See It in a Whole New Light

It's commonly known that It's a Wonderful Life was Frank Capra's personal favorite. It was also, of all the films in which he appeared, James Stewart's favorite. But here's a bit of information not generally known. Dorothy Parker, Dalton Trumbo, and Clifford Odets all worked on the screenplay of It's a Wonderful Life, but their names to do not appear in the credits.

At 9:30 on Saturday morning, December 14, you have the rare opportunity to see this post-World War II American classic on the big screen--in the one theater at Fairview Cinema 3 that's equipped with a new digital projector. Friends of Fairview Cinema 3 invite you to Breakfast and a Movie. For a suggested donation of $25, you can indulge yourself in the heartwarming comfort of homemade coffee cake and coffee while watching the bittersweet tale of George Bailey's struggle against the evil Mr. Potter and with his own unfulfilled aspirations. Revel in the movie's happy ending while helping to bring about another happy ending--buying another digital projector to keep our only locally owned movie house from going dark. 

Click here to send an email to let us know you're coming. (We need to know how much coffee to brew and how much coffee cake to bake.) If you miss this chance, your despair may be so great that you will wish you'd never been born.

The Women of the 400 Block

Rural Intelligence currently has an article by Jamie Larson about the unprecedented concentration of woman-owned businesses on the 400 block of Warren Street: "A Mercantile Matriarchy on a Main Street: The Women of Hudson's 400 Block."

On Saturday, December 14, from 7 to 9 p.m., seven of those businesses--Lillie K. Traders, TK Home and Garden, Kosa, ec.o.sys.tem, Harvey's Counter, Laloon, and Hudson Vintage--are having an open house--a Holiday Soiree. There will be refreshments and demonstrations and music and, of course, shopping! If you believe in making your shopping choices benefit others, you will rejoice to know that 10 percent of the profits from all sales during the Holiday Soiree will go to the Columbia-Greene Domestic Violence Program.

Among the special things happening during the Holiday Soiree are gift wrapping lessons offered all evening at TK Home and Garden by Greg Urra of Kate's Paperie in New York City. Learn to wrap your gifts in a manner as elegant and amazing as the gifts themselves. Harvey's Counter is stocked with the bounty from a recent treasure hunting trip to Buenos Aires--"colorful vintage handmade blankets, handwoven throws, traditional belts, unique one-off jewelry pieces, and artwork by a variety of young and exciting Argentinian artists." For the occasion, Hudson Vintage has a special collection from Brooke Astor's closet. Alluding to the altruistic aspect of the event, Dawn Vennekohl, proprietor of Hudson Vintage, said of Astor, "She was the most philanthropic person. It's like her goodwill just keeps going. I think she would love it."

Who Got the Money?

This morning in Albany, the total amount of money going to each of the ten Regional Economic Development Councils was announced. The Capital Region, of which Columbia County is part, will receive a total of $82.8 million. Since then, Gossips ferreted out the document that lists the specific projects being funded, and here are the ones of particular interest to us here in Hudson.

Housing Resources of Columbia County has been awarded $100,000 in Rural Area Revitalization Projects funds for the renovation of this building on State Street.

Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) was awarded $150,000 in Rural Area Revitalization Projects funds to make repairs and improvements to the Hudson Daycare Center at 10 Warren Street.

The Olana Partnership received a $195,000 EPF grant from the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to create design documents for the stabilization and restoration of the Main Barn complex at the Olana State Historic Site.

The entire list of grant awards can be accessed here. The awards to projects in Columbia County begin on page 90.

More About the Airport

There's a meeting today at 3 p.m. at 401 State Street about the Columbia County airport and the proposal to expand the runway's safety zone. In advance of that meeting, Sam Pratt just published on his blog the financial statistics for the airport from the past ten years, taken from a report prepared by Public Works Commissioner David Robinson: "County airport is losing money, and subsidized by millions in public dollars."

Another Holiday Event for a Good Cause

On Saturday, December 14, at 6 p.m., organist Graham Farrell presents a concert to benefit the Friends of the First Presbyterian Church's effort to restore the major stained glass window in the church's north facade.

The concert, entitled "Jazz Goes to Church: A Rhythmic Rethinking of Celebrated Carols," is the fourth concert Farrell has performed to support the church's restoration efforts. For this concert, he is joined by Greg Glassman on trumpet and Peter O'Brien on drums. A donation of $15 is requested of those attending.

Photo by Dan Region

If You Can't Go Home for Christmas . . .

spend a couple of hours in Bedford Falls.

