SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A New York City-based invention company has announced plans to open a location in downtown Schenectady.  The company, Quirky, plans to create 180 new jobs within the next three years.  In 2013, Quirky teamed up with General Electric to develop a co-branded line of app-enabled products dreamed up by the global Quirky community.  Together, Quirky and GE have created five smart products, including he newly launched Wi-Fi-enabled Aros air conditioner, and will continue to introduce revolutionary products to the connected home marketplace.  (from news10.com)

Yet another diamond being added to the crown of the City-County of Schenectady's Renaissance.  One can hear the casket lid slamming shut on the dead-ender nayboobs and their constant whining and complaining.  

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A New York City-based invention company has announced plans to open a location in downtown Schenectady.  The company, Quirky, plans to create 180 new jobs within the next three years.  In 2013, Quirky teamed up with General Electric to develop a co-branded line of app-enabled products dreamed up by the global Quirky community.  Together, Quirky and GE have created five smart products, including he newly launched Wi-Fi-enabled Aros air conditioner, and will continue to introduce revolutionary products to the connected home marketplace.  (from news10.com)

Yet another diamond being added to the crown of the City-County of Schenectady's Renaissance.  One can hear the casket lid slamming shut on the dead-ender nayboobs and their constant whining and complaining.  

Please state what this is doing to the tax base in the city.

This is nothing more than someone who will pay a lower than market rate rent to the billionaire Galesi to make him richer so he can give your dems more kickbacks.


Why do you REFUSE to address the falling tax base, the falling home values, the REFUSAL of your dems to adhere to the law and keep assessment value up to date, the lack of people wiling to buy homes in the city, the ever increasing taxes


You STILL have not provide any proof of your claim the county taxes are lower than in the 1970's.


Once again, your comments are nothing more than your wildest imagination and we all await publishing of your book of adult fairy tales of Schenectady.

Perhaps DV can explain why there MORE THASN a 50% REDUCTION in home sales in the city over a year ago


How about it DV??????????


a 50% REDUCTION in home sales is indicative of a city in a renaissance????????    Explain how.


Explain how the HUGE INCREASE I the equalization rate in the city -- meaning a MASSIVE REDUCTION in home values -- is indicative of a city that is improving?



DV WILL NOT ANSWER -- will NOT, NOT NOT NOT NOT address the FACTS - AND THAT IS A 1,000% GUARANTEE, will NEVER comment on the falling home sales, or home values.


Just spew a bunch of nonsense fairy tale babble.   Hey, we thought you had  a job.  

And at which tax exempt location will these folks be opening?

How much did Metroplex bribe this company with to come to the City?

And 180 jobs?!?! Right! Transfinders 'prospected' job creation is 125... they've been in the City almost 5 years now and have 77 employees?  Huh.. what happen to that promise??

Another pie-in-the-sky job creation number... another tax exempt company.

Brilliant.

Waah - Waah - the dirty, diaper nayboobs are crying because THEIR beloved team of incompetents lost THOUSANDS of jobs in the the city and county, and now the team with the RIGHT STUFF is leading the City-County of Schenectady forward with new jobs, new investment in infrastructure and economic development projects.  The days of Farley and Jurzynski and the whole gang "who couldn't shoot straight because they were too busy lining their pockets with taxpayer dollars" are over and done - THANK GOD - and the RENAISSANCE has begun and is moving forward under wise, forward-thinking Democratic leadership.

Have you ever been in the city?

Come on down sometime and I can share my $10,000 tax bill with you for a building I can't even GIVE away! Metroplex was supposed to help the taxpayers and within the last decade my escrowed mortgage payments have DOUBLED!!

I'm tired of a bunch of tax-exempt for-profit businesses coming in and stealing prime real estate downtown! Where's the taxbase creation from Villia Italia? From bombers? from Paul Mitchell? From Center City?

