Stewart's and Lawsuits

Last week, Gossips reported that a citizens group in Altamont was suing the Altamont Village Board and Stewart's Shops over the zoning change adopted by the board that would enable Stewart's to expand its convenience store and gas station in Altamont. Yesterday, the Altamont Enterprise reported that Stewart's was threatening legal action against the Village of Voorheesville if it adopts new zoning that would prohibit Stewart's from building a new convenience store and gas station at 112 Maple Avenue in Voorheesville: "Stewart's threatening to sue Voorheesville if village adopts new zoning."

The story of Stewart's and Voorheesville has been going on for a few years now. In the spring of 2016, Stewart's bought Smith's Tavern, an iconic pizzeria in the heart of Voorheesville. The plan was to demolish the building and construct in its stead a convenience store and gas station. The site is next door to another gas station, across the street from Voorheesville Elementary School, and backs up on Vly Creek.

On June 13, 2017, the Village Planning Commission, concerned about pedestrian safety as well as flooding and erosion, requested an "in-depth environmental review" of the project. In response, Stewart's Shops threatened to sue, claiming that "the request for in-depth review is unlawful and merely a delaying tactic."

Two weeks later, on June 27, 2017, the Village Board, by a vote of 4 to 1, adopted a moratorium on development, "to allow a village-appointed committee to complete its work on Voorheesville's first comprehensive land-use plan." Because of the moratorium, Stewart's Shops decided not to proceed with the threatened lawsuit. The moratorium, which was for six months, could be extended for two additional six-month periods, and it was.

On January 7, 2019, the Times Union reported that, because Stewart's could not get the approvals needed to build its new convenience store and gas station at 112 Maple Avenue, it was closing its existing store and leaving the community: "Stewart's exiting Voorheesville after plan for new store fails." That article also reported that Stewart's had listed the former Smith's Tavern with Carrow Real Estate, but there seems to have been a change of heart.

Voorheeesville now has a new comprehensive plan, which has not yet been incorporated into the zoning code, that would ban formula businesses, i. e., chains, and "petroleum dispensing" in the Creekside Commercial District, the district in which 112 Maple Avenue is located.  

The Altamont Enterprise reports that at the second public hearing about the comprehensive plan, on April 30, 2019, representatives from Stewart's Shops showed up. Michael Ginley, general counsel for Stewart's Shops, asked the Village Board to rescind the parts of the comprehensive plan that would prevent Stewart's from pursuing its plan for 112 Maple Avenue. According to the report, "Ginley said that if Voorheesville went ahead and adopted the proposed changes to the zoning code, 'Stewart's will be filing an Article 78 against the village.'"
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We Love a Parade

Hudson has a lot of parades, and there is a new one debuting this Saturday--the Mad Hatters' Parade, a community-built wearable-art parade. Initiated by Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles of Processional Arts Workshop and inspired by global Carnival masquerades and Hudson's evolving history as a city of makers, the Mad Hatters' Parade brings together our diverse communities in a shared spectacle of the nonsensical.

Perfect Ten girls model their creations for the Mad Hatters' Parade

The parade steps off at 2 p.m. from the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street, heads west on State Street to Fourth Street, south to Warren Street, west to Front Street, and then south again to Basilica Hudson for a final Grand Sashay through the aisles at Basilica Farm & Flea Spring Market.

You can watch the parade from any point along the way, or, better yet, you can join the "retinue of aspiring artists, agile absurdists, and ambulatory agitators" and be a part of this work of mobile performance art. Volunteers are needed to perform with an ensemble of Bard Theater and Performance students in the "Pageant of Incorrigibles, the Sleepwalking Door-Mice, and the Mighty Phagmites." Click here to volunteer to wear a costume or a headpiece or carry to a puppet in the Mad Hatters' Parade. Parade participants are asked to meet at the Hudson Area Library at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 11.
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Nine Not to Ignore: No. 6

Gossips once again takes up the list of significant historic buildings at risk in Hudson. Today's building is the sixth in our series Nine Not to Ignore. 

6  501 Union Street

Gossips posted about this building only recently, but a list of important historic buildings in Hudson abandoned and neglected wouldn't be complete without it. 

