Freeing Hudson from the Tyranny of Trucks

As we all know, there are two truck routes that pass through Hudson, entering the city from the south on Worth Avenue and Third Street and converging on Green Street to make their way north. The majority of the trucks that enter the city have no business within our boundaries. They are just passing through. But they compromise our quality of life, and for at least a quarter of a century, they have been a source of consternation for Hudson residents.

Photo: Bill Huston

Photo: Julie Metz

In April 2019, Assemblymember Didi Barrett secured $100,000 in state funding for Hudson to conduct an origin and destination study toward the end of getting the trucks off the city's streets. Eighteen months later, the study is finally underway. The following message appears on the City of Hudson website:

The City of Hudson is working with MJ Engineering & Land Surveying (MJ) to perform a destination and origin study for trucks traveling through Hudson. . . . The study will collect data and propose alternative truck routes. Using the study, the City of Hudson will then work with surrounding towns, Columbia County, New York State, and a variety of stakeholders to build consensus for modification and improvement of the truck route. . . .

In October, MJ will be collecting data in Hudson to provide a clear overall picture of the truck traffic moving through the city, including numbers, entering point, exit point, and route. The data will be summarized and presented to city officials and the public for comment.

Based on the data, public comment, and roadway characteristics, MJ will prioritize possible alternate routes on existing roadways. The alternate routes will be presented for public comment and further refined based on feedback.

Phase 1 of the project will conclude with a final report that includes alternate routes, maps, comparison and rankings, potential improvements for preferred routes, short to medium-term mitigation treatments, order of magnitude costs for each preferred route, and comprehensive data. Future phases will include engaging with neighboring municipalities, the New York State Department of Transportation, and New York State to adopt preferred alternate routes. . . .

The entire statement can be read here. Comments about the study can be emailed to mayor's aide Michael Chameides mayoralaide@cityofhudson.org.

Where the New Cases Were This Week

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its breakdown of COVID-19 cases by municipality and nursing home. Since last Friday, there have been twelve new cases. Four of them have been in Hudson. The other eight are one each in Elizaville, Germantown, Ghent, Kinderhook, New Lebanon, Valatie, Barnwell, and Ghent Assisted Living, where previously there had been no cases of COVID-19.   

As always, in the list below, the first number is the number of cases last Friday, and the second number is the number of cases today. These are the total number of cases since the pandemic began not the number of active cases. Today the number of active cases in the county is twenty.

Ancram  5 | 5

Canaan  11 | 11

Chatham  25 | 25

Claverack  28 | 28

Clermont  8 | 8

Copake  25 | 25

Craryville  3 | 3

Elizaville  2 | 3

Gallatin  3 | 3

Germantown  7 | 8

Ghent  24 | 25

Greenport  40 | 40

Hillsdale  16 | 16

Hudson  46 | 50

Kinderhook  44 | 45

Livingston  19 | 19

New Lebanon  9 | 10

Niverville  2 | 2

Philmont  9 | 9

Stockport  8 | 8

Stottville  1 | 1

Stuyvesant  19 | 19

Taghkanic  8 | 8

Valatie 17 | 18

Nursing Homes

Barnwell  142| 143

Ghent Assisted Living  0 | 1

Livingstone Hills  2 | 2

Pine Haven  51 | 51

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health was released its numbers for today. The CCDOH is reporting one new case since yesterday, but comparing the total number of cases reported yesterday and today reveals there have been two new cases. There has also been one new recovery, increasing the number of active cases by one to twenty. Today, there is only one person hospitalized with the virus, and no one is in the ICU. Three more county residents are in mandatory quarantine today than there were yesterday, but one fewer is in precautionary quarantine. It has now been 122 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County.

  

With two positives out of 205 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today is 0.9 percent. The seven day rolling average, according to Gossips' calculations, is 0.6 percent--that is, 12 positives out of 1,962 test results received.

News from This Morning's HPC Meeting

Very soon, the red barn on South Front Street, across from the train station, will be coming down. As the chief mourner and hand wringer when it comes to the loss of old buildings, let me hasten to assure you that this is not a bad thing. The building will not be demolished, rather it is to be deconstructed and reconstructed using the original elements, on a new foundation, in such a way that it will be an energy efficient, net zero envelope.

