A Warning from William

To all my dog and cat friends in Hudson and beyond: Get your humans to read this article from The New York Times: "Answers Sought in Deaths of Dogs That Ate Treats." Then ask them please to check where the treats they buy for you are made. Beg them not to buy treats that are made in places where we pets are not as treasured as we are here.  

What It Will Look Like

At the last Common Council meeting, Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward) and Rick Scalera, former mayor and now Fifth Ward supervisor and special adviser to the Galvan Foundation, groused that there was no rendering or color drawing that showed what 701 Union Street would look like re-purposed as the City of Hudson police and city court building. Now there is.

Gossips just received this rendering, by architect John O'Connell of O'Connell Architecture, from Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward). Haddad reiterated that the proposed adaptive reuse meets all the requirements of the police department and the city court and that everything, including the landscaping, is reflected in the cost analysis.

COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

Hudson on WAMC

This morning, the latest development in our Hudson mayoral race was the subject of a report by Allison Dunne on WAMC. The report can be heard here. A memorable statement was uttered by incumbent mayor William Hallenbeck, who criticized his opponent, Victor Mendolia, by saying, "Mr. Mendolia's social media conduct on his website and his friends' blogs is apprehensible."

The Register-Star also has a story on the subject today: "City mayoral candidates tangle over HIV." 

Ear to the Ground

Gossips already reported about the new clothing store expected to open soon at 1 Warren Street, but there are two more stores on the way. From mid-November through early January, Spruce Ridge Farm will have a pop-up store at 255 Warren Street. Spruce Ridge Farm in Old Chatham raises alpacas for their fiber, which is spun into yarn at a mill in the Finger Lakes and made into hats, rugs, and sweaters by local knitters and weavers. These are the wares that Spruce Ridge Farm will be selling for a few months this winter in the space behind the newly restored storefront at 255 Warren Street.

Gossips has also heard word of another store being planned for farther up Warren Street, in the 600 block, where Key City Liquor used to be. The exact nature of the store is unknown, but the speculation is that it is the collaborative effort of interior designer Christopher Coleman and fashion designer Angel Sanchez.

A Tale in Two Newspapers

The story of drilling out a lock and installing a new lock on the room at 401 State Street where the voting machines are stored--a story that involves Stuyvesant supervisor Ron Knott and facilities manager Bob Pinto, both of whom apparently have an interest in the outcome of the November 5 election--is told today in the Register-Star: "County officials at odds over voting machine security"; and the Times Union: "Democrat: GOP violated secure vote room." 

More Breaking News

Sam Pratt reports on his blog that this house, at the fork in the road where Columbia Turnpike splits off from Route 23B, was sold last week in a county tax foreclosure auction: "Hudson gateway property sold at auction." The property sold for the minimum bid of $5,000.

This Just In

Sam Pratt reports on his blog that Hudson fire chief Craig Haigh has been appointed to replace Peter Wurster as the City's code enforcement officer: "New Hudson Building Inspector." This picture, taken from the City of Hudson Fire Department website, shows Haigh being sworn in as fire chief. According to reports, he has already been sworn in as code enforcement officer.

This Is Your Last Chance

After noon today--that's just a couple of hours away--reservations can no longer be accepted for dinner and the screening on Friday of Odds Against Tomorrow at Basilica Hudson. 

If you don't make your reservation now, you may have to wait another fifty years before you get the chance to see it in a theater again.

The event is a fundraiser to help Fairview Cinema 3--our local first run movie house (just over the border in Greenport)--buy digital projectors and stay in business. A suggested donation of $50 is requested. The event starts at 7 p.m. Basilica Hudson is located at 110 South Front Street. Click here and tell us if you plan to attend.

Halloween in Hudson

There are just a few days left to put the finishing touches on your costume and get ready for Hudson's eagerly anticipated Halloween bash: Operation Kook--this Saturday, at 10 p.m., at Club Helsinki. 

Gloriosky! Gossips Sets a New Record

On September 18, Gossips almost reached a new milestone of 3,000 pageviews in a single day. On that day, there were 2,992. Yesterday, we made it: 3,007 pageviews! Of course, some of the traffic was undoubtedly generated by the reader-contributed photograph of Peter Wurster's farewell to public service, but it's still cause for celebration.

