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Free hi-res historical map of Columbia County

If you’ve ever wanted a large old map of Columbia County, but didn’t want to shell out $300+ to buy one at auction, you’re in luck. The Library of Congress has a high-resolution scan of the 1858 Beers map which can be downloaded for free at this link.

To download the largest version, use the bottom-most file link on the left hand side. (This could in theory be printed as large as 20 feet square at 72 dpi, but would look better at about 40 inches square and 300 dpi.)

If you just want to inspect the map without downloading, the site also has a handy viewer that lets you zoom in to a specific part of the county.

Two of the more intriguing uses of these maps is either to identify who owned a historical house 160 years ago, or to find the sites of houses which have since been torn down... There are a lot of abandoned foundations out in them woods.

A shortcut to correlating old maps to new ones can be found at this astonishingly handy site, which overlays historic maps with current Google ones. (The example here uses an 1873 Beers map for Taghkanic.) Use the “slider” on the righthand side to change the old map’s opacity, revealing the underlying current one. By also clicking on the “Google Hybrid” button, you can see a satellite image, making it easier to see which 19th century house site lines up with present-day buildings.

Belichick Derangement Syndrome: A Guide for the Perplexed*

Dear Casual Football Fans and Less-Casual Patriots Haters:

The Super Bowl is a week from Sunday, and millions of people who have not watched a single regular-season game will tune in to see the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots.

In the long two-week runup to kickoff, scores of reporters who normally don’t follow football also have been writing and talking about a supposed scandal involving the one-point favorites, the Patriots—particularly about their coach, Bill Belichick. (It does not help that most of the influential sports media is based in the territory of the Patriots’ most bitter rivals, the New York Jets and Giants.)

So far, the DeflateGate “investigation” has looked a lot like a trial in the court of public opinion, using incomplete and thirdhand evidence, by a jury of one’s enemies. The NFL itself has come to no conclusions, despite interviewing over 40 Patriots staffers, and it has been leaked that they are having a tough time coming up with any evidence that the Patriots cheated.

You would be forgiven for being misled by such reports, especially as they are amplified by the howls of fans of all the other NFL teams which the Patriots have been beating for years are eagerly joining in this Salem-grade pile on. For them, and for you, below is a guide to overcoming Belichick Derangement Syndrome:

1) The Patriots’ winning percentage has been significantly better since SpyGate than before it: 69.3% before, 75.6 after. Rational observers do not believe the Patriots’ actions—which was legal prior to the 2007 season—had any effect on game outcomes. Attributing their success before or after it comes across as sour grapes. Lesson: Don’t let others’ success breed contempt. 

2) SpyGate was not really about taping opponents’ signals. It was about the location of cameras. All teams taped signals; the Patriots were fined for having a camera on the sidelines rather than a booth. Eric Mangini, the coach who brought it up, has said that he only did so to tweak his former boss, did not expect it to become a big deal, and thought the subsequent controversy was overblown. Using it as a justification for paranoia about everything the Patriots do is unfair and unbecoming.  Lesson: If you’re going to talk smack, know what you’re talking about.

3) A false report of the Patriots taping the Rams’ pre-Super Bowl walkthrough was found by the NFL to be the fabrication of a disgruntled former employee. The paper which published it was covered in shame and retracted the story. Continuing to harp on such things is like believing the ending of Inglorious Basterds was historically correct.  Lesson: Don’t rely on far-fetched theories.

4) The line formations which caused Harbaugh to lose his mind in a playoff game are legal, and the referees actually went overboard in helping the Ravens see what what was happening—specifically announcing that they should not cover specific receivers. These formations have been used by other pro and college teams. Making full and creative use of legal options on the playing field is important to winning, and makes the game more interesting. Lesson: Don’t be a Harbaugh.

5) Multiple Colts players have said that they were beaten fair and square last Sunday. They agree with most retired quarterbacks interviewed on this subject: ball inflation had nothing to do with the outcome. In the half played partially with questionable balls, the Patriots gained 10 points. In the remainder of the game, played with replacement footballs, they gained 28 points. If the Colts aren’t making excuses, why should their fans? Lesson: Don’t fight a battle for someone else.

6) Every quarterback has elaborate specs of how they want the football. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers openly admitted that he likes to inflate balls beyond the “legal” limit, and there was no outcry or punishment. Eli Manning has one of the more elaborate set of demands on how the ball is delivered. Checking the footballs is done perfunctorily, because NFL ratings are all about offense. This is not normally an issue except when Belichick is winning, once again. Lesson: Be evenhanded.

7) Brady/Belichick is the winningest QB/coach combination in the history of the NFL, and it’s not even close. So far, they’ve won 162 games together. Marino/Shula won 116, Bradshaw/Knoll 54. This engenders a lot of irrational resentment, but is easily explained by a combination of talent and preparation. Lesson: Learn to let it go.

8) No team in the NFL has a winning record against Brady. Not one. This, too, breeds resentment and double-standards in scrutinizing the Patriots. As former Patriot and current ESPN commentator Tedy Bruschi has said: “It’s a long line of people that want to step up and make an excuse as to why their team lost... But it feels good to be a player in that locker room knowing that you frustrate someone that much — that you frustrate someone that much that they are talking about some type of ball controversy.” Lesson: Don’t give the other side billboard material.

