Almost a month ago, a reader alerted me that the Lumberyard Center for Film and Performing Arts in Catskill was for sale, with an asking price of $11.5 million.
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| Photo: LoopNet |
Thursday, February 9, 2023
A Casualty of the Pandemic
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Looking Ahead to Summer
Through a generous grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Hudson Festival Orchestra (HFO) has a commitment of $50,000 toward its 2023 budget, almost half of its annual needs. An announcement this morning made known that the date for HFO's biggest event, inaugurated last summer, has been set. The second annual Hudson in Concert: A Community Celebration will take place on Saturday, July 15, on the Hudson waterfront.
Mark Your Calendar
When Michael Howard announced he was running for county judge, Gossips reported it. Since then, two more Democrats have announced their intention to seek the position of county judge: Brian Herman and Mark Portin. There are two judgeships open in Columbia County because Jonathan Nichols and Richard Koweek have announced their retirement.
On Thursday, February 16, the Columbia County Democratic Committee is hosting a judicial candidate forum with all three Democratic candidates. The forum takes place at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. Advanced registration is required for the forum. Click here to register.
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Keeping Hudson Shady
Gossips is preempting the official press release about this, but tonight, at the meeting of the Conservation Advisory Council, it was revealed that the CAC has been awarded a grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for "about $49,000" to plant trees on Harry Howard Avenue along the Empire State Trail.
It is anticipated that the DEC grant will fund the planting of 75 trees. The grants announced previously from National Grid and Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley will finance the planting of 34 street trees, and money allocated for trees in the 2023 city budget will pay for another 15 trees. All together, that's a total of 124 new trees to be planted in Hudson in 2023. This will definitely be the Year of the Trees in Hudson.
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COVID-19 Update
The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for the past week. Between January 30 and yesterday, there has been another death from COVID-19 in Columbia County. There are three more county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 today than there were a week ago, but there is one fewer in the ICU.
A year ago on February 7, the CCDOH reported a death from COVID-19, 53 new cases, and 178 active cases. There were 21 county residents hospitalized with COVID-19, and one was in the ICU. The total number of deaths in Columbia County attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 134, seven more than the previous week.
News of the Proposed Galvan Hotel
On January 27, the Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposal by the Galvan Foundation to redevelop the buildings at the corner of Warren and Fourth street into a hotel to be called "Hudson Public." Before the commission heard from the public, Walter Chatham reported that he and his client had decided that two hotel rooms were not worth the effort, and they had given up the plan to add a third floor to the two Greek Revival rowhouses that are part of the ensemble of buildings.
Initially, a third roof with a gambrel roof had been proposed for these two buildings.
Because the HPC had misgivings about the gambrel roof, Chatham proposed an alternative: a mansard roof, like the roof being proposed for the infill building.
The problem with the new proposal for the rowhouses is that it makes the infill building with its mansard roof more prominent.
Also commenting during the public hearing, Christabel Gough questioned the introduction of the mansard roof on the infill building, calling it an "alien style." She acknowledged that the mansard roof was meant to mask the elevator overrides but advised that masking may not be the best solution. She suggested that the elevators could be set farther back from the street and the overrides treated as the utilitarian features they are. She also proposed that the facade of the infill building echo the four bay fenestration of the building that was lost.
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| Image courtesy Matt McGhee |
The architects agreed to give the proposed mansard roof some thought, although Tether said he would have to "manage the message going back to my client." It is likely that a revised design for the infill building and more information about the plans for the storefronts facing Warren Street will be presented at next meeting of the HPC, which takes place on Friday, February 10, at 10:00 a.m.
To view the video of the January 27 meeting of the HPC, click here. To join the HPC meeting scheduled for February 10 remotely, click here.
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In Case You Missed It Yourself
In his 2008 book The Spirit of the Place, set in Columbia, NY, an only slightly fictionalized Hudson, native son Stephen Bergman, writing as Samuel Shem, characterizes our city as "a town of breakage."
At public events things would unerringly break. School microphones would consistently give out just after someone said, "Testing, testing." On Memorial Days in Columbian cemeteries just as the Gettysburg began, viewing stands would collapse. In deep summer at public tennis courts, water fountains were always going dry so that if, after a hot game of tennis on the asphalt courts, when your feet felt like grill-side-down burgers and your tongue like a bun, you went to the water fountain and turned the handle, the one thing you could be sure would not come out was water.
