Fox News

As regular readers know, Gossips and some other folks who walk regularly in the cemetery--with dogs and without--have been trying to establish the movements and likely locations of a fox with sarcoptic mange that lives in the cemetery. Our goal is track its movements and perhaps find its den for the purpose of getting help for the poor creature. 

Last Wednesday, I published two pictures of the fox taken by the person who had first alerted me to its presence. In the pictures, the fox is running along the road that borders Section D in the old part of the cemetery.

On Sunday morning, while standing very near the spot from which these pictures were taken but looking the other way, I saw the fox for myself, running up on the hill, but alas, I failed to get a picture of it. This morning, however, the original fox spotter saw the fox again in Section D, emerging from a hollow tree where it apparently had been sheltering from the rain.

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Meetings (and Events) of Interest This Week

This week, there are many meetings in a variety of different places.

• Today, Monday, September 10, the Common Council holds its informal meeting at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will take place not in the Council Chamber at City Hall but in the Community Room of the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street. Among other things, the Council will be receiving the recommendation from the Columbia County Planning Board on proposed Local Law No. 5, the law amending the zoning in R2 and R2H to allow the expansion of nonconforming uses. In February, comments from CCPB sent proposed Local Law No. 9 back to committee. The Hudson Planning Board began its consideration of Local Law No. 5 at its August meeting and has not yet made a recommendation. Former city attorney Ken Dow and former Third Ward alderman John Friedman, also an attorney, have expressed concerns about proposed Local Law No. 5. 
• On Tuesday, September 11, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 1 p.m. at 1 North Front Street. At its meeting on August 22, the IDA discussed opening the board to community members. The consideration of new board members will probably continue at this meeting.
• Also on Tuesday, September 11, from 5 to 7 p.m., the launch of the new book by author/illustrator Hudson Talbott: Picturing America: Thomas Cole and the Birth of American Art takes place at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. Talbott will be on the porch of the historic house, signing copies of his book. All book sales at the event will benefit educational programming at the site.

• On Wednesday, September 12, Fifth Ward aldermen Dominic Merante and Eileen Halloran will hold a town hall meeting for residents of the Fifth Ward in the Community Center at Crosswinds, 15 Rogers Lane. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.

• Thursday, September 13 is the State Primary Election. Voters in Hudson who are registered Democrats or registered members of the Independence Party or the Reform Party vote for candidates to be on the ballot in the November election. Democrats vote for candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Independence Party members vote for a candidate for the State Assembly. Reform Party members vote for a candidate for attorney general. The polls are open from noon for 9 p.m. Click here for more information and sample ballots.
• At 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 13, HCDPA (Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency) holds its monthly meeting at 1 North Front Street. The HCDPA board has been contemplating selling of the agency's assets and dissolving the agency. At its last meeting, city attorney Andy Howard told the board there were advantages to maintaining HCDPA. "Liquidating assets is a good thing," he told the board. "Dissolving the agency is not something I would recommend." The discussion of these issues will likely continue at the September meeting.
• At 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 13, the Planning Board meets at City Hall. It is expected that Alderman John Rosenthal (Fourth Ward), who chairs the Legal Committee, will be at the meeting to explain "the thinking behind" proposed Local Law No. 5. What else may be on the agenda for that meeting it not yet known.
• On Friday, September 14, at 10:00 a.m., the Historic Preservation Commission has its first meeting of the month at City Hall. This is the meeting at which the HPC receives new certificate of appropriateness applications for review.

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The Perfect Place to Be on a September Sunday

Next Sunday, September 16, Historic Hudson invites everyone to experience chamber music as it was meant to be enjoyed . . . in the octagonal parlors of the Dr. Oliver Bronson House.

The afternoon begins at 1 p.m. with a continuation of the discussion "Schubertiades: Intimate Chamber Music in the Home," with Andrew Borkowski, cellist and music director for The Orchestra Now; Peter Laki, visiting associate professor at the Bard Conservancy of Music; and Alan Neumann, architect, historian, and president of the Historic Hudson board. The concert, featuring Mozart's Quartet for Oboe and Strings, performed by musicians from The Orchestra Now of Bard College, begins at 2 p.m. The afternoon of chamber music in the parlors of the historic Bronson House concludes with a wine reception.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
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An Annual Exercise in Clarification

This morning, reporting on the "Salute to Jesus" parade that took place on Warren Street yesterday, Logan Weiss noted, in an article for the Register-Star, that the parade included "a rented float from the city of Hudson" and goes on to say, "The float resembled an old wooden pioneer ship." The object in question is not a "pioneer ship." The pioneers traveled overland in Conestoga wagons. Rather it is a replica of The Hudson, a whaling ship and the first ship to be built in the City of Hudson, which, according to Anna Bradbury, was completed in 1785, the same year Hudson was incorporated as a city.

