Just in time for a snowy summer, several new metal fire hydrant markers have appeared around town where none (or few) previously existed. If someone can give me a reason why we need any markers when snow covering hydrants is not an issue, I'd love to hear it. Or does the Fire Department need reminding where their hydrants are located as they set up to battle a fire? Typically, there are no more than three fire hydrants per block, almost always on the same side of the street.
This morning at 8:27, preparing to turn onto South Fifth from Warren while riding MY BICYCLE, I saw a car turn left off of Union onto 5th and head my way. The wrong way. By the time the driver and her car reached me (it didn't take long!) as I was straddling my bike at the outer edge of a parking space on 5th near Warren, she was visibly angry that I was in her way telling her to turn around. So, she drove around me, with just enough room to do so. A second or two later, though, she had to stop her car to allow a family of four to make it safely across the crosswalk at Warren. (The family had the right of way, I guess.) The driver was probably angry about that delay, too.
Just over two months ago, much to Captain David Miller's delight, DPW did its best to rid the City Hall parking lot of any evidence that it once served its customers with good ol' fashioned parking meters (along with a big helping of what Tom Depietro twice announced as the city's primary malady: "The Tyranny of the Quarter"). I happened to be passing through the lot on a not-so-cold day in March when I came across a DPW crew of 4 or 5 guys filling the several holes (30, I believe) where the meter poles once stood on the black asphalt island in the middle of the lot. They were using a grey product, likely a quick concrete mix of some sort. I could see that the mix was too wet, and I knew that what was spilling beyond the holes would not be removed by rain or snow anytime soon. They didn't seem to care they were making a mess, and since neither Rob Perry nor his foreman, Frank Rogers, were around to keep the results from looking too messy, I guess it didn't matter to anyone at DPW what the island in the city's largest and busiest downtown parking lot looks like.
As far as I'm aware, the most recent public mention of creating a pair of residential parking permit systems -- one surrounding the Pocketbook business complex and one on Warren Street -- sounded something like this: "We kind of dropped the ball on that." (Which is to say, nothing!) That update came in March or April from 1st ward council member and SAFETY Committee chair Henry Haddad after he was asked about the residential parking permits, and there have been no discussions about the idea since, not publicly at least.
The main reason that the city took over responsibility of each and every one of the city's streetlights from National Grid was to SAVE MONEY IN THE LONG TERM. We had been paying Grid an annual flat rate for maintaining the energy-sucking incandescent lights and keeping them on at night. When the lights went out or were on 24/7, a phone call or online request via their website would usually get a National Grid crew to fix broken lights within a few days. Those days ended early last year. Now we pay to repair the new LED lights, to replace them, to keep them on at night and off during the day. To maintain them properly and in a timely fashion (as well as the arms they hang from). DPW does the work and spends the money. Or Rob Perry is supposed to get it done, at least. It's pretty simple, don't you think? When a streetlight is known to be broken in one way or another, it is time -- without too much delay --for DPW to fix it or replace it or just take a closer look at it to figure out what is wrong with it so that it can be fixed soon. Cross it off your list. Move on to another broken light or something else that needs fixing, especially something that is COSTING US MONEY by the minute.
... where there is no actual on-street or off-street parking area for truck deliveries. (Picture taken yesterday afternoon.)
Notice how the truck is blocking access to most of the wide private (household) parking area on the right. I should have called the police! And asked for Parking Captain Miller!
Presuming the delivery driver was familiar with the neighborhood's streets, had he wanted to park in the PBH's defacto truck delivery area across the street in the very yellow FIRE ZONE area -- yellow, as in you cannot park here even for one minute -- he would have had to drive to Washington, turn right, drive about 150 feet and hope the city's dirt lot isn't so occupied that he can't turn around in it to head back to 6th Street to park in HPB's FIRE ZONE DELIVERY AREA (if there's space to fit in it). Why bother, right? Just park in the southbound lane blocking a parking area on private property, take a half hour or more to unload your truck in the street (wheeling pallets across the street!), and be sure not to bother with your flashers! Oh, and be sure to take your f'ng time! There's no rush! The city is delighted that the Pocketbook business complex is here, and they can do no wrong!
