Surveying the Devastation

Thursday night's storm took a grim toll on the trees and monuments on Hudson's cemeteries: Hudson City Cemetery and Cedar Park Cemetery. Yesterday, an intrepid reader defied the warning that the cemeteries were closed to the public for safety's sake and toured the cemeteries to document the destruction to the trees and monuments. Here is a selection of the photographs provided to Gossips by that reader.

The Department of Public Works will remove the fallen trees and clean up the debris, but who will repair the damage to the gravestones and monuments?

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The Inevitable Loss of Character

The alleys of Hudson, including Partition Street which is thought of as an alley even though it is the probably the oldest street in Hudson, have oft been celebrated for their unique character and "accidental" appeal. In January 2017, there was an exhibition of photographs at Hudson Hall, then called the Hudson Opera House, entitled No Parking: The Alleys and Garages of Hudson, featuring work of Lisa Durfee, Peter Spear, and the late William Hellermann--three local photographers attracted by the "unconventional beauty beyond Hudson's well-trafficked streets." Peter Spear has also created a website devoted to the alleys of Hudson.

Photo: William Hellermann

Over the years, Gossips has frequently written about the alleys of Hudson and the loss of character being suffered by these back streets as the old buildings, originally constructed as stables or carriage houses or garages, are converted or "reproduced" to create living space or simply demolished because they are unsafe. Recently, another such building was lost in the 200 block of Partition Street.

Asked about this at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on Friday (the missing building was in a historic district), code enforcement officer Craig Haigh explained that he had noticed the building when he was "riding around on patrol." Upon further inspection, he determined the structure to be unsafe and ordered it removed. 

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Watching the Apartments of Distinction

This morning, at the Historic Preservation Commission, HPC member Miranda Barry asked that they revisit the certificate of appropriateness granted to 501 Union Street, the building that once bore a sign reading "Apartments of Distinction." According to Barry, the building had, in the past day, been painted gray, and panels were being installed. The picture of the building below was taken early this afternoon.

Walter Chatham, the architect for the project, explained that the panels were part of the storefront, which had been approved by the HPC. They can be seen in these elevations. 

Chatham went on to say that the white/gray substance on the brick was not paint but a spray-on solution of lime and water used to even out the appearance of the brick. The masonry had to be repaired, particularly on the south side of the building where the fire escape had been removed, and, according to Chatham, "The client thought it looked terrible." ("The client" is likely to be Eric Galloway himself, since the building is owned by Galvan.) The limewash was applied in an attempt to improve the building's appearance. Chatham maintained that the limewash was meant to mask irregularities. Barry suggested that at least two coats had been applied, saying, "Yesterday it was blotchy white; today it is solid gray."

The building in April 2022, after the fire escape had been removed.

Victoria Polidoro, legal counsel to the HPC, read the following statement from the certificate of appropriateness granted in October 2022: "Original patina of brick shall be maintained." Code enforcement officer Craig Haigh told Chatham, "You are noncompliant. All work must cease until this is resolved." He added that the installation of the wood panels could continue because they had been approved.

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Update: On Saturday morning, people were at work trying to remove the limewash from the building while work on the storefront continued.

The Aftermath of the Storm

Today, the following notice appeared on the City of Hudson website.

In March 2018, my dog Joey and I visited the cemetery on the morning after a late winter storm and documented the damage: "The Aftermath of the Nor'easter in Hudson." One can only imagine how the severe the devastation caused by last night's storm was to the ancient trees in the city's cemeteries if it is deemed necessary to deny public access to the cemeteries today.

Update: Gossips has made no attempt to view the damage in the Hudson cemeteries, but a reader provided these pictures of trees lost in Thursday's storm in the historic cemetery at the Reformed Dutch Church in Claverack. The first two show the same downed tree from different vantage points. The third shows a second tree that was uprooted by the storm.

Photos courtesy Bob Tomaso

Tweaking Existing Laws

At the meeting of the Common Council Legal Committee on Wednesday, two laws that are currently part of the city code were discussed: the law banning formula businesses, enacted in 2017, and the vacancy law, enacted in 2018. 

