Spa City Rally Draws Large Crowd
Hands Off” Rally, view from the steps of City Hall, in Saratoga Springs on April 5, 2024.
Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.
ARATOGA SPRINGS — A large group of people, many of whom carried signs protesting the policies of the Trump administration, gathered in Saratoga Springs on April 5 as part of a “Honk-n-Wave” Hands Off national mobilization day.
Similar mass mobilizations took place across the country, with demonstrations reportedly organized in more than 1,200 locations across all 50 states, including regionally staged rallies in Abany – at West Capitol Park, and the cities of Troy and Glens Falls, among others.
In Saratoga Springs, a crowd of at least several hundred people gathered in orderly fashion at the four corners of Broadway adjacent to Saratoga Springs City Hall.
Saratoga Featured in Upcoming Netflix Series
Race for the Crown posted via Netflix.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Netflix announced last week that it will premiere a new, six-episode documentary series about thoroughbred horse racing later this month.
Race for the Crown follows horse owners and jockeys over the course of a Grade I stakes racing season, with a number of scenes likely featuring the Saratoga Race Course (the track could be seen several times in the show’s trailer).
The series is produced by Box to Box Films, the company responsible for the Netflix sports docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Break Point, and Full Swing. Box to Box’s signature style includes dramatic, behind-the-scenes looks at sports that are somewhat off the radar of mainstream culture (at least compared to football, baseball, and basketball). Its series about Formula 1 autoracing, Drive to Survive, has been widely credited with increasing the sport’s popularity in the United States. Perhaps Race for the Crown will provide a similar boost to horse racing.
A number of jockeys well-known to Saratoga Race Course regulars will be featured in the docuseries, including Johnny Velazquez (who is the all-time leading rider at Saratoga), Brian Hernandez Jr., Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat, José Ortiz, and Katie Davis.
MacKenzie Zarzycki, Discover Saratoga’s vice president of marketing and communications, told Saratoga TODAY that she’d heard a Netflix crew was in town last summer but wasn’t sure exactly what was filmed.
“It’s very cool because a lot of the people in the series, the trainers, the jockeys, the owners, they come to Saratoga. So in one way or another, I feel like this is huge for us,” Zarzycki said.
According to a Netflix press release, the show will also feature “colorful and controversial characters — including billionaire business tycoons and horse-doping trainers — which leads to plenty of intense rivalries fueled by million-dollar investments and insatiable appetites for glory.”
All six episodes of Race for the Crown will be released on April 22.
Affordable Housing Development Breaks Ground in Saratoga
From left to right: Ryan Aguam, director of community relations for Senator Tedisco; Darren Scott, upstate east director of development – New York State Homes and Community Renewal; Dara Kovel, CEO of Beacon Communities; Paul Feldman from the Housing Authority; Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford; Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce; and Dan Bellgraph, senior development director of Beacon Communities LLC. Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local officials broke ground on a $43 million affordable housing development at 36 Allen Drive in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday.
Six fourplexes on the 3.1-acre site were demolished and will be replaced with six three-story buildings featuring 98 one, two, and three-bedroom units for single adult households and small families with incomes of 50 to 80% of the area’s median income (AMI). 40% of the units will have a workforce preference.
Once completed, the new community will be owned and managed by Springs West Apartments LLC, an affiliate of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority. Leasing is expected to begin in spring 2026 and be complete by the end of that year.
The new development will feature amenities such as laundry rooms in each building, a community room, gym, playground, and bulk storage spaces. Residents will have access to 92 off-street parking spaces at the rear of the buildings, as well as 26 on-street spaces on Allen Drive.
The Springs West project is being financed with tax exempt bonds issued by New York State Homes & Community Renewal along with an allocation of Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, New York State Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and state subsidy loans. The tax-exempt bonds are backed by a Letter of Credit from KeyBank, N.A. Both the LIHTC and SLIHC credits were purchased by Key Community Development Corp.
“Saratoga Springs has long been known as a thriving city for residents and tourists alike, but we must make sure finding a place to call home isn’t a long shot for working families,” Governor Hochul said in a news release. “The new buildings and 98 new apartments at Springs West are a perfect example of my commitment to expanding the supply of affordable, safe, and modern homes across New York. My thanks to our partners in Saratoga Springs for demonstrating what it means to be a Pro-Housing Community.”
“Affordable housing is an important issue to many New Yorkers who live on fixed incomes,” said State Senator Jim Tedisco. “I want to thank the Governor and the NYS Homes and Community Renewal for their efforts in constructing 98 new affordable apartments in Saratoga Springs and the 44th Senate District for residents who may need them to find an affordable place to call home.”
Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford added, “I am thrilled that we are able to bring both affordable and workforce housing into Saratoga Springs.”
