you have got to be freakin' kidding me.....this must be a tongue in cheek poke at the corporate world doing what it is going to do anyway.....you can drive down Altamont Ave in Rotterdam and get THE SAME DAMN SUB FOR $5.....no metroplex needed.......ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.........
Unless it's actually the same sub. The last county board meeting where the lemmings came out and sang the praises of Metrograft had the owner of the Metroplex Row State Street Subway there praising the Metrograft on how they wouldn't be a success without it. The owner also stated that he owned 2 other Subway's.
Tell you what, I think we need to start making a 3 column list. We need to know which businesses in the county have accepted Metroplex money (column 1). This would include franchises which are run by the same proprietor, such as the Subway on State Street. He said at the meeting that he owned 2 other Subways. Then, we can make our voices heard that we will not go to these restaurants.
We also need to know not only what companies have not asked for any money from the Metroplex and have only done their job collecting the Metroplex Moolah and sent it in to the Metroplex Authority. These should be businesses that we do our best to interact with each and every day.
The third list needs to be a list of the shunned. Such as "No Beans About It." People that wanted to invest in Schenectady, so they looked for Schenectady to invest in and they were told to pound salt. The people who, instead of listeining to what they were told said, "I'm going to do it anyway."
I still need to get over there and check them out, but the problem is, from what I just found, they don't open until 7AM. A little late for my first cup of coffee.
Another business owner that wants to leave the capital district. I talked to him and business is slow even though he loves it. No suuport if you are a business owner outside of downtown inner politics. Friendlys on NoTT street closed last week, chiabella on liberty street closed. Well, here's the story... I renovated and lease (695/MTH) a corner property next to a college (and major hospital). The property was originally a garage. The place has parking for @ 15-20 vehicles, and is highly visible. After renovating for 3 months, I opened up as "No Beans About It...! Coffee and Eatery. The place has the following:
Dining Area (@ 600 sq ft) Kitchen Area (@ 200 sq ft)
The reason for me selling it is very simple... I originally intended to keep the place for 5 yrs then move to Florida with my then finance. Well, we permanently broke up (after 9 yrs) and in order to erase past memories, I want to move out of the area. I am actually a College Professor and EHS Specialist by trade, and desire to go back to that. I am offering the business for sale at $45,000 but am negotiable (would even hold a partial note). If you are really interested, you may contact me.. if you are just speculating... well... Believe me.. it is fun running a coffee cafe... and I will miss it.. but, the sooner I leave the upstate area and get on with my life the better
I think that Schenectady, and not just the 2 blocks of State Street, has the potential to be a great city again. There are many wonderful people who share the same dream.There is no reason for any businesses to not flourish. EXCEPT for the crime issue and the politics.
If the city czars continue to not only welcome but encourage every person on public assistance to move on in and disregard the fact that it is that attraction that brings in crime, Schenectady will NEVER flourish. The present politicians and business owners who run Schenectady seem to favor this mix. It is a clear way to elevate themselves. You just surround yourselves with the 'less than's' and you become a 'more than'. And yet they were and still are snakes. Pathetic!
And as for you Mr. Clean...be it your personal situation or not...I commend you on starting a business and commend you for leaving this place!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
26 years at the same downtown Schenectady stand, Bibliomania owner Bill Healy is packing it in.
"There were a lot of downtown stores in the '80s and '90s, but since they left, the once-large base of shoppers has really dimin- ished," the owner of the Jay Street rare and out-of-print bookstore said. Healy said for many years about 80 percent of his business was store sales and 20 percent mail order. In more recent times, 90 percent is mail and only 10 percent walk-in. After he closes the shop for good on Saturday, Healy will run the business from his Glenville home. "Proctors brings people downtown, but the vast majority of them run in and out of the theater without stopping to shop. I've stayed open until 7 or 8 p.m. That didn't help." During recent years, a few pubs and a movie house have opened downtown, but new retail is virtually nonexistent. "I'm reluctant about leaving. Yet it doesn't make sense to come in every day just for a few customers."
