Our Foundering and Bewildering LWRP

Hudson may hold the record for spending the most time and probably also the most money on preparing its LWRP. The Local Waterfront Revitalization Program was started by the New York State Department of State in the 1980s. It was around that time that a plan to build an oil refinery on our waterfront, embraced by city government and the Hudson Community Development Office, was rebuffed by a local citizens' group, with the support of Clearwater, Scenic Hudson, and the Department of State--an experience that sparked interest among Hudsonians in developing a plan to revitalize the Hudson waterfront and discourage future bad development ideas. 

Two decades later, in 2004, an LWRP for Hudson was finally submitted to the Department of State for approval, but approval was not granted. In October 2005, Charlie Butterworth, then superintendent of public works, and more than thirty other Hudson elected and appointed officials received a twenty-two-page letter from the Department of State outlining the proposed LWRP's shortcomings and giving counsel on how to proceed.

The Department of State kept the previous LWRP for more than a year before delivering its judgment, and most people believe that, eight years later, with the current LWRP, we're back in that same situation: waiting for Department of State approval--an approval which is contingent on fulfilling the conditions outlined in the Findings Statement. One of these conditions is the transfer of ten acres of land on the waterfront from Holcim to the City of Hudson, almost half of which may actually still be owned by the City of Hudson, and it has been the assumption that these conditions were being imposed by the Department of State.

A recent communication from a DOS staffer to a South Bay advocate (who shared the information with Gossips) indicates that a couple of common assumptions about the LWRP and its current status are untrue. First, the City of Hudson has not submitted the LWRP to the Department of State for the Secretary of State's approval. Second, the Findings Statement, which seems to be the basis for the belief that the City must acquire the waterfront land in order to move forward, is a City document. It does not report the "findings" of the Department of State, as one might imagine, nor does it necessarily, or so it would seem, outline conditions that must be fulfilled before the LWRP can get the needed state and federal approvals, even though the mayor and the Common Council seem to behave as if it does.

On May 29,  Tom DePietro, who is filling in for Victor Mendolia on WGXC's @Issue, spoke with members of the South Bay Task Force--Chris Reed, Timothy O'Connor, and Patrick Doyle. Linda Mussmann, who chaired the Waterfront Advisory Steering Committee tasked with rewriting the LWRP in 2006 and 2007, criticized that discussion, expressing the opinion that what Reed, O'Connor, and Doyle said about the LWRP was wrong. So, tomorrow, Wednesday, June 19, DePietro will be interviewing Mussmann, who will correct the misconceptions. 

Reading the LWRP guidebook that DOS published, Making the Most of Your Waterfront, you get the sense that an LWRP, like Abraham Lincoln's concept of government, is supposed to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people." So how is it that we now have a document that is so arcane that people who have devoted a great deal of time to reading it are alleged not to understand it, and people who have been paying attention don't know exactly where the LWRP stands in the approval and adoption process?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

The Persephone Project

The myth of Persephone is the story of the seasons. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. When Persephone was abducted from a flowery meadow and carried off to the underworld to become the bride of Hades, Demeter reacted to her daughter's abduction by refusing to let the earth bear fruit until Persephone was returned to her. Zeus agreed to intervene and enable her return, but, alas, Persephone had eaten a handful of pomegranate seeds--the food of the underworld. As a consequence, she could come back to earth for only part of the year. Her annual return marks the beginning of the growing season, and her departure for the underworld brings on winter.

This week, to celebrate the summer solstice, the energetic and imaginative members of the Hudson Teen Theatre Project ensemble, under the direction of the very talented Carol Rusoff, present The Persephone Project, their unique improvisation on the myth. Performances, which are free, take place on Thursday, June 20, at 8 p.m., and on Saturday, June 22, at 4 p.m. Both performances take place at the Hudson Opera House.

Tour the Future Home of the Library

On Saturday, June 22, the Capital Campaign Committee of the Hudson Area Library Board of Trustees will hold an open house at the Armory. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., visitors can tour a layout of the new library and view large drawings and projections of the plans. Guides will be available to conduct people through the design and explain its features.

In advance of Saturday's tour, reporter John Mason visited the space with HAL board president Mark Orton and reports about it in today's Register-Star: "Public to view future library: Open house at Armory in Saturday." 

