Collateral Discovery

The word is out that, in four years, The Home for the Aged, at the corner of Union and Seventh streets, will close.

In the past, Gossips has reported that The Home was founded in 1883, the idea of twenty-eight Hudson women, one of whom was Anna Bradbury, the author of History of the City of Hudson, New York, who lived her last years at The Home, and that, at the beginning, from 1883 to 1895, The Home rented rooms in this building at Union and Fifth streets before purchasing the home of Robert and Sarah McKinstry, at the corner of Union and Seventh streets, which has been the location of The Home for the past 118 years.

A recent search of the newspapers on Fulton History for more information about The Home uncovered this bizarre story about one of Hudson's more eccentric residents of the past. The story appeared on October 2, 1906, in the New York Herald. It also appeared in the Utica Herald Dispatch, the Oswego Daily Palladium, the Binghamton Press, and the Syracuse Daily Journal, but strangely no mention of it has been discovered in the Hudson Evening Register.

$50,000 TREASURE FOUND IN HOUSE

HUDSON, N. Y., Monday--Pots of gold filled with coins dating back to the reign of George III, bearing the date of 1776 and bills tied in knots, stuffed into vases and cups, were found to-day in least expected places of the Robinson homestead here, where four weeks ago neighbors found the body of Miss Frances Carolyn Robinson. Until the hidden money was found it was supposed that Miss Robinson left not more than $6,000, but now with the finding of the concealed treasure the estate is brought up to more than half a hundred thousand dollars. It is estimated that $50,000 was found in the house to-day.

The finding of the hidden treasure will cause a contest of the will that Miss Robinson left. She was an aunt of Dr. Alexander Robinson of New York city, and he with the next of kin will take the matter into the Surrogate's Court on the ground that Miss Robinson was of unsound mind, although she was always regarded as alert in business transactions. The will divides the estate into four equal parts, one to the American Seaman's Friend Society, one to the American Bible Society, a third part to the American Tract Society and the fourth portion to the Hudson Home for the Aged. Already lawyers have been engaged by both sides for the will contest.

Miss Robinson was an odd character, sixty years old and a recluse, known to every one of prominence in the city. It was always supposed that in her early days she had had a romance. Her father was one of the old time clipper ship captains whose boast was the number of trips that he had made around the world. The curios that Captain Robinson picked up in his cruises were many. Among them were the George III coins that formed part of the treasures found to-day.

No one supposed that Miss Robinson has any money to speak of, so that when she was found dead there was no especial activity among the next of kin, outside of having an inventory taken. It was while this inventory was being made that the first jar of coins was discovered under a back staircase. These coins were all at the bottom of the jar and the rest of the space was stuffed with spools and loose thread.

A systematic search of the house was then made. Pitchers filled with coins were found behind doors covered with rags and sacking. Under carpets were found bills tied up and more coins. More money was found over the coping and in the garret. There was hardly a room in the house that did not conceal money. All the property has been turned over to the public administrator.

County Judge Mark Duntz will represent the next of kin when the will comes up for probate in the Surrogate's Court and Smith Thompson, president of the Farmers' National Bank of this city, the executor, has retained Brownell & Tilden who were Miss Robinson's attorneys during her life.

Gossips Note: A search of the Hudson city directories in the History Room at the Hudson Area Library failed to discover the location of "the Robinson homestead," Miss Robinson's home, and Ancestry.com has so far not yielded any information about Frances Carolyn Robinson or her next of kin.

Not to Be Missed

Sam Pratt offers scathing criticism of the Common Council's decision to make a fifty-year commitment to Holcim in a parody of covering a press conference: "BREAKING: Hudson Aldermen reveal new 'super powers.'"  

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Joe Gentile reports in today's Register-Star about Nadia Steinzor's presentation to the Common Council on Monday night: "Fracking opponent makes case to Common Council." Unfortunately, Gentile reports some misinformation. Steinzor, who is the eastern program coordinator for the not-for-profit EARTHWORKS, was asked to address the Common Council not by city attorney Cheryl Roberts but by Fifth Ward resident Cheryl Stuart.

Claverack School Buyer Revealed

The Register-Star reports today what some knew yesterday: the name of the buyer of the Claverack School. Nathan Mayberg also explores the question of whether the HCSD Board of Education's handling of the decision to accept the offer renders it invalid: "Hudson BOE announces school buyer."  

The Latest Fracking Development

A decision on fracking in New York was postponed today because Nirav Shah, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, asked for more time to study the impact of hydrofracturing on public health: "NY fracking decision faces further delay on health study."

Not to Be Missed

Attorney Ken Dow makes an interesting comment on the Register-Star article about the proposed sale of the Claverack School.

More Dissension Over the Weighted Vote

Last Thursday, the Legal Committee couldn't agree about which plan for the new weighted vote to recommend to the full Council,  and last night at the informal meeting the full Council couldn't come to an agreement either. Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward) continued to argue for Plan 433642, the one that had been Professor Lee Papayanopoulos's "primary recommendation," because it is, as he explained it, "the plan we use now." In support of his position, he began reading aloud the answer Papayanopoulos had provided when asked why he had recommended 443642 over 443626.

The plans in my "primary recommendation" have the common characteristic of full Egality, i.e., the votes allotted to the Aldermen in each Ward are equal. Plan 433626 is, indeed, an excellent plan but the votes given to Ward 4 are not equal (94 votes vs. 95).

Pierro stopped after reading the first paragraph, as if the first paragraph provided sufficient evidence that 433642 was the superior plan. Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward), after pointing out that Pierro had misread egality as equality, urged Pierro to read the rest of Papayanopoulos's statement and then did so himself.

As I state in the report (pp. 8-9), all of the plans offered therein meet the requirement of constitutionality (which is paramount). If the aesthetics of slightly different votes in one Ward are of no consequence to the Council, then by all means, consider plan 433626. In fact this plan (with discrepancy 1.88%) is much closer to the one person–one vote ideal than plan 433642 (4.28%).

Council president Don Moore summarized the crux of the difference: 433642 (Pierro's choice) gives an equal number of votes to the two Fourth Ward aldermen--95 votes each; 433626 (Friedman's choice) reduces the discrepancy between population in each ward and voting power of the ward's aldermen, thus approaching more closely the goal of one person–one vote. Friedman argued, "We have an opportunity to create more democracy not less" by adopting Plan 433626. Pierro countered, "It's not more democracy" but didn't explain why he thought it wasn't.

Comparing the two plans side by side, in terms of the actual votes of each member of the Council, the differences--albeit minor--are with the votes of the Council president (who gets one fewer vote in Plan 433626), the Fourth Ward (whose votes would be different in Plan 433626), and the Fifth Ward (where each alderman would have one fewer vote in 433626), resulting in a two-vote difference in the total number of votes and the number of votes needed for a simple majority.

At one point, after making the point that egality "goes to this chamber being able to manage itself" (that is, not having to deal with one Fourth Ward alderman having one less vote than the other) and arguing again that Plan 433626 created "more democracy," Friedman said in frustration, referring to Pierro, "Let the gentleman from Taghkanic have his way," alluding to reports that Pierro now resides not in the Fifth Ward of Hudson but in the Town of Taghkanic. 

Alderman Robert Donahue (Fifth Ward) betrayed his lack of understanding of the issue when he turned in his seat and asked Friedman if the Third Ward's loss of the prison population and the consequent reduction in the weight of the Third Ward representatives' vote was the reason Friedman supported 433626. 

It was suggested that there be a straw poll to decide which numbers--those from Plan 433642 or Plan 433626--went into the resolution that would be voted on by the Council at their regular meeting on February 19. In the straw poll, Wanda Pertilla (Second Ward), Sheila Ramsey (Fourth Ward), and Donahue voted with Pierro in support of Plan 433642; Moore, Dave Marston (First Ward), Nick Haddad (First Ward), and Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward) voted with Friedman in support of Plan 433626. Gossips did not observe Abdus Miah (Second Ward) voting for either plan. Chris Wagoner (Third Ward) didn't vote either, commenting that he would have to study the issue.

City attorney Cheryl Roberts will prepare two resolutions: one with the numbers from Plan 433462; the other with the numbers from Plan 433626.

Claverack School Back in the News

Nathan Mayberg reports today in the Register-Star that the HCSD Board of Education voted unanimously to sell the Claverack School to an undisclosed buyer for an undisclosed amount, which one board member later said was $390,000: "Board votes to sell school to secret buyer." The identity of the buyer cannot remain secret forever. It's unlikely that the rules have changed since 2005 when the Hudson Area Library bought 400 State Street from the Hudson City School District. Back then we learned that a public referendum is required to approve the sale whenever the school district wants divest itself of real property. So we can expect this sale will be the subject of a referendum in May, and the buyer and the price will then have to be revealed.

Not in Our Lifetimes

Tonight at a special meeting, after a brief executive session, the Common Council voted on "A Resolution Authorizing the Transfer of Riverfront Land to the City of Hudson." 

The Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to enter into all documents and contracts necessary to effectuate transfer of the Parcel and related easements to the City of Hudson upon review of said documents by the Corporation Counsel, and to provide documentation for a tax credit to Holcim for transferring the Parcel as a gift to the City.

"The Parcel" is approximately nine acres "currently owned by Holcim US and situated south of Holcim's port in the City of Hudson."

Before the vote, city attorney Cheryl Roberts explained the four conditions for the transfer. The conditions must remain in effect for fifty years.

• The City will not attempt to take the port by eminent domain.
• The City will not change the zoning that is part of the LWRP and specifically applies to the port parcel.
• The parcel being transferred to the City will remain as park land.
• The parcel will not be sold or leased to a private not-for-profit.

As part of the resolution, the Council made a negative declaration, determining that the action of transferring ownership of the property would have no negative impact on the environment. 

When it came time to vote, Alderman David Marston (First Ward) abstained; all the other members of the Council voted aye.

A Tale of Two Cities . . . or a City and a Town

The building permit for the expansion and renovation of the Columbia County Courthouse carried a price tag of $38,728, which the county wanted the City of Hudson to waive. The building permit fee is meant to compensate the City for the time the code enforcement officer needs to spend making sure the work meets the requirements of the building code. The City didn't waive the fee, as the county requested, but it did reduce it to $12,000--less than a third of the original amount.

