The Daily Take By Jonathan: Albany News & Politics tag:www.albany.com,2012-03-26:/daily-take//118 2013-05-13T15:41:41Z Jonathan Mazur reports the Daily Take on news, politics and more on Albany.com! Movable Type Pro 4.37 Can They Really Do That? tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.12325 2013-05-13T12:50:01Z 2013-05-13T15:41:41Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 Over the weekend the Albany Democrats met at their headquarters on Colvin Avenue to pick their candidates for the September primary.  For out of towners, this year the city elects it's officials, and to nobody's surprise (I guess), chose the current mayor Jerry Jennings.  Now, if you're an out of town reader, you would probably say, "Oh, that seems like a logical choice."  You see, though, the mayor hasn't committed to running for another term.  Yes, folks, that actually happens in Albany. ..........Meanwhile, I wish I could stop talking about this, but it just won't go away.  That being the fate of the Albany County Nursing Home.  Tonight lawmakers are supposedly going to vote on it's demise.  But according to reports, the issue will be tabled once again.  Well beyond an embarrassing issue for the county, the debate over the home has been going on for almost two years.  County Exec. Dan McCoy has a plan in hand for privatizing the facility to to a group that has interests around the Capital District.  But legislator's lead by Majority Leader Frank Commisso and his lackey Tim Nichols are stalling the vote in order to review a proposal from two precarious gentlemen from the Bronx.  McCoy has threatened to veto any action coming out of the chamber unless it's a vote in favor of privatization.  It's uncertain if the legislature has enough votes to override his veto.  There is no way this gets settled tonight, and probably not in the near future.  The best thing that could happen now is that the home go into receivership and let the state sort it out.  Little people in a little pond trying to swim like big fish.  Commisso and your puppets: You should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves for letting your huge egos get in the way of fiscal responsibility. ..........I don't usually delve into the arena of national politics, but in this case, I just can't help myself.  Now, I have voted for Republicans and Democrats over my lifetime, so  think I can say this with some certainty of objectivity.  This being the discussion over how the Benghazi situation was handled.  Did the Obama administration mislead the American people?  Most likely, yes.  Did it have anything to do with the fact that the general election was just a short time down the road.  Absolutely.  What I cannot understand is the Republican Party vehemently trying to slander the next President of the United States, Hillary Clinton.  While she probably was not forthcoming with all the pertinent information the American people sought, I think that all the info that the people finally got, was probably what exactly happened.  The outpost was undermanned and outgunned, and steps should have been taken months before to rectify the situation.  For that, you can blame Hillary.  But, the reality is, the leaders of that Embassy were members of the CIA, and those folks were aware that the situation they entered into was potentially dangerous.  The real sad part of the story was the deaths of the military personnel guarding the post. Follow me on Twitter.

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]]> Get On Your Knees And Kiss The Ring tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.12267 2013-05-07T20:04:25Z 2013-05-07T21:24:20Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 This is the time of year when the interviews for candidates interested in running in the upcoming September primary meet at the Mecca of Albany county politics, the Democratic Party Headquarters at 22 Colvin Avenue.  In most of the races this process is pretty much a formality because they already know what candidates they are going to endorse.  Just for you out of town readers, this year Albany elects it's city officials.  Here is how the process works.  If you are interested in running for a city office, you call the party headquarters to get on the list to be interviewed.  You present your qualifications to the committee and that's that.  When the interviews are over, the party bosses get together, decide who they will endorse in the primary, and in turn, the bosses will tell their respective party minions who to vote for.  Incumbents are not necessarily endorsed.  Ain't that something.  I'll keep you out of towner's up to date if you want to follow the blog. ..........You all know that real journalists dislike us bloggers immensely, but this past week, our one and only local newspaper, the Times Useless -- better known on the newsstand as the Times Union -- took quite an unnecessary shot at a fellow blogger.  Now this blogger (her name is Theresa, but I can't mention the name of her blog) is known for taking shots -- I'm not a fan of him either --  at the Albany County District Attorney David Soares.  Daily, in her blog, she mentions the name of an eatery she frequents, and posts their menu.  Now this eatery happens to be located in a building that is Soares' home turf.  The DA, thinking that they advertised on her blog, banned his employees from patronizing the place, and the TU picked up on it.  Now the TU,  known for picking and choosing their fights based on who they like, and they definitely don't like Theresa, printed an opinion pretty much trashing her.  Now that's pretty much a ''I'm going to take my ball and go home'' approach  Grow up, ..........Did anybody notice that we had a bicycle festival this past weekend?  Note to all bike enthusiasts:  You are the only one who cares.  The average citizen above the age of 30 hasn't ridden a bicycle since high school (and that's stretching it).   An avid bike fancier, we won't mention any names but lives in the 10th Ward, posted pictures of this event on Twitter, touting all the people in attendance; But in reality, showed only the people sitting behind the info tables.  Our assemblywoman Fahy showed up however, flashing that painted smile.  I hope the walk-a-thon goes better.  That's it.  Let's walk around Albany more.  Maybe a midnight stroll down Judson Street? ..........In the shadow of my favorite organization, Historic Albany, the city ripped through an entire block of Lexington Avenue, between Sheridan and Orange Streets.  Citing eminent danger by the city's engineer, 7 vacant buildings were demolished.  HAF's leader Susan Holland, of course called this a tragedy, saying 6 of them could be saved.  Then you Sue, and your foundation, buy the buildings and save them.  I'm starting to like this Jeff Jamison guy.

