Ideas for Holiday Gift Giving

The History Room at the Hudson Area Library has T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies with a historic cityscape of Hudson within the shape of a whale. The design was created by Alan Coon, artist, graphic designer, and co-owner of The Spotty Dog Books & Ale, exclusively for the exhibition Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce. The cityscape is from an 1824 etching found in Rural Repository.

Visit bonfire.com/hudson-area-library-whaling-shirts/ to select from a variety of styles and colors. Shirts are available in both adult and youth sizes. Bonfire enables nonprofits to fundraise online, and the library receives a portion of the proceeds for each item sold.

The History Room also has merchandise based on items in its archives, including local maps; SPOUT mugs, ornaments, trinket trays, and stickers; Warren Street and Night Scene postcard sets; and Proprietors Tea, specially blended by Kim Bach of Verdigris Tea. Items are available for purchase online by clicking here and at the library, as well as at Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market, November 28, 29 and 3o, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

All proceeds from the sale of merchandise will be used to fulfill the History Room's mission to collect, archive, and make accessible to public items that tell the history of Hudson, Greenport, and Stockport. The exhibition Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce can now be viewed online on the Virtual Exhibits page of the Hudson River Valley Heritage website.

About That Fateful Planning Board Meeting

Gossips has already posted twice about Tuesday's Planning Board meeting, but there is no limit to the number of words that can be devoted to the meeting that sealed the fate of Hudson's waterfront and put an end to the aspirations of so many for close to thirty years. Today, Donna Streitz of Our Hudson Waterfront distributed her very comprehensive report on the meeting. The following is quoted from the beginning of that report: 

Despite a decades long outcry from the public to protect and revitalize our waterfront for the benefit and enjoyment of the public, the Hudson Planning Board approved the Dock Conditional Use Permit, currently owned by A. Colarusso and Sons, without imposing annual limit on truck volume, and allowing operations on weekends. . . .

With the exception of one board member—Gaby Hoffmann—the board has rejected the input from the public wanting protection of our waterfront and expressing concerns about the threats caused by virtually unlimited truck traffic at Hudson’s waterfront. Since 2019 alone, public input received by the board includes over 200 public comment letters and over 1,800 petition signatures, opposing increased truck traffic at our waterfront.  

Streitz's complete report can be found here, see 11/21/25 update. It is recommended reading.

Get Your Ticket, Mark Your Calendar

Gossips learned today, from reading Mark Allen's Instagram, that the Hudson Business Coalition and Shanan Magee have organized a round table with key leadership of Bard College to discuss the Galvan Foundation's gift of its Hudson real estate to Bard. The event will take place on Tuesday, December 9, at 6:00 p.m., at Park Theater, 723 Warren Street. There will be a discussion about the acquisition, representatives from Bard will answer questions submitted in advance, and a Q&A for those in attendance.

Today, November 20, is the deadline for submitting questions. To submit a question, click here. To secure a ticket for the event, click here.

They're Back!

In 2013, when Finch was located at 613 Warren Street, the Historic Preservation Commission granted a certificate of appropriateness to cover the glass mosaic signs that read "Clothing" and "Toggery" with plywood, which would be painted to match the marble of the facade.

Yesterday, as part of a facade cleaning and repointing, the signs, thought to date from the 1930s, were revealed once again.

The building is now the home of Clove & Creek.

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More News of the Planning Board

Last night's Planning Board meeting went on for more than three hours. After a little more than two and a half hours, the board voted six to one to pass a resolution granting a conditional use permit to Colarusso for its dock operation. The video of the meeting, with a few annoying freezes and stops, can be found here. The discussion of Colarusso begins at about 30:30.