Well of course there will be a big box book store. They didn't get to remake the county library into a book reading, book renting, coffee shop book store. So they will do the next best thing....BARNES AND NOBLE!! They WILL accomplish what they originally set out to do. One way or another.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
As a real estate agent, I view a substantial amount of homes throughout the Capital Region. Other than the city of Saratoga, one would be hard pressed to find a collection of absolute jewels as those found in Schenectady. Especially noteworthy are the homes and neighborhoods found on the cross-streets of Union Avenue. The craftmanship, beauty and character of these homes are breathtaking and, in many cases, examples of lost art. Many of these homes would easily command substantially higher prices in other areas. The addage “location, location, location” couldn’t ring truer. Switch scenes to Route 146, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every weekday: Why the exodus away from Schenectady? Why would people put up with that daily frustration when they could live so much closer to their place of employment? Taxes, taxes, taxes. Yes, Schenectady is taking strides toward improving downtown, but in my mind the real-life measure of a recognizable change will be the lack of a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam composed of people who can’t get out quickly enough. DAN FRICHETTE Clifton Park
Dan Frichette, brings up a good point regarding the high taxes in Schenectady. And very true. However, I see that Dan is from Clifton Park where taxes aren't all that cheap. Yet people move there. High taxes and all! And why? IT IS SAFER! IT IS CLEANER! You don't read of gang/drug related shootings every other day. There are jobs. No over extended welfare lines. And let's not forget the school system. One can't begin to compare the Schenectady City School system to Shen's.
The city of Schenectady boasts the fact that they are an Urban city. Which attracts people who want to live in an urban community. Clearly, Clifton Park is far from urban. It is sub-URBAN.
It appears that Dan Frichette, proclaiming to be in the real estate business, has some homes listed in the city of Schenectady and can't sell them. My suggestion to Dan is to over look the high taxes for now and just drive or walk through the city at night...if he dare.
Although perhaps Mr.Frichette can tell potential buyers of the new and expanded Proctors, the bars and how nice the 2 blocks of State Street look. Perhaps that would entice some people to move to the city...NOT!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Recently I had the wonderful experience of taking my daughter Aliki to a movie in downtown Schenectady. We arrived early, so we began to walk around, and I started to reminisce about various buildings and the owners and businesses that occupied them. I told her about her grandfather Louie, whom she had never met, and showed her the terrazzo floor that he laid in old Peggy’s restaurant. That floor was beautifully restored by my friend Angelo Mazzone into the new Aperitivo Bistro. I explained how every day, various owners and employees came to Peggy’s and we were a part of each other’s lives. Paul Isenberg, Angelo Delario, from the two men’s stores, along with Melvin Mintz and the Graubart brothers from the jewelry stores and Max Arnow and Harry Rector from the shoe store. The gang from The Schenectady Gazette had their coffee every morning at Peggy’s. We would visit each other out in the street and discuss the characters that roamed around, or just plain kibitz. It was comforting then and, surprisingly, it started to feel that way during our little sojourn now. It was at that moment that I realized that I’ve been on Wolf Road for 25 years [as a restaurateur], and although I’ve enjoyed some success, I don’t even know who occupies the buildings on either side of me. Keep up the good work, Schenectady! You look and feel great! LEGRANDE SERRAS Albany
What is Legrande Serras talking about here? It appears in this article that Legrande owns a restaurant on wolf rd..... "It was at that moment that I realized that I’ve been on Wolf Road for 25 years [as a restaurateur]," So perhaps Legrande should move on down to State Street and relocate there. Or perhaps Legrande is just an acquaintance of someone from the Schenectady dictatorship and was trying to make things sound better than they actually are! The article didn't make any sense.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
He is trying t puff up that joint Aper Tivo , one of the joints that got a wheelbarrel load of metrolpex money to open along with the V_lla It_l _a and the burrito bar. These places get zero-interest-loans, they get grants of free money, they get half tax deals, they get a credit on the sales taxes they pay on things, they get schaff on the employees too with the unemployment or some thing also - like something for this Empire-Zone. So this guy who used to run the restaurant in downtown (Peggys) mentions all the people who ran different joints back then- the owners of the Layfayettes, Squire Shop, Time Center Jewelers, Graubarts and Junior Bootery and the other shoe place (who here is old enough like me to remember? I am having a mental fa_t) He was tied in and maybe still is with Ang Mazzone who runs the Aper Tivo. So he is simply doing a little free advertisement and who knows? Maybe Gillien is offering him a wad of moolah now to open a fish place downtown. No harm no foul, but I like how the gazette likes to blow the horn for our downtown that we paid millions and millions for. Never mind how much free money goes to the big shots and capos of these different firms that suckle up to Gillien and that gang of crooks running the joint. Who used to eat at Peggys and is old enough to remember buying a suit a Layfayettes and getting the shoes at Junior Bootery? Now we are talking 1960's here and maybe a little 70s before it went to a place where the bums took over. Anyone here over 50 like me?
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