Hudson River Paradox

The paradox of the Hudson River Valley is its ability to industrialize and modernize while maintaining a strong conservationist and preservationist sentiment among its people. This idea fascinates me and The Hudson reading emphasizes that this is truly embedded in the history of the Hudson River.

We think of the construction of the Erie Canal as one of the greatest and most significant economic developments for the region, its effects rippling beyond New York and impacting both U.S. and world trade. Less intuitively, The Hudson River also provided a challenge to cross its waters and rather than to passively float within them, a not so subtle symbol of human ingenuity triumphing over nature. It was only a matter of time before someone engineered the “biggest” and the “longest” structure in order to allow New Yorkers to free themselves from the constraints of the Mighty Hudson. The early 20th century marked a revolution in transportation by automobile, and with this came the building of the Bear Mountain Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Mid-Hudson Bridge, George Washington Bridge, George Washington Bridge, Rip Van Winkle Bridge, Tappan Zee Bridge, and Varrazano Bridge. The Bear Mountain Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built in 1924, and the tunnels were considered engineering marvels. These developments in transportation greatly increased the flow of people from New York City to surrounding areas, revolutionizing the way people lived in the Hudson Valley. Humans and steal conquer the mighty Hudson, but as we know all too well, not without consequences.

The 1960s marked the beginning of the environmental in the Hudson Valley, with the famous Storm King Mountain controversy. A group of concerned citizens were able to win over major corporation Con Edison to preserve Storm King from becoming a mechanism of power production through due process of law. This was a landmark decision. This case has helped to shape environmental policy and set a precedent of people having a say about their environment. There is a paradox within this statement also- the people of the Hudson River, the same ones who encouraged the development, gave power back to nature. One thing is clear from all of this- the Hudson Valley has always been a place where ideas flow freely, and this has supported one of the most progressive areas in the world.