Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that engineers predict that the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse will collapse and sink into the Hudson River within five years unless work begins soon to repair the foundation. So far the biggest names in politics from both parties say they are working on securing the $7.5 million in federal funding needed to repair, restore, and protect the damaged underwater foundation in the Hudson River between Athens and Hudson. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Marc Molinaro, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, and state Assemblypersons Didi Barrett, and Chris Tague are all supporting the funding effort. The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society President Kristin Gamble said they are distributing petitions in area shops urging the legislators to get the funding. The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society said in a statement, "the lighthouse is held up by 200 underwater wooden pilings pounded 50 feet into the riverbed and protected by packing mud and large boulders, or rip rap. The foundation was an 1874 engineering marvel. A 2021 underwater survey using lidar technology revealed the alarming and accelerated foundation damage. River currents, tides. and weather have taken their toll.” So far the Society has raised more than $200,000 in donations and grants to restore the foundation. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.