SARATOGA SPRINGS – The City Council will host a Public Hearing June 16 regarding temporarily extending “eating and drinking establishments” onto “auxiliary seating areas” on public property, as a result of necessary spacing precautions during the COVID-19 epidemic. 

The measure – which would amend chapter 136 of the City Code – would allow the city to accommodate licensed eating and drinking establishments to provide their services to the public on specific public properties. Those public property locations have not been specified, although is generally assumed Broadway – a state road – is not among them. If approved, the approval process may be conducted through an application process for holders of valid licenses.

As of this week, there is little additional information regarding the matter. The public hearing will begin at 6:55 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16. Since the start of the pandemic, City Council meetings are held via Zoom and are accessible through the city’s website. A State of Emergency currently remains in effect in Saratoga Springs til June 12. Comments may be sent to: public.comment@saratoga-springs.org.

On Wednesday, June 3, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced outdoor dining at restaurants will be permitted beginning June 4 for restaurants in the Capital Region – which includes Saratoga Springs – as well as in the six other regions that have been approved for phase two reopenings. Outdoor tables must be spaced six feet apart, all staff must wear face coverings and customers must also wear face coverings when not seated.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — “Recent days remind us that we all need to speak when we see injustice,” city Mayor Meg Kelly told the City Council June 2.  “The events in Minneapolis last week that saw a black man pleading for his life under the knee of an officer – while several other officers either assisted or stood by – can only happen again if each of us forget our outrage,” Kelly said. “All of us must galvanize our current feelings and demand change in our institutions that allows such racial discrimination. I know that Saratoga Springs is a city to lead this.” 

Protests have been staged every day this week opposite City Hall on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. On June 1, city Police Chief Shane Crooks and a handful of members of the city police department joined protesters gathered at the location. 

“I do believe our police department is the leader of this charge. They went out there, they took a knee with the protesters,” Mayor Kelly said. “Our policemen and policewomen really know our community and they work really hard at all relations.” 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association opened for training at both the Oklahoma Training Track and Saratoga Race Course this week, coinciding with the return to racing at Belmont Park. 

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, however, both NYRA track locations will undergo big changes. The Belmont Park spring/summer meet will be held without spectators in attendance and much  the same is anticipated for the Saratoga meet, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday, July 16 and run through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7.

The Oklahoma facility was originally slated to open April 15. NYRA says after consultations with the NYSGC and state and local public health officials, it has implemented a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols designed to protect and mitigate risk for employees, horsemen, backstretch workers and the Saratoga community.

The Oklahoma Training Track and Whitney Viewing Stand will be closed to owners and the public. Access will be restricted to essential personnel duly licensed by NYRA and the New York State Gaming Commission.

All personnel working at the Oklahoma Training Track must test negative for COVID-19 or test positive for the antibodies for COVID-19. This applies to both local personnel as well as those arriving from other regions.

All personnel licensed and approved to be on the property will be required to complete a daily health screening and temperature check conducted by trained EMTs. Face masks or coverings and adherence to strict social distancing measures will be mandatory at all times. Masks and personal protective equipment will be provided.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The owners of the Turf and Spa Motel at 176 South Broadway are scheduled for a site plan review June 11 in front of the city Planning Board with a proposal that replaces the existing two-story, 43-room motel with a 120-room hotel atop the 1.4-acre property. The applicant, Larkin Hospitality, was founded in 1987 and currently operates 10 hotels and inns in Vermont and Massachusetts. The new South Broadway Hotel would also feature an underground parking garage.

Cover Photo: Pam Worth and Alexandra Besso of Spoken Boutique are stronger together. 
Gallery: 1. Marianne Barker and Maddy Zanetti, Impressions of Saratoga on Broadway. 
2. Lifestyles of Saratoga owner Heidi Owen West and Margie Rotchford. 
3. The Pink Paddock on Broadway.
All Photos by SuperSource Media. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Small business owners opened their doors to in-store customers and hair stylists their salons for the first time in more than two months as part of the Capital Region’s phase two reopening plan on June 3. Outdoor dining returned one day later. 

“We opened at 9 o’clock and we already had someone waiting at the door,” said Maddy Zanetti, at Impressions of Saratoga.  “We’ve been open the whole time for curbside, delivery and shipping but today is the first time of customers in the store.”  A table cradling bottles of hand sanitizer and disposable gloves and masks sat near the entryway door. 

“People are thrilled to be out,” added Marianne Barker. “I do think people who are leery are going to stay home for a while yet, but people know we’re pretty careful, we’ve been open about what we’re doing and the steps we’re taking.”

Kimberly Burton opened the doors to her Pink Paddock shop at 11 a.m. “It’s been three months. Three very long months,” she said with emphasis, celebrating the 15th year of the Broadway shop that’s been fitted with hand sanitizing stations, plastic protective shields at the register counter and posted to inform customers of in-store capacity regulations. “I think people are anxious to get out of the house, to shop, to try on some new clothes,” she said gesturing toward the dressing rooms, which are disinfected between customer uses.

Phase Two reopening allows for in-store retail sales, hair salons and barbershops, and office-based work, in addition to real estate services, commercial building management, vehicle sales, leases, and rentals, and retail rental, repair, and cleaning. Outdoor dining was added to the list on the afternoon of June 3.    

“We’re already booked for the next three weeks,” said Yvette Ruddy, a hairstylist at Remarkable Finish on Broadway, where a digital thermometer rests at the entryway and customer chairs have been placed at a safe distance from one another. The employees have all been tested for the COVID-19 virus before ensuring they could return to work, she said. 

An array of state guidelines and restrictions accompany reopening plans for both workforce employees and customers, with presence being limited to no more than 50% of the maximum occupancy for a particular area, as set by the certificate of occupancy. Employers are also recommended to adjust workplace hours to limit in-person presence to necessary staff only, as well as maintaining six feet of separation from others and wearing an acceptable face covering.

“What we have done with this COVID virus is really an amazing accomplishment, and it was all done by the people of this state. They did it, 19 million people did what they never did before. They responded with a level of determination and discipline that I was amazed with frankly,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week. “Remember where we were: we had 800 people die in one day. We had the worst situation in the United States of America. At one point we had the worst situation on the globe. And now we’re reopening in less than 50 days. We went from an internationally terrible situation to where we’re talking about reopening.” 

To date, more than 105,000 U.S. residents have died during the past three months due to COVID-19. More than 38 million Americans have filed unemployment claims over the span of nine weeks. Whether the worst has passed or a so-called “second wave” returns – as some in the medical community have suggested – remains an unknown. 

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“I’m delighted to see our retailers open again. And as we are getting caught up in our reopening details and stores are focusing on their safety plans – and we have riots going on and protests going on, It’s easy to lose track that there still is a virus present in our community,” cautioned Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton. 

In Saratoga County, there have been 495 confirmed cases of COVID-19 this year, 56 specifically being Saratoga Springs residents. Sixteen people have died, and 6 people are currently hospitalized.  Approximately 2,500 residents have been isolated or quarantined at some point. 

 “We all need to keep our eye on the ball here and realize there still is a virus present, it’s still in our community and we need to be really vigilant  as we continue these reopening phases, so we can get to phase three, so we can get to phase four and we can get back to some kind of normalcy,” Dalton said.    

Gov. Cuomo’s NY Pause order went into effect March 22, and the city of Saratoga Springs and the greater Capital District Region were cleared by the state to begin the phase 1 re-opening of the local economy beginning Wednesday, May 20. 

There are four reopening phases in all, and an up-to 14-day incubation period between phases to ensure that infection rates and hospitalizations are maintained at a manageable level. Phase Three – which includes indoor dining at restaurants, is currently slated for its reopening phase June 17; Phase Four, which focuses on Arts/ Entertainment / Recreation, and Education, including libraries, will potentially hit its reopening mark July 1. 

On May 28, Cuomo signed an Executive Order authorizing businesses the ability to deny entry to those who do not wear masks or face-coverings. “The store owner has a right to protect themselves (and) the other patrons in that store,” he said.  A subsequent announcement states summer day camps statewide can open on June 29. A decision on sleep-away camps will be made in the coming weeks.

Malls – specifically any indoor common portions of retail shopping malls with 100,000 or more square feet of retail space available for lease, remain closed. However, stores located within shopping malls, which have their own external entrances open to the public, separate from the general mall entrance may open. 

Also remaining closed are: large gathering event and concert venues, gyms, fitness centers, Video lottery and casino gaming facilities, movie theaters – except drive-in theaters – and places of public amusement, such as amusement parks, water parks, children’s play centers, bowling alleys, and other locations where groups of people may gather. 

Most years, this story would be about the fabulous gardens awaiting visitors on the Secret Gardens Tour planned for July.

But this isn’t like most years. 

With the status of the Covid-19 virus uncertain, the Saratoga Soroptimist club decided for safety’s sake to cancel what would have been its 26th consecutive annual tour. 

