On March 23 you ran yet another article about the trials and tribulations of the moribund St. James Square in Niskayuna. Since the business folks seem to be having no luck marketing this white elephant, I thought I might offer an idea: How about we take the guys who are being kicked out of the old YMCA and, rather than housing them on a desolate stretch of lower Broadway as is proposed, we put them up at St. James Square? If a disused factory can be fi tted up for single-room occupancy, why not an old Grand Union? The location has a lot to offer these men. It’s near bus routes; they can walk to stores, to the library, to activities at the town hall, and to athletic facilities (such as the swimming pool) at the school. Of course, I can already hear people snickering about this idea. But the reason it may seem odd and laughable is that we implicitly accept the premise that it’s OK for the suburbs to shirk their civic responsibilities. Decades of sleazy political maneuvering, bad planning and exclusionary zoning have combined to make it just about impossible for poor people to exist in suburbs. We corral them in cities and then blame the cities for being sinks of social deviance. It’s time for the suburbs to assume their share of responsibility. Niskayuna could set an example by integrating low-cost housing into its civic and commercial center. We city dwellers will let you eat in our restaurants and visit our theaters, if you take some of our homeless, our addicts, our prostitutes and our muggers. How’s that for a deal?
Frank must read this board. This has been proposed many times here. One other advantage it's closer to the residences of Legislative "leaders" Finn, Gordon and Landslide Savage. They care a lot! But not this much. The Y men will be dumped on Broadway in Bellevue just like the DSS Taj Mahal. They don't have any DEM majority legislators other there.
Here is what I don't get. If these men live at the Y, how are they "homeless"? Bethesda House also uses that designation for its clientele, many of whom have homes. Why do "the homeless" all need to live in one building, in Schenectady?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, single; come from urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. About one-third of the adult homeless population are veterans.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
In other words, they have a cover to act as badly as they can, and if you want to clean up the homeless problem you are "against the troops." Just like being against the "kids" or the "disable" or "the seniors" but in this case liberals put their bong lighters away that they are about to set the flag on fire with, and wrap their flags around themselves.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
In other words, they have a cover to act as badly as they can, and if you want to clean up the homeless problem you are "against the troops." Just like being against the "kids" or the "disable" or "the seniors" but in this case liberals put their bong lighters away that they are about to set the flag on fire with, and wrap their flags around themselves.
Graham's words say a lot... He wants to "clean up the homeless problem"... Like picking up garbage or dog poop... not deal with homeless veterans or the mentally ill.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
I really don't like taking a section of society and dissecting it even further. Homeless is homeless. Dissecting it only obscures a solution.
They moved the bethesda house away from the 'savage's miracle' because people were turned off by the homeless folks pissing on the sidewalk. Sorry, don't want that in my back yard for my kids to see..........k?
And Mr.Dongan.........I DON'T go downtown specifically so I can avoid the shooters, sidewalk pissers, drug dealers, prostitute and panhandlers!
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
Graham's words say a lot... He wants to "clean up the homeless problem"... Like picking up garbage or dog poop... not deal with homeless veterans or the mentally ill.
dealing with homeless/mentally ill........dealing with.......yeah, that would be a choice.....like 'dealing' with work/boss/neighbor etc..... here's the deal....there is a choice NOT to deal with certain situations.....it's that personal.....and if they are chronically homeless (for those totally unknowable reasons, because we dont live in their minds) then there is no fix.......and if one makes the choice TO deal with certain situations--still, it's that personal.....it doesn't matter where they live as long as they are living by our self imposed belief of who they are and why they do what they do......
I am not a vet and I certainly DO NOT profess to know what lives in their minds/souls or anyone else's for that matter.....
I CANT FIX THEM....but I can deal if I choose.....I would love to clean up the homeless problem, but that would mean I have a FIX for the problem and I do not.....that would be some kind of miracle and that is not in my hands nor anyone else's....we are bandaides to eachother
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS