What's Happening Here?

Gossips recently discovered that 356 Union Street was the home of prominent Hudson physician Dr. H. Lyle Smith. Although my research hasn't confirmed it yet, it is very likely that Smith was the original owner of the house. What is known is that he was living in the house in 1873 and continued living there until 1900, when he sold the house to Delbert Dinehart. 

Today, the house is one of the many buildings in Hudson owned by the Galvan Foundation and one of several now being prepared for occupancy. Gossips reported about the house in March, when the slate on the mansard roof was covered up with blue plastic tarps. Then, although it was feared the original slate had been removed, we were assured that the slate was simply being covered up to protect it while work was done on the roof. It's interesting to note that back in 2012 when this project came before the Historic Preservation Commission, Ward Hamilton, then employed by Galvan, said the slate would have to be removed in order to repair the roof flashing.  

Recently, the plastic tarps have been removed to reveal gray slate on the mansard roof that bears little resemblance to the gray slate that was there originally, although admittedly it's hard to see because of the scaffolding.

But even though the roof is obscured by the scaffolding, it appears that the rosette detail of the roof has not been reproduced.  

This project does not have a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission. If memory serves (I can find no confirmation in the minutes of the HPC), the project was presented informally to the HPC by Jason O'Toole a few months ago. What was proposed then was to replace the original clapboard on the house, revealed in 2012 when the asbestos siding was removed, with Hardiplank. Kate Johns, architect member of the HPC, asked the applicant to consider using cedar on the front of the house and Hardiplank only on the less visible sides and back. The HPC also stressed, as it had in 2012, the importance of retaining the pattern of the slate on the mansard roof, with the decorative rosettes. A formal application for a certificate of appropriateness was never made, and a certificate of appropriateness never granted, yet work on the roof appears to have moved forward.
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Local Law No. 5 and the Planning Board

At its July meeting, the Common Council referred Proposed Local Law No. 5 to the Planning Board for a recommendation. This law would amend the zoning code for R2 and R2H districts to allow a nonconforming use "that has been established and has operated for a period of more than twenty years" (specifically Stewart's and Scali's) to double the size of their building and expand onto adjacent property. Last night, the Planning Board began its discussion of the proposed law.

The discussion began with Planning Board member Laura Margolis saying she didn't want to make a recommendation without understanding the issue better. Mitch Khosrova, counsel to the Planning Board, pointed out that the Planning Board had already opined on this issue when they were asked to make a recommendation on the Green Street Overlay District proposed by Stewart's. Khosrova reminded the members of the board that their opinion had been that "tackling zoning issues piecemeal is not the way to go," and they wanted the City to revise the City's comprehensive plan and undertake comprehensive zoning revision.

During the course of the discussion, board member Betsy Gramkow commented, "I don't like nonconforming uses, and this is making it even larger." Walter Chatham, chair of the Planning Board, expressed the opinion that what was proposed "is not spot zoning, but it approaches spot zoning." Chatham also mused, "If the city had some design leverage," and Gramkow spoke of "standards [presumably design standards] the community can use."

Repeated reference was made to a letter the Planning Board had received the previous day from Ken Dow, who served as city attorney in Mayor Tiffany Martin's administration. Gossips was able to get a copy of the six-page letter last night. Earlier today, it was made available on the city website. Dow introduces his critique with this statement: "To begin, I think the proposed law has several serious problems. Some are mainly technical, and some are substantive that go to the very essence of the purpose of zoning."