Of particular interest is a statement made by Planning Board member Gaby Hoffmann, which happens at about 2:06:33, and the response to it by Theresa Joyner, who chairs the Planning Board. The following is Gossips' transcription of Hoffmann's statement:

The Planning Board that approved that haul road application, I believe, failed the City of Hudson. They failed to scrutinize the documents and the numbers--and clarify that the documents submitted to the Greenport Planning Board, Hudson Planning Board, CCPB, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation permit, and New York State Department of Transportation permit had vastly different truck trip numbers and barge numbers than the resolution that is in front of us tonight. And I think this Planning Board has the opportunity to rectify that failure and protect the future of Hudson from a potentially devastating situation at the waterfront with a truck running by every 2½ minutes and up to 9 barges parked next door to our one waterfront park.…

We are essentially giving our waterfront up to the highest bidder by approving this resolution. I feel this board has had a failure of imagination, both of what the riverfront might be under the worst possible conditions and of what the riverfront could be and should be, which is a riverfront that prioritizes its residents, their health, safety, quality of life, as well as their economic future and the beauty that the natural world offers this unique location. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Hundreds of public comments have said similar things and addressed similar concerns.…

I think it's safe to say that this C.U.P.--this resolution in front of us--is incredibly liberal and permissive. It allows for significant intensification of industrial activity at the waterfront, which is fiercely antithetical to the City's expressed desires and needs, and it makes a beautiful vision of a future Hudson that so many have been working so hard for for decades, and we should all want, almost impossible to imagine. 

This public has put an incredible amount of passion and effort and work into the comments, and I thank them for that, because I learned a lot, and I regret that this board did not properly address, review, or discuss their comments, nor did the applicant. And these comments should have been used as a guiding light to help see what the future of Hudson could be and to help us achieve that. It's shameful that it wasn't. . . .

A few words later, Joyner interrupted Hoffmann, claiming she had spoken for three minutes. Hoffmann objected, saying that time limits should not apply to members of the board. Hoffmann then made a motion to reopen the public hearing, based on new information, citing the numbers on which the Columbia County Planning Board based its recommendation and the recent barge accident. Hoffmann's motion was not seconded. When Hoffmann rose to pass out a sheet of information to other board members, Joyner told her to sit down and declared her actions to be "highly improper."  

Seeming to pick up on an earlier suggestion by Joyner that Hoffmann had "an agenda for private people," Veronica Concra asked Hoffmann if she had done all the research on her own. Hoffmann confirmed that she read all the public comments, done further research, and "spent days and days and days doing all of that work." To which Joyner responded, "And you're disrespecting anything that we have or our attorneys or consultants." Joyner went on the lecture Hoffmann:

What you are doing here--you are placing the procedures of this board in jeopardy. This is not a place for you to act like a public advocate--advocacy for the public. This is a place where we as members of this Planning Board, OK?--we cannot advocate for particular social policies, groups, or even--

Hoffmann interrupted at this point to say, "I'm here to advocate for Hudson." Joyner continued:

Our solemn responsibility as Planning Board members is to deliberate based on the facts presented, the current zoning regulations, and the legal options relevant to each applicant and this applicant--This emotional outbreak has got to stop. This failure to conform as a Planning Board member has got to stop. Your actions--you're placing the citizens--not just the twenty-three people that you know or that is with you--but the whole people that's in Hudson in jeopardy by the way you are acting.

What we care about is the fact that you have no respect for anything that we have given you, the legal aspects of this application--you have no respect for that, and you have no respect for the procedures of this board.

A vote on the resolution occurred soon after, the outcome of which we already know, but not before Randall Martin told Hoffmann that he "took umbrage" with her statement that the Planning Board had failed the City of Hudson when it approved the haul road. He spoke the hundreds of trucks on the streets of Hudson, passing through "the most vulnerable populations in Hudson … the poorest people, the oldest people," before the haul road was approved. He failed, however, to mention his own surprise, expressed at the August 27 meeting of the Planning Board, when he realized that the volume of trucks that had been approved for the haul road--284 truck trips a day--would end up at the dock, crossing the railroad tracks and passing by a public park.

The whole bitter end to the Planning Board's review of the dock operation can be viewed here, beginning at about 30:30. 

The terms of three members of the Planning Board--Theresa Joyner, Randall Martin, and Bettina Young--will be over at the end of December. It is hoped mayor-elect Joe Ferris is thinking long and hard about the people he will appoint to replace them.

