WGXC has learned the Hudson Police Department carried out the eviction of the North Dock Tin Boat Association from the land it occupies on the eastern shore of the Hudson River very early Monday morning. An unspecified number of people present at the club when HPD officers arrived left without incident. The city Department of Public Works then began the job of erecting a fence around the perimeter of the North Bay property. WGXC will continue to follow this story throughout the day.

UPDATE (12:06 p.m.): Tom Casey is now reporting in the Register Star city DPW workers and an HPD S.W.A.T. team arrived at the property at 3 a.m. Mon., July 16, and removed the last remaining members of the North Dock Tin Boat Association from the shacks. DPW then erected a fence to prevent entrance onto the property. In a statement released by the police later in the day, the department explained its use of the special operations unit, saying the decision was made based on reports that "one of the subjects was armed and had made threats that he would kill the police if they came to remove him." DPW workers will continue to work at the location throughout the day, installing new locks on shack doors and boarding and locking windows to keep people out. Read the full story in the Register Star.

UPDATE (2:10 p.m.): Tiffany Martin Hamilton, a fourth-generation Furgarian, commented on the eviction and what's ahead in a statement to WGXC Monday afternoon:

I am looking at today's events as the close of this chapter in the story of the Furgary. Today is a new day, and it will be our stepping off point for future discussions with the Mayor and his staff. Several members of the Furgary and I met last Thursday [July 12] with the Mayor, his aide, the city attorney and the President of the Common Council to discuss several options. The most viable and well-perceived was the thought of opening up the cabins for use by the public in a park setting, as is often done in state parks. While this isn't the Furgary that its key holders are so accustomed to, it seems to me to be a far better option than demolition. I, as well as many others who have worked side by side with me in this process, believe that preservation to honor the history and significance of the location is extremely important. Hudson has made some terrible moves in the past, demolishing buildings and even entire neighborhoods for the sake of "progress." We now look back on most of those projects as colossal mistakes. I hope we're not having a discussion twenty years from now about what a shame it was that the city chose to demolish something as unique and special as the Furgary Boat Club. I remain optimistic that we will be able to strike a balance with the city.