This morning, 20 hours after yesterday's 6th Street delivery, I came across an equally enormous truck (possibly larger) making a delivery to the PBH business complex on the Prospect Street side of the building. The two parking spaces it was occupying (imagine that, not completely blocking traffic!) are meant for residents to park their cars in. Or, I should say, once upon a time they were meant for residential parking prior to the PBH coming to town last year.
 |
| Was the driver told by the PBH people to park here? What route did the driver take to get there? |
And if those public parking spaces on Prospect had not been available, where do you suppose the driver would have instead parked his enormous, loud and toxic-spewing diesel truck with, of course, enough room to utilize his liftgate safely? In Prospect's only traffic lane, completely shutting the street down, possibly for a half hour or more? In the northbound lane of 6th around the corner, just like yesterday's delivery I came across? How about somewhere on Washington Street in front of a house or two with three or four consecutive spaces available spaces in front (after parallel parking in reverse!) where the homeowners wouldn't have minded, especially the residents with the homemade RESIDENTIAL PARKING ONLY signs at the curb? How about in the hybrid FIRE ZONE TRUCK DELIVERY AREA on 6th, where no one is supposed to park for even one minute? How would the driver have even arrived there without difficulty? Look at the size of this truck! Why not just send a 53-foot semi-trailer next time, you'll be able to deliver more at once and save on trips and diesel! That shit is expensive, and it ain't gettin' any cheaper, brother!
There are so many UNANSWERED QUESTIONS that Kamal Johnson, Parking Captain David Miller and Theresa Joyner's Planning Board never saw coming! Such as: Are Gabe Katz and Sean Roland okay with deliveries being made to their business complex in the way seen in the picture? Is that acceptable to them? If it's not acceptable, why are they allowing it to happen and what are they doing to prevent it? Was it their plan all along to allow delivery drivers to park their trucks -- no matter how large -- wherever they see fit on 6th Street, Washington or Prospect, even occupying an entire lane of traffic for a half hour or more? Where do they want truck deliveries being made that won't disrupt traffic and residential life and won't make our streets and intersections unsafe? Do Gabe and Sean tell their suppliers to park their delivery trucks anywhere they like, if they tell them anything about how and where to make proper deliveries? 4 years or so ago, what did Gabe and Sean tell the Planning Board regarding where truck deliveries to the PBH would be made, and what did the Planning Board agree to? Did the Planning Board see any issues with truck deliveries to the PBH? Finally, is mayor Joe Ferris okay with all of this, too? How about Parking Captain David Miller? He can't find any of this acceptable, can he? HA!
 |
| Why isn't the curb painted yellow, Parking Captain Miller? |
This NO PARKING ANY TIME sign was recently installed on 6th near Prospect (at least I had never noticed it before this week). Does the sign's rule apply to all of the east side of 6th Street, including all delivery trucks? Or is it just meant for the guests of the PBH business complex across the street, mainly for people who have never been to the neighborhood before and may be unfamiliar with Hudson's customs? That new NO PARKING ANY TIME sign beautifully complements the old NO PARKING ANY TIME sign "found" no more than 30 feet away, doesn't it?
I can hear the annoyance from readers already. Shut up, HUDseen, stop your whining. Be glad the PBH is there. They'll figure something out with the deliveries. This, too, will pass.
To which I respond: If you don't live in the neighborhood surrounding the Pocketbook business complex, you have no idea how bad parking and traffic safety issues have become.