When Chickens Come Home to Roast

Tomorrow night, the Common Council will be voting on Hudson's chicken law, which would amend the city code to permit residents to keep no more than five hens--no roosters--in their backyards, as pets or for the production of eggs. 

As luck would have it, San Francisco-based author Matthew Wolpe is now in the Northeast promoting the book he co-authored, Reinventing the Chicken Coop. The book is a manual for building "designer" shelters for chickens. Earlier today, on WAMC, Pat Bradley talked with Wolpe about his book and about raising backyard chickens. Bradley's report, which includes a review of the state of urban chicken husbandry in the Capital District, can be heard by clicking here.

So far, of cities in the Capital District, only Troy allows backyard chickens. Two years ago, a law allowing backyard chickens in Albany was passed by the Common Council but vetoed by Mayor Jerry Jennings. It may be a while before we know if Hudson will join the urban chicken-raising elite. Even if the law is passed by the Common Council tomorrow night, it could still be vetoed by Mayor Hallenbeck.
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"Put down the knitting, the book, and the broom . . ."

Theatre Now New York is doing a production of Cabaret this summer--August 2 through August 11 to be exact--at the Pocketbook Factory right here in Hudson, and they are looking for local talent to be involved in the production.

Auditions are being held for the roles of Herr Schultz and Fraulein Schneider. Anyone interested in auditioning for one of these two parts or in being a performance intern should send a resume and a photograph by email to casting@tnny.org or by snail mail to Casting/Cabaret, 542 Prospect Street, Hudson, NY 12534.

TNNY is also looking for a lighting designer, a sound designer, a stage manager, a technical director, and "aspiring artists as interns for the summer in all areas of theater, including but not limited to production, technical, lighting, stage management, sound, scenic, etc." People interested in being involved in any of these capacities are invited to send their resumes to the same addresses: casting@tnny.org for email; Casting/Cabaret, 542 Prospect Street, Hudson, for snail mail.

Aid for Economic Development

Beginning at 8 o'clock this morning, applications can be submitted for a share of the $750 million that is available in state aid for economic development. The Albany Business Review has the details. Follow the links to learn about the ten regional councils into which the state has been divided (we're part of the Capital Region Economic Development Council) and how they compete for a piece of the $750 million pie. The end date for submitting applications is August 12.

The History of "The Apartments of Distinction"

The building at the corner of Union and Fifth streets, once known as "The Apartments of Distinction," now has a new slate mansard roof, reproduced chimneys, and restored dormer windows, making the rest of the building seem quite shabby and making most of us wonder what's next for the building. While its future may be unclear, Walter Ritchie has painstakingly researched its past. He wrote this history of the building expressly for Gossips readers.

Standing at 501 Union Street is a large Second Empire-style brick building constructed c. 1864 by John T. Haviland, a local shipping merchant. The sizeable square structure was most likely one of the earliest apartment buildings to be erected in the city. From 1883 to 1896, the building served as Hudson's first Home for the Aged.

About 1864, John T. Haviland, a Hudson commission agent and shipping merchant, built on his large lot at the southeast corner of Union and Fifth Streets a square three-and-one-half story brick building in the Second Empire style, the most prominent feature of which was a slate mansard roof with dormer windows and chimneys with decorative brickwork. Presumably from the time it was built, the structure contained a commercial establishment on the first floor and apartments on the upper levels.

From 1872 until at least 1878, Haviland, formerly a commission agent working in partnership with William H. Clark, maintained a shop on the first level of the building, initially as a wholesale shipping merchant and later as a wholesale grocer.

Architectural evidence suggests that when the building was constructed in the 1860s, the second, third, and mansard roof levels each contained one large apartment. In the twentieth century, the apartments were divided into smaller units that underwent numerous modifications. Today, the staircases located at the front and back of the building are used to access the apartments; however, in the nineteenth century, only the front staircase was for the use of residents while the back staircase, accessed by a door on the west elevation, was used strictly by the servants of the families who occupied the apartments.