It's not a Renaissance, it's the Dark Ages.... people are too blind to see the truth.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Waah - Waah - the dirty, diaper nayboobs are crying because THEIR beloved team of incompetents lost THOUSANDS of jobs in the the city and county, and now the team with the RIGHT STUFF is leading the City-County of Schenectady forward with new jobs, new investment in infrastructure and economic development projects.  The days of Farley and Jurzynski and the whole gang "who couldn't shoot straight because they were too busy lining their pockets with taxpayer dollars" are over and done - THANK GOD - and the RENAISSANCE has begun and is moving forward under wise, forward-thinking Democratic leadership.

Once again refusing to answer the tough questions...

Who is that guy, everyone seems to put value behind his statements and claims .. personally, I find them ignorant and not worth my time.

I've been Downtown and compared to what it was 10 years ago, it is certainly much improved.  No one said that there isn't more work to be done.  But the FACT remains that during the Farley-Jurzynski - the city and county were mismanaged, the city was being driven deeper and deeper into the dark hole of decay -- and NOW after 10 years of hard work and good management the City-County of Schenectady is moving in the right direction.  Jobs are being created, public and private moneys are being invested in economic development and this is only the beginning ---- there will be more good news coming in the weeks and months ahead.  Working together has worked and will continue to work -- bearing very positive returns for ALL Schenectadians. The RENAISSANCE continues.

Fact is Jurzynski was one of the founders of Metroplex.

Fact is the PILOT agreements didn't come into play until Gillen was hired...and that was when the tax base became decimated.

Maybe 10 years ago, downtown didn't look very pretty...but at least people were purchasing homes and the real estate had VALUE.

Now, taxes for middle class homeowners are double than what they were a decade ago.

Enjoy your 2 second drive downtown...it cost the City taxpayers their homes....

Quoted from Hawthorn

Fact is Jurzynski was one of the founders of Metroplex.

Fact is the PILOT agreements didn't come into play until Gillen was hired...and that was when the tax base became decimated.

Maybe 10 years ago, downtown didn't look very pretty...but at least people were purchasing homes and the real estate had VALUE.

Now, taxes for middle class homeowners are double than what they were a decade ago.

Enjoy your 2 second drive downtown...it cost the City taxpayers their homes....

Roger Hull was deeply involved in the introduction of the PLEX concept via Schenectady 2000 with Mr. Golub.   I wonder what their take is on the current PLEX mantra, Past, Present, and future.

Quoted from Hawthorn

Fact is Jurzynski was one of the founders of Metroplex.

Fact is the PILOT agreements didn't come into play until Gillen was hired...and that was when the tax base became decimated.

Maybe 10 years ago, downtown didn't look very pretty...but at least people were purchasing homes and the real estate had VALUE.

Now, taxes for middle class homeowners are double than what they were a decade ago.

Enjoy your 2 second drive downtown...it cost the City taxpayers their homes....

If Metroplex, in order to fund itself and it's projects, added a half a percent sales tax to the existing sales tax,
the homeowners would have no dispute with them.

The fact that Metroplex funding must be made up by raising taxes on property owners is the issue.

It is outright thievery.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

I've been Downtown and compared to what it was 10 years ago, it is certainly much improved.  No one said that there isn't more work to be done.  But the FACT remains that during the Farley-Jurzynski - the city and county were mismanaged, the city was being driven deeper and deeper into the dark hole of decay -- and NOW after 10 years of hard work and good management the City-County of Schenectady is moving in the right direction.  Jobs are being created, public and private moneys are being invested in economic development and this is only the beginning ---- there will be more good news coming in the weeks and months ahead.  Working together has worked and will continue to work -- bearing very positive returns for ALL Schenectadians. The RENAISSANCE continues.

Sure, you've been downtown in your mommies' car.

Sure, there renovated and new buildings and it has a pretty appearance.

You call a bunch of minimum and low wage jobs good?????

And DV,  do you have the GUTS to ANWER THE "Schenectady 20 Questions"      ??????     DO YOU????