Bergman's criticism of the city of his birth, in his novel and in person, always seemed laced with humor and genuine affection, but if you prefer your criticism unadulterated, there's a new blog that might be just your cup of tea: Hudseen. Its creator, Bill Huston, describes the effort as "a mostly pictorial blog dedicated to exposing all things dangerous, ugly and inexplicable in Hudson, NY, that go unseen or ignored by Hudson City Hall. As well as other random, curious, concerning and interesting things seen and tripped over in Hudson."
Huston, who moved to Hudson in the past decade, has made it his mission to find and bring to light all of our city's flaws. The most recent post on his blog features this fire hydrant on Front Street, out of service and covered with a plastic bag.
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| Photo: Bill Huston |
A New Novel Set in Hudson
The book was reviewed in the New York Times last Friday: "Sex Lives of Hudson, N.Y., Bohemians," and it was recommended this morning by Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books in the "Book Picks" segment of WAMC's The Roundtable. Hermans has described the book in this way: "A sex therapist's transcriptionist becomes infatuated with a voice on her tapes (dubbed "Big Swiss") in this wild novel. This book is great fun, and Beagin gets the setting of the city of Hudson just right. A treat!"
How does the dog park figure in? Greta recognizes the voice of "Big Swiss" when she hears it at the dog park.
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Sunday, February 5, 2023
Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead
The bitter, record-shattering cold is behind us, and the high temperatures for the week ahead promise to be in the 40s. In this the seventh week of winter with six more to go, here is what's happening.
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- On Monday, February 6, the Housing Trust Fund Board meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- On Tuesday, February 7, Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meets at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- Also on Tuesday, February 7, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- On Friday, February 10, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- Also on Friday, February 10, at 4:00 p.m., Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a public hearing on the proposed sidewalk law, which was passed by the Common Council on January 28 with the minimum number of votes required. The public hearing takes place in person only at City Hall.
Saturday, February 4, 2023
A Cemetery Mystery
In the past, Gossips posts have answered a couple of intriguing questions that arose regarding the Hudson City Cemetery: Why are there visible skeletal remains in the Rossman mausoleum? and Who is buried in Fred W. Jones's tomb?
Recently another apparent cemetery mystery was brought to Gossips' attention: a brand-new tombstone in the Gifford family plot.
The plot was established in 1863, after the death of Edward Gifford, younger brother of Hudson River School painter Sanford Robinson Gifford. Edward Gifford, who served in the 128th New York Infantry Regiment, a volunteer regiment from Columbia and Dutchess counties during the Civil War, died of typhoid fever in New Orleans, after being captured during the Siege of Port Hudson and escaping by swimming across the Mississippi River. Edward was the first to be buried in the family plot--a site chosen by Sanford Gifford for its unusually beautiful view of the Berkshire Mountains. Sanford Gifford is himself buried in the family plot, along with his wife, Mary, as are his parents, Elihu and Eliza Gifford.
A few weeks ago, Gossips received word of the new tombstone. The information came from Peter Jung, who in 2010 spearheaded the repair and restoration of the Gifford family plot and has since acted as steward of the site.
In his capacity as self-appointed steward and guardian of the Gifford family plot, Jung visits the site often, and on a recent visit, he discovered a new stone, made of elegant white marble and meticulously carved to replicate the design of the original stones.
The artist Bill Sullivan resided in Hudson for the last eight years of his life, settling here in 2002. I did not know Sullivan personally, but I knew of him, and I recall knowing that he once told a friend of mine, with some pique, "Outside of Hudson, I'm famous."
During the time he lived in Hudson, Sullivan was represented by the Carrie Haddad Gallery, so in my quest to learn how his tombstone had come to be in the Gifford family plot, I contacted Haddad, who put me in touch with Sullivan's longtime partner, Jaime Manrique. Manrique was good enough to provide Gossips with this information:
Long before Bill Sullivan moved to Hudson, N.Y. (roughly the last 10 years of his life) he loved the work of Mr. Sanford Gifford. In fact, in a few of his late paintings Bill paid homage to the places that Mr. Gifford had painted in the 19th century. Whenever we drove by the Hudson cemetery, Bill would remark "Gifford is buried there."
After Bill died, I got the idea that he would be very happy to have his ashes lay near a painter he admired so much. I inquired with the Hudson City Cemetery and was told that no one in the Gifford family had been buried in the family plot for a very long time and that they thought perhaps there were no descendants of Sanford Gifford alive. So I asked if I could buy a plot to inter Bill Sullivan's ashes near his hero. The process of laying the tombstone took several years as we were told that the tombstone had to be in the style, and the same kind of marble, of the historical section of the cemetery.