And that is "The Daily Take"     
]]> Albany County Politics Are A Sideshow tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.12226 2013-04-30T21:23:05Z 2013-04-30T21:51:07Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 In listening to the mayor's radio show last week, it was evident, almost comical the way Jerry tried to sidestep the question as to whether or not he will run for re-election this time around. He indicated that he would announce, one way or the other, by next month. Well, Mr. Mayor, tomorrow is next month.  I believe that most of us would understand that twenty years running our fair city was enough, but most old school Democrats -- who still make up the majority of the voting population --  won't be to happy about handing over the city to what would amount to a bunch of progressive Democrats led by Kathy Sheehan.  By the way Kathy, do you work anymore? You're always out campaigning at this breakfast or that lunch. C'mon, Jerry. Let's get into this thing. The Progressives can talk all they want to about how they will change the city (ie. one of my pet peeves is the abandoned building issue. Every candidate says that they can do something about it, but nobody has a clear idea how to do it. And don't start with the Landbank again.) While were at it. It was nice to see that the people who count, are coming out to endorse John Marsalais for the seat of Common Council President. ..........The situation concerning the Albany County Nursing Home is bordering on the side of ridiculous. Legislator Tim Nichols, the yes man for Legislative Majority Leader King Frank Commisso, is saying that the hiring of Upstate Services Group, the vendor that county Exec. Dan McCoy is seeking to lease the home to, would be ''unconscionable'' in light of a report concerning the former Julie Blair facility in Albany, which the vendor took over in 2011.  Nichols was not taking into affect that the home has been doing a major turnaround since being taken over by USG. All these goings on is probably going to delay once again the vote by the entire legislature which is scheduled for May 13.  He (Nichols) and Commisso are going to argue that the other proposal which involves two Bronx based nursing home operators hasn't been properly vetted. Although Commisso will say otherwise, this proposal has been only around since he has run out of reasons for not approving USG for the privatization. Supposedly, the new proposal will involve them taking over only the management of the home, therefore keeping the workers under the control of the county. Even though nobody knows anything about these two gentlemen from the Bronx, what do you think would happen if the full legislature goes to a vote on the matter?  Would the county continue to leak money to the tune of $1 million a month?  This is what's going to happen:  In the time between now and the 13th of May, King Commisso is going to work the phones talking to all the Democrats he can get in contact with -- that would be all of them, because you do not refuse a call from Frank -- reminding them what would happen to their legislative careers if they don't go along with his wishes.  The vote on May 13 will be a no on privatization. The aftermath being the home ripe for closing, and a takeover by the state. That's what you're going to get, Frank.  One of these days, the people of Albany county are going to realize that enough is enough when it comes down to one person having so much influence on a body of government. But then again, there are hangers on like Nichols and others who will be ready to step in.  Term limits people. Term limits...........I see that a historic building -- they're all historic in downtown Albany -- came down the other day.  One day, Historic Albany and it's leader Susan Holland are praising the city for hiring Jeff Jamison to direct the new Buildings and Regulatory Compliance unit, and the next they're ripping him for saying it's OK to demolish the building. Albany's engineer said the building was unsafe and had to come down. But HAF's architect said it could be saved.  That's the difference Susan. To an architect -- who actually know very little about structural issues -- everything can be saved.  Next time you go out and make a decision about structural stability of one of these old homes, bring along an engineer. ..........So we have a gay basketball player in the NBA. He being a 34 year old, at the end of his career, free agent.  Good luck to you, my man.  Yes, you will find a job with another team.  Don't think, however, for one minute that this is going to be easy.  Tell you what, though.  If they have an award for a person with the most guts in professional sports, you got my vote.

And that is "The Daily Take"          
]]> Absence Of Morality tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.12112 2013-04-21T22:35:13Z 2013-04-21T22:58:24Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358      There is nothing I can say about that horrific incident of the past Monday, except to wonder how a person could possibly perform an act so evil against his fellow man.  We will probably never know why.  The only thing that sticks in my mind, however, is the fact that there is nothing we can do to prevent this from happening again...........We had a presence of thousands of media types, including our own TV stations fumbling over each other to get a better angle, or better yet, get to interview someone, who new someone, who new someone that was injured.  Then in haste to get the ''scoop'', CNN or some other network busts onto the air proclaiming that there had been an arrest.  Finally, when it was really over, during the press conference given by the Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, some genius reporter asked if the suspect had been read his rights.  Do they teach that in Journalism School?..........You never want to see it if it can be avoided, but for the sake of what's right, the demolition of St. Patrick's church in Waterviet resumed this week.  Was everything done to keep the church open?  On the legal side, definitely.  Probably more that any anyone else in their place would have done.  But the real reason the church is coming down is the fact that unlike the people who fought to save the church, who's parents went there in the days when there were an abundance of Catholic churches, most of them with schools attached, those children chose to live in Clifton Park, or Colonie, or some place other than Watervliet.  I grew up going to a Catholic church in downtown Albany, and went to it's attached school.  The church is now occupied by another faith.  The school used to be used by the city.  There aren't enough people to keep the churches open.  They consolidate or close.  The next one to come down is St. Joe's on Ten Broeck Street in Albany.  The owners, the hippocrates at Historic Albany (or did they give the church back to the city), will blame everyone but themselves for what's going to eventually happen to the church.  The old church's don't make good restaurants...........It's good, no great to see that there is a challenger for the seat of the President of the Albany Common Council. A citywide elected official, the seat is perfect for longtime, behind the scenes Democrat John Marsalais.  It would be a welcome breath of fresh air to the self-centered, arrogant, bullying presence now occupying that seat.  Carolyn McLaughlin has her own political fan base, but I believe come September, with a well run campaign, and most likely the backing of the Party, the November election will be a formality.  This election is starting to get interesting.