Hudson can claim a lot of "firsts": the first city in the country to be designed on paper before being built; the first city to be incorporated in the new United States; the first public space--Promenade Hill--set aside for the expressed purpose of viewing the landscape. This building, 501 Union Street, represents another first for Hudson. Believed to have been built around 1864, 501 Union Street is one of the earliest apartment buildings in the United States. The following is from encyclopedia.com:

Nineteeenth-century middle-class Americans preferred a private, multi-story, detached house to a one-level flat in a building shared with strangers. Until the late nineteenth century, multi-unit housing was also tinged by the image of "tenements," multi-unit residences for working class and immigrant families.

Rising costs for urban property after the Civil War prompted builders to market apartments as a respectable alternative to boarding houses. These early apartments were modeled after Parisian apartments and were referred to as "French flats" to distinguish them from tenements. One of the earliest was the 1869 Stuyvesant Apartments on East Eighteenth Street in Manhattan, designed by Paris-trained American architect Richard Morris Hunt.

An article by Sarah Laskow in The Atlantic makes the point that the early apartment buildings, like Stuyvesant Apartments in New York City, needed the right tenants to succeed. It may be that 501 Union Street, once known as "Apartments of Distinction," wasn't attracting the tenants needed for its success, because in 1883 the entire building was rented as the temporary location of the Home for the Aged. It remained the Home for the Aged until 1896.

    
Gossips' post about this building last month was inspired by photographs sent by a reader showing deterioration in the west wall of the building.

This morning, Gossips got a report of activity at the building, involving workers with ladders. An immediate site visit found workers and ladders, but it wasn't clear at first what they were doing.

Half an hour or so later, the task was obvious. The workers and ladders were there to install a new downspout.

It also appears that the workers removed loose bricks from the crumbling west wall and cleared away the bricks that had fallen to the ground. No measures seem to have been taken to arrest the deterioration. 

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Update on the Galvan Motel

Back in October, it was announced that the opening of the Galvan Motel, which was originally expected to happen in June 2018, had been delayed, owing to what was described as "complications with the septic." At that time, the new anticipated opening was December 2018. Now, nearly six months later, it appears the motel may finally be getting ready to open. Yesterday, Jason O'Toole, director of property management for Galvan, announced on Facebook that "Galvan Houses" was hiring a motel manager, an assistant manager, and a housekeeper.
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What's in the Water?

Today, an interactive map, created by EWG, appeared on Facebook that showed PFAS contamination in the United States. Alarmingly, if you zoom in on the map, it seems to indicate that there are PFAS in the water in Hudson.

Curious, I contacted Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, to ask if our water was tested for PFA contamination, since such testing is not currently required in New York State. He told me two things. First, if you zoom in further on the map, you see that the site of PFAS contamination is not in Hudson at all but in Greenport, near the site of Greenport Town Hall--nowhere near the source of Hudson's water supply.

Perry also quoted to me this statement from the City of Hudson's annual water quality report (page 2, paragraph 2):

Recent news stories about the safety of water supplies across the country has brought more focus on drinking water. Stories about high lead levels and PFOA seem to show up in the newspaper and television news almost every day. We would like to emphasize that our water supply is safe and regularly tested. . . . There are some "emerging contaminants" in which a material or chemical is characterized as a potential or real threat to human health. This would be PFOA (perfluoroctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluoroctane sulfonate). The City is not required to test for PFOA or PFOS (Code of Federal Regulations/Title 10 Subpart 5), but in light of recent regional issues has taken the proactive stance to perform these tests. A sample was collected and analyzed for PFOA and PFOS and both compounds were determined to be less than the method detection limit of 0.67 parts per trillion (ppt). The current EPA advisory standard is 100 ppt with our water being 150 times lower [than] the advisory standard.

The Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2018 is available on the City of Hudson website. 

Meanwhile, I'm going down to the kitchen to make myself another cup of coffee, using Hudson tap water.
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Interpreting the Code

Yesterday, a reader, known to other readers of this blog as "unheimlich," alerted me to work being done at the Hudson Power Boat Association on the waterfront. He also provided this picture.