Sullivan died in October 2010. In January and February 2011, the Albany Institute of History and Art honored his life and work with the exhibition Bill Sullivan: A Landscape Artist Remembered. In 2006, AIHA presented a major retrospective of his work, featuring fifty landscape paintings, which included iconic views of New York State as well as images of the mountains, volcanoes, and waterfalls of the equatorial Andes in South America. There are six paintings by Sullivan in AIHA's collection, among them Twilight at Olana and View from Olana.
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| Sullivan, Bill. Twilight at Olana. 1990. Albany Institute of History and Art. |
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| Sullivan, Bill. View from Olana. 1995. Albany Institute of History and Art. |
Friday, February 3, 2023
News of Bluehawk Academy
The following are excerpts from the press release:
This non-traditional pathway for students grade 7-12 will be centered around learning opportunities with local businesses, artisans and individuals who make a positive difference in the community. The Bluehawk Academy will start with 34 scholars who will have flexible schedules based on the strongpoints and passions built and monitored by three new staff members: Megan Amendola, a career guidance counselor; Michelle Donnelley, a former social worker; and Larry Walker, a professional focused in restorative justice.
"The program will be centered around generating employability, establishing work ethic, and developing life skills and techniques to become successful in life after high school," Superintendent Dr. Lisamarie Spindler said. . . .
There was and will be an application and interview process for interested scholars and mentors and/or internship locations to take part in the Bluehawk Academy. Junior High School students in the Bluehawk Academy will be involved in learning opportunities within a similar timeframe as the normal school day, while Senior High School students will have more flexibility in their schedule, similar to a college schedule or workday.
The mentors who will be serving as the supervisors for the Academy's students have bought into the mission the district is trying to establish, to strengthen the skills and pursue the interests of scholars in preparation for future opportunities in and around Hudson. These individuals and businesses have taken the time to fill out applications to describe their goals for the scholars, where they see the program going, and their passion for bridging the gap between the district and the community.
Such vendors include Columbia County Youth Bureau Executive Director Daniel Grandinetti, Commissioner of the Columbia County Department of Social Services Robert Gibson, Michael Molinski of Molinski Photography, Circle of Queens Inc., CEO of Blake's Design and manager of three pediatric offices Akilah Blake, Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood Inc., and well over a dozen more businesses and/or individuals.
Fields in which Bluehawk Academy students will have the chance to study and work in include business, local government, youth recreation, marketing, musical and theatrical arts, technology, creative writing, and more. . . .
Where to Be Tomorrow Morning
This morning's New York Times newsletter included this article: "Why Eggs Cost So Much." It explained that inflation, avian flu, and war account not only for the high price but also for the shortage of eggs. But take heart. Starting tomorrow, at the Hudson Farmers' Market's Winter-Spring Market, you will find reasonably priced, wonderfully fresh eggs from healthy local chickens for sale every week from Martin Farms and every other week from Scarecrow Farm or North Star Farm.
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Of Interest
This morning, on WAMC's The Roundtable, Sarah LaDuke spoke with filmmaker Geoffrey Hug and Mahmuda Alam, one of the students featured in the documentary, about Hudson, America: Six 1st-Generation Immigrants 2016-2022. The conversation can be heard here.
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Hudson and Formula Businesses
Last night, the Common Council Legal Committee took up the subject of the city's current law restricting formula businesses: Article XIV of the city code, "Community Character Preservation."
Early on in the discussion, Councilmember Ryan Wallace (Third Ward), who is a member of the committee, talked about the exceptions to the current law: (a) federally or New York State chartered banking, savings and loan, and trust institutions; (b) pharmacies and drugstores; (c) stores where the overwhelming majority of the foods sold are unprocessed or minimally processed and intended for preparation and consumption by the purchasers at another location--in other words, grocery stores; and (d) convenience stores that also sell gasoline. In this context, Wallace mentioned CityTarget, as if suggesting that such stores should also be exemptions to the city's formula business ban. That idea didn't seem to get much traction.
Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward), who chairs the committee, expressed the opinion that the intent of the law was OK, but it didn't "cover a lot of possibilities." She cited Westerlind, which opened its fourth store in Kingston before its store at 419 Warren Street opened. (The law defines a chain as having four or more establishments, hence the Hudson store should not have been allowed to open.)
Morris spoke of problems of enforcement and identifying businesses that are chains, as well as the question of what might happen if there were to be a chain that originated in Hudson. She didn't mention the question of what happens when Hudson is the fourth location, as is the case with Savona's Trattoria, and the business subsequently establishes additional locations. Morris said she would work on proposing some revisions to the existing law, saying that the needed changes to the law were "mainly a question of tightening up."