This Saturday, December 14, at 9:30 a.m., join the Friends of Fairview Cinema 3 at the movie house in Fairview Plaza for Breakfast and a Movie. Hunker down with coffee and homemade coffee cake--come in your jammies if you want--and enjoy America's favorite holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. 

A donation of $25 is suggested to benefit the Fairview Cinema 3 digital projector fund and help save our only locally owned hometown movie house (just over the border in Greenport) from going dark.

Revel in the happy ending that took place in Bedford Falls and help bring about another happy ending right here in Hudson! Click here to send an email to let us know you're coming, so we can brew enough coffee and bake enough coffee cake.

And the Winners Are . . .

The Hudson Opera House has announced the winners in the 17th Annual Winter Walk Window Decorating Contest. The winning displays, chosen by anonymous judges, are: 

Best in Show
Stair Galleries, 547-549 Warren Street

Best Christmas Tree
Fish & Game, 13 South Third Street

Best Here Today Gone Tomorrow: The Pop Up Shops of Hudson
Spruce Ridge Farm, 255 Warren Street
Cedar Farm Holiday Shop, 253 Warren Street
Cashmere in Hudson, 502 Warren Street

Best Traditional
Lili and Loo, 259 Warren Street

The Sparkliest

Shana Lee Jewelry, 315 Warren Street

The Most Elegant (Inside and Out)

Rural Residence, 316 Warren Street

Best New Year's Countdown

Vince Mulford Antiques, 419 Warren Street

Best Retro Display

George Antiques, 438 Warren Street

Best Dressed

Kosa, 443 Warren Street

Best Whistle Stop

Elijah Slocum, 504 Warren Street

Most Unusual Nativity

Ziesenitz, 532 Warren Street

Most Nonsensical

Stephen McKay and Abel Ramirez, 554 Warren Street

Best North Pole Theme

Finch, 613 Warren Street

Best Vintage Display

The Antique Underground, 711 Warren Street

Best Window with No Shop

Wolves Howling at the Winter Moon, 743 Columbia Street

tied with

Norwegian Alpine Forest, 557 Warren Street

The Sweetest

Vasilow's Confectionary, 741 Columbia Street

Honorable Mentions

Ca' Mea (Most Edible), Carousel Antiques (for the White Goddess in the Looking Glass), de Marchin (for cleverness), Santa's Village on the Town Green (for entertaining the kids . . . again)

Photo of Best in Show window (with Lisa Durfee as the Winter Night Fairy) by Walter Hill

Good Enough

In his book The Spirit of the Place, native son Samuel Shem (a.k.a. Dr. Stephen Bergman), who left Hudson for Harvard in the 1960s, characterizes the fictionalized Hudson as a "town of breakage." Others, especially those who have moved here in recent decades from other places, are wont to describe Hudson as a city with low self-esteem. Considering the recently patched pavement at the entrance to Promenade Hill, that latter description seems most apt.

There was undoubtedly good reason why the pavement needed repair, but this is the entrance to our most historic park, this is the access to some of the finest views on the Hudson River. It should be a showplace, a point of pride, a site where the City puts its best foot forward. So why must the appearance of the brick red pavement be marred by these unsightly patches of asphalt?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

Columbia County on Jeopardy!

Gossips learned from a reader that, last night, the Final Jeopardy answer was: "Although born in the United States, he was the only president who spoke English as a second language."

The correct question, of course, was: "Who was Martin Van Buren?" Apparently, at the end of the 18th century (Van Buren was born in 1782), they were still speaking Dutch in Kinderhook.

Make Your Holiday Complete

Did you know that the town of Bedford Falls, New York, which in reality wasn't in New York at all but in Hollywood, was, in 1946, one of the largest American movie sets ever created? It took two months to construct, covered four acres, included seventy-five buildings, and featured a three-block main street--a boulevard really--with twenty fully grown oak trees. And did you know that for the winter scenes a new kind of realistic snow was created?

Whether you knew any of that or not, don't miss your chance to see this groundbreaking movie, It's a Wonderful Life, on the big screen. It's a holiday tradition as old as the oldest of the post-World War II baby boomers!

On Saturday, December 14, at 9:30 a.m., the Friends of Fairview Cinema 3 present Breakfast and a Movie at Fairview Cinema 3, featuring It's a Wonderful Life. Indulge yourself in the comfort of coffee and coffee cake for breakfast (come in your jammies, if you like) and enjoy the world's greatest feel-good movie.