Politics in the Friendly City

Two weeks from today, the election will be over, but the next fourteen days promise to be mean--at least in the Hudson mayoral race.

Incumbent mayor William Hallenbeck has reportedly taken to campaigning on his opponent's HIV positive status and some unspecified information he claims to have about him, from his past career in law enforcement, which he promises will "shock people." Victor Mendolia responds to Hallenbeck's eleventh-hour lapse into negativity on his campaign website: "A Desperate Man's Only Campaign Issue: 'My opponent has AIDS.'"

Meanwhile, although a crawl on his campaign website claims that he "IS currently in talks concerning the best format for a Public Debate," Hallenbeck has so far not accepted Mendolia's invitation to participate in a town hall meeting, moderated by Berkshire Eagle editor Francesca Shanks and Greg Mosley from Operation Unite, scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 26, at 2 p.m., in the auditorium of the Second Ward Foundation, at the corner of North Third and Robinson streets.

From the West . . . and from the North

At the stormy Planning Commission public hearing last Wednesday, about the adaptive reuse of the Armory, Helen Arrott, of Citizens in Defense of Hudson, asked to see the elevation drawings for the proposed new addition to the building. She was told that the Planning Commission had only the site plan. The building design had been reviewed and approved by the Historic Preservation Commission.

When the design for the building was presented to the Historic Preservation Commission, there was much discussion among HPC members about the proposed "medical wing," but the elevations for the addition were not presented in a way that allowed the public to see them. So today, Gossips asked HPC chair Rick Rector for copies of those elevations, and he provided them.

The first shows the facade that faces Short Street.

The outlines at the top and to the right show the contours of the original building, to which the new construction connects.

The drawing below shows the elevation from Rope Alley.

The new addition's appearance from the north side (Rope Alley) is virtually the same as it is from the south side (State Street) except the south side is missing the westernmost pair of windows on the second and third floors. That's where the entrance to the building is.

Seeing Local People and Places on the Screen

According to accounts, somewhere between 300 and 350 extras were used in the scenes from Odds Against Tomorrow that were shot in Hudson--most of them local people.

One of those extras was John Fiero, whose squirt gun fight outside a store on Warren Street, with a kid who played his brother, foreshadowed the film's dark conclusion and started Fiero on a lifetime of being an extra in movies filmed in Hudson. He can boast of being in every one, including the movie recently premiered in Hudson, Fighting for Freedom. (He's sitting in the back row of the courtroom.) Fiero, at age 11, appears in this picture, with Ed Begley and his children, arriving at the Community Theatre for the premiere of Odds Against Tomorrow. (Fiero is at the far right.)

Fiero is even quoted in the Knickerbocker News article that this photograph accompanied:

It was a big day for Hudson generally and for 11-year-old John Fiero, of 240 Robinson St., Hudson, in particular.

John is one of the extras. He and his buddy, Billy Hanna, 8, son of a local police sergeant, are convinced movie stars have it made.

"I got $290 for my part," John said. "Billy only got $280."

"I wanted to be an actor even before that. With that kind of dough who'd want to be anything else?"

The boys' earnings were turned over to their mothers in a check.

"I've got a bank account now," John said. "I think movies are marvelous."

So do the rest of the people of Hudson. It's estimated that the Belafonte company spent about $40,000 in the town. And you don't have to be an 11-year-old to get a kick out of seeing local people and places on the screen.

Don't miss your chance to see, if not local people you recognize, local places you will. Time is running out. Make your reservation now for dinner and Odds Against Tomorrow, Friday, October 25, at Basilica Hudson. A donation of $50 is requested to benefit Fairview Cinema 3--to purchase another digital projector and keep our local hometown movie house (over the border in Greenport) in business. Send an email now and let it be known that you don't want to miss this rare opportunity. The event starts at 7 p.m.

What Might Have Been

Back in 2008, Charlie Davi tried mightily to buy the Washington Hose firehouse and renovate it as a firematics-themed ice cream parlor and fast-food restaurant. He was thwarted in this by the four aldermen who represented the First and Third wards at that time, who believed that the City needed to retain control of the firehouse at the entrance to Promenade Hill in order to realize the long-term goals for waterfront development and were vilified for their obstructionist stand. 

Two years later, in 2010, Gossips celebrated a happy ending. Davi's Delights had opened in the old Dairy Queen building on Green Street, and the Washington Hose firehouse--still owned by the City of Hudson--was to be restored and renovated to become the location of the Chamber of Commerce. 