From 1883 to 1896, the Home for the Aged, which was incorporated on May 10, 1883, rented the building as a temporary residence before acquiring its permanent home located at the intersection of South Seventh and Union Streets. When established, the Home for the Aged was the only charitable institution in the State of New York to bear that title. After arrangements had been made to rent the building at the southeast corner of Union and Fifth Streets, the organization made a public appeal for furnishings, which resulted in a steady flow of donated items including Brussels and Wilton carpeting and straw matting to cover the floors of the residents' rooms.

After the Home for the Aged vacated 501 Union Street, the property served once again as an apartment building.

The period image is the cover illustration from Decennial Souvenir, 1893: Home for the Aged, Hudson, New York, and shows the building as it appeared toward the end of the 19th century.

Relive the Experience!

Lance Wheeler's video of the 2013 Hudson Pride Parade can now be viewed online, and Chad Weckler's photographs of parade, of which this is one, can be seen on the Hudson Pride Facebook page.

Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard and well to make the Hudson Pride Parade 2013 such a spectacular event. A good time was had by all--spectators and participants alike!

Trains in the Street

A reader recently sent me the link to this post, on a blog called Jalopnik, about how trains once shared the way with automobiles and pedestrians on Tenth Avenue in New York City. 

In 1929, the tracks on Tenth Avenue were elevated, and today, the High Line has been transformed into a park.

Check out the comments on Michael Ballaban's blog post to learn about other American cities that, like Hudson, still have train tracks through the heart of the city.

News About 900 Columbia Street

On June 6, we mused about the fate of 900 Columbia Street. In its present location, it faces certain demolition at the hands of its owner, the Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties, which has operated a group home there for two decades. In May 2012, the Galvan Initiatives Foundation applied for and received a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission to save the historic house, in the only way possible given the circumstances, by moving it to the 200 block of Union Street. But that was a year ago, and a certificate of appropriateness is only good for a year. So, given that construction on the new facility behind  the historic house has begun (more or less), Gossips wondered if Galvan was still committed to rescuing the historic house.

The answer came on Friday morning, at the meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission. Commission chair Rick Rector reported on a communication he had received from Walter Ritchie on behalf of the Galvan Foundation, requesting an extension of the certificate of appropriateness. The building cannot be moved, Ritchie explained, until the ten residents of the group home have been relocated. According to Ritchie, this is to happen at the end of July 2013, and the house would then be moved sometime between August 15 and October 15 2013. The HPC voted unanimously to grant the extension. 

This raises several new questions. If the residents are moving out in six weeks, where are they going? The original plan was to keep the residents in the historic house until the new facility was completed and then demolish the historic house to provide a parking lot. But a visit to the site suggests that the new facility isn't going to be ready for occupancy anytime soon.

There is an unconfirmed rumor that the MHA group home may be moving to 67-71 North Fifth Street, the larger of the two "Armory houses" owned by the Galvan Foundation, but a visit to this building suggests that it may not be ready for occupancy in six weeks either.

One of MHA's great arguments in support of their plan to build a new facility on the same location as their current facility was that the constraints of Hudson's zoning, which limit where such group homes may be located, gave them few if any options. But if MHA has now found an alternative location, even on a temporary basis, why not make it permanent and leave the poor historic house where it belongs, at the crossroads of the historic turnpikes leading into Hudson?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

Hudson on NPR

This morning on NPR, in a feature called Cook Your Cupboard, Victoria Dougherty, who teaches nutrition at Hudson High School, and Jasmine Bashar, one of her students, consulted Bombay native, chef, and cookbook author Raghavan Iyer on how to improvise Indian-inspired cuisine with juniper berries, fish sauce, and homemade mixed berry jam. You can listen online here.

"The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow . . . "

After what seems like a whole week of rain, sunshine is predicted for tomorrow and the Hudson Pride Parade.

The Pride Parade begins at 2 o'clock. Look for The Gossips of Rivertown in the parade again this year. As last year, Gossips will be gathering news on the street--this year with an actual ear trumpet! So when Gossips comes rolling by, come out and speak the latest Hudson gossip, rumor, or innuendo into the shiny brass ear trumpet.

Screen capture from Weather.com
Photo credit: Peter Jung

My [Breakfast, Lunch, and] Dinner with William

Regular readers know that my dog, William, is getting on in years. Because he was a stray when I adopted him, his exact age is unknown, but he is at least fifteen and possibly sixteen--ancient for a dog his size. Throughout our life together (I adopted him in 1999), William has thrived on the large breed formula of a particular brand of kibble, but about eight months ago, he started refusing to eat it. 

