I Love the Sound of Chainsaws in the Morning

This morning, the chainsaws and weed whackers were at work at 364 Warren Street, cutting away every bit of foliage--magnolias, holly bushes, and other shrubs--from the courtyard in front of the former Register-Star building, soon to be the home of the Columbia-Greene Partnership Academy. So far, however, the pair of pin oak trees that grace the corner of Warren and Fourth have been spared.

Whodathunk that foliage might be an impediment to learning?

Five Easy Pieces

In the Middle Ages, it was common for cathedrals to be built over the course of generations. Here in Hudson, we have a condominium community that has already been in the works for a generation--from one millennium to the next--and it is still not complete.

Back in the 1980s, when affluence was everywhere and the revival in Hudson was in its most embryonic stage, someone had the idea to build a condominium complex on the hill above the reservoir, at the highest point in Hudson, with commanding views to the east of the city, the river, and the Catskills, and to the west of the cemetery, the quarries, and the Berkshires. Only the first block of three units had been completed when along came Black Monday and the stock market crash of 1987. Since no one was clamoring to buy the first three units, plans for the rest of the buildings were put on hold.

For years, the three units huddled together, alone at the top of the hill. Then, around 1994 or 1995, someone had the stunningly bad idea of selling the property to a developer who wanted to build low-income "rent-to-own" housing there. News of this plan spread like wild fire through the community. This was the era of the Vision Plan and monthly meetings that brought together people who wanted to ratchet up the city's self esteem. These were people who had lived in other places and were astounded by Hudson's apparent willingness to sacrifice its choicest locations to subsidized housing. There was protest. There were petitions. People were particularly outraged that the local realtor who co-chaired the Vision Plan effort had brokered the deal. A hectoring lecture meant to rebuke the group for their lack of liberal sensibilities, from a woman who stood to gain financially from the deal, fell on deaf ears. There was a vocal new element in Hudson--property or business owners all--who did not want low-income housing on the hill overlooking the city, and this new force prevailed. The deal was abandoned, and the realtor at the center of it resigned in disgrace from his role in the Vision Plan.

Moving on to the next decade, in the aftermath of 9/11, the notion that New Yorkers might seek second homes or primary homes in places that were accessible but far beyond ground zero persuaded developers that there was a market for the condominiums first proposed in the 1980s. In 2002, although then city attorney Jack Connor expressed disbelief and some annoyance that a project that had gotten site plan approval almost twenty years earlier could move ahead without a new review, only one thing brought the condo project before the Planning Commission. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had, in the intervening years, changed its rules about impervious surfaces and storm water management, so the project had to be reviewed again for those considerations only.

In 2003, the construction of the remaining units went forward. Detractors, those who had been drawn to Hudson by its historic architecture and who valued authenticity, dubbed the new complex "Vinyl Village." Defenders of the Olana viewshed were stunned to discover that the condos constituted a greater intrusion into the view from Cosy Cottage than the abandoned Atlas Cement storage silos. People inhabiting the old city below bemoaned the fact that the condos broke the ridge line and spoiled the perfect collar of green that surrounded the city--something that previously was done only by the Oliver Wiswall House on Mount Merino.

Plans for Phase II

With the two facing rows of condos complete, the complex was given a name: Mount Ray Estates. This, however, was just Phase I. In 2005, Phase II came before the Planning Commission for site plan review. Residents of Rossman Avenue, concerned about increased traffic on their steep little street and increased problems with storm water runoff, organized the Rossman Avenue Association and hired a lawyer to try to stop Phase II. They were joined in their efforts by historic preservationists concerned about how the condos would encroach on the oldest section of Hudson's historic cemetery.

In a bizarre turn of events, the Rossman Avenue Association's lawyer, Jeff Baker, who had achieved hero status as the attorney for Friends of Hudson during the protracted battle against St. Lawrence Cement, was appointed by the Tracy administration, at the beginning of 2006, to be legal counsel to the Planning Commission, and as a consequence, he could no longer represent the Rossman Avenue residents. At what may have been their first meeting in 2006, the members of the Planning Commission, the majority of whom were Rick Scalera appointees, voted four to three to adopt a negative declaration, thus eliminating a higher level of review, which would have looked at, among other things, the impact of the expanded condo project on the National Register-listed Rossman-Prospect Avenue Historic District and the National Register-eligible Hudson City Cemetery and involved the State Historic Preservation Office. The vote broke similarly on giving site plan approval to Phase II.

