The Gossips of Rivertown

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Update on the Home for the Aged

A source close to Eric Galloway has vehemently denied that the Home for the Aged is now or is soon to be owned by Galloway or the Galvan Initiatives Foundation and that the time line for residents to leave the facility has been altered. The source further denies that the directors of the Home are currently seeking to sell the building. According to the source, "When the home decides to sell maybe or maybe not Galvan will be interested in its purchase."

Ear to the Ground

Almost a year ago, on February 14, 2013, Gossips reported that the Home for the Aged, founded in 1883 and located in the house at the corner of Union and Seventh streets since 1895, was expected to close in four years. According to that schedule, the Home would have closed sometime early in 2017. Now it seems the time frame has been significantly reduced. Gossips has heard that the new owner of the building, Galvan Initiatives Foundation or Eric Galloway, wants the residents still remaining at the Home to move out as soon as possible and has offered to find them new homes.

Gossips has often lamented the acquisition of Hudson's history by Eric Galloway, as Galvan Partners or the Galvan Initiatives Foundation. He owns the birthplace of Hudson's most celebrated military hero, William Jenkins Worth. He owns the Robert Taylor House, long thought to be the oldest surviving house in Hudson. He owns what's left of Captain William Ashley's house, the first house built at the confluence of the two historic turnpikes—Union and Columbia. He owns the Hudson Armory. He recently acquired the Hudson Upper Station, the depot on the first railroad line in Hudson. He owns the building that since 1862 had been the office of the Register-Star, a newspaper that traces its roots back to 1785. He also owns the building where the competing newspaper, The Republican, was published back in the day—346 Warren Street.

Now, it is worth noting, Galloway/Galvan has, with the acquisition of 620 Union Street, taken over all the buildings that represent 19th-century Hudson's efforts to care for its most vulnerable citizens—the poor, the orphaned, and the aged. He owns 400 State Street, which was built in 1818 as Hudson's almshouse and was, from 1881 to 1958, the Hudson Orphan Asylum. He also owns 620 State Street, which was constructed in 1847 to be the original home of the orphan asylum. The Home for the Aged was founded in 1883, the initiative of twenty-eight Hudson women, among them Anna Rossman Bradley, author of the History of the City of Hudson, New York, published in 1908. From 1883 to 1896, the Home for the Aged rented the building at 501 Union Street as a temporary residence. That building is now owned by Galvan.

In 1895, the Home for the Aged purchased the residence of Robert and Sarah McKinstry, at the corner of Union and Seventh streets, and the Home has been located there ever since . . . at least until now.

The Galvan Initiatives Foundation came into existence in December 2011—just a little more than two years ago. Among the documents filed with the New York State Charities Bureau is the Registration Statement, which describes the purpose of the foundation in this way: "To preserve the unique heritage of the City of Hudson, New York, by acquiring, interpreting, conserving and maintaining buildings of architectural and historical significance." While some may question whether the Galvan Initiatives Foundation succeeds at all in preserving the unique heritage of Hudson, there is little doubt that the acquiring aspect of its mission is being fulfilled.

Back in April 2012, Debby Mayer, writing for the Columbia Paper, estimated that the combined holdings of Eric Galloway, Galvan Partners, and the Galvan Initiatives Foundation represented about 2 percent of the taxable property in Hudson. Since then, the acquisition of Hudson has continued, and it's likely that the Galvan holdings now represent closer to 3 percent or more. (It's interesting to note that in 2012 the majority of the parcels were owned by Galvan Partners LLC; today most of the parcels are listed in the tax rolls as owned by the Galvan Initiatives Foundation.) What "buildings of architectural and historical importance" are left for Galvan to acquire?

Maybe Galvan would like to buy the house on North Fifth Street that was Hudson's first hospital. It's certainly historically significant for the City of Hudson. The house has been for sale for a while now, and Galvan already owns several properties on this part of North Fifth Street north of State.