Since then we've been through a number of strategies to get him to eat: homemade dog food made with brown rice and ground turkey; fancy dog food from that refrigerated unit in the pet aisle at ShopRite; various kinds of canned and dry dog food that I thought might appeal to him. Once, in desperation, I bought a brand of kibble that was to his regular brand as Lucky Charms is to Cheerios. I figured, at his age, the goal is just to get him to eat--and he ate the canine Lucky Charms . . . for a while. Then he refused that, too.

For the past couple of months, I have been feeding William meat--round steak, chuck roast, turkey breast, chicken breasts, chicken livers, all beef franks. I've been a vegetarian for twenty years, so I'm wondering how the computers at ShopRite--the ones that track your purchases so they can spit out the appropriate coupons--are processing the information that someone who hasn't purchased meat in twenty years is now buying it regularly and in large quantities.

But in recent weeks, since his good friend Lucy died, William won't eat his meat either--at least not if I just slice it up and put it in his bowl. So, since William is an inveterate beggar at the table, we have adopted what is for me a very bizarre ritual. I sit at the dining table with William's meat du jour on a dinner plate in front of me. I cut up the meat, as if getting ready to eat it myself, and from time to time, I deposit several pieces in a bowl--William's bowl--on the floor next to my chair. William scarfs it up. Then we repeat the process. When William has had his fill, I prepare and eat my own dinner.

Dogs give us unconditional love, but their greatest gift is teaching us to love unconditionally.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

"Where's the Sunshine?"

Seven months ago, after exposing what he called "Sleepergate," Will Pflaum shut down his blog Sunshine on the Hudson. He suspended his blogging to, in his own words, "give the State Police and the Comptroller a chance to do something about alleged ongoing felonies in Columbia County government without me bothering them. . . ." 

Now Sunshine is back, and in his first post after the seven-month hiatus, Pflaum reports on the outcome of his Sleepergate investigations.

For the Love of Trees and Film

Last Saturday night, Basilica Hudson launched its Tree + Film fundraising campaign with a dance party, which, creative director Melissa Auf der Maur told Gossips, raised $1,200 to plant trees around the Basilica and make improvements on the North Hall cinema space.

For the tree planting part of the project, the Basilica is working with landscape designer Wenonah Webster and Pondside Nursery to develop a long-term plan to bring trees, shade, and natural beauty to the site to "counter balance the aging industrial landscape." The first phase is promised to be a row of five maples and five dogwoods along the Basilica's Front Street perimeter. 

The film part of the project involves technical improvements to the screening room--new projector, new screen, new sound system, and maybe even heat and air conditioning--and new program initiatives.

The Basilica is continuing its fundraising appeal with an indiegogo campaign. Check it out, and be sure to watch the video which features Auf der Maur and includes many other familiar faces.

Getting from Point A to Point B

It has often been considered a desirable goal to make it possible for people to descend directly from Promenade Hill to the boat launch and riverfront park. A couple of ways to achieve this have been suggested over the years. One involved an enclosed walkway out over the railroad tracks at the level of Promenade Hill to an elevator that would bring people down the west face of the bluff to water's edge. Another idea was to build a staircase, with lots of switchbacks and landings, down the south face of the bluff from Promenade Hill to the boat launch parking lot.

Photo by Paul Smith for NPR

This morning, an NPR report about Medellin, Colombia, which was recently named Innovative City of the Year by the Urban Land Institute, suggested another possibility. In Medellin, gondolas and ski lifts are used to connect neighborhoods built on the mountainsides with the metropolitan center. Could we connect Promenade Hill and the waterfront with perhaps a chair lift?
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Another Public Hearing for the HOH Elevator Tower

Gossips has been been following the progress of the proposed elevator tower to be constructed at the rear of the Hudson Opera House to provide access for those unable or unwilling to climb the stairs to the second floor performance space.

In May, the project made its initial appearances before the three agencies whose approval is required: the Planning Commission, the Historic Preservation Commission, and the Zoning Board of Appeals. 

