A Little Too Much Roving, Yet Again

Once again, someone driving onto the sidewalk at 3rd and State has wreaked damage for DPW to deal with and spend money on.  While the trash can was mostly spared, the sign pole was not, and it surely saved the can from total obliteration.  Let's hope no one on the sidewalk or crossing the street was hit.

Welcome To Hudson! (Time For A Break)

I began HUDseen on February 6th, almost a year ago, with the same heading as above (though without the parenthetical).  It seems that little changes around here, at least for the better.  The rusty and unreadable sign along Route 9G that I first posted about is still there a year later, the same few out of service fire hydrants are still covered in plastic bags as if to beautify the city, our sidewalks continue to worsen, the 8.5 feet wide trailer still takes up one-third of the width of the truck route while parked near TSL, and sidewalks covered in ice and snow by the same property owners over and over are never a surprise.  I could go on and on.  Maybe in a year, if we are lucky, the orange cone trapped on a pole underneath a recently installed parking meter will still be there in front of City Hall, and perhaps Hudseen will provide an updated picture then.  But for now, don't expect as many articles as I have been churning out for the past year.  It's time for me to step back and take a break.  

If something comes along that I feel the need to report on, I will likely do so.  It just won't be a daily effort anymore.   Stay tuned if you can, and thanks for reading even if you despise what I write.  (My favorite comment from an anonymous reader came recently in the form of a simple "SHUT UP!" -- twice, possibly from the same person.  I must have been doing something right, and my break is in no way a reaction to that comment!)

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!  And if you see something that might be appropriate to feature in HUDseen, by all means contact me at huston.bill@gmail.com!   Thanks, be well, and get outside as often and as far away from screens and concrete as you possibly can!!!

Huh?

 

This puzzling, bizarre and creepy sign was seen yesterday on a lamppost in front of the diner in downtown Valatie.  It appears to have been installed not by some random person, the diner nor a  fringe conspiracy group, but by local officials.

Is Used Cooking Oil Flammable, Combustible, Or Just Ugly?

Where and for how long is used oil allowed 
to be stored outside in the City of Hudson?

It was at least four months ago when I first noticed two nearly full containers of used cooking oil on the ground outside a side door to the Hudson Central Fire Station at the corner of Washington & North 7th.  Now there are eight of them, with only the eaves above offering protection.  Since meals are served to the elderly every weekday in the building, I'm thinking that some food is prepared in an oil fryer. Of course, the building is also the temporary location of City Hall offices.

Used cooking oil, also known as waste.

Is the person in charge of the meal preparation hoping that someone will come along and take the oil containers away sometime this year?  Or are they storing their used oil outside without any plan to dispose of it properly?  Would they be okay if some rascally children decided to dump all the oil in the street or on the sidewalk and see what happens to the next vehicle or pedestrian that passes?  Would the important people in City Hall (that building!) be okay if every eatery in town that produces used cooking oil just left their containers outside for months, 25 feet from a sidewalk for all to see and with no plan for proper disposal?  What would Kamal Johnson say, if anything?  Hell, maybe that's the oil he's been using to grease the wheels of his fine-tuned political machine!

Galvan Cares! City Hall Cares, Too!

On Thursday, I had the fortune of seeing and walking around these bags full of garbage on the sidewalk of the 300 block of Columbia Street, gifts from the tenants of a Galvan-owned property.  The 5 bags (and any that may be added) will remain through the weekend and beyond, likely until Tuesday when DPW is scheduled to remove trash on the north side of the city.  

And Another Two Months Later...

This unwelcome graffiti still on a downtown public trash can lid begs a question or two, doesn't it?  If every lid of every public trash can in the city had an F-bomb painted on it in clear letters, would DPW still do nothing?  One F-bomb is acceptable to DPW for 6 months or more.  Would fifty of them scattered all over town, including lining both sides of Warren Street, also be acceptable for several months?  You gotta wonder what DPW's policy is in regard to graffiti on public property, especially the vulgar stuff.   That is, of course, if they even have a policy or sensible approach to the most unwelcome types of graffiti. 

If someone were to write "I LOVE HITLER" in large bright letters on a trash lid, would DPW ignore that, too?  Does Robert Perry care what the city looks like?  Does he understand what a quality-of-life issue is?  Where is his office where he sits and works -- does anyone know?

Was It Aliens? Or Just Another Truck Straying Off The Truck Route?

Somewhere around 9:00 tonight, the wooden utility pole at the southwest corner of 7th & State was sheared apart about 6 feet above its base. When I arrived, there were no signs of any vehicles having caused the damage. There was no one there besides firemen and National Grid workers surveying the scene. No wires, electric or otherwise, were on the ground and electricity to neighbors was not disrupted.

More On Last Year's Expensive Mudslide!

One expensive new hill!

