The Joys of Living in a Small City

Last year at Valentine's Day, I shared this cartoon on my Facebook page with the question: "What do you think, Jim and Kate Vasilow?"

This year at Valentine's Day, Jim and Kate (of Vasilow's Confectionery) had a special treat for my dog Freddy: a tennis ball, not chocolate-covered, because chocolate is toxic for dogs, but yogurt-covered, to make it dog friendly.  

Thank you, Jim and Kate and Youki, for this amazing Valentine's Day treat!

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A Stunning Revelation

This evening, Linda Mussmann, supervisor for the Fourth Ward, posted this on her Facebook page.

Mussmann's post does not indicate when or how Mayor Kamal Johnson approved the County's wrongheaded plans for 11 Warren Street. In his comment on the Gossips post about the "public input" meeting on January 24, Johnson wrote this in response to the statement "Why do we never hear anything from the mayor about these types of issues . . . the silence is deafening": 

I attended all meetings except for this specific one. At that juncture, I recognized that the outcome was predetermined, and the county had already reached a decision. Is it necessary for me to deliver a speech merely to formalize it in the records, considering the decision remains unchanged? This is a private sale the city does not have any say whatsoever over it. For there to be reuse all of which I agree on it would take someone to purchase the property and pay to have all that done.

This statement seems more than a little disingenuous if what Mussmann says is true. Had Johnson been at the meeting on January 24, would the speech he delivered have been in support of the County's plans for 11 Warren--plans that run counter to what is best for Hudson and its future?

Whether or not the mayor approves of forcing Hudson to live with this relic of misguided Urban Renewal Era planning for another thirty to fifty years, dashing any hope of improving the connection between a vibrant Warren Street and the waterfront, we can let the County know that we the people of Hudson do not approve by signing the petition created by the 11 Warren Street Action Group. The petition can be accessed here.

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The Progress of Another Initiative

As Gossips reported a couple of weeks ago, the City of Hudson (and every other federally defined community water system) must develop a Lead Service Line Inventory by October 16, 2024. To assist in this effort, the City is asking property owners to test the pipes that bring water into their homes to determine if they are lead.

At the informal Common Council meeting on Monday, Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, reported that so far only sixty property owners have done the test and reported the results, and about a third of those found their pipes to be lead. 

Perry also responded to comments, one of which appeared on Gossips, that Greenport was sending someone around to every house to check for lead. As Perry pointed out, Greenport has 1,200 connections; Hudson has 2,000. He also pointed out that most of the houses in Greenport were built in the 1950s and later (copper became the standard for water pipes in the 1940s), whereas the majority of Hudson buildings date from the 19th century. He explained that eventually Hudson will send people door to door to check the water service, but the request for property owners to check their own service was an effort to narrow things down.

Responding to Perry's presentation, Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward) said she had done the test but hadn't submitted her findings yet. City treasurer Heather Campbell said the same. Gossips' experience in complying with the request may be helpful to others. When I purchased my house in 1993, the previous owner told me he had replaced the lead service with copper. Fortunately, this was documented in the amazing Water Tap Book, which has been digitized and is available on the City Hudson website. There it was recorded that my service was replaced in 1988. (Lead was banned for use in public water systems in 1986.)

The principal purpose of the Water Tap Book was to record when buildings in Hudson were connected to the municipal water system, but a fair amount of information can be found there about lead being replaced by copper. 

So before you go down to your cellar to carry out the prescribed test to determine if the pipe carrying water into your home is lead, you might want to check the Water Tap Book to see if the replacement of your service, from lead to copper, has been recorded there. The Water Tap Book can be found here.

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Ear to the Ground

In September 2023, Peter Bujanow resigned as Commissioner of Public Works. Bujanow had served in that position since 2016 when he was first appointed by Mayor Tiffany Martin. It was rumored that Mayor Kamal Johnson's zeal to have the contract for the construction of the new Ferry Street Bridge awarded to A. Colarusso & Son rather than rebidding the project may have had something to do with Bujanow's decision to resign. At the time, Johnson said that "out of respect for Bujanow" he would not appoint a new Commissioner of Public Works until the beginning of the new year.

At the beginning of the year, Johnson did appoint a new Commissioner of Public Works, although that appointment has never been officially announced. The new commissioner is Jason Foster, who has been a regular attendee and contributor at meetings of the Common Council ad hoc Truck Route Committee. Foster lives on Green Street, the street in Hudson that sees the heaviest truck traffic because every truck passing through Hudson travels on Green Street. In June, Foster and his wife, Susan Vernovage Foster, wrote a letter to the Planning Board urging them to approve the Colarusso haul road. Linda Mussmann published that letter on her Facebook page. Also at the beginning of the year, Johnson appointed Susan Vernovage Foster to the Planning Board. 