In June, amendments proposed to the law banning formula businesses (Chapter 325, Article XIV, of the city code) were on the Common Council agenda but were sent back to the Legal Committee for further consideration. Since then, Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward), who chairs the Legal Committee, has sought the input of the Hudson business community in revising the law. At Wednesday's meeting, Alex Petraglia, president of the Hudson Business Coalition, reported that HBCi had formed an ad hoc committee to make recommendations for revisions to the law to prohibit businesses that are in violation of the law from opening. Those recommendations are expected to be presented to the Legal Committee at its October meeting.

In the meantime, Chic, which has stores in eleven other locations (the law prohibits businesses with four other locations), opened a shop at 314 Warren Street and complied with the existing code by revising its business plan and not calling the shop Chic.

The vacancy law, Chapter 91 of the city code, was also discussed at Wednesday's meeting. Hudson has had a vacancy law for more than five years now. The law was meant to discourage allowing buildings to stand empty, become derelict, and ultimately be demolished. Five years after the law was enacted, it's not clear if it has been effective in achieving the goals of preventing demolition and keeping dwelling units available.

In November 2022, BFJ Planning, hired to consult on policy issues with the Housing Trust Fund, provided a 75-page memo on revising the city's vacancy law. It was not this memo but rather an email from Michelle Tullo, Hudson's Housing Justice Director, forwarded to the Legal Committee by Council president Tom DePietro, that prompted the discussion of the vacancy law at the Legal Committee meeting. Tullo's email suggested the following "tweaks" to the vacancy law:

1. Clarifying the definition to reflect the purpose of the law 
2. Add a time frame to the definition of vacancy
3. Add a time frame to how long a building can be vacant with a building permit and have no action happen before it reverts to being vacant again
4. Methodology for determining vacancy
5. Clarify the registration process and make the form fillable online
6. Specify who is overlooking the vacancy list
7. Add an appeal process
8. Add obligations of the owner and insurance of the vacant property
9. Increase the vacancy fees
10. Expand the exemption list for fees
11. Add a complaint process for residents to submit and a review process
12. Audit and report on this annually
13. Consider eminent domain process for unreachable owners/dangerous sites

One building that was mentioned specifically in the discussion of toughening the vacancy law was this house in the 500 block of Union Street.

The house, a two-family dwelling, was purchased by its current owner in 2004 for $162,000. According to reports from neighbors, no one has lived in the house since that time. In 2019, Gossips learned that some people in the neighborhood were calling for its demolition, calling it a zombie house and claiming it was a haven for feral animals and a fire hazard. The house has a number of code violations, and the City has taken legal action against the owner (whose name and address are readily available in the tax rolls) but to no avail. The City cannot seize the property because the taxes on the house, now assessed at $244,000, continue to be paid.

It will be interesting to see what the Legal Committee does with both these laws.

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Happening Next Weekend

On September 16 and 17, Hudson Hall presents A Celebration of James Ivory. Earlier this week, Rural Intelligence published an article about the event by Jamie Larson: "Hudson Hall to Laud James Ivory in a Two-Day Celebration of Film Screenings and Special Events."

James Ivory backstage at the Academy Awards   Photo: Jeff Kravitz

On Saturday, September 16, there is a screening of The Bostonians (1984) at 2:00 p.m. and a screening of Call Me by Your Name (2017) at 7:00 p.m. On Sunday, September 17, there is a screening of Shakespeare Wallah (1965) at 3:00 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Ear to the Ground

Gossips has known for a while that The Wick was for sale. It seems Redburn Development, the group that transformed an old industrial building on Cross Street into a boutique hotel, has decided that owning a hotel is not their forte. This morning, at the meeting of the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA), Mike Tucker reported that there is a potential buyer for The Wick who would like to assume the remaining four years of the hotel's PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement. 

Under the terms of the PILOT agreement, which was approved in June 2016 and commenced in January 2018, the tax payment in Year 1 was $20,000, in Year 2 was $25,000, and beginning in Year 3 increases by $9,375 every year until it reaches $100,000 in Year 10 and then expires.

