Hello? Does Anyone Know What They're Talking About? And Why Does It Look As Though The Police Chief Didn't Know What She Was Getting Herself Into?

 

Friday's Times Union article on the first page of the REGION section, titled "Hudson's overhauled parking system draws complaints," was interesting (and concerning) for a number of reasons.  At the top of the list is that no one from the public nor the Police Department and its Parking Bureau was quoted in the article.  It's a little odd that the article's author, Nora Mishanec, either didn't reach out to anyone at HPD -- Chief Mishanda Franklin, Clerk and Parking Clerk (Supervisor?) Doreen Danforth or Captain David Miller (who was quoted in a recent Register-Star article about parking) -- or they weren't interested in talking to her on the record.  Instead, three Common Council members were the spokespeople for HPD and all things regarding paid parking.  

Did They Consider Anything Else Besides All The Zeroes?

The mountain of snow that DPW created on December 29th and 30th in the dirt lot on Washington Street across from the Firestation (hereafter referred to as "the city's lot") didn't shrink much at all before several more inches of snow were added to it yesterday.  While DPW can't make that mountain any taller with all the tons of snow they will be collecting today and for the next several days, the mountain will certainly widen, and by quite a bit. Count on it: the impressive mountain of snow that has been in the lot for the past month will likely more than double in size by the end of this week.  We got 9 inches of snow in late December; 12 or more inches arrived yesterday. (Early yesterday, while at its base, I estimated the wide mountain of collected snow to be at least 12 feet tall at its highest points.  Today it is probably closer to 13 or 14 feet.)

The Wrong Department For The Wrong Job!

All the recent talk and delay updates from the Hudson Police Department (!) regarding the city's wonderful new parking payment program is focused on on-street parking payment issues, absolutely none of it having to do with parking lots.  Since I haven't heard a peep about the city's five downtown parking lots in months, I guess everything is taken care of with them and there's no need to worry about them anymore.  Surely, by now all the necessary scannable signs (the same signs as seen along Warren Street) are up so that people parking in the lots can easily and quickly pay for a parking space with their phone or be directed to the kiosks, right?  Surely, HPD doesn't have any more work to do in any parking lots, do they?  Heck, the kiosks for the lots were installed 7 months ago!  Surely, the HPD parking gurus have done all they can do in our parking lots so they can concentrate on on-street parking matters and signs exclusively, right?  Surely, they've crossed parking lots off of their TO DO list, right?

The Pocketbook Hudson Hotel and Baths: The Gift That Keeps On Giving To The Neighborhood!

I'll try to make this quick.  (It won't be easy!)

A few weeks ago, I noticed a wonderful and unexpected development in my neighborhood that we should all be happy about.  Of course, this could happen in your neighborhood (if it hasn't already).   

Who Might The Keeper of the $10,000 Kiosks Be? Anyone?

Yesterday afternoon, I noticed a few interesting things about each of the $10,000 parking kiosks in front of the two parking lots on Warren Street.  One wonders if the person in charge of the kiosks had noticed the same things as I did.  (Is it safe to say that there is someone at HPD in charge of looking after our expensive new parking kiosks?)

The Fun Has Begun!

Make no doubt about it, while DPW workers have installed the new scannable parking signs on city-owned streetlight poles along all 9 blocks of Warren, they were getting their orders (or should have been) from the Hudson Police Department as to where those signs were to be installed.  The primary concerns with signs are which streetlight poles (if not all) get them and how many signs are put on those poles (1 or 2).  You don't want too many signs (where they're not needed) nor too few of them (missing where they are needed).  6 weeks ago, the stated plan from HPD Captain David Miller was to have all the signs installed on the tops of parking meter poles.  Then it wasn't the plan. 

WTF HPD & DPW?

 

On Thursday morning at 10:00, I noticed two parked cars that had been ticketed for remaining overnight on the so-called wrong side of the street, one on Warren and the other on North 6th.  As you can see, the cars had not been in the way of any DPW snowplows.  And because DPW's street sweeper does not operate in cold temperatures, the cars were not in the way of the sweeper, either. But HPD ticketed them each $15 anyway, all for doing nothing wrong in the early morning hours while all DPW personnel, including Rob Perry, were fast asleep. Common sense and logic dictate that there can be no "wrong" side of the street to park on if parked cars are not in DPW's way.  If neither the DPW street sweeper nor the DPW snowplows are out, HPD should not be issuing overnight WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets!  How can you argue otherwise?

How's That 2026 DPW Budget Looking? Will It Cover Everything?