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Two Wins and a Loss

There was a lot happening in Hudson tonight, with the Common Council and the Planning Board meeting at the virtually the same time. At the Council meeting, the resolution to give local historic designation to the Dunn warehouse passed, despite Council president Tom DePietro expressing the opinion that local designation was redundant and would create "another layer of bureaucracy" and another delay. DePietro's disparaging remarks notwithstanding, every councilmember voted in support of the designation, including DePietro himself, except for Mohammed Rony (Second Ward), who, after saying he didn't see the real need for the designation, abstained. 

At the Planning Board meeting, Walter Chatham, who was there representing the Galvan Foundation, said he had gotten a phone call from Craig Haigh at 5:00 p.m. telling him that 14 and 16 North Fourth Street, which Galvan is proposing to demolish, were in a historic district. Although Chatham said the Planning Board review went first, Victoria Polidoro, who is legal counsel to the Planning Board and the Historic Preservation Commission, advised him to involve the HPC early on.

Photo: Mark Allen

Now for the loss. The Planning Board voted six to one to grant a conditional use permit for Colarusso's dock operation, allowing activity at the dock to occur from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to noon on Sunday, with the potential for 142 trucks to arrive and depart from the dock every day. The only member of the Planning Board to vote against it was Gaby Hoffmann.

Gossips will have more to say about each of these stories tomorrow.

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At the Planning Board Tonight

At tonight's meeting of the Planning Board, it is expected that the board will vote on a resolution granting a conditional use permit to Colarusso for its dock operations. The draft resolution outlining the conditions of the permit has been the topic of discussion for the last two meetings of the Planning Board, which are reported on here and here. Apparently, at sometime over the weekend, members of the Planning Board received the latest version of the resolution, but so far it has not been made available to the public. One wonders why.

A surprise on the agenda for tonight's Planning Board meeting, which presumably was supposed to be dedicated solely to the Colarusso conditional use permit, are two items of new business, both coming from the Galvan Foundation. The first is an application to build a new addition and make interior renovations to 405 Columbia Street, the building that was Helsinki Hudson. 

The second is an application to demolish 14 and 16 North Fourth Street "to allow expansion of the Hudson Public Hotel comprised of two new buildings with 14 guest rooms." 

My question immediately upon learning about this was: "Why didn't this go before the Historic Preservation Commission?" The two houses are in a historic district known as "North Fourth Street Extension," created on the initiative of people who once lived in one of the two buildings Galvan now wants to demolish. When I contacted Craig Haigh to ask why this was bypassing the HPC, I was told there was no record of this part of North Fourth Street being in a historic district. I know differently and will spend the rest of the afternoon tracking down the documents to prove it. If I cannot find the documentation, which I know exists, not only will Galvan be allowed to demolish these houses but also to construct new buildings with no oversight from the Historic Preservation Commission.

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UPDATE: Eureka! I found it (and it wasn't all that hard). The locally designated Warren Street Historic District was expanded to include "properties on the east and west sides of North Fourth Street between Prison Alley and Columbia Street" by Resolution 14 of 2006, passed by the Common Council on May 16, 2006, and signed by Mayor Richard Tracy on May 17, 2006. The resolution can found here. You need to scroll past the first two pages.

Read It and Weep

In anticipation of tomorrow's Planning Board meeting, Donna Streitz sent an email message today to the followers of Our Hudson Waterfront. Streitz's entire update can be found here, see 11/17/25 update. In it, she includes a transcript of a statement by Planning Board member Gaby Hoffmann and the response from Planning Board chair Theresa Joyner. I alluded to this in yesterday's post ("Coming to a Close with Colarusso"), but reading exactly what Hoffmann and Joyner said is recommended. The exchange can be heard here, beginning at 1:24:42.

