The Taste of Summer

Gossips doesn't normally comment about food, leaving that to blogs like Hungry in Hudson and Scott Baldinger's Word on the Street, but a recent discovery has inspired me: the vegan pesto from Bruno's. It's excellent and much closer and less expensive than Buddha Pesto (another favorite) that's sold at Kaaterskill Farm when you're lucky enough to find it there. Vegan pesto is now a special at Bruno's, and I hope they keep making it as long as there's a supply of fresh basil.      

Showcasing Hudson's Great Trees

Imagine driving along Green Street and not seeing these three amazing London plane trees.

Then sign the petition to protect Hudson's heritage trees.

To the person who asked, in a comment on the petition, "Why do you void lines that don't agree with your treehugger mission?": Gossips is not the creator or the administrator of the petition, but, speaking for the person who is, this is a petition not a chat board. People who don't agree with the goal of the petition should not sign it. Simple as that. 

Let Them Make Chocolate!

Gossips has been following the story of Christopher Norman Chocolates from the time the first rumors surfaced that an unidentified chocolatier was thinking of making high-end chocolate in the former Terry-Gillette mansion on Union Street. And Gossips was present last night when Christopher Norman Chocolates cleared its regulatory hurdle and was granted a use variance to open what owner and Chief Chocolate Officer John Down described as not a chocolate factory but an "atelier" in the former Sacred Heart Church at 73 North Second Street. 

At 6 p.m., in a special meeting of the Planning Commission, the four members present--Donald Tillson, chair, Cappy Pierro, Claudia DeStefano, and Glenn Martin--voted unanimously to recommend that the Zoning Board of Appeals grant a variance to allow a commercial use in a residential (R-4) zone. At 6:30 p.m., the ZBA reopened its public hearing, begun last Thursday, to accept the recommendation and then convened its regular meeting to deliberate and make their determination.

Among the reasons cited for granting the use variance was the "inability to sell the property for any use allowed in the R-4 district." The building had been on the market for six years, during which time the price had been reduced from $575,000 (the original asking price) to $375,000 (the selling price), and lenders would not give the property a residential rate mortgage. Also cited in support of the variance was the fact that the property is "boxed in" by general commercial and industrial zones, with general commercial zones on two sides and an industrial zone 200 feet away.

The members of the ZBA present--Lisa Kenneally, chair, Phil Abitabile, Kathy Harter, Sheryl Shetsky, and Russell Gibson--voted unanimously to grant the use variance. The plans for the building are mixed use residential/commercial: the chocolate atelier will be located on the first floor; the owners' residence on the second floor. 

Of Buildings and Plans

There two articles of interest in today's Register-Star. 

• In the first, Nick Haddad talks about the plan to lease 217 Warren Street to the Hudson Area Library: "Haddad: Business, library would share 217."
• In the second, Council President Don Moore and Mayor Rick Scalera talk about the purchase of 25 Railroad Avenue: "City moving forward on 25 RR Ave."   

Showcasing Hudson's Great Trees

Imagine Warren and First streets without this magnificent willow.  

Then sign the petition to protect Hudson's heritage trees.

More News from the Library Board Meeting

Before the library board got around to selling their historic building last night, they did a couple of other things that are worthy of note.

They elected two new board members: Peter Spear, who has been helping the library with marketing and branding, and Dan Jablanski, who, it may be remembered, was the Republican candidate for Common Council president and Dan Grandinetti's running mate in 2005. 

Theresa Parsons and Mark Orton, president and vice president of the library board respectively, reported on their "debriefing" with departing library director, Corey Fleming. An unpursued goal for Fleming had been to get more money for the library by making it a Special Legislative District Public Library. Parsons conceded that a Special District referendum was "definitely on the horizon," since "we can't go back to Hudson" (the City of Hudson currently contributes $120,000 a year to the operation of the library as the result of a successful Chapter 414 referendum in 2009) and "we may not be able to keep what we have now [from Greenport]" (the Town of Greenport currently makes a voluntary contribution of $5,500 a year). 

Simply put, becoming a Special Legislative District Public Library would make the library an entity much like a school district, with a board that is elected by the voters in the area served by the library, an annual budget that must be approved by voters, and the ability to levy taxes on property in the district to raise its annual budget. 

