How To Be Really Unhelpful and Make Things Worse, Hudson Style!

 

Last Wednesday or Thursday, the one kiosk for both sides of the 400 block of Warren was installed near the midpoint of the odd side of the block. It is situated adjacent to the middle of a parking space, waiting to be hit by a car door or a human head. Mon Dieu!

Besides being able to pay for a parking space in seconds rather than minutes, the advantage our meters had over kiosks is that THEY WERE NEVER IN THE WAY OF PEOPLE GETTING IN AND OUT OF VEHICLES!  If anyone ever hit a meter pole with their car door, they were not parked properly.  The question is, why weren't all of our kiosks installed away from or between parking spaces? (Some were, some were not.)  Because it didn't matter to Parking Captain David Miller where the 10 kiosks were permanently installed last week?

On Sunday afternoon, I tapped some buttons on that new kiosk in the 400 block to see how well it was working.  It was working so well that the words and numbers on the screen informed me that on Sunday, June 21st, 2026, I was to pay 25 cents to park in a space for 30 minutes.  In other words, anyone who was visiting Hudson on Sunday may have mistakenly paid for their parking space only because the kiosk told them they had to even though no parking enforcers were working, the parking signs 9 feet off the sidewalk somewhere nearby (or not so nearby) clearly state that paid parking is only in effect from Monday to Saturday, and it is common knowledge locally that parking is free on Sundays.  In other words, Parking Captain David Miller forgot to properly program at least one of the ten newly installed kiosks, and possibly all ten of them.  Perhaps Parking Captain Miller was preoccupied with catching criminals and bad guys last week.  Let's hope so!  That's what he's paid the big bucks to do for us, isn't it?

How can you argue with a stupid, misinformed machine, especially on a Saturday or Sunday when the Parking Bureau is closed?

Notice that no helpful information has been added to the facade of the kiosk in the picture, a machine as bland, lifeless and uninspiring as a dead sidewalk tree (which we have too many of).  Straight out of the factory and onto our sidewalk.  It might be mistaken for an ATM machine!  No phone number to call for help (as can be found on the signs).  No hours and days of operation (as can be found on the signs and could be found on every parking meter we had).  Nothing that indicates you are in Hudson (as can be found on the signs).  No image of a smiling dead whale (all the whales that made it to Hudson were dead, of course).  No directions.  No effort. Not even Welcome To The New Ugly High Tech Hudson, Same Ugly Look As Albany, Trying To Squeeze Every Penny Out Of People Looking To Spend Money Downtown.  The New, Joyless and Bland Computerized Anti-Historic Hudson. Thank You For Your Service Fee.  Come Back Again.  Don't Forget Your Phone In Case You Park On The Wrong Side Of The Street Or A Half Block From The Nearest Kiosk.  We're Here To Help.

I was at the train station in Croton last weekend and noticed they have the same model of kiosks as we do. Theirs had something extra, though, from the hands and mind of a human: helpful information, including a phone number!  How much effort do you suppose that little sign took?  Did the Village of Croton have to make that effort?  Do you suppose anyone with a problem with that kiosk has ever had to call that phone number to get assistance or just tell someone that the kiosk isn't working at all?

Why does it seem like Parking Captain David Miller and the Parking Bureau are making the least amount of effort to allow our new paid parking system to be as GREAT as Captain Miller repeatedly says it is?   Does anyone have their undivided attention on the success of the city's new and ambitious paid parking system?  Me thinks not!

It's worth repeating this once again.  At the end of his farewell address to the common council in City Hall a few years ago, former HPD Chief Ed Moore offered a few concerns and suggestions, none of which he had to mention. But he felt it was his duty to mention them, including one that had to do with parking.  In essence, Moore said, "KEEP PARKING OUT OF THE HANDS OF HPD!"  (My emphasis.)  As I recall, Lt. David Miller was not in the room to hear what his boss said.  I was.  Heck, I don't think our current mayor had even moved to Hudson yet.  He didn't hear Ed Moore's warning, either!

Mon Dieu!