned product lines back when the shop was illegally sited in Fain’s building on Front. When asked to produce a list of those owners, they stalled them failed.
DeleteBy the owner’s own admission, she asks for forgiveness and not permission. This comment section has a long history of excoriating local businesses for doing the same (see: literally any article about a project’s historic appropriateness, or the tiny pitchforks recently raised about the “four or fewer locations” ordinance). Kudos to them for paying their staff a decent wage, though.
(The half they didn’t fire, anyway)
Gotham employs many minority folks in customer facing positions. They also do feature minority owned product. And the only business that has never laid off employees is a company that hasn’t experienced a downturn. It’s simply the obligation of those with P and L responsibility to cut unproductive headcount when needed.
DeleteWhoever painted “What do u harbor that rots?” on 330 Warren like that struck graffiti gold. The image of that building and text is being documented everywhere. It’s slowly becoming Hudson’s “Hollywood” sign. I wonder if when the art gallery from Chicago (I’ve heard) moves into the building they’ll paint over it?
ReplyDeleteNah. They’ll cut it down and hang it on a wall … with a price tag.
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