What was happening was that the Hudson Power Boat Association was making repairs to its sidewalk. The question raised was why this work had not required a review by the Planning Board. After challenging it in court, Colarusso is now before the Planning Board seeking a conditional use permit because of repairs made to the dock without Planning Board review and approval. Like the Colarusso operation, HPBA is in the Core Riverfront District, and the code is quite explicit in its requirements for conditional uses in the Core Riverfront District: "no building shall be erected, moved, altered, rebuilt or enlarged, nor shall any land or improvement thereon be constructed, altered, paved, improved or rebuilt, in whole or in part, for any purpose in the Core Riverfront C-R District, except that the following conditional uses are permitted, subject to the approval of the Planning Board." 

Although repairing sidewalk and improving handicapped access seem minor, the code indicates that any change or repair triggers a review by the Planning Board. So I asked code enforcement officer Craig Haigh about it. He explained that, although Colarusso was a conditional use, HPBA was a permitted use in the Core Riverfront District, and therefore no Planning Board review was required. The following are the permitted uses in the Core Riverfront District, according to the Section 325-17.1 C:

(1) Public docks and launches for pleasure or recreational watercraft.

(2) Public parks, including but not limited to public beaches, boat launch areas, and playing fields.

(3) Public and private recreation facilities and amenities, including but not limited to snack bar or cafe to service public parks, walking and biking trails, boat rental facilities, information kiosks.

(4) Tour, commercial, charter, and/or fishing boat operations.

(5) Boating instruction schools.

(6) Water taxis and ferries.

Section 325-17.1 D of the code lists the conditional uses in the Core Riverfront District. There are eight. The first four of them are:

(1) Continuation of existing commercial dock operations for the transport and shipment of goods and raw materials . . . .

(2) A private causeway or private road that provides ingress to or egress from the property upon which a commercial dock operation is conducted . . . .

(3) Public and private marinas.

(4) Annual or private membership clubs providing private playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis courts, marina and boat launch facilities, related recreational buildings . . . .

Items (1) and (2) obviously describe the Colarusso operation, but it also seems obvious that items (3) and (4) describe the Hudson Power Boat Association. They certainly provide a better description of this private club than any of the six items listed as permitted uses. But it is not Gossips lot to interpret the code.
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A Thought for the Day

As the Livingston Planning Board reviews the Alltown Fresh proposal for "a neighborhood market with fuel service" and the Hudson Planning Board reviews the Stewart's Shops proposal to expand its facility to cash in on the growing "food-to-go" market, Rule No. 57 from Michael Pollan's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual seems particularly relevant: 

Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.

Gossips is grateful to Janet Schnitzer for pointing this out.
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Healthy Food, Unhealthy Impacts

The proposal now before the Livingston Planning Board may be one of the most paradoxical we've seen in these parts. It's essentially a mega-fueling station, with sixteen spots for cars needing gasoline and three pumps for vehicles--mostly tractor-trailer trucks--requiring diesel fuel. But at the Livingston Planning Board meeting last week, Rob Osterhoudt of Bohler Engineering told the residents that it was a "misconception" to characterize what is proposed as a truck stop. Instead, it was "a neighborhood market with fuel service."

This claim piqued my curiosity about Alltown Fresh, the chain that would be occupying the proposed facility. A simple visit to the company website yielded the information that the chain now has two locations: the first was in Auburn, New Hampshire; the second in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The website also indicates that Alltown Fresh will be opening this spring in Waterbury, Connecticut, and this summer in Camden, Connecticut.

A little more investigation revealed that in Auburn, its first location, Alltown Fresh seems to have taken over an existing Sunoco station and "travel plaza."

Google maps show that, in Auburn, the Sunoco station that is now Alltown Fresh is in close proximity to the local Burger King.

Google maps show that in Plymouth the Alltown Fresh location (22 Long Pond Road) is in a very densely developed area with lots of asphalt and other gas stations and chain businesses nearby.

The Alltown Fresh "story," as told on their website, is interesting:

Our story is really your story. It's a story about people's eating preferences trending towards healthy, fresh food. As a customer-driven company, we decided to launch a new brand to meet the needs of people who don't want to sacrifice healthy, fresh food choices for convenience. Introducing Alltown Fresh™, the fresh convenience market. Alltown Fresh™ offers communities healthy, fresh food choices and made-to-order meals--including organic, natural, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and locally sourced alternatives--all in a rush free environment where neighbors can hang out with one another. Alltown Fresh™ is the first fresh convenience market in America to offer fresh food choices, as well as gas/diesel, a cafe, bean-to-cup coffee, outdoor seating, groceries, craft beer (when permitted), wifi, pet relief areas, traditional snack options, phone and electric car charging stations. It's time to get fresh!