Susan Foster is one of three new members of the Planning Board this year. Another is Gini Casasco, who previously served on the Historic Preservation Commission from September 2014 until sometime in 2017, when she moved out of Hudson. She has since returned. The third new member is Gene Shetsky, who was appointed to the Planning Board by Johnson in June 2021 but resigned last summer because he had taken a job working for the City as clerk of the cemetery. Apparently, it's been determined that being employed by the City no longer prohibits someone from serving on a regulatory board, because Shetsky is back on the Planning Board. 

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The Outcome of the Amnesty Program

Last year, at the urging of Mayor Kamal Johnson, the City initiated an amnesty program for people with parking tickets that had gone unpaid for a long time and had accrued substantial penalties. From October 1 through December 31, 2023, people with parking tickets that had gone unpaid for more than three years and whose cars had not yet been booted could clear their record with the Parking Bureau by paying only the original fines. Years of penalties and late fees would be waived. By this action, the City hoped to recoup a significant sum of money in unpaid parking fines. I recall $100,000 being mentioned as an anticipated amount.

It's been six weeks since the amnesty program ended, so I decided to check on its success. According to information received from city clerk Tracy Delaney, only three people took advantage of the amnesty program. A total of $391 in penalties was waived. Two of three have paid their original fines, for a total of $46. As of February 5, 2024, the third person, whose original fines totaled $55, has still not paid those fines.

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Say What?

At last night's informal Common Council meeting, Councilmember Jennifer Belton (Fourth Ward) requested a special meeting to inform the Council (and the public) on the status of the City's DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) projects. Councilmember Rich Volo (Fourth Ward) suggested that there might be monthly updates on the status of the projects. (Gossips did a post about the City's DRI projects, only one of which has been completed, last month: "How Are We Doing?")  

In responding to these requests, Council president Tom DePietro said, among other things, "The Dunn building is in the process of being sold." Say what? 

In October 2023, the Common Council accepted the plan for the redevelopment of the Dunn Warehouse submitted by CGS Group in response to an RFP issued in April and authorized the mayor to enter into an agreement with CGS Group, a partnership of Caitlin Baiada, Gabriel Katz, and Sean Roland. One of the features of the plan proposed by CGS Group, which made it appealing to some of the members of the review committee, was that the City of Hudson would retain ownership of the building. 

The agreement involved a 90-day due diligence period, which would have ended sometime last month. Since then, the public has heard nothing of the outcome of the group's due diligence. Did CGS Group decide they needed to own the building? Did they decide to abandon the plan, and is there a different buyer in picture? Or did DePietro misspeak?

A request to City Hall for clarification has so far gone unanswered.

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Update: Minutes after publishing this post, I received the following email from mayor's aide Michael Hofmann:

President DePietro did misspeak. Dunn Warehouse is not in the process of being sold; the City will be engaging in a 30-year lease of the property to CGS and will retain ownership of the building throughout. We and our lawyers have been working on the detail of the lease terms with the CGS Group over this winter and expect to have a finalized agreement this month. The clock on the 90-day due diligence period begins once that agreement is executed, so at this point we're looking at May at the earliest for the conclusion of their study period. This is later than we anticipated, but we're still very excited to work with the CGS Group in redeveloping the warehouse and look forward to reviewing their final plans.

More Money for the Public Square

In November, Gossips reported that Friends of the Public Square (FOPS) had been awarded a $500,000 EPF grant through the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to finance Phase I of the rejuvenation of Seventh Street Park--new paving, new seating, new signage, new lighting, new landscaping.  

Today, Assemblymember Didi Barrett announced another $125,000 in funding for the renovation of the park, secured through a NYS State and Municipal (SAM) Grant. According to the press release issued by Barrett's office, "These funds will be used for benches, picnic tables, drinking fountains, and support for the park's Veterans Memorial." 

From left to right: Katherine Kanaga, FOPS co-chair; Assemblymember Didi Barrett; Brian Zweig, FOPS grant consultant; Dorothy Heyl, FOPS co-chair

Barrett is quoted in the press release as saying, "I'm excited to help provide the Friends of the Public Square with the funding it needs to revitalize Seventh Street Park, ensuring this space remains a center for the Hudson community. As somebody who has attended many events at this park, I recognize its importance to local families and businesses. Preserving and rejuvenating open space like this, particularly in a dense city like Hudson, is a win-win for our community."

Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

After a few glorious days when it seemed spring was here, substantial snow is predicted for this week, expected to fall on Tuesday. There are lots of meetings scheduled for next week. It's not clear how they may be impacted by the snow.

• On Monday, February 12, the Common Council holds its informal meeting at 6:00 p.m. The agenda for the meeting already includes a long list of items, among them a resolution opposing the County's proposed use of 11 Warren Street for offices and storage. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Microsoft Teams. Click here to find the link to join the meeting remotely.

• Also on Monday, February 12, at 6:00 p.m., the very same time as the Common Council informal meeting, the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners holds its monthly meeting. HHA meetings are always potentially of interest because they might yield some information about Authority's ambitious redevelopment plans. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person in the Community Room at Bliss Towers, 41 North Second Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
• Tuesday, February 13, is Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, the day Christ Church Episcopal traditionally hosts its Pancake Supper. This year, however, because of the expected snow, the event has been canceled.

• On Tuesday, February 13, the Common Council Legal Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting at 5:30 p.m. There is no agenda available for the meeting, which can't last for more than a half hour because there's another meeting scheduled for the same space at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Microsoft Teams. Click here to find the link to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Tuesday, February 13, the Planning Board meets at 6:00 p.m. The agenda indicates that the Planning Board will be continuing its review of three projects that have been before them for several months already: the proposed subdivision on Hudson Avenue, the relocation of Lil' Deb's Oasis to 735 Columbia Street, and the boutique hotel proposed for 601 Union Street. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Microsoft Teams. Click here to find the link to join the meeting remotely.
• Also on Tuesday, February 13, at 6:00 p.m., the Hudson City School District Board of Education holds its monthly meeting in the library at the Senior High School. The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube. Click here to access the HCSD YouTube page; the click on "Live" to watch.
• From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 13, the Columbia County Democratic Committee hosts a virtual Assembly Candidates Forum featuring Assemblymember Didi Barrett and challenger Claire Cousin (AD106) and Chloe Pierce and Kent Sopris (AD107). Registration is required, which can be done by clicking here.

• On Wednesday, February 14, which is both Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors meets at 7:00 p.m. at 401 State Street. 
• On Thursday, February 15, the Housing Trust Fund Board meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Microsoft Teams. Click here to find the link to join the meeting remotely.
• Also on Thursday, February 15, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., Dr. Juliette Pennyman, superintendent of the Hudson City School District, will be available to hear people's concerns and ideas for improving the schools in the district at the Hudson Youth Center, 18 South Third Street. Pennyman plans to hold these conversations on every third Thursday of the month throughout the remainder of the year school.

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Next Weekend at the Red Dot

The Red Dot, the oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar in Hudson, celebrates 25 years of excellent food and camaraderie this year on Bastille Day. Meanwhile, this coming weekend, Presidents Day Weekend, the Red Dot is also offering, in addition to excellent food and camaraderie, music and entertainment.

On Friday, February 16, just two days after Valentine's Day, Tony Kieraldo will be playing love songs at the Red Dot from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Although the Red Dot typically doesn't take reservations, reservations are requested for this evening. To make a reservation, call 518 828-3657.

On Saturday, February 17, and Sunday, February 18, the Red Dot presents Hello, Gorgeous! The legendary Rose Levine returns to the Red Dot to star in a musical revue celebrating classic Broadway hits, including songs from Hello, Dolly! and Funny Girl. Shows are on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (dinner available beginning at 5:00 p.m.) and on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (brunch available beginning at 11:00 a.m.). There is a $10 music charge.

Rose Levine, the amazing performer who first started wowing audiences from stages on Fire Island decades ago, will perform with a lineup of veteran cabaret performers, including Bronwyn Rucker, Andrew Loren Resto, and Terence Law. Andrew Stein is the accompanist, and James Moore the stage manager. Reservations are requested for Hello, Glorious! To make a reservation, call 917 892-1914. The event benefits Animalkind.

Conversations with the Superintendent

Dr. Juliette Pennyman, superintendent of the Hudson City School District, has announced she will be available to hear people's concerns and ideas for improving the schools in the district every third Thursday of the month from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Hudson Youth Center, 18 South Third Street.

The first of these conversations will take place this coming Thursday, February 15. 

To the Lighthouse . . .

