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Word spread on Thursday that Joe Fiero of American Glory had applied for a permit to shut down the entire 300 block of Warren Street for yet another car-and-cycle show today. This ignited a firestorm of protest, with nearby business owners taking stock of a City code stating that the Mayor will consider whether such events “unreasonably interfere with the rights of the neighbors.”
Strong indications are that virtually no neighbors were approached by Fiero or Mayor Bill Hallenbeck for their opinion, and efforts to convince Hallenbeck to reverse his decision fell on deaf ears.
As of 1:30 pm today, the 300 block was virtually empty, as seen in the photograph above. A small cluster of five vintage cars near American Glory was joined by only two more cars over the next half hour, plus a few ordinary motorcylces. Below are some additional notes from early this afternoon...
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• There were as many police and first responders on hand as there were cars.
• A source for this site spoke with one of the policemen on hand, reporting that he said they were getting overtime pay. It was not clear whether the City or American Glory would cover such pay.
• A stage was set up in front of Hudson Wine Merchants, one of whose owners had expressed concerns about the event.
• American Glory employees milled about in the vast emptiness, all carrying clipboards. It was not clear whether the purpose of these clipboards was to gather petitions, or other information from the sparse group of attendees.
• Reportedly several other, larger car shows are underway in the area (near Route 82, and in Greene County). One skeptical business owner speculated that exhibitors from those events would descend on Hudson toward the end of the afternoon, raising the question of why the street had to be closed for so many business hours.
• This site has received secondhand information that another business owner in the 300 block had applied within recent memory for permission to hold a tent sale in one of the parking lots on the block.