As before, not all of the buildings in Phase II were constructed at that time. Only the nine units on the west side of what is called Academy Hill Drive were completed.

Early last week, Gossips received reports from readers who live on Rossman Avenue of "incredible, loud, and constant truck traffic carrying away debris from the top of the hill." Gossips investigated and discovered what appeared to be activity in preparation for construction.

The photograph below was taken on Tuesday, July 30, from the cemetery, just beyond the monumental tomb (shown at right) of Fred W. Jones, the man who gave us the railroad through South Bay that evolved into the "causeway."

Either they've decided to contour and landscape the slope between Academy Hill Drive and the cemetery or the construction of Phase II has resumed. If it's the latter, we should probably celebrate the fact that the developers of Mount Ray Estates think the Great Recession of 2009 is over. If they have resumed construction on Phase II, it is not clear at this point if they intend to complete the entire complex or just to build the nine units planned for the east side of Academy Hill Drive--the fourth of what would be a total of five pieces.

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Democrats Release 2013 Platform

Today the Hudson Democratics released their 2013 platform, adopted on Wednesday, July 31, by the Hudson City Democratic Committee. The first plank in the platform is taxes. The democrats call the current tax burden "too high and unsustainable in the long run" and declare their support for initiatives that "increase housing density to help drive down taxes."

Historic preservation is also included in the platform, although among the dozen planks, it is at the bottom. The platform articulates the position that the rehabilitation and maintenance of historic buildings "enhances neighborhood pride and stability" and that rehabbing buildings "represents labor-intensive activities that bolster our local economy and increases our tax base."

The other planks in the platform address economic development and jobs, government transparency, diversity in employment at all levels of city and county government, waterfront development that follows the principles of smart growth, reducing and mitigating the impacts of truck traffic, preserving the city's natural resources, promoting community policing and recruiting officers who reflect the city's diversity, balancing the weighted voted, greater protections for tenants, and enhanced public services.

Next Sunday, August 11, the Democrats officially open their 2013 campaign headquarters at 6 South Second Street with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. The candidates will be present, and refreshments are promised.

Fountain Favoritism

Yesterday, Gossips printed the report from the twenty-ninth convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Columbia County and explored the widespread phenomenon of the WCTU fountain. One of the resolves of the local WCTU, when they met in October 1913, was to erect a drinking fountain in Hudson, so that men would not have to go into a saloon to quench their thirst. The WCTU ladies let no grass grow under their feet in achieving their goal. This headline appeared in the Hudson Evening Register for May 12, 1915:

The text that follows clarifies that this in not the DAR fountain but a different fountain to be erected by the WCTU.

The monthly meeting of the white ribboners was held at the home of Mrs. Herbert Avery, on Prospect street. After the usual opening exercises communications were read. One of the letters was from the Young Men's Christian association, giving the W. C. T. U. permission to use the piece of land between the association building and the store now occupied by A. R. Vosburgh for the purpose of erecting a drinking fountain. The association also was granted the privilege of connecting with the Y. M. C. A. water supply and sewerage pipes until such a time as the association shall desire to use the same for enlarging their building.

The fountain has been ordered, and will be forwarded as soon as the plumbing work is done and a foundation is prepared for the fountain which the women hope will soon be done.

In 1915, A. R. Vosburgh sold hats and caps at 437 Warren Street, just east of the YMCA building at 435 Warren Street. The fountain would have been located just left of the building, where the fence is in this 1905 photograph.

In her 1909 History of the City of Hudson, Anna Bradbury reminds us of why the YMCA and the WCTU would be allies and why Hudson was a perfect target for their mission:

A city which, from the proportion of saloons to the population has won the unenviable distinction of standing second on the list in the state, should sustain "The Christian Association" is self defience [sic]. Let the stranger who invariably comments on the number of saloons on our principal thoroughfare, be enabled to observe at least one public effort to provide a proper, and congenial place for our young men to congregate.