Councilmember Mohammed Rony (Second Ward), also a committee member, said he had found a resource about formula retail law. That resource, which is a publication of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, can be found here.
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The Groundhog Predicts
Earlier this morning, Punxsutawney Phil came out of his burrow and saw this shadow, indicating there will be six more weeks of winter.
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
George Washington Hung Here
The alterations at City Hall to achieve ADA compliance involve more than changes to the entrance.
These changes require that City Hall be closed while the work is being carried out, and the occupants of City Hall be relocated for the duration. Among the occupants requiring relocation is George Washington, that is, the portrait of George Washington painted by Henry Ary after Gilbert Stuart's famous 1796 Lansdowne portrait of Washington.
To put things in historic context, the founding of Hudson happened during George Washington's lifetime. The original Proprietors were Washington's contemporaries. The Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, which inspired Ary's portrait in the 1840s, was painted eleven years after the incorporation of the City of Hudson and three years before Washington's death in 1799.
Interestingly, the City of Hudson acquired the Henry Ary portrait of George Washington in 1845, ten years before the city had a proper city hall. Prior to 1855, when the construction of City Hall was completed, the portrait was displayed in a rented room in a building at Warren and Fourth streets owned by John J. Davis, "who fitted up within it a hall intended for public uses." It was in this hall that the Common Council held its meetings, and it may have been during those ten years the legend began that whenever and wherever the Council met, the portrait had to be present.
There are additional changes, outside and inside the building:
- Creating a handicapped accessible parking space on Warren Street
- Installing an accessible service counter
- Removing the raised dais in the Council Chamber
- Installing new flooring throughout the first floor
- Creating a handicapped accessible restroom
Returning to the present, during some informal chat before last Friday's special Common Council meeting, mayor's aide Michael Hofmann noted that the Henry Ary painting was to be stored someplace during the upcoming renovation of City Hall. He mentioned Hudson Hall as a possible location. Were that to happen, the portrait would be returning to the building where it had been displayed for 107 years, from 1855 to 1962. The building now known as Hudson Hall was originally constructed as Hudson's city hall.
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| Council Chamber in Hudson's original City Hall, now known as Hudson Hall |
Interestingly, the City of Hudson acquired the Henry Ary portrait of George Washington in 1845, ten years before the city had a proper city hall. Prior to 1855, when the construction of City Hall was completed, the portrait was displayed in a rented room in a building at Warren and Fourth streets owned by John J. Davis, "who fitted up within it a hall intended for public uses." It was in this hall that the Common Council held its meetings, and it may have been during those ten years the legend began that whenever and wherever the Council met, the portrait had to be present.
In July 2012, Gossips published a post about the portrait, which explores its acquisition in 1845 and its restoration in 1998 and 1999. Now that the portrait may disappear from public view for a while or be displayed in a different venue, it seems an appropriate time to revisit that post: "Henry Ary's Portrait of George Washington."
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Back to Normal
Gossips has received word that the vending machine dispensing trash bags at City Hall is once again accepting credit and debit cards and other forms of noncash payment.
Legal Committee Meeting Tonight
The agenda for tonight's Common Council Legal Committee meeting is now available. Items for discussion are the city's law prohibiting formula businesses and the effort to make the 25 mph speed limit citywide. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
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| Photo: David Grossman | Alamy Stock Photo |
Of Interest
There's an article by Lisa La Monica about Ella Fitzgerald and her time spent in the New York State Training School for Girls in today's Times Union: "'Ungovernable': A teenaged Ella Fitzgerald's year in Hudson."
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| Photo: Carl Van Vechten | Library of Congress |
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Redistricting: Another Step in the Process
The New York State Independent Redistricting Commission is currently at work redrawing the state's Assembly districts. Part of the process is a public hearing tour, with hearings taking place in twelve locations throughout the state. Last Wednesday, there was a public hearing in Albany, at which three representatives from Columbia County spoke.
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| Existing districts |
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| Proposed districts |
At the public hearing in Albany on Wednesday, Mary Murfitt, who lives in Ancramdale, argued that Assembly District 106 should remain as it is because Columbia County is part of the Hudson Valley not Albany. Dorothy Heyl, treasurer of the Hudson City Democratic Committee, argued that a shift to AD 107 would "severely disadvantage Hudson," pointing out that Hudson's population is 25 percent African-American or mixed race as compared with only 3 percent in the proposed new district. She concluded that, were the redistricting to happen as proposed, "The black population would be disenfranchised." Sam Hodge, chair of the Columbia County Democratic Committee, argued that the proposed AD 107 was too vast, extending two hours' distance north and south and two hours' distance east and west. He urged that, because of their similarities, Dutchess and Columbia counties be kept together in AD 106.
