tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post431691845889473340..comments2024-03-28T17:55:31.180-04:00Comments on The Gossips of Rivertown: Hamilton Grange and the Robert Taylor HouseCarole Osterinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-85064922715698461192012-09-30T21:14:43.609-04:002012-09-30T21:14:43.609-04:00I happen to have it on good authority that Tom Swo... I happen to have it on good authority that Tom Swope was not interested in attaching his name to such capricious endeavors any longer. He's on to more demanding and rewarding ventures, I'm quite certain of it...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05303953155989507416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-57321589124312934072012-09-19T18:19:58.763-04:002012-09-19T18:19:58.763-04:00Please excuse my not being totally prepared postin...Please excuse my not being totally prepared posting this...<br /><br />But about 1-2 years ago, with assistance from Carole and encouragement from Tom, I attended a Preservation meeting and formally asked that the City put a stop to the environmental damage to the Robert Taylor House, primarily because of a hole in the roof, and open windows and open front door. I believe Peter Wurster was directed to ask the current owners to fix this, and the City eventually boarded windows and covered the hole in the roof... Eventually the then owners put it up for sale.<br /><br />I often pass the Robert Taylor House, and in my humble opinion, it is at home at its current location. A major arts/cultural institution: Stageworks, is across the street. I no doubt feel that this particular area will be enhanced in the future by positive growth. What better anchor than the Robert Taylor House!<br /><br />I'd love to see a yearly report from our City Inspector of each violation, the reason, the violation and the result.<br /><br />I do not believe that the current area where the Robert Taylor House is, is at risk of being over-run by future negative development, unless someone can say otherwise. Making the Robert Taylor House the historic and cultural anchor may very well set the precedent.Chad Wecklerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15721057452000779552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-39190497145129389362012-09-19T13:09:39.444-04:002012-09-19T13:09:39.444-04:00Ward Hamilton, explaining that he would not be nea...Ward Hamilton, explaining that he would not be near a computer until evening, asked me to post this comment for him:<br /><br />As I stated before, I do not generally respond to anonymous posts and, while I made an exception, I'm not going to make another. We have made terrific progress lately, working well with the HPC; a mutually acceptable plan for 67-71 N Fifth was arrived at last Friday. Afterward, we shook hands and exchanged compliments. We are working well together. Positive things are happening. Good change is coming. This is not a bad thing.<br /><br />I am not afraid to ask questions, to initiate dialogue, to work toward a common goal: preserving the heritage of Hudson's built environment. Sometimes the HPC will agree with me and, on other occasions, they won't. That is OK. We are now having a conversation, and words and ideas don't scare me or those on the HPC. People afraid of talk, who bash those who suggest ideas, are frightening. Especially when they are afraid to stand behind their statements.<br /><br />Ward HamiltonCarole Osterinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-84684085477344336172012-09-19T11:55:13.120-04:002012-09-19T11:55:13.120-04:00Ward,
You're misconstruing the principles up...Ward, <br /><br />You're misconstruing the principles upon which this application was denied, and should continue to be denied. I've very much enjoyed Stevens epic tome, but lets hone in on the issue, rather than muddying the discussion. <br /><br />Not a single member of the Commission, Carole, nor the City Historian, are predicating their opposition to this plan on the vernacular provenance of this structure, for you to assert as much is a specious abrogation of the facts.<br /><br />I know you are familiar with the Seven Aspects of Integrity as outlined by the Secretary of the Interior, lest we forget Location, Setting, and Association are three of the primary considerations in judging significance. That's before we even inspect the common bond brick, gambrel roof, or shed dormers.<br /><br />I know you are familiar with the Secretary of the Interiors recommendations regarding personage as it relates to significance. As such, I would encourage you to find out more about Robert Taylor, he was quite the figure in our Cities early history.<br /><br />I know you have a grasp on how the Secretary of the Interior views moved properties, which means you certainly understand this house will be completely ineligible for listing if it is moved to Union Street. <br /><br />In short, I would ask that you consider carefully, as a respected Preservationist and incredible Mason, before so boldly defending the brinkmanship of a rapacious developer, whose appetite for pathologically offending the very principles he cloaks himself in, borders on spectacle.<br /><br />David MarstonDavid Marstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805425229362358449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-55511000774309240752012-09-19T09:51:42.885-04:002012-09-19T09:51:42.885-04:00@ Ward Hamilton: I didn't realize that comment...@ Ward Hamilton: I didn't realize that commenting on a newsblog required full disclosure of one's identity. I guess I need to bring my driver's license or other validly-issued government I.D. in order to make comments on this forum? Your point about disclosure is hypocritical: you work for and are paid by Eric Galloway, who, whether he likes it or not, is now a public figure, maintains a distant and aloof persona, and has threatened immediate legal action against someone who publishes his picture taken from a publicly available source at a charity event. Yet, you write that I, a private citizen, who has no business before the City of Hudson or Columbia County, am a coward because I express my opinions and ask certain questions on this blog? I have to assume you are a very angry person.