In 1915, there would also be a fountain where young men could quench their thirst without entering a saloon and being tempted to stay for stronger drink. 

But what happened to the fountain that the Daughters of the American Revolution had commissioned and given to the City of Hudson? This brief report, presumably from a Common Council meeting, discovered in the Hudson Evening Register for March 26, 1916, reveals that seven years after it had been unveiled in Washington Park and almost a year after the WCTU fountain was installed on Warren Street, the Hudson-Fulton fountain was still languishing in "limbo."

D.A.R. Drinking Fountain Soon to be Placed on Public Square.

A communication was received regarding the DAR fountain, and it was voted with satisfaction that this fountain will soon be removed from limbo and receive appropriate setting on Public Square.

But alas, more than a year later, it still hadn't happened. In June 1917, this item appeared in the Hudson Evening Register:

FOR DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

In the matter of placing the D. A. R. fountain in Public Square, as was agreed upon last year, but which work had been stopped on account of the illness of the superintendent, the Public Works commissioner feels that the money needed to do this work be raised in some way, he will be glad to have the work done and supervise the work.

Thanks to Paul Barrett for discovering these news items about the drinking fountains of Hudson and sharing them with Gossips.

More Clues About the Fountain

This morning, Paul Barrett discovered a reference to the Hudson-Fulton fountain, which, while it doesn't explain what happened to the fountain, gives some background for understanding the comment about fountains and bars reported in the newspaper item quoted on Monday: "I told the Chairman to meet me at the fountain," said one of the members. "'Well, if you did,' said a man who is often seen about the Court House, 'you will find him in the bar.'"

In 1913, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Columbia County held its twenty-ninth annual convention at the First Methodist Church in Hudson. During the two-day gathering, one of the topics of discussion was the need for public drinking fountains--especially in Hudson--so that the thirsty wouldn't have to go into bars and saloons to quench their thirst.

It turns out this was a national initiative. The WCTU website explains: "At the 1874 organizing convention of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the members were urged to erect drinking fountains in their towns so that men could get a drink of water without entering saloons and staying for stronger drinks. Often the drinking fountains that were erected offered a place for horses for drink, another place for dogs, and of course, a place for humans to drink."

Fountains from this era survive all over the country, and the WCTU website maintains an inventory of these fountains that grows as more are discovered. These are a few examples.

Petaluma, CA--erected 1891

Coudersport, PA--erected 1903

Spring Lake, MI--erected 1910

Atlanta, GA--erected 1923

At the 1913 convention in Hudson, the Hudson-Fulton fountain came up in the discussion of the need for public drinking fountains. The following report from the convention appeared in the Hudson Evening Register for October 16, 1913:

The president also mentioned the ridicule that was bestowed on the fountain that was once situated near the Court House, and which was afterward presented to the city by the Daughters of the American Revolution. "These women suffered humiliation in erecting that fountain, not to mention the expense, etc., and they felt very bad when it was ridiculed to such an extent." Mrs. Snyder said "she trusted that if anything like that should again grace our city, it wouldn't be laughed at."

It's still not clear why the Hudson-Fulton fountain, created by H. K. Bush-Brown, a sculptor of no small reputation, was the object of such derision.

Hudson in a Short Story

"Zombie Hookers of Hudson"--that's the title of Maggie Estep's contribution to Marijuana Chronicles, a collection of new short stories all of which have something to do with pot. Estep, who lives in Hudson, has written a story that is set in Hudson and draws from the seamier side of Hudson's rich history. Other contributors to the collection are Joyce Carol Oates, the most famous among them, and Edward M. Gomez, who lived in Hudson at the turn of the millennium and created the Hudson River Herald, a broadside that focused on local environmental issues.

You can hear Estep read from "Zombie Hookers of Hudson" this Sunday, August 4, at 4 p.m., at The Spotty Dog. Also reading their stories from the book will be Linda Yablonsky and and Jonathan Santlofer, the editor of the collection as well as a contributor.  The ensemble August Wells will provide musical entertainment, and the authors will be signing books after the reading.