Hoffmann: “Yeah, I want to say something. Over the last few meetings, some different things have been said about me by different members. Gene, you suggested I was trying to prolong the process or something like that … Veronica, the last time you said I was trying to take something away from how Colarusso, Kali, you said I shouldn't be doing my own research and, you know, trying to learn more and understand this project on the Internet, maybe microfiche next time. I feel like being clear about what my intention is here might just be useful for this discussion about ours, because there is a vision for the future of the city of Hudson. It has been in the works for decades, starting with the Vision Plan, the Comprehensive Plan, the re-visioning 2011--the LWRP. Most recently, Wendy—I can't remember her last name—was in front of this board proposing the Climate Adaptive Design for the park that abuts the dock operations and would be greatly impacted by these hours of operation. I'm here to protect this vision, to protect the future of the city of Hudson, Hudson present, its economic viability, and that is all to say its residents. If we give Colarusso everything they say they need, like you [Colarusso] need to work on Saturdays, we're taking away from the city of Hudson. We are taking away from the future of the city of Hudson and we're taking away from its residents. We are here to protect Hudson, its future, and its residents. We are not here to worry about how you [Colarusso] make back the money that you have invested. That's your problem. We are allowed to impose conditions, including ours, that could be as limiting, as Monday through Friday, if we so choose. And I think we need to be empowered to do that. You're annoyed that this has taken so long and you want to hold us in contempt of court if we don't vote on your timeline. You've taken us to court twice. This has been slowed down because of lawsuits that you've brought. This riverfront, the core riverfront, is the only area. Veronica, I don't want to take something away from them for a hip coffee shop. This is the only area left in this city for any real economic development at this scale, and this city needs that. We clearly have financial problems. They're going to be raising our taxes again soon. It is the only area of the city that we have a chance for real economic development so that this city can survive. Okay, and there are between Dunn Warehouse and Kaz, there are tens and tens, probably hundreds of millions of dollars of development that are at stake here. In addition to the businesses that are already down there, like the Antiques Warehouse, Kitty’s and Basilica, that probably are bringing in half a million to a million dollars in tax revenue now and employing dozens and dozens and dozens of residents of Hudson. They [Colarusso], I think, pay $50,000 a year in taxes and don't employ any residents of the city. Is that right? I'm not sure what they're offering the future of Hudson, but we're here to protect that future. And the future economic development plans that are going to be essential for this city to survive. So I think we need development. We need tax revenue. We need employment opportunities. And I don't see where else that's going to happen except for down there. And if Saturdays and Sundays, that operation is going unfettered, that's going to be an issue. Okay. Ten seconds. Okay, I'll take another three minutes another time. Okay, that's it.”

Joyner: [1:28:37 mark] “I want to address you with Gaby. Gaby, this is how you feel. I know. I'm only representing myself. Gaby, there's seven members on this board. Seven. And we all have our individual faults. So because it annoys you, does not mean it annoys the rest of us. Please. I'm only speaking for myself. No, you're speaking when you say we. You're speaking for you. Everybody understands that. So please, you came on the board. You haven't caught up yet. A lot of time has been spent answering your questions, trying to keep you up to date. But it just doesn't matter what is said. So all I'm saying to you, this is you. We've got seven members and the majority of this board will, the majority vote, will be the deciding vote. So understand, don't attack us because we don't agree with you. If one of us doesn't agree with you. Just because you want it, don't mean we want it. If we don't agree, accept that, please.  Okay? You wrote something saying you don't understand how we understand everything because you don't understand anything… You wrote an email saying it's hard to get the records. And you can't believe that everybody on this board is up to date because of the difficulties you're having getting the information you need. It's extremely difficult to find records on this. And I thought that was the meaning to say that. Because I don't have a problem with it. I don't know if anybody else does. But to say something like that. So please, keep it to your understanding or misunderstanding or lack of understanding. Okay. I had my three minutes. Now, do you have anything else you want to say about the dock operations? Because that's what we are and that's where we are.”

The Planning Board meets tomorrow, November 18, at 6:30 p.m., at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street. The meeting may be livestreamed. The link to the livestream can be found here.

Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

With the election and its confirmed outcome finally behind us and Thanksgiving still more than a week away, here is what's happening.

• On Monday, November 17, the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meets at 6:00 p.m. As always, the meeting may yield new information about HHA's redevelopment plans. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person in the Community Room at Bliss Towers and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Tuesday, November 18, the Common Council Finance Committee meets at 5:15 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 
• At 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18, the Common Council holds its regular monthly meeting. No agenda for the meeting has yet been published. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• Also on Tuesday, November 18, the Planning Board holds a special meeting to continue and probably conclude its review of Colarusso's application for a condition use permit for its dock operations. The meeting takes place at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and may or may not be livestreamed. If it is livestreamed, the link to the livestream will be found here.