I know we've heard the words deconstructed and reconstructed before, but this time I'm pretty sure it's really going to happen.

Another building that will be coming down in Hudson is this one, at 41 North Seventh Street, formerly Bagel Tyme, soon to be the new location of Isaan Star Thai Restaurant.

Back in February, a plan was presented to the Historic Preservation Commission to renovate the building. Today, plans were presented to construct an entirely new building on the site for the Thai restaurant. The HPC authorized its legal counsel to prepare a certificate of appropriateness for the new structure.

Perhaps the most exciting project to come before the HPC this morning, for a host of reasons, was 501 Union Street. 

This building, once known as "Apartments of Distinction," has been owned for more than a decade by the Galvan Foundation, and for more than a decade, it has been vacant. Built in 1864, it is one of the earliest apartment buildings to be constructed in the United States. Some exterior restoration has already been undertaken on the building. In 2012, the original slate of the mansard roof was replaced, the dormers and cornices were restored, and the chimneys were rebuilt. That restoration was guided by this 1893 image of the building, discovered by Walter Ritchie. The image is also guiding the final restoration of the building.

   

This morning, Walter Chatham, architect and former chair of the Planning Board, appeared before the HPC with a proposal to complete the exterior restoration of the building. The proposal involves replacing the temporary replacement windows now in the building with permanent replacement windows, removing the fire escape on the South Fifth Street side of the building, adding shutters to the Union Street side of the building, and re-creating a storefront at the corner of the building, as appears in the 1893 engraving. Replacing the windows is a necessary preliminary step to beginning the interior renovation, which involves creating one bedroom and studio apartments.

The only part of the proposal that the HPC took issue with was the design for the storefront. Chip Bohl, architect member of the HPC, said re-establishing the storefront cornice was appropriate but questioned the square two over two windows proposed for that part of the building. He said they disrupted the verticality of the building and suggested that the original windows might have had a mullion (a vertical element) in the middle, but they would not have been two over two. He urged that the design for the storefront could be made "more balanced, more tailored, and more defined." Chatham was agreeable, saying, "We just want to do what's right for the building."

It was decided that the application would be split, separating the design for the storefront from the rest of the proposal so they could move ahead with the windows and subsequently with the interior restoration, and more time could be spent on pursuing the storefront design.

Another application of interest was for 121 Warren Street. What is being proposed is a "general restoration"--replacing the windows with six over six double hung windows and replacing the vinyl siding with primed pine siding which would be painted Hawthorne yellow.

The applicant said the immediate goal was "to improve the appearance of the house and make it safe," but the discussion led to speculation about the age of the house. The applicant said it was built in 1840, but a few years ago, Gossips discovered in an 1889 newspaper that the house was then 100 years old, making the year of its construction 1789, just a few years after the founding of Hudson. (I shared this information with the HPC during the meeting.) The gambrel shape of the roof, visible from the side, supports the notion that the house dates from much earlier than 1840. Given the possible age and significance of the building, Bohl declared, "We need to take very serious consideration of the renovations being proposed."

At the suggestion of HPC chair Phil Forman, it was decided that a significant piece of the vinyl siding, "sufficient to see that's there," would be removed from the front and the east side of the building, and members of the HPC would do a site visit, during or before their next meeting, to see if the vinyl siding is covering original brick and, if so, what the condition of the brick is.

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"One of the Trendiest Towns on the East Coast"

Today at 9:30 a.m., Hudson is featured on Fox 5. If you're not going to be near a TV set at that time, you can watch the video here now. 

Are You Registered to Vote?

Election Day is just 26 days away. So tonight, Gossips is sharing this message from Governor Andrew Cuomo's daily "NYS Coronavirus Update":

Tomorrow, October 9th, is the last day New Yorkers can register to vote for the 2020 Election. I encourage all New Yorkers to register to vote for this year's upcoming election. You must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the State and the county, city or village in which you are registering for at least 30 days before the election and be at least 18 years old on or by November 3. Learn how you can register to vote here or check to make sure you are registered here.

Gossips addendum to the governor's message: Do it!

The Recent History of a House

Yesterday, the outrage suffered recently by this house on North Fifth Street was shared on Facebook. The first photo below shows the house as it appeared in August, when it was last sold; the second shows the house as it appears today. The wrap-around porch, with its intricate latticework, is now missing. 

