I don't think with all the breakfast competition downtown with Perecca's, Peter Pause, and Mike's that this place could do enough business for them to make money.

Quoted from Smoking Bananas

grow up

Truth hurts, doesn't it.  You can't stand that the truth of all these taxpayer handouts to the rich made through the savage-gillen rule is being made public

Quoted Text

Gillette important, but not city’s first female doc

    A Nov. 6 Daily Gazette article [“Drivethrough cut from bagel shop plan”] about the Gillette House stated it was the home of Dr. Elizabeth Gillette, Schenectady’s “first woman physician.” In fact, the fi rst woman physician was Dr. Janet Murray, who practiced in Schenectady for 46 years starting in 1891.
    In addition to her practice, Dr. Murray rendered care to the residents of the Old Ladies Home. In her later years she resided there and is interred in the Old Ladies Home plot at Vale Cemetery. Her grave site is visited on the Notable Women Tour of Vale Cemetery.
    This is not to detract from the laurels of Dr. Elizabeth Gillette, who came to Schenectady in 1900. She made house calls in her 14-horsepower Maxwell automobile when both cars and women drivers were rare. She founded the Humane Society, which became Schenectady’s Children’s Home. She was elected to the state Assembly in 1919 before women had been given the right to vote in elections.

    JAMES STROSBERG, M.D.
    BERNARD MCEVOY, M.D.
    Schenectady The writers are, respectively, Schenectady County Medical Society historian and president of Vale Cemetery.

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00709&AppName=1

Quoted Text

Op-ed column: Gillette House is legally barred from becoming a bagel shop
Monday, November 15, 2010
BY Joyce C. Wachala

In recent Gazette articles regarding the owner of the Gillette House (in the Stockade Historic District) requesting a variance to change the residence into a bagel shop, there has been plenty of cheerleading for this project.

What has been omitted are the facts. One only has to look in the Schenectady city zoning laws to know that this type of commercial project is absolutely NOT PERMITTED in any residential neighborhood.

Combine that with the Stockade District’s strict adherence to preservation of the neighborhood, one is hard-pressed to know why this variance request can even be entertained.

In 1962, the Stockade Historic District was established and it was the first of its kind in all of New York state. As the many brochures and Websites quote, the Stockade remains on the Historic Register due to the strict zoning laws that are in place to preserve and maintain its residential nature. Over the years, many Stockade property owners have invested significant amounts of money rehabilitating their homes in order to preserve the nostalgia and rich history of the area.
Bargain purchase

Back in 2009, the Gazette reported that Mr. McDonald purchased both the Gillette House and neighboring Millington House for $88,000 from the Schenectady County Chamber Foundation. Not only was this purchase price quite a bargain, but the county had recently spent $90,000 to clean the lead paint and asbestos from the Gillette House, as well as $303,000 to completely restore the exterior. Also, the Gillette House has become a unique location with its dual usage as either rental units or as office space. It was never, nor should it ever become, a commercial location.

There are many restrictions placed upon Stockade property owners. To paint one’s front door takes a lengthy application and review by the City Historic Commission. But in this instance, the Gillette House application is in front of the zoning board. According to the tax records, the Gillette House is actually a residential three-family home. Page 39 of the City of Schenectady Zoning Code specifically states that within all residential districts, commercial use is absolutely not permitted by any homeowner.

Combine that law with the historic restraints that have been in force in the Stockade for over hundreds of years, and the bagel shop variance is in complete defiance of all that has preceded it.

Review of past zoning board decisions will show that many people have been denied commercial variance applications in the Stockade District. Not because those commercial endeavors would be profitable or unprofitable, but because preservation and adherence to strict zoning laws are the primary factors of consideration in the Stockade.
Opening the gates

If one exception is made by the zoning board, then the floodgates open for others. All commercial projects would then have a point of reference and a valid example for their variance request. In the future, the once-historic Stockade District will most likely become non-existent as a neighborhood. This will solely be due to one bad decision made back in 2010.

Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen has also denied requests to help other deli/coffee shop endeavors in the Stockade Historic District. As he has stated in an e-mail to a potential coffee shop buyer: “When Metroplex was created by statute via the State legislature, a specific exemption/prohibition was put in place with regards to doing projects in the Stockade. [I guess] the concern was that Metroplex might try to do something that would not be helpful to the Stockade.” Even the state Legislature was aware that commercial endeavors had no place in the Stockade District and, therefore, Metroplex has declined to become involved as well.

With this said, the Gillette House has other options: Either become rental property, office space, or be sold.

Essentially, it all comes down to this: The Historic Stockade District is a residential neighborhood. Commercial variances have been denied time and time again.

If a commercial location is needed, the Stockade Historic District is not where one should buy property.

Before the zoning board decides to allow a home in a historic neighborhood to become a commercial location, let’s first try to fill up and use the current empty locations which plague Schenectady (a block away is the empty former Frank Gallo building and Grossmans on Erie Boulevard — a drive-thru might even pass there!).

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2010/nov/15/1114_wachala/

If I was to purchase property as a simple homeowner I would be doing research about the neighborhood.  What type of limitations that neighborhood had.  I once was going to purchase a trailer in one of those parks, the lot backyard faced a dairy farm bordered by nice trees. The trailer wouldn't be downwind of it thank goodness but I thought about that. Grin  What that green space showed me was a potential for development abutting what was nice green space to a possible development, zoning laws can so easily be changed for the right price.  Like a increase in the tax base.  I never went any farther with the idea.  By the way 10 years later the farm land was sold and guess what?

If I was going to invest my hard earned cash I would try to make sure I wasn't painting myself into a corner.