The Hudson Area Library was tried twice in the past to become a Special Legislative District Public Library. The first time was in March 2000, when to the crushing disappointment of everyone involved with the library at the time, the referendum was defeated by just two votes. Two years later, the library tried again, and the outcome was different but ultimately the same. A Special District referendum requires authorizing legislation, and the second time around, Senator Stephen Saland was prevailed upon to split the referendum into two issues: (1) approval of the library becoming a Special Legislative District Public Library; and (2) approval of the proposed library budget. The voters approved the former and rejected the latter, so, since a Special Legislative District Public Library can't exist without an approved budget, the attempt failed again.

Since 2002, the library has successfully implemented Chapter 414 of New York State law to get tax support from the City of Hudson. In 2004, a successful Chapter 414 referendum increased the City of Hudson's voluntarily contribution of $25,000 to a voter mandated contribution of $48,000. In 2009, another Chapter 414 referendum increased Hudson's mandated contribution from $48,000 to $120,000. A referendum in Greenport, requesting an increase from a voluntary $5,500 to a mandated $16,500, failed. 

The Hudson Area Association Library is chartered to serve Hudson and Greenport. A Special Legislative District for the library would include Hudson and Greenport and possibly also Stockport.           

SOLD: Our Most Significant Historic Buildings

First, it was the birthplace of Hudson's most celebrated national hero, General William Jenkins Worth. Then, it was Hudson's oldest surviving house, the Robert Taylor House, at the head of Tanners Lane. Now, it is Hudson's most revered and beloved, most abused and reviled historic building, 400 State Street. All have been acquired by T. Eric Galloway, the man who, according to his own spokesperson, "doesn't like old things."

Tonight, the Board of Trustees of the Hudson Area Association Library, after an executive session that lasted slightly more than twenty minutes, reopened their regular monthly meeting to the public to propose and pass unanimously two resolutions.

The first authorized Theresa Parsons, president of the library board, or Mark Orton, vice president of the library board, to sign a contract to sell 400 State Street to Galvan Partners, LLC, for $476,500. The resolution was long and complicated, with lots of language that presumably will be part of the contract of sale. There was mention of restoring the building "to its Federal period grandeur" (What grandeur? The building was built in 1818 to be Hudson's poor house), suggesting that the library board is condoning what will doubtless be Galloway's plan to strip away all of the building's genuinely historic Victorian detail in favor of introducing new elements that imitate those that appear in the earliest surviving image of the building--this one, from Rural Repository, which shows the building as it looked during the period (1830-1850) when it was the Hudson Lunatic Asylum. 

The resolution also contained language about the building being used for some purpose that benefits the community, which gives a wee bit of credibility to the rumor that the library board may have the expectation that Galvan Partners/Eric Galloway will restore the building and then give it back to the library.  

The resolution also gives the library board the option, after they've sold the building, to lease it back from Galvan Partners for six months at a cost of $1 a month, to give them time to refit their new digs, which were identified in the second resolution that was passed unanimously tonight.

According to the second resolution, there are two possibilities for leasing alternative space. Both involve 217 Warren Street--Hudson Electrical Supply, owned by Hudson mayoral candidate Nick Haddad--and both are five-year leases with an option to renew for an additional five years. The first possibility is to lease the first and second floors of the building, excluding the unfinished space in the building's "west wing" (behind the little off-street parking lot), for $3,500 a month. The second possibility is to lease the first floor only, including the unfinished space, for $2,475 a month. 

It is rumored that our current mayor, Rick Scalera, played a central role in working the deal that delivered one of Hudson's most significant historic buildings into the hands of someone whose actions to date have shown little respect for the integrity of Hudson's historic architecture. If that is true, it wouldn't be surprising. What is surprising, and for that reason all the more distressing, is the role that Haddad played in enabling the library board to carry out their plan to abandon the library's historic building.  

Books for Sale!

The Hudson Area Library continues its moving sale of books, offering additional opportunities for people to shop in the Friends' Book Sale Room. In July and August, the number of Saturdays the room was open for business increased from one to two. Now it's also open on Wednesdays. 

Gossips has learned, however, that not all the books the library is discarding will end up being sold by the Friends. Many are getting packed up and shipped off to a service that redistributes them in  Third World countries to promote literacy. This morning, the library's young summer intern was glimpsed in the back hallway taping up boxes. Presumably, the boxes were full of books destined for places like Cambodia or Mali or Zimbabwe.   

Gossips Stands Corrected

Tonight, when the audience for the Common Council meeting was being expelled from Council chambers because the Council was going into executive session to discuss, according to Council President Don Moore, (1) the purchase of 25 Railroad Avenue and (2) the sale of the old Dunn warehouse building across from Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, Mayor Richard Scalera handed me this piece of paper:

The mayor took issue with my earlier post "Another Hat in the Ring" and wanted to set the record straight. What is handwritten on this printout of the results from the 2007 mayoral race is the following:       

Does Gossips want the truth?

