So Much For Overnight Alternate Side Parking!

This morning, like most car owners in town, I dug my car out of the nine or more inches of snow that fell last night.  While I didn't need to drive anywhere, I did want to get my car parked on the other side of the street to avoid being ticketed tonight. Everyone who left their car parked on the odd side of State Street last night, like me, was obeying the overnight parking rule which allowed DPW to clear snow off of the even side of the street, right up to the curb.  The general idea is that with cars parked on one side of the street, DPW clears the snow off the empty parking spaces on the other side that Rob Perry expects us all to park in the following night, right?  We all want to do what is right by parking on the right (not wrong) side of the street!  The overnight parking rule on any street is not meant to allow DPW to clear traffic lanes of snow, it only allows them to clear the snow out of empty parking spaces.  Correct?

Deep snow 4 feet away from the curb 12
hours after the snow stopped falling.

Then why was there well over one foot of snow covering more than 4 feet of the street from the curb on the even side of upper State Street this morning when I flipped my car to that side?  Why was such a large width of so many parking spaces unplowed by DPW last night?  Didn't all of us law abiding citizens helpfully stay out of the DPW snowplows' way last night -- as we are told to do lest we be ticketed again -- so that they could clear parking spaces for us to park safely in today and into tomorrow without our cars being parked 4 or 5 feet from the curb?  Weren't we holding up our part of the overnight parking bargain which goes something like we help you so you can help us?  Didn't we all abide by your parking rule last night, Mr. Perry, so that your snowplows could clear most if not all of the snow from much needed public parking spaces on the even side of the street?

If you think State Street is a mess, the parking situation on Warren Street today (a very busy Saturday) was ridiculous.  It appears that DPW stuck to their leave the snow 4-feet from the curb rule on the north side of Warren as they had on State, not holding up their part of the bargain for residents living there, either.  As you can imagine, the south side of the street was even worse!  It was almost comical watching drivers -- visitors primarily --  trying to park and get out of spaces.  Open a passenger side door of a parked car on either side of the street?  FORGET ABOUT IT!  NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

Could DPW's failure to adequately clear snow off of at least several streets in town last night be due to the fact that the area where they normally dump accumulated plowed snow has been taken over by a new business complex desperate for parking for their customers (restaurant, hotel, bar, etc.)?  This afternoon, I took the above picture of the Firestation lot on Washington Street, and it was the first time in 10 years I have seen the typically empty lot unusable by DPW soon after a heavy snowstorm.  Until this month, that entire lot was there for the people of Hudson in the case of emergencies, for parking for public meetings and, perhaps most importantly, for DPW to be able to easily dump tons of accumulated snow to GET IT OFF OF OUR STREETS and COMPLETELY OUT OF THE PARKING SPACES NEARLY EVERYONE RELIES ON.  That once empty lot had a purpose for DPW and the taxpaying citizens of Hudson.  It made life better for us all, and it made DPW's work easier.  Not anymore.  (Early this year well after a late winter snow, there were two enormous mounds of snow in the back of that lot.)

Hey, at least we got another hotel, wellness center, restaurant and la de da out of the deal!  A business complex in a dense residential area meant for people who do not live in Hudson, including many who don't even live in New York State.  Sounds like a bargain; perhaps the best Hudson has ever had.