The Alltown Fresh menu can be viewed here. The Alltown Fresh in Plymouth, Massachusetts, got this review on Yelp: "The best convenient store that has ever existed in the history of ever. The coffee, sandwiches, sparkling water and kombucha machine, just magical. There needs to be one of these everywhere." It does sound like the kind of place you would want to encounter on a road trip, perhaps in a service area on the thruway.

Although Alltown Fresh is a new thing, Alltown convenience stores are not. There are more than seventy of them located throughout New England. It seems clear that this is a convenience store chain trying to keep itself relevant (and profitable) by catering to new diet trends--not unlike Stewart's Shops and its effort to expand into the fast-growing "food-to-go" market. What makes this particular proposal paradoxical and inappropriate is the location. It is not converting an existing convenience store in the "travel plaza," as was the case in Auburn, New Hampshire. It is not locating in a site already ruined by extensive commercial development. Rather it is new construction on an undeveloped site that is now an open green field not far, in the very vehicles that require the fuel offered, from three farm stands and a supermarket.

Residents who are opposed to the project have concerns about the environmental impacts, particularly the potential for damage to wetlands, streams, and ground water sources. They are concerned about the aesthetics of what is proposed and its intrusion into views from neighboring properties. They are also concerned about the negative impact of this proposed commercial development on the character of this stretch of highway, which now offers drivers a primarily pastoral scene, including fields and horse paddocks. The paradox of siting an Alltown Fresh at this crossroads seems a little like destroying a rain forest to grow organic bananas.
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Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

In the forecast for the week, there's a lot of rain, a little sunshine, and meetings on four of the five days.

• On Tuesday, May 7, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Some of the items on the agenda are: distribution of the Open Space and Natural Resources Inventory and presentation to the Common Council; design for the Empire State Trail on Harry Howard Avenue; a tree ordinance initiative. The full agenda can be viewed here.

• On Wednesday, May 8, the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meets at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Bliss Towers. The meeting always offers the possibility of an update on the proposed renovation of Bliss Towers and new construction on State Street.

• On Thursday, May 9, the board of HCDPA (Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency) meets at 2 p.m. at 1 North Front Street. No agenda is available for the meeting.
• On Friday, May 10, the Historic Preservation Commission will not be meeting at 10 a.m. at City Hall. In the afternoon, the Tourism Board will be hearing presentations from three of the four groups being considered to help develop a marketing strategy for Hudson: Neo Design Group, Fifteen Degrees, and BBG&G. The presentations will take place at 1:00, 2:30, and 4:00 p.m., at 1 North Front Street.

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Of Education in Hudson

Yesterday, on the day of the widely promoted, wildly successful Hudson Children's Book Festival, now in its eleventh year, HudsonValley360 reported that the Hudson City School District was on the list of fifty school districts in upstate New York with the lowest SAT scores in 2018, a distinction shared with Cairo-Durham Central School District: "Hudson, C-D among lowest SAT-scoring districts in upstate New York." According to a report released by the New York State Department of Education, HCSD students scored an average of 520 on the reading and writing portion of the test, and 501 in math. Each section of the test is scored in a range from 200 to 800.

Of related interest, on May 21, voters in the Hudson City School District will be asked to approve the budget for 2019-2020. The total budget is $49,792,463; the amount to be raised from property taxes is $23,672,443. 

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Stewart's Shops Elsewhere Revisited

This morning, as I was searching for a parking space near the farmers market, a reader hailed me down and handed me a page from the Business section of yesterday's Times Union, telling me, "You need to read that." When I realized what he wanted me to read, I also realized that he had probably missed my post on Thursday. The page contained a story by Brian Nearing about the lawsuit citizens in Altamont have filed against Stewart's Shops and the Village of Altamont Board of Trustees over the zoning change made to accommodate Stewart's plan for expansion in their village.