The photo above was taken sometime in October, no more than a week after DPW painted a yellow median line and white stop line on Railroad Avenue where none ever existed.  That curious city street cannot be characterized as being busy with vehicle traffic by anyone's standards, even now that some Depot Loft tenants are driving on its end to and from the new 9-space parking area 100 feet from 7th Street.  (That new parking area of Galvan's forced DPW to paint the street and install a stop sign, all paid for by city taxpayers, no doubt.)  The yellow line was installed by DPW to let all drivers know that the street is (and always has been) 2-way, which it had never been thought of as (I know, it's damn confusing!).  It was installed to make the street safer, particularly for the morning crush of DSS employees entering Railroad Avenue from 7th to get to the DSS parking lot further north who had always considered the street to be one way even though there never had been any ONE WAY signs posted anywhere near the intersection.

Did They Bother Telling Anyone? Or Did They Just Go Ahead And Do It On Their Own?

Did Sean Roland and Gabe Katz, the developers behind the Pocketbook Hudson Hotel and Baths, inform the Hudson Planning Board four years ago that they would need to install a manhole cover on their new sidewalk at the corner or 6th & Prospect, at the southeast corner of the building?  Was this detail included in the Pocketbook's site plans that were ultimately approved by the Planning Board?  

Dear Mayor Ferris:

 

Since I see you walking around town regularly, I can only imagine -- particularly now that you are the mayor -- that the level of litter and messes you see and step around concerns you, just as it concerns and irks me and many other city residents.  I also hope that you want to get something done about these issues to make the city a less messy, littered place.  If so, I am here to help you in that effort (and help you are going to need!). 

What I have been aware of for many years may be a surprise to you, as it initially was for me: a cause of the litter problem here in Hudson actually comes from your Department of Public Works.  They are not part of the solution to litter and unwanted sights; they are CLEARLY part of the problem.  For the well-being of Hudson and its residents, as well as the future viability of the city, I hope you will agree with me when I say that this obscene behavior by DPW must end.

Sidewalk Gone For Years, Trees Gone Forever! When Will This Nonsense End?

This is the second consecutive winter that pedestrians have been without a concrete sidewalk in front of 20 and 22 North Fifth Street for reasons that I am not aware of other than no one inside City Hall seems to care how long sidewalks remains missing, how dangerous they are or if they've been replaced with asphalt. The long stretch of sidewalk was torn out and replaced with stones sometime in the fall of 2024 before renovation work began on the two houses.  Why remove the sidewalk before beginning the project rather than after?  Your guess is as good as mine.  How about:  Because anyone can!

Got Glasses? Cell Phone? Binoculars? Ladder? Patience?

If both parking spaces facing the two scannable signs on the pole are occupied simultaneously, won't the vehicles be in the way of people trying to pay to park WITH THEIR PHONES, including the drivers of the two vehicles?  Or are the signs scannable if you stand directly under them?  Doesn't the city want all its parking lots to be full of vehicles as often as possible?

And You Wonder Why Hudson City Hall Is Having Such Budget and Revenue Troubles!

 

In the latter half of 2024, during discussions among Parking Study committee members regarding the $1,000 annual Amtrak Parking Lot permits that, according to City Clerk Tracy Delaney, seemed to suddenly be causing such trouble in the lot, committee chairperson Jen Belton had this to say a few times at different meetings:  "They (permit holders) aren't paying their fair share."  Fellow member and parking expert Tom Depietro agreed with Belton on at least one occasion and may have uttered the words himself.  And so, City Hall ceased issuing the permits in late 2024.  The last of the lot's RESERVED FOR PERMIT HOLDERS signs were removed by DPW a few months ago, and now anyone parking in the lot pays $10 a day using the ParkMobile app or one of the kiosks at the lot's entrance.  As a result, the city likely created additional revenue, though it's difficult to know for sure.  Perhaps some former permit holding commuters went elsewhere to park.

Off To A Great Start With the New Scannable Parking Signs Perched 9 Feet Above The Sidewalk! (Or Is It Ten Feet?)

As readers likely know by now, the new, much awaited scannable parking signs have arrived on Warren Street, high above the sidewalk.  But at least one of them already has a little problem.  While it's an easily fixable problem, it's yet another misstep in the process and a sign of more problems on the way leading up to the resumption of paid parking downtown.  The sign is facing a yellow curb and 3rd Street truck route traffic rather than the parking spaces on Warren in front of and beyond Steiner's.  Yes, it is facing in the wrong friggin' direction!  Welcome to Hudson!

"Honey, do you see any signs for parking payment?" 

"No, I don't.  I guess parking is free now -- they got rid of the meters.  I love this town, don't you, dear?"

Perhaps Rob Perry Can Explain!

 

In five years, will all of HPD's scannable parking payment signs be as unreadable, dumb, insulting, confusing and unhelpful (and unscannable) as these two parking signs have been for far too long?

Ready! Set! Draw (Your Phones)! And Get Ready For The Plans To Change!