Second, now that the Pocketbook business complex has settled in, there is literally nowhere for a sensible and safe truck delivery area to be created. N-O-W-H-E-R-E! It's too late for that, and I don't think it was ever a possibility to begin with. This problem -- and believe me, this is a quality-of-life issue we don't need -- may never be solved. At least not as long as the business complex is here relying on cars and trucks to keep it -- and its rooftop HVAC system -- humming.
 |
| Don't like the sound or the look from your backyard? Too bad! Complain to Code Enforcement -- they're right across the street. Good luck! And be sure to let us know how that turns out! |
During last month's informal council meeting, 4th ward member Rich Volo asked Henry Haddad if his SAFETY Committee had taken up the issue of "bicycles, E-bikes and scooters going the wrong way down one-way streets." Henry replied, "No." A discussion ensued about the issue of E-riders. (What do you call someone on an E-scooter? An E-scooterer?)
This morning, I came across this frightened-looking young squirrel on the screen of a basement window in the 600 block of Columbia Street. The fuzzy fella's message was clear: HELP, it's scary out here! Please let me in! Can you blame him?
It's going to be difficult for grass to grow between all the gravel (not that anyone at City Hall cares). But at least we got a lovely new sidewalk.... surrounded by gravel on both sides! (Hey, DPW Superintendent Perry, how much of that gravel will eventually make its way into your precious sewer system? Hey, ADA Coordinator Martin, how much gravel is acceptable on our streets, sidewalks, curb ramps and ADA curb safety mats?)
A few weeks ago, I notified the Code Enforcement Department of the several mattresses on the ground behind 720 Columbia Street. The part-time officer I spoke with (only the head officer is full-time) indicated that they were already aware of the situation. Ugly and most certainly a fire hazard for the building and the nearby gasoline station, nothing has been done about them since.
Click for more pictures...
.jpg)
Can there be a better picture which represents the dysfunction that is the Hudson Common Council and the uselessness of council "president" Margaret Morris's new so-called SAFETY Committee that seems to be primarily concerned with parking?
Just 24 hours after I came across yet another vandalized plastic scannable paid parking sign in the 700 bock of Columbia Street, this morning I came across this one on South Fifth!
The 4th monthly meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee that took place last night was nothing more than a farce. This may have been the worst, messiest, most unproductive meeting so far. It seems that the more the committee is asked to do, the less they get accomplished. And HPD is no help.
Here are just a few things from the meeting to laugh (or weep) about.
On Saturday, I was surprised to see that the large mattress behind the long vacant property at 538 State Street had been removed. I thought it would never happen. That was the mattress that had been lying there in plain sight since at least last November when I first noticed it. It took a few emails to the mayor and one Hudson Hub request two months ago to get it removed, and I can only assume that DPW took care of it, which means city taxpayers, not the property owner, paid to have it disposed of.
Then, yesterday late in the afternoon, I noticed another development having to do with garbage, this one just as fascinating philosophically. There were two new public trash cans in town. The short metal trash cans surrounding the pocket park in the 300 block of Warren had been replaced with larger, wooden ones that are typical of those found downtown. Two hours after Mel's Bakery & Cafe had closed, the new can closest to the park (and to the bakery/cafe situated in the park) was overflowing with trash, made up mostly, if not entirely, of cafe customers' disposables. (The metal can on the sidewalk in front of the park had also been replaced with a wooden one, though it was not overflowing.)
Last fall, when our new neighbors at the Pocketbook Hotel hired a contractor to replace the sidewalks and curbs surrounding their block-long property, they forgot to do one little thing. (Well, two, really. The sidewalk on 6th Street is one foot too narrow.) They forgot to tell the contractor to apply yellow paint to the new corner curb ramps and NO PARKING ZONES beyond the corners. Where there was yellow paint on curbs telling drivers to stay away, we have been without it for about 7 months. And no one from DPW or the Code Enforcement Office (directly across the street) cared to make sure the curbs got painted right away before the weather turned cold, if only because no one is ever paying attention. (I was recently told by Henry Haddad that DPW will get to painting the curbs yellow sometime soon.)
.png)
Just in time for a snowy summer, several new metal fire hydrant markers have appeared around town where none (or few) previously existed. ...
