HUDseen: Where There Once Was A Sidewalk In What Once Was a Residential Neighborhood...

... there is now a drive-thru drop-off area for wealthy guests of a hotel, restaurant, bar, wellness spa, etc., many of whom will be taking advantage of a car valet service. I can't wait for the blinking, multi-colored neon signs at 6th & Washington to arrive this spring: VALET SERVICE 100 FEET AWAY WITH DRIVE THRU! ALL ARE WELCOME!

The new sidewalk was revealed a few days ago.
The old sidewalk was in the way.

As far as I can tell, at least in the past ten years, this is a first in Hudson: a sidewalk rerouted to make way for the needs of a new business. Part of that new sidewalk on Washington Street alongside the Pocketbook Hotel and Baths is made of bricks, also known as a code violation. This is par for the course for Sean Roland and Gabe Katz of the Pocketbook. The new sidewalk their contractor installed late last year on 6th Street between Prospect and Washington falls one foot short of the width requirement for all sidewalks as per city code. Apparently, they never asked Craig Haigh how wide sidewalks are required to be. Or Craig never told them without being asked.

The picture below, taken yesterday, shows an empty car parked where an in-line sidewalk existed until about 6 months ago. What a horrible precedent this sets for all of the city's residential neighborhoods! Notice the massive utility pole in the background just beyond the common-sized wooden pole. Made of fiberglass, it was installed by National Grid a few months ago just for the PBH's outsized electric voltage needs. No Pocketbook, no oversized fiberglass ugly ass imposing out of scale utility pole that looks more at home along a highway than in a residential neighborhood (or what used to be one). I think this monster pole was another first (or two) for Hudson; I've never seen one of that girth or made of fiberglass in town, certainly not on a residential street. Oh, sorry! I mean what once was a quiet residential street in what once was a quiet residential neighborhood.

When I took the picture, the on-duty valet driver was sitting at the steering wheel of his (possibly idling) parked car across the street in front of a house among many houses, waiting to be called or texted to get out of his car to drive a guest's car to the hotel's parking lot just east on Washington, forcing him to drive on just four streets, one of them twice. At some point this year, the Pocketbook's current lot will more than double in size thanks to a lease agreement between the hotel and the city that will bring $30,000 a year to, presumably, our general fund. Leasing city-owned land to a private business? That might be another first as well! One big business with a lot of needs creating at least three unwelcome firsts for Hudson. Don't worry, though, there will be more to celebrate. Hoo-fuckin'-rah!

What next? What other firsts surrounding the Pocketbook lay ahead for us that we don't need or want and didn't ask for?