Dow first discourses on "the ambiguities and uncertain effects of the law." He then explains what he considers the substantive problems: (1) re-designating the currently existing non-conforming uses as conditional uses; (2) allowing the expansion of non-conforming uses and continuing to designate them as non-conforming; (3) discrimination and inequitable granting of rights to use certain parcels. In his discussion of discrimination and inquity, Dow cites an objection that Michael LeSawyer made (and Gossips reported) at the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, July 17. The following is quoted from Dow's letter:

A post on Gossips of Rivertown on July 17, 2018, contained the following passage: “Michael LeSawyer, whose house is situated midway between Stewart's and Scali's, the ‘two historic nonconforming uses’ that would benefit from the zoning amendment, complained about the inequity of the amendment: ‘Stewart's can do anything they want, Scali's can do anything they want, but I can't.’” I think Mr. LeSawyer is spot on. If a parcel next to Scali’s can be used for restaurant purposes, it should be permissible for anyone to use it for such purpose, not just Scali’s. If a parcel next to Stewart’s can be used for convenience store purposes, it should be permissible for anyone to use it for such purpose, not just [Stewart's]. Otherwise, the law is not zoning the land; it is giving personal grants of rights to use land.

Dow's  conclusion is stated in these three paragraphs. (The boldface italic in the third paragraph is his). 

While the apparent discriminatory effect of this proposed law and its selective granting of rights based upon one’s use and ownership of a different parcel is problematic, the concerns in that regard pale in comparison to those arising from the central purpose and thrust of this proposed law. To return to the most important point, at its core and in light of the fundamental principles of zoning, the proposal to allow and even “encourage” the continuation and expansion of non-conforming uses—especially onto additional parcels—is extraordinarily ill-conceived. 

It is my view that this proposed law needs important revisions if it is to be enacted. In addition to making decisions on, and clarifying, the ambiguities discussed above, the “Legislative Findings” should be re-written to remove any statement of purpose to encourage, continue, or expand existing non-conforming uses. That such a statement is currently in the law is mind-boggling. If, in fact, the effect of the law would be to convert current non-conforming uses to conditional uses, then it is not even correct to say that the law is promoting the continuation or expansion of non-conforming uses; it is instead finding that circumstances have made the subject uses appropriate for their locations and re-designating them as conditional uses. 

The problems of this proposed law can perhaps be mitigated to some degree if the Comprehensive Plan and other factual grounds support re-classifying the specific nonconforming uses at issue as conditional uses and the text of the law is revised to clearly do so. But to continue to identify the uses at issue here as “non-conforming uses” and to then promote their expansion—especially onto a new and separate parcel—is, in my opinion, an extremely misguided course of action that is both in direct conflict with the fundamental purposes of zoning and may also open the door to unintended adverse consequences for the City. To enact a law that would do so, as the current text appears to do, would be—to put it mildly—a seriously unwise step by the City.

In the end, the members of the Planning Board decided they needed more time to digest the content of Dow's letter, and because, as Khosrova observed, "the document they got [i.e., Proposed Local Law No. 5] doesn't explain the thinking behind it," they decided to invite John Rosenthal, who chairs the Common Council Legal Committee, to come to the next Planning Board meeting to explain the thinking.

At one point, toward the end of the meeting, when the floor was opened to the public, Chatham asked LeSawyer what his position on Stewart's expansion was. LeSawyer replied: "I don't think it's necessary. It's what Stewart's is doing, and we just happen to be Store #88. . . . It's not really a Hudson thing. What's proposed is a template being imposed on the Hudson store." LeSawyer's assessment is borne out by this statement, which is the lede in an article that appeared on June 6 in the Albany Business Journal reporting that Stewart's had just acquired a former restaurant property in the Town of Malta: "Acquisition comes as convenience store chain invests up to $50 million to expand, renovate and add new stores in New York and Vermont." The following, quoted from an article that appeared in the Albany Business Review in February, provides more information about the business plan that is compelling Stewart's expansion here:

Three years ago, the fourth-generation company started investing close to $50 million a year to renovate or completely rebuild stores to expand the fastest-growing segment of its business--food-to-go. Soups, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and a growing number of drinks are the cornerstone of store remodels for a company whose leadership is determined never to stray too far from its dairy image.

The focus on food-to-go prompted Stewart's to start building larger stores as well. The average shop was about 2,500 square feet a few years ago. Today, new stores are closer to 3,700 square feet, depending on the location.