The Common Council on the replica ship, The Hudson, in 2009, the year of the Quadricentennial, Hudson's Namesake Celebration. Note the Henry Hudson style "ruffs" around the necks of several of the aldermen.

The replica ship/parade float was built in 1985 by DPW employees for the celebration of the city's bicentennial. Since 1997, it's been a regular feature in just about every parade in Hudson.

The Hudson in the 2017 OutHudson Pride Parade 
Photo: Jeff McKinney|Columbia County Current

To my knowledge, the City doesn't "rent" the replica ship for parades. Rather its use is simply requested when an application is made for a mass gathering permit. 

Last year, when the appropriateness of this municipally owned replica appearing in a "Christian parade" was questioned, Gossips discovered that the mass gathering permit application requesting its use referred to the replica ship, which was a whaling vessel, as "the Noah's Ark Boat Float."

This year, the mass gathering permit application confuses the replica ship with Henry Hudson's ship, the Half Moon.

Each time, there was no question of what was meant. It's not as though the City has a whole fleet of replica ships that are used as parade floats.
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Considering the Consequences

On Thursday, the Register-Star published an article about the previous day's meeting of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Space Utilization Committee: "Columbia County shows interest in acquiring Edwards school." What is being discussed and rather energetically promoted by a few Hudson elected officials is the acquisition of the John L. Edwards school building and the relocation of various city and county offices and departments to the former school building. 

At its August meeting, the Common Council passed a resolution requesting that Columbia County do a feasibility study on converting the building to the proposed new uses. The article reports that, when asked if the Common Council "would support the city paying for a third of the cost of the school," Mayor Rick Rector and Council president Tom DePietro said it would, which seems a little unfair since, based on the information provided in the article, the City wants to occupy only about a sixth of the building--15,000 of the 89,500 square feet.

Columbia County has a history of taking over old school buildings when the school district no longer has use for them. Two of the buildings the county is now looking to abandon--401 State Street and 610 State Street--were former school buildings. The county also once owned the Charles Williams School on North Third Street but swapped it for city-owned land on Columbia Street needed to construct the county office building at 325 Columbia Street. In 2010, after owning the building and letting it stand empty for five years or more, the City of Hudson sold it to the not-for-profit Second Ward Foundation.

If the current plan to acquire John L. Edwards were to be carried out, it would leave a number of buildings available for sale or reuse. It's important to consider what buildings they are and what impact new uses could have. It needs to be acknowledged, though, that everything that's been mentioned as possibly moving to JLE may not fit into the building. JLE is 89,500 square feet; the square footage of the buildings the county is looking to vacate totals 88,131 square feet; the City of Hudson wants 15,000 square feet for its offices and departments.

401 State Street

Photo: Historic Hudson

This building was constructed in 1915 and dedicated as Hudson High School at the beginning of 1916. It ceased being used as the high school in 1937, when the building that is now Montgomery C. Smith Elementary School was completed. It was used as the junior high school until the current high school building was completed in 1971, and the junior high was moved to Montgomery C. Smith. Not long after that, 401 State Street was acquired by the county. It now houses the Board of Supervisors chamber and committee room, the Board of Elections, the Civil Service Department, the offices of the county attorney and comptroller, and the departments of human resources, planning, and tourism.

610 State Street

This building, designed by Hudson architect Michael O'Connor and built in 1887, was actually the first Hudson High School. When students moved to the new high school building at 401 State Street in 1916, this building became an elementary school, and it probably continued to be used as an elementary school until John L. Edwards was built in 1964. The building now houses the Probation Department and the offices of the public defender and the county historian. Back in 2010, it was rumored the county was considering adapting the building to be a homeless shelter/transitional housing facility for women and children, to be run by Catholic Charities.

