Is This Why National Grid Is Requesting A Rate Hike From The NYS Department of Public Service?

 

I wonder how much money National Grid spent this past August "repairing" the huge sinkhole along the de facto public trail on their property behind Oakdale Lake.  Workers, machinery, gravel and fill, days of work, yellow caution tape and dozens of NO TRESPASSING signs (which all soon disappeared) all add up to a few dollars, don't it?  Oh, and don't forget the magenta paint sprayed on the trail (on the fucking dirt!) from the spray paint can that ended up in the turtle pond that they PARTIALLY own.  That paint vanished a lot quicker than the floating can in the pond did, surprise fucking surprise!  (read here: Paint in the Pond!)

What Is Rob Perry Paid Over $117,000 To Care About? And Why Do We Even Have A Mayor?

If memory serves me well, the city recently spent $800,000 to replace a Civil War-era stone sewer under and near Union Street's 400 block that had been the cause of at least a few regularly flooding basements in the middle of the block. Our DPW Superintendent, Rob Perry, was forced by the NY State DEC to hire contractors to figure out the problem and replace the ancient sewer that he eventually admitted at a council meeting or two of not being aware of. 

I Tried To Warn Them! Now I Am Back Again!

On Tuesday, November 5th of this year, at 10:00 am, there was a two-car crash at the intersection of 5th & State.  From inside the Hudson Area Library, I heard the unmistakable sound of vehicles impacting one another and I knew exactly what, where and why it had happened.  Unsurprisingly, what I did not hear prior to the impact was the sound of horns being blown or car tires skidding from sudden braking.  The crash played out just as I had known it would.  You see, I had been warning the Hudson Police Department and others at City Hall for months via email with pictures that a crash (not an "accident") of just the type that occurred was inevitable.  My warnings fell on deaf ears, apparently.

A Holiday Gift From City Hall. OR, You Can Lead A Horse To Water...

The red underneath the ice and snow on the sidewalk in front of the Hudson Youth Center on South 3rd Street that you can see in the picture taken today, 4 days after less than one inch of snow fell, is a brand new ADA curb ramp detection pad. It was installed about a month ago by the city-hired paving contractor who completely replaced at least 5 feet of that sidewalk to bring it up to ADA compliance to satisfy one of the Department of Justice's many demands to improve our sidewalks for EVERYONE, including the disabled. 

Isn't It True That Stewart's...

... pitched in tens of thousands of dollars to help improve the eponymous intersection to make it SAFER FOR PEDESTRIANS?

Down On The Corner Where Our "Mayor," DPW and CEO Can't Be Found. PORTRAITS OF A FAILING CITY!

 

Want to get a sense of how bad things presently are in Hudson City Hall?  Don't bother going to 520 Warren where everything will appear just fine!  Instead, head to the intersection of 6th & Columbia and have a look around.  Be careful where you step or place your hands, though!

Is Hudson's Food Desert Widening?

 

The Further Degredation and Plastification of Hudson, America, The Earth and Our Sidewalks

 

When I first visited Hudson in the early aughts, one of the first sights that impressed me most were the public trash receptacles lining Warren Street and some side streets.  They were unique, attractive, the visible parts were completely made of wood, well maintained, and they seemed to fit the character of the historic funky old town that I knew nothing about.  These were no run-of-the-mill sidewalk trash receptacles ordered from a catalog.  Someone, probably a group of people, with a sense of style, class, design and the common good had obviously given some consideration to them, possibly long ago.  But what I didn't know then that I know now is that Rob Perry was not the Hudson DPW Superintendent (nor council president) at the time I first had the pleasure of gazing upon Hudson's public trash receptacles, and that he likely had no involvement in the decision to choose the wood receptacles.  For the past several years it has been my sense that Mr. Perry doesn't care what our trash receptacles look or feel like or what materials they are made of, nor does he seem to care what other people think our trash cans should or will look like.  As of a few days ago when I noticed a DPW crew on Warren Street installing a trash receptacle made mostly of plastic, my hunch became a certainty.  He doesn't care one bit.  

Another Reason I Wish Hudson Were Within Biking Distance Of Albany

 

Welcome To DSON, NY (and Back To HUDseen!)