There has been a floating dock in Oakdale Lakes' swimming area for the twelve years that I've been in Hudson (and likely a whole lot longer), though I've never seen it remain in the water beyond mid-November. It typically spends the cold months on the beach. Leaving the dock in the water this late in the year is an absolutely stupid and careless thing to do, unless of course you are a city with unlimited funds and with the ability and means to neglect expensive things and replace them at will.
A few things should be noted here. First, that dock is a very new replacement of an old one; this past swimming season was its first or second year of use. I remember coming across the recently delivered pieces of the dock in the Oakdale parking lot and bemoaning the fact that they were all made of plastic (and wrapped in plastic). If that delivery wasn't made early this year, it was early in 2024. Whether taxpayers paid for that dock or it was donated is irrelevant. It has value, perhaps several hundreds of dollars, and Hudson residents (and City Hall) should expect it to last decades. All of it.
The deck of the dock, which appears to me to also be new, rests on the new plastic blocks. Plastic becomes brittle in the cold, and ice can crush plastic if temperatures get cold enough for long enough. If the dock is surrounded by ice, there is no way to remove it to the beach for the winter. It simply shouldn't be out there right now. Only a wasteful slob, wasteful slobs or a wasteful City Hall would allow this to happen.
Also, doesn't a floating dock in the middle of a lake signal that swimming is allowed and welcome? And wouldn't many boys and girls be tempted to walk on ice to get to a floating dock to play around on it, perhaps in response to a dare and possibly with a few friends by their side? Back in the day, my curious, fearless and adventuresome10-year-old friends and I would have jumped at the chance! That floating dock surrounded by ice is an invitation to death, particularly for children. Of course, neither Kamal Johnson, Rob Perry, Calvin Lewis nor city attorney Andy Howard see it that way.
That the new dock is still in the lake in mid-December, possibly never to be removed, should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention to recent Common Council meetings and the news coming out of 520 Warren Street. Hudson City Hall has serious money management and attention problems, as evidenced by the recent (and seemingly sudden) budget and revenue troubles that have come to light. Spending money we don't have is one of City Hall's strengths. Wasting money we do have comes in a strong second place. Poor maintenance (or none at all) of city property comes in third.
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| At least 3 years. UN-FUCKING-ACCEPTABLE and STUPID! |
The forlorn-looking dock still floating in Oakdale Lake -- is it resting on ice or surrounded by it? -- serves as a perfect illustration of how we've gotten to this point of dire fiscal unsustainability. The new dock is stuck out there, and it can't be removed. Someone doesn't care if it gets destroyed. Someone isn't paying attention but should be. Of course, come spring, there's a chance the new dock may be destroyed. Then Calvin Lewis and Rob Perry will have no choice but to remove the new dock from the lake and send it to a landfill. How much would that cost taxpayers, do you suppose? Maybe come June 2026 there will be no floating dock in the lake at all because the new one is useless and the city can't afford to buy a new one. Or maybe this happens in 2027, 3 years after the plastic floating dock was purchased. And who, if anyone, would take the blame and face censure (from whom?).
The other thing to note about the dock is that the Hudson Youth Department is responsible for maintaining all of Oakdale Park, a reality that needs to end. Obviously, the Youth Department can't remove that dock from the lake; it's always been done by DPW, and I can't imagine that they haven't gotten pretty good at removing it from the water fairly quickly well before the fucking lake freezes over. One wonders what, if anything, our new Youth Director, Calvin Lewis, has done about contacting Rob Perry to get his department to remove the dock. Has there been any communication between the two, and if so, in what form did it take place? Texting? Emails? Voicemail messages? Nothing at all? Don't bother calling -- it's much too late to remove the dock now. 
"I dare you to run out to the dock, Joey!"
An invitation to death by drowning.
One has to wonder how Rob Perry might feel about working with and communicating with Calvin Lewis. (I have been told by a city employee in the know that Rob Perry is notoriously difficult to work and communicate with. He was described as creating "personality conflicts."). Because how it could be that the new dock -- primarily made of plastic -- has been in the icy lake for the past few weeks as if it's been completely forgotten about, like it doesn't even exist or have any value? If Calvin reached out to Rob months ago to be sure the dock was taken out of the lake, Rob has ignored him. And if Calvin never reached out to Rob, you have to wonder what the hell is going on at City Hall. Should Rob Perry even need to be reminded every August or September to be sure to remove the dock soon and most certainly before ice arrives?
Poor (or no) communication and/or personality clashes shouldn't cause financial problems for the city, should they? Is Calvin a slob of the same magnitude that Rob Perry is? Should city taxpayers have to pay for these two city officials' sloppy mistakes, negligence and inability to communicate? At what point is enough enough?
I, for one, have never been impressed by Calvin Lewis as someone who is on the ball, starting when he was a 3rd ward council member several years ago. He's had his opportunities to impress me but failed, for what it's worth. He may be on the ball, but I haven't seen it. But in the larger scheme of things, should any Youth Department Director in an office on the south end of town be expected to keep an eye on a floating dock and everything else in an enormous public park located on the north side of town 52 weeks of every year? Of course not!
This year's Oakdale Lake swimming season ended at least 3 months ago. DPW removed the several enormous and heavy floating docks along the shore of the Hudson River well over one month ago -- possibly two -- about the same time as they do every year. Why didn't DPW leave those docks in the water for the winter as well? Perhaps Rob Perry could explain. And maybe Calvin Lewis can tell us how much, if at all, he values that floating dock still in Oakdale Lake and how much money the city spent on it. Give us one good reason it needs to be in the icy lake right now and for the remainder of the winter. Don't count on any sensible responses or understanding of what is going on, though. Rarely is anyone in City Hall ever held accountable for mistakes they've made or things they've intentionally ignored that need to be replaced prematurely. Or for allowing ugliness to stick around for far too long.
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| The event advertised was held two months ago. Please take the fucking sign down! Save it for next year or discard it, please! Don't be a slob, please! Have a little respect for the park and park patrons, please, if it's possible! |
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