The Corporation Strikes Back

Last week, Sam Pratt brought media attention to the memorandum from the Environmental Management Council to the Columbia County Board of Supervisors about the fire that occurred a year ago at the TCI facility in Ghent. Stating that "there have been few, if any, man-made environmental incidents in Columbia County equaling the TCI fire in Ghent measured by the potential for creating immediate hazards to responders, residents, agriculture, and the larger environment," the memo recommends strategies to "avert the recurrence of such an event."

The Register-Star today reports on TCI attorney Bill Better's response to the memorandum: "TCI attacks EMC memo." Better accuses the Environmental Management Council of, among other things, "recklessness and discourtesy." According to Better, the EMC should have invited TCI to its meetings and shared the memo with TCI before releasing it to the press, which, he says, would have helped them avoid "numerous factual and analytical errors."

The full text of Better's letter can be accessed at sampratt.com.

A Month Before the School Year Begins

Today's Register-Star has an article about the alternative learning program that is scheduled to open in the former Register-Star building in a month and two days: "Hudson-Catskill alternative education program to be housed on Warren Street."

Business owners on Warren Street are concerned about this change of use for the building, and at last week's Common Council Legal Committee meeting, Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward) expressed his dissatisfaction that the school district had not come to the City to discuss the plan before moving ahead, so that the City could do what's best for the city. The proposed new use," Friedman said, affects the tenor of the whole business district," and he predicted that it would have a ripple effect up and down the street. 

HCSD superintendent Maria Suttmeier, however, declares herself convinced that the location is "perfect" for the new program. She supports that opinion by saying that there used to be an alternative education program across the street "at some point." In an email to a constituent, in which he professes not to have known about the plan for the school until July 22, when he was advised that "a story had appeared on a blog that I do not read," Mayor William Hallenbeck too makes reference to the earlier program: "I will also add that the ALP school for years used to be across the street from the pro-printers building in the blue building next to the church which now does something with dogs." (Of course, the mayor meant Johnny's Ideal Printing; Pro-Printers is on Fairview Avenue.)

The fact that "at one time" an ALP program was located on this part of Warren Street is not an adequate reason to think it's a good fit now. "At one time," many of the storefronts on Warren Street were used for low-income housing, and that's certainly not something anyone who cares about the economic viability of Hudson wants to see happen again. 
                                  

The most unfortunate thing about this plan is that the basic concept--to provide students who do not succeed in a conventional high school setting other ways of learning and realizing their potential--is one that the community should and does support, but it is being implemented in a way that shows little regard for other interests in the community or for the economic well-being of the city as a whole. As a consequence, as happens so often in Hudson, those objecting to siting an ALP school at the heart of a revitalized main street risk being characterized as elitist NIMBY snobs who want to deny kids struggling academically a chance to succeed. This might have been an opportunity to bring the community together to solve a problem, as the Hudson Reads program at HCSD, created by Lisa Dolan, so admirably does, but instead, foisted on the community with no consultation or consideration, it is yet another impetus for resentment and divisiveness.
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Of Interest

Tom DePietro's interview with HPD chief Ed Moore on WGXC's @Issue has now been archived. Click here to listen.

Remembering the Rialto

In the post card image Gossips published last week of the buildings destroyed in the 1965 Good Friday fire, the building at 332 Warren Street was occupied by the Rialto Theatre. The building started out as a private residence. In 1867, it was the home of Henry Miller, and prior to that it was know as the "Little property." Curious to know when 332 Warren Street became the Rialto Theatre and how long it remained so, Gossips consulted John Craig, foremost authority on theaters on Hudson.    

Craig supplied the information that the ground floor of the building was converted into a theater in 1909. Called at that time the Warren Theatre, it was the second venue for movies and vaudeville in Hudson—the first being the auditorium in City Hall, now the Hudson Opera House.  

The Warren Theatre closed in 1917, and in February 1919, the Hudson Improvement Company bought the building. Seven years earlier, in 1912, the Hudson Improvement Company had built the 1,500-seat Playhouse Theatre at 347 Warren Street. After extensive improvements, designed by architect Michael J. O'Connor, the theater at 332 Warren Street reopened as the Rialto in July 1919.

In 1926, the Hudson Improvement Company leased the Rialto and the Playhouse to theater operators from New York City: Henry Frieder and his brothers-in-law, Henry and William Grossman, who called themselves the Henwilhen Company. The Rialto closed in 1934, and in 1938, the Playhouse was destroyed by fire.

