SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council voted to approve applying for a $100,000 Grant from Congressman Paul Tonko’s office to fund a Truck Origin Destination study on Van Dam Street.
Recognizing truck traffic as a top priority for the city to remedy, the city hopes to address the issue of high volume non-local trucks that disturb air quality and increase traffic congestion.
Last September, the Capital Region Transportation Council (CRTC), in coordination with former city Mayor Ron Kim’s Office conducted the truck traffic study to explore options for enhancing safety and improving traffic flow through the downtown corridor by collecting data on the number and classification of trucks traveling through the city, their routes, and speed. The potential areas of study were Broadway (U.S. Rte 9); Ballston Avenue (NY Rte 50); Church Street (NY Rte 9N); Finley/Adelphi Streets; Geyser Road; Lake Avenue (NY Rte 29); Union Avenue (NY Rte 9P); Van Dam Street; Washington Street (NY Rte 29).
This month, the city acknowledged while it had secured a high level study completed through its Metropolitan Planning Organization, it was “no substitute for a full origin destination study which can inform city planning and set us up for additional funding for years to come.”
The Van Dam and Church Neighborhood Association have advocated for this work along with potential alternate routes. In a letter requesting action be taken on a comprehensive truck rerouting in Saratoga, the Van and Church Neighborhood Association wrote: “the city has been negligent in addressing this issue for decades while the problem continues to get worse…and the city must immediately take action to implement a comprehensive rerouting of tractor trailer traffic.” The group further advocated that the city retain a qualified traffic engineering firm to conduct a comprehensive analysis of truck traffic through the city, including multiple alternatives to the current routing through the historic core.
The city’s Complete Streets Advisory Board has a dedicated budget line for matching grants and multimodal transportation projects.
Saratoga Springs parking lot on May 6, 2024. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The city public library parking lot will be going to a paid parking scheme this summer, although provisions are being made to allow library card-holders to continue to park free of charge during the library’s normal hours of operation.
The Saratoga Springs City Council unanimously approved a pair of measures during its May 7 meeting, allowing the proposal to come to fruition.
Since its opening in 1992, the 75-or-so parking spaces in the Saratoga Springs Public Library (SSPL) lot, which sits between Putnam and Henry Streets one block east of Broadway, had offered free parking to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Since then, the city of Saratoga Springs has constructed four parking garages and service lots and more recently a seasonal public parking permit program to accommodate a growing population and tourism industry. These recent developments would impact the use of the library parking lot,” city DPW Commissioner Jason Golub said during this week’s council vote. “SSPL approached the city to develop solutions for protecting patron use of the space.”
The library – which serves 700 people per day, is chartered not simply by the geographical boundaries of the city of Saratoga Springs, but in the larger school district which serves about 52,000 people.
“Regulations are intended to provide library patrons with priority use of the lot during library hours and to allow the city to charge for parking in the evenings,” Commissioner Golub said, adding that the library lot is anticipated to return approximately $52,000 in revenues during the seasonal parking plan.
A new seasonal paid parking program affecting six city-owned, off-street parking facilities was approved April 2, prior to the addressing of the library lot. Overall, it was anticipated the seasonal program would run Memorial Day through Labor Day, although that may be headed toward a post-June 9 start, following the conclusion of the Belmont Stakes Festival.
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When the plan goes into effect, Special Permits will be required for library patrons to park in the library lot during designated hours. Permits, which will run via a license plate system, will be available to patrons who register and have a library card. Although the software to approve permits is not yet in place, library staff will be the ones responsible for registering patrons on a portal site provided by the city.
“People will need come into the library to register for the permit, because it will require that they are a resident of the school district and a library card holder,” said Library Director A. Issac Pulver.
“The library is essential to our community and serves a lot of our people,” said Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi.“The library is the lifeblood of our community in so many different ways…the ability to gather together and learn from each other… I’m happy we came to a solution that works for the library and the city.”
Draft Regulations:
(a) The Library Permit will enable Library Patrons to exclusively use spaces in the Library Lot from the hours of 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily, for a three-hour time limit.
(b) Library Permit holders may continue to use the lot for free for three hours until 9 p.m. daily, but the spots will be on first-come, first-served basis and the lot may include paid parking users after 6 pm.
(c) Library Permit Patrons seeking to use the lot 9 p.m. – 9 a.m. will be charged a fee by the city when the city parking program is in effect.