City Awarded $100k Grant In The Spirit of Keeping Officers Safe
Saratoga Springs Polce Department has been awarded a $100,000 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The man went simply by the name Arjune – his identity secreted away to first-name status only, best evidenced by the patrol car that sat outside his residence to provide protection. Inside the police car sat rookie officer Edward Byrne. Everyone called him “Eddie.”
Nine months earlier Officer Byrne became a member of the New York City Police Department, accomplishing a life-goal that began with his studies as a criminal justice major at Nassau Community College, and led to a path through the Police Academy, the transit police and eventually his being assigned to the 103rd Precinct serving the Jamaica area of Queens.
What links the near 40-year-gap between the events of February 1987 in Queens and Saratoga Springs in April 2025 were the recent statements of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll at the council table.
“Edward Byrne. I’m very familiar with the case,” Coll explained to his fellow councilmembers last week.
1987
Five days after celebrating his 22nd birthday, Officer Byrne sat alone in his patrol car on 107th Avenue in South Jamaica in the early morning hours of a Friday that February, guarding the house where Arjune lived, located about three miles north of JFK Airport.
The previous year, Arjune, a Guyanese immigrant, had moved into the vacant three-story house in the once peaceful neighborhood growing increasingly plagued with drug trafficking. The police department’s recently initiated crackdown, called “Operation Queens,” resulted in 2,350 drug arrests during its first four months of operation covering seven southeastern Queens precincts.
Immediately after moving into the neighborhood, Arjune repainted the home and cleaned up the adjoining lot left “unkempt and overgrown with weeds and littered with whisky bottles and vials for crack,” the New York Times reported Feb. 27, 1988. Arjune’s complaints about the drug dealers returned threats from the dealers themselves. His house was firebombed on at least one occasion and when he became a key witness in a trial involving crack dealing Officer Byrne was assigned to park his patrol car outside the home to act as a deterrent to whomever may have wanted to cause the witness harm.
Byrne sat alone behind the wheel of the idling radio car when a brown 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass glided up alongside it at 3:30 a.m. that Friday in February, reported the Daily News. Five shots were fired at close range. Byrne was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died of his wounds.
A $30,000 reward was announced the next day for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the slaying. The private organization COP-SHOT, city Mayor Ed Koch, and the Daily News each contributed equally to the reward fund.
Four suspects were captured within a week of the murder. The four men were found to be members of a gang instructed by a jailed drug dealer to kill a police officer. Each was sentenced to serve 25 years to life. The man who had given the order was later sentenced to life in prison for his conviction on drug-racketeering charges that included ordering the officer’s murder. Four of the men remain incarcerated to this day. The getaway driver was paroled in 2023.
Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath of the killing, then-President Ronald Reagan personally called the Byrne family to offer his condolences. Vice President George H.W. Bush carried Byrne’s badge with him during his 1988 presidential campaign and later kept it on his desk in the Oval Office.
Byrne’s death motivated the creation of the Tactical Narcotics Team in South Jamaica. The program’s success led to its expansion throughout the city. Local government allocated nearly $2 million to turn a debris-filled lot in Queens where drug dealings were known to occur into a community park named in honor of the slain officer. The park opened in 1995 and today its nearly five acres site multiple basketball, tennis and handball courts, a running track and a playground for children. In 2018, the NYPD rededicated the street sign in front of the 103rd Precinct honoring Byrne’s service and sacrifice to the city.
The U.S. Department of Justice named a local police funding program the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. It is the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions and since 2005 has awarded more than 20,000 grants that total more than $7 billion, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Byrne JAG grants have helped launch a program in Connecticut that prepares incarcerated women ages 18–25 for reentry into society, and another in California that enables youthful offenders to avoid incarceration by completing rigorous, individually tailored rehabilitation programs. The grants have supported and promoted improvements in every aspect of the justice system and provide critical funding necessary to support a range of program areas.
The city of Saratoga Springs was awarded a $100,000 New York State FY 2024 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, which it will use to fund law enforcement equipment Commissioner Coll told the council.
“Edward Byrne in 1988 was executed by drug dealers in South Jamaica Queens. He was a rookie. Twenty-two years old.” said Coll, explaining the origins of the grant. “It will be used to provide additional tactical equipment – such as helmets, shields and vests – and in the spirit of the grant will provide additional equipment to keep our officers safe.”
Fourth Annual Bike Swap April 5
Saratoga Shredders and Bikeatoga are gearing up for the Fourth Annual Bike Swap, taking place on Saturday, April 5, at the Columbia Pavilion in Saratoga Spa State Park. This open-to-the-public event invites attendees to buy, sell, or donate bikes, accessories, and equipment.
The Bike Swap will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2024, at the Columbia Pavilion in Saratoga Spa State Park. Item drop-off will take place from 10:00-11:00 AM, with the sale running from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. After the sale, from 1:00-2:00 PM, participants can pick up any unsold items or proceeds from their sales. To participate, pre-register the items you’d like to sell or donate.