And that is "The Daily Take"      
]]> Albany City (Elections) Getting Underway tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.12056 2013-04-15T19:41:03Z 2013-04-15T22:32:26Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 In a lot of cities across America, local elections will happen this November.  Democrat's, Republicans, and other established Parties will spend the summer month's at barbeque's and other assorted fundraisers in search of campaign dollars for the November election.  In Albany however, the election occurs in September.  That's right, folks, September.  That's because September is the month that Albany holds it's primary election.  There will be no Republican's, no Independents, no other party but Democrat's.  That's the way things have been done in this town for a long, long time.  There still is an election in November, where you get to go to the voting place and pull that lever --  there aren't any levers anymore, but you get the point -- for the Democrat of your choice.  Heck in the old day's, when they had levers, literally, a blind person could go into the booth and vote by pulling the levers, because the Democrat's were all in the same row.  There might be a Republican challenger for city offices like the Mayor, Auditor, or Treasurer, but that is mostly symbolic.  To this date no Republican has come forth to challenge any of the Democrat's running for these offices.  As far as the Common Council races are concerned -- and there are 15 of them -- there won't be a Republican within 20 miles of the ballot.  Some of these races will be interesting.  For instance, there are a couple of the Ward Representatives who have already committed to not running for re-election (those being the 1st  and 4th Wards.)  At this time there are 2 signed up to primary in each.  The winner in each of those contests will be the one who has been endorsed by the incumbent.  An incumbent (2nd Ward), is being challenged, and the challenger has the endorsement of the Common Council President, with the inevitable winner being the challenger.  See, in this town the politico's have very long memories.  Even if you stand up for what is right, you are wrong.  This was a redistricting year for the city and we have people running in a certain Wards who don't even live in that Ward.  I don't know about you, but I have lived in my house for 13 years, and I guess you'd have to have a real passion to be a civil servant to pick up and move.  Now it's funny that all the races so far with primary challenges are in the predominately Minority Wards. I guess the representatives of the 10th,12th,13th, 14th, or 15th Wards are just doing such a darned good job, that potential challengers feel that it would be futile to run.  I live in the 15th Ward, and challenging the incumbent here would be akin to winning Powerball.  I have been a citizen of this city for most of my life, and if it seems that I'm down on Albany, that's just not the case.  What I am down on is the way the city elects it's officials.  If you don't succeed in September, you go home.  If you don't succeed on winning the endorsement of the Democratic Party, you go home.  We have too many individuals governing too few people.  The members of the Common Council vote as a group to govern the city, but the interests of the different Wards are like night and day.  Are these representatives as a group focusing on the good of the city as a whole?  I guess we'll see in September.

And that is "The Daily Take"
]]> I Hope This Is The Last Time I Have To Say This tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11992 2013-04-04T19:02:15Z 2013-04-04T19:17:36Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 Enought is enough.  How much money do you think the Nigro Companies have to waste on the St. Patricks project.  The Concerned Citizens for St. Patrick's have gone to yet another judge in hope of keeping the company from demolishing the Watervliet church.  This time a state Appellate Court Judge stopped the demolition for two weeks while the court reviews the application.  Why didn't these concerned citizens put all this effort into getting asses into the pews of the church to keep it open in  the first place, when declining church attendance caused the church to close?  I hope when this is all said and done, the Nigro Companies brings suit upon these good concerned citizens -- which will probably never happen because the group will cry poor, and Nigro will probably be glad to just have it over with -- for all the money it has spent on attorney's, and on down time from the demolition contractor...........The fate of the Albany County Nursing Home will probably be known early next week, when a vote from the full, dysfunctional Legislature will take place.  A highly attended and vocal public meeting was held Tuesday night hopefully to let everyone that wanted to rant and vent and make their point pro and con, on turning over the home to be run by USG.  Folks, there is nothing I can bring to this, other than to say that the fate of the home is now in the hands of the Audit and Finance Committee, and ultimately they will vote to send it to the floor for a vote.  The Elder Care Committee had already passed the measure.  The Elder Care Committee passed it with no recommendations, so you can expect the A & F to probably do the same.  I'm going to go out on a limb here -- probably not that much of a limb --  and say that the body of the legislature will more than likely go along with the wishes of it's long time, powerful leader Mr. Commisso.  I believe that Commisso thinks that the data showing that the home loses $1 million dollars a month needs to be further vetted.  However, there have been three studies, showing the data to be consistent in showing the home operating in the red, and while the complex deal with USG would more than likely benefit the county in the long run, the bottom line, I believe, is that Commisso thinks the deal will not be a good one for the facilities employees.  In the end he will protect the workers.  The workers union reps have pretty much come out and said that they were definitely not in favor or privatization, and while USG has said that they would retain 90% of the current staff, tenured employees are skeptical of their future. This is a huge matter the legislature is undertaking.  USG was the only taker when ''Requests for Proposal'' were sent out last year.  The people of Albany County have run out of options here.  Yes, this can be taken up again; but we have better start watching out for the ones that matter, and that would be the residents of the facility.  The Nursing Home is not being run efficiently by the county, and a privatization, be it with USG or another provider, will only benefit all involved.  Albany County is not equipped to run the home.  Period...........The Yankees had better get their you know what together.  This is going to be one looooong season.  Jay Leno said that he was watching a game, and thought he was watching Old Timers Day...........I have one more thought.  Let's redo the boundaries of New York State. At the line of Westchester and Bronx counties, NYS begins north of that line, and you can call south of that line anything you want.  That way you can keep all that corruption out of New York state.  Follow me on Twitter.