(d) The city may charge a fee for Non-Library Permit Patrons after 6 p.m. daily and on days or holidays when the Library is closed.
The anticipated charge for paid parking will be at the rate of $2 per hour. On holidays and other days when the library is closed, the city may charge for parking at any time. Tickets will be issued for violations.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last week, regional officials announced they anticipate the hosting of the Belmont Stakes Festival at Saratoga to have an economic impact in 2024 of upwards of $50 million.
Shifting to Saratoga next month, the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will begin on Thursday, June 6 and continue through Sunday, June 9. Belmont on Broadway meanwhile, billed as a locally based multifaceted celebration, is slated to take place June 4 -9 featuring concerts and other complimentary events to the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
That $50 million projection comes from applying a mathematical formula that takes the overall economic activity of the annual 40-day summer meet at Saratoga and assigning it to the number of days of the upcoming Belmont festival.
“The historical number for the 40-day meet has been $370 million so we simply took what we knew to be fact – $370 million – and divided it by the number of days for the Belmont Festival on Broadway, including the Belmont Stakes. That’s how we came up with the $50 million,” Gregory Connors, president and CEO at Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, explained this week.
That overall 40-day meet figure, at just over $370 million, was detailed in a study commissioned by the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency based on data from 2021 and released in 2023. The study additionally cited nearly $2.1 million of tax revenue in Saratoga Springs, almost $2.4 million in Saratoga County, and over $7.3 million of tax revenue in New York State as attributable to the 40-day meet.
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As a curious aside, of those counted as visitors to the racecourse during the 40-day meet, the study pointed to nearly 6 in 10 visitors as coming from outside of the Capital Region, and indicated that overall, just under half of all track visitors stayed overnight locally. It will be interesting to learn, if such movements are to be tracked, the way those numbers will trend for the Belmont.
Saratoga Hosting Belmont Stakes 2024 & 2025, Scheduled to Return to Long Island in 2026
Last December, the New York Racing Association announced the 2024 Belmont Stakes would be relocated to Saratoga Springs, and three months later followed up with an additional announcement that the 2025 Belmont Stakes would be staged in the Spa City as well.
In its post-Kentucky Derby story published this week, the Associated Press referenced Saratoga as playing host to the Triple Crown’s final race for the next “three” years while Belmont Park is being reconstructed. It is a rumor that has been circulating throughout the spring – although no one in any official capacity has said likewise. To be clear, current plans for the near half-billion-dollar redevelopment of Belmont Park hold firm that renovations to Belmont Park are expected to be completed in time for the Long Island racetrack to host the Belmont Stakes in June 2026.
Connors said he has not heard anything other than that the Belmont is expected to return to Long island in 2026.“My sense is, and my personal opinion is that it’s all connected to the construction schedule on Elmont, Long Island at the Belmont track. If they’re on the construction schedule that they hope to be able to follow it’s more likely to be a two-year thing (in Saratoga),” he said. “In any event we know we’re going to put on a great show in 2024 and 2025.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Whitman Brewing Company, which occupies the building that had long housed the offices of The Saratogian newspaper, has submitted an application to the city Planning Board for two, one-day events to be held in a portion of the outdoor parking lot which is bordered by Lake Avenue and sits between Maple Avenue and Pavilion Row.
The first event would run 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 1 and consist of live music (no stage) and local breweries pouring four-ounce samples of their beer. The ticketed event, limited to 300 people, would serve as a fundraising event benefiting Saratoga Pride.
The second event, featuring similar activities and capacity, would run noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.
BALLSTON SPA — A Public Hearing will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14 at the county complex in Ballston Spa regarding a proposed Local Law stated “to protect owners of dwellings in Saratoga County from unlawful occupants commonly referred to as ‘squatters’ and to protect lawful occupants of dwellings from unlawful evictions.”
“We want to hear from the public,” Saratoga Springs city Supervisor Matt Veitch announced at the City Council meeting this week. “Essentially it gives some process and procedure for landowners to file affidavits for law enforcement if there are folks occupying their properties unlawfully.”
The county Board of Supervisors generally meets at 4 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month (May 21 this month), but the Public Hearing on the proposed law – titled Local Law no. 2 of 2024,” will take place at 4:30 p.m. this Tuesday, May 14.