I was curious to know if the Stewart's at the corner of Green Street and Fairview Avenue really was Store #88, or if LeSawyer had just pulled the number out of thin air, so I checked. It was the latter. The Stewart's in Hudson is actually Store #209. 
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Gathering at Oakdale Lake

Thursday's picnic at Oakdale Lake, hosted by Friends of Hudson Youth and Friends of Oakdale Lake, attracted a crowd that reflected Hudson's richly diverse community to play in the water, enjoy hotdogs and ice cream, and show their recognition of Oakdale Lake as the valuable community resource and their support of its future. Thanks to the efforts of Tamar Adler, founder of Friends of Oakdale Lake, and the generosity of many, Oakland Lake and its environs are to be the subject of a design study by the Hudson Valley Initiative of the Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning at Columbia University. On Thursday, people were enjoying the lake as it is and exploring its potential.

Photo: Don Moore

Photo: Don Moore

Photo: Don Moore

Fourth Ward alderman Rich Volo and Mayor Rick Rector

Photo: Don Moore

Photo: Don Moore

Tamar Adler and her son, who inspired her advocacy for Oakdale Lake

WGXC was broadcasting the Thursday Afternoon Show, hosted by Ellen Thurston and Tom DePietro, live from the picnic. You can hear the broadcast by clicking here.  
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No Truck Detour Through Hudson

This afternoon, Mayor Rick Rector and Assembymember Didi Barrett released the following statement:

We are pleased to announce that after conversations with both of our offices, NYDOT has agreed to end their plans for a truck detour through Hudson during the construction of the roundabout at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. The plan is to enlarge the proposed turnaround to negate the need for any diversion of truck traffic and any detour plans.

We thank DOT for their willingness to work with local officials to find the least disruptive solution for everyone who visits, works, and lives in Hudson.

And we thank our mayor and our assemblymember for standing up for Hudson and making this happen.
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The Transformation of a Mansion

Recently, new windows were installed at 886 Columbia Street, in the now closed-in porch and elsewhere in the house. It appears that the tile roof is also being replaced, and we know that the brick is going to be re-glazed in the fashionable color of the moment: gray.

The transformation of the house once known as the Dinehart mansion, the palatial residence of Delbert Dinehart, inspired me to want to find a picture of the house as it was meant to be. My search took me to my very favorite source, Fulton History, and after two searches, using different key words, I found this picture, which shows the house in 1950, forty years after it was built, when the man for whom it was built, Delbert Dinehart, had been its only owner.

The picture accompanied the notice of the auction of the house which was to take place on Friday, August 11, 1950. The notice includes this description:

Two and one-half story brick building on marble faced concrete foundation, tile roof, copper leaders, brass plumbing, oil heat.

Fourteen rooms and four baths, hardwood flooring. Tiled baths. Fireplace. Some gold leafed ceilings. Spacious glass enclosed front porch.

Separate two-story brick garage with turntable and elevator. Separate hot water heating system.

Approximately two acres of land with beautiful lawn, shade trees, shrubbery and garden. Many other features.

Along the way to finding this picture, I learned a few things about Delbert Dinehart and the house at 886 Columbia Street. Dinehart moved to Hudson from Copake in 1900, when he bought 356 Union Street--a house now owned by the Galvan Foundation--from Dr. H. Lyle Smith. It was Dinehart who built the large barn behind the house.

While in his twenties, Dinehart had established Empire Farms in Copake, "one of the most successful breeding establishments in the State," where he raised trotters and pacers for harness racing. A remembrance that appeared in the Chatham Courier soon after his death in 1948 called him "one of Columbia County's most famous sportsmen" and recalled that "from his stables issued a steady stream of top flight trotters and pacers whose names are still remembered today by local devotees of harness racing."

Dinehart was a man of finance. He was involved with the management of a few financial institutions in Hudson. Most notably, he was the president of Hudson River Trust Company, the bank that was located in the building that is now City Hall. He was also an early "automobilist," being among the first in Columbia County to own an automobile. In February 1904, the Columbia Republican reported that he had ordered "the latest model wheel-steering tonneau auto-car." In May 1919, the same newspaper, in reporting that Daniel Farrell had been engaged as chauffeur by Dinehart, noted: "In addition to his large Parkard, Mr. Dinehart has purchased a Dodge car for runabout town use." In December 1921, the Columbia Republican reported that the Holbrook Company, which in August of that year had opened its new plant on Union Turnpike, "has just completed its first body on a Hudson car, that of Delbert Dinehart." The article goes on to say: "The body, which is probably one of the most beautiful and attractive ones seen here in some time, is of maroon set off with black trimmings."

