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Misc. notes (mostly nutritious)

Miscellaneous notes from around Hudson and its environs:

• Café on the Hudson, which briefly graced Riverview Street in Stuyvesant with organic, locally-sourced meals (the buckwheat pancakes were a real treat) appears not to be reopening after what was expected to be a Winter hiatus; for rent signs are in the windows.


• Dana Wegener, the proprietor of MOD Restaurant who was unceremoniously locked out of her own Front Street establishment earlier this summer, is said to be reopening as a breakfast/lunch spot in the former Strongtree location, across from the Amtrak station in Hudson.


• The Chai Shop in the 400 block (across from Swallow and upstreet from Spotty Dog) is going to start serving Indian dinners starting July 21st, though on Friday and Saturday nights only for starters.


• Crimson Sparrow’s Sunday brunch is a great way for those wanting to try out the chefs’ ambitious cooking (and equally novel interior renovations in Hudson’s 700 block to do so without making a major investment. Their flat $16 brunch menu allows you to choose four items from a list of a dozenoptions, from waffles to fried green tomatoes.


• The former Richter’s building in the 500 block (for decades a local source of tube socks and jumpsuits) has reportedly sold to Kinderhook’s John Knott, who is said to be planning a different sort of men’s shop there—likely to carry more Brooks Brothers-y haberdashery than FUBU sweatshirts.


• Dan Gibson, proprietor of Grazin’ Angus Acres in Ghent and the Grazin’ diner in Hudson, has taken over Milk Thistle Farm’s former dairy operations whichsadly closed last winter.


• Renovations at the former Fabrications and Mix locations (in Hudson’s 400 and 500 block, respectively) seem to be going slowly, with paper still up in the windows of each. Work on the former Verdigris location on 3rd Street, where NYC restaurateur Zak Peliccio is aiming to extend his Fatty Crab/Fatty ’Cue empire, looks to be actively progressing. Also in the renovations department, work is likewise moving along on former Etsy honcho Rob Kalin’s North Front Street warehouse, the future home of his new Parachutes venture, though it’s likely to take a while given the size and condition of the building.


• TOAD, which has moved its mountain of tie-dyed tees and headshop paraphernalia around Warren Street probably a half-dozen times in the past 15 years, has lost its most recent location in the 700 block due to the sale of the building... No doubt it will reëmerge from under some other lilypad in town.

Primary turnout in Columbia County

As first reported here, voter turnout for Tuesday’s Democratic Congressional primary contest between Julian Schreibman and Joel Tyner was dismal. Fewer than 1 in 10 registered Democrats bothered to participate in the new 11-county 19th District.

That sub-10% figure also applied to Democrats here in Columbia County. Below is a town-by-town chart of how each municipality in the County did, turnout-wise, correlating  Board of Elections tallies and voter registration data obtained last March:

Remarkably, County Democratic Chair Cyndy Hall characterized these numbers as a “tremendous victory” for her party committee... If 9 out of 10 voters staying home is a tremendous victory, one wonders what a tremendous failure would look like.

UPDATE: Primaries 0f course tend to attract fewer voters than general elections. However, as a point of reference showing how poor Tuesday’s turnout was: More than 550 Democrats voted in the 2011 primary between Nick Haddad and Linda Mussmann; but this week, fewer than 150 voters cast ballots in Hudson.

Blotter papers

In the past week, much public curiosity and press attention has focused on a search for former Alderman Quintin Cross “in connection with” a break-in at City Hall. But what of the other 20something man sought by the Hudson Police Department, Jamont M. McClendon?

McClendon’s name, it turns out, has appeared regularly in the police blotters published over the past two years by the Hudson Valley Newspaper chain. A search of online archives indicates that he was arrested at least nine times during that period, for a variety of (mostly) minor offenses.

Below is a summary of this string of arrests and charges lodged against McClendon, whose place of residence alternates shifts during this brief period between Hudson, Catskill, Stuyvesant and Kinderhook:

• McClendon (then “of Hudson”) was arrested in August 2010 by Officers Pierro and Newkirk upon a bench warrant issued the previous month, when McClendon was alleged to have fled from officers. On the 11th, he allegedly fled again “near Fifth and State streets after being told he was under arrest.” Pursued on foot, he “allegedly jumped fences and ran through yards in the 400 block of Long Alley. Patrols responded and were able to flush him out.” He then was charged with both failing to appear and two counts of resisting arrest.

• State Police arrested McClendon (for the moment still “of Hudson”) on Nov. 21st for “false personation” after “allegedly giving police a fake name while being interviewed for a a criminal mischief complaint on Healy Boulevard in the town of Greenport.”

• In the New Year, McClendon (now said to be “of Catskill”) was arrested again, this time on January 5th by HPD Officer Keyser on a charge of “third-degree criminal trespass for allegedly going onto High Rise property when there was a Hudson Housing Authority notice of trespass” dating back to December 2010.

• State police charged McClendon (still “of Catskill”) on February 17th with another count of resisting arrest plus one of “criminal mischief: intent to damage property.” Arraigned in Catskill Town Court, he was “remanded to Greene County Jail in lieu of $1,500 bail.”

• On March 25th, McClendon (“of Catskill”) was arrested yet again, this time by HPD Officer Rowe on a charge of “petit larceny for allegedly stealing $150” from an unidentified person.

• Just six days later, on March 31st, McClendon (now said to be living in Stuyvesant) was arrested by County Sheriff Hofstetter and turned over to the State Police on a warrant “charging him with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle from the Stuyvesant Town Court as he was being released from the County Jail on unrelated charges.”

• McClendon does not appear again in the blotter until the Fall (now identified as living on “Sunnyside Road in Kinderhook”). On October 7th, he was issued an appearance ticket in Hudson by Officer Hodges “for disorderly conduct of fighting with violent behavior… at the intersection of Second and State streets.”

• 10 days later, McClendon (evidently back living in Hudson) was arrested on October 17th by Officer Sweet. He was issued a new appearance ticket on charges of “disorderly conduct of unreasonable noise, disorderly conduct of refusing to move on, and open container.”

• The following month, McClendon (again identified as resident of State Street in Hudson) on the 13th by the HPD's Officer Nero on a charge of “resisting arrest, disorderly conduct of fighting with violent behavior and two active warrants for disorderly conduct on Oct. 21 and resisting arrest on Oct. 25.” The HPD indicated that they were called to Wunderbar on a tip that McClendon was there, “at which time he actively resisted patrol. He was arraigned by Judge Portin and remanded to county jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or $5,000 bail bond.”

Note that the police blotters published online in the Catskill Daily Mail, unlike those of its sister publication The Register-Star, carefully and appropriately state that “a charge is not a conviction,” that “all persons listed are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” and that charges lodged “can be amended or dismissed.”