Perhaps Galvan has its eye on the Dr. Oliver Bronson House. There is certainly nothing in Hudson of greater architectural significance. Allegedly someone fitting Eric Galloway's description once inquired about purchasing the house from the State of New York, but it wasn't available. Historic Hudson has a thirty-year lease on the National Historic Landmark property which doesn't end until 2038.

What about the Women's House of Refuge—a.k.a. the Girls' Training School and the Hudson Correctional Facility? That meets the requirements of both architectural and historical significance, and the Hudson Correctional Facility seems chronically to be on the list of prisons the State of New York thinks could be shut down.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Changing of the Sign, Changing of the Guard

Although "FIRST NATIONAL BANK" is still etched in the stone of the frieze, the 1922 bank building at the southwest corner of Warren and Sixth streets, featured in the movie Odds Against Tomorrow, is once again getting a new name. Shortly after ten this morning, Gossips got word that the new sign was being installed.

Signage in a locally designated historic district, which Warren Street certainly is, requires a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission, but no certificate of appropriateness had been sought for this sign. Applying for an erection permit should have triggered a review by the HPC, but that didn't happen. Could it be that, as with the steeple spire a block to the north, the code enforcement office had been bypassed as well as the HPC?

It turns out that an erection permit had been duly obtained, but it seems that code enforcement officer Craig Haigh believed, because it was the same type of sign that had been there before, a certificate of appropriateness was not required. It was, after all, replacing like with like. Unfortunately, that rule doesn't really apply in the case of signs. Fortunately, the Berkshire Bank sign is less garish than the Bank of America sign that was there before, but historic preservation isn't supposed to be about taste. At what point, one wonders though, was the great window over the entrance eliminated so that an illuminated sign could be mounted in that space?
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

Screen capture from Odds Against Tomorrow

A Happy Change of Plan

Here's good news for all those seeking early signs of spring: the Indoor Market is returning sooner than we thought! The vendors who set up shop in the Parish Hall at Christ Church Episcopal on Saturday mornings originally said they'd be back in March, but Gossips got word this week from Chris Jones that the Indoor Market will be reopening on Saturday, February 1--the day before Groundhog Day!

The market will be starting off with about a dozen vendors, but the number is expected to swell in March when the hoop houses begin yielding more greens and shoots and sprouts. So mark your calendars! Not today, not next Saturday, but the Saturday after that--the first Saturday in February--the Indoor Market will be back at Christ Church, where it will be every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. until the Hudson Farmers' Market reopens at Sixth and Columbia streets on the first Saturday in May.

Getting There From Here

John Mason has an article on today's Register-Star about the Ferry Street Bridge, the weight limit on which, as Gossips reported on Tuesday, was recently reduced from 5 tons to 3 tons: "State downgrades Ferry Street bridge." The bridge, constructed in 1909, is in the process of being sold by CSX to Amtrak, but the City of Hudson would like to own it.

Friday, January 17, 2014

The Latest on the Power Lines

In his State of the State Address last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke of this intention to "expedite transmission projects that rely on existing transmission corridors and state-owned rights-of-way." None of the four proposals that have been submitted to the Public Service Commission does that.

Late this afternoon, Gossips learned from Pam Kline of Farmers and Families for Livingston that the deadline for scoping comments, which had been extended until February 21, has now been extended indefinitely, until further notice. On February 20, 2014, the Public Service Commission will be presenting new siting standards to project developers. This seems to be a very promising development.

Hudson and the Power Lines

Pam Kline, founder of Farmers and Families of Livingston, made a presentation to the Common Council Economic Development Committee last night. Her goal was to get the Council to pass a resolution opposing the proposed expansion high voltage power lines through Columbia and Dutchess counties and acquisition of additional land by eminent domain.

In describing the situation, Kline said there was an excess of cheap electricity in upstate New York that people wanted to get downstate to New York City. She asserted that the proposed "energy superhighway" would not benefit anyone in upstate New York.

