News of the Dunn Warehouse

The Register-Star reports today that the committee reviewing the proposals submitted in response to the most recent RFP for the Dunn building has made a recommendation: "City of Hudson to consider Dunn Warehouse sale to Hudson Brewing Company." Despite this lede, "A committee of city officials will recommend selling the historic Dunn warehouse to Hudson Brewing Company for $500,000," and a headline that makes the situation sound like a fait accompli, things are still a few steps away from being settled.

Three proposals were received for the redevelopment of the iconic building, from the Hudson Brewing Company, Ben Fain and Caitlin Baiada, and Zena Development. The proposal from Hudson Brewing Company would relocate the craft brewery to the historic building; the proposal from Fain and Baiada is similar to what was previously proposed by Dunn & Done--event space and commercial spaces for water-related businesses and a casual restaurant or concession; the proposal from Zena Development involved making the building part of a larger hotel development. All the proposals involve the sale of the building.

In a scoring procedure that was part of the review process, Hudson Brewing Company achieved the highest score, but the proposal from Fain and Baiada is apparently still in the running. Both proposals will be presented to the Common Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, December 16. According to the Register-Star article, the Council will not vote on the sale of the building until next year, when there will be a new Council president and three new councilmembers. 

The committee reviewing the proposals was made up of Mayor Kamal Johnson, Council president Tom DePietro, DPW superintendent Rob Perry, Housing Justice Director Michelle Tullo, and councilmembers Margaret Morris (First Ward) and Mohammed Rony (Second Ward).

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Business News

What was reported by Columbia County Morning News on Facebook yesterday was confirmed by the Albany Business Review today: Ginsberg's, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in Columbia County and the region, having operated for 116 years over four generations, has been sold to the multinational food distribution corporation Sysco. The following is quoted from the Albany Business Review article: "Sysco accquires Albany region food distributor."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ginsberg's did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication. . . .

It wasn't immediately clear if the company would continue to operate under the Ginsberg's name.

Another Challenger for Barrett

Last year, Assemblymember Didi Barrett successfully survived a primary challenge from Claire Cousin, who interestingly has never held an elected office she won in a contested race. Next year, Barrett, who has represented the 106th District in the New York State Assembly since being chosen in a special election in March 2012, will face another primary challenge, this time from Sam Hodge, who currently chairs the Columbia County Democratic Committee. Hodge's challenge is the subject of an article by Roger Hannigan Gilson, which appeared this morning in the Times Union: "Columbia County Dem chair Sam Hodge to primary Assemblywoman Didi Barrett." The following is quoted from Gilson's article:

This is the second election in a row in which Barrett has been challenged in a primary. In 2024, Claire Cousin, a Columbia County supervisor and community leader, ran against the assemblywoman. Barrett won by a small margin in Dutchess County, with 53% of the vote, but crushed Cousin in Columbia County, receiving 61% of the vote, according to certified election results.

A Columbia County Democratic insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the race, said this situation was unlikely to repeat itself, as Barrett would be missing the support of the Columbia County Democratic Party apparatus and many county residents who voted for her during the last primary would choose Hodge this time around.

(A note of correction and clarification: Claire Cousin resigned as First Ward supervisor in December 2024 when she moved from the First Ward to the Fifth Ward. Beginning next month, January 2026, she will be a councilmember from the Fifth Ward, a position for which she ran unopposed.)

Also this morning, Sam Hodge issued his own press release, announcing his run for the State Assembly. 

Democrat Sam Hodge Announces Campaign for New York State Assembly District 106

Sam Hodge, 39, a former prosecutor, community activist, progressive, lifelong Democrat, and Chair of the Columbia County Democratic Committee, today announced his candidacy for the New York State Assembly District 106, pledging to bring new leadership to meet the affordability challenges facing the Hudson Valley and New York State.

"Across Columbia and Dutchess counties, we are being squeezed by rising costs, unaffordable housing, dwindling rural healthcare options, skyrocketing utility bills, and a federal government that has abandoned its responsibility," Hodge said. "New challenges demand new leaders, and I'm running for Assembly to fight for a more affordable, fair, and forward-looking New York."

Hodge emphasized that the future of the region depends on leaders who understand the pressures facing working families and younger generations. "I'm in my late thirties. I know what it's like to be burdened by student debt, squeezed by housing costs, and feel the sticker shock when I open my utility bills. I'm running for Assembly because the Hudson Valley deserves a progressive leader who is unafraid to challenge entrenched corporate interests, especially utility companies like Central Hudson and National Grid, and the business-as-usual mentality in Columbia and Dutchess counties."