Photo: Michael Koff|Altamont Enterprise

On Thursday, I provided the link to the story that appeared that day in the Altamont Enterprise: "Altamont residents sue to reverse Stewart's rezone." Today, I provide the link to the story that appeared yesterday in the Times Union: "Store plan spurs lawsuit." (The online version has the head: "Neighbors sue over Altamont Stewart's plan.") In the Times Union article, one of the residents filing the lawsuit is quoted as saying something we all should remember (substitute Hudson for Altamont): "Once the fabric and character of Altamont begins to unravel, there is no easy way to reverse the damage."
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Nine Not to Ignore: No. 5

Gossips again takes up Nine Not to Ignore, the series intended to highlight at-risk buildings in Hudson. Having thus far featured the Robert Taylor House, the Charles Alger House, Hudson Upper Depot, and 432 Warren Street, we turn our attention to the next at-risk historic site.

5  402-404 Warren Street and 10-12 North Fourth Street

This site—a major eyesore on a significant corner in the city—started out as five buildings: the principal building, 402-404 Warren Street; three Greek Revival townhouses along North Fourth Street; and a building, believed to have dated from the late 18th century, which stood at 406 Warren Street. They were/are owned by one person, who years ago, when lodging was scarce in Hudson, planned to convert the buildings into a hotel. The following are images of a model presented to the Historic Preservation Commission back in 2006.

In late December 2006—between Christmas and New Year's Day, when many members of the HPC were away for the holidays—the building at 406 Warren Street was demolished. Peter Wurster, who was then the code enforcement officer, issued a demolition permit without a certificate of appropriateness from the HPC and without the claim that the building was an imminent threat to public safety. The design for the hotel that was before the HPC required the demolition of the building at 406 Warren Street, to make way for the new construction of the accordion design entrance to the hotel, but the design had never been approved.

The preservation law (Chapter 169-8.B) is clear about what should have happened: "In no case shall the time between demolition and commencement of new construction or lot improvement exceed six months." Yet, thirteen years later, the only "lot improvement" undertaken was the installation of a "mural" fence to mask the gaping hole in the streetscape and hide the gaping hole in the ground.

And then there are the town houses on North Fourth Street. The picture below shows this block of houses (at the right) as it once was.

Today, one of them is gone, demolished in September 2013. Again, the demolition was done without a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission, but this time at least the code enforcement officer, now Craig Haigh, determined it had to be demolished in the interest of public safety.

In August 2014, Richard Cohen, the owner of the buildings, was called before the Common Council Legal Committee. John Friedman, then Third Ward alderman and chair of the Legal Committee, was inspired to take this action by two things: a report that a brick had fallen from the site of the demolished building, narrowly missing someone walking on the sidewalk; and word that someone had expressed interest in acquiring the property and actually following through on developing it as a hotel.

When he appeared before the Legal Committee, Cohen said that the stabilization process, which at that point had taken five years, was "almost complete," and it would be done by the end of the following month. The following month was September 2014. At the Legal Committee meeting in August 2014, Dan Tuczinski, who was then the assistant city attorney, reported that the City had requested a letter from a structural engineer attesting that the site was safe. Presumably, such a letter was received, but five years later, there are no plans for the building that have been approved by the Historic Preservation Commission or the Planning Board. Five years ago, Tuczinski told Cohen he had to present the "ultimate plans" for the site to the appropriate City regulatory agencies, admonishing him, "Time is of the essence." It is not known if plans were ever filed with the code enforcement office, but in the ensuing years they have never been presented to the Planning Board or the Historic Preservation Office. 
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Tonight in Catskill

Gossips hasn't posted about the Wheelabrator ash landfill proposed for an abandoned quarry near Smith's Landing since February, when very little was known about the project. Now more is known, and tonight Riverkeeper is hosting a meeting in Catskill where concerned citizens can learn about the proposal and the risk it poses "to human and natural communities as well as the entire Hudson River ecosystem." The meeting takes place at 6:00 p.m. at the First Reformed Church, 310 Main Street, in Catskill. More information is available here: "Riverkeeper will host meeting on Wheelabrator proposal." 
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Goslings!