And that is "The Daily Take"        ]]> Talk About Pulling Out All The Stops tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11971 2013-03-31T01:49:52Z 2013-03-31T01:49:57Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 Well I don't know about you, but I thought the race for Albany Mayor was going to be a heated one all through the summer, culminating by a slim margin of victory in the September primary.  Yes folks, one that everyone interested in the race waited in anticipation, for things such as campaign cash disclosures, and following the candidates as they go from fundraiser to fundraiser in hopes of coming out with piles of cash.  One that showed who wields the true power in the city of Albany, by raking in all the key endorsements from groups like the Albany County Democratic Committee, Albany Common Council, police, and firefighter's unions.  But all that ended last week folks.  It ended when mayoral hopeful Kathy Sheehan stood shoulder to shoulder with Gloria Steinem in Marlo Thomas' -- yes that Marlo Thomas -- apartment in New York City.  The only thing that could have made it more perfect, would have been if Steinem had come to Albany where Kathy is actually running for Mayor.  It was a banner week.  She opened up her campaign headquarters on Madison Avenue, and picked up the endorsement of retired Assemblyman Jack McEneny.  Jack said that it was time for a change in Albany; a fresh start he said.  To top it all off, Kathy is now being endorsed by Emily's List as well.  She being only one of four candidates to be endorsed nation wide.  Now I know Jerry hasn't announced if he is running or not, so maybe it's time to look in the mirror and admit that you're up against insurmountable odds. Even though you are the most powerful Democrat in town.  Even though she has all these great plans for the city, but hasn't come out and said how these plans would come to fruition.  Even though she doesn't have the experience to run this city. She's got Emily's List though...........Finally, the operators of the Washington Avenue Armory have won a court fight to hold an event at the venue.  I still don't understand why the city is so up in arms about this place.  Do I want to go there.  Probably not.  Can the place be noisy. Definitely.  This is Lark Street. The Armory and the city have to come up with some sort of agreement.  How do you expect a venue to survive if they schedule an event, only to have it cancelled three hours before the doors are supposed to open. Maybe that's the city's tack...........Did you see the pictures on TV of the stealth bombers hovering over South Korea.  Those are some scary looking airplanes.  If I was running North Korea, they would scare the crap out of me.  But seriously. That Kim Jong-un is one dangerous dude.  He's one hissy fit away from starting WW III...........Only a couple of weeks into his tenure, Pope Francis is getting on the wrong side of the traditionalist Catholics.  In the Holy Thursday ritual of the Washing of the Feet, he washed the feet of a female, which aggravated some of the elder Cardinals who staunchly supported Pope Benedict, who was more in favor of sending the church back to Pre-Vatican II days.  If your a Catholic more than 55 years old you remember, when the Mass was in Latin, with the Priest's back to you. This Pope has a lot more to think about then worrying what these traditionalist Cardinals think.  While things like Priests able to marry, and the admittance of women into the Priesthood will never happen, the church has to move forward, no back into the stone age.