The suggested donation for reveling in all this holiday spirit is a mere $25 and benefits the Fairview Cinema 3 digital projector fund. Enjoy a happy ending and help make another happy ending--keeping Fairview Cinema 3 from going dark--happen! 

Click here to send an email to let us know that you're coming, so we can brew enough coffee and bake enough coffee cake.

Preservation Update: 215 Union Street

At the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on November 22, it was learned that a building permit had been issued to reconstruct what was once 900 Columbia Street on the vacant lot at 215 Union Street, in spite of the fact that a certification of appropriateness had never been granted for the reconstruction.

The information raised the question of when the building permit had been issued and by whom. It turns out that it was issued on October 24, two days after Peter Wurster retired as code enforcement officer on October 22, and four days before Craig Haigh officially took over as code enforcement officer on October 28. So who issued the building permit?

Apparently, Wurster and Haigh issued the building permit together, when Wurster was no longer officially the code enforcement officer and Haigh wasn't officially the code enforcement officer yet, in an interim when Wurster was training Haigh. Haigh defended the action, saying there was a certificate of appropriate to "relocate" the house to 215 Union Street, seeming to think that it was significant that the narrative of the certificate of appropriateness did not specify that the house had to arrive at its new location intact and not in bits and pieces. City attorney Cheryl Roberts, who had written the narrative, intervened, pointing out that Galvan Partners had applied for a certificate appropriateness to move the house to a historic district, and the certificate of appropriateness that was granted did not cover reconstructing the house in a historic district using materials salvaged from the dismantled house.

Haigh has reportedly suspended the building permit and issued a stop work order until the plans for the reconstruction have been presented to the Historic Preservation Commission, and the HPC has granted a certificate of appropriateness. 
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

New York Energy Highway Update

On Friday, December 6, the Public Service Commission extended the schedule for comments on scoping. The new deadline for submitting comments is February 21, 2o14. 

Holiday Season Reminders

The Hudson River Exchange vendor market continues today at 704 Columbia Street. Exceptional wares from amazing makers and collectors, food, and music are on offer from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and again next weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Also today, and only today, Carole Clark exhibits her Woodland Gems at "12," 318 Warren Street, from 3 to 6 p.m. Clark's work evolved from her habit of searching for edible mushrooms in area woodlands. Walking in the woods, "focusing on nature's extraordinary diversity," she discovered an astonishing array of natural materials, beautiful in their form, color, line, and texture. It is these materials--a variety of molds and mushrooms, as well as fallen tree bark, lichen, moss, and seed pods--that Clark fashions into vessels, which are not really vases but sculptures, and jewelry of all kinds--earrings, pendants, pins and brooches, and fascinators.

Dog Tales: William and a Winter Walk Past

William didn't go to Winter Walk last night. It's not a place for an old dog whose endurance isn't what it once was. But he used to go and walk the festive street with me. 

William once had a splendid pair of reindeer antlers--luxurious red plush (no dollar store gear), originally purchased for a Christmas card photo. One Winter Walk--around 2004 or 2005--I got it into my head to have William wear the antlers as we strolled together on Warren Street. Such a tolerant dog, he gamely wore the antlers, put up with the shrieks of excited children when they noticed a dog got up like a reindeer, and posed for pictures. When the antlers fell off at the top of Warren Street, he patiently allowed me to put them back on him. 

After we had walked from Third Street to Seventh Street and back again, we went to see the reindeer, who were located just below Third that year. William, his antlers still on his head, stared at the beasts with what seemed like wonderment. He appeared to make eye contact with one of them. Then he lowered his head, raised a paw, and very deliberately pushed the antlers off his head.

Could it be that, presented with the real thing, William was embarrassed by his silly headgear? Did he sense that the real reindeer thought he looked ridiculous? Those explanations attribute human emotions and sensibilities to animals. More likely, the end of William's tolerance coincided with our arrival at the reindeer pen, but who knows?

Whatever transpired, when I tried to put the antlers back on, William was having none of it. He made it clear that he had had enough--enough of the antlers and enough of Winter Walk. So the two of us headed toward Allen Street and home.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

Hudson's Finest Once-a-Year Day

The day is upon us! From 5 to 8 p.m., it's Winter Walk! To get you prepared for the event, I've asked Ellen Thurston, esteemed doyenne of Winter Walk, for permission to reprint here on Gossips her preview of tonight's festivities from Much to Do About Hudson.