1.   While downtown looks pretty at expense of the taxpayers, what has happened in the neighborhoods?????
2.   What about all the vacant, abandoned home and building in the neighborhoods where people (who paid for downtown) actually live?
3.   What has happened to the city's tax base as a result of all this stuff downtown?
4.   What has happened to the property values in the city?
5.   What has happened to the home sales in the city?
6.   What has happened to the home sale prices in the city?
7.   What has happened to the equalization rate for the city?
8.   What has happened to the number of houses put up for sale in the city?
9.   What has happened to the length of time it takes to sell a house?
10.  What does it take a year or more for a house to sell IF it sells?????
11.  What has happened to the number of vacant residential units in the city
12.  What has happened to Central Park?
13.  Where to the developers/owners of the downtown buildings live?
14.  Why have so many very good long time taxpaying businesses (who never plex handouts)  either went out of business downtown or moved away from downtown?
15.  Where are the stores downtown where people can shop (for clothes, shoes, toys, electronics and music and DVDs, housewares, hardware needs, window treatments, bedding and bath needs, craft needs, pet needs, home office needs, and a new tie for you)?
16.  Where ANYWHERE within the CITY can one buy a NEW car????
17.  Where ANYWHERE within the CITY is there a department store?
18.  What has happened to ESSENTIAL services to the city TAXPAYERS such as adequate snowplowing via alternate side parking, routine paving of roads where it is necessary, enforcement of recycling rules, enforcement of storage of trashcans, and enforcement of swimming pool codes?
19.  What has happened to the number of tax foreclosures of homes (owned by long time taxpaying occupants)?
20.  What has happened to the tax BILLS of the existing homeowners in the city?


That's right DV, go hide in your mommies' basement instead of answering the questions.

That's right DV, come on here again and post about the 1% improvement to the city (at taxpayer expense) but totally avoid posting on the major failures occurring in 99% of the city.

Naturally, DV cheers for downtown because he is not and never had been a taxpayer.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Yet another diamond being added to the crown of the City-County of Schenectady's Renaissance.  One can hear the casket lid slamming shut on the dead-ender nayboobs and their constant whining and complaining.  

So, DV, when are you going to buy a house IN the city???????

Why do you avoid residing IN the city at ANY AND ALL cost ??????    Do you have the GUTS to answer that???????

Quoted from Hawthorn

Fact is Jurzynski was one of the founders of Metroplex.

Fact is the PILOT agreements didn't come into play until Gillen was hired...and that was when the tax base became decimated.

Maybe 10 years ago, downtown didn't look very pretty...but at least people were purchasing homes and the real estate had VALUE.

Now, taxes for middle class homeowners are double than what they were a decade ago.

Enjoy your 2 second drive downtown...it cost the City taxpayers their homes....

I drive into Downtown EVERYDAY and spend money at Downtown businesses EVERYDAY.

It is an outright, deliberate lie to say that Metroplex projects do not generate revenues for local governments:
47 Pilots Administered by Metroplex Generate $14.18 Million in Revenues for Local Governments in Schenectady County

Schenectady, N.Y., December 20, 2013 -- The Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority today provided an update on 47 Payment in Lieu of Tax (Pilot) agreements it administers as part of Schenectady County’s unified economic development team. The Pilot agreements generated a total of $14.18 million in payments to local governments in Schenectady County in 2013 up from $9.23 million in 2012. Between 2012 and 2013 pilot revenues increased by more than 53%.  The 2011 Pilot report issued by Metroplex showed total revenues of $4.45 million.    

Thirty eight (3 of the 47 pilot projects were built at empty buildings, vacant land or formerly tax-exempt property. These sites generated minimal or no taxes prior to the economic development projects being built. The other 9 projects were company expansions that created new Pilot revenues.  

Ray Gillen, Chair of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority said, “We are taking property that paid little or no taxes before and we are building projects at these sites that create new jobs and new revenues for local governments.”  