• On Wednesday, November 19, at 5:00 p.m., Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a public hearing on the proposed budget for 2026. The proposed budget can be found here. The hearing takes place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the hearing remotely. 
• Also on Wednesday, November 19, the Zoning Board of Appeals meets at 6:00 p.m. in person only at City Hall. No agenda for the meeting is as yet available.
• On Thursday, November 20, Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meets at 5:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• At 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 20, the Public Works Board holds its monthly meeting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.  
• On Friday, November 21, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• Friday, November 21, is the end of the suspension of alternate side of the street overnight parking. When you park your car for the night, make sure it is parked on the even side of the street.

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Coming to a Close with Colarusso

The Planning Board holds a special meeting on Tuesday, November 18, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Central Fire Station because there is a Common Council meeting happening at City Hall. It's likely the Planning Board's review of Colarusso's application for a conditional use permit for its dock operations will come to a close at this meeting, and the Planning Board will vote on granting the permit. Before that happens, let's review what happened at last Wednesday's Planning Board meeting.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, November 12, members of the Planning Board received a letter from T. J. Ruane, attorney for Colarusso. The letter, which can be found here, included a resolution from Colarusso outlining the conditions Colarusso would except and threatened a lawsuit if the board did not vote on the resolution at their meeting later that day. The following is quoted from the letter:

By this letter, we respectfully request that the Planning Board vote to adopt the Proposed Resolution at the November 12th meeting of the Planning Board.

As the board is aware . . . the Application has been pending before the City Planning Board for over 8 years. Since that time, and as a direct result of the City's illegal actions and unreasonable delay, Colarusso has expended well over a $1,000,000 in escrow and attorney's fees in seeking approval of the Application.

In the event the Planning Board does not act on the Proposed Resolution or attempts to impose further conditions outside the scope of its well-defined authority, Colarusso intends to commence litigation to compel the Planning Board to vote on Colarusso's Application, to hold the Planning Board in contempt of Supreme Court, Columbia County's July 12, 2024 Decision and Order . . . and/or to seek attorney's fees under the Judiciary Law and any and all damages with respect to the same.

Despite the ultimatum and threat delivered in Ruane's letter, Theresa Joyner, who chairs the Planning Board, told him at the meeting, "We have a resolution we want to go through," and proceeded to continue the review of the draft resolution which began at the October 28 meeting. At the end of that meeting, Joyner had asked the members of the Planning Board to submit their suggestions for additions and emendations to the proposed resolution. Of the six members of the Planning Board, other than Joyner herself, only Gaby Hoffmann and Randall Martin submitted suggestions for change. 

Although Hoffmann spoke of "the vision for the City of Hudson that has been in the works for a decade" (actually it's been longer than that), reminded her colleagues, "We are here to protect the City of Hudson," and called the waterfront "the only area left in the city for real economic development," the other members of the board were unsympathetic to her and Martin's desire to limit the hours of operation and the number of trucks going to the dock and to monitor air quality and noise. At one point, Joyner told Hoffmann, "Because it annoys you, it doesn't mean it annoys the rest of us." 

When Hoffmann presented evidence that the limit of 284 truck trips a day, which works out to a truck arriving at the dock every 2½ minutes, was far greater than the number of truck trips discussed when the Greenport Planning Board did its State Environmental Quality Review on the haul road back in 2017 and when the Columbia County Planning Board made its recommendation in 2020, Joyner told her, "No. Uh-uh. Truck trips have already been decided." She went on to say, "We understand. You just don't understand." 

Despite Joyner's put-down, Hoffmann persisted, "I'm asking everybody to understand the numbers from the Creighton Manning and the Barton & Loguidice documents that the haul road application and the Greenport SEQR review were all based on . . . it says that the truck volume is the average 24 loads per day. And again and again, it says with no expectation of intensification or increase. So now we are about to issue a permit that increases it by 18 times." This time, Veronica Conca responded to Hoffmann, echoing Joyner's rebuke, "Just because we don't have the same opinion doesn't mean we don't understand."

