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Author: Thomas Dimopoulos

Under Development, Under Discussion

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in Featured, News.

Proposed three-story addition on Broadway. Rendering: Dalpos Architects & Integrators. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A downtown section of Broadway may be getting taller. 

Proprietors of 453 Broadway are looking to construct a new three-story addition over the existing one-story retail Cooperstown Distillery on the west side of Broadway. 

The proposed structure, which would house 15 apartments, stands just south of Compton’s Restaurant and would combine the properties – 453 and 457 Broadway – by removing the existing legal property line. Angelo Ingrassia is reportedly the owner of both properties. 

The one-story structure at 453 Broadway was constructed in the circa-1940s, and the adjacent 457 Broadway dates back to about the 1850s, according to the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. 

A Social Club for Businesspersons

At the Planning Board, a Special Use permit and Site Plan approval is sought at 118 and 121-125 Woodlawn Ave. for a “private/social club.” 

The two parcels measure .14 acres and .23 acres, respectively. For more than a century, the property at 118 Woodlawn Ave. was owned by various religious operations and operated as a religious house of worship, according to documents submitted to the city. It has remained vacant since its latest purchase by EC Woodlawn Van Dam Property LLC in 2022. 

The applicant is seeking to use 118 as a private/social club for businesspersons to be operated by a not-for-profit entity, with 121-125 Woodlawn to serve as off-street parking for club members. The building at 118 is located on the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Van Dam Street, just east of the convergence of Broadway/Route 9 and the Saratoga Hilton.    

City News : A New 6 PM Start for Saratoga Springs Council Meetings

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in News.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council staged its first meeting of the month on Tuesday, June 6. The meeting began at 6 p.m., a one-hour earlier start-time than the regular 7 p.m. start of meetings during the past several years. The new 6 p.m. start is expected to remain in place in future meetings.    

Proposal to Prohibit Firearm Possession While Intoxicated Tabled, For Now

A vote to create a new section in the City Code to prohibit possession of firearms in a public place while intoxicated or impaired by drugs, was tabled Tuesday night.   

The proposal currently instructs that no person shall be intoxicated or impaired by alcohol or drugs or a combination of alcohol or drugs in a public place while possessing a firearm. A “public place” is defined as any public highway, public street, public sidewalk, public parking area or in any vehicle or vessel or premise open or accessible to the public. Intoxicated and impaired by alcohol and/or drugs is defined under NY DWI and related case law. 

Some revisions to the proposal are anticipated to take place and the measure is expected to return to the council table at a future meeting.  

Co-Chairs Appointed to Restorative Justice Panel

-City Mayor Ron Kim announced the appointment of Rev. Heather Williams and Camille Davis as co-chairs of the newly approved Restorative Justice Panel. 

Last month, the City Council, by a 4-1 vote, approved a resolution that acknowledges “Saratoga Springs has supported and allowed racism and hate” during its history, and set the groundwork for the formation of an 11-member Restorative Justice review panel. That panel is charged with providing the council recommendations of what form restorative justice in the city should take.  A report is anticipated to be presented to the council by late December 2023. 

Rules for Homeless Shelter: minimum of 1,000 feet from schools 

-The city seeks to create a Local Law ensuring any homeless shelter sited in Saratoga Springs be located a minimum of 1,000 feet from the grounds of any Primary or Secondary educational facility. As such, the council approved forwarding its intent to the city Planning Board to amend the Unified Development Ordinance. The UDO is the so-called “rule book” for land development in Saratoga Springs.

City Receives AA+ Rating

-Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi provided the council with Standard & Poor’s Report, in which S&P Global Ratings assigned to Saratoga Springs an ‘AA+’ rating. 

“This is great news,” Commissioner Sanghvi told the council. “What this means is Saratoga Springs has a strong economy.” 

 “After some revenue disruption in fiscal 2020, the city has returned to positive operations,” reads the report in its credit overview. 

It also documents a stable outlook for the city: “The stable outlook reflects S&P Global Ratings’ opinion of Saratoga Spring’s strong budgetary performance, supported by good financial-management policies, practices, resulting in very strong reserves, which we expect will likely continue during our two-year outlook,” according to the report.  

City Climate Action Plan Draws Multiple Bidders

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City received seven bids in response to its call for consultants to collaborate with the city to define and create a Climate Action Plan.

The bids, unsealed on June 6, ranged from a low of $57,500 (from Climate Action Associates LLC) to a high of $75,000 (Anchor QEA Engineering PLLC). 

The scope of services request that the consultant engage city staff and commissioners to secure feedback on planning aspects that impact various city departments. Additionally, its requests consultants host a Public Meeting to present general information and benefits to the public, develop an inventory and gather data related to city emissions, identify climate action goals, set GHG reduction targets for city operations, and finalize a Climate Action Plan. 

On December 20, 2011, the Saratoga Springs City Council unanimously approved the Climate Smart Communities Resolution and pledged to be a Climate Smart City.

Death of A Singer

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in Entertainment.

Philippe Marcade performing with The Senders and Johnny Thunders, Valentine’s Day 1979 at Studio 10 in New York City. Original Photo and Image: Thomas Dimopoulos. 

Philippe Marcade has left us. 

With those five words, the social media page dedicated to the musician and author shared the somber news that Marcade, at the age of 68, succumbed to pancreatic cancer on June 5. 

Gregarious and gracious, Marcade arrived in New York City in 1975, moved into the Chelsea Hotel and a year later co-founded the band The Senders. As lead singer, Marcade cut a striking figure at center stage, draped in a black leather jacket and fronting the shake, rattle and roll of the band’s sonic abundance of punk blues. It was the dawn of a new era in downtown New York.

​He witnessed The Ramones playing their third-ever gig, caught early performances by Blondie (who would enlist Marcade’s native French language skills to script the verses the band would use in their rendition of the song “Denis, Denis”) and share a blossoming friendship, and often the stage, with Johnny Thunders. 

“I felt that I had missed the Great 1960s, and all that was left were some little local bands and a very small local scene,” he said, during a conversation in 2019 for a story I was writing about him. “It never occurred to me that this was history in the making and that some of these bands would become huge.”   

Playing with the Senders from 1976 through his final performances in 2017, he remembered: “Nothing beats the feeling of a good audience that’s right in front of you…We weren’t just there to play music; everyone in the audience had to go home soaked, messed up, worn out.” 

His memoir, “Punk Avenue,” published in the U.S. in 2017 by Three Rooms Press, documents a life fully explored: being chased along the Boulevard Montparnasse by a barber from whom he’d snatched a mannequin’s wig, pursued through the Paris meatpacking district by beef-flinging butchers repelled by his long hair and hunted by holy men after venturing into the Forbidden Area of the Notre Dame. And that’s when he was just getting started.

Migrating to America, he explored his new landscape on a cross-country zag in a beat-up hippie van, sustained by all-you-can-eat restaurants, drive-in cinemas, and gas siphoned from other cars through plastic tubes. And of course, there was all that music – as noted in his memoir’s subtitle: “Inside the New York City Underground 1972-82.” 

Marcade’s journey was laced with a yearning for discovery, a sense of joy and the natural ability of greeting life’s unexpected moments with great humor and often laugh-out-loud exchanges.

“You seem to be able to find the humor in all things, no matter how serious, and present them in a funny way,” I said to him, during that last conversation we shared.  

“Yes indeed,” he responded, his words laced with the French undertones of his upbringing.  “It was very funny, and I had a wonderful time!”

For more about the memoir, visit Northshire Bookstore at: https://www.northshire.com/book/9781941110492. 

For more information about The Senders, go to: The Senders.bandcamp.com.   

SO LONG, LONGFELLOWS – Plans For The New Brookmere Resort Make Progress at Former Longfellows Site

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in Featured, News.

Longfellows, at 500 Union Ave. in Saratoga Springs on June 5, 2023. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — So long, Longfellows. Say hello to Brookmere. 

The parking lot is empty now. The buildings, trimmed in green and topped in clay hues, vacant. A large roadside sign that stands in front of the compound that has played host to so many the past quarter-century reads Thanks For The Memories, underscored by a promise: Stay Tuned For What’s Next.   

The approval of plans to convert the former Longfellows Hotel and Restaurant into the Brookmere Hotel are advancing through the city’s Land Use Boards. Construction is anticipated to commence this month. An opening has been targeted for fall 2024.  

Plans include the demolition of specific select structures – including the removal of an entry canopy, a covered entrance (porte cochere), and the existing Longfellows restaurant and banquet facility.

In its place, the transformed resort, renamed Brookmere, will house an 88-room hotel, a 200-seat ballroom, a Spa, and a 65-seat restaurant open to both spa and hotel guests, as well as the general public.  

Overall, the site’s footprint will expand from 65,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet.   

The project was first introduced in January to the Saratoga Springs Planning Board. The select structures have since been deemed to not have architectural or historic significance and the Design Review Board approved demolition of those select structures in May. 

Post-demolition, a new addition will be constructed that will connect the existing 18-room inn to the 32-room hotel. The existing inn and hotel will also be renovated.  Additional plans include a new entryway and lobby, lounge, restaurant/bar and ballroom. Offices will be added to the basement section of the addition and guest rooms added to the second and third floors, bringing the total room count to 88. 

The development is a collaborative effort between many entities: Bonacio Construction, Spring City Development – formed in 2021 as a restructuring of the real estate development arm of Bonacio Construction, the Atlanta, Georgia-based interior design firm Sims Patrick Studio, as well as the local design firms Balzer & Tuck Architecture, and the LA Group. Hay Creek Hotels, which is headquartered in New Hampshire will manage the resort.  

Longfellows, a popular local restaurant and hotel complex at 500 Union Ave., closed its doors in January, shortly after co-owner Steve Sullivan announcing its pending closure and the acceptance of an offer from a group of investors/operators to purchase the property. The property sold for $4.9 million, according to county deed records recorded on Jan. 13. 

“It’s been a great 26-year run,” Sullivan said at the time. Over its 26 years in business, Longfellows accommodated thousands of hotel guests and hosted over 2,400 weddings and countless catering events.

New Start for City Council Meetings: 6 p.m.

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in News.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — City Mayor Ron Kim announced that starting with its meeting Tuesday, City Council meetings will begin at 6 p.m. 

The meetings will proceed in this way: Call to order at 6 p.m. and continue onto Consent agenda, Presentations (if any), Executive sessions (if any), and Supervisors’ reports. Public hearings (on specific items) and the (general) public comment period will begin at 7. Continue with regular order of meeting – Mayor’s Department, Accounts Department, Finance Department, Department of Public Works, and Department of Public Safety. A second public comment period follows.

Saratoga Springs: June Special Events

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in News.


Flag Day Parade 2019. Photo by Francesco D’Amico.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — City Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran announced that the following special events will take place in Saratoga Springs:

Saturday, June 3, 2023 –TUFF eNUFF Mud Run – Prevention Council fundraiser obstacle courses (kids course and teen/adult course) at the BOCES facility on Henning Road.

Saturday, June 3, 2023 – Whitman Brewfest fundraiser for Saratoga Pride. This is a ticketed event with samples from local area breweries, food, music, and vendors.

Sunday, June 4, 2023 – Cantina Kids Fun Run fundraiser for Saratoga Hospital Pediatric Emergency Services to be held at Congress Park.

Saturday, June 10, 2023 – Annual Flag Day Parade hosted by the Saratoga–Wilton Elks Lodge.

Saturday, June 10, 2023 – Grace Fellowship Outreach event for Grace Fellowship Church.

Sunday, June 11, 2023 – Beekman Street Art Fair with fine art, craft show, street performers, live music, and food trucks.

Saturday, June 17, 2023 – 2nd Annual Cars on Union car show hosted by the Saratoga Auto Museum.

