Well, At Least The Pocketbook Is Lining HPD's Pockets!

On my walk this morning in the neighborhood (which is no longer strictly residential in nature), I came across three ticketed cars parked at the end of Prospect Street, along the mega-business known as the Pocketbook Hotel and Baths.  One car was from New Jersey, one from Pennsylvania, and the other had NY plates, so it's fairly safe to say that at least two of those cars were owned by guests of the hotel.

There's No Doubt About It, Things Are Going "Great" With Parking! Couldn't Be Greater!!

 

Aren't you so proud of your city and the parking experts at HPD?  Ain't they just killin' it! Who should get the gold star this week for parking sign presentation and all-around professionalism, Chief Franklin or Captain Miller?  How about both of them?

Is Our New Mayor The Same As Former Mayors, Including A Former Mayor Who Is Now The New Mayor's Aide and ADA Coordinator?

 

I had my first opportunity to speak with Mayor Joe Ferris and his Aide and ADA Coordinator, Tiffany Martin, when I visited 520 Warren last Tuesday to ask them a question about a sidewalk that had been completely blocked by snow for over two weeks.  Let's just say that I was not impressed with the results.

Hey, Buddy, Can You Direct Me To Columbia Street? And Where Is 7th Street?

 

"... But I Sure Miss Them Now!"

Yesterday afternoon, I watched a parking enforcer doing his best to issue so-called meter violation tickets in the upper portion of the 500 block of Warren Street.  Of the 5 vehicles parked on the north side between The Whaler and 6th Street, he issued 3 of them (consecutively!) ten-dollar tickets after scanning the registration sticker and taking 3 pictures of each vehicle.  All the while dressed in a dark uniform and mostly while standing or walking along the driver's side of the parked vehicles while traffic rolled by a foot or two away.  One of these enforcers is bound to get struck sooner or later, a hazard that has increased dramatically since the parking meters were removed from the sidewalks.

Here's A Story That Should Have Made It On The Front Pages of the Register-Star and Times-Union

Inside a recent HPD Monthly Incidents report I received as part of a Freedom of Information Law request, one thing stood out from all the typical incidents HPD responds to (and that Chief Franklin never mentions during her monthly reports to the council).  It was titled "Internal Investigation."  No other information was offered. But because there is no outside oversight of cases involving corruption, misconduct and shenanigans at the Hudson Police Department -- a department with an extremely long history of misconduct and corruption -- we may never know what that recent internal investigation was about or what its outcome might have been or will be.  How many internal investigations has HPD conducted recently, say, under Mishanda Franklin's watch?  Who is conducting the investigations, particularly when the Chief of Police is away on maternity leave for months?  Does dealing with parking matters interfere with Chief Mishanda Franklin's and Captain David Miller's ability to investigate their own officers properly, thoroughly and in a timely fashion?  How would the residents of Hudson know if Mishanda Franklin or David Miller were being investigated for misconduct, let alone a patrol cop or two?  What Hudson Police Department cop or investigator was the focus of that recent internal investigation by the Hudson Police Department, and what were the results?  Good luck getting answers to any of these questions. 

I Don't Understand How It's Even Possible For Someone To Do This!

 

Did the driver think they were on a one-way street when they arrived to park, regardless of how many cars were parked facing their way alongside the Pocketbook?  Would the driver really respond, "I didn't know," if asked why they parked headed in the wrong direction?  No one would knowingly park their car facing the wrong direction and leave it there for hours or overnight, would they?  Are there really people who drive and park so foolishly and dangerously?