The meeting, which began at 6:30 p.m., ended at 11:37 p.m. The video of the meeting can be found here. Before adjourning, Joyner said the revised resolution would be sent to everyone, and Ruane would respond to it at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday. The agenda for that meeting, which will likely include the current version of the resolution, has not yet been published.    

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Dunn Warehouse Update

At the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on Friday, the five members of the commission present--Phil Forman, Jeremy Stynes, Hugh Biber, Paul Barrett, and the new architect member, Cara Cragan--unanimously voted to approve a resolution recommending that the Common Council designate the Dunn Warehouse a local landmark. When the resolution will be taken up by the Common Council is at this point unknown.

Photo: Dunn & Done LLC

Meanwhile, Gossips has learned that three proposals were submitted in response to the City's latest RFP (request for proposals) for the redevelopment of the iconic historic building. Two of the proposals come from familiar sources: one from Hudson Brewing Company; and another from Ben Fain, of Kitty's and The Caboose, and Caitlin Baiada, who was part of the project team for Pocketbook Hudson and part of Dunn & Done LLC. The third proposal is from Zena Development, in partnership with Plotwork. Could this be the same Zena Development that proposed a development in Ulster County last year that inspired the Woodstock Land Conservancy, environmental activists, and non-profit entities in the eastern Catskills to organize in opposition to it? So far, all Gossips knows about the proposals is who submitted them.

Gossips has also learned about the committee that will be reviewing the proposals. According to Gossips' sources, the committee will be made up of Mayor Kamal Johnson, Council president Tom DePietro, Council president elect Margaret Morris, DPW superintendent Rob Perry, Housing Justice director Michelle Tullo, and Second Ward councilmember Mohammed Rony. It is not known when this committee will meet to review and discuss the proposals, but it is clear from the fact that Johnson and DePietro are on the committee that they intend to get this done before the end of the year.

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Parking Advisory

This weekend is the last weekend for the suspension of alternate side overnight parking. At the informal meeting of the Common Council last Tuesday, Captain David Miller of the Hudson Police Department announced that, starting on Friday, November 21, the rules for overnight parking will again be enforced seven days a week.

From midnight to 8:00 a.m., cars must be parked on the side of the street where the house numbers are odd if the day's date is odd and on the side of the street where the house numbers are even if the day's date is even.

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Who Won the Turkeys?

In the days of anticipation before Election Day on November 4, Hudson Common Sense challenged people to predict who would be the winner of the mayoral election and what the margin would be. The winner would receive a turkey from The Meat Hook and a second turkey to donate to a food pantry.

Today, Hudson Common Sense announced the winner. (Click on images below to enlarge.)

Weed: Controversy and Disappointment

In May, Gossips published a post that asked the question "How Much Weed Do We Need?" The post reported that the Cannabis Control Board had awarded an adult-use retail dispensary license to Blaze NY LLC against the recommendation of the NYS Office of Cannabis Management. Blaze NY LLC, whose cannabis dispensary will be located at 519 Columbia Street, is a partnership of Bill Hughes, a former Fourth Ward supervisor and before that a Fourth Ward alderman, and Remigio Arteaga. The question was relevant because Hudson already had two cannabis dispensaries, both situated not far from the location of Blaze NY: Riverbend at 531 Warren Street, just a block away, and Gotham at 260 Warren Street, the corner of Warren and Third.

Today, in the Times Union, Roger Hannigan Gilson follows up on the situation: "Hudson pot shop sues state for approving second shop 345 feet away." Riverbend is suing the Cannabis Control Board for granting a waiver to Blaze NY. State regulations require that cannabis shops be at least 2,ooo feet apart in municipalities with fewer than 20,000 residents. At fewer than 6,000 residents, Hudson definitely falls into that category. The Cannabis Control Board can grant a waiver if it is determined the dispensary will "promote the advantage of the community." Hughes maintains that his dispensary will serve a different population from that served by Riverbend and Gotham. He is quoted in Gilson's article as saying:

They serve a very different group than what we're looking to try to hire (from) and serve. Obviously, whatever customer comes in the door, we will welcome them, but we're committed to hiring from areas that were really harmed by the war on drugs. I grew up in Hudson, so I don't need anyone to tell me where those areas are. . . . I know what families were affected. I know what doors were kicked in.