I may be prejudiced, but . . . of course, the Super Pick this week is the 17th Annual Winter Walk, produced and organized by the Hudson Opera House, in cooperation with the City of Hudson and the businesses on Warren Street and beyond. 

Winter Walk is a big open house for the city, the county, and anyone else who wants to come. And come they do! Winter Walk often serves as the basis for inviting out of town guests, and for family parties and reunions of all kinds. Walking is the mandate for the night, from the top of Warren to the bottom, with forays onto Columbia and Front, and the side streets as well.

As Hudson grows and changes, so does Winter Walk. Many residents fondly remember the very first Winter Walk, when there was a dusting of snow crystals in the air. Seventeen years ago, Mayor Rick Scalera played Santa Claus, and the frivolity took place mostly in the 500 and 600 blocks. Now there is action from Eighth Street to Front Street. Talk about growth! More than 20 new businesses have opened on Warren Street and environs since last year’s Winter Walk and five pop-up shops have chosen to join them for Winter Walk and the holiday season.

On the entertainment side, there is a lot to see and do. New this year is ice sculpting in the 300 block, and aerialist Robin Lynch performing in the upstairs performance space at the Opera House. Flamenco guitarist Maria Zemantauski will be playing at Lili & Loo on the corner of Third. Below Third is the popular Eggnog Challenge, with ten eggnogs to sample. At Fifth & Warren, in front of FACE Stockholm, the lovely Santa Lucia celebration takes place on the hour and the half-hour. Live reindeer have been at Winter Walk for a number of years now. They are joined this year by live alpacas (Third & Warren) and miniature horses (Fifth & Warren). You’ll find new costumed characters and entertainment on the street, joining the old favorite, Sax-O-Claus (formerly known as Saxophone Santa), who started his career here in Hudson and is still jazzing it up after all these years. Dance is everywhere, including in the former Register-Star building. The Sternfeld Dance Studio, which started in Hudson and then moved to Greenport, is back in Hudson at 4 Park Place, and presenting The Dancing Doll. The Art Bunny is back, too, at Terenchin, 533 Warren. They just can’t stay away. And neither should you. Don’t let the weather scare you. Just bundle up and walk faster.

Click here for a complete schedule of Winter Walk events.

For fans of the BeLo 3rd Eggnog Challenge, here is the list of locations and the potables to be found at each one:

• Lili and Loo, 259 Warren Street--Just Say Nog (with or without alcohol)
• J. Damiani Gallery, 237 Warren Street--Gluhwein (with alcohol)
• Cafe Le Perche, 230 Warren Street--Maple Bourbon Eggnog (with alcohol)
• Tanzy's, 223 Warren Street--Blood Orange (with alcohol)
• Savoia, 214 Warren Street--Sicilian Kissed Eggnog (with alcohol)
• Verdigris Tea & Chocolate Bar, 135 Warren Street--Chia Vegan Eggnog (without alcohol)
• Limner Gallery, 123 Warren Street--Organic Eggnog (with or without rum) and Hot Spiced Tea
• BCB ART, 116 Warren Street--Eggnog (with alcohol) and Hot Mulled Cider
• DAVIS ORTON GALLERY, 114 Warren Street--Chocolate Eggnog from VICO (with alcohol)
• COLUMBIA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 1 North Front Street--Local Yokel Eggnog (without alcohol)

Are You Missing the Farmers' Market?

Do you wake up on Saturday morning at a loss to know where you can go to buy what you need to get through the next week?

Be discomfited no more. Today and for the next two Saturdays--December 7, 14, and 21--right up to the Winter Solstice, the holiday version of the Hudson Farmers' Market returns to the Fellowship Hall of Christ Church Episcopal, 431 Union Street. From 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., twenty-two vendors set up shop, inside and outside, offering everything you need to entertain your guests and sustain yourself as Christmas approaches.

Deciding the Garden's Fate

At last night's meeting of the Board of HCDPA (Hudson Community Development & Planning Agency), executive director Sheena Salvino began by stating the goal: to explore "the spectrum of practical options" in the controversy between the Hudson Community Garden and Columbia County Habitat for Humanity over the parcel of land at Columbia and Second streets that has been a community garden for twenty years.