560 Warren Street

This building, designed by Warren & Wetmore, the architects responsible for the Columbia County Courthouse and involved in the design of Grand Central Station, was constructed as the home of the Hudson City Savings Institution. After two years of construction, the building opened in 1910. The county bought the building in 1998, when the Hudson City Savings Institution moved to its new building at 1 City Centre and morphed into Hudson River Bank & Trust, to be purchased a few years later by First Niagara Financial Group. The building now houses the Department of Motor Vehicles and the county clerk's office.

15 North Sixth Street

This building, located behind 560 Warren Street and connected to it by a skywalk over Prison Alley, was designed by local architect Lew Kremer and constructed soon after the county acquired the Warren & Wetmore bank building in 1998. This building houses the county treasurer's office and the Real Property Department.

520 Warren Street

The construction of this building was completed in 1907 for the National Hudson River Bank. It became Hudson City Hall in 1962, when city offices were moved from 327 Warren Street, Hudson's original city hall. The building houses the Common Council chamber, the offices of the mayor, Council president, city clerk, treasurer, and assessor, and the Department of Public Works.

18 South Third Street

This building started its life in 1853 as the Methodist Episcopal Church. It became the Hudson Boys Club in the 1930s, and is now the Hudson Youth Center. The offices of the Youth Department and recreational facilities, most notably a basketball court, are located in the building.

The purpose of this inventory of buildings is simply to make the point that the plan to fill the former John L. Edwards school with municipal offices is going to leave quite a few monumental and historically important buildings, two of them very visible on the city's main street, in need of new owners and new purposes. What those new purposes are is going to have an impact, by no means insignificant, on the city.
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East End News

We've already reported it, but here's the official press release about the sale of 746 and 748 Warren Street, with all the details.

Food Studio Expanding to 746 Warren Street

OPENING IN OCTOBER 2018

Colin Stair is delighted to announce the purchase of 746 and 748 Warren Street in Hudson.

Dave Chicane, founder of Hudson's cherished Food Studio, is relocating to the space at 746 Warren (formerly the Crimson Sparrow), with seating for up to 80 patrons, and another 30 in the spacious courtyard, which is undoubtedly one of the dreamiest outdoor dining spaces in town.

The state of the art kitchen and food preparation area will allow a more dramatic approach to Dave's cooking and enable him to expand the Food Studio's hours and book private dinners. He is planning to add 15 new employees to his 11 current staff. 

Dave says "How thrilling to be able to bring this wonderful space back to life and allow Food Studio to grow. The community support for our little restaurant has always been wonderful and we are excited to expand."

The space above the restaurant is a classic Hudson "shotgun" apartment, which will be available for rent on a fixed-term lease; it will not be an Air BnB.

We are hoping the former Bonfiglio space at 748 Warren Street will attract a food business, which will further establish this end of Warren Street as the major food destination it is rapidly becoming. A high quality, affordable establishment, originating from Dutchess county, has already expressed interest.

The apartment above 748 Warren will also be renovated and available for rent in the near future.

Colin feels strongly that his "goal is to restore these old buildings in the best way possible, and move in hard working business people and watch them fly! I've known Dave for years and always admired his cooking skills and his business acumen. There is a wait every night at the current Food Studio, and let's face it, we obviously need more rental apartments on the market in Hudson."

We would like to thank Brian Stickles and the Bank of Greene County for their "out of the box" thinking regarding Hudson, understanding of current trends, and their commitment to the local business economy.

We would also like to thank Matthew A. Wieland, Esq., at the Law Offices of Matthew A. Wieland, and Chris Jones of TKG Real Estate for their hard work in making all of this happen.

Wish You'd Been There?

You may have missed the opening of the postcard exhibition Wish You Were Here at the library last night, but Dan Udell didn't. He was there with his video camera and recorded the presentation by Gary Sheffer. To view it, click here.

The exhibition of postcards in the Community Room at the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street, continues through October 31.
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But What About Ackerman's?

Yesterday, Gossips reported that 746 and 748 Warren Street, the buildings that not long ago were the location of Crimson Sparrow and Bonfiglio & Bread, had a new owner. We have since confirmed that the Hudson Food Studio will be moving from its too-small space at 610 Warren Street to the Crimson Sparrow space (746 Warren Street) in early October. 

Of course, these new developments in Hudson's East End inspire curiosity about the building at the corner of Warren and Eighth streets, a building that has been vacant now for about six years. 