The Hudson Athens Lighthouse was the destination for an episode of Field Trip on WMHT. Tour the historic lighthouse, which Architectural Digest named "one of the boldest and one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the entire country," and learn about efforts to preserve it in the comfort of your own home this winter. To watch the episode, click here.

Hudson in EATER . . . Again

Last week, Gossips reported the news, found in EATER New York, the Meat Hook would be opening a butcher shop in Hudson in the spring. This week, EATER has more news about food in Hudson. The following is quoted from EATER:

Former Sorella chef opens an upstate store

After Sorella, a Lower East Side Italian restaurant that had been open for six years, closed in 2014, co-owner and chef Emma Hearst decamped upstate. She opened the Forts Ferry Farm the next year. This week, she has expanded with a general store and culinary gifts shop in Hudson with their farm's produce as well. She is the latest operator with ties to New York City hospitality to open in Hudson this year, joining Mel the Bakery, and an additional outpost of butcher shop the Meat Hook heading for Warren Street this spring.

Forts Ferry Farm's Farm Shoppe is located at 554 Warren Street.

Let Your Opinion Be Known

In opposition to the very bad plan being pursued by the Columbia County Board of Supervisors to buy (now a fait accompli) 11 Warren Street and use it for county offices and storage, forcing Hudson to endure several more decades of living with a 50-year-old relic of wrongheaded Urban Renewal Era planning, a group of concerned citizens has organized. Calling themselves the 11 Warren Street Action Group, opponents to the plan have created a petition expressing their opposition to the County's intended use of the building and encouraging appropriate redevelopment of the site that would enhance the historic streetscape, restore the link between Hudson's main commercial thoroughfare and the waterfront, provide new housing and job opportunities, and expand the City's (and the County's) tax base. 

The petition can be accessed here. Gossips urges readers to sign it.

 

Of Interest

Roger Hannigan Gilson has an article in today's Times Union about "If It Bleeds, It Leads," the one-man play being performed by its author, former journalist Sean Allison, this Sunday, February 11, at the Park Theater: "'If it bleeds, it leads' explores violence from behind the lens."

Photo: Jim Franco | Times Union

Visit the Park Theater website for more information about the performance.

Update: This Sunday's performance of "If It Bleeds, It Leads" is sold out, but Gossips has learned that another performance has been scheduled for next Sunday, February 18, at 3:00 p.m.

The Latest News about Shepherd's Run

Gossips last reported about Shepherd's Run, the controversial solar installation proposed for Copake by Hecate Energy, in November, when the NYS Office of Renewable Energy Siting granted the project a draft permit. Today, the Register-Star reports the NYS Office of Renewable Energy Siting has denied the project's application: "Shepherd's Run solar farm application denied by state." 

Photo: Deb Hall, Copake

Not in the Vanguard

Yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul celebrated the certification of New York's first Pro-Housing Communities as part of her long-term strategy to support local efforts to build more housing statewide. The certification, first announced by Hochul last year as part of a package of executive actions to increase the housing supply, recognizes localities committed to housing growth and gives them priority consideration over other localities for up to $650 million in state discretionary funding. In her 2024 State of the State Address, Hochul proposed strengthening the Pro-Housing Communities program by making the certification a requirement for communities to access state discretionary funds.

Curiously, Hudson, a city with a Housing Trust Fund, a Housing Justice Director, and a mayor who took office four years ago declaring that he had a "huge plan for housing" he'd been working on for a year, was not one of the first twenty to be certified as Pro-Housing Communities. Here, in alphabetical order, are the communities that were:

• City of Binghamton
• Village of Canajoharie
• Town of Canton
• Village of Canton
• Village of Croton-on-Hudson
• Village of Dryden
• City of Dunkirk
• Village of Johnson City
• City of Kingston
• Town of Lowville
• Village of Mineola
• Town of New Lebanon
• City of New Rochelle
• City of Newburgh
• Town of North Elba
• Town of Plattsburgh
• City of Poughkeepsie
• Village of Pulaski
• Town of Red Hook
• City of White Plains

According to the governor's website, there are more than sixty other communities that have started their applications for Pro-Housing Community certification. Perhaps Hudson is among those.

Get Ready for a Primary

The Columbia County Democratic Committee is holding a virtual Assembly Candidates Forum for both AD106 (that's us and most of Columbia County) and AD107 (Kinderhook, Stockport, Ghent, Stuyvesant, and the Village of Chatham) on Tuesday, February 13, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  

The Forum, which takes place on Zoom, will consist of 30-minute fireside chats with each of the four candidates. In AD106 that's incumbent assemblymember Didi Barret and her challenger, Claire Cousin. In AD107, it's Chloe Pierce and Kent Sopris. The CCDC promises that the chats will explore who the candidates are, why they are running, and where they stand on the most pressing issues of the day.