After making the point that he had "made himself available" to all the parties involved, Mayor William Hallenbeck, who sits on the HCDPA board, said he was "taken back" by reading in the newspaper that the community garden had gotten a one-year lease from HCDPA. He said he, "as a board member," had not agreed to the lease. In the same vein, Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward), also a member of the HCDPA board, declared that he "almost went through the ceiling" when he read the article. He told the representatives of the garden present, "You have no standing there," and accused them of "trying to pressure this board" and "bully this board and the City."

Garden director Vanessa Baehr apologized for releasing the information to the press, explaining that she believed that, because the garden directors had been asked to sign a lease, it was HCDPA's intention to renew their lease for another year.

Not far into the meeting, Salvino's "spectrum of practical options" seemed to get narrowed down to three: the community garden gets the land; Habitat gets the land; the garden and Habitat split the land. 

There are four lots involved: 202, 204, 206, and 208 Columbia Street—the fourth lot being larger than the other three combined. Although the fence, erected by HCDPA in 1995, encloses all four lots, and the garden shed, the frost-proof pump, and the raised beds are all located there, 208 Columbia Street was never included in the land leased to the community garden. Asked if this lot, which is 75 x 120 feet, would be sufficient to build on, Brenda Adams, executive director for Habitat, acknowledged that they could build another pair of houses there but later explained that their original plan was to "engage an urban planner to determine the best build-out of the [entire] site"—from three to five houses. Asked if the garden could vacate the site, Baehr indicated that it would be asking them to "give up the most crucial part of the garden."

It was generally agreed that there were "open-ended questions" that needed to be answered before the board could make a decision. The lots need to be appraised, a process which could not commence until today. Salvino has in mind an alternative space for the garden on property connected with Bliss Towers but apparently has not yet spoken with Jeff First about the possibility. The board wants data about the families being served by the garden--Do they rely on the garden for food or is their participation "recreational"?

Hallenbeck, who was absent from the HCDPA meeting in November, suggested that the board "consider all these issues over the next month and make a decision in January." Interestingly, in January, the board, which is made up of only five people, will very likely have three new members. Cappy Pierro, the Common Council majority leader, will no longer be on the Council; Ohrine Stewart will no longer be the Common Council minority leader since there will be a Republican on the Council; and there will probably be a replacement for Lyle Shook, who resigned from the board last month. 

In response to the proposed postponement, Adams pointed out that Habitat had "an issue associated with time." It seems that they have applied for a grant, the deadline for which was sometime in September. Habitat has gotten extensions on this grant pending an "acquisition decision," but they will lose $50,000 to $60,000 in grant money "if there is no decision made now." Although audience member Timothy O'Connor suggested that this "might be perceived as Habitat trying to bully the board," it was decided that the HCDPA board hold a special meeting on Thursday, December 19, at 6 p.m., to decide the fate of the parcel.

Before the meeting moved on to other things, Baehr made reference to the City's Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2002. She pointed out that "Cultivate the Development of Community Gardens" is the third recommendation under "Plan Goal 2: Protect & Strengthen Hudson's Sense of Community." Although it's not clear that recommendations are listed in order of importance, it's curious that "Develop a Housing Strategy" is the eleventh recommendation under "Plan Goal 3: Promote Economic and Cultural Vitality," after such things as "Improve the Pedestrian Streetscape" (2), "Develop a Fully Integrated Bike & Pedestrian Trail Network" (6), and "Develop a Community Newsletter and Web Page" (9). Here is the text of the recommendation:

While many of New York State’s urban communities are struggling with strategies to attract middle-class residents, Hudson has already started to attract this group. Hudson’s continuing revitalization is likely to coincide with increases in the cost of housing (including housing values and rents). For the most part, this increase in value will be a very good thing for Hudson. However, the challenge for local decision-makers, the business community and neighborhood residents will be to ensure the benefits of Hudson’s resurgence are shared among all community members. Consequently, a coordinated, multi-tiered approach must be developed involving the City, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations such as Housing Resources.

For those who have never read Hudson's eleven-year-old visioning document and for those who haven't read it in a while, the Comprehensive Plan, available on the City website, makes very interesting reading.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK       

How Will You Know If You Don't Ask?

On Wednesday, Gossips published photographs of activity--brush being bulldozed and gravel dumped--occurring on the 4.4 waterfront acres recently discovered to be owned by the City of Hudson and asked: Who is doing this and why?

The definitive answer came yesterday from Common Council president Don Moore, who, in a comment on Gossips, provided this information: "The rail company, which took over from CSX earlier this year, is doing repairs to switches and rail." Moore also sent this photograph, taken just east of one of the photographs published by Gossips, which shows the new rails stacked along the access road next to the tracks.