In the past week or so, whenever Joey and I get anywhere near the nest at the edge of the pond in Cedar Park Cemetery, the adult Canada geese flap their wings, hiss, and threaten. We haven't been able to get close enough to see if the eggs have hatched. But a reader managed it and sent me this picture. Note the little gosling beneath Mother Goose's wing.

Gratitude to Bob Tomaso for providing this picture

More from Livingston

Because of technical problems, Dan Udell's video of Wednesday night's Planning Board meeting in Livingston was only fourteen minutes long. This morning, the video of the full meeting, which lasted for more than an hour, is available and can be viewed here.

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Mark Your Calendars, Get Your Tickets

In advance of the Democratic primary on June 25, a mayoral debate between incumbent mayor Rick Rector and challenger Kamal Johnson has been scheduled for Thursday, May 16, at 6:00 p.m.

The debate will take place in the auditorium at Montgomery C. Smith Elementary School. Seating is limited, so reserve your place now by clicking here.

Stewart's Shops Elsewhere: Altamont

Matthew Frederick called his first post about the proposed Stewart's expansion in Hudson "One way to stop Stewart's expansion and six ways to make it better." The one way to stop it, Frederick explains, is a lawsuit: "The only obstacle to Stewart's ambitions I see is for someone to sue the city for 'spot zoning,' the largely illegal practice of preferentially zoning a specific property. This case seems to tiptoe very close to, if not over, that line."

The Hudson Planning Board has embraced Frederick's six ways, which grew to thirteen ways, to make it better, but in the village of Altamont, where Stewart's made a similar request of the village board to change its zoning to accommodate Stewart's desire for expansion, things have taken a different turn.

Gossips has been reporting about Stewart's efforts in Altamont since January 2018. The "Stewart's in Altamont" story is surprisingly like the "Stewart's in Hudson" story--even down to the appearance of the building Stewart's wants to replace. This is the Stewart's in Altamont.

Stewart's plan to expand in Altamont involved acquiring and demolishing an adjacent house and getting Altamont to change the zoning for the lot on which the house stood from residential to commercial. In October 2015, Altamont resisted and refused to change its zoning, but in December 2018, with new members on the village board, the zoning change was approved. Now the Altamont Enterprise reports that a citizens group is suing the village Board of Trustees and Stewart's: "Altamont residents sue to reverse Stewart's rezone." The article is recommended reading.
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The Gas Station Proposed for Livingston

Last night, Global Partners, responding to concerns from the public and input from the Department of Transportation, presented a revised site plan for its proposal new gas station to the Livingston Planning Board. Dan Udell was there to record the fourteen-minute presentation. Click here to view the video.

In the presentation, Rob Osterhoudt of Bohler Engineering tells the board that thinking of what's proposed as a "truck stop" is a misconception. Rather it is a "neighborhood market with fuel service," where one can get "quinoa bowls or rice bowls" and "a lot of fresh options that are quick and convenient." He called it a "novelty market" and predicted that it is going to be "an industry changer."

Udell reports that the presentation was followed by "much heated discussion," which is not documented in the video. The Livingston Planning Board will hold another public hearing on the project in June.

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Following Up

Yesterday, when posting about the agenda for the Common Council Housing and Transportation Committee meeting, I said updates to the resolution about universal rent control would be discussed. I misunderstood what Alderman Tiffany Garriga told me. There was not to be an update to the resolution; rather there was an update about the resolution.

Garriga reported that the resolution had been sent to the recipients named therein--Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Charles Schumer, Governor Andrew Cuomo, State Senator Daphne Jordan, Assemblymember Didi Barrett, and the Columbia County Board of Supervisors--and that it was one of fifteen such resolutions of support that had been passed or were about to be voted on by municipal legislative bodies. She also announced that the Assembly Standing Committee on Housing was holding a public hearing today, May 2, on rent-regulated housing. The public hearing is in two sessions: a day session from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an evening session that begins at 6 p.m. Click here for more information. 
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Assessment Angst Continued

This week, property owners in Hudson received their tentative assessment in the mail, and today the tentative roll is available online. The roll is arranged alphabetically by property owner's last name, and only the tentative assessment is given. If you are curious to compare other people's 2018 assessment, their preliminary assessment, and the tentative assessment, the preliminary assessment information, which gives the 2018 assessment, is still available here. 