And that is "The Daily Take"
]]> This Couldn't Be Any More Wrong tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11903 2013-03-19T22:11:54Z 2013-03-20T03:03:32Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358       I've got to give the Albany Times Union a lot of credit for the beautiful new newspaper they produced today.  I couldn't even venture a guess what that new machine cost to purchase and install.  It hasn't however changed what I think of it's Editorial Board.  Reading the latest venture of the board's ongoing jump on the bandwagon of whatever feel good story that comes along, I couldn't help but wonder where they got their facts for this one. I was under the impression that the U.S. EPA was in control of the dredging operations that GE was forced into.  If you haven't read the full Editorial, let me share a portion of it with you that caught my attention:  ''Other federal environmental officials have argued that an additional 136 acres of the river bottom, including part of the impaired navigation channel of the Champlain Canal, need to be cleansed of the carcinogenic chemicals that GE legally dumped there decades ago. Otherwise, they warn, adjacent sections of the river that have been cleaned up, thanks to four years of dredging, might well become polluted again.''  By other officials they mean the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin. and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.  That's all well and good guys.  The reason adjacent waterway that has been dredged may become again polluted is if you attempt any upstream dredging.  If you want to pay for the cost of determining if there is additional dredging needed, go for it.  Now they have State Controller DiNapoli on their bandwagon seeminly making an attempt to make GE pay for additional study, and he's willing to hold over their heads the almost $800 million that the state has invested in GE stock via the state pension fund.  Again, if they (NYS) want to pay for the study, have at it. Let DiNapoli and Jeff Immelt (G.E. CEO) sit down and make a deal.  I'd love to be in that meeting.  GE has spent over $1 billion on the Hudson in the last decade, with lot's more to spend according to the pact they have already entered into.  How much is enough? If it were up to the a report from the Hudson River Natural Resources Trustees, we'd be dredging all the way to New York City.  Why don't you ask the people who live along the proposed new study site if they want dredging on their shoreline.  Or better yet, ask the people who have already endured a couple of summers full of noisy, loud, dirty dredging, if they want to go through it again if upriver dredging occurs, and all the suspended solids end up in their backyard again.  Or even better yet, get a group of dredging enthusiasts together and put them on a sludge barge for a couple of days, and see how that works out.

And that is "The Daily Take"

  ]]> Cut Your Losses & Get Out While You Can Guys tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11879 2013-03-14T20:39:58Z 2013-03-14T20:56:16Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 The city of Albany BZA unanimously ruled that the owners of the Washington Avenue Armory cannot hold the kind of entertainment they choose. It's time for the buildings owners to cut bait and run just as fast as they can from this no-win situation.  Since there is no clear definition concerning the buildings use, the city can deem the venue's use to fit any situation they desire. They (the owners) kind of shot themselves in the foot, when last October, due to a lack of security on their part, an event got out of hand and a couple of cops got ''hurt'' outside the building.  Now it appears that even if you got the FBI to handle security, the point is no longer open for discussion.  Now if you want to open a venue hosting "Cowboy music" down off Broadway in the warehouse district, the BZA will welcome you with open arms.  All you'll need is a couple of Albany's favorite citizens to stick up for you at a zoning board meeting and you're in.  Just another way for the city to enforce it's ridiculous pick and choose the music Caberet Law.  I guess we can watch the Armory collect dust and rust for another term while the search goes on to find another tenant stalwart enough to take on City Hall...........We have a new Pope.  He being Jorge Mario Bergoglio, of Argentina, now known as Pope Francis I.  Does he have a job ahead of him.  Though I had hoped for a younger choice, this Pope seems like maybe he can relate more to the common person.  Don't expect Francis to change the world overnight. No, pro-lifers he isn't going to come out in favor of abortion, and no there won't be female priests in the near future.  Let's hope he begins to heal the church from all the scandals it has endured for the past few decades.  Que Dios este contigo Papa Francis...........Win or you're done.  After three unsuccessful seasons as Siena's head coach, Mitch Buonaguro is out.  It seems to be the favorite thing to do for Athletic Directors; that is if your team doesn't win, you fire the coach.  Hard place to coach. If you have a successful coach, he moves on to bigger and better things.  You have a coach who doesn't win, you fire him and hire a coach who wins and moves on. Catch 22...........You know when Spring is almost here.  The drive in places start to open.  Tastee Freez in Delmar (I love those guys. They open early and stay open well after the others have closed for the year. Plus they have one of the best Chili Dogs in town) is open, as well as Jumpin Jacks in Scotia.  Bring it on.losses

And that is "The Daily Take"       
]]> Just How Much Is This Developer Supposed To Take tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11850 2013-03-10T23:30:03Z 2013-03-11T15:44:41Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 Last Friday a New York State Supreme Court Judge ruled in favor of the demolition of St. Patrick's church in Watervliet.  Ah, finally said the developer the Nigro Companies.  Not so fast, my friend.  You would think that the only thing next for the Concerned Citizens of St. Patrick's left to stop the demolition of the church was to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  But this case won't go to Washington; it will end up back in the city in the Zoning Board to try and have the demolition permits revoked.  Didn't the city approve the demo permits in the first place?  Nobody wants to see a church torn down, but the developer has a viable plan to use the property, instead of having a church with no means to keep it from decaying.  Bring the bulldozers on...........What do you think about Annie George.  She being the one who supposedly kept a servant locked in a closet for six years in her 30,000-sf mansion in Rexford.  She was found guilty of harboring an illegal alien, the lesser of charges.  Although the jail time and fine is not as great as the higher charge, my favorite part of the sentence is that the government can seize the multimillion dollar mansion.  Just think, the Fed's could rent it out for weddings, or turn it into a high end Bed and Breakfast...........Could someone please tell me why the city is changing perfectly good upper-cased letter street signs with street signs with a combination of upper and lower cased letters?  If you tell me that the new ones are easier to see, you'd have to provide me with some reasoning behind that...........Last week Dan Dwyer, the mayor of Rensselaer, made an announcement about bringing a $600 million dollar project to the city's waterfront area.  Mind you, Rensselaer is a city that normally flies under the radar when it comes to Capital District cities.  You may hear of  a robbery at a Cumberland Farms once and a while, but usually it's pretty quiet.  Could this be the waste to energy plant dismissed by Albany a while back just moving to the other side of the river?  "Loads of jobs" is what the mayor said.  I suppose it would if it comes to fruition.  Why can't he just come out and say what's going on?  I hope this doesn't just blow up on you, Mr. Mayor.  Is this an election year for you?..........Speaking of Mayor's.  Hey, Jerry.  Did you know that Kathy Sheehan's next fundraiser is the 24th of this month.  Seems that the new ''Progressive Democrat'' venue is Mingle on Delaware Avenue.  Kathy is doing her due diligence on Twitter lately, keeping us all abreast of the comings and goings of her campaign.  It's about time Jerry.  Six months until primary time.  Time to get the shovels out to put the money into your campaign...........It looks like Madison Avenue will get it's makeover.  In my blog of last week I talked about why "Complete Streets" won't work in Albany.  The makeover of Madison Ave is not "Complete Streets.''  It is an attempt to make the roadway more friendly to the pedestrian and bicyclist.  The options given to the city do not, in my mind, make it any safer to ride a bicycle than before.  They still have to share a lane with parked cars, same as before, the only difference being a painted parking lane stripe and ''sharrows.''  But, the bottom line is, with the road transformed into one lane each way with a center turning lane, it should make for a smoother trip for drivers.  I don't know if synchronized traffic lights are necessary.  It would seem to me that you might want to slow the traffic down a bit. Follow me on Twitter.