News from an Urban Garden

Despite the drizzle and gloom, two colorful handpainted murals went up on the fence of the Hudson Community Garden today, and more are on the way.

The Register-Star reported today that the Hudson Community Garden has signed a lease for 2014 with HCDPA (Hudson Community Development & Planning Agency): "Community garden gets 1-year lease." This would seem to be good news, but, as garden directors Vanessa Baehr and Sarah Falkner point out, "It's the same lease we've had over the years which stipulates it can be broken at any time to be developed." Also, HCDPA executive director Sheena Salvino recently informed them that a good part of the parcel which has been developed as a garden over the past two decades is not included in the lease.

HCDPA meets tonight at 6:30 at City Hall.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

An Idea That Didn't Work

As the happy hour approaches, Gossips reminds readers that today is Repeal Day. Eighty years ago today, on December 5, 1933, at 5:32 p.m. Eastern Time, the 21st Amendment was ratified, ending Prohibition.

Catch the Christmas Spirit

Watching It's a Wonderful Life is a holiday tradition for many people, but how often do you get the chance to see the 1946 movie on the big screen in a real theater? The rare opportunity comes next Saturday, December 14, when Friends of Fairview Cinema 3 present Breakfast and a Movie at 9:30 a.m. at the theater in Fairview Plaza.

The choice of It's a Wonderful Life is especially appropriate. In the movie, the community of Bedford Falls comes together to help George Bailey in his hour of need and save Bailey Building and Loan from being destroyed by the evil Mr. Potter. Breakfast and a Movie is another opportunity for our community to come together to help Bruce Mitchinson raise the money needed to buy digital projectors and keep Fairview Cinema 3 from going dark. 

Breakfast--coffee cake and coffee--will be served starting at 9:30, and the movie will begin soon after. A $25 donation is requested for the Fairview Cinema Projector Fund. Reservations are requested, too--not because seating is limited but because we need to know how much coffee to brew and how much coffee cake to bake. Click here to send an email and let us know you're coming.

On December 14, enjoy a happy ending and help make another one happen!

Untangling the Power Lines

Adam Clayton has an overview of the sometimes baffling power line expansion looming in our future in today's Register-Star: "PSC plans to hear power line concerns before moving ahead." The article clarifies that expanding the power line is part of Governor Cuomo's proposed "New York Energy Highway." There are four different energy suppliers presenting four different proposals to achieve this. They are New York Transco, a collaboration of transmission owners that includes National Grid; North American Transmission; Boundless Energy; and NextEra. 

Last week, a reader provided the URLs to the proposals from these groups in a comment on Gossips. For our readers' reference, Gossips republishes them as hyperlinks here:

• New York Transco
• North American Transmission 
• Boundless Energy
• NextEra

Bloom Where You're Planted

John Mason reports today in the Register-Star that the board of the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) has decided to write off as a bad debt the $13,000 in restitution still owed to the city agency by Quintin Cross: "Agency writes off $13K Cross restitution." In 2007, Cross, then a Second Ward alderman and Common Council majority leader, who sat on the boards of HDC (Hudson Development Corporation) and HCDPA (Hudson Community Development & Planning Agency), was convicted of using city credit cards for personal expenses and embezzling public funds. As part of his sentence, Cross was ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution. Of the amount, $13,000 remains unpaid. Cross's attorney maintains that Cross has served his time and is therefore not required to pay the remaining $13,000.

Eyesore or Historic Artifact?

NOTE: This post was originally published a week ago.
Most communities eliminated their air raid sirens decades ago, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Cold War. Not so Hudson and Columbia County. The faded yellow air raid siren, probably no longer functional, is still mounted on the parapet of the courthouse, looking singularly out of place on the 1907 Beaux Arts building.

The construction going on at the courthouse and the elimination of the foundation shrubbery have the effect of throwing the air raid siren into stark relief against the sky, inspiring talk of removing the obsolete appliance. There is some thought, however, that the air raid siren might be considered a historic artifact, a valued relic of the Cold War. 

So Gossips is conducting a poll to gather readers' opinions of the air raid siren. Is it an eyesore that should be removed? Or is it a historic artifact that should be preserved? Look for the poll at the right and share your opinion.

The poll is now closed. Here are the results.

Hudson River Exchange Returns

The Hudson River Exchange debuted on what had to have been the hottest weekend of the summer, but despite the oppressive heat, it was a tremendous success. Since then the aggregation of local makers and collectors has returned to do a weekend pop-up shop at Sorted Creative on Warren Street in October and a gift booth at Basilica Farm & Flea last weekend. 