The process isn't over. For those who did not challenge their preliminary assessment or for those dissatisfied with the adjustment made, the tentative assessment can be contested. The first step should probably be a visit to the city assessor, who is in his office at City Hall from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Information on how to contest your assessment is available on the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website. The process of contesting your tentative assessment involves filing a written complaint using Form RP-524, which is available from the assessor or online by clicking here. The form needs to be submitted to the assessor before Tuesday, May 28, which is Grievance Day.
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Tonight at City Hall

On Sunday, when I wrote the weekly post "Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead," I had no information about tonight's Common Council Housing and Transportation Committee meeting. Today, thanks to a phone call from Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), who chairs the committee, I do. 

The Housing and Transportation Committee will meet at 6:45 p.m. at City Hall, following the Youth, Education, Seniors, and Recreation Committee meeting, which takes place at 5:30 p.m. Among the items on the agenda for tonight's meeting is an updated resolution regarding "universal rent stabilization and control" in New York State. In March, the Common Council, which up until that time seemed to exhibit groupthink in its unanimous approval of everything that came before it, fractured over the resolution that declared its support for universal rent control. The resolution passed, but Council president Tom DePietro had to cast a vote to break the tie, because aldermen Rob Bujan (First Ward), Eileen Halloran (Fifth Ward), and Rich Volo (Fourth Ward) voted against it and Dewan Sarowar (Second Ward) and Dominic Merante (Fifth Ward) abstained. Exactly why and how the resolution is now being updated is not clear.

Also on the agenda is another resolution in support of issuing drivers licenses to New York residents regardless of their immigration status (such a resolution was passed unanimously in August 2016) and a discussion of the origin and destination truck study for which Assemblymember Didi Barrett secured $100,000 in state funding. Another agenda item: Fourth Ward supervisor Linda Mussmann will be at the meeting to tell about "TSL Time to Talk: Short-Term Rentals in Hudson," which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18.
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Back to the Alleys

Gossips has frequently posted about the alleys of Hudson and the loss of character being suffered by these back streets of Hudson as the old buildings that were constructed as stables or carriage houses are converted or "reproduced" to create living space.

Photo: William Hellermann

Yesterday, my attention was drawn to the loss of a different kind of character on an alley on the north side of town. What was lost were not buildings but mature trees and an entire ecosystem that was home to songbirds, eagles, and at least one gray fox--an ecosystem that enhanced the neighborhood and provided rare and precious proximity to the natural environment in an urban setting. 

These Google images show Rope Alley between Third and Fourth streets as it was in August 2016 and as it still was until very recently.

These pictures show the same stretch of Rope Alley as it appeared yesterday.

The following pictures, provided by a reader, show the devastation from the perspective of an adjacent backyard on North Third Street.

This diagram, drawn by a neighbor who has been witnessing the destruction, documents the major trees that were felled, including two pine trees estimated to have been between 60 and 85 years old.

One might assume that this is the work of Galvan, whose modus operandi is cutting down trees and which, as Hudson Collective Realty LLC, now owns two houses on State Street that back up on Rope Alley, but no. The property belongs to Fourth Ward supervisor Linda Mussmann, a principal in the limited liability company Paperplay. It is said that Mussmann plans to build three new houses on the site, but it doesn't seem reasonable that the construction of three houses necessitates clear-cutting the site and eliminating trees that would enhance not only the settings of the new houses but also the entire neighborhood.

This incident brings up again the need for a tree ordinance--something that has been discussed in Hudson for more than a decade. The benefits of trees in urban areas--reducing air pollution, conserving water and reducing soil erosion, saving energy, modifying the local climate, reducing noise pollution, creating wildlife and plant diversity, not to mention the beauty of trees and their contribution to personal health and well-being--are benefits that advantage entire neighborhoods, indeed entire communities, yet private property owners can fell trees at their own discretion, often with no good reason and without consideration for the impact the action will have on the community as a whole. 

In 2016, the Conservation Advisory Council decided to put off the ambitious goal of enacting a tree ordinance in favor of pursuing more immediately attainable goals. Three years and many lost trees later, maybe it's time for the CAC to take on that ambitious challenge.
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