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]]> It's A Great Idea, But tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11818 2013-03-03T23:34:14Z 2013-03-05T04:28:18Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 Walking the streets in Albany lately can be hazardous to your health. The past several weeks along Central Avenue there has been loss of life due to pedestrian/motor vehicle accidents.  While these accidents are horrendous, they are just as they are. Accidents.  In an accident, a human being has little chance against a four thousand pound motor vehicle traveling forty MPH.  What needs to be done is simple.  Police must start enforcing speed limits, rolling stops through stop signs and turn on reds.  Pedestrians must limit their street crossing to designated crosswalks (when possible), but most importantly, and I cannot stress this enough, especially at night, wear some clothing that is not dark in color.  I realize that Central Avenue is a well lit street in Albany, but up further west of Rte. 155 -- where several fatal accidents happen each year -- you can't see someone walking in the roadway until you are almost on top of them.  People driving the vehicles are not always at fault. ..........Speaking of streets.  I don't remember seeing this in the Times Useless, but I read with interest a blog posted by a College of St. Rose student about the streets in the vicinity of the college.  Seems that there was a study commissioned to evaluate implementation of the "Complete Streets" initiative on Madison Avenue from Manning Blvd. to Lark Street, and Western Avenue from somewhere to somewhere.  Complete Streets is an obscure law passed by the state a few years back to give road designers some sort of guide to go by when designing new roads.  Notice how I stressed the word new.  The concept however, does not work in an urban area as old as Albany. This is an update: I had written earlier that "Complete Streets" legislation was passed unanimously by the Common Council. It was passed  unanimously by committee, but won't go to a vote of the full council until next month. Back to the study.  It was performed by Creighton Manning, a well respected engineering firm whose specialty is infrastructure.  They took Western Avenue out of the equation immediately -- I wonder how long that took them to accomplish that -- and focused on Madison Avenue.  What they came up with was a couple of options, none of which were advantageous to the bike rider.  One bike lane. That must be nice when you have bikes going both ways.  A bike lane shared by parked cars. That could be worse than walking on Central Avenue. There is no room for turnouts.  The only thing helpful was the center turning lane. All you can do is improve the handicap access and install new curbing, sidewalks and pave the street (paving would go a long way for bike safety). In other words: Like I mentioned earlier, ''Complete Streets'' doesn't work in Albany.  I wonder who pushed for the commissioning of this study (I can't imagine who?)  And what did this cost? I hope that all the nice conceptual drawings they provided were worth it. What a complete waste of money.  Somebody likened the rehab of Delaware Avenue something like Complete Streets. Not even close. All they did was redo the utilities, pave the road, and install new curbs, sidewalks, and lighting. It's still the same congested street as it was before, not one bit more driver or pedestrian friendly. If you want to see a example of "Complete Streets", go to Western Avenue from the city line to Fuller Road. With the exception of no turning lane, that is ''Complete Streets'' (Note: that is in Guilderland.) ..........What a complete ass.  Friday, after playing poorly in the second round of the Honda Classic, Rory McIlroy walked of the golf course after a disastrous front nine. McIlroy, who is the top ranked player in the world said that his mind wasn't on the game.  Hey Rory!! People, your fans, come out and pay exorbitant prices to watch you play golf. If you want to tank a tournament, at least play out the round, then you can throw your sponsored provided two thousand dollar golf clubs into the nearest water.  Do you think for one moment Arnie Jack, or Tiger would even consider doing that.  Those guys are competitors. Geez.

