GL: Hudson River realities

[Lawrence Zeitlin]

What the Guides to the Hudson don't tell you:

I've lived in the Hudson Valley for nearly 50 years. Barring a few  
overseas assignments and sabbaticals to distant climes like Florida  
and Maine, I have cruised the waters of the Hudson most of that time.  
Here is some perspective on the region that is usually left out of  
the cruising guides. By the way, Jefffery Siegel's Active Captain is  
one of the best.

First, the Hudson was the main avenue of commerce in the colonial US  
for several hundred years. If you look at a map you will see that the  
Appalachian mountain range makes a formidable barrier between the  
East coastal cities and the nation's interior. Transport of people  
and goods was possible only by horse and wagon. By a quirk of nature,  
the Hudson River cuts through a gap in the mountain range and enables  
water passage from New York City to Albany. The opening of the  
original Erie Canal in 1825 provided water passage from New York  
through to Buffalo and the Great Lakes and opened the interior of the  
country to commerce. Many of the cities along the Hudson and Erie  
Canal were settled to provide venues for canal services and  
manufacturing. They are old, dating from the early 1800s.

Despite the natural beauty of the land around it, a beauty which  
inspired the Hudson River School painters, the Hudson was one of the  
first ecological horror stories. The river was overfished to provide  
cheap food for New York City's immigrants. Logging from upstate and  
manufacturing activities from riverside towns polluted the water.  
With the advent of the railroad the river front was allowed to  
deteriorate as docks and facilities decayed. Rich folks built their  
houses on the heights away from the shorline. From a pristine  
waterway the river turned into an open sewer by the late 1800s and  
early 1900s.

Fortunately a consortium of the wealthy saved it. Not out of public  
spirit but because they didn't want the view from their hillside  
estates despoiled. Upriver forests were purchased and the Adirondack  
region was turned into a large "forever wild" state park three times  
the size of Yellowstone. Thanks to the Roosevelts (Theodore), the  
Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, etc. the river began its comeback. New  
state laws curbed pollution of the waterway. Many industries moved to  
the south or the banks of the Mississippi where a bit of  
environmental degradation was tolerated in the name of progress. My  
own region lost distilleries, chemical plants, smelting and brick  
making industries and paint manufacturing. Even the Crayola crayon  
company moved to Pennsylvania. Unfortunately as the river began its  
comeback, the riverside communities suffered economically. Towns like  
Newburgh, Peekskill, and Poughkeepsie lost their industrial base. The  
people remained but there was less work. Buildings and infrastructure  
deteriorated.

Many of the industries that remained are those that need water  
transport. The guidebooks don't tell you but rock crushing, cement  
making, gypsum processing, atomic energy, railroad yards, and  
resource recovery (garbage burning) are the major industrial  
employers in the lower Hudson Valley. The Haverstraw Marina is  
adjacent to the U.S. Gypsum plant, the largest maker of wallboard in  
the country. In unfavorable breezes a cloud of gypsum dust wafts from  
the plant and gently envelops the marina. It dulls boat windows, but  
don't worry. The view across the river is of an atomic energy plant  
and a garbage burning facility. Most of the time it is clear but I  
want to warn you. Expect a little haze sometimes.

So take guides to the Hudson, including mine, with a grain of salt.  
The river is once again a marvel of beauty. The highlands of the  
Hudson, where the river cuts through the mountains, are arguably the  
most attractive cruising grounds in the US. But facilities are old,  
town docks, with few exceptions, have not been upgraded since  
excursion riverboat traffic ceased a couple of decades ago. River  
fish are plentiful but only the adventurous eats them with impunity  
since the river still contains the residue of PCBs that the GE plant  
near Albany released a generation ago. The history and sights are  
still there and a Hudson cruise is a delightful experience. But the  
Hudson isn't always a rose garden.

My personal guide to the Hudson River is free for the asking, but you  
have to put up with a few of my opinions.

Larry Z