Photo: Zillow

The removal of the porch raises the question of how this could have happened. The house is situated in a locally designated historic district--the Armory Historic District, designated in 2006. Still the porch was removed without review or a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission.

Upon learning of this on Wednesday morning, Gossips contacted both Phil Forman, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, and Craig Haigh, code enforcement officer. Haigh said he was aware of the situation and was issuing an order to remedy. Still, this should never have happened. 

The fate of this house is testimony to the need for better communication about Hudson's historic preservation ordinance with new property owners in Hudson, but how can that be achieved? Whose responsibility is it to do that? Ideally, buyers should know a house is in a historic district before they buy it, which means realtors need to know this and disclose it. Failing that, it would be nice if, as soon as a sale in a historic district is recorded with the county clerk's office, the new owner would receive information about Hudson's historic preservation ordinance and the obligations of owners of buildings in historic districts.

Perhaps easier to achieve, though, would be to make historic preservation more visible on the City of Hudson website. As it is now, to find any information about historic preservation, you need to click on the tab "How do I?" and select this weirdly worded option: "Apply for Historic appropriateness on a change to my building?" That will bring you to the Historic Preservation Commission's page, where you can eventually, if you click on the right options, find out if your building is in a historic district and how you can apply for a certificate of appropriateness. It is not a clear path, and who is even going to attempt it if they don't already know their building is in a historic district? Perhaps instead there needs to be a page, under the tab "About Hudson," that tells about the city's historic architecture and the historic preservation ordinance enacted in 2003 to protect it. Maybe there could also be information about historic districts under the tab "Residents."

But to return to the house on North Fifth Street. It has had an interesting history in the past couple of years. Gossips did a post about the house in February 2018: "Take the Restoration Challenge." At that time, the house was for sale for $139,000. The post explored the history of the house, which for several decades in the 19th-century was the home of Leonard Geiger, a marble cutter of some skill and reputation, and his family. 

The tax rolls reveal that the house was purchased in May 2018 for $139,000 and sold in December of that same year for $300,000. At some point along the way, the house got a new coat of paint and work was done on the interior, and according to Zillow, it was sold in August 2020 for $510,000.

Update: At the Historic Preservation Commission meeting this morning (Friday, October 9), HPC chair Phil Forman reported that the owner and the contractor will be held responsible and required to reinstate the porch or rebuild it as it was. It is not clear if any of the materials were retained or if everything will have to be replicated.

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The Advantages of Staying Home

The Times Union and Channel 6 News are reporting that the mayors of Albany, Schenectady, Syracuse, Ithaca, and Fayetteville are all in precautionary quarantine today after Mayor David Rich of Binghamton tested positive for COVID-19 just hours after he attended a news conference of New York mayors yesterday. The news conference, which took place in Syracuse, was meant to highlight the importance of federal COVID-19 fiscal relief for states and municipalities.   

It appears Mayor Kamal Johnson may not have attended the event. At 2:30 p.m. yesterday, he was in his office at City Hall, participating in a Zoom meeting of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. The CCDOH is reporting that, since yesterday, there have been three new cases of COVID-19, but comparing the number of active cases and the total number of cases reported today with what was reported yesterday reveals that there are actually four new cases. There are now two people hospitalized with the virus, and one in the ICU. There are twenty-two more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than there were yesterday, and one more in precautionary quarantine. It has now been 121 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County. 

With four positives out of 366 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today is 1 percent. The seven day rolling average, according to Gossips' calculations, is 0.9 percent--that is, 19 positives out of 1,978 test results received.

Another Step Toward a Plan

In July, the mayor's office issued an RFP (request for proposals) for a consultant to create an Affordable Housing Development Plan for Hudson. Responses to the RFP were due on August 3. Last night, at the Common Council Housing and Transportation Committee meeting, it was agreed to forward to the full Council a resolution to hire Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress to develop the plan.

Working with Pattern for Progress is nothing new for Hudson. Joe Czajka, Senior VP for Research, Development and Community Planning and Executive Director for the Center for Housing Solutions & Community Initiatives with Pattern for Progress, chaired the task force that created Hudson's Strategic Housing Action Plan. 