Four different energy suppliers have proposed four different routes--three of which would pass through Columbia County. Kline warned that these proposals involve widening the right-of-way by 125 to 160 feet, requiring that farmland and people's houses be seized by eminent domain. The technology being proposed, Kline said, is virtually unchanged from what existed in the 1930s when the power lines were originally installed. Only the fourth proposal, the one from Boundless Energy involves new technology--using composite wires on existing towers. One problem with that, it seems, is that the existing lines are owned by Central Hudson.

Kline called upon the Common Council and the mayor to draft a resolution asking the Public Service Commission to investigate alternative measures and opposing eminent domain. The fates of the City of Hudson and the rural communities that surround it, she said, were intertwined. Above-ground towers would negatively impact real estate values.

Kline had provided the committee with a model resolution, and Council president Don Moore, who chairs the Economic Development Committee, wanted to know how that resolution "tracked with" the resolution passed by the Board of Supervisors. (Among other things, the language in the Board of Supervisors' resolution was altered to eliminate the word oppose.) Mayor William Hallenbeck, who was in the audience, wanted to know how the Hudson supervisors had voted on the resolution. (The resolution passed unanimously in December.)

In addition to the Board of Supervisors, the town boards of Livingston, Claverack, Stockport, and Stuyvesant have passed resolutions calling for alternatives that do not "decrease forest cover and wetlands, reduce agricultural production, disturb historic homes and properties, disrupt the bucolic nature of the towns, and negatively impact tourism." Similar resolutions have been passed by the town boards in the Dutchess County towns through which the power lines would pass: Milan, Clinton, and Pleasant Valley. The organizations who are allies in opposing the expansion of the power lines are Scenic Hudson, The Olana Partnership, Omega Institute, Winnekee Land Trust, Dutchess Land Trust, and the Preservation League of New York State.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Pleasant Diversions While We Wait for Spring

The Hudson Opera House announced its Winter/Spring 2014 season today. As I scrolled through the diverse list of offerings, two things caught my eye. The first is a concert called Songs for Unusual Creatures, described as "an awesomely geeky audiovisual presentation of some of the most bizarre animals that roam the planet." The music is performed by Michael Hearst (that's Hearst in the picture, with a couple of the unusual creatures) and a five-piece band, who play suitably unconventional instruments: theremin, claviola, daxophone, and stylophone. There will be two performances on Saturday, April 26: a family matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening show at 7 p.m.

Another Gossips pick is a solo exhibition of the work of R. O. Blechman, an illustrator heralded as one of the great cartoonists, with fourteen New Yorker covers to his credit, the author of one of the first modern graphic novels, and an Emmy and Cannes Film Festival award-winning animator with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition runs from March 29 through April 27, with an opening reception on March 29.

Now here's some shocking news for people who have a hard time dealing with change: the Movable Feast, which started out two decades ago as a Valentine's Day event and gradually crept closer and closer to spring, is now going to be an autumn event, to take full advantage of the bounty of the harvest, and the Harvest Ball is becoming the Spring Fling! Saturday, May 3, is the date for gala redubbed the Spring Fling, and Saturday, October 18, is the date for the Movable Feast.

One More Thing to Worry About

The "confluence of rural and urban" celebrated in yesterday's article about Hudson in the New York Times is at risk--this time from Governor Andrew Cuomo's resolve to create an "energy highway" from Oneida County in the Mohawk Valley to New York City. Four proposals have been submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission--three of which have an impact on Columbia County and Hudson. The map below, published by the Public Service Commission, shows the proposed routes of the transmission lines. (Click on the map to make it bigger.)

