Welcome to The Little City That Can Do Without You

It was about two years ago that the dead tree protruding through the hole in the middle of the metal tree grate in front of 414 Warren disappeared.  It was ugly, insulting, leaning and long dead.  Very dead, just like you might be if you step in the 12-inch diameter hole that is still in the middle of the tree grate on the sidewalk after two years, inches from a regularly occupied parking space in the heart of downtown and inches from the center of an often-bustling sidewalk.  The message from Hudson City Hall - particularly from HPD, whose captain and chief are part of Margaret Morris's new so-called SAFETY Committee and whose parking enforcers walk past that gaping hole multiple times 6 days a week - is clear:  We don't give a damn about any of you, whether you are a resident, a visitor, disabled or a child.  Or one of our parking enforcers, for that matter!

The picture below was taken on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024, a few months after the very dead tree was removed.  Not 9 months ago, but 21 months ago!  Two or three orange cones have come and gone over the past two years, none of them lasting more than a few weeks and none of them looking like a DPW cone.  I haven't seen a cone over the hole for at least 8 months, though a cone is no solution at all.  It's just fucking dumb!  I recently noticed a deflated soccer ball in the hole.

Death/injury trap and lawsuit, all in one!
Who are the ward representatives ignoring this?

You've got to wonder how long Rob Perry, Mishanda Franklin, Tiffany Martin and Joe Ferris would all agree to ignore a 12-inch hole in the sidewalk one block away in front of 520 Warren Street, a sidewalk whose width was recently halved to 5 feet to make way for a handicapped parking space in front of City Hall.  Do I hear two years?  Can I have three?  The gentleman in the back offers four years for the precious 12-inch-wide hole in the sidewalk!  How about a 12-inch-wide hole in the sidewalk in front of the Police Station or in the parking lot!  And one in front of the Code Enforcement Office! Hell, why not have one for every block and every parking lot in the entire city!  The more the merrier!

Whatever your shoe size, this hole could easily ruin your life.
Or kill you.  Don't bother complaining to the mayor or his 
aide and ADA Coordinator, though!  By the way, 
ADA is short for Americans With Disabilities.

I can't seem to find the time to take a picture of that sidewalk hole at night, though you can imagine what the picture would like and how evident the hole would be.

Did you hear about the 76-year-old friend of the late Charlie Kirk, Jeff Webb, who recently fell over playing pickleball and hit his head hard enough on the court's surface to wind up on life support and then dead?  He didn't step into a hole and fall; he just stumbled and fell on a flat surface while playing a game he was likely familiar with, the kind of thing most people bounce right back up from.  And he certainly wasn't playing pickleball in the dark, not like our sidewalks are dark for 9 or 12 hours every day but still open to pedestrians and people getting in and out of their cars.  Those are, of course, the hours that City Hall is closed for business and cannot possibly be expected to pay attention to or be concerned with much of anything, let alone a gaping hole in the sidewalk waiting to put anyone on their chin or temple in an instant.  My knees hurt just thinking about stepping into that hole.

We all deserve better.  SO VERY MUCH BETTER and SO MUCH MORE!