The Columbia Republican often included items about Dinehart's grand new house on Columbia Street as it was being built. In May 1910, the Republican predicted that Delbert Dinehart "will have the finest residence and grounds in Hudson" and reported that "architect Michael O'Connor is now at work on the plans." O'Connor, of course, was a prolific Hudson architect who designed many public buildings (the original Firemen's Home, Allen Street School, Sixth Street School are examples) and private homes (8 Willard Place, 39 West Court, 339 Allen Street among them). In October 1910, the Republican announced: "The frame work is up for the new garage and stable Delbert is having built on his Columbia street property. The new mansion is having the roof put on and will be enclosed before winter sets in." In April 1911, the Hudson Register reported: "D. W. Alcott, a former Hudson boy, whose home is now in Weekawken, N.J., is in town. He is one of several men sent here by a New York firm which makes a specialty of hard wood floors to lay the parquette floors in the new Dinehart mansion on Academy hill." In July 1911, the Columbia Republican included this item, with the head "Fine Stretch of Sidewalk":

The nicest and longest stretch of cement sidewalk in the city is in front of the Dinehart mansion on Columbia street. Landscape gardeners are fixing up the grounds about this place and will make it one of the beauty spots of Hudson.    

In 1919, when reporter Gertrude Blunt flew in an airplane over the city, she reported in the Columbia Republican that the only residence she could recognize from the air was the Dinehart mansion.

What we know of Delbert Dinehart suggests that he was fond of gold and yellow. The barns at Empire Farms, we learn from the Chatham Courier remembrance, were painted yellow. He chose to have his house built with yellow brick. We learn from the description of the house when it was being auctioned in 1950 that there were some gold leafed ceilings. The inventory of the contents of the house, which were sold at auction soon after his death in 1948, not only attests to the opulence of the house but also betrays a fondness for gold. Here are some examples:

Exquisite eight-piece gold leaf parlor suite with golden upholstery consisting of curio cabinet, 2 arm chairs, rocker, 2 straight chairs, love seat, center table, . . . gold colored candelabra, . . . 4 pairs golden drapes, 2 pairs golden portiers, beautiful parlor mantel mirror in golden frame, . . . Limoges dinner set, 2 grandfathers clocks, . . . dinner chimes, . . . 4 wall tapestries, . . . 2 pr plush olive portiers, . . . gold colored corner chair, gold colored odd chair and stand, . . . two porch gliders, fourteen pieces porch furniture, like new, . . . green plush portiers, maroon plush portiers. . . .  

(Portiers, or portieres, are drapes hung in doorways.)

454 Warren Street in the 1930s
Photo by Walker Evans

There is no evidence of how successful the auction of 1948 was, and Gossips hasn't discovered who bought the house when it was auctioned in 1950. We do know that in 1958 the house was purchased by the Rip Van Winkle Foundation to expand its clinic. (The original clinic had been operated in another old grand house, the home of Dr. Henry Galster at 454 Warren Street, now the location of Nolita). The clinic closed its doors in the summer of 1964, "doomed by a $2 million deficit." When the Rip Van Winkle Clinic closed, the Dinehart mansion became McDonald's Funeral Home, which had previously been located at 432 Warren Street.
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Turn Your Radios On

This morning, Alan Chartock spoke with Democratic candidate for Congress in NY19, Antonio Delgado, on the Congressional Corner. Listen by clicking here.

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Thankful for What We Take for Granted

MICROPOLITAN DIARY

Dear Diary,

I missed the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965, then still coddled and cosseted in my hometown on the shores of Lake Michigan, but I was in New York City for the blackout of 1977. What I remember best of that experience--forget the looting and mayhem--was the elation and general sense of celebration that prevailed when the power was finally restored. I feel that same elation now whenever the power is restored, no matter how brief the outage.