14 Projects Were Built on Formerly Government–Owned Land/Buildings or Tax-Exempt Land that Paid $0 in Taxes Now Paying $1,671,544 in Pilot Payments  

MVP at 625 State Street in downtown Schenectady. Built on government--owned land that was returned to tax rolls. 175,000 square foot office building $318,103 up from $256,569 last year.
Hampton Inn at 450 State Street in downtown Schenectady. Built on government-owned land that was returned to tax rolls.  62,000 square foot hotel $165,277 up from $144,506 last year.  
400 State Street in downtown Schenectady. Built on government–owned land that was returned to tax rolls. 60,200 square foot building $62,536 up from $31,182 last year.
Broadway Center in downtown Schenectady. Built on government–owned land that was returned to tax rolls. 140,000 square foot office building $316,978 up from $307,455 last year.
2135 Technology Drive in Schenectady. Built on government-owned land that was returned to the tax rolls. 22,000 square foot building $45,422 down from $61,711 last year.  
Utech at 135 Broadway in downtown Schenectady. Government-owned building that was returned to tax rolls $24,856 up from $22,340 last year.                              
M&P Labs 2210 Technology Drive in Schenectady. Built on government-owned land that was returned to tax rolls.  $101,538 up from $93,452 last year.  
Pace Analytical at 2190 Technology Drive in Schenectady. Built on government-owned land that was returned to tax rolls.  $49,602 up from $45,519 last year.
2165 Technology Drive in Schenectady. Built on government-owned land that was returned to tax rolls. 27,000 square foot building $55,554 up from $50,982 last year.  
426 State Street in downtown Schenectady.  Built at government-owned building that was returned to tax rolls.  34,000 square feet $89,054 up from $75,000 last year.    
Former Scotia Navy Depot in Glenville $285,991 up from $271,869 last year.  
Columbia McClellan Group at 600 McClellan Street in Schenectady. 45,550 square feet built on formerly tax-exempt property $38,771 down from $54,789 last year.    
Fortitech at the Schenectady County Airport in Glenville. Built on government-owned land that was returned to the tax rolls. 95,000 square feet $96,895 up from $85,853 last year.  
Bombers at 447 State Street in downtown Schenectady. Built at formerly government-owned building $20,967 up from $18,755 last year.  
10 Projects Were Built at Formerly Vacant Buildings that Paid No Taxes or Nominal Taxes Now Paying $1,349,963 in Pilot Payments  

BN Partners at 1510 Maxon Road in downtown Schenectady. 240,000 square foot office building $584,020 up from $466,132 last year.  
433 State Street in downtown Schenectady $229,583 up from $150,000 last year.    
Villa Italia at 226 Broadway in downtown Schenectady $29,041 up from $26,567 last year.
JMR Development at 600 Liberty Street in downtown Schenectady $75,000 same as last year.    
411 State St in downtown Schenectady $37,105 up from $25,000 last year.    
401 State in downtown Schenectady $64,190 up from $63,250 last year.  
409 State in downtown Schenectady $33,000 same as last year.
World Star at 450 Duane Avenue in Schenectady $164,678 down from $179,229 last year.  
Mohawk Honda in Glenville $99,004 up from $59,941 last year.  
Columbia Altamont at 1925 Curry Road in Rotterdam $34,342 up from $30,865 last year.
14 Projects Were Built on Vacant Land that Formerly Generated Nominal Taxes Now Paying $1,953,932 in Pilot Payments

Railex at the Rotterdam Corporate Park 220,000 square foot warehouse built on vacant land.  $308,000 up from $302,114 last year.
376 Broadway in downtown Schenectady. 24,000 square office building built on vacant land $78,689 up from $71,866 last year.
Marcella’s at 564 Broadway in downtown Schenectady.  16,750 square foot facility built on vacant land $62,954 up from $56,593 last year.
Unilux at Niskayuna Commerce Park 67,000 square foot manufacturing plant built on vacant land.  $144,525 up from $102,839 last year.  
Opus Business Park (now Burdeck Street Business Park) in Rotterdam. Three buildings -- 15,600 square feet building built on vacant land $20,974 up from $18,979 last year,  35,100 square foot building built on vacant land $61,419 up from $55,844 last year and 25,000 square foot building built on vacant land $40,795 up from $36,798 last year.  
Dimension Fabricators at 2000 Seventh Avenue in Glenville. 152,000 square foot building built on vacant land $223,081 up from $212,066 last year.
Argo Turbo Serve at 588 Broadway in downtown Schenectady.  22,000 square foot building built on former vacant lot $21,697 up from $2,890 last year.  
Alco site in Schenectady.  Vacant land brownfield remediation underway $40,000 same as last year.  
FG Rotterdam Holdings in Rotterdam. 31,800 square foot office building built on vacant land $33,629 up from $32,154 last year.  
EMI Properties in Rotterdam.  6,600 square foot facility built on vacant land $10,641 up from $9,690 last year.  
NE IP Holding (FedEx Freight) in Rotterdam Corporate Park.  50,000 square foot facility built on vacant land $81,267 up from $71,773 last year.  
FM Ventures in Rotterdam Corporate Park.  152,000 square foot building built on vacant land $313,337 up from $275,504 last year.  
Long Pond Village in Rotterdam.  192 unit apartment complex built on vacant land $214,070 up from $193,408 last year.
Capital Living in Schenectady.  New Pilot for skilled nursing facility paying $298,854 built on vacant land.
9 Company Agreements/Expansions Paying $9,203,839

Three Pilots at GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna for chemical engineering building expansion, new Pilot manufacturing facility and expansion of Energy Learning Center $624,233 up from $599,308 last year.
Kingsway Arms Nursing Center in Schenectady.  New construction addition of 56,000 square feet $245,220 up from $237,853 last year.  
GE battery plant and Global Renewable Energy Headquarters with a total of 470,000 square feet of renovated space in Buildings 53 and 66 at downtown Schenectady energy campus $2,786,087 up from $2,661,357 last year.
GE Rotterdam $4,800,000 new pilot this year.    
SI Group in Rotterdam Junction. 40,000 square foot expansion $689,670 up from $626,703 last year.
Golub Corporation Distribution Center expansion $58,629 up from $51,436 last year.  
Expiring Pilots

Time Warner Cable at 1021 Highbridge Road in Rotterdam. 80,000 square foot office building built on vacant land. Last year’s pilot payment $251,170. Now 100% on tax rolls.
Belvedere Hotel at 1930 Curry Road in Rotterdam.  28,725 square foot building built on vacant land. Last year’s pilot payment $49,064.  Now 100% on tax rolls.  
Fortitech at 2105 Technology Drive in Schenectady. Built on government-owned land that was returned to tax rolls. 130,000 square foot facility. Last year’s pilot payment $186,994. Now 100% on tax rolls.
SI Group at 2750 Balltown Road in Niskayuna.  83,640 square foot expansion. Last year’s pilot payment $570,000.  Now 100% on tax rolls.
Environment One at 2773 Balltown Road in Niskayuna.  42,000 square foot facility expansion added 34,000 square feet.  Last year’s pilot payment $93,397.  Now 100% on tax rolls.
New Pilots Coming on Line in 2014

New Target store in Glenville built at empty retail site.
Building 14 in Rotterdam former State Bakery will begin Pilot payments.
Curry Road Plaza in Rotterdam new private development at former Town-owned vacant retail site.
Schenectady Armory former State owned facility in Schenectady being redeveloped.
845 Broadway former vacant factory space redeveloped as housing.
301 Green Street former vacant window factory redeveloped as housing.
245 Broadway and Town Homes at Union Square – two new residential projects on formerly vacant lots in Schenectady.