HUDseen: February 2023

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

The Incoherence of Hudson's Overnight Parking Rule

DPW was out last night, but HPD was not

Hudson's overnight alternate side parking rule, as I understand it, serves two purposes: keep one side of our streets free of parked vehicles so that the street sweeper can clean that side of the street and get to the other side the next night; and, allow the snow plows to clear one side of the street when it snows and get to the other side of the street the next night. But the way the rule is enforced and applied makes no sense.

This is the second time in as many weeks that I have walked past the deli on N. 5th Street and had to step over an extension cord charging this electric car parked in front. Of course, there is an electric vehicle charging station just a half block away in the City Hall parking lot. Expect more of this rude behavior all over the place.

CLOSED? INCLEMENT? REALLY?

According to the City of Hudson website, City Hall is closed today due to "the inclement weather." Around noon, I opened the door to the Columbia County office building at 401 State Street and was greeted, as expected, by the receptionist and the security guard. The guard told me that the building and offices were open. Hudson City Court was in session this morning from 9 -11 and the Court office was staffed.

Today I came across something curious while walking down the sidewalk of the 300 block of Warren Street. Standing next to a fire hydrant, a male in a bright orange vest had a large pair of headphones over his ears that were attached to a small probe in his hand. He wiped the bit of snow off the very top of the hydrant and touched the end of the probe to it, then stood quietly for about one minute as if listening for something. Then he got into an unmarked car (no logo) and drove a few hundred feet to the next hydrant to do the same thing over.

The Absurdity and Dysfunction Are Frightening

What is missing?

At a recent Informal Common Council meeting I asked Robert Perry, Jr., the head of the DPW department, why there were no stop lines or crosswalks at the intersection of 6th and Columbia along our truck route and where the busy farmers market is located for much of the year. I asked why it appeared that there had never ever been one drop of paint in that intersection, not on Columbia and not on 6th. Was the busy three-way intersection not worthy of anything besides a traffic light? Are no stop lines or crosswalks needed there?

This morning I watched the driver of the wide-ass red pickup truck with Tennessee license plates drive onto the sidewalk and back into his sidewalk parking space in front of 64 N. 6th, where I had spotted him last week and posted about. As last week and always, there was ample off-street parking available behind the building this morning.

I asked the driver why he felt the need to park on the sidewalk. He gave me two reasons: His truck was too wide to park on the street and "they" told him to park on the sidewalk.

Garbage truck, perhaps?

Sometime late last year during an Informal Council meeting, I heard Liz York, the director of the Youth Department, request funds to purchase a used pickup truck for her department. At least one of the reasons she expressed for the need of the truck was that the new vans the department had were not the right use for removing the trash at Oakdale Lake. Essentially, as I understood it, the garbage was too messy for the clean vans, and a pickup truck would be more appropriate. The council approved her request and a white pickup was recently purchased (at what cost I do not know).

Waiting for the children to return

The "fountain," or what remains of it, in the center of the 7th street park is a case study in civic mismanagement and WTF?

Another Trashed Trash Receptacle

Is a trash can really
needed here?

Yet another trashed trash receptacle, this one at 3rd and State a few days ago. I saw a similarly trashed one in front of FINCH a week ago which DPW quickly replaced.

City-owned sign and pole
on Warren Street

At this month's Informal Common Council meeting, DPW Superintendent Robert Perry, Jr. included in his monthly report an explanation of the 24 oh-so-helpful new CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs. I was in the City Hall chambers trying my best to hear Perry's Zoom presentation but could not very well understand every word of it. I'm not sure if he claimed that the signs were a requirement, but he did put some sort of official-looking document on the screen that may have illustrated the justification for the signs.

FYI: It's a sidewalk, not a sidepark.

A common sight for the past
few years in front of 64 N. 6th,
with ample parking available
behind the building.

No parking allowed in the street? Just park on the sidewalk, blocking it entirely and forcing every pedestrian to step off the curb, walk in the street AROUND YOUR BIG ASS PICKUP TRUCK and, if not hit by a moving car or truck, step back up to the sidewalk to continue on their way. This includes, of course, the elderly, children with or without parents, parents with babies in strollers, the disabled, and everyone else.

The Message Matters

A rare sight in Hudson

How many of these ALTERNATE PARKING IN EFFECT signs are posted in downtown Hudson? Maybe 8?

February 24 -- no tickets,
no registration, no inspection,
no problem

This 2003 Cadillac has been parked UNMOVED on the even side of Prospect Avenue for at least the past 10 days. I checked public records through its license plate number -- the car has never received a $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING ticket from HPD. The Chief of the Hudson Police Department, Ed Moore, is well aware that the Overnight Alternate Side rule applies to Prospect Avenue from Rossman to Warren. Apparently, his own officers are not aware of this. Does Ed care that they are not?