At the time of the Good Friday fire in 1965, 332 Warren Street, the building that had been the Rialto, was owned by the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who used us as their clubhouse. They purchased the building in 1941 after the Hudson Improvement Company had dissolved and liquidated its holdings.

 

This photograph of 332 Warren Street engulfed in flames together with the text of this article from the Register-Star about the suspected cause of the fire were provided by Craig.

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Eureka! . . . But No

I almost shrieked Eureka! in City Hall on Wednesday afternoon when, after poring through two years of Common Council minutes, I finally came upon mention of Hudson-Fulton fountain. It's a good thing I didn't though. My elation over discovering this item in the minutes for September 29, 1910, lasted only as long as it took me to read it.

Alderman Barlow said that about a year ago there had been presented to the city a drinking fountain but it had since disappeared. He would like to know if anybody could tell him where the fountain is located.

Alderman Finigan moved that Alderman Barlow and Alderman Flanagan be appointed a committee to investigate the matter.

The Recorder ruled the motion out of order, as the Council cannot designate a committee.

I don't know what rule of order the Recorder relied on to dismiss the resolution. During the two years of Council proceedings I'd been reviewing, several ad hoc committees had been created--the committee to advertise the city during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, the committee to find out what happened to the flagstones, the committee to get the trunk highway to run through Hudson--so why the Council couldn't designate a committee to solve the mystery of the missing fountain, for Alderman Barlow and for posterity, is not at all clear. In the minutes for the remainder of 1910 and for 1911 there is no further mention of the fountain.

The item made Gossips curious to find out more about Alderman Barlow. Emerson Barlow represented the Third Ward, where the fountain had been situated when it stood at the Union Street entrance to Washington Park. By profession, he was a dentist, and with his associate, Charles A. Walker, he practiced dentistry at the Hudson Dental Parlors at 524 Warren Street. Barlow resided at 438 East Allen Street.
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Youth and Aging

This evening William, who I believe may be the oldest dog in Hudson, met Jamison Teale's and James Gottlieb's puppy, Lucy, who is probably the youngest and definitely the newest dog in Hudson. (The meeting, which took place in Washington Park, was arranged by the humans.)

Turn Your Radios On

Today at 10 a.m., Tom DePietro interviews Ed Moore, chief of the Hudson Police Department, on WGXC's @Issue. Listen at 90.7 FM or online.

Remembering Lee Musselman

John Mason has a lovely remembrance of Lee Musselman in today's Register-Star, distractingly marred by the consistent misspelling of Dini Lamot's last name: "Remembering artist Musselman: The man and his city connection."

How It All Began

Gossips was back at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, reading Common Council minutes from 1910 in the hope of finding some mention of the Hudson-Fulton Memorial Fountain. No luck. But in the process, I found these entries in the minutes for 1910. 

The first is a resolution introduced by Alderman Decker on January 27, 1910:

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to confer with the Assemblyman from this district with a view of changing the law so that the proposed Trunk Highway running through the westerly part of this county, to be built by the State running from New York to Albany pass through this city. 

The resolution was unanimously adopted and a committee appointed made up of aldermen Decker, Small, and Kennedy.

At the next meeting, on February 24, 1910, Alderman Decker introduced another resolution:

Resolved, That this Council favor the change of the Highway Law in relation to route No. 2 in Columbia County, so that that portion of it which formerly read "from the boundary of Columbia and Dutchess Counties north-easterly and north-westerly" read "from the boundary of Columbia and Dutchess Counties through Blue Store and Johnstown to Bells Pond and thence northerly along the turnpike and Worth Avenue to the City of Hudson," and that Assemblyman Albert S. Callan of this county be respectfully requested to introduce a bill in the Legislature to this effect, and that he be notified of this request at once.

This resolution, too, was adopted unanimously. 

Surely, in their zeal to get what is now Route 9 to pass through Hudson, the aldermen of a century ago never anticipated the consequences, a hundred years later, of their initiative.