Now it seems that the county is facing more fees and expenses related to code enforcement--not in Hudson but in Claverack. To facilitate work on the courthouse here in Hudson, the courts have decamped to Claverack, where the county is leasing the old Claverack School, at significant expense, from the Hudson City School District. It seems, however, that camping out in Claverack may cost more than anticipated. The Town of Claverack Planning Board waived the need for a site plan review, but Claverack building inspector Stanley Koloski says that didn't exempt the county from having to get a building permit and a certificate of occupancy from him, and that process could cost as much as $9,000--although it's not clear much if any of that goes to the Town of Claverack. Nathan Mayberg has the story in today's Register-Star: "Temporary courthouse needs inspections."

Those Seven Acres

The seven acres of waterfront south of the dock, which the City of Hudson must possess before the Department of State will approve the LWRP, have been the topic of discussion by the Common Council in executive session on several occasions. Tonight it appears the acquisition will be considered in a special meeting of the Common Council at 6:30 p.m., preceding the informal meeting. 

Interesting Revelations

Not long ago, Quintin Cross gave Sam Pratt access to a collection of documents that his attorney Susan Tipograph had turned over to him. From that collection, Pratt has so far published on his blog the video of Cross's interview with HPD detectives on March 19, 2012, and the HPD interview with his alleged accomplice, Jamont McClendon, on April 3, after he was apprehended. Today, Pratt reveals more things discovered among those documents: "The Cross Drossier, Exhibit C."  

The State of the Weighted Vote

Listening to the discussion of weighted vote at the Common Council Legal Committee on Thursday night was a little like listening to people speaking in code. Even when you had a copy of the twenty-seven-page document from Professor Lee Papayanopoulos, with seventeen pages of alternative computation tables, the conversation seemed arcane. Each of the plans had a six-digit ID number, and it was those numbers that the committee members used when discussing the relative merits of each plan. 

After introducing the concept of the weighted vote and explaining the objectives, the Papayanopoulos document makes a "Primary Recommendation" and a "Valid Alternative Recommendation"--the difference between the two being the total number of votes and the number needed for each majority (simple, two-thirds, three-quarters). In the first scheme, the votes total slightly more than 2,000; in the second, the total number of votes is around 400.

Since most votes in the Common Council require only a simple majority, committee focused its attention on that. Discussion centered on two plans: 433642, which Papayanopoulos recommended, and 433626, which committee chair John Friedman (Third Ward) believed was more successful in achieving the objectives of maximizing egality, "the degree to which members of the Wards have equal votes," and minimizing discrepancy between the each ward's population and voting power. This chart compares the current weighted vote with the two schemes being considered.

For egality, the higher the number the better. For discrepancy, the closer to zero the better. Plan 433642, has an egality of 5 and a range of discrepancies from -4.28 percent to 2.49 percent. Plan 433626 has an egality of 4 and a range of discrepancies from -1.88 percent to 1.75 percent.

The intention was for the Legal Committee to make a recommendation to the full Council, but the Legal Committee could not come to unanimous agreement. When polled, Friedman, Common Council president Don Moore, and Alderman David Marston (First Ward) preferred 433626; Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward), champion of the status quo, preferred 433642, because it was "closer to what we have now." The fifth member of the Legal Committee, Alderman Abdus Miah (Second Ward) was absent.

It was decided that Moore would ask Papayanopoulos to elaborate on why he had recommended 433642 instead of 433626 and that the full document be distributed to all members of the Common Council, so that the issue can be taken up by the full Council at the informal  meeting on Monday, February 11.

Just Say No

TCI wants to rebuild and expand its plant in Ghent, where electrical transformers, which contain PCBs and other toxins, are dismantled. Last August, the TCI plant burned to the ground in a spectacular fire that created a countywide emergency. If you think TCI has no place in our bucolic county, make your opinion known by signing this petition: STOP TCI FROM REBUILDING AND EXPANDING IN COLUMBIA COUNTY.

Hudson in London

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, February 6, an exhibition of landscape oil sketches by Frederic Church opened at the National Gallery in London. Entitled Through American Eyes, the exhibition includes thirteen works from the collection at Olana and some from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York City, among them this one: Hudson, New York at Sunset 1867.

Winter Storm Nemo in Hudson

The scene outside my front door at 11:15 tonight.

One South Front Street/One West Warren Street

Paul Barrett, the proprietor of the Country Squire Bed & Breakfast, recently sent me this photograph, which appeared in the Register-Star on April 17, 1974.

The following caption accompanied the picture:

PNA HALL DEMOLITION

Cristo Brothers' bulldozer knocks the first hole into the PNA building on West Warren and South Front Sts., in demolition Monday that was over several hours after it started. Clean-up operations continued today. State and federal government approval was required to knock down the structure, part of a historic district named in the National Register of Historic Places. (Register-Star Photo by Evhen)

The documentation for the National Register Historic District noted: "This structure was built in the late 1780's or early 1790's and used as a store by Marshall Jenkins, who was one of the original proprietors." 