According to the article, a member of the Cannabis Control Board asserts that Mayor Kamal Johnson sent a letter in support of the waiver, in which he stated, "This is the type of licensee and business that corresponds to what [state legalization] purports to support, that the [state legalization] has defined that we wanted inclusivity, we wanted opportunity, we want access, and that's exactly what the letter of support means in for, and that resonated with me in this moment." According to the lawsuit, there is no evidence of Johnson's letter on the record.

On a different topic but still related to weed, the City's revenue from the tax on adult-use cannabis in 2025 is less than what was anticipated. For 2025, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment projected the revenue from cannabis tax would be $235,000. At the Common Council's informal meeting on Tuesday, city treasurer Heather Campbell reported that, with only two months left in 2025, the City's revenue from cannabis tax, year to date, is only $90,953--significantly less than half of what was anticipated.

At the Housing Trust Fund Board meeting on Wednesday, Council president Tom DePietro lamented that the 4 percent cannabis tax was originally meant to go entirely to the municipality in which dispensaries are located, but that has been changed. Now 1 percent goes to the county, and just 3 percent goes to the municipality.

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The Outcome of the Referendum

The results of the Hudson City School District referendum on selling the former John L. Edwards school building to Pennrose to be redeveloped as senior housing are in. The referendum succeeded, with 480 votes in favor of the sale and 30 opposed.

Of the 10,472 registered voters in the Hudson City School District, only 510 came out to vote. The biggest turnout was in Hudson, where 275 voters cast 257 votes in favor of the sale and 18 votes in opposition. 

At the meeting of the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) on Wednesday, Mike Tucker reported that Pennrose has made its application to NYS Homes and Community Renewal for Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

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The Uncertain Future of the Dunn Warehouse

Two years ago, the future for the iconic Dunn Warehouse looked bright. A proposal submitted by a partnership calling itself CGS Group, later to be known as Dunn & Done LLC, had been selected in an RFP (request for proposals) process to redevelop the Dunn Warehouse. The proposal contained everything people had envisioned for one of the last surviving industrial buildings on the waterfront: two commercial spaces for water-related businesses; a food and beverage space for a casual restaurant or concession; an events space; and an outdoor pool. 

But, alas, our hopes were dashed in September, when it was learned that the deal between the City and Dunn & Done had fallen apart, and the City was issuing a new RFP. The RFP process this time was being overseen, strangely, by Housing Justice Director Michelle Tullo. The deadline for submitting proposals was October 27. More than two weeks have passed since then, and there is no word of how many, if any, proposals were received or who will be reviewing the proposals and deciding which proposal will be accepted.

In the meantime, there is an application before the Historic Preservation Commission to designate the building a local landmark. The application, which can be found here was presented to the HPC on September 26. A public hearing was scheduled for October 24. The public hearing took place, but because the HPC had failed to notify the building's owner (the City of Hudson, in other words, the mayor's office) of the intention to designate the building, the public hearing had to be kept open so that the owner could participate in the public hearing. The public hearing continues tomorrow morning, Friday, November 14, at 10:00 a.m.

The building's historic significance is indisputable. It was twice determined to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)--in 1985 and again in 2024. The building's significance to the waterfront cannot be denied. It is an unusually handsome building and an integral part of the landscape of the Hudson riverfront. It deserves the protection afforded by local designation.

Tomorrow's HPC public hearing is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. If you can spare a few minutes at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, and are so inclined, log in to the meeting and express your support for giving a building that is recognized as a local landmark the protection that comes with being formally designated as a local landmark.

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HCSD Referendum Vote Today

Today is the day voters in the Hudson City School District vote on whether or not to sell the former John L. Edwards school building to Pennrose Bricks & Mortar to be redeveloped as affordable apartments for seniors. The proposed purchase price is $2.15 million. The building has been vacant since 2018.

The polls open at 11:00 a.m. and stay open until 8:00 p.m. The polling places are:

• Hudson: Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street
• Greenport: Greenport Community Center, 500 Town Hall Drive
• Claverack: A. B. Shaw Firehouse, 67 State Route 23

Johnson Concedes

The Register-Star reported minutes ago that, after more than a week, Kamal Johnson has conceded: "Johnson concedes Hudson mayoral race; Ferris claims victory." Johnson is quoted in the article as saying, "I'm definitely calling it quits."