A) Scalera 1063--Ohara and Mussmann combined 942--Scalera wins by 121 over both opponents

B) What makes anyone think that the 228 votes Mussmann received belonged to Ohara had Mussman not entered the race

C) Rick Scalera ran on the Republican line not as a Republican after the Democrats chose NOT to endorse him--Get it right now!

Don't Miss . . .

Sam Pratt's commentary on the possibility of Linda Mussmann's fourth run for mayor: "Politics as Theater (Take 4)."

Another Hat in the Ring

For months, there's been speculation in various circles about what Linda Mussmann might do in this year's mayoral election. Mussmann has been a mayoral wannabe for a decade now. She ran as a third-party candidate in 2001 and 2003 and lost to Rick Scalera both times. In 2005, her handpicked candidate for mayor, Dick Tracy, won the election (although Mussmann herself, running for Fourth Ward alderman, lost), and Mussmann was made chair of the Waterfront Advisory Steering Committee, tasked with getting the LWRP revised and adopted. Her performance in that capacity disappointed many of her loyal followers, and in 2007, the "New Progressive Democrats," who in 2005 had taken control of the Hudson Democratic Committee, endorsed not Mussmann but Michael O'Hara. Mussmann primaried O'Hara, and when she lost the primary ran anyway on her own Bottom Line Party, confusing things just enough to ensure that Scalera, who was running as a Republican that year, was re-elected.

Now the word is that Mussmann plans to launch a campaign to get Democrats to write in her name for mayor in the September 13 primary in an effort to snatch the Democratic line away from Nick Haddad. There's also the possibility, although there's been no word on this yet, that she may run as the Bottom Line Party candidate. 

Photo was reproduced from the Time & Space Limited website.

Vandalism at the Waterfront

Among all the good moments of the past weekend in Hudson, there was one very disturbing occurrence. Sometime in the middle of the night between Friday and Saturday, these universally recognized symbols of organized hate were spray-painted on Basilica Hudson.

About Those Missing Trees

Gossips has mentioned more than once the two Bradford pear trees in Thurston Park that died and have not been replaced. It turns out that this past weekend, for the Hudson Music Fest, the missing trees were a good thing--or at least one of them was. The break in the park's allée was just wide enough to pitch the tent required to make the park a music venue. But other arrangements will have to be made next year, because the trees are coming back.

First Ward alderman Sarah Sterling, who with Third Ward alderman Ellen Thurston took the initiative on this project, has confirmed that new trees will be planted this fall. Ben Eaton of the Secret Gardener will plant the trees and look after them during the critical first year to ensure that they have the best chance for survival. Sterling reports that the new trees will be as mature as possible so there won't be a dramatic difference in size between the new trees and the original trees.

The project is being funded with money left over in the coffers of the now defunct Hudson Beautification Committee, and the trees will be dedicated to the memory of Fran and Vinnie DeGrazia, who were active members of the Beautification Committee.

Sterling also told Gossips that she had started a fund at HDC (Hudson Development Corporation) for small beautification projects like this. 

Public Comment Period Ends Today

Today is the last day to register your support for designating South Bay Creek and Marsh as a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat. You can do so quickly and easily by clicking on the historic map of South Bay at the right to access The Valley Alliance action page.

Hipness and Hudson

First, there was the New York Times story "Williamsburg on the Hudson," and Sam Pratt's online comment objecting to the "us vs. them, jobs vs. the environment" themes that the story lapses into when talking about Hudson. Then there was the Gawker article responding to the original story: "Brooklynites Blessing the Hudson Valley with Hipness." And today, appearing only in the print version of the New York Times, is a second comment inspired by the story from Sam Pratt.

    

How Long Must We Wait . . .

for more chocolate in Hudson and its positive effect on our serotonin levels? Christopher Norman Chocolates wants to open a chocolate factory in the former Sacred Heart Church on North Second Street, but to do so requires a use variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA had scheduled a public hearing last Thursday at 6:30 p.m., after which they would hold their regular meeting and decide whether or not to grant the variance, but the public hearing had to be postponed because the ZBA needed a recommendation from the Planning Commission and Planning Commission had canceled their meeting the night before.

So, it seems the Planning Commission will have to call a special meeting on Wednesday, August 17, to make the recommendation, so that the ZBA can hold a public hearing and have their meeting on Thursday, August 18, to decide the fate of the Christopher Norman Chocolates factory in Hudson. Stay tuned. 