Photo: Evelyn and Robert Monthie Slide Collection, CCHS

The building, which was constructed in the early 20th century to be the Crescent Garage, where Packards and other luxury cars were sold and serviced, was to become a food emporium called Hudson Anchor Market, the plans for which were likened to Chelsea Market. In December 2014, the Historic Preservation Commission granted a certificate of appropriateness for the proposed facade alterations that were part of the project. At the time, it was predicted that the market would open in nine to eleven months. 

Instead of a market opening in the fall of 2015, however, signage offering the building for lease appeared in the fall of 2017.

 

When that signage disappeared not long ago, its removal inspired speculation that the building might have been leased or sold. It turns out neither is true. Gossips' information is that the owners decided to take the building off the market to complete some additional repairs.
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Good Fences Make Good Neighbors . . . or Not

This morning, Gossips was alerted by a reader to a "monstrosity" being constructed at the corner of Riverledge Road and Joslen Place. Always eager to follow up on a tip, I jumped in the car and drove to site to find a new privacy fence, mostly completed, around the entire perimeter of the corner lot, with gaps for a vehicular entrance and a pedestrian entrance to the premises.

This part of the city, north of Montgomery C. Smith School, is Hudson's mid-century suburbia. The houses, mostly one-story ranches interspersed with a few one-and-a-half-story bungalows, are on large lots, set back far from the street with deep front lawns, most of them carefully manicured and landscaped. 

The 1965 Comprehensive Development Plan, a pre-Urban Renewal document Gossips explored in some depth a few years ago, recognized this part of Hudson, which it called the "High School Neighborhood" (MCS was then the high school), as the one neighborhood in Hudson that required no rehabilitation. To quote the document: "The High School neighborhood, suburban middle-class in character and appearance, contains few problems. . . . North of the school are well-maintained, single-family homes on large lots. Almost all of the new construction of the past decade and a half has taken place here."

Google maps provide evidence of what the neighborhood and this particular house were like before the fence went up.

There was a privacy fence on the property before, but it was set back from the facade of the house and did not interrupt the uniform line of setbacks on Joslen Place. The new fence, however, does break the line of setbacks and alters the character of the neighborhood . . . not in a good way.

As an advocate for preserving the character of neighborhoods, which is essentially what creating historic districts is all about, I submit that this character-altering fence might not have happened if the neighborhood were a historic district or if it were at least subject to a neighborhood conservation overlay which would define and protect the critical characteristics of the neighborhood for all its residents, present and future.
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Something New Coming to Hudson's East End

If you've been wondering about the fate of the buildings on upper Warren Street that once housed Jim Godman's Keystone Antiques and were most recently the locations of Crimson Sparrow and Bonfiglio & Bread, there's news.

The buildings were for sale, but yesterday, as Joey and I made our way home from our evening walk in the cemetery, we noticed the word "SOLD" written on the front windows.

Photo: TKG Real Estate

Photo: TKG Real Estate

Late last night, all was revealed in a post on TKG Real Estate's Facebook page. The post reads in part: "There could not be a better new owner. The closing was this morning [Wednesday] and by afternoon work had begun on the renovations. These buildings are now in the right position with the right people to be the strong 700 block anchors they should be."

It remains to be discovered who the new owner is, but I personally hope there are no plans to change the exterior paint colors.
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Fox Watch

At about 8:30 this morning, someone walking in the cemetery spotted the mangy fox near Section D in the old part of the cemetery and took these pictures. (The picture below each photo is a blowup that shows the fox.)

   

If anyone is walking in this part of the cemetery in the early morning, please keep an eye out for the fox. There is reason to believe this is a usual morning hangout for this fox and a couple of kits, but we need more evidence. If it can be established that this where it is likely to be found at this time of day, we can get help for the fox. Please report sightings in a comment or an email.
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Important Public Forum on Friday

On Friday, September 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Hudson Area Library, Mary Beth Pfeiffer, author of Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change, will discuss the rise of Lyme disease and provide reliable sources of information in the fight against Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. The public information forum is offered in collaboration with Assemblymember Didi Barrett, who will talk about #GetTickedOff, her public outreach campaign to raise awareness of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases and to connect the community of people interested in learning more about the prevention and treatment of these diseases.