What has me questioning this Gillette house future plan is the current owner is not an uninformed individual. Why did he think he could build a business there when all the rules according to the article say he can't?   Unless of course someone misdirected him into believing he could do such a thing. Hmmm?

Arthur's Market might have survived if it had a better business plan.    The folks supported it for years when
it was a market.   The new incarnation was a lot different from the original -- more of an over priced coffee
house.    

Quoted Text

    2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, unless amended pursuant
  to  local  law,  the  Schenectady  metroplex  service district shall not
  include any parcel of real property upon which a  non-multiple  dwelling
  residence  is  located  in  the  city  of  Schenectady  and  within  the
  boundaries of the historic GE realty plot district,  the  Union  College
  Triangle,  the  Mont  Pleasant  neighborhood association, or any defined
  neighborhood within the Schenectady united neighborhood associations.
    3. The  Stockade  Historic  District  shall  be  included  within  the
  Schenectady  Metroplex  Service District for the purposes of the design,
  development,  planning,  financing,  creation,   siting,   construction,
  renovation, administration, operation, management, and/or maintenance of
  facilities,  structures or parks as defined in paragraphs (e), (f), (g),
  (h), (i), (j), (k) and (l) of subdivision eight  of  section  twenty-six
  hundred fifty-five of this title.

http://law.justia.com/newyork/codes/2006/public-authorities/pba02654_2654.html

Quoted from 147

A drive thru in the stockade.  Somehow, some way, Ron Severson had to be part of that idea.

Friggin classic.

I prefer restaurants without drive-thru windows.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

I prefer restaurants without drive-thru windows.

Yet, you enjoy McDonald's and McRibs. (maybe because you haven't seen your own ribs in years?)

Quoted from 147

Yet, you enjoy McDonald's and McRibs. (maybe because you haven't seen your own ribs in years?)

another ignorant comment from an equally ignorant buffoon.

Quoted Text

Bagel shop improper for entrance to historic Sch’dy neighborhood

    I’m responding to Joyce Wachala’s Nov. 14 Viewpoint [“Gillette House is legally barred from becoming a bagel shop”] regarding John McDonald’s variance to change the Gillette House from a threefamily home to a “fast-food restaurant.”
    I consider myself a progressive thinker. I’m a former board member of the Stockade Association, founder of its Historic Quarter Cultural League, a member of its Riverside Park Conservancy and Stockade Soire committees, and I was chairperson of the this year’s Secret Garden Tour. Furthermore, I fully support the city’s plans for a dock in Riverside Park.
    However, the Gillette House sits at the only (very costly) formal entryway into the Stockade historic district, and I believe that any reasonable person interested in maintaining the historic integrity of our treasured neighborhood would have to seriously consider the potential long-term negative implications brought about by allowing a “fast-food restaurant” to open there.
    Others have pointed out the benefi ts of the proposed project, for instance, like structurally preserving the Gillette House for future generations. Conversely, looking at Mr. McDonald’s plan from an ethical point of view, we must ask ourselves, does it respect the historical and aesthetic value of the quarter?
    Moreover, another crucial question to ponder is the morning rush hour traffi c flow. Currently, the corner in question — one of the busiest on both Erie Boulevard and Union Street — offers no left-turn signal lights. Therefore, traffic is often backed up there, and many unsafe turns occur.
    The Stockade Association, representing approximately 240 members, approved the idea. Although I didn’t attend that meeting, I’m told there were only 20 or so members present for the vote.
    Stockade residents and visitors alike relish the uncommon quality of life within our “little village.” So will a “fast-food restaurant,” placed smack at the entrance of a notable neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places, add or subtract to our general well-being?
I believe that’s a question worth asking.

ROB GAVEL
Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00703&AppName=1

I think a bagel shop is a great business to have at the entrance to a residential neighborhood.

Personally, i like Bagels n' Bites  on Curry Rod .. their mini bagels are perfect when entertaining guests
for Sunday Brunch.

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Bagel shop OK’d for Gillette House
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com

    The entrance to the historic Stockade neighborhood has long been marked by an abandoned, but historically signifi cant, house.
    Soon, visitors will instead be greeted by an independent bagel shop. But at least one resident thinks that will be even worse than the current emptiness.
    The Schenectady Board of Zoning Appeals approved the bagel shop in the Gillette House at the corner of Union and College streets Wednesday despite resident David Giacalone making a passionate appeal to stop the project.
    “It’s the boundary lines of a historic district that most needs your vigilance,” he said, urging the board to insist on office or residential space. “I think the integrity of the Stockade is in jeopardy if you give in to this.”
    But several other residents stood in favor of the shop, which would be owned and operated by the McDonald family. The family also runs Pinhead Susan’s and two restaurants in the historic district: the Van Dyke and the Stockade Inn.
    Since the building is on the periphery, it won’t hurt the residential neighborhood, resident David Lowry told the board.
    “I can’t see any negative impact,” he said, adding, “We’re really looking forward to some place to go on our side of Erie Boulevard for breakfast.”
    The Stockade Association sent a letter supporting the project. The Schenectady Heritage Foundation also supported it.
    “We would like to see this building used. We feel strongly that using a building is the best way to save it,” foundation Chairwoman Gloria Kishton said. ..................>>>>....................>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01503&AppName=1

Hooray! Another tax exempt business in Schenectady!!! Now the Stockade has three businesses with tax exemptions - Van Dyke, Stockade Inn now a bagel shop. Hope they don't mind there taxes going up.

Better to have it occupied than vacant -- the McDonald family runs some great businesses -- I am
certain this one will be just as good as the rest.

The RENAISSANCE of Schenectady continues.