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No Water on Parkwood

At some point today, this notice appeared on the City of Hudson website:

A water main break has been identified at Parkwood Boulevard, and the Water Department has shut off water service to Parkwood Blvd. in order to isolate and investigate the issue. Staff are working as quickly as possible to resolve the break, but at this time the City does not have a firm prediction on when water service will be returned to Parkwood Boulevard addresses.

The Valley Alliance on Colarusso

At the Planning Board meeting on August 8, A. Colarusso & Son was back before the Planning Board after a twenty-month hiatus, caused by Colarusso's lawsuit against the Planning Board. At that meeting, Sam Pratt, co-director of The Valley Alliance, warned the Planning Board, all but two of whose members were not on the board when Colarusso initiated its lawsuit, about the "applicant's attorney, who is quite willing to mislead you and sue you." 

Photo: Our Hudson Waterfront

Yesterday, Pratt and Peter Jung, co-directors of The Valley Alliance, delivered a letter to the members of the Planning Board identifying the ways in which Colarusso and its attorney have attempted to mislead the Planning Board. The letter opens in this way:

When a lawyer for Colarusso was asked for truck data at your most recent meeting, this was his reply: 

“Would you ask Stewart’s how many ice cream cones they sell?” 

This sarcastic reply conveniently ignored recent local history: In fact, from 2017-2019 Hudson agencies including the Planning Board conducted a detailed review of a Stewart’s project at Green and Fairview.

Stewart’s was asked a ton of questions about its operations. Board members quizzed the company in detail about the volume of activity generated by its reconfigured lot and new building. In the end, Board questions led to the project being altered in many ways. Moreover, the City made Stewart’s post a $200,000 Community Host Agreement to offset road maintenance.

Unlike Stewart’s, Colarusso’s representatives have displayed a constant unwillingness to provide basic answers to simple questions—the type always asked of all applicants. This disrespect for Hudson requirements, along with other efforts to deflect questions and muddy issues, extends to the company’s repeated lawsuits against your agency.

We mention this episode by way of an introduction to written comments we promised to provide, giving a partial inventory of how this applicant and its representatives keep trying to mislead your Board about both the project and the process. We hope this will be more than a routine exercise in that it touches upon many of the core issues central to your review.

The letter goes on to identify and refute eight myths that are being perpetuated in the lengthy review of Colarusso's application to construct a paved, two-lane road through South Bay. What follows is the list of myths, with quotes from the letter that summarize the rebuttal.

Myth #1: "Years of delays"

If the applicant truly wants an end to the process, their lawyers should stop trying to block the process. All of the "delays" have been caused entirely by Colarusso's own lawsuits, which have sought to block the Planning Board from finishing the process.

Myth #2: "The Planning Board Lost"  

Colarusso has so far brought two lawsuits against the City. Their first suit was an utter disaster for the applicant. Acting Justice Melkonian completely rejected the company’s claim that its project was exempt from review by Hudson. A second lawsuit brought by Colarusso is still pending in court, and has only been partially adjudicated. 

Myth #3: "Force majeure" 

Force majeure is when you have to cancel plans because your home and neighborhood have been destroyed by a hurricane. Force majeure is not when a gravel company has to wait a few hours before running another truck to a dock. This applicant seems to have confused minor obstacles to maximizing profit with Acts of God. 

Myth #4: "We already have those permits" 

Another thick wool blanket that Colarusso tried to pull over your eyes at the last meeting was the suggestion that permits from other agencies can substitute for Hudson’s permitting process.… Fact: Applications to the Planning Board are separate and distinct from other agencies. They have to be decided on Hudson’s terms, not those of other agencies such as DEC, Army Corps or DOT. Hudson’s code has different requirements and standards than other agencies. All applicants must conform with the City’s code, regardless of whether pieces of the project were approved by other agencies.