9) Even if you disregard all of the above, bear in mind that the National Football League is full of scandals far more repugnant than your misplaced outraged at Bill Belichick. The Patriots’ opponents in one of the above contests had a running back who punched his girlfriend unconscious in an elevator, and dragged her out by the feet on video. That team actually defended and covered up for their player, much as they turned a blind eye to another former player covering up a murder. No one suggested that the Ravens should not be allowed to play in that game, yet people are saying the Patriots should be disqualified from the Super Bowl based on an alleged 15% difference in air pressure. Lesson: At least, be consistent.

Belichick Derangement Syndrome is tinged with deep-seated resentment of both talent and intellect. Those attacking the Patriots will lend credence to any explanation, however absurd, which denies that they earned their success using their physical abilities and—even mores—their wits, in a league with spending parity. Learn to love Bill Belichick, the strategic and tactical genius. It’s the closest that armchair quarterbacks will ever get to sitting in the Jeep next to Patton. 

* Apologies to E.F. Schumacher

Colarusso paid just $8.75 million to acquire 20 Holcim parcels

ABOVE: Red area shows the lands previously owned by SLC/Holcim, recently purchased by Colarusso for $8.75M. The 1,800 acres is 50% larger than the entire City of Hudson.

Colarusso Ventures LLC paid $8,750,000 to acquire 20 parcels of land from Holcim (US), according to new records recently posted by the County.

The parcel sales—3 in Hudson, 17 in Greenport—were concluded on October 27th, 2014, but were not reflected in County records as of late December. No RP-5217 sales records were on file with the Real Property Department at that time. And documents then in the Clerk’s office merely showed Colarusso acquiring easements and title to a railroad overpass. But sometime between December 24th and today, records of an actual sale have made it into the County’s system.

The price of $8.75 million is far less than most would have predicted. Proponents of the deeply flawed Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP) for Hudson, favoring the interests of extractive mining businesses, wagged their fingers that acquiring the Waterfront land by sale would be prohibitively expensive.

Then-City Attorney Cheryl Roberts likewise scoffed derisively at any idea of rezoning the waterfront in favor of benign commercial, recreational, and conservation uses, speciously arguing that it would be deemed a “taking” in court, and cost the City tens or even hundreds of millions.

Today, individual buildings in Hudson sell for more than $1 million. And Colarusso appears to have bought all of Holcim’s 1,800 acres—not just its 117 acres on the waterfront—for under $10 million. The property now owned by Colarusso is larger than the entire City of Hudson (2.8 vs. 2.3 square miles).

The shortsightedness of that thinking, which foreclosed the possibility of a truly ambitious Waterfront development to complement Hudson’s main street, has seldom been thrown in starker relief.

Roll Call reports Gibson will resign, possibly to run Statewide

The D.C. insider publication Roll Call today reports on a head-scratching rumor that Rep. Chris Gibson will “retire” (step down) today, with the likely intent of running for Statewide office. From the report:

“Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., will announce his retirement Tuesday, according to two GOP sources. [...] Last year, Gibson annihilated venture capitalist Sean Eldridge, the Democratic nominee with deep pockets, by nearly 30 points. Initially, Democrats were optimistic about defeating Gibson in the lush and rolling Hudson Valley-based district north of New York City. But Eldridge’s candidacy quickly flamed out, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee never reserved airtime in the 19th District to support his campaign.”

Link: 

http://atr.rollcall.com/house-races-2016-chris-gibson-retirement/

Gibson says this is his last term in Congress

The Poughkeepsie Journal says that Rep. Chris Gibson will serve out his term, but not run for a fourth time. Gibson is quoted as saying this was his plan all along, to “self-term-limit.”

Previously, the D.C. insider publication Roll Cal reported that Gibson would “retire” (step down) today, with the likely intent of running for Statewide office.

However, the Kingston Daily Freeman writes that Gibson will serve out his term, and will just announce that he will not seek another term.

From the Roll Call report:

“Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., will announce his retirement Tuesday, according to two GOP sources. [...] Last year, Gibson annihilated venture capitalist Sean Eldridge, the Democratic nominee with deep pockets, by nearly 30 points. Initially, Democrats were optimistic about defeating Gibson in the lush and rolling Hudson Valley-based district north of New York City. But Eldridge’s candidacy quickly flamed out, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee never reserved airtime in the 19th District to support his campaign.”

Links:

PoJo

Roll Call

Freeman

Spilled milk

Taghkanic resident Scott Stackpole took the three photographs above of a milk truck which “overturned on the icy hill in front of our house on Saturday evening.”

Stackpole writes that there was “a lot of spilled milk, but no injuries (or crying).” While the tractor itself “remained upright” and the driver was apparently uninjured, “another vehicle came along and collided with the truck before traffic could be stopped on the icy hill.”

Responders included the Stalker wrecking crew from Hillsdale, Taghkanic Volunteer Fire Department, the Columbia Co. Sheriff's Office, New York State Police, New York State Department of Enviromental Conservation, the Greenport ambulance squad, and Columbia County Highway Department, which cleared ice from the road for the others.