Welcome To The (New) Neighborhood. Won't You Stay A While?

Last night at 6:00, I came across a parked car completely blocking the new sidewalk that the Pocketbook people forced on the city to make way for their drop-off drive-thru area.  The driver of that car (with an Arkansas plate) won't be the first guest of the hotel, wellness center, restaurant, bar, etc. to have no idea that the concrete area is a sidewalk meant for pedestrians and not a place to park their car, mainly because there is no curb between the brick drive-thru and the concrete sidewalk. What a disgraceful, disrespectful mess the Pocketbook has created for the neighborhood (with the blessings of the Planning Board)!

The Fruits of Our Tax Dollars And Our Police Department At Work!

 

Late yesterday afternoon, several hours after HUDseen reported on the broken single-sided paid parking sign in front of 720 Columbia, I noticed that it had been replaced with a double-sided sign.  

Into Whose Pockets Does Parking Ticket Revenue Go?

 

During the inaugural Safety Committee meeting on February 2nd, after Police Chief Franklin finished her 45 second monthly HPD report that had nothing to do with safety, second in command Captain David Miller gave his parking update, which he called a "breakdown' and which also had nothing to do with safety.  He did say this:  "Parking revenue for December of 2025 was one thousand, or [correcting himself] a hundred and one thousand four hundred and thirteen dollars and forty-seven cents." ($101,413.47.  "Over $101,000" would have sufficed, Captain!)  Miller then went on to say that the total amount of parking revenue from December 2024 was $83,630, though he gave no sense of what types of parking tickets those revenue numbers included.  He also failed to talk about expenditures, such as the cost of parking signs, though perhaps there aren't any signs being bought to replace old and unreadable ones.  And, as HUDseen readers may recall, this was the meeting when Miller announced to the SAFETY Committee that parking was "running great."

Words of Wisdom For Hudson In The 21st Century From Our DPW Superintendent and Sage: "It's Just Money. You Gotta Pay For It."

 

HUDseen readers will be forgiven for thinking these first two pictures are the same ones featured in an article from exactly two weeks ago about a broken plastic parking sign on a meter pole in front of 720 Columbia Street. But be reassured they are not. I took these pictures yesterday when I came across the second broken sign on that same pole in front of 720 Columbia -- within just two weeks!!!!  Yes, the original broken sign was replaced by DPW sometime last week no more than two weeks after it was installed by DPW, and the new plastic sign was also rendered useless within one week.  All we get is ugly, publicly displayed garbage showing that HPD top brass have no idea what they are doing in terms of making their new and expanded "improved" paid parking system a success. It's an embarrassing disgrace, and our new mayor should intervene before things get truly out of hand and more money continues to be wasted on these plastic signs and who knows what else they are spending and wasting our precious tax revenue on.

You Got A Permit For That Sign, Buddy?

 

Absent? MIA? At All Effective? Unfamiliar With Zoom? The Wrong Person For The Job? Not Happy To Be Back On The Second Floor of 520 Warren?

 

As all readers likely know by now, former Hudson mayor Tiffany Martin is now the aide to our new mayor, Joe Ferris.  As the mayor's aide, Hamilton has been forced to take on the title of ADA Coordinator to, for one thing, make sure the city complies with the U.S. Justice Department's 2019 "settlement agreement" forcing the city to make our ridiculously dangerous sidewalks and curb ramps ADA compliant.  And, just like her predecessor, Justin Weaver, the ADA Coordinator is required to be a member (and an important one!) of the Public Works Board, the group of five members tasked with complying with the DOJ's directive and implementing the new and ambitious city-wide sidewalk repair program known as the Sidewalk Improvement District (SID).  A lot is riding on the efforts of the Public Works Board.  A whole lot.  Everyone has to be on board, so to speak, including, and especially, the city's ADA Coordinator.  C-O-O-R-D-I-N-A-T-O-R!

Where There Once Was A Sidewalk In What Once Was a Residential Neighborhood...

... there is now a drive-thru drop-off area for wealthy guests of a hotel, restaurant, bar, wellness spa, etc., many of whom will be taking advantage of a car valet service.  I can't wait for the blinking, multi-colored neon signs at 6th & Washington to arrive this spring:  VALET SERVICE 100 FEET AWAY WITH DRIVE THRU!  ALL ARE WELCOME!