This evening, as I reset the clocks on the stove and the microwave, after exactly two hours and ten minutes of being without power, I was overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for electricity and the things we take for granted that we are dependent on it. When the power went out this afternoon, my life ground to a halt--mostly because there was no internet connection. So, after the rain had stopped, Joey and I took to the car, which has air conditioning and a radio, and drove around town to assess the extent of the outage and wait things out. (In the process, in the cool after the rain, we went to the cemetery for our evening walk).

My sincere gratitude to everyone who worked, in whatever capacity, to restore what we all take for granted.

"Micropolitan Diary" is Gossips' homage to and blatant imitation of "Metropolitan Diary" in the New York Times. The term micropolitan was coined (by Gossips) because Hudson is a metropolis in microcosm.
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The Effects of the Storm

The thunderstorm earlier today left Gossips Central and much of the southwestern edge of Hudson without power for more than two hours, but its effect on Eighth Street was decidedly more dramatic. A Gossips reader provided these pictures.

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Find Your New Best Friend

The Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA has announced that starting on Monday, August 13, all dog adoption fees will be waived for the remainder of August and all of September. The press release making this announcement explains: "The shelter has recently been overcome by dozens of stray dogs from Columbia and Greene counties. Unfortunately, the owners are not redeeming the dogs, and they are now abandoned at the shelter, awaiting new, caring homes."

One such dog is this sweetie, with an irresistible smile.

According to the information available on the CGHS website, this senior lady (she's nine years old) was picked up as a stray, abandoned by her owners who "just did not want her anymore." That seems so incredible (not be mention enraging and heartbreaking), especially since the shelter reports she has a sweet disposition, absolutely loves affection, always welcomes you with a smile, and just wants to be by your side.

If you've been thinking about adopting a dog, now may be the perfect time to do it. You can get preapproved for adoption at the CGHS website. If you're preapproved, when you go to the shelter and meet the dog who captures your heart, you won't have to wait to bring your new best friend home. 

For more information about adopting, you can email info@cghs.org or call (518) 828-6044.
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Justice for Juveniles

If you missed Alexandra Cox talking about her book Trapped in a Vice and the history of juvenile justice and incarceration in New York, you haven't missed out altogether. Dan Udell was there, and his video of the event can be viewed here.
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The Great War: August 6, 1918

Yesterday, the Youth Department announced on Facebook at the field trip to Sylvia Center, a.k.a. Katchkie Farm, scheduled for today was being postponed until Friday because of the heat advisory. These days there are many programs--at the Youth Department, at Kite's Nest, and in the schools--intended to introduce kids to growing food. A hundred years, Emily Wurster supervised a similar program to engage children in creating and maintaining a war garden at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Parkwood Boulevard, now the location of the parking lot for Spruce Salon, formerly Canape Brothers Chrysler. The story of the war garden was reported in the Columbia Republican on August 6, 1918.

GARDEN SONG

"Johnnie, get your hoe, get your hoe, get your hoe,

Mary, dig your row, dig your row, dig your row,

Down to business, girls and boys,

Learn to know the garden's joys.

Uncle Sam's in need, pull the weed, plant the seed,

While the sunbeams lurk do not shirk, get to work,

All the lads must spade the ground,

All the girls must hustle round.

Chorus.

"Over there, over there,

Send the word, send the word, over there,

That the lads are hoeing, the lads are hoeing,

The girls are showing everywhere,

Each a garden to prepare.

Do you bit so that we all can share

With our brave boys, with all our brave boys,

Who will not come back till it's over, over there."

And when it's shouted out by twenty-six lusty American voices, the "Garden Song" sounds mighty good to hear. Better yet to see are the possessors of the twenty-six lusty voices as they work diligently with hoe and spade and spraying implements in the potato lots, the corn and bean patches, and among the squashes, beets, carrots and radishes with which their splendid garden abounds.

