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ABOUT | DONATE | | ISSUES | SUPPORT US | **VIDEOS** | NEWS | **PETITION |**
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We believe the City of Hudson waterfront should serve the community, not the narrow interests of industrial operators whose activities jeopardize public health, safety, economic growth, and decades of revitalization. It’s a precious resource that few communities have—and it’s being sold off under our noses.
Our Hudson Waterfront is raising funds to support an Article 78 legal challenge to a planning board decision that approved a waterfront dock permit with no limits on truck traffic and allowing operations on weekends—despite strong opposition from hundreds of citizens. We are asking the court to overturn this decision so the law is properly followed and community voices are fairly considered.
Our waterfront is at risk due to a potentially unlawful approval. We are pursuing an Article 78 action to defend public access, public health and safety, and local control. Your GoFundMe donation helps fund this legal challenge and gives our community a voice. Every donation strengthens our legal fight—your support truly matters.
On November 18, 2025, a Dock Conditional Use Permit, owned by A. Colarusso and Sons, was approved by the Hudson Planning Board allowing unrestricted truck traffic with no limits on truck volume and allowing operations on weekends. This action opens the floodgates for increased truck and barge traffic at the dock and ignores a decades-long outcry from the public to protect and revitalize our waterfront—for the benefit and enjoyment of the community.
Since Colarusso bought the dock from Holcim in 2014, annual truck trips to/from the dock have almost tripled, from over 5,400 (2015) to over 15,000 (2019), and could reach up to 70,000 or more (worst case scenario) given the Planning Board’s recent decision—which imposed no limits on truck volume.
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“Reject the dock permit application or impose strict, enforceable conditions to protect our community’s most vital and cherished assets; the waterfront and its adjacent public park.” 2025 OHW Petition (over 600 signatures)
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With the exception of one board member, Gaby Hoffmann, the board’s decision did not incorporate public input expressing concern that the approval could allow truck traffic at levels the community views as effectively unrestricted at Hudson’s waterfront. Since 2019 alone, public input received by the board includes over 200 public comment letters and over 1,800 petition signatures opposing increased truck traffic at our waterfront, citing concerns about:
Despite this overwhelming public input, the Planning Board approved the permit without meaningful conditions to limit the intensification of industrial activities at the dock.
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“I want to connect people and businesses to the water, just like Henry Hudson would’ve expected we’d have figured out by now.” Governor Kathy Hochul
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If the dock owner (currently Colarusso) is allowed to expand into a major profit-driven operation, which the planning board’s decision would allow, it may become an acquisition target of a large multinational cement or aggregate corporation. An acquisition of this nature would hand control of our waterfront to a firm based abroad that has no connection to the life of our city—a fate narrowly avoided 20 years ago when the people of Hudson rejected the St. Lawrence Cement proposal for that very reason.
Tell them our waterfront is not for sale.
Contrary to what some may think, limiting truck volume will not put A. Colarusso and Sons out of business. Colarusso reaps millions in city, town, county and state projects, and successfully operated for over 100 years before it purchased the dock from Holcim in 2014. Colarusso revenue associated with the dock operation represents a small percentage of its overall revenue.
On December 19, 2025, Our Hudson Waterfront, together with several Core Riverfront (C-R) businesses, filed an an Article 78 petition with the State of New York Supreme Court "for a judgment to annul, vacate, and in all respects void the City of Hudson Planning Board resolution to grant site plan and conditional use permit approval" for Colarusso's dock operations.
The petition argues that the Hudson Planning Board failed to evaluate the Dock permit without connecting such use with the continuation of use as existed in 2011, as required by City Code §325-17.1(D)(1), and therefore the Board exceeded its authority in granting a conditional use permit for the commercial dock operation.
The petition, filed against the City of Hudson Planning Board and A. Colarusso and Sons, Inc., can be viewed here.
An Article 78 proceeding is a legal action that allows a court to review whether a government body, among other things:
This is about accountability and lawful decision-making—not politics. This action does not seek damages. It asks the court to require a lawful decision-making process and proper consideration of community impacts.
Help us seek judicial review of a dock approval that lacked truck traffic limits and meaningful response to public input. We believe that development can happen responsibly—but only when the law is followed. And the public is heard.
Taking legal action to protect Hudson’s waterfront is costly, but it’s something we cannot do alone. We’ve created a GoFundMe to help our community come together and support this effort.
Our initial goal represents just a portion of the anticipated expenses. All donations will go directly toward legal fees, expert review, court costs, and related outreach and administrative expenses necessary to support this action.
Join us in telling the Planning Board our waterfront is not for sale. If you value the City of Hudson waterfront and a fair process, please consider supporting this effort.
Any support—financial or by sharing—is deeply appreciated.
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*"Given the great opportunity our Waterfront represents, we strongly oppose noisy, dusty, polluting and hazardous uses there. We firmly believe such incompatible uses jeopardize the immense opportunity before us by inhibiting public access to the river, curtailing commercial activity, reducing popular enjoyment, and discouraging economic development that will benefit the entire city and future generations." *2019 Valley Alliance & OHW Petition: (over 1,200 signatures)
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"The Hudson waterfront and in fact, the entire City of Hudson has changed significantly over the last several decades…In fact, much of the urban renewal that went on in the 70s was the result of the demolition of the old industrial sites down by the waterfront… The old industries have, for one reason or another, gone away; and the waterfront has changed from an industrial area generally into an area that is now being sought for commercial and recreational purposes.”
Jason Shaw, Hudson City Attorney to two administrative law judges, re: St Lawrence Cement review (2002).
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