Mayor's aide Michael Chameides, who presented the resolution last night, told the committee that four responses to the RFP had been received, some proposing a cost of as much as $200,000. Pattern for Progress is only asking for $30,000. As has already been reported, it is hoped that agencies involved in creating and maintaining affordable or subsidized housing in Hudson will contribute $5,000 each toward the consultant's fee. The agencies that have been mentioned in the past are HCDPA (Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency), Hudson Housing Authority, Habitat for Humanity, and the Galvan Foundation. That makes $20,000.

Chameides explained that the desired outcome was the identification of five sites practicable and desirable for residential development and the creation of a specific plan for each site. 

The resolution to enter into a contract with Pattern for Progress will be introduced at the Council's informal meeting on Tuesday, October 13.

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there has been one new case of COVID-19 and no new recoveries, increasing the number of active cases by one to fifteen. One person remains hospitalized, and one remains in the ICU. The number of county residents in mandatory and precautionary quarantine remains the today as yesterday. There have been no deaths from COVID-19 in Columbia County for 120 consecutive days.

With one positive out of 302 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today is 0.3 percent. The seven day rolling average, according to Gossips' calculations, is 0.7 percent--that is, 15 positives out of 2,018 test results received.

Not to Be Missed

Michael Saltz, who retired as Senior Producer of what is now called The PBS News Hour and lives here in Columbia County, has an opinion piece in today's Register-Star: "Goodbye, America?" It is recommended reading, although I'm hopeful most Gossips readers already recognize the dire circumstances we find ourselves in as a nation.  

What Happened in Kinderhook

Today at noon, grand jury indictments are expected to be delivered by a county judge at the Columbia County courthouse here in Hudson for Alex Rosenstrach, owner of ClubLife Health and Fitness; Kelly Briscoe Rosenstrach, a Columbia County deputy sheriff; Cory Gaylord, a heavy equipment operator at Gaylord Contracting; and Bryan Haag, an IRS agent, Criminal Division. In the meantime, Enid Futterman, who has been conducting her own investigation into the events that occurred in the wee hours of July 5 at the Rosenstrach home in Kinderhook and subsequently, has published her second article on the subject on imby.com: "The Party's Over (Part 2): What really happened next." 

Photo: Zack Neven|imby.com

If you missed Part 1, it can be read here.

You Can't Come Here from There: Update

Today, New Mexico was added to the list of restricted states on New York's COVID-19 Travel Advisory, and no states or territories were removed. Visitors from these places or New Yorkers returning from these places must self quarantine for fourteen days upon arriving in New York. Here is the complete list:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Guam
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

It Isn't Easy Staying Green

Vermont updated its interactive travel map today, and after more than three weeks of being green (or aqua), Columbia County is back to being yellow (or gold), with an estimated 640 active cases per million. Our descent to yellow status is no doubt the consequence of the cluster of COVID-19 cases occurring among seasonal workers at an apple farm just outside Hudson. Being yellow on Vermont's map means anyone traveling there from here must quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. The CCDOH is reporting one new case since yesterday, but comparing the total number of cases reported yesterday and today suggests that there have actually been two new cases. The CCDOH is also reporting one new recovery and an increase of one in the number of active cases. One person remains hospitalized with the virus, and another remains in the ICU. There are four more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, and there is one in precautionary quarantine. It has now been 119 consecutive days without a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County.

    

With two positives out of 337 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today is 0.5 percent. The seven day rolling average, according to Gossips' calculations, is 0.7 percent--that is, 15 positives out of 1,952 test results received.

And Hudson Shall Have a New Hotel

After a process that went on for eight months, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a revised PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement for the hotel whose working title is 620 Hudson House.

In response to concerns raised by city treasurer Heather Campbell at the September 22 meeting of the IDA that the agreement assumed "no increase in assessment or tax rate," the developer presented the IDA with a new payment schedule that assumes a 1.5 percent increase in the assessment and the tax rate in Year 6 of the eleven year agreement. In the original PILOT agreement proposed, a total of $631,777 would have been paid over the eleven years of the agreement; in the revised agreement, the total over the life of the PILOT is $680,212.

 

According to the agreement, the PILOT will not begin until construction of the hotel is complete, which must happen within three years. Until that time, the property will continue to pay its current property tax, which is $41,564 annually. The IDA has also agreed to let the developer pay the 1 percent administration fee, which goes to the IDA, in three installments at three benchmark periods: closing of the sale; start of construction; completion of construction.