In the future, Hudseen will likely offer a comprehensive dive into how much money DPW Superintendent Robert Perry cost the city with his wonderful idea to allow all sorts of unregulated dirt and debris to be dumped into the Washington Street lot in 2022.  For now, though, let's take a look at how much Colarusso charged the city for pipe work, excavation and grading of the area over the course of 5 days in mid-December which may have been the end of work at the site.

What Can I Say?

It's difficult to know where to begin to try to make sense of an issue related to parking that was brought up at the city's most recent formal council meeting, but I'll try my best.  And since matters related to parking seem to be spiraling out of control lately thanks to the continued poorly structured approach to parking matters in the City of Hudson, I thought I would start with some recent history and context before moving on to what transpired at last week's meeting. 

An Unwelcome Curiosity, For Far Too Long!

Does anyone know what purpose, if any, the small, blank, red square signs below many of our DEAD END signs serve?  Are the red signs simply meant to draw attention to the yellow signs above?

Hudson, We Have A Serious Problem! And For Far Too Long! (with apologies!)

(Apologies to anyone who read the sloppy, unedited version of this article that I did not mean to publish.  This is the final draft, and some pictures have been added.)

Unless otherwise noted, all pictures were taken 4 days after last Tuesday's 2 inches of snow fell.

It seems to me that if the city were serious about enforcing codes meant to keep our sidewalks clear of snow and ice after -- and often well after -- snowfall, our Code Enforcment Office would focus on the property owners who make up the majority of property owners who fail to keep their sidewalks maintained properly.   These properties are easy to identify after -- and often well after -- snowfall, because it's the same thing year after year and snowfall after snowfall: without exception, snow and ice always remains uncleared on the sidewalk.  Repeat offenders.  The low hanging fruit.  Consistent, perennial code violators making things dangerous for others.  The city/the Code Enforcement Office should be well of these properties and who the owners are, and their phone numbers should be available on speed dial.  If they are aware, they are doing little to nothing to stop the consistent problem we are all forced to try to walk on and try not fall on our chins.  Year after year and snowfall after snowfall, even if just 2 inches of the white stuff falls.

Do You Suppose This Is How Things Are Handled Elsewhere, Too?

Last year the stairs were off limits. 
This year they are partially cleared, full
 of ice and snow and ready to be walked on!

Sometime yesterday, the day after DPW cleared Promenade Park's ADA ramps of snow while ignoring all the stairs, they thought better and decided to clear the stairs of Tuesday's 2 inches of snow.

They ran into a little problem they likely had not anticipated, however. 

With Neighbors Like This....

Okay, imagine it's a really dark night.
What do you see?

Since late 2019 when the Hudson Islamic Center purchased the vacant lot at the southwest corner of the intersection of Columbia & South 3rd Street, they have had a really difficult time understanding that it is their responsibility to clear the snow off of the sidewalks surrounding their property. 

An Attempt To Set The Record Straight With Facts (As Well As Offering My Opinion Of A Council Member)

Readers may be aware of the disturbance I caused at the Informal Common Council meeting 2 months ago.  (Though my contention is that I was not the only person in the room to create the disturbance, I'm not here to get into any of that aspect of the meeting or try to persuade anyone's opinion of who, if anyone, was at fault.)  You may have also read a front-page article in the Register-Star two days later about my "outburst" which briefly disrupted the meeting.  It's always interesting to read about oneself and one's actions in the newspaper, not only to see how the author might get things wrong, but also to read what people interviewed for the article have to say about you and how they recall interacting with you.  The article, written by Jammel Cutler, was interesting to me in those regards, mostly because it was full of blatantly false statements and accusations. 

Gee Thanks, Mullen!

On the coldest day of the winter so far?

This morning, almost inexplicably, National Grid's contractor Mullen was back at work on Warren Street trying to get at pipes and gas valves below our streets and sidewalks. I wonder if it's ever too cold or snowy for them to be doing this kind of work involving their natural gas infrastructure. (The work National Grid's contractors have been doing since September is NOT the result of an emergency situation. It is a preventative maintenance effort that did not have to take place so late in the year. The NY State Public Service Department has ordered all gas utilities in the state to upgrade their lines by replacing old metal pipes with new plastic pipes.)

More Improvements At City Hall Revealed!

You may recall in past winters that the sidewalk in front of City Hall on Warren Street was always clear of snow, slush and ice before, during and after snowfalls.  Except for the marble steps, DPW didn't have to worry about clearing snow at City Hall, thanks to a radiant heating system below the sidewalk.  If there was one thing we could count on in this world, it was a 10-foot-wide sidewalk in front of City Hall always free of snow and ice.  The pride of Hudson!  Sadly, this appears to not be the case anymore. 

Not Much We Can Do About This, Either: Our Streets Are Becoming More and More Unsafe.

Brake lights of a car headed north on 5th
Street before turning onto Columbia

On Saturday night at about 6:00, as I approached the intersection of 5th & Warren on foot, I watched as a car headed west on Warren turned onto North Fifth headed north in the wrong direction. I yelled "wrong way" at the driver as loud as I could, but to no avail.