Now the Hudson River Exchange is getting ready to open a pop-up vendor market at 704 Columbia Street, on the north side of the Public Square (a.k.a. Seventh Street Park). The Winter Market will open its doors at 2 p.m. this Saturday--three hours in advance of the start of Winter Walk--and will stay open throughout the event, offering the wares of amazing vendors, music, and food until 8 p.m. 

The Winter Market will be open again on Sunday, December 8, from 11 am. to 5 p.m., and on the following weekend, December 14 and 15, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, Saturday and Sunday. 

Mysterious Activity on the Waterfront

For almost the entire first half of 2013, the City of Hudson negotiated with Holcim to get ownership of a parcel of land--slightly less than 10 acres--south of the port. The land transfer was necessary, we were given to believe, if the City was to get state and federal approval of its LWRP (Local Waterfront Revitalization Program). The City seemed amenable to making a fifty-year commitment in order to achieve this end, but it turned out that Holcim was unwilling to sign the agreement that they themselves had crafted.

In June, the Valley Alliance made public a surprising discovery: 4.4 acres of the sought-after land already belonged to the City. Back in 1981, the City had done a land swap with Holcim, then St. Lawrence Cement, and because it was--then as now--illegal for the City to divest itself of waterfront land, the transaction that transferred the ownership of that parcel in 1981 was null and void. The City still owned the 4.4 acres.

The City was skeptical about the discovery and spent months vetting the Valley Alliance's research. Finally, on October 15, Common Council president Don Moore announced, in an offhand way at the beginning of a Council meeting, that the City's investigations had determined that the Valley Alliance was right. Of the 9.96 acres the City was negotiating with Holcim to acquire, 4.4 acres already belonged to the City.  

Since October, the ramifications of this discovery--for the proposed land transfer with Holcim or for the LWRP--have never been discussed in a public meeting, but yesterday a Gossips reader reported that something is happening on that land. Brush has been bulldozed, and gravel is being laid down. 

The activity is going on in the area that presumably is still owned by the City of Hudson. The question is: Who is doing this and why?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

The map showing the location of the 4.4 acres was created by the Valley Alliance. This map was also used to show the location of the current activity.

Passing the Budget

Two days before Thanksgiving, the Common Council held a special meeting to vote on the 2014 city budget. Of the eleven members of the Common Council, only five showed up--Council President Don Moore and aldermen "Doc" Donahue (Fifth Ward), John Friedman (Third Ward), Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward), and Abdus Miah (Second Ward). To make a quorum, Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward) had to be summoned from his home in Taghkanic, and those assembled had to wait for him to get there. John Mason has the story in today's Register-Star: "Budget cuts, low mandate hikes keep city taxes down."  

Some significant news revealed in the article, which seems not to have been announced anywhere but on her Facebook page, is that Cheryl Kaszluga is the new sole assessor for the City of Hudson. She was appointed by Mayor Hallenbeck and sworn in on November 22.

Of Particular Interest

Sam Pratt reports on his blog this evening that the "driver" of the Metro-North train that derailed yesterday near Spuyten Duyvil lives in Germantown: "Engineer of derailed Metro-North train is a local resident."

A Garden in Winter

According to the calendar on the City of Hudson website, the Hudson Community Development & Planning Agency (HCDPA) is meeting on Thursday, December 5, at 6:30 p.m. At their last meeting, on November 7, the Hudson Community Garden, at Columbia and Second streets, was the topic of impassioned discussion. 

The Hudson Community Garden has been in its current location for twenty years, evolving and developing a unique ecosystem. Forty families have plots in the garden and grow a significant amount of their food there. Because, back in 2009, long term mayor Rick Scalera identified the lots at the corner of Second and Warren, which were acquired by the City in the 1970s, as one of three areas where Habitat for Humanity could build, it is Habitat's expectation that they can uproot the garden and build from three to five more of their passive solar houses there, pursuing their "campaign and commitment to build out the street."

This morning, as the meeting approaches that could possibly decide the fate of the community garden, the garden directors, Sarah Falkner and Vanessa Baehr, announced on the community garden's Facebook page a project designed to be visible evidence of the community's support for the garden. They have invited supporters and well-wishers to collaborate in creating a mural on a large banner to be hung on the garden's fences through the winter. In their words, "This will bring color and love to the corner this winter and will show the board of HCDPA that we use the garden as a means to come together even after the harvest has ended." The theme of the mural is nature, food, and community, and people are invited to show what the garden means to them by painting a picture, writing their thoughts or a poem, or just adding their hand print.

