Driving down Hudson’s main artery and taking in the shops and buzzy restaurants, I’m always reminded of something Melissa auf der Maur, cofounder of Basilica Hudson, said to me in 2019: “It wasn’t until the antiques dealers, the gays, freaks, and artists showed up that things started to shift. The level of momentum has been remarkable.”
It wasn’t always thus, of course. When Alana Hauptmann opened Red Dot in 1999, there were only a few businesses open on Warren Street like Carrie Haddad and Steiner’s Sports. It’s now the longest-running restaurant in the city, and Hudson has one of the busiest Amtrak stations in the state, ferrying passengers back and forth to Manhattan. On Friday afternoons, you can watch as the train disgorges hundreds of people trailing their wheelie suitcases behind them. The population of this small city of nearly 6,000 can double on summer weekends.
Our man on the scene, photographer David McIntyre, lives just outside the city, so Hudson is basically home turf for him. These photos are just one slice of a town that continues to reinvent itself.
—Brian K. Mahoney
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David McIntyre
The 8:45am train to New York City at the Hudson Amtrak station, which is one of the busiest in the state.
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David McIntyre
For over 40 years, Claverack Motocross has operated on a historic family farm minutes from downtown Hudson, hosting races for riders of all skill sets.
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David McIntyre
The Dunn Warehouse is a 5,500-square-foot former manufactured gas plant on the Hudson waterfront which is being adapted into flexible spaces for a range of activities that amplify local educational, cultural, and wellness-focused organizations and small businesses. The Dunn Warehouse team: Gabriel Katz, Samantha Siegel, Suanny Upegui, Caitlin Baiada, and Sean Rolland.
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David McIntyre
Mike Burdge and Diana DiMuro opened Story Screen Cinema in the former Madison Theater location on Fairview Avenue. Story Screen has three screens, plus a bar and arcade.
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David McIntyre
Hudson mainstay Norman Douglas writes poems-to-order on his Smith Corona typewriter in the shadow of a decommissioned church at 448 Warren Street.
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David McIntyre
The Hudson Depot Lofts under construction on 7th Avenue. Twenty percent of the 63 apartments will be for moderate-income households and the remaining 80 percent are earmarked for workforce housing. The bottom floor will houses retail businesses.
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David McIntyre
Left: Multidisciplinary artist and musician, Venus de Mars, best known as a singer-songwriting transgender rock star and leader of the glam-punk trans-band Venus de Mars and All the Pretty Horses, performing at Park Theater on August 3.
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David McIntyre
Percussionist Bobby Previte performing his one-man show “No Bells, No Whistles” at Hudson Hall on July 27.
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David McIntyre
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Established by an act of Congress in 1874, the beacon that has guided vessels through the Hudson River's hazardous Middle Ground Flats has a crumbling foundation. It's currently on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The not-for-profit Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society is working to raise the funds needed to halt the lighthouse’s demise.
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David McIntyre
Freya and Melany Dobson, cofounders of Hudson Cannabis, a regenerative cannabis farm. Their products are available at 130 legal dispensary locations across the state.
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David McIntyre
The former Riverbend Mercantile space on Warren Street in Hudson reopened in July as Riverbend Dispensary, an adult-use legal cannabis dispensary run by Rudy Huston and Ed Glickman.
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David McIntyre
Alana Hauptman, owner of Red Dot, inside her establishment, which opened on Bastille Day in 1999 and is the longest-running bar/restaurant in the city.