Hodge will not accept corporate PAC money or money from utility and landlord-aligned PACs, and is challenging his opponent to do the same.

"We have immigrants--our neighbors--being racially profiled and snatched off the street, like the recent incident at Stewart's in Hudson, which has left a community scared to go to work, school, and church," said Hodge. "My opponent refused to sponsor New York 4 All during the last legislative session, which would ban local law enforcement agencies from being deputized as ICE agents. [Gossips note: Barrett is a co-sponsor of the current version of the bill.] It's reprehensible. These are frightening times, and we need leaders willing to step up, fight hard, and do what's right. Every day this law was delayed meant more children left without protection and more families torn apart. They needed a voice in the Assembly--and they were met with silence.

"As a prosecutor in the Domestic Violence and Child Abuse & Sex Crimes Bureaus, I spent my career standing up for people who had been failed by the system. When children and young women needed a fighter, I fought. In Albany, that experience matters--because the job of an Assemblymember is also to protect the vulnerable, confront broken systems, and demand accountability. I'm ready to bring that same commitment to the State Assembly."

As Chair of the Columbia County Democrats, Hodge led the party through one of its most successful eras--flipping seats, electing the first Democratic District Attorney in 40 years, and helping elect New York's first woman of color Sheriff. Under his leadership, Columbia County repeatedly had the highest Democratic turnout in the state.

Hodge addressing supporters of the county executive initiative last August.

Farewell to Parking Meters

There have been parking meters on Warren Street since 1941. This month, after 84 years, the parking meters are being removed, to be replaced with payment kiosks. During the month of December, when paying for parking at meters is suspended, the meter heads are being removed. The Department of Public Works will follow up by removing the posts.

Photo courtesy Virginia Martin

Come January, payment for parking along Warren Street and in municipal lots will be made not by feeding quarters into a meter but with a debit or credit card at a kiosk. (If you're wedded to quarters, the kiosks will also accept them.) Now is the time, if you don't already know it by heart, to memorize your car's license plate number. You will need it to make a payment at the kiosk and avoid being ticketed.

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Happening This Sunday

Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year at sundown on Sunday, December 14, and continues until sundown on Monday, December 22. The festival commemorates the triumph of spiritual strength and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days in the Holy Temple. On each of the eight days of Hanukkah, another candle is lighted on the menorah. 

As in years past, the first night of Hanukkah will be observed in Hudson with the lighting of a giant menorah. This year, however, the menorah will be situated not in the Public Square but at the western end of Warren Street in Promenade Hill Park. On Sunday, December 14, at 4:30 p.m., the 12-foot menorah will be lighted, chocolate gelt will be dropped from the Hudson Fire Department's aerial truck, and there will be a live fire performance, as well as latkes, doughnuts, and hot drinks.

There will also be menorah lighting ceremonies later in the week, in three different locations throughout the county: Hillsdale, Kinderhook, and Chatham.

• On Tuesday, December 16, at 4:30 p.m., at Hillsdale Hamlet Park in Hillsdale
• On Thursday, December 18, at 4:30 p.m., at Kinderhook Village Green in Kinderhook
• On Sunday, December 21, at 4:30 p.m., at Tracy Memorial Village Hall in Chatham

The County and 11 Warren Street

It's been more than two years since we first got word of Columbia County's plan to purchase 11 Warren Street, the unsightly and out-of-character 1970s strip mall that never was, from the Galvan Foundation, to use as offices and for storing the voting machines. 

Needless to say, there was much outrage about the acquisition, which was withheld from the public until it was a fait accompli, and there is much interest in whatever plans exist for alterations to the exterior of the building. At some point in the past year, there was talk of Randall Martin, who was appointed First Ward Supervisor on January 3, 2025, arranging a meeting at which Ray Jurkowski, Commissioner of Public Works for the County, who seems to be in charge of 11 Warren Street project, would present plans for the building and get feedback from the community, but such a meeting never happened. It is hoped that in the coming year, when Alexandria Madero, who was a charter member of the 11 Warren Street Action Group, replaces Martin on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, more information about the plans for 11 Warren Street will be forthcoming. 

In the meantime, the County has done some work on the site. Yesterday morning, workers from the Columbia County Department of Public Works removed this mature tree from the site.