Tonight at the Common Council Economic Development Committee meeting, which takes places at 6 p.m. at City Hall, Pam Kline, of Farmers and Families for Livingston, is expected to speak to the committee about the proposed transmission lines and their potential impact on the farms and rural areas that surround Hudson and on our viewshed. Gossips, of course, will report on the meeting, but this may be a meeting that you want to attend yourself.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Hudson in the New York Times

There was an article about Hudson in today's New York Times, in the Home & Garden section: "Cultivating Hudson: Enter the Tastemakers." It quotes Andrew Arrick, of Finch, as saying that Hudson is "always on the verge of something," and introduces a new and apt word for life in our city, coined by Ann Marie Gardner, of Modern Farmer: "Rurbanism." (Rural + urban--get it?) The article is full of familiar names, places, and faces (there's a slide show), but it seems a tad strange that with the focus on Hudson, it includes a B&B in Tivoli and a high-end development in Kerhonkson. I guess that's the rurbanism theme.

Yesterday's News

The Register-Star reported on Tuesday that a form of "The Bridge," the alternative learning program for students at Hudson High School and Catskill Central High School, is scheduled to open at 364 Warren Street next month: "Bridge program to open doors in February."

Not to Be Missed

Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick's project Truppe Fledermaus, now on exhibit at Carroll and Sons Art Gallery in Boston, was reviewed yesterday in the Boston Globe: "Ambition and detail, magic and oddity."

"Bat Procession" from Truppe Fledermaus

Back on the Block

On Monday, the Common Council introduced a resolution authorizing the mayor to sell at public auction 405 Warren Street.

Readers may remember that this building had been sold at public auction once already, on June 1, 2013. Martha Martinez, legal assistant to Galvan attorney Mark Greenberg, who was representing Galvan Partners at the auction, bid the price up to $354,000 from a minimum opening bid of $264,041.87. Since June, although two closings have been scheduled, Galvan never followed through on the purchasing the property.

The problem, it seems, was with the title. The City seized the property for nonpayment of taxes. Godfrey Forbes, whom the City recognized as the owner of the building, maintained that the building was owned not by him but by his church, the Holy Temple First Church of God in Christ, of which he is the founder and pastor. According to Forbes, the building was exempt from property taxes and therefore could not legally be seized by the City for nonpayment of property taxes because none were owed.

When the resolution was introduced on Monday, the question was asked if the legal issues surrounding the building had been resolved. City attorney Cheryl Roberts indicated that the issue was still in court, but "private parties would like to purchase this property even though there is a court date."

Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward) asked if the down payment made by Galvan was going to be returned. He was told that it was "still an open question."

Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward) said that he wanted to see language in contacts for foreclosure auctions "to indicate that the binder will be forfeited if the winning bidder walks away." He also wanted to "prohibit winning bidders from being people who are hoarding property," saying that hoarding property "deteriorates the city's value."

Haddad suggested that a winning bidder should be required to have "a window during which rehab must begin." Council president Don Moore concurred, saying that the City has a responsibility to its citizens when it sells City-owned property. He went on to speak of "covenants on the use of property, consistent with strategic plans and vision plans, as well as zoning," and a time line in which property should be developed and put back into use.

The resolution, which will be before the Council for a vote on Tuesday, January 21, indicates that the public auction will take place on February 14, which is a Friday. Foreclosure auctions typically take place on Saturday. The minimum bid for the property has been set at $305,774.11--more than $40,000 more than minimum bid required when the building was auctioned in June.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Hudson in the New York Times

The opening of the new gallery in Hudson's East End, Retrospective, was subject of an article today in T, the New York Times Style Magazine: "Art Matters | Two Downtown Manhattan Gallerists Join Forces Upstate."

Thanks to Chad Weckler and Dorothy Heyl for bringing this to our attention.

A Medieval Tale for Today

nce upon a time, the people of Little River City wanted to build a Senior Center where the city's old folk could recreate--amusing themselves with yoga and Bingo. The people had amassed $780,000 to build to the new building--$400,000 from Good King CDBG, $150,000 from wealthy Lord HRB&T, $100,000 from the Dowager Duchess of HCDPA, and $130,000 from the people's own meager coffers--but, alas, they needed $300,000 more. What to do, what to do?