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]]> It's All In The Line Of Duty tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11765 2013-02-20T20:15:53Z 2013-02-20T21:57:58Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 Here we go again.  It seems that way too often another Albany cop ends up in the newspaper for all the wrong reasons. This time the cop in question was charged with DWI after playing bumper cars on South Main Avenue in the Pine Hills section of Albany and fleeing the scene.  If it were you or I, it certainly would have ended up being a one day story, but because he is a cop it will be in the news every time the case takes a turn. As it should be. Because of the nature of the job, you have to respect a police officer. But if you know any cops, you wonder why it doesn't happen more often. You hate to come right out and say it, but if at all possible, they do give each other a pass.  In the case of the officer in question, when you destroy a couple of vehicles, that's kinda hard to do. This wasn't a first time for this cop. He actually dropped a pistol during Larkfest on the ground and walked away.  The cops I know don't go anywhere without a weapon. You're a cop 24/7 I understand, but I don't think anybody feels they should be carrying when they're out partying.  This case will probably drag on for a while, but the union will make sure he keeps his job, even though he won't have a driver's license (the court's say you don't need one to be a cop.)  I hope he uses this time to get some help...........Good job County Exec. McCoy.  Today he vetoed the legislation sent to him by King Commisso seeking to have an independent consultant review the proposed privatizing of the Albany County Nursing Home. Good job also on the creation of a website to avoid any transparency issue.  There is never going to be a better argument about downsizing the legislature than there is right now.  This is a Democrat controlled body that is divided up into two factions, and there is not a chance for this to end in a good way........... Speaking of cops.  Why is it necessary for so much overtime? A city with 340 police officers, you would think that there were enough cops to cover all the shifts without the need for overtime. What do I know.  I still think that it's pretty bizarre that a city of this size has 153 people earning in excess of $100,000 per year, most of them cops or firefighters. I guess that point is moot when you call 911........... I saw a commercial on TV the other day from Lay's Potato Chips. They were advertizing new flavors like Garlic Bread and Three Cheese.  Note to Lay's:  DO NOT MESS WITH POTATO CHIPS.  Although not the best chips on the market; they are totally acceptable if they're the only ones you have. Potato chips should taste like potato chips........... Another note, this one to CBS Channel 6: Stop it with the banner advertising your feud with DIRECTV across the bottom of the screen in primetime.  There is no way that DIRECTV is not going to be showing CBS after March 1st.  You hold the upper hand, and have the satellite provider by the balls, so just go out and drop the hammer on them, because they have no choice.  Is that really that hard. You don't need to show that ten times an hour for the next nine days.

And that is "The Daily Take"
]]> The Good Old Give And Take tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11733 2013-02-12T18:38:06Z 2013-02-13T00:33:29Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 The good old give and take in local politics. Notice the emphasis on the word local. I'm sure that in this vast country of ours, there does exist a system of government that mirrors ours. But not many. See, in a perfect world, a government should run with it's politicians willing to give some to get some. However, locally, we exist solely on a system of take and no give. Let's begin with city government. The Common Council (the governing body of this fair city) consists of 15 members and one Council President. They are all Democrats. Note: the presence of one party does not preclude them from agreement on anything. Example: council assembles an outside commission to redraw the Ward boundaries per law. Against the wishes of the council, there are no members on this commission. After map submission -- and a 4-1 council committee vote to send the map 'As Is' to the entire council for a vote -- council decides to do some cartography of it's own because they don't like the map as drawn. A perfect example of take and no give. The meeting last Monday didn't even render a vote, only more discussion.  Now, on the county level, we have the matter of the Albany County Nursing Home. Two matters of fact are: There is no way a new nursing home is going to be built; and, the county is incapable of running the nursing home on it's own. County Executive McCoy has brokered a deal with an outside vendor to lease and run the home for at least the next ten years.  Although the details of the lease have been on the table for the legislature to review since October of last year, only now do they -- by they I mean Legislature Czar's Frank Commisso and Shawn Morse -- feel the need to bring on board an independent entity to vet the deal. What in God's name were these people doing with the lease agreement for the last four months. Exec. McCoy could and should put a stop to this take and no give with a veto...........A note to local weather forecasters: stop it with all the scare tactics you use in your teasers throughout the evening. "Capital District to get walloped; Capital District to get blasted."  Six inches of snow isn't getting blasted. I can't believe that they close schools before it even starts snowing. I guess when you say we should get six to twelve inches of snow, you were right. How about if a contractor told a customer that the job will cost between fifty and one hundred thousand dollars. I don't think so...........Kudos to Assemblymembers Fahy and McDonald, along with Senator Breslin for seeking a PILOT program for the Harriman State Office Campus which is located within the city boundary, but is exempt from city taxes. They came up with some number of $1.7 million a year for the next ten years to hopefully help city property tax payers. With the state relocating it's uptown workforce to other locations, it's longtime that the prime property be developed into a taxable entity...........Yes folks it's time. The time being the arrival of pitchers and catchers to the warmth of Florida and Arizona for the start of Spring Training.  That, along with the fact that the rodent in Pennsylvania didn't see his shadow, means that warm weather is just ahead. Note to weather forecasters: read the previous sentence.