<br /><br />@umheimlich: Let me remind you: Tom Swope thrust himself into Hudson's harsh public light by accepting the position from his good friend Eric Galloway as Executive Director of the Galvan Init. Foundation. Swope came up with the Doris Duke Foundation model; he was pictured in the Reg. Star handing out grants to groups around the City (including $80K to a charity controlled by the wife of an HPC member); and he made public, ill-advised and petulant statements at government meetings on behalf of the foundation he represented. I don't agree that his "resignation" is "nobody's business but his own" because what happened in that particular situation informs the very nature and agenda of this bad group of people that has become a menance to Hudson's very core. Am I the only one in Hudson who thinks that the reasons for Swope's departure from the Galvan Init. Foundation are relevant and instructive? <br /><br />No one in Hudson should take any flack or back-talk from anyone associated with a group that allows derelict buildings such as those at Third and Warren and Fifth and Union to lie fallow, neglected, with torn up sidewalks, plastic sheeting blowing out of windows and ersatz scaffolding. This group has little respect for the citizenry of Hudson by allowing its buildings to remain in such a state of squalor without any clear plan or progress toward a historically respectful (and approved) renovation. It is very clear to me that Mr. Galloway is caught up in some sort of scatter-brained megalomania where he gets things approved, fights to death to do so, then just moves on to another battle, while the rest of us are held hostage by his pathology. And if that is not the explanation, then he just doesn't have enough money to tackle all these projects at once: which, I might add, is not exactly responsible.<br /><br />Mark my words: if the HPC approves Galloway moving the Robert Taylor House-- years from now that house will remain at its original site in a state of neglect and rot. And that torn plastic sheeting at Third and Warren in Galloway's building's windows will still be flapping in the wind, as a real F-you eyesore for all to enjoy.<br /><br />Finally, if by some miracle the HPC approves the application, and the house is moved and wedged into that lot on Union Street, what are Mr. Galloway's plans for the land on Tanner's Lane that the house is currently sitting on? Does anyone dare ask that question?Observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07476845411516796463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-69351591984357612532012-09-19T09:37:17.787-04:002012-09-19T09:37:17.787-04:00The bricks and old foundation on that house are so...The bricks and old foundation on that house are so old, crumbling and cracked, chances are if it's moved the whole thing will fall apart. Then it will have to be rebuilt like the General Worth house. It might cost less to leave it where it is and build a copy of it up on the hill. SlowArthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182629761582261749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-47815149386953529972012-09-18T22:14:02.875-04:002012-09-18T22:14:02.875-04:00The gambrel roof isn't an issue.It's Scale...The gambrel roof isn't an issue.It's Scale.<br />look at the surounding buildings.Hamilton,you work for Galloway.Now you defend any project he does and now you are also his personal defender as well.You high -jacked Gossips url,by buying it, thinking that was a smart idea,to redirect the readers of "Gossips of Rivertown",to your blog,that is one long infomorcial for Galloway's "historic" projects.So you realized after buying "gossips" url-that was a bad public relations mistake-and apoligised.After you did that.Who cares what you think?You are only going to try to prove to everybody ,because you are so brilliant,why everything Galloway wants to do,"Historically"<br />APPROPRIATE.Save it for your Blog.<br /><br />Prison Alleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10059050028975347899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-65880643133803125102012-09-18T17:18:07.474-04:002012-09-18T17:18:07.474-04:00"...siting a Dutch colonial house on a Federa..."...siting a Dutch colonial house on a Federal and Greek Revival block might lie somewhere between high kitsch and bathos..." – Observer<br /><br />Normally I would not respond to someone who hides behind an alias, particularly when they don’t have the courage to identify themselves when casting aspersions on another’s character. But in this case I’ll make an exception. The below excerpt is from the application and highlights many of the factual inaccuracies that are casually ignored in this matter:<br /><br />APPROPRIATENESS IN THE UNION/ALLEN/FRONT STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT (http://preservationinaction.blogspot.com/2012/09/another-look-moving-robert-taylor-house.html)<br /><br />Would a circa 1800, English brick structure with a gambrel roof be appropriate in the district? According to local historian Carole Osterink, “there is visual evidence that at least two other houses in Hudson at one time had gambrel roofs.” [1] An early English brick structure with a gambrel roof is found in the district at 10 South Front Street. This structure also has a shed style dormer roof. Close examination of the timber framework of the Robert Taylor House and an interview of Neil Larson of the Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture Association confirms that the structure is not an example of early Dutch vernacular architecture. Mr. Larson indicated that it is an English structure and, therefore, was not included in John Stevens’ definitive tome on Dutch vernacular