If the Hudson’s looking a little more like split-pea soup than sparkling blue this fall, you’re not imagining it. A roughly 60-mile stretch of the river— from Beacon up past Germantown —has been blanketed with a thick, green scum scientists say marks the Hudson’s worst algal bloom in nearly 40 years.

Typically, these blooms happen in still water (think lakes, ponds or maybe your neglected backyard fountain), but rarely in a deep tidal river that mixes with the ocean twice daily. This year, however, a perfect storm of record heat, drought and sewage overflow created ideal conditions for cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae) to thrive. According to the National Weather Service, the Hudson Valley saw its warmest September since 2018, averaging nearly 71 degrees Fahrenheit. With rain

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