A building that stood for nearly two hundred years was "knocked down" in a few hours.

Another Explosive Night at City Hall

The new weighted vote numbers were expected to be the most important issue discussed at a special Legal Committee meeting last night, but, in terms of newsworthiness, that issue was eclipsed by a resolution about the proposed senior center presented for consideration by Common Council president Don Moore. The resolution sought primarily to authorize the city treasurer and the mayor to accept funds from various sources, including the Galvan Foundation, for the construction of the proposed new building.

No sooner had the resolution been distributed than committee chair John Friedman (Third Ward) introduced what he called a "change in circumstance." He explained that "the Albany Diocese is willing to part with St. Mary's Academy for $1 million"--$80,000 less than the City is poised to spend on what he characterized as a "too small senior center." He pointed out the St. Mary's Academy is 19,000 square feet as compared with only 4,200 square feet in the proposed new building and it came with 60 parking spaces in the lot across Third Street from the building. He recommended that the City acquire it, saying, "If we were to buy that building as a city, we would own that for a hundred years."

Friedman proposed that the building be used as an intergenerational center. He suggested that the Day Care Center, now located in a City-owned building in the first block of Warren Street, and the Youth Center be moved to the building to share space with the senior center. Friedman went on to suggest that the City could then sell 10 Warren Street--a desirable building in a desirable location--and the former church building at Third and Union streets, making the observation that "unique buildings on side streets are becoming attractive to investors."

Alderman Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward), from the audience, asked if the fifty-year-old former school building had any structural problems, which prompted former mayor Rick Scalera, now a special adviser to the Galvan Foundation, to weigh in. Galvan, he said, had looked at the building in the past and didn't buy it because it had "asbestos issues."

Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward), also from the audience, urged that the Council consider whether or not the proposed senior center was a "sensible or good project." "The fact that we have the money," he told the committee, "doesn't make it a good idea." He said the design for the proposed senior center was beautiful, but he questioned "cobbling it to a building that is ancient and not great." He went on to say, "Free money isn't free if it doesn't give us what we need."

Scalera then observed that the only "skin" the City had in the game was $130,000. The rest came from other sources and was "time sensitive." Alderman David Marston (First Ward), a member of the committee, objected to Scalera's participation in the conversation. "I don't think we can take what you say at face value," he said, alluding to Scalera's role as special adviser to the Galvan Foundation. This comment provoked an explosion of comments, in raised voices, relating to the Galvan Foundation's motivation in offering the $300,000. Speaking of the $300,000 grant, Marston said, "This is not the magic pill that's going to build us a senior center. I think we're being brash."

Friedman expressed concern about the third paragraph in the letter from T. Eric Galloway to Mayor William Hallenbeck, which starts out with the notation "RE: Request for funding." The paragraph reads: "Galvan Foundation support is contingent upon receipt of a proposal from the City requesting funding to proceed with the project and scope of work fully consistent with the architectural drawings and specifications used for bid purposes." Friedman said this paragraph created a problem because it "requests what we cannot promise."

Scalera pooh-poohed Friedman's concern, recapping the sequence of events: "The architect and the engineer brought the price down to $1,080,000 [from $1.3 million], and Galvan volunteered to fill in the gap." Reacting to Scalera's implication that the language of the letter was unimportant, Friedman retorted, "Your not caring about what's in writing has gotten this city in more trouble."

Scalera countered, "That's why this administration gets nothing done!" 

At which point, Friedman clarified that he was an alderman not "this administration," then rose, and unceremoniously adjourned the meeting.

Snow Come Morning

The word is there's a snowstorm on the way. It even has a name: "Winter Storm Nemo." 

The snow is predicted to start here in Hudson at 9 o'clock on Friday morning and continue for the next 24 hours. On Saturday morning, the snow will stop, and the wind will pick up. By Sunday, the sunshine will return.

In advance of the snow, the mayor has declared a snow emergency, which we all know has to do with parking--getting the cars out of way to allow the streets to be plowed. So here are the parking rules for the next three days:

From 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday: 
All cars must be parked on the ODD side of the street--for 24 hours

From 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday:
All cars must be parked on the EVEN side of the street--for 24 hours

From 8 a.m., Sunday, to 8 p.m. Sunday:
All cars must be parked on the ODD side of the street--for 12 hours

PLEASE NOTE: In an effort to avoid negativity, Gossips is telling you where you SHOULD park not where you shouldn't.

Remember that during a snow emergency cars have to stay parked on the same side of the street for 24 hours. If you pull your car out of a snowbank at any time between 8 a.m. one day and 8 a.m. the next, you will have to put it back in the snowbank when you get back home or risk being towed. So, this weekend seems like a good time to tug on your snow boots and find out just how walkable our little city is.

At midnight on Sunday, February 10, snow removal begins, and that's a whole other story. Consult this chart to learn where your car needs to be parked from Sunday to Monday.

The Latest on the Senior Center

Common Council president Don Moore has informed Gossips that the Galvan Foundation has in fact awarded the City a $300,000 grant. The conditions of the grant do not require adherence to the exact specifications in the original bid documents but "just a general adherence to the overall design"--that design being the one familiar to us all, created by architect Jane Smith of Spacesmith.