Of Interest

There was an article in Monday's Wall Street Journal about the restoration of the grounds at Olana and five miles of carriage trails to Frederic Church's original vision: "'Editing' the Hudson River School Painter Frederic Church's Land."

Native America Canoers Pass Hudson Today

The epic canoe trip commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first treaty between Native Americans and Europeans will pass through our part of the river today. The canoers, both Native Americans and their non-Native American allies, started their journey from Albany to New York City on Sunday. Today they are expected to stop in Athens for lunch and then continue on to Catskill, where they will camp overnight at Dutchman's Landing.

The canoes are traveling down the river in two rows to symbolize the Two Row Wampum, the record of the treaty between the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy. The parallel strips in the original belt of shell beads represented the Dutch ships and the Native American canoes traveling the same path.

The canoe trip is part of the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign which a press release explains is meant to "offer New Yorkers the opportunity to hear directly from the Native American Nations in their midst about the history of treaties made between our governments, agreements that shape relations between New York State, the Federal government, and Native Nations today. At the core of those agreements is a shared responsibility to protect the Earth on which all life depends. The need to stem global climate change and prevent hydrofracking in New York State are key to the project."

This photo, submitted by a reader, shows the canoes on their way from Athens to Catskill. The replica Dutch ship accompanying the canoes is the Onrust.

Discovered in Old Council Minutes

Seeking to discover what happened to the Hudson-Fulton Memorial Fountain, Gossips spent some time yesterday with the Common Council minutes from 1909 and 1910. (It will be remembered that the fountain was dedicated on October 7, 1909, and by May 12, 1910, it had been removed from Washington Park.) In the hour or so spent poring through the records, no mention of the fountain was found, but a few other things of interest were discovered. 

For one, 1909 was the first year that a typewriter was used to preserve Council minutes. Prior to that, the bound minutes are handwritten. 

James C. Armstrong, who was the mayor in 1909, seemed to have a penchant for vetoing Council actions, often with the consequence of having to withdraw his veto when further information was provided to him.

The year 1909 seemed to a year for stones going missing. The minutes for the Council meeting held on June 24, 1909, contains this item:

Alderman Finigan said that a committee should be appointed to find out what had become of the flagstones that had been taken up from the streets some years ago; that those stones are worth hundreds of dollars, and people using the streets to-day must wade through mud up to their knees. He moved that the Street Committee investigate as to where the flagging had gone and see if it cannot be used again. Alderman Flanagan said that if Finigan wanted any information about the flag-stones he should go to Poughkeepsie and interview ex-Mayor Rowles, who was Mayor at that time. He said that as he understood it the stones were used for all kinds of purposes. Alderman Small said he had been told that the flagstones had been made into curbstones.   

Samuel G. Rowles served as mayor of Hudson from 1887 to 1888.

A Murder Mystery Set Nearby

In June, when Gossips introduced readers to The Boys' Garden Club, I expressed my wish that someone would write a roman à clef about Hudson. Rivaling that is my wish that someone would write a murder mystery set in Hudson. Back in the early years of the new millennium, when epic battles were being fought in Hudson, a few folks purported to be working on such novels, but, alas, none has emerged.

As with the roman à clef, we now have the next best thing: a murder mystery set in nearby Greenport. The mystery, Death at Olana, by Glenda Ruby, begins, at an Olana Christmas gala, with the discovery of the body of Sheila Marks, the historic site's fictional director. In investigating the murder, the Hudson sheriff (a fictional detail that seems appropriate to our city's Dodge City mystique) enlists the aid of witty and erudite amateur detective Lindsey Brooks. The book promises a cast of delicious characters--"Hudson Valley worthies, sycophants, well-born but not always well-behaved eccentrics, several of whom loathed Sheila enough to kill her"--and a plot graced with "historic homes, antiques, rivalries, town-gown intrigues." It all sounds just right.

Death at Olana is the first of what's to be a series of mysteries set in the Hudson Valley and featuring female sleuth Lindsey Brooks. The next one--on its way--is called A Murderous Summer at Bard. Copies of Death at Olana can be purchased at The Spotty Dog.

Not to Be Missed

Lynn Sloneker has an update on the plans to locate an alternative learning program in the former Register-Star building at Warren and Fourth streets on her blog, Unmuffled.