The photograph above is from the Christopher Norman Chocolates website and shows their Broadway Butternut Crunch.  

Three Hours at the Library

Every week, I spend three hours volunteering at the circulation desk at the Hudson Area Library. My time slot is noon to 3 on Friday afternoon. I've been doing this for a while now--at least six years, possibly more. When I started volunteering, I was on the library board, and spending time at the circulation desk gave me firsthand knowledge of the library and what happened there which informed my thinking as a trustee. In the months since the library board announced its intention to leave 400 State Street, volunteering at the library has had its painful moments, but I soldier on, trying to keep my seditious opinions to myself--at least for the three hours that I am the "face" of the library, sitting behind the circulation desk. 

When I arrived at the library this past Friday, a farewell party for departing library director Corey Fleming was about to begin. I offered to work the circulation desk while the staff and other volunteers gathered in the Children's Room for pizza and farewells. 

The first thing I noticed when I settled at my post was a photocopy of Parry Teasdale's editorial from Columbia Paper, "Library move makes sense," lying on the circulation desk, presumably for patrons to see and read. Since I'd already read what Teasdale had to say, my first instinct was to rip it up and toss it into paper recycling box under the desk, but my better angels shouted down the demons in my brain, and I slid the editorial out of sight under the big calendar on the desk instead. 

Now Parry Teasdale has never been much of a friend to the Hudson Area Library. Back in 2002,* when the library was making its second attempt to become a Special District Library, the library board designed an advertising campaign meant to put the annual cost to the average homeowner of the library becoming a tax-supported institution into perspective by comparing it with everyday purchases--a cup of coffee and a doughnut, a tuna salad sandwich, a bag of movie popcorn. In an editorial in the Independent, Teasdale blasted the library for running an ad campaign based on "junk food."

Teasdale's recent Columbia Paper editorial suggests that he was influenced more by the current board's propaganda than by any real knowledge of public opinion in Hudson. In his concluding paragraph Teasdale crows: "It's not the speed and decisiveness of their actions that distinguishes this project. It is the responsiveness of the board to the needs of the public. . . ." Their responsiveness to what they've decided are the needs of the public is more like it.

From where I sit behind the circulation desk, I have heard many people, in the months since the library board announced its intentions, comment on the decision to abandon the building, and only one of those people expressed any kind of support for the move. That person--a rather self-important woman who popped in one afternoon to use the public access computers--had no ties to Hudson (she told me she had a weekend house in the far northeastern reaches of the county) and obviously little knowledge of the city. Seeing a board press release on the desk about the move, she proceeded to lecture me about how the City of Hudson, because it was "so big," had to be rich enough to support a "big and beautiful new library." My response to her was the same as my response to the people who asked, with emotions ranging from sad disbelief to outrage, why the library was moving: "I'm the wrong person to be talking to about that."

Even the library board can't seem to muster a group of people who are demanding the course of action they are pursuing. In May, the board held the first of what was supposed to be a series of "listening sessions." With the exception of one man who expressed the opinion that 400 State was too significant a historic building to house a public library, implying, it seemed, that a public library--one of the greatest democratic institutions ever created--was, in the spectrum of architectural worthiness, on a par with methadone clinics and homeless shelters, everyone who turned out for that meeting expressed the desire that the library stay in its historic building. Three months have passed, and there have been no further "listening sessions." It appears that the library board may be waiting until they have carried out their plan before listening to the public, when public input can only influence the way they retrofit whatever new space they've acquired. 

To return to the thread of this narrative . . . soon after I had tucked the offensive editorial out of sight, a young woman presented herself at the desk with a book she wanted to check out. I scanned her library card; then I scanned the bar code on the flyleaf of the book. When I did the latter, something bizarre happened: I got a message informing me that bibliographical information needed to be entered before the book could be checked out and to proceed I had to enter authorizing initials and a password. In my years of working the circulation desk, I had never encountered this before, so I summoned library assistant Emily Bennison from the pizza party in the Children's Room for help.   

It turned out that the book the young woman wanted to check out was one of the 6,000 books being discarded in preparation for the move, and it had already been removed from the collection electronically. Bennison peeled the bar code off the book's flyleaf and handed the book to the puzzled young patron, explaining that the book was hers to keep, and if she didn't want it when she was finished with it, she could bring it back to the library and put it in the "free box." 