Moore also explained what makes $300,000 the magic number. Moore told Gossips in an email: "The City has renegotiated the contract for the construction of the Senior Center with a not-to-exceed price of $1,080,000 that will be considered in a Resolution at the Legal Committee meeting tonight. The CDBG [Community Development Block Grant] office is aware of the possibility of additional funding and is taking that award into consideration in determining whether than office will extend its approval for the City to expend the CDBG funds on the Senior Center."

The Legal Committee meets tonight at 6:30 tonight.

Youth & Aging and Outrage

There was reason to believe that there might be an update about the senior center at last night's Common Council Youth & Aging Committee meeting, but no update was offered. Instead, after hurrying interim youth director George Bednar through his report, covering several months, committee chair Wanda Pertilla (Second Ward) recognized Quintin Cross, who had packed the room with members of the Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center leadership team, including retiring HPD police chief Ellis Richardson (out of uniform), and other supporters, including TSL co-director Linda Mussmann.

Cross and company were there to protest the lack of programming at the Youth Center. The Youth Department has seen significant budget cuts in the past few years, but according to Cross, "It's not about money. It's about vision." He spoke of the "Youth Department Assessment Report" completed by Rose Longo in October 2011, saying that the report, which cost the City $5,000, was the "game plan," but there had been no implementation. Cross called the Youth Center a "dismal failure," and asked of Bednar, who had earlier reported the participation of only 4 or 8 kids in some programs, and Pertilla, who told of going to the Youth Center during its evening hours to find staff there but nobody else, "Why aren't people there if your programs are working?"

Other audience members, most of whom cited some affiliation with the Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center, took up themes introduced by Cross. A man who revealed that he had just left prison claimed that there are many people from Columbia County in state prisons. "They had no help," he said. "That's why they ended up in prison." He more than once called the situation "a travesty," implying that the Youth Center was failing in its mission, and said "elected officials should be blamed." From other members of the audience there were complaints that all programs were "recreational" or athletic, there were no programs for girls, the center offered nothing for children with disabilities, the center's recruitment and outreach efforts were inadequate and ineffective, the department's website was never updated, no mentoring programs or homework help were offered. (Related to the topic of academic support, it was pointed out that there were 240 kids on the awaiting list for after-school programs at the Hudson City School District.) When Bednar indicated that the Youth Center now had three working computers, life coach Nicole Vidor expressed amazement, calling it a "1957 Youth Center."

Although most of the criticism was general discontent with the programming for kids provided by the City, some of it was directed specifically at Youth & Aging Committee chair Wanda Pertilla and youth commissioner Gerald Wood. Vernon Cross, identified on the Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center website as a founder of the organization, took Pertilla to task. "What part of the Second Ward do you represent?" he demanded to know. "How did you allow this to happen?"

Pertilla, who is in her third term as alderman, defended her record, saying she worked hard for the Second Ward. "I come, I fight, I advocate," said Pertilla, going on to tell how she speaks to the mayor for her people. She clarified that it was the mayor not she who had control over the staff and operations of the Youth Center and that her responsibility as chair of the Youth & Aging Committee was fiscal oversight, making sure that money was spent wisely. Cross, however, persisted, demanding to know: "What are you doing for the Second Ward when it comes to the Youth Center?" A few speakers made reference to six years in their comments, as did some signs in the room, but it was not entirely clear if the reference was to Pertilla's tenure in office.   

Youth commissioner Gerald Wood also came under fire. Pertilla called him "ineffective," noting that "he should be here tonight." Later Linda Mussmann called for his dismissal, alluding to the fact that in the 2013 budget, commissioners are receiving an annual $1,000 stipend.

As the committee meeting, meant to last only 45 minutes, extended to twice that time, audience members began to express dissatisfaction that committee members--Pertilla in particular--seemed more defensive than responsive. Milandou Badila (a.k.a. Young Paris) observed, "People are coming here because something is wrong, and it doesn't appear that you are getting it." Later, when Badila asked each committee member to say what he or she was going to do, Pertilla demurred, saying she needed to "go home and digest."

Quintin Cross's closing point was both revealing and portentous. "Every person of color in this room voted for that mayor," he declared, referring to Mayor Bill Hallenbeck, "so we can demand that he act."

Just before the meeting was adjourned, Supervisor Ellen Thurston (Third Ward) wanted to know "what is the next step forward" and, after commenting that the Youth Department had "lost touch with the community," recommended appointing an advisory committee to provide regular input. No next step, however, was defined or agreed upon.

An Offer With Strings Attached

The Register-Star reports today that the Galvan Foundation has offered up to $300,000 to help build the senior center but, according to the report, the offer is "contingent upon the project being 'fully consistent with the architectural drawings and specifications' they submitted for the bid on Oct. 19 of last year."

This is a puzzling statement. Who is they? The Galvan Foundation is not a contractor and did not submit a bid which was opened on October 19, 2012 nor did they, to my knowledge, submit an alternative design for the senior center. Also, when the bids received were opened, it was discovered that the lowest bids for general contracting, mechanicals and air conditioning, electrical work, and plumbing totaled $533,240 more than the City had to spend. The amount offered--up to $300,000--is not enough to bridge that gap, particularly when it's not clear if the City still has access to the original $400,000 from the Community Development Block Grant awarded back in 2010. 

Joe Gentile promises that "more information will be posted as it becomes available." Gossips does the same.

When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth

Whenever Steve Bergman (a.k.a. Samuel Shem, the author of The Spirit of the Place) talks about Hudson as a "town of breakage," he invariably mentions the life-sized replica of a brontosaurus that "broke the back of its barge and sank, its neck poking out of the Hudson River in the most lifelike way."

The ill-fated brontosaurus was one of nine dinosaurs created by the Louis Paul Jonas Studios in Claverack for Dinoland, the Sinclair Oil Corporation's exhibition at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. Recently Joan Lezette posted this photograph on Your [sic] Probably from Hudson, evidence that despite the mishap upriver, the dinosaurs made it to their destination.

Seeking more information about the dinosaurs and their journey to Flushing Meadows, Gossips discovered a website devoted to the 1964 New York World's Fair and its attractions, among them Dinoland. Several original brochures from the dinosaur exhibition are reproduced here, as well as an accounting of where all the dinosaurs are today and this explanation of "why Sinclair is interested in dinosaurs": "Sinclair uses the Dinosaur 'Brontosaurus' as a symbol to dramatize the age and quality of the crude oils from which Sinclair Petroleum Products are made--crudes which were mellowing in the earth millions of years ago when Dinosaurs lived."

Get Ready for the Parade!

Gossips' favorite parade--the Hudson Pride Parade--is scheduled to happen this year on Saturday, June 15, at 2.00 p.m. Next Wednesday, February 13, there's a planning meeting for everyone interested in helping out with this year's parade. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Pride Space, 603 Warren Street, second floor. Anyone who cannot attend the meeting on February 13 but wants to get involved is invited to contact Peter Frank.

HPD Chief Is Retiring

Police Commissioner Gary Graziano has announced the retirement of Ellis Richardson, chief of the Hudson Police Department. The press release making the announcement appears in the Register-Star: "Hudson police chief retiring." The picture of Richardson reproduced here was found on the website of the Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center, a new not-for-profit of which Quintin Cross is founder, director, president, and chairman of the board, and Richardson is a member of the "leadership team."  

Competition for Chris Gibson

Word is out that Sean Eldridge, the 26-year-old head of an investment firm and a Democratic activist, is seeking to represent the 19th District of New York in the House of Representatives. The news was reported only a few hours ago on Gawker: "Facebook Cofounder's Husband Files Papers to Run for Congress."

Read about it also on Bloomberg: "Investor Eldridge Eyes N.Y. House Seat."

More Videotape

While the question of who broke into City Hall remains unresolved, Quintin Cross, who, with Jamont McClendon, was indicted by one grand jury but not indicted by a second grand jury, gave Sam Pratt access to his legal file. Pratt shares one of the items from that file--the videotape of Cross's interview with HPD detectives John Funk and Christopher Filli, which took place on March 19, 2012--on his blog: "EXCLUSIVE: The Cross Dossier."

Another Culinary Event at Christ Church

Next Tuesday, February 12, is Shrove Tuesday--Pancake Tuesday--and whether or not you plan to deprive yourself of some indulgence during the forty days leading up to Easter, Shrove Tuesday is always a good excuse to eat pancakes for dinner on the last feast day before Lent. 

As they do every year, the folks at Christ Church Episcopal are hosting a pancake supper on the night before Ash Wednesday in the Parish Hall at 431 Union Street. From 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12, the men of the parish, assisted by the Youth Group, will be serving up pancakes with maple syrup--accompanied by sausages and sausage gravy for the carnivores among us. There's even an early bird special: from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m., you can get your pancakes to take away. Dining in or taking out, the price is $6 for adults and $4 for children under 10.

Fracking Fracas

Yesterday, a legislative hearing on the Department of Environmental Conservation's proposed budget for 2013-2014 turned into three intense hours of questions about hydrofracturing for DEC commissioner Joe Martens. The Times-Union has the story, which includes this photograph by Paul Buckowski showing anti-fracking protesters on the Million Dollar Staircase in the Capitol: "Grilling over fracking."  

Gotcha! on the 300 Block and at the Station

The Register-Star reports today that the newly installed parking meters on the 300 block of Warren Street are already starting to rake in the revenue: "Parking meters generate a flurry of tickets first day in operation." 

This story reminded me of an incident I heard about over the weekend from a Gossips reader who recently took the train to New York City and parked his car in the municipal lot across the street. As many people will attest, the electronic meters at that lot are not easy to comprehend and use, even for people who are fairly savvy about such things, and on that day, some people were having an especially hard time. My friend helped them through the process, and when they were finished, they went back to their car, thinking they had to put the receipt on the car as evidence that the fee had been paid, only to find that they had already gotten a ticket!

Approval of Signs

Last August, about six weeks after being appointed to the Historic Preservation Commission, Peggy Polenberg had a sign installed on the building that she and her husband own on Warren Street, in a historic district. The sign went up without a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission. When this oversight came to the attention of the Code Enforcement Office, Polenberg was issued a notice that her sign was in violation of Chapter 169 of the city code.