This Ford Fusion has been
parked unmoved on the
odd side of Prospect
Avenue for a few months

The 3rd $treet Fia$co (Part I)

The entire 2 block portion of S. 3rd Street, from Warren to Allen, was repaved by Colarusso in the fall of 2017. Colarusso, as usual every other year, was the low bidder for the project and was hired by DPW with a written contract. The cost of the work there and on a few other sections of downtown streets was paid for through the New York State DOT's biannual CHIPs (street and highway improvement) program. Within about 2 months I noticed that the new pavement was cracking near the northwest corner at Allen. Colarusso claims on its website that it is a "heavy highway contractor" and backs up the claim with projects it has completed - some of them quite impressive and large. It is no mom and pop street paver.

On Frederick Street, 2023

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Ass Backwards

Hudson's 4 parking enforcers work for the Police Department; Police Chief Ed Moore is their supervisor. 3 of the 4 enforcers drive to work and park their vehicles in metered parking spaces, usually on 5th Street. Pictured are two of those vehicles on a recent afternoon. No one has told the officers they can't park in metered spaces, so they've done nothing wrong. They just park in the most convenient spots they can find, as close to 5th and Warren as possible.

It's Been Over Four Years! Who at City Hall is not paying attention?

The John L. Edwards Elementary School closed more than 4 years ago, and it doesn't look like another school will ever take its place at State and Carrol. But you wouldn't know that if you assumed that the several street signs still there related to school hours and a school speed limit were accurate. And that is what drivers are expected to do and must do -- assume that the signs put up for us to see and read are accurate and to be abided by, not outdated and no longer valid.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why all the other city properties in town fail to follow HPD's lead and have a cigarette dispenser along the sidewalk with the top unattached so that anyone passing by or entering the building can see the cigarette butts and trash, often floating in rainwater.

I think there needs to be a city wide policy to right this wrong! Start with one in front of City Hall, where an open cigarette butt and trash dispenser is badly needed.

"I Wish They Would Just Sell It"

Has the city ever attempted to sell this property?

This vacant lot is known as 514-516 Columbia Street. Assessed last year for $20,500, it is owned by the City of Hudson. Of course, it is wholly tax-exempt.

The sidewalk from BEYOND HELL

Now what?

A portion of the sidewalk on Green Street along the inside of the bend in the street has always presented challenges for pedestrians. It is nothing short of disgraceful; an affront to all pedestrians. No pedestrians should be allowed to approach it. This is, of course, along our beloved truck route.

When trees become a problem
Compared to the rest of the city, the sidewalks along Warren Street are relatively free of tripping hazards. This beauty, on the north side of the 300 block, is a rarity and arguably the worst of all the hazards found on busy Warren Street, if only because the hazard is ABOVE the sidewalk, rather than ON the sidewalk.

The boat launch parking lot

Can you guess how many public trash cans are found in the City of Hudson Boat Launch parking lot?

The curious case of a "church" and its dumpster

Holy trash!

This dumpster and its contents, located in the 600 block of Rope Alley behind a "church," are a real puzzle. The so-called church is a real puzzle, too. Both are suspicious puzzles. Even the name of the "church" is suspect: The First Church of God in Christ in Hudson. But I am suspicious of most religions.

Is this a code violation worthy of enforcing?

Garbage Alley

This house on Short Street at the alley was being cleaned out this week with the help of several dumpsters. When the dumpsters stopped appearing on Wednesday or Thursday, the mattress appeared. I could be wrong, but it seems that the mattress wouldn't fit into the final dumpster. But it doesn't matter who felt the need to leave the mattress squeezed between the house and the utility pole. What matters is how long it will take someone (perhaps DPW) to remove it. Or for Code Enforcement to force the homeowner to remove it.

I will remove this post when I notice that the mattress has been removed.

Setting a fine example

Let them rot!

These two attached houses at the corner of N. 5th and Prospect Streets comprise one property known as 70-72 N. 5th Street, owned by the Galvan Initiatives Fund since 2012.

This table in the 500 block pocket park has been covered in graffiti for well over a year. I made both the DPW and the Mayor's office aware of this long ago on multiple occasions, including pointing out the worst parts of what is written and drawn on it. I also pointed out to both of them that this park is the nearest public gathering space to City Hall.

Whatever!

The sharp corner of this sign for the municipal parking lot on Warren Street closest to 4th Street has been waiting to dig into someone's forehead, scalp or eyeball for at least 4 years, possibly much longer.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP [with 2 updates]

Did someone say something
about the need for a stop sign?