Registration is required, which can be accomplished by clicking here.

About 11 Warren Street

Since the Columbia County made known its intention to purchase 11 Warren Street back in August, many have wondered what happened to the Galvan Foundation's plan to partner with Benchmark Development in Great Barrington to create a mixed-use building on the site, with retail spaces and market-rate apartments. In February 2021, when Galvan announced the plan, the press release described the project in this way:

The project improves the streetscape and connectivity between Warren Street and the waterfront by replacing an unattractive and out-of-place building with a new mixed-use building designed to reflect the historic character of Hudson. . . .

The project furthers the goals set forth in the City of Hudson's vision for the BRIDGE District as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). The city was awarded a $10 million DRI Grant from New York State which seeks to reestablish the link between downtown and the waterfront with quality housing, economic development, and beautiful, transportation-oriented design. 11 Warren Street revitalizes the connection of Warren Street and Front Street, linking Hudson's vibrant downtown to its waterfront parks and Amtrak station. . . .

On February 9, 2021, Michael Charles and Brian Cohan, principals of Benchmark Development, made a preliminary presentation to the Hudson Planning Board. The response from the Planning Board was less than enthusiastic. Steven Steim opined that "mixed use development can feel kind of artificial." Larry Bowne and Clark Wieman objected to the design, Bowne asserting, "There's a way to honor scale and proportion and integrity of materials without engaging in a kind of Disneyesque, ersatz thing," Wieman speaking of "faux historicism" and "referencing historic stuff without having to replicate it." Theresa Joyner expressed concern about who would live there and wondered how it would benefit the citizens of Hudson. Not the warmest reception but surely not enough to cause Galvan and Benchmark to abandon the project.

Given Galvan's recent decision to sell the building to Columbia County, consigning Hudson to having to live with this out-of-character gap in the streetscape for decades into the future, Gossips decided to find out what happened to the proposed plan with Benchmark. I send an email to Benchmark's principals, Michael Charles and Brian Cohan, and Charles responded, providing this explanation:

Our deal with Galvan was time sensitive in that it had a clock for gaining approvals. The timeline was reasonable under normal circumstances. However, the effects of COVID were still very much being felt as we pursued the early work related to this project. Advancing development activities during that time was challenging to say the least. Galvan was not willing to adjust or extend the time horizon on this deal to accommodate the new reality. We were very disappointed as it is our belief that Hudson deserves a premium mixed-use project at such a gateway location, and it is our opinion that our proposed project would have had a great positive impact.

It is a sad thing for Hudson that a project that would have "improved the streetscape and connectivity between Warren Street and the waterfront by replacing an unattractive and out-of-place building with a new mixed-use building designed to reflect the historic character of Hudson" was so easily abandoned by Galvan, as was any interest in achieving those goals when Galvan agreed to sell 11 Warren Street to the County.

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That Public Input Meeting

The videorecording of the public input meeting about 11 Warren Street, which took place on January 24, can now be viewed on YouTube. Unfortunately, because of a technical problem, the first half of the meeting, during which Ray Jurkowski makes a presentation about the plans for the building, was not recorded. What is included are the public comments about the plan. To watch, click here.

Update: The images from Ray Jurkowski's presentation, missing from the videorecording, can now be found here.

Nothing Is Forever

Columbia County Habitat for Humanity has built or renovated a number of houses in Hudson. The mission of Habitat is to create safe, affordable housing and provide homeownership opportunities to those for whom purchasing a home might otherwise be out of reach. Buyers are required to partner in the construction or rehabilitation of their home, investing "sweat equity," and be able to purchase their home through a third-party mortgage. Habitat for Humanity is celebrated for its success in creating affordable housing throughout the country. The one thing that seems to be lacking in the Habitat model is any proviso to keep the houses it builds affordable.

In 2013, Columbia County Habitat for Humanity built this pair of houses on Columbia Street. The assessment rolls show that the house on the left, 244 Columbia Street, was purchased from Columbia County Habitat for Humanity for $130,000.   

Today, according to Zillow, 244 Columbia Street is for sale for $499,000--almost four times what the current owners paid for it in 2013. Obviously, this kind of appreciation is good for the current owners, but it's not so good for a community struggling with issues of housing affordability.

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