Monday, June 19, 2023 – Symbolic two-and-a-half block walk concluding at the Frederick Allen Lodge.

Sunday, June 25, 2023 – Saratoga Pride Festival celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride at High Rock Park.

Saratoga Springs Dem. Mayoral Primary Event June 12

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in Featured, News.

Incumbent Mayor Ron Kim (left), and challenger Chris Mathiesen (right). Photo: lwv.saratoga. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The public is invited to submit questions for incumbent city Mayor Ron Kim and mayoral challenger Chris Mathiesen in advance of the city’s Democratic Party Primary, which will take place June 27, with Early Voting beginning June 17.  

The “Meet The Candidates” event will take place virtually, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, June 12. The event will be live streamed on Zoom webinar and hosted by the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County – a local chapter of the League of Women Voters of New York State and the national League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization whose stated mission is to encourage informed and active participation in government.

Questions: The public is encouraged to submit questions for the candidates by June 9, 2023, to QuestionsLWVSC@gmail.com with “Mayor” in the subject line. Questions should be addressed to both candidates, represent a broad range of topics and not contain personal attacks.

The general election will take place in November for the two-year mayoral term. The Saratoga Springs Republican Committee has endorsed John Safford as the GOP’s candidate for mayor.  

In Saratoga Springs, there are just over 8,300 registered Democrats eligible to vote in the June 27 Primary. The city counts just over 5,800 registered Republicans, and 5,500 “blank” voters – or those registered to vote with no party affiliation, according to the Board of Elections.     

City Sets Sights on 24/7 Homeless Shelter

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in Featured, News.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The city received one response to its RFP seeking to obtain proposals from qualified nonprofit organizations to operate a temporary low-barrier homeless shelter in Saratoga Springs. That respondent is RISE Housing and Support Services. 

“The next step for the City Council is an award of the bid; If that passes then we would enter into a contract with (RISE) and do a budget amendment to pay for the contracted amount,” Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim said on May 31.  

That potential shelter will serve as a temporary one and in lieu of a permanent shelter site – anticipated to be decided upon at some point this summer.

At the time it issued the RFP (Request for Proposal), the city was engaged in hoping to secure a public-private partnership by June 1 with the locally based RISE Housing and Support Services to provide a year-round, low-barrier, 24/7 interim homeless shelter at 4 Adelphi St. The agreement was to be discussed at length and voted on by the council in early May, but the item was pulled from the table after the council deemed an RFP for the project would first be required. 

Several weeks later, the one respondent to the proposal eventually turned out to be RISE Housing and Support Services. The organization detailed $239,385 as the amount needed as an operating budget to hire, train and staff the program, as well as maintain the facility. According to the RFP, contractors were requested to submit an annual proposed operating budget. 

That initial draft agreement stipulated the city provide funds to operate the interim shelter from the date of execution to Dec. 31, 2023, and pledged sufficient monetary resources to fully fund the operations of the facility “for the 2024 Fiscal year and such future years as required.” Additionally, it specified that the city anticipates awarding a 6-month contract for the remainder of 2023 and a subsequent one 1- year contract with up to three 3 additional 1-year renewal periods. 

City Still Seeks a Permanent Shelter

The Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness is currently searching for a permanent site for a homeless shelter and navigation center and is anticipated to provide its recommendations to the City Council in July. 

The Taskforce was formed In February 2023 and was charged with determining a working definition of “low-barrier,” determining whether there is a need in the city for a low-barrier shelter, providing recommendations for a possible location for a low-barrier shelter, and offering recommendations on possible funding sources for the operation of such a shelter. 

The implementation of any proposed shelter by the Taskforce, however, is anticipated to take several months or some years to complete. With the recent RFP, the city is hoping to create a temporary shelter for the unhoused in Saratoga Springs as an interim solution. 