Not buying into the notion that Caesar's wife must be above reproach and a member of the Historic Preservation Commission should probably be aware of and comply with the laws she is charged with interpreting and administering, Polenberg and her husband canvassed the neighborhood to prove that few if any of the businesses had gotten certificates of appropriateness for their signs.

The evidence the Polenbergs collected and their argument that they had been unfairly treated seems to have had unintended, by them, consequences. In December, code enforcement officer Peter Wurster told the Historic Preservation Commission that the mayor and the city attorney had directed him to contact all businesses whose signs had gone up without benefit of review by the Code Enforcement Office or the Historic Preservation Commission to inform them that they were in violation of city code.

Word on the street is that businesses are starting to receive the "Notice of Violation" and it is causing some consternation. But that shouldn't be the case. The people who neglected to get sign permits and certificates of appropriateness when they installed their signs are simply being asked to correct the problem by doing so now. The applications for sign permits are available by contacting the Code Enforcement Office, 429 Warren Street, 828-3100. The application for a certificate of appropriateness can be downloaded from the City of Hudson website. Both the Code Enforcement Office and the Historic Preservation Commission have expressed their commitment to making this as easy and painless as possible. As HPC member Tony Thompson said in December, "Since we know there are no egregious problems [with the signs], this can be handled very efficiently."

The Days of Wine and Chocolate

One of my favorite movie moments comes in the 1973 movie Sleeper, when the Woody Allen character, Miles Monroe, who before being cryogenically frozen was the owner of a health food store called the Happy Carrot, is "defrosted" 200 years into the future and discovers that all the foods people thought were bad are really good for us. I feel the same about dark chocolate and red wine, so whenever there's a tasting that involves these two 21st-century "health foods," I'm there.

On Saturday, February 9, Verdigris Tea and Chocolate Bar will host a wine and chocolate tasting. The chocolates for sampling are the creations of local chocolatier Christopher Norman and the wines are selected by Lewis Dimm, proprietor of Fairview Wines & Spirits, who offers this advice about pairing chocolate and wine: "There are two things a taster must remember when selecting wines to match up with chocolates. The first is that the wine must be sweeter than the chocolates. The second is that red wine works really well with fat. The cocoa butter that makes chocolate smooth and silky also tempers and softens the tannins in a big red wine. So choosing a very sweet red wine, full-bodied, is probably a safe bet."  

The tasting begins at 5 p.m. and continues until 7.  Verdigris Tea and Chocolate Bar is located at 135 Warren Street, at the corner of Second Street.

Football as Allegory

By now, we all know the outcome of Super Bowl XLVII. A team named for a poem by an impoverished writer beat a team named for a band of desperate men driven by lust for gold. Can we see allegorical significance in that victory? Perhaps the triumph of art over greed? 

Probably not.

Learn How the Weighted Vote Will Change

Last week, Gossips reported that the new weighted vote numbers would be revealed and discussed at a special Common Council Legal Committee meeting next week. The day and time for that meeting have now been set: Thursday, February 7, at 6:30 p.m. 

The weighted vote affects the voting power your representatives have in the Common Council. To understand why the weighted vote is important, consider this. With the weighted vote as it currently is, an aye vote cast by an alderman from the First Ward or the Fourth Ward (David Marston, Nick Haddad, Sheila Ramsey, or Ohrine Stewart) represents 9 percent of the votes needed for a simple majority, while an aye vote cast by an alderman from the Fifth Ward (Carmine Pierro or Robert Donahue) represents 27.5 percent of the votes needed for a simple majority. Because of population losses and gains between 2000 and 2010, those numbers are changing. To find out how much they're changing, be at the Legal Committee meeting on Thursday. 

A Gossips Recommendation

Gossips doesn't typically make movie recommendations, but today is an exception. I saw Argo last night at Fairview Cinema III--our hometown movie house just over the border in Greenport. As you've undoubtedly already heard--Argo is, after all, considered the front runner for an Academy Award for Best Picture--the movie is engaging and suspenseful. The climax inspires white-knuckle tension, even though we know how it turns out, and the denouement recalls that rush of emotion and gratitude we all felt for the Canadians back in 1980 when it was learned that, thanks to them, six Americans who had eluded capture at the American Embassy in Tehran were back home safe.

But the film itself isn't our main reason for recommending the experience. Argo is being shown in the theater at Fairview Cinema III that is newly equipped to show movies in digital format. That enhances the visual equality of the film and makes its power to draw the viewer in even greater. So, if you haven't already seen it, see it now. Argo continues at Fairview Cinema III through Thursday, February 7. Check their website for times.

After you've seen the film, you may want to read this article in Slate by Mark Lijek, who lived the experience and wrote about it in The Houseguests: A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery.

A Hundred Years Ago on Groundhog Day

A hundred years ago today, Punxsutawney Phil was already foretelling the arrival of spring.  (Remarkably--miraculously--Phil's been doing that since 1890.) Also on Groundhog Day in 1913, Grand Central Station officially opened its doors, after ten years of construction.

