SamPratt.com

Eyes of the Storm

Everyone likes to scoff at “social media,” even those who use it most... as if its use consists of nothing but narcissists tweeting about their toddlers, or posting pics of their pedicures.

Which, usually, it does.

But during disasters, social media proves its worth. As Hurricane Irene progressed up the Hudson Valley, Facebook, Twitter, and the liveblogs which build upon them filled up with on-the-scene reports and pictures which, in a least a few cases, may have actually saved lives. The traditional media did its part, but mostly couldn’t keep up with the hoi polloi.

Above, you'll find links to a sampler just a small portion of the countless Irene photos posted online over the past 24 hours in the Hudson Valley. Wherever possible, the photographer has been credited, though a few were hard to pin down. (If for any reason you want your photo removed, just ask.)

Food notes from all over

More culinary reports from around the region, following on the news of the Hudson diner's purchase:

• The Vanderbilt Inn in Philmont reopens tonight, Monday, with a serious chef and a farm-to-table ethos;

• Chopsticks in Catskill, located near the relatively new Beer World, offers Chinese, Japanese, and most of all Thai food — each of them simple but solid. (It remains a mystery why Columbia County has no Thai restaurant, while Greene has two...)

• Wunderbar in Hudson has changed hands, though Imre is still around for a few weeks for the transition;

• Also in Hudson, the former Hudson House gallery building (which briefly housed an outpost of Hammertown Barn) reportedly has been purchased by a Brooklyn bistro owner, but won't open for one or two years by various accounts;

• MOD's new Hudson digs got their beer and wine license.

• The Ramp Festival launches next weekend (April 30th) at the Basilica in Hudson on Saturday;

* Agriturismo in Pine Plains reopens on the 22nd.

Population Changes, 2000-2010

As promised, at the end of this post is a chart comparing the results of the 2000 and 2010 Census results by municipality in Columbia, Greene, and Dutchess Counties. Or, you can download the data as a PDF by clicking here. This table includes the raw numbers, the raw change in population, and the percentage change for each town (or city). This doesn’t include separate breakdowns for villages and other subdivisions within each town.

In presenting these simple comparisons, it should be noted that population figures are some of the most commonly-misinterpreted statistics cited by politicians and planners. To really understand shifts in population, one needs to look at larger universe of data and trends.

For example, population declines are almost always interpreted as bad news by civic leaders. But say a town’s population goes down while its residents’ average income or local sales tax revenues go up—isn’t that an improvement overall? What if the percentage of children under 18 goes down, while property values go up, improving the teacher/student ratios in the local schools—wouldn’t that also be an improvement?

One also has to look beyond the bottom-line stats to see if some key statistical method has changed, such as no longer counting prisoners in the local population, as has occurred in Hudson. (Without the 500-odd prisoners from 2000, Hudson’s decline in population is actually quite modest, more like 4%.) Taking a look at the results below, one suspects that there was some major redefinition of the Census’ definitions or borders for the Town of Milan, which surely did not lose half its population in 10 years.

In any case, here’s the three-county chart:

Pine Plains

A power line runs through it?

Plans to lay a 335-mile, 2,000 megawatt transmission line from Canada to New York City and Connecticut were just announced, with a major portion of the line proposed to be buried in the muck of the Hudson River starting near Selkirk and Castleton south to the Bronx.

Calling the project the Champlain-Hudson Power Express, developers at Transmission Development Inc. (TDI) are making a public presentation from 6-8 pm next Tuesday (March 9th) at the Holiday Inn Express at 300 Broadway. The project would involve burying four five-inch-diameter cables in the River, skirting the PCB cleanups now underway north of Albany. A PDF document showing the full route can be downloaded by clicking here.

TDI’s principle backers are The Blackstone Group based on Park Avenue, a major investor in Hilton Hotels, Orbitz.com, Michaels craft stores, and various communications companies. The company has been the subject of several recent controversies, outlined here by CNN. Among other things, Blackstone owns Sea World, where a trainer was recently drowned and mangled by a killer whale. Billionaire CEO Steve Schwarzman also came under fire for his $3 million birthday party in 2007 before the stock market crash.

The Catskill Daily Mail repeats unchallenged TDI’s claim that "neither commercial nor recreational current use of the Hudson River will be affected by the line’s presence." (Note the word “current,” which would suggest it might affect future uses.)

Cuts both ways

 

Writing about Dutchess County town budgets, The Poughkeepsie Journal notes that

“Some cities, towns and villages may have to cut spending or spend rainy-day funds if state lawmakers approve Gov. David Paterson's plan to reduce municipal aid this year by 5 percent.

“On the other hand, some local municipalities were conservative in drafting their budgets in November and anticipated cuts in state aid.”

I’d like to know more about these budget-cutting towns—because here in Columbia County it’s hard to find a municipality that has had the foresight to tighten its belt to anticipate these likely cuts in State aid.

A far more likely scenario in many Hudson Valley towns is that budgets will not be curbed enough to reflect the shortfall. Instead, the deficit will be passed on to local property tax payers, who will see their share of their Town budget jump by several percentage points. This will further encourage the more unscrupulous assessors out there to hike the assessments of political enemies and “outsiders” so as lessen the flack they get for the raise from their buddies.

Two likely spins that one can anticipate from town leaders to deflect budget criticism are:

1. Trumpet a “reduction of the growth rate” in town spending; or
   
2. Announce a budget “freeze.”

Both measures sound responsible at first blush. But these political spins can only pass muster if there is widespread economic illiteracy among the public... For in both scenarios, the actual tax bills of local property taxpayers still go up. In order to keep real-world taxes paid stable, towns need to reduce their total budget by the same amount as the State aid cuts.

Hessians

 

Renovations in progress at the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard (Annandale, NY).