An award-winning investigative journalist, Pfeiffer began researching tick-borne diseases in 2012 and has since become a leading expert on the subject. Her book, Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change, chronicles her journey all over the world where she has heard stories of families whose lives have been turned upside down by a single tick bite, witnessed the rapid global expansion of ticks and the diseases they carry, and explored the political and medical controversies that ultimately do more harm to patients and their families. Jane Goodall wrote that Pfeiffer's book "throws new light on one more danger caused by climate change. Pfeiffer points out the importance not only of combating ticks but also the need for doctors to respond quickly and provide appropriate treatment. A stark warning that Lyme is but the tip of the iceberg."

Copies of Pfeiffer's book will be given away at the forum, while supplies last. Discussion will follow the presentation and refreshments will be served. The event takes place in the Community Room at the library, located at 51 North Fifth Street.

Meetings (and Events) of Interest This Week

Because of the holiday, it's a short week, and one that is also fairly short on meetings. Here's what's happening.

• Today, Tuesday, September 4, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6 p.m. in City Hall. The agenda for the meeting indicates that all the items to be discussed have to do with the CAC's major undertaking: the Natural Resources and Open Space Inventory. The CAC will be reviewing draft maps, hearing about the selection process for a writer, and planning for a public review meeting to take place on October 15.
• Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 5, the Common Council Youth, Education, Seniors, and Recreation Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. It has not otherwise been indicated, so presumably the meeting takes place at City Hall. There is no agenda available for the meeting, but there is one bit of news. Alderman Rich Volo (Fourth Ward), who resigned from the committee a while back, was been replaced by Council president Tom DePietro.
• On Thursday, September 6, the opening reception for the History Room exhibition Wish You Were Here: A Look Back at Life in Hudson Through Vintage Postcards takes place from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street.

• Also on Thursday, September 6, the Common Council Housing and Transportation Committee meets at 6:45 p.m. The meeting, which will be the first for this committee in several months, will take place at 1 North Front Street. No agenda for the meeting is yet available.

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An Appeal for the Fox

It seems there are several people who have seen and are concerned about the fox suffering from sarcoptic mange that lives in the cemetery. Wildlife rehabilitators have been contacted, but in order to get help for the poor beast, it is necessary to know where the fox spends most of its time. The cemetery is a big place, and three different sightings put the fox in three different places. So I appeal to readers who spend time in the cemetery. If you see the fox, please note the time and location, with as much specificity as possible, and report the information in a comment on this post or in an email. Perhaps if enough sightings are documented, we can establish its movements and determine where it's most likely to be found.

The picture above shows a red fox with mange, but it is not the red fox in the cemetery. Although I am trying to assist in getting help for the fox, I confess I have never seen it much less been able to take a picture of it.
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Celebrating Labor Day

Gossips observes Labor Day by recalling a few jobs that no longer exist.

Pinsetter

Photo: Lewis Hine

Pinsetters cleared fallen pins, reset pins, and returned bowling balls to players.

Switchboard Operator

Switchboard operators connected calls by inserting phone plugs into the appropriate jacks.

Ice Man

Photo: New York Public Library

Before there were refrigerators, ice men delivered blocks of ice for ice boxes, where food was kept cold.

Linotype Operator

Photo: Library of Congress

Linotype was the method of setting type and making up the pages of newspapers used from the 1880s until computers took over a hundred or so years later.

Bobbin Boy

Bobbin boys worked in textile mills. Their job was to bring bobbins to the women at the looms and to collect full bobbins of spun cotton and wool thread from the spinning machines. They were also expected to fix minor problems with the machines.

Factory Lector

Photo: Library of Congress

Factory lectors were employed primarily in cigar factories to read books and newspapers aloud to the workers, to entertain them while they performed the monotonous task of rolling cigars.
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Following Up with the Fox

It's been suggested that the fox observed in the cemetery was rabid, but I have since learned that rabies in foxes is rare. I believe "unheimlich" provided, in a comment, the correct diagnosis: the fox in the cemetery is suffering from sarcoptic mange, caused the Sarcoptes scabei mite.

The National Fox Welfare Society in the UK provides a description of a fox with mange that a pretty accurately matches the behavior of the fox seen in the cemetery: "A fox suffering from mange will often act abnormally. Its fear of humans often appears lost. It will walk around almost aimlessly during daylight hours constantly biting and scratching at the irritation." According to Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue, a fox with mange poses no threat to humans or dogs, but if the condition is left untreated, it will ultimately result in death for the fox, from malnutrition, dehydration, or hypothermia. 