Yesterday, the New York Times published an excerpt from Sam Roberts' book Grand Central, accompanied by multimedia and document features about the landmark building: "100 Years of Grandeur: The Birth of Grand Central Terminal."

The architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore played a significant role in the design of Grand Central, even though the New York Central Railroad had invited leading architects to submit designs for the new terminal, and Warren and Wetmore did not win that competition. Roberts explains what happened:

Reed & Stem, a St. Paul firm, won the competition. The firm began with two big advantages. It had designed other stations for the New York Central. Moreover . . . Reed & Stem could count on connections: Allen H. Stem was Wilgus's brother-in-law. [William J. Wilgus was the chief engineer for the New York Central Railroad, and building the new terminal had been his idea.]  Yet in the highly charged world of real estate development in New York, another firm's connections trumped Reed & Stem's. After the selection was announced, Warren & Wetmore, who were architects of the New York Yacht Club and who boasted society connections, submitted an alternative design. It didn't hurt that one of the firm's principals, Whitney Warren, was William Vanderbilt's cousin. [William K. Vanderbilt was on the New York Central board of directors.]

As we know, Whitney Warren's family connections extended to Columbia County. His grandmother Caroline Whitney Phoenix owned the estate that we now know as the Dr. Oliver  Bronson House and was the patron of the Phoenix Hose Company, which was headquartered in one of the two firehouses on Park Place. It remains an intriguing question what role, if any, that family connection played in there being two buildings designed by Warren and Wetmore in Hudson: the Columbia County Courthouse and the building at Warren and Sixth streets originally built for the Hudson City Savings Institution--both completed in the decade during which Grand Central was being designed and constructed--1903 to 1913.

Spring Is on the Way

This morning in western Pennsylvania, the famous prognosticating groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his shadow, and, as we all know, that means an early spring. 

Watch Phil

Today is Groundhog Day, and at 7:20 a.m., we will learn if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not. Watch it live here.

The Evidence in the Case

Diane Valden reports today in Columbia Paper about another case dismissed because the Hudson Police Department reportedly failed to turn over key evidence: "Judge tosses new case after HPD evidence error." The case in question this time is that against Kerwin A. Jones, who allegedly fired a handgun into a group of people standing in front of 34 North Fifth Street on Memorial Day 2012. The first paragraph of Valden's story reads in part: ". . . the Hudson Police Department took another hit for mishandling evidence, with the mayor expressing outrage at the second such problem that has come to light in the last two months."

Back to South Front Street

My fascination with the images of the lost blocks of South Front Street persists, but before continuing with today's post inspired by them, it is necessary to trace the circuitous route they took to get to The Gossips of Rivertown. City historian Pat Fenoff sent them, on request, to Joan Lezette-Miller, who posted them on the Facebook page Your [sic] Probably from Hudson (highly recommended), where Tom D'onofrio saw them, copied them, and sent them to Gossips. The rest you already know.

Wanting to get a better sense of what South Front Street was like a hundred years ago, when the residents and business owners wanted to rename it Sheriden Avenue, I spent some time with the 1912 Hudson City directory, which someone has kindly put online, to discover who and what occupied each of the buildings. Here is what my research discovered.

1 South Front Street
Tamarin Brothers Clothing was located on the first floor of this building, and Adam and Rose Tamarin lived above the store. (The other two brothers, Frank and Moses, lived at 114 Fulton Street--a street that no longer exists but went from North Third to the river.)

Also residing in the building, using the entrance on the West Warren Street facade and the address 1 West Warren Street were Susan Mackey and Nicholas Rosa.

3 South Front Street
Morris Lavinsky had his shoe store on the first floor. Toney Siviken lived in the building.

5 South Front Street
Benjamin Meiner, the grocer, operated his business and made in his home here.

7 South Front Street
Max Liepshutz sold tinware here, and Lyle T. Way, foreman (although of what we do not know), lived here.

9 South Front Street
Samuel Krasner, grocer, conducted his business on the first floor, and the Robert A. Lawtons,  Sr. and Jr., lived here.

27 South Front Street

Jacob Loudon had a meat market here, and Ann, Maggie, John, and Thomas Flanagan lived here.

29 South Front Street

This was the First Ward Hotel, where Mrs. George Grossman was the proprietress. There was at least one resident who was not a transient: Charles G. Best

31 South Front

William Aust had a cafe in this building, and at the same time Adam Beleshi ran a saloon here.

33-35 South Front Street

These two buildings comprised the Germania Hotel, where Joseph Unger was the bartender. The Germania Hotel seems to have been more of an SRO an a tourist hostelry. The directory lists the following people residing there: Autel Frish, Frank Goliz, Tanas Gosper, Frank Kobot, Frank Kovats, and Edwin Smith.

This is the photograph of the Germania Hotel that appeared in Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

"How'm I Doin?"

Ed Koch, brash former mayor of New York City, died early this morning at the age of 88. Most memorable (to me) among his achievements during his tenure as mayor were the introduction of signs that read "Don't Even THINK of Parking Here" and his yelling encouragement to people to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge during the transit strike of 1980. 

The picture above was taken in 1977. Here are the links to his obituary in the New York Times and Time magazine.