And that is "The Daily Take"
]]> Who Says Albany Politics Are Dull In The Winter? tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11687 2013-02-01T21:17:21Z 2013-02-01T21:17:51Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 My, oh my.  If you are an Albany local, you probably agree that this winter is an exceptionally busy one for local politics.  If you are sitting in a hotel room as a visitor to our fair City, and without a full understanding of how this city --  that has been entirely dominated by Democrat's since before my grandfather was born -- is run, read on.  This is an election year for city government.  It is also a year when the Common Council (that is the body that runs our town) votes on the city wide redistricting.  (Briefly that is a process that occurs at each census to keep a minority/majority balance in our 15 Wards.  As the racial population of the city shifts, the lines have to be redrawn, according to law, so that each Ward can choose a candidate of their choosing according to it's minority/majority make up. I think I got that right.)  Now Albany has 15 Wards with a population of roughly 97,000.  (In comparison a city like Austin, Texas, with a population 9 times greater than Albany, has only 6 council members. Go figure.) The city put together an independent commission to undertake the redrawing process.  Now that they have submitted -- after a lengthy vetting process -- the maps for the committee to approve, some of the individual council members (I won't mention any names, Leah) want the lines redrawn supposedly to keep their wards (but what they really mean are their clicky neighborhood associations) intact.  They commissioned a commission, who painstakingly took their time (unpaid time, mind you) in crafting these maps to keep the wards balanced; so what's the problem here?  They didn't have council members on the committee for a reason.  The committee meeting last night showed why.  The 5 members of the committee should have caucused, then voted.  Period. The time for other input has gone.  Well they did vote.  4-1 for the maps to move on to the entire council, where a majority vote is necessary for approval.  This probably is not over yet..........The owners of Ravens Head Brewery (this is another good one for you out of towner's) have finally come to their senses and decided to seek to move their brewery to the City of Cohoes.  Now unlike Albany -- where the common council actually meddled in the business of the local zoning authority and voted against the brewery being located in a residential neighborhood -- the City of Cohoes will welcome a new tenant to it's city with open arms.  Now, the Albany Times Useless (better known on the newsstand as the Times Union) is editorializing about poor St.Joe's church and what's going to happen to it now.  My favorite part is the quote from the current owner of the church, the Historic Albany Foundation's czar Ms. Holland.  "The bottom line is that the building needs use. We're sending the message that we're not open for business in Albany. If people don't like something, they can get a resolution passed against it."   I ran the quote through the BS-O-Meter, and it translates to:  "We're tired of the expense of keeping up the building, so can somebody take it off our hands or we're going to give it  back to the city."  Now the HAF can only blame it's friends, the progressive Democrat's on the city council that voted -- when they didn't have to stick their noses in it -- against the brewery. The HAF has also said that they have invested $1 million into the building to stabilize it.  I would love to see the receipts for that (primarily, because a million dollars doesn't get much stabilizing done on a structure such as this.)  Why don't you sell it to the White Couch Church.  The mayor certainly doesn't want the church in downtown Albany

And that is "The Daily Take".     ]]> It Is More Than Time For The Gov. To Make A Move tag:www.albany.com,2013:/daily-take//118.11635 2013-01-20T02:33:21Z 2013-01-22T18:07:02Z Jonathan Mazur http://www.albany.com/community/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=118&id=7358 On February 27th, if our illustrious Mr. Cuomo does not get off his ass and make a move on the issue of Fracking in the state of New  York, one way or the other, the issue is no longer moot.  On that day, if he does not lift the ban on Fracking, that has been in place for the last four and a half years, the regulators will have to start from scratch.  I don't believe that is going to happen.  What I do believe, is that Cuomo is totally in favor of approving the process.  He has indicated that before, and it's time to make a move.  The science has proven that the process can be done safely.  Let the communities decide if they want drilling in their communities.  You will find that while localities like Albany have ridiculously banned Fracking, there are localities that will openly welcome it.  It's time Gov...........The Albany Common Council held it's first meeting regarding the approving of the redistricting maps created by the commission THEY CREATED.  If I didn't know any better, you would think that they were looking at the map for the  first time.  "I want these streets back," "I want the College of St. Rose back," "You can't put those dormitories in that Ward."  In a post I wrote last week or so, I said that the delineating line for the north boundary of the 10th Ward should be moved back to Western Avenue.  I totally take that back.  You make one change, you have to make all the changes the councilpersons want.  Commisso Jr. had the best idea, and it was supported by others to just vote on the map as created.  At least you'd have some kind of idea where the members stood...........Well freaking Halleluiah.  The race for the 46th Senate District is finally over.  What a total embarrassment that fiasco was for New York state.  The Senate is off passing laws, and you have a seat with nobody's name on it in the chamber.  I didn't like either one of them, so have fun Cece, and don't redecorate the office too much, because you will be just hauling off too many boxes in four two years...........I'm really glad that the governor shoved the new gun laws down everybody's throat last week.  He was up there on his pedestal orating at the top of his lungs like the Reverend Billy Sol Hargis, preaching the good word of keeping guns away from the citizens of New York.  Now we have a Do Gooder  (as much as I would like to mention names I can't) up in Saratoga advocating a gun buy back program.  Now, Mr. Do Gooder, just how many A-15 assault rifles do you think people are going to turn in.  Yeah, that's right.  Just before the legislature voted in the new gun law's, there was a line outside Zack's Sporting Goods in Malta so long, you would think they were giving away money.  Everybody is on the let's outlaw guns bandwagon.  These law's are definitely going to keep the guns out of the hands of the bad guys.

And that is "The Daily Take"
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