Photo: Rachael Careau

One wonders what other plans the County has for this very prominent site on Warren Street.

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Hudson and Bard

Gossips did not attend the roundtable with Bard representatives at Park Theater last night. Although I had secured myself a place in the room, I gave up that space when HBCi clarified that the roundtable was intended only for business owners and asked people were not business owners to forfeit their seats. It seems I may have been the only person to respond to Billy Blowers' appeal. From people who did attend, I was able to glean the following information.

There is still no published list of the properties involved in the gift made to Bard College by the Galvan Foundation, but it seems the total number of properties being donated to Bard is about eighty, a number that includes all the properties in the area of the city that Galvan has dubbed the "Depot District": Hudson Depot Lofts; the former train station that now houses Upper Depot Brewing Company; the remnant of the Gifford-Wood Foundry building, part of which now houses Return Brewing and the other part which is being renovated as a theater and eating and drinking establishment; the former Community Theatre building, which previously was reported not to be one of the properties being given to Bard.

3D rendering of the Depot District as envisioned by Galvan in February 2022

Although Bard is, at this point, not certain what they will do with all the properties that have come into their possession, the goal, not unreasonably, is to use them in a way that provides the greatest benefit to Bard. The gift was, after all, to be "directed towards Bard's groundbreaking $500 million endowment campaign." Given that, it is likely about 50 percent of the properties will be sold within the next five years. 

Although Gossips wasn't present at the roundtable, two of the editors of Hudson Common Sense were and share their impressions of the event in a special report on The Shallot, HCS's satirical arm: "Adults from The City of Bard visit students from Hudson College." 

The following is quoted from that report:

This week’s Hudson Business Coalition roundtable, billed as a business focused meeting so popular that confirmed guests were asked to give up seats for actual business owners, quickly revealed itself as something else. It became a collision between Hudson’s lingering Galvan trauma and Bard’s good intentions delivered with the finesse of a bright but impatient physics professor who skipped sensitivity training. 

The report is entertaining and recommended reading. 

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The Peaceful Transition of Power Revisited

Exactly one month ago, on November 10, Gossips published a post titled "No Peaceful Transition of Power Here," inspired by this comment, made on an earlier post reporting the results of counting affidavit ballots: "This is the mayor's last opportunity to exhibit any grace: he should concede immediately, congratulate Joe, and begin cooperating with his transition team." That wasn't happening then, and a month later, with only three weeks left in the year, it's not happening now.

This morning, Roger Hannigan Gilson reports on the situation in the Times Union: "Hudson mayor has yet to meet with successor more than a month after the election." The following is quoted from the article:

Ferris confirmed on Monday afternoon that no transition meeting had been held. He emailed Johnson the week before Thanksgiving, asking to meet, then again early this month after he had not heard back, Ferris said. Johnson responded that he would “be in touch” at the end of December.

The city’s charter does not spell out an official policy about mayoral transition meetings. Mayor Johnson and Mayoral Aide Justin Weaver did not respond to questions.

Another argument for charter revision.

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On the Trail of Blaze

Last month, Gossips shared the news, first reported by Roger Hannigan Gilson in the Times Union, that the owners of Riverbend Dispensary at 531 Warren Street are suing the Cannabis Control Board for granting a waiver to Blaze NY, a cannabis dispensary that plans to open at 519 Columbia Street, just a block away from Riverbend. Blaze NY needed a waiver because New York State regulations require that cannabis shops be at least 2,000 feet apart in municipalities with fewer than 20,000 residents.

The waiver is not the only special treatment the proposed Blaze dispensary has received. In October 2023, the Common Council passed a resolution in support of Blaze NY's application for a cannabis dispensary license. The resolution contained this justification for Council support:

WHEREAS, the proposed business operation is a minority owned business which proposes a community plan to work with the City of Hudson to support the local Hudson community by seeking employees from the local population, reinvesting financially into the community, and creating a Community Support Committee to include official representatives of the City of Hudson. . . .

When Blaze was seeking the waiver, Mayor Kamal Johnson reportedly sent a letter of support to the Cannabis Control Board, in which he stated, "This is the type of licensee and business that corresponds to what [state legalization] purports to support, that the [state legalization] has defined that we wanted inclusivity, we wanted opportunity, we want access, and that's exactly what the letter of support means is for, and that resonated with me in this moment."

The Planning Board also seems, in its own way, to be showing its support for Blaze NY. The dispensary will be located at 519 Columbia Street. A review by the Planning Board is required because locating a dispensary in the building constitutes a change of use--from storage to mercantile.