The work on the mural started this afternoon and is still going on--until 6 p.m.--at Wellness Collective, 514 Warren Street. Tomorrow--Tuesday, December 3--it will continue in the Children's Room of the Hudson Area Library at 400 State Street from 3 to 6 p.m. On Wednesday, December 4, there are two sites where you can give your visible support: at Sketch, 701 Warren Street, from 2 to 6 p.m., and at the Hudson Youth Center, 18 South Third Street, from 3 to 5 p.m. The plan is to hang the mural on Thursday morning prior to the HCDPA meeting, which takes place at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Of Interest

On his blog, Preservation in Action, preservation consultant Ward Hamilton has published a post about the challenges and the importance of local preservation ordinances, locally designated historic districts, and local historic preservation commissions, illustrating his text with photographs (used with permission) of buildings in Hudson found on The Gossips of Rivertown: "'Nobody is telling me what color I can paint my house!'" An amendment is needed to Hamilton's photo credits. The picture of Hudson Upper Depot as it is today is the work of international photographer Lynn Davis and was published on Gossips with her permission.

A Curious Way to Indicate Location

The city clock has been located in the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church for more than two hundred years. A footnote in Franklin Ellis's History of Columbia County explains:

In 1801 (August 8) the council resolved "that Mr. Pratt and Reuben Folger be a committee to procure a suitable clock, with three dials, to be placed in the steeple of the Presbyterian meeting-house, and that they be authorized to procure a sum not exceeding $200 on loan for that purpose, to be applied with the sum already subscribed and now in the Bank for that purpose." That committee reported, Oct. 9, 1802, that they had placed the clock in the steeple, agreeably to directions. The cost of the clock and dials was $465.28.

The meeting house where the first city clock was installed stood at Partition and Second streets. In 1837, when the church moved to its new building at Warren and Fourth streets, the clock moved with it.

    

The tradition of the city clock being housed in the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church continues to this day. Earlier this year, the Friends of the First Presbyterian Church celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Seth Thomas clock that now tolls the hours from the church's soaring steeple. The fact that in 1913 there was a brand-new city clock may account for the peculiar way the proprietor of E. A. Dowling's Book Store describes the location of his shop in this ad, which appeared in the Hudson Evening Register in early December 1913.

    

The "Town Clock" not the imposing church building is cited as the landmark that will help holiday shoppers find their way to the store. 

This historic photograph shows the building in which E. A. Dowling's Book Store, "First door below Town Clock," was located. Today that spot taken up by a municipal parking lot.

Historic photographs from Historic Hudson's Rowles Studio Collection

COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

It Was Ever Thus

We tend to think of the pressure to do one's Christmas shopping early as a fairly recent phenomenon, but it seems it's been going on for quite a while. This reminder, featuring Santa Claus looking sternly admonishing, appeared in the Hudson Evening Register on November 25, 1913--two days before Thanksgiving a hundred years ago.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

On Black Friday, the fairy lights in the trees on Warren Street sparkled for the first time this season (or at least they were noticed for the first time by this observer).

Earlier on Friday, the trees at Second and Warren streets were "yarn bombed" by a group of knitters who gather regularly at Verdigris Tea & Chocolate Bar to knit. They transformed one of the trees into Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and others into red and white striped candy canes. John Mason reported on the crafty escapade in Saturday's Register-Star: "Second and Warren stunned by yarn bombers."

Some shop windows are already decorated for the holidays--for example, the icily elegant polar fantasy created in the windows at Finch. Others will be decked out this week as Hudson's new proprietors prepare for Winter Walk, the Hudson Opera House's festive start of the holiday season, coming up on Saturday night.

For Hudsonians looking to decorate their domiciles for the holidays, a pop-up shop has appeared, in the versatile little space we know and love in the warmer months as LICK, providing all the greenery and natural things needed to festoon the home--inside and out.

Kate and Marilyn of Cedar Farm have filled the tiny space at 253 Warren Street with all manner of natural holiday ornamentation--wreaths lush green or twiggy, bittersweet and other woody things to stuff into urns, door hangings, mantel displays, amaryllis, paper whites. The shop, which opened for business on Friday, will be open today from noon until 6 and next weekend--Thursday through Sunday--as well.