Just Another Sunday In The Park

As I reported last Tuesday, the bane of the 7th Street Park, Michael A. Madison, was released from jail that day.  His mental health counselor, Jill Potter, agreed to pick him up at the jail.  She works for the Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties, which is located next to the Hudson police station on Union Street.

2 days later, as I expected, I noticed Madison sitting by himself on the bench he frequents in the 7th Street Park, directly across Columbia Street from the Citgo gas station and convenience beer store. Then, late Sunday morning, I noticed Madison sitting on the same bench.  Neither time did he appear to be drinking alcohol.  Later in the day, as I was passing the park,  I saw Madison sitting on the other bench along Columbia Street with a woman, both eating food from a paper bag.  By 6:30 that evening, Madison was passed out on a bench near Warren Street.

In the past 6 months I have never seen as much litter in the park as I did on Sunday evening.  It was truly obscene!  During the 6 months prior to Sunday, I have not come across any empty bottles of vodka, or any type of hard liquor, in the park. (Madison, as I have come to observe over the years, prefers vodka.)  In the past 6 months, I have not seen one person passed out on any of the benches in the 7th Street Park.  In the past 6 months, I have only had to make one phone call to the Hudson Police Department about rule breaking "patrons" in the park (those violators being Madison's "friends").  Yesterday, with Madison having been out of jail for just 5 days, I called HPD about him passed out on the bench.  2 officers in one squad car arrived within 5 minutes to wake Madison from his stupor and move him along.

Mostly sticky buns from the free fridge a block away, 
which seems to be Michael Madison's main source of food.

The only conclusion I can come to about this obscene and disturbing situation is that the City of Hudson simply doesn't know what it is doing.  It has thrown in the towel on Michael Madison and the 7th Street Park.  Short of responding to calls about Madison, HPD does nothing proactively to curtail his behavior or anyone else's.  They say they can't do anything about him, "because of bail reform."

If you search Michael Madison Hudson online, a few things of interest appear.  One, a May 2013 police blotter from The Upstater.com, indicates that Michael Madison, 35 years old at the time, was arrested by HPD officer William Wrigley in the 7th Street Park.  Apparently, Madison was charged with petit larceny and 5th degree criminal possession of stolen property for "stealing someone's laptop and various coins."  Ten years later, as Hudseen reported last week, Madison was in city court dealing with criminal charges, including possession of stolen property, menacing and weapons possession, as well as dozens of (ultimately meaningless) violations.  Also, Madison, completely drunk at the time, sucker punched me twice in the head on the afternoon of June 26th last year.  I had just taken a picture of him urinating on Warren Street in an unoccupied parking space next to the park.  Literally, urinating on Warren street on a Sunday in broad daylight!

Should we feel sorry for this person anymore?

The other thing you will see online about Madison (besides his NY State sex offender registry info and picture) is a Register-Star article from March of 2022 about his arrest at a hotel in Claverack.  Apparently, he broke down the hotel room door of a woman and attacked her.  Madison, already a registered sex offender at the time, was charged with sexual assault and burglary.  My understanding (though I could be wrong) is that earlier this year Madison was found incompetent to stand trial in Claverack for these two charges, so they were dropped, and he did little to no time for those crimes.  Subsequently, though, the Hudson City Court did find him competent to stand trial for his few charges here.  Last Tuesday, Madison pled guilty to one of those (reduced) charges and Judge Connor sentenced him to "time served" after Madison had spent 6 months in jail awaiting his "trial."

It's just a matter of time before something truly tragic and regrettable occurs in the 7th Street Park.  Afterwards, of course, the only comment coming from City Hall or the Hudson Police Chief will be:  "There's nothing we can do about these people," which is also a direct quote from our former Police Chief Ed Moore.  In the meantime, though, who the hell wants to be in that park, surrounded by such degradation, disrespectful behavior, litter and lawlessness? 

 Addendum:  A few days after publishing this article, I saw Madison sitting on the bench in front of the hair salon located across Park Place from the park.  He had a cigarette in one hand and a tall can of beer in the other -- not an uncommon sight.  Welcome to Hudson.  12 minutes after I called HPD about Madison drinking in public, I saw an HPD officer writing Madison a ticket, likely for the violation known as open container.  Two, possibly three, officers had arrived in two HPD vehicles.

Anyone who is issued a violation ticket by HPD is also given a court date to appear in Hudson City Court.  Madison never shows up for his court dates, and it doesn't seem to matter to him or the court that he doesn't.  He'll continue his nonsense and unwelcome behavior in and near the park and HPD will continue to spend time dealing with him over and over and over again, putting our tax dollars to splendid use and not seeming to mind one bit or try to do anything about the ugly situation with Michael Madison and others in and near the park.