The Planning Board made the decision not to hold a public hearing on the proposed change of use, a rather unusual move for the Planning Board which seems to hold public hearings on every project before them. At its meeting tonight, the Planning Board approved the change of use, without so much as a mention of two letters of concern that had been received about the proposal. 

One of the letters was from Tina Sharpe, executive director of Columbia Opportunities, located at 540 Columbia Street. Sharpe's letter expressed concern about the proposed dispensary's proximity to Columbia Opportunities, which is a licensed daycare center, the lack of parking in the area, traffic and pedestrian safety, impact on neighborhood character, and redundancy, given that Blaze would be the third cannabis dispensary within the city limits of Hudson.

The second letter was from a homeowner and resident on the 500 block of Columbia Street who also owns a rental property on the block. The letter reiterates the concerns expressed in Sharpe's letter but adds an issue not mentioned by Sharpe: security. The following is quoted from the letter:

Due to federal banking restrictions, cannabis dispensaries primarily operate as cash businesses, creating potential security risks for our neighborhood. The presence of a high-cash-volume business could attract criminal activity, including the possibility of robberies. This security threat would place residents, nearby childcare attendees, and dispensary customers at risk, while increasing the burden on local law enforcement in what is currently a relatively peaceful residential area with little foot traffic.

Because there was no discussion of the letters, or even mention of their existence, at tonight's meeting, it is not known if members of the Planning Board, other than the board's chair, Theresa Joyner, were aware of the concerns expressed in the letters when they voted to approve the change of use.

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News from Across the River

Here in Hudson, Kearney Realty & Development is trying to build two apartment buildings--Mill Street Lofts--on land that is designated parkland. A hundred years ago, the parcel chosen by Kearney to be the site of Mill Street Lofts was the playground for Charles Williams School, completed 1924. When the land was conveyed to the City of Hudson in 1983, it was specified in the deed that the land would be used only as a park or for recreation. Since 1983, the parcel has been used as a ballfield and maintained by the City as recreational space.

Something similar is happening across the river. Gossips recently learned that Kearney Realty & Development is planning to construct a mixed-use building on Main Street in Catskill, on the site of what is currently "Park for Paws," a dedicated pet friendly space shaded by mature trees, which is described on Bark Park Finder as "a quiet green area where leashed dogs are welcome to relax with their owners."

 

In March, the Village of Catskill was awarded $10 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding in Round Eight of the program. The Kearney project has requested $1 million of the DRI funding.  

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Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

With Winter Walk now behind us and the end of the year in sight, here is what's happening.

• On Monday, December 8, the Common Council holds its informal meeting at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Tuesday, December 9, the Planning Board meets at 6:30 p.m. No agenda for the meeting has yet been published. The meeting takes place in person at City Hall. It will be livestreamed on YouTube. The link to the livestream can be found here.
• On Wednesday, December 10, the Housing Trust Fund Board meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

Update: The Housing Trust Fund Board meeting was been canceled.

• On Thursday, December 11, the Public Works Board meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 

Update: The Public Works Board meeting has been rescheduled for Monday, December 15, at 5:00 p.m.

• On Friday, December 12, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. No agenda for the meeting is as yet available, but it is possible that the Galvan Foundation's plan to demolish 14 and 16 North Fourth Street in order to build an annex to the Hudson Public Hotel may be on the agenda. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

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And the Winners Are . . .

As in past years, a distinguished panel of anonymous local gallerists and artists has chosen the winners in the annual Winter Walk Window Decorating Contest. This year, instead of assigning a clever designation to each winner, the judges have grouped the winners into three categories: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. 

GOLD GROUP

Farm Shoppe Hudson NY, 554 Warren Street

Neven & Neven Moderne, 618 Warren Street

Stair Galleries, 549 Warren Street

Rebus, 337 Warren Street

Alfredo Paredes Studio, 519 Warren Street

SILVER GROUP

Les Indiennes, 444 Warren Street

Battle Brown, 528 Warren Street

Clove & Creek, 613 Warren Street

Hudsontricity, 428 Warren Street

Atelier Bianca, 741 Warren Street

BRONZE GROUP

Finch, 427 Warren Street

Jamestown Hudson, 548 Warren Street

The Social Type, 238 Warren Street 

Taiga, 119 Warren Street

CoCollaborations, 438 Warren Street