 

For all of 2024 and the first half of 2025, 4th ward council member and (now former) Parking Study Committee chairperson Jen Belton poured much of her time and effort into ridding the city of parking meters and replacing them with parking kiosks, a task she may not have originally realized would be so immense, difficult and costly.  She wasn't paid a quarter for her efforts (and that fact is showing), but boy did her committee spend some coin!  

How Much Longer Can We Afford This?

On Monday, DPW responded to a leaking pipe below the end of Spring Street at Fairview.  The people at City Hall made mention of the problem in the Announcements section of the city's website, but the title they used was from a previous water main break:  "WATER MAIN BREAK ON GREEN STREET." (Have a look at the announcement -- it is hilarious!)   I wouldn't be surprised if the cones are still there and will remain through the weekend. (See picture below)

Why Isn't This Picture Found On The City's Website?

Oh, wait a minute!  It is found on the city's website.  In fact, it can easily be found on the Hudson Police Department's page of the City of Hudson website.  Not on the DPW page, mind you, but on the HPD page!

This Is What A "$400,000 Budget" Gets Us? Yet Another Week Of Free Parking, More Fakebook Announcements, More Confusion and More Lost Revenue?

With HPD (yes, our law enforcement officials) pushing back the start of downtown paid parking yet another week -- until the 16th of January -- while they try to figure out where the new signs are and where they will be posted on sidewalks all over downtown, it's fair to ask how the hell we got here in the first place.  This whole thing reeks of incompetency and unprofessionalism (not to mention money-wasting dysfunction).  THE POLICE CHIEF OF THE CITY OF HUDSON DECIDED THAT IT WAS IN THE CITY'S BEST INTEREST FOR HER DEPARTMENT TO TAKE ON THE TASK OF TRANSFORMING AND IMPROVING THE CITY'S PAID PARKING SYSTEM BY EXPANDIDNG IT CONSIDERABLY AND BRINGING IT INTO THE 21ST CENTURY WITH HIGH TECH GADGETRY, ALL WITH THE STATED INTENT OF INCREASING PARKING REVENUE.  

Do You Ever Feel Like Time Has Stood Still For Quite A While Here In Hudson?

In September of 2021, the Hudson Code Enforcement Office left its longtime, antique cramped quarters at 429 Warren Street (I seem to remember there was a large old cast iron radiator in the narrow front hall you had to squeeze past to get to and from the CEO office!). That was 4 years and 4 months -- approximately 1,600 days -- ago. (Holy hell, do I feel old!) According to current property tax info on the Columbia County Real Property Tax Service website, the city sold the building 2 years later for one dollar to an LLC with a mailing address of 309 Warren.

Who Didn't See This Coming? (And It's Only Going To Get Uglier!)

The city's new, overly ambitious and transformational approach to paid parking, recently referred to as "going with kiosks and digital" by apparent (or former) Parking Bureau spokesperson and actual HPD Captain, David Miller, had been scheduled to begin tomorrow, Monday, December 5th, since Miller - serving in his brief role as Acting Police Commissioner and Acting Chief, neither of which he is any longer -- signed an official order on November 17th. But things are not looking good. In fact, there is little to nothing to see (or read) now that offers any confidence things are going smoothly or as planned. In short, things are a friggin' ugly mess with the city's plans and progress for paid parking.  

It's Nice To Know Certain Things Never Change, Isn't It?

 

What I've noticed over the past ten years about CSX, the railway transportation company that owns the train tracks that run through downtown, is that they could be a better neighbor.  We all deserve better treatment from them, though an equal part of the blame should be directed at Hudson City Hall.  This year seems like a good time for long overdue improvements in communication, relations and respect between CSX, City Hall and Hudson residents.

Have A Safe and Sane 2026, Y'all!

 

When on foot and even with the right of way, please remember to look both ways for oncoming traffic before crossing streets, INCLUDING WHEN YOU ARE CROSSING ONE WAY STREETS!  (Looking all four ways at all intersections isn't a bad idea, either!)  

The picture above was taken on Wednesday.  Before turning onto Warren, the driver, with blinker on, waited at the two red lights for a while before they turned green, and he did not have the frantic, guilty look of someone who knows they are headed in the wrong direction.  Did he enter 4th Street from Columbia Street or from Prison Alley?  From State Street, perhaps?)

How Bad Has The Parking Situation Gotten For Residents Surrounding The Pocketbook Hotel and Baths? The Signs Continue To Multiply!

 

If you don't reside in the shadows of the Pocketbook Factory, located on North 6th between Wahington and Prospect Streets, you may have difficulty understanding how bad the parking situation has become there.  These pictures should give you a better idea of the problem the PBH has created for nearby residents.  You should feel fortunate that you don't have to deal with what so many of us are dealing with over here.