Is This What's Known As Curb Appeal? Or Clutter? Or Just More Expensive Crap We Never Needed In the First Place?

Imagine seeing this every day and night outside your front door more often than you'd prefer.   Who wouldn't want to kick it and spit on it (or pee on it -- hell, dogs can!) at least once every day?  And that lovely white spray-painted circle!  Was that really necessary, and for how many years will it remain beautifying the neighborhood? 

I was recently informed of three things regarding our lovely $10,000 parking kiosks, of which we have 16. 

First, we have no warranty coverage for any of them (it was deemed too expensive).

Second, there is a $100/month "connectivity fee" for each one (totaling $19,200/year).

And third, the kiosk for the 700 block of Warren that has been DEAD for 11 or 12 weeks needs a new solar panel. The cost to replace it has yet to be determined. 

When the sixteen $10,000 parking kiosks were delivered to the city in February of 2025, two of them were without solar panels and had to be retrofitted. That took a long time to happen, and I never did hear how much that cost us, if it did cost us anything. All of the kiosks were (and still are) unable to accept paper money, a feature that Jen Belton and Tom Depietro had promised us would help the city get away from the annoyance of collecting and counting quarters, or as Tom was so fond of describing the pestilence that our parking meters had been burdening the city with for far too long: "THE TYRANNY OF THE QUARTER."  Tom actually said this out loud at least twice at public meetings of the so-called Parking Study Committee, he being one of the two experts on the panel. (I wonder how he would feel if a parking kiosk had been installed on the sidewalk in front of his house!)

"Excuse me, may I pass by without brushing
 up against you or knocking you over?"

I was in downtown Kingston for a few hours earlier this week, where they still have their parking meters, and lots of them.  A quarter gets you 15 minutes, and each meter covers two adjacent spaces (push a button for your space).  Not only has Kingston done a commendable job of maintaining their old parking meters in a deeply historical downtown where kiosks would look stupid and out-of-place, they have made an effort to "modernize" their paid parking system, doing something that Hudson could and should have done.  EASILY DONE!!!!  My guess is that Kingston didn't rely on a Parking Study Committee to decide on their simple improvement.  My other guess is that they aren't paying a company $19,000 a year to keep their paid parking system "connected" to the clouds or the whatever.  (The City of Kingston did exactly what the Village of Ossining did, as HUDseen reported on earlier this year.)

All of Kingston's parking meters have a scannable sticker on each side for those wishing to pay by phone via their parking app.  So, there's that "modern" convenience without the need for expensive parking kiosks that constantly need servicing or replacement parts and solar panels.  And, of course, Kingston has no need for scannable parking signs everywhere 9 feet up a lamppost or sign pole, either.  How much are they saving by not having to post signs (purchase, installation, maintenance, replacement, poles, etc.)?  Here in Hudson, though, where common council members are constantly making horrible decisions that wind up costing us money down the road, we are paying for Tom Depioetro and Jen Belton's dumb idea to get rid of all of our meters and go with signs and kiosks.  Did Tom or Jen ever mention that their kiosks would be costing us over $19,000 a year just to keep them on? I don't think so!!!!!  Did they even know how much a dead solar panel would cost city taxpayers to replace?  Do they know now?  Where is Tom Depietro now, anyway?  In St. Louis?  

How much do those stickers cost Kingston taxpayers?

The kiosk in the 700 block of Warren Street that's been in need of a new solar panel for the past two months or more was installed in late May or early June, just 4 months ago.  (It, along with most of the others, was in storage for at least 15 months!) That solar panel didn't last even two months in the sun, and we have no warranty covering replacement parts and repair!  This is the kind of bullshit money-wasting nonsense that the smart people running Kingston probably decided they didn't want or need to deal with or be forced  to justify to residents.  Perhaps their mayor was even in on the discussion. Hudson City Hall, on the other hand, in all its brilliance, never saw any of this coming.  (Guess what?  The current mayor of Kingston, Steve Noble, is currently serving his 3rd 4-year term!  Not his 6th 2-year term!) 

The Register-Star recently ran an article about the Village of Catskill's Downtown Revitalization Initiative work that has been going on for some time but should be winding up next month.  Much of the article focused on how the village is having trouble getting their hands on new parking meters they ordered to replace the old ones they ripped out to make way for new sidewalks (the meter company went out of business, as I recall).  Catskills meters had charm, but they were ready to go, apparently.  Nonetheless, one official was quoted as saying that the village really wants to stick with parking meters because they "fit the historical character of downtown Catskill" (or something along those lines).  Can you imagine someone being so sensible and sensitive, perhaps even SMART?

Law Enforcement In Action! 
 (With police vehicle idling nearby!) 
Salary last year: well over $100,000!

Can you imagine if two years ago Jen Belton or Tom Depietro had said, "We really need these kiosks and signs all over Warren Street to enhance the historical beauty of downtown Hudson"?

Instead, we get a joker telling us we need hundreds of plastic signs and several $10,000 solar-powered parking kiosks (with an additional $100 monthly fee) up and down historic Warren Street to combat THE TYRANNY OF THE QUARTER!  A joker who is MIA!  And whose job is it now to collect all the quarters from the kiosks?  The same HPD employee who was collecting them form the meters?  How about Parking Captain David Miller?  mayor Ferris?  Jen Belton?  Doreen Danforth? The latest "tyrannical" city official?

Public trash can in Catskill (last year)

Public trash can on Warren Street, not far 
from the DEAD kiosk that needs a new solar
panel after 2 months in the sun. (Last week)

Can you imagine how many decades it would
take Hudson to get this done, if ever? (Kingston)