Myth #5: "The environmental review is over" 

There are effectively six different reviews to conduct, each of which must take environmental considerations into account.… Of the six … only one may be considered "over”—the one that was completed by Greenport instead of Hudson, without consideration for the specifics of the Hudson code.

Myth #6: "Questions from 2017 are not on the table"  

On the contrary: All questions about the five extant reviews remain on the table—for the simple reason that the Planning Board continues to be blocked by lawsuits from deciding upon these applications.  

Myth #7: "The Comp Plan supports the project" 

The Planning Board itself has extensively cited and adopted documents which provide detailed citations of the Comp Plan as a key reason why a full, extensive review of the Colarusso project must be conducted.

Myth #8: "Colarusso seeks 'environmental justice'" 

Let’s be clear here: The environmental justice problem on downtown streets is one for which Colarusso bears full responsibility. 

The entire letter can be read here, and Gossips recommends it.

There is a Planning Board meeting next week, on Tuesday, September 12, but Colarusso is not on the agenda for that meeting. Instead there is to be a public hearing on the Colarusso application on Wednesday, September 27.

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What You Don't Want with Your Morning Coffee

A car, reportedly traveling at an unsafe speed at the intersection of Third and Warren streets, crashed into the side of The Maker this morning, sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m., narrowly missing the plate glass window that was shattered by a stray bullet last December. Fortunately, no one was injured in this morning's mishap. 

Gossips came upon the scene while walking Freddy this morning. At that point, the police were taking statements from whose involved in the accident and from witnesses. More information will be shared when the police issue their press release. The photograph below shows the damage caused to the building.

Photo: Katherine Kanaga

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Update: According to a post that appeared on Facebook, the car shown in the pictures above, ran a red light, collided with another car, and ended up crashing into the building. The information on Facebook was posted by the person who was driving the car that collided with the car that ran the red light.

Of Interest

For what seems like the umpteenth time, Hudson is featured in Chronogram: "Maintaining the Mix: Hudson."

Photo: David McIntyre

Fall Festival at Kaatsbaan

This coming weekend is the first of three weekends that make up the 2023 Fall Festival at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli. From classical ballet to contemporary opera, the festival promises to captivate audiences with its diverse lineup and unforgettable experiences. Highlights of the festival include:

• On September 9 at 6:00 p.m. and September 10 at 1:00 p.m., the festival presents Kenneth MacMillan's Ballade (1972), Gemma Bond's Brain on Fire (excerpt), and Herman Cornejo's The Apartment, outdoors on the Mountain Stage. 

Photo: ASH

• On September 22 and 23 at 6:00 p.m., the festival presents the world premiere of The Missing Fruit by Roderick George, founder and artistic director of kNoname Artist, on the Mountain Stage. 

• On September 24 at 1:00, 3:00, and 5:30 p.m., the New York Theatre Ballet presents family friendly performances of The Firebird and Scramble in Black Box Theater.

Photo: Rachel Neville

• On September 29 at 7:00 p.m., the collaborative baroque band Ruckus joins forces with acclaimed line dance caller Sargent Seedoo for a special program in the Black Box Theater.

Photo: Anthony Dean

• On September 30 at 7:00 p.m. and October 1 at 1:00 p.m., Wu Man and the Attacca Quartet perform Tan Dun's Ghost Opera, a pioneering work that dramatically combines elements of Chinese and Western cultures.

Photo: Timothy Teague

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

The mission of Kaatsbaan Cultural Park is to provide an extraordinary environment for cultural innovation and excellence. As both an incubator for creativity and presenter for world-class artists in dance, theater, music, film, poetry, culinary and visual arts, Kaatsbaan provides artists with state-of-the-art dance studios, accommodations, an indoor theater, and two outdoor stages. Situated on 153 acres adjacent to the Hudson River, Kaatsbaan is free of the space and time constraints of urban facilities, allowing for exciting levels of artistic exploration, creative action, and achievement. Kaatsbaan Cultural Park is committed to the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts as we aim to present, promote, and embrace programming that accurately reflects our society.

Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

Summer is unofficially over. Labor Day is behind us, and the days ahead are filled with meetings. 