At the November 2022 Informal Common Council meeting, 4th ward alder Malachi Walker (and possibly 5th ward alder Vicky Daskaloudi) brought 2 traffic issues to HPD Police Chief Ed Moore's attention. Walker felt that the traffic headed east on Paddock Place at the intersection with Joslen Place (by the tennis courts) needed a stop sign, and that the end of 4th Street at State needed a NO TURN ON RED sign. Ed Moore said that he would notify Police Commissioner Shane Bower of these two issues since Mr. Bower was not at the meeting, neither in person nor on Zoom. According to our City Code, the Police Commissioner is the only official at City Hall who has the authority to order traffic control devices to be installed or modified.

How old are the bleachers?

As I recall, it was early last spring when the Hudson DPW replaced all 20 of the long wooden boards that make up the bleachers at Oakdale Park. The old boards were in really rough shape for years and had probably been installed decades ago. Not that anyone really uses the quaint bleachers except for the occasional fisherperson, but the wood certainly shouldn't look like crap or be full of splinters if the bleachers are going to remain. When I first saw the new, clean, smooth, splinter-free, varnished boards, I was impressed and proud. That warm, fuzzy feeling didn't last long, though.

These signs didn't suddenly
become unreadable last week

What happened to the grass?

This patch of grassless ground at Oakdale Park wasn't always so.

This is acceptable? In civilized society in the 21st century?

Galvan garbage

These pictures were taken behind the apartment complex known as 227-235 State Street, owned by Galvan Asset Management. You may recall that a dumpster behind the complex killed a private sanitation worker this past October -- the dumpster that Galvan's tenants could properly dispose of their bags of trash and loose trash. A few weeks after the deadly accident, the dumpster disappeared and another one has not appeared since then.

Why is this house not on the tax rolls?

This attractive house at the intersection of N. 5th and Rope alley, along with its property, is technically known as 61-65 N. 5th Street. The number on the front door says 63. According to public tax records, the house has been owned by the Galvan Initiatives Foundation since 2012. Last year it was assessed for $440,000, and it is completely tax exempt.

Perhaps Galvan's most attractive
tax-exempt property

There are at least 3 out-of-service
fire hydrants covered in plastic bags
in downtown Hudson

More free parking!
More missing revenue!

So this is how Hudson stays afloat

Perhaps, you too, dear readers, have recently noticed this white mini-Cooper parked downtown around the area of Warren and 6th. Besides being a cute little car, it catches my eye because it almost always has a HPD parking violation ticket on its windshield. It is rare not to see a ticket on it.

The Mini, aka, cash cow

More nonsense and headaches along the truck route

I came upon this accident scene a bit late, but according to an HPD Officer, a tractor trailer headed east on Columbia Street attempted to turn left on 4th, its tail clipping the utility pole at the southwest corner. Notice how the entire above-ground portion of the pole was simply shoved about two feet away by the force of the truck. Sheared off, moved, yet still standing, thanks to the wires attached to its top.

Before Kamal Johnson became Hudson mayor, there was only one parking space behind City Hall designated for the mayor, located in the municipal lot across Prison Alley.

Is Hudson really a CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY?

As I bicycled up Warren Street last Friday morning, I noticed a DPW employee get out of the white pickup pictured below and head across the street to City Hall. When I passed the pickup, I noticed that its engine was idling. The temperature was already in the 40's...

How long should this take?

There has been a large piece missing from the base of this street light pole for over a year. Unsurprisingly, the light atop the pole has been out for months. Get a close enough look, like from a child's perspective, and you can easily see, and easily touch, exposed live electric wires...

Would this also go ignored for over a year
if it were in front of City Hall?

Can you spot the new sign?

Will this help pedestrians
get across 3rd street safely?

A total of 20 small CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs were recently installed by the City of Hudson at 5 intersections along Warren Street between 3rd and 7th streets, with 4 signs at each intersection...

Breaking the unenforced "rules"

At 6:12 am
a clear breach of RULE #12

At 6:16 am, in the City Hall Municipal Parking Lot

From Warren Street this morning, I first heard the engine of this garbage truck as it made its way west on Union approaching the stop at 7th. Then its brakes squealed loudly....

It's a good thing that parking on the sidewalk is not acceptable on Warren Street

at the laundromat

Like our sidewalks aren't scary enough...

Expect more of this!

Now certain electric car owners feel they can charge up whenever and wherever they please, even if there is a charging station a half block away? Is it okay to string an extension cord across a sidewalk at night, or just during the day? And for how long?