architecture in North America. [2] Hudson City Historian Patricia Fenoff, who grew up in the Robert Taylor House, dispelled the myth that the structure predates the Proprietors. In a May 2012 interview, Fenoff said that Taylor built the house in the 1790’s. The Robert Taylor House is entirely appropriate in its intended location at 21 Union Street. [3]<br /><br />___________________________<br /><br />1. Gossips of Rivertown blog (http://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2012/05/janes-walk-site-2.html)<br /><br />2. Stevens, John. Dutch Vernacular Architecture in North America, 1640-1830. New York: Society for the Preservation of Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture, 2005<br /><br />3. Two historic homes may be moved, by John Mason, Hudson Register-Star, May 8, 2012<br />Ward Hamiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14077951464866486246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-9506393775449978612012-09-18T12:34:45.885-04:002012-09-18T12:34:45.885-04:00Tom Swope's exit is nobody's business but ...Tom Swope's exit is nobody's business but his own.<br /><br />unheimlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204285837938988668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-37719894837900708242012-09-18T10:58:14.313-04:002012-09-18T10:58:14.313-04:00I am not going to address the HPC issue, as that i...I am not going to address the HPC issue, as that is for others to decide. (I think siting a Dutch colonial house on a Federal and Greek Revival block might lie somewhere between high kitsch and bathos, but anyway....)<br /><br />However, I do have some concerns that are somewhat related to the Taylor House's future. <br /><br />Before Galvan spends money to move this house, perhaps it should consider finishing the scores of other projects it has in various states of "progress" around the City. I do wonder: is this a shell game? Does Mr. Galloway even have the pecuniary resources to juggle and complete so many projects at one time? We are talking about millions of dollars here. Is Henry van A funding all this? And if so, how? Through his foundation? His family's foundation? His personal investment accounts? Is Eric G. so wealthy in his own right, from his NYC-based welfare housing businesses? And where the hell is he from? Did anyone know him when he was a ten year old? What were his parents like? Does he have brothers and sisters? Who is this guy? His life story would be of great interest, at least to me. <br /><br />And what happened with Tom Swope? His exit: the result of in-fighting at Galvan? Did he do something he shouldn't have done? Did Eric G. tire of him? Did he piss off Scalera? Or, was he simply fed up with being directly associated with such a tawdry and widely-reviled group of people? Did he just wake up one day last week and say to himself, hey, this is really not for me, I am too good for this?Observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07476845411516796463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-35186125154089525102012-09-18T08:56:24.965-04:002012-09-18T08:56:24.965-04:00Concerned Hudsonians need to have a serious and op...Concerned Hudsonians need to have a serious and open discussion with the HDC about what can and cannot be done with the Kaz warehouse.<br /><br />So far we have heard:<br /><br />1. then-Mayor Scalera's claim that the warehouse must be razed (which included one of his off-the cuff demolition estimates);<br /><br />2. President Moore's opinion that the land is worth more to a developer than the building is;<br /><br />3. The HDC's misstatement about what the waterfront plan does and doesn't allow at the site (the HDC board failed to study what is conditionally permitted in the new R-S-C zoning district). <br /><br />The whole rationale for moving the structure seems to pivot on the one question. So without having a more accurate idea of the ultimate fate of the warehouse, how can anyone make a reasoned decision about moving the Taylor House?<br /><br />Let's find out what can be reasonably expected to happen directly across from the Taylor House and in what time frame. If we knew now that the warehouse would ultimately be razed, we wouldn't even be having this other discussion. <br /><br />[Comment edited to include the technical adverb, "conditionally" permitted.]unheimlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204285837938988668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-76966329225617658972012-09-18T08:38:57.028-04:002012-09-18T08:38:57.028-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.unheimlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204285837938988668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-50636843875088153162012-09-18T04:48:14.748-04:002012-09-18T04:48:14.748-04:00"The National Park Service--the entity that s..."The National Park Service--the entity that sets the standards for historic preservation in the United States." --Galvan Partners. <br />Surely Galvan Partners, inventor of the unique Gallowegian style now imposed upon so many houses in the city, must now be described as "the entity that sets the standards for historic preservation" in Hudson, however dubious those standards may be.Byrne Fone https://www.blogger.com/profile/11913646848760720991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-51269170413483130562012-09-17T22:52:28.549-04:002012-09-17T22:52:28.549-04:00Indeed!
Galvan could use that money,he's will...Indeed! <br />Galvan could use that money,he's willing to spend moving it, to help begin restoring the surrouding grounds of Tanners Lane.Prison Alleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10059050028975347899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-4860616696867682892012-09-17T18:54:38.213-04:002012-09-17T18:54:38.213-04:00Bravo! Carole.
--peterBravo! Carole. <br /><br />--peterPeter Meyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12627451247693034161noreply@blogger.com