• On Tuesday, September 5, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
• On Wednesday, September 6, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 9:30 a.m. The meeting includes a public hearing relating to the rehabilitation of Schuyler Court and Providence Hall. The regular monthly meeting follows the public hearing and will include, among other things, updates on the Depot District and the Pocketbook Factory and a presentation by the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place at 1 City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 

• Also on Wednesday, September 6, the Common Council Legal Committee meets at 6:00 p.m. It is expected that they will resume the discussion of amendments to Chapter 325, Article XIV, of the city's zoning code: "Community Character Preservation." The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Thursday, September 7, the Common Council ad hoc Truck Route Committee meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

Update: The meeting of the Truck Route Committee has been canceled.

• On Friday, September 8, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

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Introducing a New History of Hudson

Maybe every city has a history as rich and fascinating as Hudson’s, if you just take the time to investigate, but I doubt it. From its beginnings in 1783 to the present day, Hudson has many more tales of intrigue and brushes with greatness than one might expect of a city so small in size. One such story is that surrounding the creation of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Educational Center, the school building and grounds we now know as Montgomery C. Smith Elementary School.

Inspired by his personal and family connections with the place, Ken Sheffer has, over the past four years, done exhaustive research into how, in the darkest days of the Great Depression, the showplace that was the Livingston Educational Center came to be, and the story is riveting. Sheffer tells it in his book, Hudson's Heart: The Story of Hudson, New York's "Greatest Deal from the New Deal."

Over the next few months, Gossips will have the privilege of introducing Sheffer's work to readers in installments, much as works by such authors as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were presented to readers in the 19th century—the difference being those works were fiction; this one is fact. Today, motivated by the imminent visit to Hudson and the Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the DAR of the Descendants of Whaling Masters, Sheffer and Gossips present a sample of what's to come: the chapter from the book that connects Hudson in the 1930s with its whaling roots and New England founders. The chapter tells the true story of how Paddock Place, a street that didn't exist before the Livingston Educational Center came to be, got its name.

 

What follows is Sheffer's own introduction to FreshHistory, the book Hudson's Heart, and the chapter about Paddock Place.

HUDSON'S HEART by FreshHistory—A Little Sneak Peak

The Gossips of Rivertown makes us fresh every day, so we at FreshHistory are honored to have this chance to collaborate on this local history book, which we hope will help us all understand how our pasts can improve our futures and make them fresh, too. We at FreshHistory are amateur writers and small in numbers. This "short story made long" has stretched us to our limits (but we've had fun), and we beg your total forgiveness on the errors we make. FreshHistory has never done this before, and we are feeling the stress. Later chapters will improve, we promise. But, please, give us this chance to give it a go.

This “long, short story” is based on our passion for the Chancellor Livingston Educational Center (now referred to as the Montgomery C. Smith Elementary School). That passion, as Gossips mentions, comes from our love for that Olympic-like facility and the opportunities that those tennis courts (oh, and the classrooms) gave me, and the smiles it gave my mother as she sat in those stands watching me play tennis, knowing I had found a home. 

This book-writing business is for horses, but we’ll get to that later. It is a draining business, and we were warned. 

The book will be offered at no charge for e-reading to all. Hard copies can be purchased later for a small fee based on a donation to a group of our choosing (we haven’t figured that out yet). No funds will come to FreshHistory.

So, now let me say thank you to Carole Osterink. She is not just Hudson’s best journalist but perhaps America’s most, well, most everything. Carole, you have given Hudson your heart. We give it back and say thank you, thank you. We all love life more because of you. Forgive us for our comma sins.

Secondly, I just want to give a shout-out to the Hudson Area Library, the best local library in the world, and to Brenda Shufelt, especially.

And for my friend from the comments section of Gossips, Charlie Millar—thank you for your frequent high fives. You have saved me from several doctor appointments

I have always lived my life believing I could accomplish whatever I set out to do. But one thing I was certain I could NEVER do is properly thank my town, my city, my love—the city of Hudson for all that it did for me and my parents. This book is for you, Hudson, and you guys, Mom and Dad. 