One night, when the people of Little River City were gathered to speak of their predicament, the Loyal Squire appeared with a message from his benevolent master, Sir Buysalot. The greathearted knight would save the day! He would give the people of Little River City the $300,000 they still needed to build a Senior Center. There was great thanksgiving and rejoicing! The city had been rescued from its terrible plight. The old folk would have their gathering place, and felicity and contentment would reign once again.

A week later, the Loyal Squire returned with a new message from Sir Buysalot. Instead of giving Little River City $300,000 to help them build a senior center of their own, Sir Buysalot would make a place for the old folk in his castle! It would be free! All the people of Little River City had to do was give the $780,000 they had amassed to Sir Buysalot so he could prepare a place in his castle for the old folk. This proposal met with even greater jubilation and rejoicing and thanksgiving for Sir Buysalot's remarkable largesse!

Only one question remained. Would Good King CDBG let the people of Little River City have the $400,000 even if they were not investing it in a building they would own? The people humbly petitioned the Good King and waited many months to learn their liege lord's decision. Finally, word came forth from on high. Good King CDBG would grant the people's request! The good citizens of Little River City would have the money they needed to prepare the space that Sir Buysalot was so magnanimously giving them in his castle (for thirty years, with a triple net lease and a token annual rent of $12).

The people of Little River City praised and venerated Sir Buysalot for his merciful beneficence, and they all lived happily ever after.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

John Mason reports on the most recent development in the saga of the senior center in today's Register-Star: "State approves renewal $400K grant for city's senior center."

Apologies and thanks to Dan Region, whose photograph of the Armory I tried clumsily to make look like a drawing that might appear in a 14th-century manuscript.

New Year, New Council

The Common Council held its organizational meeting tonight. At this meeting, the composition of the standing committees was revealed, and Council president Don Moore set forth his goals for 2014. The committees are as follows:

Youth & Aging
Chair: Alexis Keith
Bart Delaney
Tiffany Garriga
Ohrine Stewart

Arts, Entertainment & Tourism
Chair: Ohrine Stewart
Henry Haddad
Alexis Keith
David Marston
Don Moore

Finance
Chair: Nick Haddad
John Friedman
Tiffany Garriga
Henry Haddad
Abdus Miah

Economic Development
Chair: Don Moore
John Friedman
Tiffany Garriga
Nick Haddad
David Marston
Ohrine Stewart

Police
Chair: David Marston
Bart Delaney
Robert Donahue
Henry Haddad
Nick Haddad
Abdus Miah

Fire
Chair: Bart Delaney
Robert Donahue
Henry Haddad
Alexis Keith
Don Moore

Public Works
Chair: Robert Donahue
Bart Delaney
Tiffany Garriga
Nick Haddad
Abdus Miah

Legal
Chair: John Friedman
Bart Delaney
Abdus Miah
David Marston
Don Moore

The following are the initiatives identified by Moore for 2014:

Charter reform

Moore indicated that he and the mayor were in discussion with Eric Lane, a charter change attorney and the dean of the law school at Hofstra University.
Ferry Street bridge

The weight limit on the bridge was recently reduced from 5,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds. A Mini Cooper weighs 2,568 pounds; a Subaru Outback weighs 3,395 pounds; a Chevy Tahoe weighs 5,524 pounds; a SMART car weighs 1,600 pounds.
Correction: DPW Superintendent Rob Perry informs Gossips that the weight change on the bridge was from 5 tons (10,000 pounds) to 3 tons (6,000 pounds), so it would seem that only Land Rovers, weighing in at 6,724 pounds, and trucks with boats in tow need to avoid the bridge.
State truck route
Zoning changes The aim of which is to create more rental units
Tax foreclosure procedures
Equal opportunity working group

This is the response to the request from new aldermen Keith and Garriga for a diversity subcommittee.
Holcim port

Moore spoke of sorting out what's owned by Holcim and what's owned by the City.
Police and court facility

The first task is to hire a construction management firm.
Parking

Adopting a plan to create more parking spaces in Hudson
Mass gathering permit

Finalizing the proposed changes to the requirements and the procedure for attaining a mass gathering permit