County residents interested in reading about the proposed Local Law are instructed they may do so on the Saratoga County government website. Here’s how:
2. Scroll past the header picture and down to “Board & Committee Meetings,” click on that and a new page will open.
3. Scroll down to “Board of Supervisors” meetings, find “April 16, 2024,” move to and click on “Agenda,” and a new page will open.
4.Scroll down to page 56 – where Resolution 118-2024 is titled “Introducing A Local Law Authorizing Property Owners To Request The Removal Of Unlawful Occupants From Dwellings, And Setting A Public Hearing,” and read pages 57 – 60 where the proposed Local Law is detailed.
Sketch Plan of Planned Unit Development District (PUDD) at Wilton, where 382 units are anticipated to be constructed by 2026-27.
WILTON — A large multifamily housing project recently given the thumbs-up to proceed is anticipated to offer hundreds of new residential units as early as the summer of 2026 in the town of Wilton.
The project will take place alongside the existing Wilton Mall and is expected to be developed in two phases, with 296 apartments available for occupancy in the summer of 2026 and 86 townhomes made available the following year.
The Wilton Mall will remain largely operational, and the hope is it will gain new interest as a result. The space formerly housing the Bon Ton store will be demolished and atop nearly 9 acres of land, 296“market rate apartment units” will be constructed in its place. Demolition may take place as soon as this spring.
The additional 86 townhome units will be developed just across the road in the northeast corner of the property and on nearly 5 acres of land during the project’s second phase.
Mike Shaffer, general manager of Wilton Mall, is hopeful the combined 382 new units will provide a financial boost for the mall. At its peak in 2016, the mall generated about $95 million in sales, but by 2022 sales had dropped in half, due to factors such as the closure of Bonton and Sears, the pandemic, and a public shift to shopping online.
“The mall needs that residential catalyst to attract new interest,” Shaffer told the Wilton Town Board during its April meeting when it approved the creation of a Planned Unit Development District (PUDD) to allow the project to move forward. Specifically, Shaffer cited the project as catalyst to potentially attracting national retailers, restaurants and new uses such as entertainment.
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The evolution of the mall over the past decade or so has included bringing in Healthy Living, Planet Fitness and a 22,000 square feet Home Goods store as a tenant. It transitioned the vacated Sears box store to Saratoga Hospital for primary care, clinical care and administrative uses, sited OrangetheoryFitness and recently celebrated the reopening of a cinema. The redevelopment of the vacant BonTon marks the next step in the evolution of the mall.
To meet the spring 2025 construction plan, design and preparations are anticipated to take three to four months, site plan subdivision approval four or five months, and building two or three months in time. The hope is to have the first apartments online and for rent in the summer of 2026.
The Macerich Corporation and Paramount Development are collaborating on the project. “For the construction, we have 318 jobs, $14.5 million in associated earnings, $37.5 million in sales spent locally,” Tawney Farmer, of Macerich, told the Wilton Town Board during the 35-minute presentation and vote, which was approved 4-1, with Wilton Supervisor John Lant casting the lone vote against.“Annually, after the apartments are built, we will generate 125 permanent jobs, $5.6 million in associated earnings and $16.6 million in annual sales.”
Additional estimates point to the Town receiving $368,000 in new sales tax revenue annually, and the Saratoga City School District experiencing a net benefit of $809,000 after estimating 25 new enrolled students the project may produce.
The proposal for the project had been in the discussion and debate stage for at least two years. The Wilton Planning Board and the Saratoga County Planning board had each previously issued a positive recommendation for the project.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A six-day festival in June anticipated to produce an economic impact in 2024 of more than $50 million will feature a free kick-off concert on Broadway with the band Blues Traveler, officials announced during a May 1 press conference at the Skip Scirocco Music Hall at Saratoga Springs.
Nicknamed “Belmont on Broadway,” dozens of local business, tourism and government leaders were on hand for the announcement of a multifaceted celebration being planned for the week of the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
“Not only is the Belmont going to help economically for the city, but it’s going to put us on a pedestal that’s going to be worldwide,” said Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford, “This is just going to bring it to a whole new level.”
With construction ongoing at Long Island’s Belmont Park in 2024 and 2025, the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will shift to Saratoga Race Course over the next two years. Racing days in 2024 will begin on Thursday, June 6, continue through Sunday, June 9 and will be highlighted by the 156th edition of the Belmont Stakes – the third leg of the Triple Crown – on Saturday, June 8.
