Oakdale Lake: The Beauty And The Stupidity!

While walking this morning in Oakdale Park, I was not only treated to the sight of a large grey heron wading in the lake not too far away, but also in the act of plunging for a meal or snack, only the second such sighting in my life.  His or her effort to nab a fish appeared to be unsuccessful, though.  When I was a child, in North Tarrytown, NY, my father and I watched a great blue heron at the edge of a pond grab a large snake and gobble that thing right down in about 30 seconds, stretching its neck out as far as it could to force the thrashing meal out of its beak and mouth, down its long neck and into its stomach.  Many naturalists would pay good money to witness such a sight (and take photos of it!).  While they do get spooked easily, herons are not an uncommon sight at Oakdale Park, even perching in trees at the east end of the lake.   It's quite a sight to see a pair of them, with their enormous wingspans, glide slowly and quietly in over the lake and land so gracefully on old tree branches to rest safely or consider their feeding possibilities, as I witnessed a few months ago.  Herons are the closest thing we have to pterodactyls around here, and they do make a wonderfully loud squawk occasionally.

How's That Budget Process Treating You, Mr. Joe? Are You Looking Forward To The Same Thing Next Year, Perhaps Worse?

Over the course of the next few weeks while City Hall's 2027 budget process struggles to wrap up, HUDseen will point out a few properties owned by our friends at Galvan (and one or two others) that readers may not be aware are 100% tax-exempt. *   Let's call them strangely and unjustifiably tax-exempt.  Let's call them a strain on the city's housing, livability and affordability crisis.  Let's call them unwelcome in the 21st century.  Let's call them budget killers and a source of the perennial question: "Why are we so god damn short on revenue every f'ng year!!?". 

No Posted Building Permit (Code), No Posted Sidewalk Permit (DPW), No Posted Parking Permit (HPD)! We All Pay The Price For No One Paying Attention!

City Hall is supposed to protect us from this bullshit.

Will We Soon Have Sunflowers Blooming Year Round?

It's a lovely and welcome sight, no doubt, but something must be wrong.  We may get snow this weekend!  (Picture taken on Saturday in the upper 500 block of State.)

Who Doesn't Love Marigolds and Other Greenery (And Black Weed Barriers)??

Click for more pics.

Bigger Vehicle, Bigger Sense Of Entitlement? (And Other Stories Of Parking Woes!)

Yesterday was an insanely busy day of foot and vehicle traffic on Warren Street, with no shortage of out of state license plates and double parked and illegally parked vehicles all around, particularly near the world's busiest coffee shop located at the city's most dangerous intersection at a turn in the truck route.  For example, take the white van with Massachusetts plates seen in the picture below that I took yesterday just past noon.  

(The lead picture was taken a few weeks ago on South 3rd in front of one of the city's top three most expensive restaurants.)

Which Flock Camera Was HPD Officer Randy Strattman Referring To?

Anyone who has recently been paying attention to local news and to meetings of the so-called SAFETY Committee knows that our police department does not possess or use any of the controversial Flock surveillance cameras that police forces are steering clear of, reconsidering, and getting rid of left and right.  Instead of license plate reading cameras (LPR's) made by Flock, the Hudson Police Department has made it clear publicly that it only utilizes LPR's made by a company named Axon.  These surveillance cameras can be found in patrol vehicles and at the end of at least three streetlight arms at the city's peripheries where lots of license plates need to be surveilled to keep Hudson residents safe from unregistered vehicles attempting to pass through the city.  Unlike Flock cameras, we are not supposed to be concerned about privacy matters related to Axon cameras.   At least that's what HPD tells us and that they and Axon want us to believe.