Youth Center

Increasing use of the center
Senior Center

Helping to define programming and staff
North Bay Conservation Area

Assuming stewardship of the former landfill and conceptualizing the redevelopment of the "Tin Boat Historic Area"
HDC

Working with the agency to achieve economic development goals
Conservation Advisory Council

Bringing to reality a concept that was proposed almost eighteen months

Moore concluded by saying that the list of fifteen issues to be taken up in 2914 was only partial.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Olana in the Movies

The mention last week of the 2013 animated film Epic, for which Olana is the setting, prompted Bruce Mitchinson to share the story of another movie filmed at Olana.

Screen capture from Epic

In 1975-1976, Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Fantasy was filmed at the Olana State Historic Site. It starred Kristine DeBelle, a one-time Ford Agency model, who was born in Chatham and appeared on the cover of Playboy in April 1976, five months before the film was released.

The X-rated Alice was shown at Fairview Cinema, back when it was a single theater. Watching the film, Mitchinson recognized the Olana grounds and the mansion and decided to use the line "Filmed at Olana" in his promotion of the movie, thinking it would be of local interest. Mitchinson recalls, "This created a fury of legal action." The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Taconic Region went to the Attorney General to get an injunction to stop Mitchinson from mentioning Olana in his advertising. It turned out that the movie had been filmed at Olana without permission from the state, and the staff at Olana may have been aware that an unidentified film crew was on the site but did nothing to stop it. The legal action went no further than keeping Mitchinson from mentioning Olana in his advertising because it was felt all the brouhaha was bringing too much attention to the film.
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Habitat Elsewhere

Last Thursday, Gossips talked about Columbia County Habitat for Humanity's focus on Hudson and suggested that the mission of building single-family houses in Hudson was not sustainable because there is so little land available to build on in our city of fewer than two square miles. Gossips' recommendation was that Habitat rehab existing houses--something that is regularly done in Newburgh and for which Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh was recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In Thursday's post, Gossips made the statement "It is obviously not within Habitat's mission or capability to build multifamily dwellings." While that may be true for Columbia County Habitat, it turns out that it is not true for Habitat in general. In a comment on that post, Jonathan Lerner provided the link to an article about Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, whose volunteers and families completed a 36-unit condominium development in March 2013.

When Columbia County Habitat for Humanity first proposed building houses in the 400 block of Columbia Street, people in Hudson who care about such things worried that the one-story house Habitat had been building on Mill Street would be incompatible in the new location.

Habitat's initial response, if memory serves, was to say that they built one-story houses because they couldn't put volunteers at risk working on higher structures. They obviously found a way to ensure volunteer safety, because in 2010, they built their first pair of two-story houses.

Columbia County Habitat rethought its one-story model. Three pairs of two-story houses later, with available building lots in Hudson becoming increasingly scarce, it may be time for them to rethink their commitment to building new single-family houses and consider either rehabbing existing structures or building multifamily dwellings.
COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

Ear to the Ground

A reader alerted Gossips to the news that the Crimson Sparrow appears to be for sale. The restaurant whose adventurous food has been acclaimed for "the grace of its presentation . . . and the artistry of its invention" opened at 746 Warren Street early in the summer of 2012 and is a key part of the revival of Hudson's East End. Say it ain't so, Joe.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Before There Were the Boulevards

The last item in the retrospective inventory of improvements and developments in 1913, originally published in the Hudson Evening Register in the first week of 1914, was this:

Leander Weaver purchased Fairground Boulevard of Van Schoick Brothers.

This inspired Gossips to ask which of the boulevards--Glenwood, Parkwood, or Oakwood--was known as Fairground Boulevard. The question prompted Tom D'Onofrio to send this post card image of the fairgrounds, known at the time the post card was published as Hudson River Driving Park, and give Gossips permission to publish it.

The grandstand, which appears at the left in the post card image, appears again in this picture, which is part of Historic Hudson's Rowles Studio Collection.