Not Much We Can Do About It, It Seems

With the parking lot full of water, this was 
as close as I could get to the boat club

Here are two pictures taken on Saturday at 5:45 pm, near high tide, of the boat club building next to the Riverfront Park.  All but a sliver of the club's parking lot was covered in water, water was up to the bottom inch or two of the front door, and the porch on the north side of the building was under water.  Also, half of the peninsula in the park was inundated.  This was definitely a few inches higher than what I saw and reported about on Wednesday.  And from the looks of the debris left behind in the park, the water had risen even higher than what I had witnessed!

What "Work?" What "Progress?" What "Community?"

It's so reassuring to see that Galvan's "work in progress" hotel/restaurant/bar project is moving right along well over a year after the Planning Board gave them the green light for their plans at 4th & Warren.

Maybe Someone Will Magically Appear. Like Superman, Perhaps?

The City of Hudson has been without a DPW Commissioner for over 3 months since Peter Bujanow (and Kamal Johnson?) left the position vacant.     

And The Sign Of The Year Award Goes To...

Over the past 11 months, Hudseen has run a semi-regular feature titled Sign of the Month, spotlighting obscene and laughable signs put up, or allowed to remain up, by the city along our streets and sidewalks.  Being that we just bid farewell to 2023, I thought I would belatedly try to nominate the worst sign the city had to offer last year.  While there are many candidates to choose from, I whittled the nominees down to just two.

Ever Get The Sense That Someone At City Hall Is Not Paying Attention At All?

Here's a real head scratcher.

There are three distinct properties (parcels) associated with the Columbia County Human Services Building at 325 Columbia Street, two of them being parking lots.  If you were to assume, as I did until recently, that all 3 parcels belong to Columbia County, you would be mistaken.  And forgiven.

We Will Have To Get Used To This (And Worse)

 

These pictures were taken late this morning in the Riverfront Park, about two hours before the high tide.  We are in a new moon phase, which has just as much effect on tides as the full moon does. (I only just learned this about the new moon.)

Why Would Anyone Consider Being Our DPW Commissioner?

A lovely tripping hazard on the sidewalk 
in front of the Youth Center on 3rd Street

There wasn't much excitement at the informal council meeting last night, not like there usually is.  For one, Robert Perry didn't offer a report, because, apparently, he is on vacation.  Also, public participation was non-existent, and it looks like the new crop of council members are ready to sleepwalk through the next two years as they had little to nothing to say or ask.  I think I heard crickets every time Tom asked the council if they had anything to ask of the department heads.  

There's A Right Way And A Wrong Way To Do ONE WAY!

Continuing with my effort to highlight the failures our DPW makes in keeping our streets as safe as possible, let's look at some one-way streets and ONE WAY signs around town.   ONE WAY signs are particularly important (even if often ignored) as anyone who spends time walking and/or driving in downtown Hudson knows all too well that drivers headed the wrong way on our one-way streets is a common problem.  Surely, Robert Perry at DPW must be aware of the issue and doing his best to prevent wrong way drivers and accidents.  (I won't even begin to assume that Shane Bower is aware of this issue or would even care about it if he were aware of it.)

Add Another Two Feet To One Side. Subtract Another Two Feet From The Other.

The trailer, and the snow
surrounding it, now occupies
at least 11 feet of the width 
of the truck route near the middle of the 400 block of
 Columbia Street.  That is 
OVER one third of the width.

Correction On That Trailer (And More On That Trailer)

An astute reader informed me of erroneous data I included in recent Hudseen articles regarding the food trailer parked on the truck route.  While I got a measurement wrong by a foot and a half, the conclusions I drew from that incorrect number are, I think, still valid and worthwhile. Maybe even still accurate!

Who's The Slob At City Hall?

Sometime within the past few weeks, our DPW installed 2 new signs (including new poles) where no signs had existed, on Warren and on South 6th Street.  The signs, both meant to prevent parking, were erected along yellowed curbs (and one already with a handicap parking symbol on the pavement) that any reasonable driver would recognize as NO PARKING ZONES.  It's difficult to regard the signs as critical, or even necessary, but DPW (or Shane Bower, perhaps) felt they were needed.

Yay! More Great Coffee! Served In More Great Disposable Coffee Cups! Yay Yay!

There will always be plenty of space for more
 throwaway coffee cups! And the plastic lids, too!

It's As If They WANT There To Be Vehicle Accidents

On City Commissioners and Our Mayor's Empty, Absurd and Laughable Comment

I got a good laugh recently when I listened carefully to the YouTube video of November's Informal Common Council meeting.  That was the meeting during which I was asked to leave when things got too loud or vulgar or disruptive (or all of the above) for some in attendance.  After the Fire Chief's report and a wild, baseless claim (and rude interruption) by 3rd ward council member Ryan Wallace, our dear mayor's voice suddenly appeared on the speaker in the middle of the room, and this is what he said, speaking about me: