A Wednesday morning update for residents of The Friendly City.
What happened.The Hudson Housing Authority came to the Common Council with a cooperation agreement, the tax arrangement New York State requires before it will finance the long-planned redevelopment of Bliss Towers. To ease a cash crunch as the towers wind down, the deal pauses the Authority's payments to the city for 2025–2029 and replaces them with a single one-time payment of about $120,000 in 2026. Phase 1 alone would build 166 units. The redevelopment is funded primarily by the state, and was recently accepted into a state Brownfield program to clean up the site.
Apartments at the Bliss Towers site
Across all phases · ~80% for households at or below half the area median income
Where it’s headed.The Council is expected to vote next week. The same plan is also in front of the Planning Board, this digest will track it across both.
What happened.The City Treasurer reported that the rolls of tax-delinquent property have dropped sharply after a single demand letter, about 75 owners paid roughly $890,000 in back taxes. Roughly $2.1 million is still outstanding, and a handful of properties account for most of it. A second demand letter, bundled with information on installment plans and free foreclosure counseling from Housing Resources of Columbia County, follows a public hearing in mid-November.
Tax-delinquent properties
After the city's first demand letter · City Treasurer's report
Where it’s headed.The updated property list is published Nov 12; the second letter goes out about 30 days later, before any legal filings begin.
What happened.Since the Police Department took over parking, revenue is up sharply. Citing the city's budget pressure, a police captain urged the Council not to suspend December enforcement the way it has in past years, and council members agreed on the spot.
Parking revenue, July–September
About a 19% increase year over year · Police Department report
Where it’s headed.No formal vote, but the Council clearly signaled it. Separately, weekend overnight-parking suspensions lift Nov 21.
What happened.A routine Youth Department report opened into a sharper question. A substantial share of the children using Hudson's youth services live outside the city, in neighboring towns. Council member Margaret Morris asked why Hudson taxpayers should carry that cost alone, and suggested those towns chip in. Residents pushed back firmly, one called the Youth Center the only true drop-in program of its kind, and noted the county already funds much of the programming. The Youth Director was sent away to bring back residency data.
Where it’s headed.No decision. The question returns to a future meeting once the department produces the numbers.
What happened.The city has closed financing for the first phase of a $66 million sewer-and-stormwater separation project. It is now in the design stage, construction documents for the Columbia Street corridor are due in spring 2026, with digging set to start next summer. The full job is expected to run four to five years.
Where it’s headed.Construction documents spring 2026; build begins summer 2026; later phases run through 2028–2029.
What happened.The Council President reminded residents of a public vote, this Thursday, November 13, on selling a former school building to the developer Penrose. Voters should have received a card in the mail.
Where it’s headed.Public vote Thursday, Nov 13.
Dates and deadlines mentioned in this week’s meetings.
Not in the Record
This digest is built from meetings’ YouTube captions. Two kinds of meeting are not in it yet.
On the calendar, never uploaded to YouTube
| Thu Nov 6 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment |
| Mon Nov 3 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (TBD) |
| Fri Oct 31 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (TBD) |
| Wed Oct 29 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment - TBD |
| Tue Oct 28 | Planning Board-Special Meeting |
| Mon Oct 27 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Revenues) |
| Fri Oct 24 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Revenues) |
| Wed Oct 22 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Non-Departmental) |
| Wed Oct 22 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Planning) |
| Wed Oct 22 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Police & Parking) |
| Tue Oct 21 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Housing) |
| Tue Oct 21 | Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Cemetery, Water, & Sewer) |
On YouTube, but no captions yet
| Sep 30, 2026 | BEA 2027 Budget Planning Meeting Legal Budget 9/30/26 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | BEA 2027 Budget Planning Meeting Mayor's Office 9/30/26 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | BEA 2027 Budget Planning Meeting Assessor 9/30/26 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | BEA 2027 Budget Planning Meeting Housing Department Budget 9/30/26 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | Common Council Code and Infrastructure Committee 8/10/26 |
| Jul 10, 2026 | Historic Preservation Commission 7/10/26 |
| May 19, 2026 | Hudson City School District: 5/19/2026 Board of Education Meeting |
| Nov 13, 2025 | Hudson City School District: 11/13/2025 Board of Education Meeting |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Special Meeting Common Council 11/10/25 |
| Nov 6, 2025 | BEA-November 6, 2025 |
| Sep 29, 2025 | Common Council Special Meeting 9/29/25 |
Gossips of Rivertown, Trixie’s List, HUDSeen, and Hudson Common Sense.
A weekly conversation between Peter Spear and people he finds fascinating working in and with THAT BUSINESS OF MEANING.
Hello,
This is an experiment in civic engagement.
It automatically gathers public meeting captions from City and School YouTube videos, turns them into readable transcripts that are added to the Public Archive, then summarizes them into this email, the Weekly Digest.
I am a member of the Planning Board, ran for Mayor in 2025, and run the FUTURE HUDSON account.
I review it lightly, and mistakes will happen. Please send corrections and questions.
Thank you.
Peter
P.S. I am also writing essays on civic design in Hudson. Two so far, with more on the way:
Weekly Digest
A Wednesday morning update for residents of The Friendly City.
A Wednesday morning email for residents of The Friendly City. Make it make sense.
The Hudson Weekly Digest