On my trip back to the Children's Room, I'd noticed stacks of books on the floor in the corridor. Those books apparently were the most recent batch of discards. The young woman must have found the book she wanted to check out in one of those stacks.

The afternoon went on without anything remarkable happening until halfway into a last hour of my shift, when a young mother with two children entered the building. From the hallway, she said, "I hear the library is selling the building." I gave my standard enigmatic answer, "I'm the wrong person to be talking to about that," but she continued, "I wanted to know if they are selling the lions, because I'd like to buy them." I wanted to scream, but instead I said sympathetically, "I don't imagine they're for sale."

I've wondered what plans the library board has for the lions. Do they stay with the building, or do they go with the library? Back in 2003 or 2004, when then library director Frank Rees wanted to move the library to the 600 block of Warren Street, his intention was to take the lions with him, but the lions have more history with the building than they have with the library. They were installed in the 1860s, when 400 State Street was the home of Hudson River steamboat captain George Power. They had graced the entrance to the building for at least ninety years before there ever was such a thing as the Hudson Area Association Library, and they should stay with the building. If the library wants to abandon 400 State Street, they shouldn't cherry-pick parts of it they want to take with them. But worse still is the idea that the lions could end up as someone's lawn ornaments. That's as appalling as Rick Scalera's suggestion that the stones of the building would make lots of nice retaining walls. 

When 3 o'clock finally arrived, I sought out Corey Fleming to say goodbye and wish him well before beating a hasty retreat.  

* NOTE: The date in the fourth paragraph was originally given as "1999 or 2000" but has been corrected thanks to a comment from a reader who noted the error.  

News from the Campaigns

Glenn Martin, the former Hudson police chief who resigned in disgrace in September 2000, is playing the favorite Hudson political game of trying to get his name on as many ballot lines as possible in his run for Third Ward supervisor. Endorsed by the Republicans, he's primarying Ellen Thurston on September 13 for the Democratic line, but his attempt to secure the Independence Party line was thwarted this week when it was determined that one of the three signatures on his Independence Party designating petition (apparently only three were needed) was a forgery. Not only did the signature on the petition not match the signature on the person's voter registration card, but the last name of the alleged signee was missing a letter, and the first name was similar but distinctly different from his actual first name. Ooops.

Of Interest

Overlooked in yesterday's Register-Star was this letter from Timothy O'Connor, which takes First Ward alderman Geeta Cheddie to task for what he considers her "contempt for the public": "Cheddie's world." 

More About That Legal Battle

If you're still confused about the legal drama played out recently between the Republicans and Democrats, this letter, written by Edward Reisner, the attorney who represented Sarah Sterling in the lawsuit brought by the Republicans to invalidate the Democrats' opportunity to ballot petitions, offers some clarity.

The attorney for the Republican Party claims that their unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Democratic voters of Hudson from the opportunity to select a candidate for mayor was due to the “evasion of the respondents that cost them the suit.” In fact, the Republican defeat was not caused by any actions taken by the Democrats. Had the Court overlooked the fundamental errors in the Republicans’ defective papers, it still would have reached the same result because the Republican objections to most of the signatures on the Opportunity to Ballot Petitions were wrong as a matter of law.
   
The Democrats submitted Opportunity to Ballot Petitions with 148 signatures of people wanting the opportunity to write in the name of a candidate for mayor in the Democratic primary election to be held on September 13, 2011. Only 92 valid signatures are required to grant the Petition. The Republicans challenged almost all of the signatures on the ground that the signers had previously signed a Petition (which was subsequently held to be invalid for the technical reason that the Democrats failed to file a necessary document) designating Nicholas Haddad as the Democratic candidate for mayor. Virginia Martin of the Board of Elections correctly rejected the Republican challenges because the law is clear that, if a voter signs a designating petition that is declared invalid for a technical reason, that voter is allowed to later sign a petition seeking the opportunity to write in a candidate’s name in a primary election.

The Republicans based their challenge on an incorrect reading of the law. Had the Court reached the merits of their lawsuit, it would have held that the cases relied on by the Republicans dealt with different situations that had nothing to do with the validity of the Opportunity to Ballot Petition that they were challenging. As the courts that have addressed similar situations have held, if they accepted the arguments that the Republicans are making, they would be disenfranchising a significant number of voters and depriving them of the right to select the candidate of their choice. Although the Republicans lost their lawsuit because of their own procedural errors, their attempt to deprive Hudson Democrats of the right to write in Nicholas Haddad for mayor at the primary would have been rejected by the Court, even if they hadn’t filed defective papers. In any event, justice was served.