The answer to the question "Which of the boulevards was Fairgrounds Boulvard?" seems to be "They all were." Local historian John Craig, in a comment posted in Gossips in September 1913, relates the location of the fairgrounds to the boulevards as we know them today:

The Fair Grounds occupied all of the area that is now Glenwood, Parkwood, and Oakwood boulevard. Glenwood boulevard extends along the home stretch of the old race track to the end of the grounds (work was started in 1910 to extend it into the city, meeting North Seventh street through Arthur Farrand's attendant Oakdale Park development). Parkwood boulevard extends west from Fairview avenue along the back stretch of the race track, meeting Glenwood boulevard where the former race track turned into the home stretch! Oakwood boulevard extends from Fairview avenue, where the old Fair Grounds horse gate was formerly located, west and then south, meeting Parkwood boulevard.

The Fair Grounds of the Columbia County Agricultural and Horticultural Association, built in 1860, was sold for $5,000, under foreclosure proceedings, in December 1904, to John Van Tassel of Hudson. The 50th and last Hudson fair was held there on September 1-4, 1909, and the grounds were sold, in January 1910, to Schenectady real-estate developers George and Charles Van Schoick. The Van Schoicks' "grand opening sale of choice residential lots" on the new Fairground Boulevards was held, with free band concert, on August 20, 1910. (Eighteen lots were sold that day to "Hudson and out of town people" for $400 each.)

Motor forth out Glenwood boulevard toward Fairview avenue and know one is driving down the race-track home stretch, and that the grandstand stood on the right (or south) side of Glenwood boulevard as one goes by.

A year after the Van Schoick brothers started selling the lots on the new Fairground Boulevards, they introduced a plan for a park between the boulevards and the rest of Hudson. This map appeared in the Hudson Evening Register on August 31, 1911.

The caption reads:

Here is a plan for a City Park for Greater Hudson. It has been prepared by the Van Schoick Real Estate firm, which has laid out the Fair Ground Boulevard property. Included in the map is about 27½ acres of land known as Power's woods belonging now to F. M. Haviland, of New York, who owns 20 acres and a meadow of Arthur Farrand, of 7½ acres. George and Charles Van Schoick, of Schenectady, the real estate men who have developed the Fair Ground property, have secured an option on Mr. Haviland's land for $5,000 which they are willing to turn over to the city at Mr. Haviland's price. This would of course benefit their property as they admit, but it would greatly benefit all of Hudson, they contend. The cost of these twenty acres would be $5,000. For the 7½ acres Mr. Farrand asks $4,000, which would mean a cost to Hudson of $9,000 for the park.

The proposed park evolved into what we know today as Oakdale, and Gossips will pursue that story at another time. For now, we'll follow up on the development of Fairground Boulevards. On September 11, 1911, the Hudson Evening Register reported--on the front page--that about a hundred lots had been sold in the Fairground Boulevards and published a list of the purchasers.

FAIR GROUND BOULEVARD

List of the Purchasers of Building Lots.

ABOUT HUNDRED LOTS SOLD

Four of the Dwelling Houses on the

Property Have Been Sold to Hudsonians.

The following gives the purchasers of lots on Fair Ground Boulevard, also those who purchased lots with houses thereon. It will be seen that nearly 100 lots have been sold. Four buildings have been sold, one was already on the property, being the house which stood at the admittance gate to the grounds, and of the four erected by the Van Schoicks but one remains to be sold. It is stated that about twenty purchasers of lots have signified their intention of building the coming spring. The list of holder of property at Fair Ground Boulevard follows:

George E. Risedorph, two lots.

J. Walter Montross, one lot.

Robert L. Andrews, one lot.

George Munzinger, one lot.

Adelbert E. Clapper, one lot.

Frank W. Ketner, six lots.

Samuel Silver, one lot.

Magdelena Baler, one lot.

Irving Vedder, one lot.

Chas. Van Vleck, two lots.

Urlin Kisselburgh, one lot.

H. A. Campbell, three lots.