The Planning Commission wanted more information about sight lines and noise. The HPC wanted to see renderings that showed the elevator tower in its context from different directions. The ZBA scheduled a public hearing for June 19 at 6 p.m.

Tonight, Dan Proper of Crawford & Associates appeared before the Planning Commission with the information requested. With regard sight lines, he reported that the critical sight line was for vehicles traveling east on Cherry Alley and wanting to cross City Hall Place or make a right turn onto City Hall Place. Proper reported the city code requires a 20-foot clearance. There is now a 45-foot clearance, and the elevator tower will have no impact on that.

The report on noise was more complicated. The members of the Planning Commission received a printed study that Gossips didn't get to see, but here is what is known to someone present at the meeting. Proper explained that the original plan was to create a ground-based transformer at the southwest corner of the building (marked in red on the drawing at left), but National Grid, which had originally approved a ground-based transformer, changed its mind and now wanted the three-phase transformer to be pole-mounted., so the transformer will be in three "cans" attached to an existing utility pole on the HOH site.

Proper explained that the Hudson Opera House was subject to commercial regulations, which allow 65 decibels during the day and 55 decibels at night, but because of the proximity to the residential property just across Cherry Alley, the limit was 49 decibels at all times. (Gossips' research discovered that 50 decibels is the equivalent of the noise level in an average home; 40 decibels is the noise level in a library reading room.) Proper reported that the chiller to be installed on top of the elevator tower would produce a 49-decibel reading at the residence directly across Cherry Alley and the attenuated noise from the pole-mounted transformer would also be 49 decibels. 

So Gossips' question was this: If you have 49 decibels of noise coming from two different sources in close proximity, does the noise impact double to 98 decibels, does it stay at 49 decibels, or is it something in-between? Gossips' research, for what it's worth, indicates that it is something in-between.

The Planning Commission scheduled a public hearing on the elevator tower for July 10 at 6:30 p.m.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK 

The Route of the Problem

At the informal Common Council meeting on Monday night, Linda Mussmann, as is her wont, brought up the truck route, which runs past her arts organization, Time & Space Limited. She told the Council that she'd noticed that the truck route was closed on Saturday for the Flag Day parade. She wanted to know how that happened and wondered if the truck route couldn't be closed every weekend.

Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward), who as an Elk and former mayor's aide has knowledge of such things, explained that the Department of Transportation puts the signs out, and that Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, makes the request to DOT. The truck route is closed "on a temporary basis" for a period of six hours.

Mussmann indicated that she thought a six-hour respite from the trucks every weekend sounded pretty good. Council president Don Moore seemed intrigued by the idea, too, and reminded those present that Hudson Development Corporation has applied for a grant to study truck activity in Hudson.

Gossips Note: Getting ready to write this post, I went over to Fourth and Columbia streets to get some pictures of trucks on the truck route. At about 10:30 this morning, it took a surprisingly long time to get the three truck pictures that accompany this post. Conspicuous by their absence this morning were the ubiquitous gravel trucks, and a trip down to the river confirmed my suspicion. There was no barge at the Holcim dock waiting to be filled.

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In Case You Missed It

Mayor William Hallenbeck signed Hudson's anti-fracking legislation into law on Monday afternoon, but Citizens in Defense of Hudson remain steadfast in their criticism of the law for its inadequacy. John Mason had the story in yesterday's Register-Star: "Citizens group: Fracking law's holes big enough to melt ice." 

The More, the Merrier

The Hudson Pride Parade is only days away. The event's theme is derived from L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and making their debut in the parade last year were nine giant papier-mâché heads, created by artists Ken Polinskie and Dan Rupe, representing nine characters from the classic tale. For this year's parade, Polinskie has created two new giant heads--a flying monkey and a Munchkin from the Lollipop Guild. Joe Gentile has the story in today's Register-Star: ""The Wizard of Oz' masks are inspirational." 

Photo credit: Scott Baldinger

After the Sale

John Mason has an update in today's Register-Star on the fate of the people still living at 405 Warren Street: "Foreclosed tenants likely to stay on." After a year-long legal battle, the City of Hudson foreclosed on the property for nonpayment of back taxes, and it was sold at auction on June 1. The winning bidder at the auction, with a bid of $354,000, disclosed that she was bidding on behalf of Galvan Partners.