For the rest of you, please look at the passion and words that have gone into this effort and let it rest on your minds and shelves and collect the dust that all things do. But always remember the color we tried to bring you.

When my mother wrapped our Christmas tree in a blanket, and we moved from Union Street to Joslen Place, little did I know I would fall in love with a Chancellor. Mr. Livingston would give me and my family a country club we could not otherwise afford. I often wonder what would have happened to me without those tennis courts and all that came with it. 

This book will be lengthy, will come out over the next few months, and will cover a period from about 1922 to 1940, with a focus on the Great Depression. It is the story about whether Hudson was to build or not build that historic academic and recreational facility. You have all heard me talk about it before. Now, ready or not, here it comes.

Back to horses. We are releasing today one chapter of the story that is related to the street that wraps around the northern side of the Livingston Center. The chapter is officially called “The Paddocks Finally Find Their 'Place.'” It is based on the story that Paddock Place was named after the horse barns that adjoined the fairgrounds property. Let’s see if that’s a true story. For branding purposes, and for first impressions, we’ve added some color from other chapters, too.

Now let’s switch from horses to whales. When we learned that the Descendants of Whaling Masters were coming to Hudson, a lightbulb went off.  We thought perhaps we could begin our collaboration with Gossips early and throw the Paddock chapter into the mix—now. It’s a little story about the secret of that street. Gossips agreed, and here we are. This keyhole opportunity is perfect. It has made us work harder to finish the entire book. 

Because there were few photographs in the papers during the Depression, we decided to hire an incredible artist from Poland to read our stories and bring them to life. This brief introduction is not the time to introduce Marta as it would not be kind enough or generous enough to her. You’ll see, she is a genius and will be coming to Hudson soon to meet you all.

But keep your eye on Gossips as we release more and more chapters in the days ahead.

Your user manual is as follows for this one chapter: click on the link Gossips gives you, and it will bring you to our landing page. From there click on the “Paddock” chapter where you might find a horse or a whale or a Paddock! 

You can reach me at kensheffer25@gmail.com with any issues.

Finally, it would burst my life bubble if I did not thank my co-pilot, co-author, and love of my life, Jeff Tsui, for all that he is and for all that he does for me. A kinder soul has never existed. Thank you, Mr. Co-Author!

FreshHistory remains fresh and committed to this book and its improvement.  We’ll keep you posted, through Gossips, as the entire project freshens up.

Thank you, Carole, and thank you, Hudson!

FreshHistory’s Ken and Jeff

To read the chapter "The Paddocks Finally Find Their 'Place,'" click HERE.

Lewis Pugh Swims Past Hudson

British endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh is swimming the length of the Hudson River, a distance of 315 miles. His journey began on August 13 at the source of the river: Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the southern side of Mount Marcy, just south of Lake Placid. His swim today started at Meadow Ridge on Hudson in Coxsackie at 8:45 a.m. The day's goal was the Catskill Marina. At 10:48 a.m., Sarah Sterling took this picture from Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, showing Pugh and another swimmer, accompanied by a "safety kayak," as they swam past Hudson.

Photo: Sarah Sterling

Pugh was the first person to swim across the North Pole and the first to swim the length of the English Channel. He is now vying to be the first person to swim the length of the Hudson River unassisted--wearing nothing more than a Speedo, cap, and goggles. (Christopher Swain swam from the headwaters to the harbor in 2004, but he did so in a wet suit.) 

Pugh has undertaken the challenge to highlight the critical role rivers play in a habitable planet. He will explore the interconnectedness of rivers and oceans and stress the urgent need to restore, protect, and respect rivers. Pugh has been quoted as saying, "If we want healthy oceans, we also need healthy rivers--it's that simple. Clean rivers are essential in the fight for global sustainability; indeed, our very existence depends on fresh water, clean air, and a habitable planet."

Pugh's swim is scheduled to conclude on September 13 at Battery Park, to coincide with the UN General Assembly Week, Climate Week NYC 2023, and the UN Secretary General's Climate Ambition Summit.

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