The project now has all the approvals it needs to go forward except for final approval from the Historic Preservation Commission. In June, the HPC approved the project in concept, based on such compatibility standards as size, scale, and character. The final details of the plans for the restoration of the original McKinstry mansion and the addition still need to be reviewed and approved by the HPC.

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In Hudson Today

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul's published schedule for today indicates that she will be in Hudson at 2:30 p.m. to tour the Red Barn project at 60 South Front Street, a project that has received funding from the State of New York, and meet with small business owners.

Second Grand Jury Indictment

On October 4, Diane Valden reported in Columbia Paper that Mohammed Ali had been indicted for a second time on sexual abuse charges: "Hudson man faces new, multiple charges of child sex abuse." The new grand jury indictment came on September 25. The previous indictment happened on August 12. 

On September 11, JAAGO Hudson held a rally in support of the victims of sexual abuse in Hudson's Bengali community. 

Photo: Facebook

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been no new coronavirus cases and one recovery, reducing the number of active cases by one to thirteen. One county resident remains hospitalized with COVID-19, and one remains in the ICU. There are two fewer people in mandatory quarantine today than there were yesterday, and there is no one in precautionary quarantine. It has now been 118 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County.

With zero positives out of 148 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today is 0.0 percent.

Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

It is now less than a month, just twenty-nine days, until Election Day, and here's what is happening in Hudson this week.

• On Monday, October 5, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment meets at 1:00 p.m. The proposed 2021 budget for the police department will be presented to the BEA at this meeting. The link for joining the meeting can be found on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar.
• Also on Monday, October 5, the Tourism Board meets at 7:00 p.m. It is not clear what they will be discussing, since most of the $435,000 was been distributed, and season for tourism events is pretty much over. The link for joining the meeting can be found on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar.
• On Tuesday, October 6, at 1:00 p.m., the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) holds a special meeting to consider the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement sought by 620 Hudson House LLC, the boutique hotel proposed for 620 Union Street. At the last meeting of the IDA, the developer was asked to address the city treasurer's concerns that the proposed PILOT agreement assumed "no increase in assessment or tax rate" during the eleven-year course of the agreement. Click here to join the meeting. 

• On Tuesday, October 6, at 3:00 p.m., the HDC Emergency Cultural Task Force meets at 3:00 p.m. At this week's meeting, Filiz Soyak will report on what's happening at Hudson Arts Community, plans for documenting, archiving, and presenting the work that was produced as part of the Hudson Emergency Arts Project, and her Breath Flags public art installation along the Hudson River Skywalk. Click here to join the Zoom meeting. The meeting ID is 972 7312 5560; the password is 009933.

• On Tuesday, October 6, at 4:00 p.m., Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a public hearing on the proposed local law increasing the fines for certain parking violations. The most significant increase is in the fine for illegally parking in a handicapped zone, which will be increased to $100. The link for joining the public hearing will be posted on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar.

• On Tuesday, October 6, at 6:00 p.m., the Conservation Advisory Council holds its monthly meeting. Neither the link to join the Zoom meeting nor the agenda for the meeting has no far been published.
• On Wednesday, October 7, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) meets at 2:30 p.m. The proposed 2021 budgets for the mayor's office, the Common Council, and the city clerk's office will be presented to the BEA at this meeting. The link to join the meeting will be posted on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar.
• Also on Wednesday, October 7, the Common Council Youth, Education, Seniors and Recreation Committee meets 5:30 p.m. and the Housing and Transportation Committee meets at 6:45 p.m. The link to join each meeting will be posted on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar. 
• On Friday, October 9, the Historic Preservation Commission meets 10:00 a.m. The link to join the meeting can be found on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar.
• Also on Friday, October 9, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) meets at 1:00 p.m. The proposed 2021 budgets for the fire department, the assessor's office, and the code enforcement office will be presented to the BEA at this meeting. The link to join the meeting will be posted on the City of Hudson website. Scroll down to the calendar. 