The screen capture above is from a video that documents how someone on Long Island saved a red fox with mange living on his property: "Suburban Wildlife: Red Fox Rescued (Sarcoptic Mange)." Apparently, this can be accomplished with a medication meant for cattle and swine sold at Tractor Supply. Are there any wildlife rehabilitators out there willing and able to help rescue the fox in the cemetery?
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A Warning About Walking in the Cemetery

Every morning and evening, Joey and I walk in the cemetery, and we have not encountered this animal, but someone else who walks there regularly contacted me today to warn that there is a "fairly large red fox which is clearly in some distress wandering around the cemetery." It is described as mangy looking and acting disoriented and somewhat threatening. So far, to my knowledge, there have been no reports of the fox displaying aggression toward humans or dogs. 

The fox has been sighted in both parts of the cemetery. On Friday morning, it was seen in the far corner of Cedar Park Cemetery, across Newman Road from the entrance to the transfer station. This morning, it was spotted up on the hill in the Hudson City Cemetery. Caution and vigilance are recommended for anyone walking or jogging in the cemetery, with or without a dog.
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Pickleball Comes to 12534

If you're like me (or me until a few days ago), you've never heard of pickleball, but according to AARP and NBC news, it's the fastest growing sport in America and, also according to AARP, "new research confirms [it] improves fitness and lowers risk of depression": "Play Pickleball for Health Benefits."

Mike Fritsch|WBOI

The game, which is a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong, was invented in 1965 in Bainbridge Island, Washington, by three fathers--Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum--when their children wanted to play badminton but couldn't find a shuttlecock. Showing great resourcefulness, they lowered the badminton net and crafted makeshift paddles out of materials found in the garage to hit a wiffle ball back and forth over the net. 

There are two explanations of why the game is called pickleball. A popular one is that it was named after the Pritchard's dog, Pickles, who would chase the ball and often run off with it. The other, according to Joan Pritchard, is that "the combination of different sports reminded me of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of the other boats."

Pickleball gained favor first in such places as Arizona and Florida. The retirement community called The Villages in Orlando is said to be the "Pickleball Capital of the World." The game's popularity, however, is spreading to other parts of the country, including the Northeast. The reason I devote this post to pickleball is that, during the ongoing site plan review of The Falls by the Greenport Planning Board last week, a revision to the original plans for outdoor recreational facilities was revealed. In response to requests from residents, instead of tennis courts on the grounds, there will be pickleball courts.

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On the River

Next week, a British woman named Lizzie Carr will be journeying the length of the Hudson River on a stand-up paddle board to raise awareness about plastic pollution.

Earlier this year, Carr created a charity called Plastic Patrol to encourage people to clean up Britain's waterways. According to Carr, "Eighty percent of marine debris starts from inland sources before it eventually flows out to the ocean." She decided to take her mission to the United States because we are one of the world's largest consumers of single-use plastic, with 80 percent of plastic being discarded after just one use. "I want my journey along the Hudson to motivate people to take action, so together, we can make a real difference to resolve the global problem of plastics choking out seas," says Carr.

As she paddles down the Hudson, Carr will be collecting and documenting plastic waste she encounters and also gathering water samples that will then be analyzed by the Hudson River Park Trust.

Carr will begin her journey on the Hudson in Albany on Thursday, September 6. It is expected to take eight days, ending in New York City on Friday, September 14. There is no indication of exactly when she will be passing Hudson, but it can be estimated based on beach clean-up events scheduled for locations farther down the river:

• In Poughkeepsie, on Sunday, September 9, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., at Kaal Rock Park
• In Croton-on-Hudson, on Wednesday, September 12, from 5:30 to 7:30, at Croton Point Park
• In New York City, on Friday, September 14, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., at Pier 26, Hudson River Park

To learn more about Lizzie Carr and Plastic Patrol, read this article which appeared today on BBC News: "London plastic campaigner to paddle the Hudson River," or visit her website, LizzieOutside. The website features a live tracker that will allow you to follow her journey down the Hudson once it gets underway on Thursday.

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Thanks to Jane Trombley for bringing this to our attention