Proceeds from the event will help fund initiatives to get more kids on bikes, with 100% of donated items’ sale price and 20% of sold items’ sale price going toward this cause.
For more information, visit saratogashredders.com.
Former Ballston Spa Wrestling Coach Receives Lifetime Service Award
Photo of Harold “Harvey” Staulters via the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
BALLSTON SPA — The Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame has named former Ballston Spa High School Varsity Wrestling Coach Harold “Harvey” Staulters as one of the recipients of its 2025 Lifetime Service Award. He’ll receive the honor at a Sep. 21 ceremony at the DoubleTree Hotel in East Syracuse.
Staulters started his wrestling career at Ballston Spa, wrestling for Section II under Vince Johnson, and then wrestled for two years at the University of Albany, where he wrestled for Hall of Fame coach Joe DeMeo. A serious neck injury ended his career, but it didn’t end his love for the sport. He would go on to have an accomplished coaching career at Ballston Spa High School, where he was named the Section II Class A and Class B Varsity Coach of the Year. 14 of his wrestlers went on to win Section II titles and placed highly in the NYSPHSAA Championships.
Staulters also served as the Suburban Council Wrestling Coordinator, and worked in the community with the volunteer fire department and the Ballston Spa Police Benevolent Association.
Coach Staulters retired from teaching after 31 years as a social studies teacher at Ballston Spa, then began working at Clarkson University’s Master of Art Teaching program, where he guides new teachers in their student teaching experience.
“Unbelievable”: Ballston Spa Runners Celebrate Historic Achievements
From left to right: Ballston Spa Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gianleo Duca, Petrina Zborovszky, Devin Hemraj, Gabrielle Bozeth, Coach Matt Germann, and School Board President Jason Fernau. Image via the district’s March 19 board meeting livestream.
BALLSTON SPA — Matt Germann, a coach for Ballston Spa High School’s indoor track program, celebrated his team’s “unbelievable” achievements at a March 19 Board of Education meeting.
Germann said that runners Devin Hemraj, Petrina Zborovszky, Kala’i Makanani, and Gabrielle Bozeth have broken a combined 40 school records.
In Section 2, which Germann called “the best running section in the state,” Bozeth and Zborovszky are ranked #3 in the 4×200 meter relay, #1 and #5 in the 200-meter dash, #1 and #4 in the 300-meter dash, and #1 and #2 in the 55 meters. They’re also top two in the 60-meter dash.
Bozeth, this season alone, broke the 55, 60, 200, and 300-meter school records. In the 55, she was 5th in the federation championships and 4th in the state. She was also #2 in both the state and federation championships in the 300.
In New York State, Bozeth is ranked #11 in the 4×2, #7 in the 55, #3 in the 60, and #2 in both the 200 and 300. She holds the all-time Section 2 records for the 60 and 300. At New Balance Nationals, she was #15 in the country in the 200-meter dash en route to breaking the school record.
Zborovszky has broken the 55-meter record four times this season. In the 55, she’s ranked #6 in the federation out of all public and private schools, and she’s ranked #5 among all New York public schools. Out of roughly 30,000 athletes in the state, Zborovszky is ranked #31 in the 300, #24 in the 200, #11 in the 4×2, #8 in the 55, and #6 in the 60.
Makanani is ranked #3 in the 200 and 400, and #1 in both the 300 and 600. Makanani also broke the 300 and 600 records this season.
Hemraj is ranked #1 overall in the entire state for the 60-meter hurdles.
“It’s been an absolute joy to coach them,” Germann said of his historic team. “It’s just amazing what these people have done.”
Reminder: April 9 Set for Saratoga “Last Call” Public Hearing
BALLSTON SPA — A Public Hearing will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9 regarding a proposed resolution to modify Last Call hours across Saratoga County. The hearing will be staged in the Meeting Room of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors at 40 McMaster St., Ballston Spa.
The measure, which was officially approved by the Board during its monthly meeting on March 19, requests the NY State Liquor Authority amend the hours that alcoholic beverages for on-premise consumption may be sold in Saratoga County beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Under current New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption is prohibited in Saratoga County between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sundays, and between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. on all other days.
The proposed resolution requests the New York State Liquor Authority implement the following changes, effective January 1, 2026:
Nov. 1 – April 30: Last call at 2 a.m.
May 1 – Oct. 31: Last call at 3 a.m.
A Special Exception is in place on New Year’s Eve, when Last Call is extended to 4 a.m.
The full Board of Supervisors could potentially vote to approve the resolution at its subsequent monthly meeting on April 15.
If approved, the measure will be forwarded to the SLA, which holds the final authority to enact the proposed changes affecting serving times throughout Saratoga County.
Those not able to attend in person may send their comments via email to: publiccomment@saratogacountyny.gov.