Twice a week do the twenty-six--or most of them--repair to the school gardens, located on the corner of Fairview avenue and Parkwood boulevard, where they are busily engaged in backing up Uncle Sam with a war garden which is a credit to them and to their able and efficient supervisor, Miss Emily L. Wurster.

The gardens were started on the fifteenth of June and despite the drouth and extremely unfavorable weather conditions, they are doing very well. Fourteen kinds of vegetables are raised, including four lots of potatoes and all are showing the results of the good care given them.

The youngsters range in age from 9 to 13 years and in their enjoyment of their work, they are proving themselves enthusiastic little patriots. If all this year's war gardeners would be as diligent in the care of their products, especially in spraying them to guard against bugs and blight, which are just now so prevalent, a great deal of good food and hard labor would be saved.

The rows of vegetables are very good to look at as they are kept free from weeds and in good condition. Two of the children have made perfect attendance since the gardens were started. They are John Zimbo and Mary Patten, while four others, Julia Papp, Sophie Butsky, Mary Sobin, and Jennie Ferrazzi have missed only one day. The rest have been more or less punctual and only a few have been dilatory. Miss Wurster, the supervisor, sees to it that all are kept busy while they are there and the result of her discipline and good advice is very evident.

The one thing that has been lacking this year and which is hoped will be more general next year is the co-operation of the parents and grown-ups in general. This work is very good for the youngsters. It gives them plenty of fresh air and good exercise, keeps them out of mischief and teaches them to know and love nature, besides providing good, fresh vegetables for home use. Next year it is hoped that the number of children will be doubled and more interest and co-operation will be shown on the part of their parents and grown friends.

The Children's Public Victory Garden, we learn from 1919 issues of the Columbia Republican, was a project of the Municipal Welfare Department of the Woman's Club, in cooperation with the Board of Education. In her report to the Woman's Club after the 1919 gardening season, Emily Wurster again expressed the hope that "more enthusiasm and co-operation will be shown by parents and grown-ups in general" and then offered this observation: "Usually in the early spring the enthusiasm runs high and everyone wants to get out of doors and plant, whether it be a few flowers or a small truck garden. This generally keeps up until the summer heat comes on and then the over-enthusiastic gardeners fail to see the importance of keeping up the good work and begin to give up and drop out."  

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Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

It's going to be a fairly quiet week in Hudson, during the dog days of summer, but there are a few meetings you may want to venture into the heat to attend.

• On Tuesday, August 7, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6 p.m. There will be a report on the current status of the street tree inventory being conducted by CAC members and volunteers. Also at the meeting, the CAC will continue its review of draft maps for the Natural Resources and Open Space Inventory. The meeting takes place at City Hall.
• On Thursday, August 9, the Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. On the agenda is the site plan review of the lot line adjustment requested for 248 and 250 Columbia Street--a project that is also currently before the Zoning Board of Appeals. The agenda also indicates that the board will be discussing the Common Council request for a recommendation on proposed Local Law No. 5, which would "amend the zoning law with regard to conditional uses in the R2 and R2H zoning districts." This is the zoning amendment that would permit Stewart's and also Scali's to expand into adjacent lots. The meeting takes place at City Hall.

• On Friday, August 10, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10 a.m. at City Hall. No agenda is available for this meeting but it is likely that the proposal to build a new residential structure on Partition Street behind 17-19 Union Street will be among the projects to be reviewed.

Although it is not a meeting, there is one more thing that should be on your calendar for this week: the First Annual Oakdale Lake Picnic, hosted by Friends of Hudson Youth and Friends of Oakdale Lake.

The picnic takes place, of course, at Oakdale Lake from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 9. There will be hotdogs, homemade pickles, ice cream, and a preview of an exhibition called "Oakdale Past and Future" developed by the Hudson Area Library.

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Objection to the Truck Detour

Gossips just received the following statement from Assemblymember Didi Barrett:

Today, New York State DOT erected signs throughout Hudson pointing to a truck detour through the city resulting from construction of a roundabout just east of the Rip Van Winkle bridge. Neither my office nor local officials were given advance notice of this detour or the signs. My office immediately reached out to DOT and they have agreed to meet with us and City of Hudson officials this week to fully discuss options for the route.