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COVID Testing in Hudson

The Columbia County Department of Health has announced three COVID-19 testing clinics for the month of October at the former John L. Edwards School at Fourth and State streets. The clinics are limited to 100 tests. Pre-registration is not required. A form of photo identification is needed, and masks are required for entry. The clinics will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the following days:

• Tuesday, October 13
• Tuesday, October 20
• Tuesday, October 27

The testing kits used at these clinics, which involve nasopharyngeal swabs, were purchased by Columbia County with the help of private donations.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health released its numbers at 11:00 a.m. today. Since yesterday, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 and no new recoveries, so the number of active cases in the county remains the same at fourteen. One person remains hospitalized, and one is in the ICU. One more county resident is in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number in precautionary quarantine remains the same at one. It has now been 117 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County.  

With no positives out of 304 test results received, the percentage positive rate for today is 0.0 percent. In the past week, Monday through Sunday, there have been thirteen new cases out of 1,946 test results received, making the percentage positive rate for the week 0.6 percent.

Testing Proposed Improvements

Yesterday, two demonstration projects intended to test concepts and get feedback from the community were installed in the city. The installations, primarily paint on the pavement, are designed to be temporary and are meant to test out ideas that could later be rendered in a more permanent manner as curb extensions or sidewalks. The final goal of the project, which is part of Hudson's major DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) project, is "to create safe, accessible streets that can be enjoyed by pedestrians, bicyclists, visitors and people who want to shop downtown." 

One of the demonstration projects is located at Second and State streets, at Bliss Towers, and involves curb extensions and sidewalk along the north side of State Street.

The second installation, at Warren and Front streets, involves only curb extensions.

The project at Warren and Front streets will be removed as soon as city leaders, residents, and the consultant team have had a chance to assess the merits of the proposed changes. The project at Second and State streets is expected to remain in place for several months.

Comments and questions about the installations can be emailed to John Gonzalez (john@streetplans.com).

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. The CCDOH lists two as the number of new cases, but the total number of cases reported today is three more than it was yesterday, so we can assume there are actually three new cases. The number of people recovering today is two more than yesterday, so the number of active cases has increased by one to fourteen. Three more county residents are in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number in precautionary quarantine has decreased by one. One person remains hospitalized with the virus, and one remains in the ICU. It has now been 116 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County. 

With three positives out of 250 test results received, the percentage positive rate for today is 1.3 percent.

Penalties for Failing to Enforce

Before I was tipped off by a reader to the Times Union article that provided insight into the the spike in COVID cases here in Hudson, I was starting to write a post sharing one of Governor Cuomo's press releases from today. I was going to introduce the press release by saying the eleven new cases in the past week may not qualify Hudson as a hot spot, but it is highest weekly increase Hudson has seen since the Columbia County Department of Health started releasing the breakdown of cases by municipality on April 10. That was twenty-five weeks ago. Since then, there have been twelve weeks with no new cases in Hudson at all; seven weeks with just one new case; and three weeks with two cases. Up until today, the highest number of new cases happened in May, when there were six new cases one week (May 1) and five new cases the next (May 8), and then there was last week (September 25), when there were four new cases in Hudson.

We now know that nine of the eleven new cases in Hudson this week have to do with a fruit farm that is outside the city, but they are attributed to Hudson because the workers from the farm all live together in a single residence here in Hudson. Jack Mabb, the director of the CCDOH, is assuring us, "There is no indication that this outbreak presents a danger to the public at large." Still there is reason to be vigilant--for our own health and for the fiscal health of our city.

Here's the governor's press release:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Commissioner of Health will send an order to COVID-19 hot spot local governments today establishing a framework for reporting their enforcement activities and setting specific consequences for failure to enforce the State Department of Health Emergency Regulations and the Governor's Executive Orders related to social distancing, mask compliance, and capacity limitations. If local governments do not enforce these legally binding requirements, they will be in violation of the order and can be subject to fines.

"The Commissioner of Health will issue a Section 16 order to the local governments advising them that they have to step up the compliance, that it is the law and if local governments don't step up the compliance, they will actually be in violation of the law and they can be fined. I have asked the local governments many times to actually do the compliance," Governor Cuomo said. "Compliance is not public education--it is enforcement. People know what the rules are and they've heard them every day. Local governments have to do enforcement. Whether or not it fits with their political agenda really is pointless. It's the law and their job is to enforce the law.""