Elaine Frazier, a member of the six-person commission, commented, "We struggled over Columbia County," and suggested, "In attempting to solve one problem, we created another."
The entire hearing can be viewed here. The comments pertaining to Columbia County begin at about 1:48:45. The commission's public hearings continue through the month of February, the last one taking place on March 1 in Suffolk County.
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Monday, January 30, 2023
Hometown Premiere of Documentary Film
On Saturday, February 4, at 4:00 p.m., at Hudson Hall, there will be a screening of the documentary film Hudson, America, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, Zuzka Kurtz and Geoffrey Hug, and four of the participants in the documentary, Jahed Miah, Mahmuda Alam, Siddique Ahmed, and Jabin Ahmed.
The film follows six Gen-Z Bangladeshi immigrant students for six years, as they graduate from Hudson High School and leave their Muslim community to attend progressive, liberal colleges around the Northeast.
The unexpected political events of 2016-2022 derail the joyous college trajectory for Hudson City School District Gen-Z Bangladeshi immigrants, propelling them to confront anti-immigrant sentiments, their conservative parents' ideas of "The American Dream," and the true cost of forbidden love.
COVID-19 Update
The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for the week. Since January 23, there have been no deaths from COVID-19. The number of county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 today is five more than last week at this time, and one more of those hospitalized is in the ICU.
A year ago, on January 31 (January 30 was a Sunday), the CCDOH reported 76 new cases of COVID-19 and 228 active cases. There were 32 county residents hospitalized with COVID-19, and one was in the ICU. The total number of deaths in Columbia County attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 127, two more than the previous week.
News of Local Journalism
Gossips learned today The Columbia Paper is to be sold to Capital Region Independent Media, LLC. The group already owns two newspapers: Ravena News-Herald in Greene County and the Greenville Pioneer in Albany County. The president of Capital Region Independent Media is Mark Vinciguerra, who was from May 2013 to December 2018 the publisher for Columbia-Greene Media, which produces the Register-Star. The entire story, as reported in E&P, can be read here.
Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead
We've reached the end of January. The week ahead contains one of Gossips' favorite holidays: Groundhog Day, a legendary milestone in the journey toward spring. Besides Groundhog Day, here's what else is happening.
- On Wednesday, February 1, the Common Council Legal Committee meets at 6:00 pm. It's not clear what issue the Legal Committee will take up now that the sidewalk law has passsed, but the choice should be interesting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- On Thursday, February 2, the ad hoc Common Council Truck Route Committee meets at 6:00 p.m. At its January meeting, the committee began considering amendments to a directive issued in 1976 regarding truck traffic in the city. That may be the subject of discussion at this meeting as well. The meeting will be a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
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| Photo: Bill Huston |
- On Friday, February 3, Hudson City School District holds a press conference to announce the launch of Bluehawk Academy, a pilot school scheduled to open two days earlier. The press conference was originally to take place on Wednesday, January 25, but was canceled due to inclement weather. The event takes place at 10:00 a.m. in Junior/Senior High School Auditorium.
- On Saturday, February 4, the Hudson Farmers' Market's Winter-Spring Market returns to the Elks Lodge on Harry Howard Avenue. Starting this Saturday, the market will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 1 p.m. every Saturday through April 15.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Word of the "Orphaned Art"
Last Thursday, an oil sketch by 17th-century Dutch painter Anthony van Dyck for his c. 1620 painting of St. Jerome was auctioned at Sotheby's in New York.
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Saturday, January 28, 2023
News of the Sidewalk Law
At a special meeting of the Common Council on Friday night, the members of the Council present voted to enact the new sidewalk law establishing a sidewalk improvement district.
Three members of the Council--Art Frick (First Ward), Malachi Walker (Fourth Ward), and Ryan Wallace (Third Ward)--were absent from the meeting, but those present voted 6 to 2 in support of the law. The two councilmembers from the Fifth Ward voted against enacting the law. Vicky Daskaloudi prefaced her no vote by saying she was "fairly new in the city" and speaking of "so many references in the past about why it was handled this way or that way." Before he voted no, Dominic Merante said he still had reservations, predicted the law was "going to make dangerous sidewalks even worse," and questioned if enacting the law would satisfy the expectations of the Department of Justice.
The entire meeting, which lasted just a little more than six minutes, can viewed here on YouTube.
Enacting the law required a simple majority of six votes, which it received. It must now be signed by Mayor Kamal Johnson. It remains to be seen if there will be a petition to force a referendum on the law.
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