Recently, there's been a new development. It seems that Davi's Delights, closed for the season but promising to return in the spring, is for sale. If Davi had succeeded in purchasing the Washington Hose firehouse, would it now be for sale again?

Of Interest

In today's Register-Star, Mahlon Richards, president of Richmor Aviation, defends the need to expand the airport's safety zone, touts the economic benefits his business brings to the county, and warns of lost business if the proposed changes are not made: "Richmor boss backs safety zone expansion."

The photo accompanying this post is from the Richmor website.

Peter Wurster's Farewell

According to some reports, tomorrow--October 22--is Peter Wurster's last day as Hudson's code enforcement officer. He may, however, be staying on until the end of the week. Whether he'll be in the position for one more day or four more, this is how Wurster bid farewell today to a Hudson property owner trying to FOIL a document from his office.

OWOP?

When you Google the acronym OWOP, you discover that it can stand for "One World, One People"; "Our World, Our Problem"; "Original Works on Paper"; and "Only With Official People." It's not clear which if any of these meanings applies to the tags discovered this morning, spray-painted on two houses in the 200 block of Warren Street. One appeared on the facade of 239 Warren Street, the other on the side of 231 Warren Street, visible from Thurston Park.

Don't Miss This Rare Opportunity

On Friday, October 25, Odds Against Tomorrow, the 1959 classic filmed here in Hudson, will be shown at Basilica Hudson. The event is a fundraiser to help Bruce Mitchinson, the owner of our hometown movie theater, Fairview Cinema 3 (across the border in Greenport), equip another of his three screening rooms with a digital projector and stay in business. In 1959, when Odds Against Tomorrow had its Eastern Premiere at the Community Theatre, Bruce's father, Wilfred Mitchinson, was a projectionist at the theater.

On October 15, 1959, the enormous theater (soon to be transformed into the Marina Abramovic Institute) was filled to capacity for the movie's first showing. Among those in attendance was one of the movie's stars, Ed Begley, who played Dave Burke in the movie, the mastermind of the bungled bank heist. Begley brought his two children with him--nine-year-old Eddie, whom we now know as Ed Begley, Jr., and ten-year-old Allene.

The Albany Knickerbocker News for October 16, 1959, reported that Begley had a special affinity for Hudson:

The movie introduced character actor Ed Begley to the town.

Begley is far from being the star of the show. Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan share top honors in the cast. But in the weeks that the company spent in Hudson it was Begley who carved out a special niche for himself in the local scene.

[Begley] was made an honorary mayor of the town. . . . 

He told The Knickerbocker News:

"I would rather be here than on Broadway. I love Hudson and its people. I'm even thinking about trying to make my home here."

Begley's appearance in Hudson was something of a miracle. Until 6 p.m. he was rehearsing in New York for a new play. At 6:15 a black 1960 Cadillac chartered by the Walter Reade company, collected him in midtown Manhattan. Fifteen minutes before the curtain was scheduled to go up at 9 p.m., he arrived in Hudson.

Don't make your appearance for the showing at the Basilica something of a miracle. Email your reservation now and let us know you are planning to attend. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m., prior to the movie. A $50 donation is requested.

Not to Be Missed

Two weeks before Election Day, Will Pflaum reports on his blog Hudson Sunshine the bizarre story of Ron Knott, supervisor for Stuyvesant, drilling out the lock on the room where the voting machines are stored and installing a new lock, without the knowledge of the Board of Elections staff: "Article in the Albany Times Union and a BREAK IN by the supervisor at the Board of Elections."

Tweed Ride 2013

Cyclists dressed in tweeds and plaids gathered at the entrance to Promenade Hill on Sunday afternoon for the second annual Hudson Tweed Ride.

Mounted on vintage bicycles, the group set out on a circuitous route through the streets of Hudson that would bring them finally to (p.m.) Wine Bar for celebratory after-ride libations. 

On this leisurely ride, there were plenty of stops along the way--the first being the Inn at Hudson, for cider (hot and cold) and cucumber sandwiches (spiked with a touch of jalapeno pepper). This video shows the first ranks pedaling up to the Inn; this one shows the arrival of those who fell behind at the traffic light at Allen and Third.

Having taken refreshment, the group posed for a picture before setting off again.