Belmont on Broadway activities, slated to take place June 4 through June 9, will include a downtown window decorating contest, a pre-festival event called Embrace the Belmont, and a variety of other events including the free, outdoor concert with Blues Traveler, which will take place on Wednesday, June 5.
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The concert will start at approximately 6 p.m. (with Blues Traveler going on around 8:30) and end promptly at 10 p.m. The stage will be set directly on Broadway adjacent to the City Center and face south. Broadway will be closed likely from Van Dam to City Hall the day of the show, said Saratoga Springs City Center Executive Director Ryan McMahon.
Organizers anticipate 5,000 to 10,000 people to attend the event. Opening bands participating in the all-ages free concert as well as satellite parking, shuttle options, and additional weeklong activities will be announced leading up to the June 4-9 festival.
“We’re anticipating people will be coming up a little earlier in the week (prior to the June 6 race day start), so that’s why we’re trying to create these opportunities for people to have fun things to do, opportunities to engage with our community. And our hotels are definitely seeing some occupancy earlier in the week, so that tells you some good things,” said Discover Saratoga President Darryl Leggieri. “It’s also something for our locals. Doing this free concert downtown, I want locals to know they’re welcomed too, they’re a part of this, were celebrating together.”
What will be interesting to learn is whether the staging of the Belmont in Saratoga brings different visitors to the area, compared with visitors who flock to Saratoga during the New York Racing Association’s annual July-to-September summer meet.
“Everyone is going to learn off the first year, and we can build on that in the second year,” said NYRA President & CEO David O’Rourke, who spoke at this week’s presser. “It’s a new big event. You have the Whitney, the Travers, and now The Belmont,” O’Rourke said. “You might see more of an international (crowd); it’s typically on another level in terms of international exposure – and then if you have a Triple Crown, that’s just going to change the dynamic.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Twisting scarves, bodies in motion, and the purposeful crash of a gong accompanied by the sustained resonance of an electric cello descending the stairs.
Artists MIZU, Theresa-Xuan Bui, and Antonius-Tín Bui, along with dancer Glenna Yu presented an “activation” of the Tang Museum’s elevator and staircase on April 17.
The performance that included music, movement, spoken word poetry, and audience interaction, framed in a setting of traditional Vietnamese garments – called áo dài.
Event description via the Tang: The audience joins the diasporic artists on a migration embodying the hesitations, expectations, and contemplations of returning home.
“Elevator Music 48: Alone, only in flesh” will be on display at The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College through May 19. For more information, go to: https://tang.skidmore.edu/.
BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved a variety of resolutions during its monthly meeting held Tuesday, April 16 at the county complex in Ballston Spa.
Among the resolutions approved:
-The County entered into an agreement with Callanan Industries, Inc. for construction of the New Fixed Base Operator Terminal Phase 3- Apron project, at the Saratoga County Airport at a cost up to $947,357.50.In 2022, the Board authorized the acceptance of an Upstate New York Economic Development and Revitalization Grant from the New York State Department of Transportation for the project.
-An agreement be executed with Esoteric, LLC for the provision of providing a four-day UTK hostage rescue training course in Saratoga County to include tactics, techniques, and procedures employed when dealing with hostage rescue. The contract will be in effect April 1, 2024 through March 31,2025, at a cost up to $18,975.
-Execute all necessary documents and agreements with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice for the acceptance of a NYS DCJS Law Enforcement Equipment Program Grant in the amount of $89,190 for the term of April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025. The funds are intended to be used to provide for the purchase of uniforms (nearly $50,000), equipment (just over $20,000), and training services (just over $19,000) for the Special Operations Team of the Sheriff’s Office.
– The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to proclaim “National Crime Victims’ Rights Week” in Saratoga in late April.
“We must do everything we can to show survivors that hope— the belief that the future will be better—is not just tangible but within their reach,” according to the resolution. “National Crime Victims’ Rights Week encourages all people to ask themselves the question: How would you help a victim of crime?”
The proclamation is to reaffirm Saratoga County’s commitment to continuing to support a victim service and criminal justice response that assists all victims of crime – not just during Crime Victims’ Rights Week, but throughout the year.
A certified copy of the Resolution was forwarded to the New York State Crime Victims’ Task Force, Wellspring, Mechanicville Area Community Services Center, MADD, The Prevention Council, Saratoga Center for the Family, and Parents of Murdered Children.
Beneath his tricorn hat, a Continental Army soldier (IRL Saratoga Town Historian Sean Kelleher) eyes the Spirit of Life statue in Congress Park during premiere screening of the Revolutionary Road Trip series at UPH in Saratoga Springs on April 22, 2024. Photo by Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A 21st century TV episode showcasing events that occurred in 18th century Saratoga had its local screening premiere this week in a 19th century hall in Saratoga Springs.
Last September, “Travels With Darley” producer and host Darley Newman visited Saratoga County with a film crew for a busy five-day zag through the county capturing historic locales and contemporary venues alike. The completed project, presented as a 30-minute episode of the Revolutionary Road Trips series, was showcased during a local premiere at Universal Preservation Hall April 22.
The episode highlights area historic sites like the Saratoga National Historical Park, Congress and High Rock parks and post-Saratoga battle venues in the villages of Schuylerville and Victory, among others, as well as paying visit to numerous stores, breweries, shops, eateries and hotels in and around Saratoga Springs.
“Stories of triumph and sacrifice, of compassion and betrayal that are part of a journey to create a nation,” Lauren Roberts – Saratoga County Historian and Chair of the Saratoga County 250th Commission, told the large crowd assembled at UPH to view the screening.
In the fall of 1777, two battles took place in Saratoga that resulted in the surrender of the British army and is referred to by historians as a turning point in the Revolutionary War, as it convinced France to ally with the United States and aiding in the eventual victory over the British.
The British surrender at Saratoga has been immortalized in a painting by John Trumbull that hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and in 2015, the U.S. Mint issued a “Saratoga” coin to represent New York state in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The coin depicts a close-up of the moment British Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered his sword to Gen. Horatio Gates alongside an inscription that reads: Saratoga.
“The 250th anniversary of the Battles of Saratoga gives us a stage to tell our stories in a new way that breathes life into history,” Roberts said. The region will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the victory in a series of events leading up to, during, and after the 250th anniversary in 2027.
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In 2022, Saratoga County officials unveiled the official brand “America’s Turning Point” to commemorate the anniversary of the Revolutionary War Era events that happened in Saratoga County, and the county Board of Supervisors committed $150,000 in seed money to a newly formed Saratoga County 250th American Revolution Commission to help advance a mission of promoting education, historic preservation and heritage tourism.
Roberts serves as chair of the 13-member Saratoga 250 commission which comes up with programming ideas and commemorations, she explained. Campaign for Saratoga 250 Inc., a separate non-profit group, is charged with locating funding and grants to support the programming.
This week’s screening at UPH saw numerous county officials, community members and business leaders in attendance. In addition to commentary provided by Roberts, introductory remarks were offered by Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil Barrett, Adirondack Trust Company President and CEO Charles Wait, Jr, and Saratoga Arms proprietor Amy Smith.
“It’s great to be here for the premiere showcase of ‘Travels with Darley’ and to be able to better share with the general public the golden moment this is,” Congressman Paul Tonko told the audience. “As we approach our 250th anniversary, let’s all celebrate together knowing the sense of place that we call home is indeed a powerful one – deepened by its stake in history, heritage and strategy that enabled us to be the nation we are. It created that infancy walk of a greater nation charged by its framers to always search for a more perfect union.”
While the two Battles at Saratoga and the British surrender took place in 1777 with its 250th anniversary to be celebrated in 2027, the Commission will extend to 2033, marking the anniversary of the end of the American Revolution. “After the Battles of Saratoga we still have involvement: in 1780 there was a rain on Middletown Road in the town of Ballston, and there are actually soldiers in Saratoga until the end of the war in 1783,” Roberts said.
Signature annual events include the springtime Women In War Symposium and the Siege Encampment weekend in the fall. Currently in process are educator workshops that will provide teaching tools for K-12 students, interpretive exhibitions that will be housed separate from the battlefield, including using technology to showcase underrepresented stories in places like Schuylerville.
Travels With Darley Revolutionary Road Trip series episode featuring Saratoga is anticipated to broadcast on WMHT-TV regionally and PBS stations across the country in June. Viewers with access to on-demand video streaming apps such as Tubi may be able to currently view the episode.