Today's news reminds us, once again, that truck traffic through Hudson is a daily problem for everyone who lives and works here. Even after six years of meetings and conversations with NYSDOT and local officials on my part, the truck route remains an intransigent problem that threatens pedestrian safety, shakes the foundations of Hudson's historic structures and mars the flow of life in our compact city. I will continue to oppose the detour, as well as the permanent route. 

Later Today at the Library

At 6 p.m. today, Alexandra Cox will be at the Hudson Area Library to talk about her newly released book Trapped in a Vice: The Consequences of Confinement for Young People. The book explores the explores the lives of young people and adults in the criminal justice system, revealing the ways they struggle to manage the expectation of the system, and examines the consequences of a juvenile justice system that is aimed at promoting change in the lives of young people but relies on tools and strategies that enmesh them in the system. 

The talk is presented by the Hudson Area Library in collaboration with the Prison Public Memory Project. The library is located at 51 North Fifth Street.
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Gobsmacked by the Truck Detour

As Gossips reported yesterday, during the construction of the roundabout at the intersection of Route 9G and Route 23, trucks coming north on Route 9G and wanting to cross the Rip Van Winkle Bridge will be detoured through Hudson--across the city on Third Street, up Columbia Street to Park Place, over Park Place to Warren Street, up Warren Street to Worth Avenue, and on to Route 9 where, at the intersection with Route 23, they will head west to the bridge. It's an astounding detour, nine and a half miles long, apparently necessitated by the fear that "the work zone area will not be wide enough for trucks to pass"--no matter that our streets are barely wide enough for trucks to pass.

With the prospect of more trucks rumbling through our streets and navigating the tight turns around the public square and onto upper Warren Street, I wondered if the City of Hudson had ever been consulted before this detour was decided on. Interestingly, Hudson seems to have been left out of the conversation. On March 23, after the public information meeting about the roundabout, Richard Moody reported in the Register-Star:

The state contacted several local officials and stakeholders, who gave their approval to the project, including officials from Olana and the Thomas Cole historic sites, Greene County Legislature Chairman Kevin Lewis, Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley, Greenport Town Supervisor Kathleen Eldridge, state Sen. George Amedore Jr., R-46, and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-106.

Neither the mayor of Hudson nor any other city official is mentioned among the "several local officials and stakeholders," but it is doubtful that the scope of the project as it was presented to the local officials and stakeholders for approval back in March included the plan to detour trucks into Hudson. Gossips was at the informational meeting in March, and it never occurred to me to ask or even to wonder if the construction of a project three miles from the city limits might necessitate detouring trucks into Hudson.

Gossips spoke with Mayor Rick Rector this morning who asserted he had not been consulted and had received no advance notice of the detour. He is pursuing the issue with the Department of Transportation and other representatives. 
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Monday Morning and the Clock

Ever since I heard the explanation for why the city clock wasn't working, a slightly altered line from the song "My Grandfather's Clock" kept running through my head: "But it stopped short never to go again when the foreman retired." The "never to go again" part turns out not to be true. At 7:15 this morning when I passed the clock, the big hand was on three, and the little hand was on seven. The tradition of two centuries continues.
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Why the Clock Stopped

Gossips has received an explanation of why the city clock in the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church stopped two weeks ago. Ron Gaylord, foreman of the Department of Public Works, retired on July 20, after thirty-seven years of service. It appears the clock may have stopped on the very day Gaylord retired. I knew about Gaylord's retirement, but it never occurred to me that it could be the reason the clock was not working. All of us may wish that our withdrawal from our regular roles in the community would have such an impact.
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The Wisdom of DOT

For those of us who foolishly thought we would not be impacted by the construction of the roundabout at the intersection of Route 9G and Route 23 so long as we never left Hudson headed for Olana or the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, Bill Williams of 98.5 The Cat is reporting news to the contrary: "Greenport Roundabout construction will detour trucks through Hudson." It all seems so extraordinary that I'm going to quote exactly what appeared on Williams' Facebook page, excessive capitalization and all:

The signs are in place, many are still covered up. Detour signs that will send trucks that are Northbound on Route 9G from Germantown, over a long detour before they can cross the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.