Johnson is also quoted as saying, "I think the city is in a great space. We've formulated a budget that was fair, we got a lot done, a lot of high-priority controversial issues will be behind us before the end of the year, so I feel good." One wonders what "high-priority controversial issues" Johnson has in mind.

Latest News of the Mayoral Race

The election happened more than a week ago, and it is not clear if it is over yet or not . . . at least when it comes to the Hudson mayoral race. Today was the deadline for the Board of Elections to receive mail-in ballots--both absentee and vote-by-mail--that were not overseas ballots. Yesterday, we reported that there were 32 such ballots out there. It is not known if any of those were received and counted today, but the BOE is reporting a change in the results, as of about an hour ago.

Kamal Johnson has picked up 4 more votes, bringing the margin between him and Joe Ferris to 41 votes. The numbers being reported now are Ferris 958 and Johnson 917.

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UPDATE: The Columbia County Board of Elections made the following statement this afternoon about the Hudson mayoral race.

This statement says 5 write-in votes were added to Kamal Johnson's total. The unofficial election results reported on the website, however, indicate Johnson gained 4 votes, and Ferris gained 1.

Prepare for Tonight

The Planning Board meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube. Click here and scroll down to find the link to the livestream.

As Gossips reported earlier, although, at the October 28 meeting, Planning Board chair Theresa Joyner said there was a full agenda for tonight's meeting and a special meeting was scheduled for November 18 to discuss the conditional use permit for Colarusso's dock operation, there is nothing on tonight's agenda except two public hearings that are unlikely to generate much interest and the Colarusso dock. 

In the hours before the meeting takes place, it might be useful for readers concerned about Colarusso's dock operation and its impact on the city's riverfront park and on the cultural and commercial enterprises in close proximity to Colarusso's very industrial operation to take a look at the report about the Planning Board's October 28 meeting written by Donna Streitz of Our Hudson Waterfront. That report can be read here. It is recommended reading.

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Happening This Saturday

On Saturday, November 15, at 4:00 p.m., Christ Church Arts is presenting Censored: Banned Books and Freedom of Speech by Carolyn Kay Brancato. 

The play was first produced at the former John Houseman Theatre in New York City in 1991, under the auspices of the National Coalition Against Censorship, in response to the wave of book banning taking place at that time. Productions in other cities followed. Inspired by the more recent book banning wave, which began in 2021, The Foundry Theatre in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, mounted two sold-out productions in 2023 and 2024.

During the performance, the actors will bring the audience into key moments in the battle against censorship, as far back as Puritan days. They will read from books that have been banned and explore the increasingly draconian penalties teachers, librarians, journalists, and others face as they stand up to organized censorship and attempts to silence their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech. The audience will be invited to a talkback following the play.

The performance takes place at Christ Church Episcopal, 431 Union Street. All proceeds benefit the artists and the preservation of the historic church. Click here to purchase tickets.

Election Update

The lede article in the Register-Star this morning had a headline that might have been written by the incumbent mayor himself: "Margin narrows in undecided Hudson mayoral election."

In addition to reporting the results of yesterday's affidavit ballot count, the article contains some information about ballots still outstanding and uncounted. It reports that, according to Mara Estribou, Democratic Commissioner of Elections, there are 40 mail-in ballots—both absentee and vote-by-mail—that have not yet been received, and 8 overseas absentee ballots. With 48 ballots still uncounted, Joe Ferris is leading Kamal Johnson by 45 votes. 

The deadline for receiving the mail-in ballots is tomorrow, November 12. The overseas ballots must be received by Monday, November 17. So it will be another week before this is all over.

Corrigendum: I have been advised that the Register-Star incorrectly reported the number of ballots outstanding. The 40 mail-in ballots still outstanding includes the 8 overseas ballots. The number of ballots still to be counted is 40 not 48. 

The outstanding ballots could not make Johnson the winner, but it could narrow the margin to 20 or fewer, thus triggering a hand count to confirm the results.

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