Failure to adhere to the order can result in penalties of up to $10,000 per day, pursuant to Section 12-b of the state Public Health Law.

About Those Nine New COVID Cases

This article in the Times Union explains the nine new COVID cases today and the eleven new cases in Hudson this week--the biggest weekly increase in Hudson since the Columbia County Department of Health started providing the breakdown of cases by municipality on April 10: "COVID-19 cluster identified at Columbia County fruit farm."

Let's Be Careful Out There

There have been thirteen new cases of COVID-19 in Columbia County, and eleven have been Hudson residents. That's what was revealed this afternoon when the Columbia County Department of Health released its breakdown of cases by municipality and nursing home. The other two new cases this week were one each in Kinderhook and Stockport.

As always, in the list below, the first number is the number of cases last Friday, and the second number is the number of cases today. These are the total number of cases since the pandemic began not the number of active cases. Today the number of active cases in Columbia County is thirteen.

Ancram  5 | 5

Canaan  11 | 11

Chatham  25 | 25

Claverack  28 | 28

Clermont  8 | 8

Copake   25 | 25

Craryville  3 | 3

Elizaville  2 | 2

Gallatin  3 | 3

Germantown  7 | 7

Ghent  24 | 24

Greenport  40 | 40

Hillsdale  16 | 16

Hudson  35 | 46

Kinderhook  43 | 44

Livingston  19 | 19

New Lebanon  9 | 9

Niverville  2 | 2

Philmont  9 | 9

Stockport  7 | 8

Stottville  1 | 1

Stuyvesant  19 | 19

Taghkanic  8 | 8

Valatie  17 | 17

Nursing Homes

Barnwell  142 | 142

Livingston Hills  2 | 2

Pine Haven  51 | 51

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday there have been nine new cases of COVID-19 and no recoveries, increasing the number of active cases to thirteen. One person is hospitalized with the virus, and one is in the ICU. The number of county residents in mandatory quarantine has increased by three since yesterday, but the number in precautionary quarantine remains the same. It has now been 115 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County. 

With nine positives out of 271 test results received, the percentage positive rate for today is a staggering 3.3 percent.

Take the Police Survey

The Police Advisory and Reconciliation Committee (formerly the Police Reconciliation and Advisory Commission) has released its Hudson Community Police Survey to assess how Hudson residents view the Hudson Police Department and its role in the community. The survey, which will be available until November 1, can be found here.

The Biggest News of the Day

Donald and Melania Trump have both tested positive for COVID-19. Read about it in the New York Times: "Trump Tests Positive for the Coronavirus."

Trump at a rally on Wednesday in Duluth, Minnesota

Photo: Erin Schaff | New York Times

Save the Date

On Sunday, October 25, Historic Hudson invites all its members—past, present, and future—to explore the 19th-century landscape that surrounds the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, Hudson’s only National Historic Landmark. On that day, the grounds of the Bronson House will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors can enjoy the rare experience of walking the carriage road that once connected the Bronson estate to the heart of Hudson and learn about the potential for this amazing landscape to become a new public access park within our city. 

COVID-19 Update

October is beginning much better than September ended. The Columbia County Department of Health is reporting that, since yesterday, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 and six recoveries, reducing the number of active cases to four. One person is hospitalized with the virus, and one is in the ICU. There are three fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine today than there were yesterday, and one fewer in precautionary quarantine. It has now been 114 consecutive days since there has been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County.

With zero positives out of 406 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today is 0.0 percent.

Of Interest

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the state has launched a mobile contact tracing app, called COVID Alert NY, "that will notify New Yorkers if they've potentially been exposed to a COVID-19-positive person." You can read about it in the Times Union:  "Cuomo: New phone app flags COVID-19 exposure."

Vogue to the Rescue

In 2016, a student at Bard College wrote a senior essay that posited mention of Hudson in the New York Times--as well as Vogue, New York Magazine, and The New Yorker--was the major driver of our city's renaissance: "Fit to Print: Hudson's Gentrification in the New York Times, 1985-2016." It seems now such media coverage may drive a pandemic comeback. This article appeared earlier this week in Vogue: "Why a Visit to Hudson, New York, Is Better Than Ever." Needless to say, The Maker gets a lot of attention.

Photo: Francine Zaslow|Vogue