We're thinking the work zone area will not be wide enough for trucks to pass, unless they take the detour route.

The Detour follows 9G North into the city of Hudson, and follows the truck route, Over 3rd Street, Up Columbia to Park Place and over to Warren. Then up Warren and out Route 9 to 23, where they will be headed Westbound and be able to cross the bridge.

The Construction is expected to ramp up this week.

A few times this weekend, I've passed one of those detour signs, all covered up, on Warren Street east of Park Place, and wondered about it. Now I know.

Gossips Update: There are actually three detour signs on Warren Street between Park Place and Worth Avenue, all waiting to be unveiled on Monday morning. The first is in front of Rivertown Lodge, the second by Wasabi, and the third near the intersection with Worth Avenue. On the way to the cemetery for my evening walk with Joey, I snapped pictures of two of them.

Turning the corner at the top of Warren Street, I noticed there were similar signs on Worth Avenue.
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Time Stands Still

Last evening, I took this picture of the clock in tower of the First Presbyterian Church.

Despite the fact that it was after six when I took the picture, the clock--all four faces--indicated it was five minutes to two. This morning, when I passed the clock, returning at about nine thirty from Joey's walk, the clock still said it was five minutes to two. There have been reports that the clock stopped at five minutes to two close to two weeks ago.

Not everyone understands the relationship between the clock in the tower of the First Presbyterian Church and the City of Hudson, and they should. It's a long and unique and quite remarkable one. Although the clock is located in the church steeple, it is not the church clock; it is the city clock. The City of Hudson is responsible for its care and keeping.

The tradition of the city clock being located in the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church goes back 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.

Although I've known this information for years, I didn't fully appreciate how remarkable it was until I read Martin Bruegel's book, Farm, Shop, Landing: The Rise of a Market Society in the Hudson Valley, 1780-1850. Bruegel talks about the rarity of clocks at the turn of the nineteenth century and asserts that it wasn't until 1830 that "time had become a resource whose management mattered." Yet two decades earlier, the City of Hudson, itself less than two decades old, was installing a town clock in a church tower, where it could be seen by all.   

When the town clock was first installed in its steeple, the First Presbyterian Church was not in its current location. Instead, it was nearer the river, at the corner of Partition and Second streets. In those days, Partition Street was a major thoroughfare down to the river. This c. 1830 primitive watercolor of the Hudson waterfront, sold at auction at Sotheby's earlier this year, shows the First Presbyterian Church in its original location, with the clock in its tower.

In 1837, when the church moved to its new building at Warren and Fourth streets, the clock moved with it.

When the church was enlarged in 1877 and re-imagined in soaring Gothic design, the clock took pride of place in the taller of the two spires.

Although the clock faces haven't changed since 1877, the clock itself is just a little more than a hundred years old. It's a Seth Thomas clock installed in 1913. Five years ago, the church and the city celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the clock. 

Photo: Dan Region

Photo: Dan Region

It is not known why the clock is currently not working. Is the problem with the hundred-year-old clock easily fixed or more complicated?
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Take Your Best Shot

Here's something that will be of interest to readers who like to photograph historic architecture. The Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance is planning an inaugural photo exhibit to take place in November at Morton Library in Rhinecliff. Photos to be considered for the exhibit are now being accepted. The call for entries reads in part: "Amateur and professional photographers may submit their favorite shots of subjects generally falling within the bounds of historic architecture--as defined by the artist, and within the wider Hudson Valley region." 

The exhibit will be curated by a panel of guest jurors yet to be announced. The deadline for submitting photographs is 5 p.m. on Friday, September 21. Details and instructions for submission are at calvertvaux.org. Of interest is that the photograph featured on the page about the photo exhibit is one of the iconic elliptical staircase at the Dr. Oliver Bronson House.

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