The Adelphi Street building is the venue that served as the last city winter-seasonal temporary shelter. That lease, which was $8,000 per month and involved the Shelters of Saratoga organization, expired April 30. In previous years of operation, Saratoga County as well as the State have provided some level of funding support for shelter operations. When asked in April about the county’s potential support of a shelter based in Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Todd Kusnierz said: “We will entertain any proposal that is provided to us.”

Commissioner Montagnino: Saratoga Springs Fire Chief Facing Sixteen Charges of Misconduct

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in News.

Joseph Dolan.
Photo: www.saratoga-springs.org

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sixteen formal charges of misconduct have been filed against Saratoga Springs Fire Chief Joseph Dolan, according to city Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino. 

With the filing of the charges, Chief Dolan’s employment status goes from paid administrative leave to suspension without pay, Montagnino said in a statement. 

The 16 charges, the details of which were released May 23, include multiple allegations of Dolan’s attending training at the State Academy of Fire Sciences in Montour Falls, as well as providing training at the Saratoga County Fire Training Center Center, and at the Troy Fire Department for which he was paid by the state, while not charging “leave time,” and so also being paid full salary as city fire chief. 

The charges also allege an intent to obtain personal benefit by using a city-owned vehicle for personal use. 

“I don’t believe there’s anything here that would warrant the termination of the Chief’s employment,”  said Dolan’s attorney, Brian Culnan. “Based on the facts as I understand them, it’s obvious to me that the city is really not aware of a lot of the facts here and has charged him with a lot of stuff in which there’s really no wrongdoing.”  

Dolan’s response to the commissioner’s allegations is anticipated in early June.

Drug Bust, Deputies Shot

Written by Thomas Dimopoulos on . Posted in Featured, News.

Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo at press conference on May 23, 2023. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.

BALLSTON SPA — Six minutes after sunrise Tuesday morning, members of the county Sheriff’s Office Special Operation and Narcotics Unit assisted the DEA in executing a federal search warrant at 312 Foxwood Drive. The warrant relating to a six-month long narcotics investigation.

“The Special Operations team announced their purpose and authority and entered the residence,” explained Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo. “A person inside the home began shooting at deputies.”

The person inside, identified as 23-year-old Anthony Zaremski, was the subject of the investigation leading to the search warrant.

“He struck two deputies with gunfire, at which time deputies returned fire,” Zurlo said. “Mr. Zaremski was pronounced dead at 9:15 a.m. at Albany Medical Center.” 

The two injured deputies, who Sheriff Zurlo declined to name, have served with the department for five years, and two years, respectively. One was struck in the chest with a round that was deflected by life-saving body armor; the other suffered a shattered femur as a result of a serious gunshot wound to his thigh, Zurlo said.

The prognosis for both is excellent, he added. “The quick thinking and instinctive actions be the members of the Special Operations Team in rendering aid to the deputies – including applying two tourniquets to the deputy shot in the thigh – was nothing short of heroic.”

A DEA officer, who is also a medic, applied first aid to Zaremski until he was transported to Albany Medical Center.

Zaremski had a lengthy criminal history record, Zurlo said, including attempted murder, and criminal drug and loaded firearm possession charges. “We encountered a dangerous subject this morning when we entered that residence.”

Tuesday’s actions were part of an ongoing criminal investigation dating back six months and involve four search warrants in the Saratoga/Albany region.

“The seizures that resulted from today’s operation resulted in hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills and ecstasy pills, multiple kilograms of cocaine and nearly 50 rifles and handguns,” said Frank Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division covering the State of New York. “The amount of Fentanyl pills we seized today is equivalent to roughly 60,000 lethal doses removed from the streets of this community.”  

The tally of seized items is from the first three warrant searches. Any items seized from the fourth location – where the shooting occurred Tuesday – are not included in that tally, Tarentino said.

Sheriff Zurlo said he would not comment whether anyone else was present inside the home, other than that no children were present.    

“This is the first time I think, in the history of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, that we had two members shot,” Zurlo said, at a presser held in Ballston Spa Tuesday afternoon. “There are no words to sufficiently describe how grateful I am that this is only a press conference and not a eulogy.”