Yet, even without a tour, the gardens will be fabulous. Gardening, after all, is a labor of love. It reflects individual creativity and appreciation for nature’s nourishment of our five senses — and our soul.

Just ask Heather Madigan. “I am a hospital physician actively caring for Covid patients,” she told Soroptimists in mid-April. “The gardening is my meditation.”

Heather owns the middle of three adjacent city homes that would have been on the Secret Gardens 

Tour. (All the gardeners have been invited to participate in 2021.) “We have been blessed with wonderful neighbors on both sides, and our backyards in many ways flow from one to the other,” Heather explained. A portion of her backyard is intended for urban farming, and, in addition to herbs and vegetables, there are organic free-range chickens, which sometimes wander next door. Social distancing doesn’t apply to fowl.

Sure, the tour is canceled this year, but the gardens still will be tended with their owners’ irrepressible passion, same as always. This is their pleasure.

“The shade gardens on the north side of the house are a personal favorite, very textural and soothing with a babbling water feature and a winding pathway to draw you into the little sitting area,” wrote Barbara and Glenn LaGrone about the gardens they built from scratch at their Ballston Spa home.  

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Down the road a bit, Chris Burghart’s backyard includes “Pollinator’s Playground at Mosaics Crossing,” a registered Monarch Way Station in a sunny area boasting a homemade totem pole and stepping-stones. Shady paths lead to a babbling stream with koi, goldfish, little green frogs – and a glass mushroom patch Chris has “grown” in her indoor art studio.

Not far from there, Liz Kormos and Sander Bonvell were excited to show visitors how their garden has matured and flourished since it was on the Secret Gardens Tour five years ago. Native grasses have been divided twice. Their arbor now supports three varieties of grapes and hardy kiwi. 

All these people garden for the joy it brings them, a sentiment Cathy and Neil Roberts understand perfectly.

Their Fiddle-i-fee Farm, named for a Pete Seeger song, is a mélange of fields, woodlands, and wetlands in eastern Saratoga County’s Bacon Hill. “It rolls to a bluff above the Hudson, with vistas east to Vermont and north to the Adirondacks,” Cathy explained. They have enriched the hedgerows and swales with arborvitae, larch, bald cypress, sycamore, willow, magnolia, pawpaw and persimmon trees. They planted a tulip tree when their eldest son was three years old; it is, like him, now more than four decades old. 

“A prairie reconstruction shares a field with an orchard and vegetable garden. An expansive informal garden billows around an Arts and Crafts-style house, borrowing views from surrounding nature,” Cathy wrote. The prairie was part of a hayfield she has turned into a meadow with grasses planted from seed. “By August the grasses are taller than your head,” she told me. 

Cathy experiments with plantings native to North America, though not common to upstate New York.  “You know how designers plan a garden on paper? I cannot do that. I just have to walk around. I’m familiar enough with the plant materials, their height, their type of bloom, and I like when they seed themselves, or things pop up somewhere else. I’m naturalistic. I like things to blend with the woodlands,” Cathy said. “It’s not just gardens that surround a house. We sort of made our own park.”

In early July, when the Secret Gardens tour typically occurs, they certainly have flowers in bloom, but, Cathy explained, “My garden is more about foliage. I am adding things all the time.” Come fall, their usual strategy is to fill their trailer with the bags people place curbside in nearby developments and use the leaves to mulch their flower beds and vegetable garden. 

Cathy and Neil have protected their entire 140 acres from ever being subdivided and developed through what’s called a conservation easement, accomplished with the guidance of Saratoga PLAN. “We love this land,” Cathy said. 

Part of their property is rented to an adjacent farmer for field crops. The couple concentrate their most intense cultivation on about five acres surrounding their home. “We’re always outside. Even when I’m not working in the garden, in the evening, particularly, I like to walk around my paths and see what’s flowering. Gardens are never static. I’ll go away for the day and be gone maybe six hours, and the garden is different when I return. It really is a park to us, and lovely to live in.

“To other people it would be, ‘Oh, groan, oh, work’,” Cathy said. Quite the contrary for gardeners on the Secret Gardens Tour. “This is what we like to do. We like to make things beautiful.” 

About Soroptimists

The Secret Gardens Tour is presented by Soroptimist International of Saratoga County, the local branch of an international professional women’s service organization whose name means the best for women. The all-volunteer event raises thousands of dollars for projects and programs in keeping with the Soroptimist mission to improve the lives of women and girls locally and globally. The local club’s keynote project is a hands-on program conducted through Wellspring, consisting of a series of classes to help victims of domestic violence obtain their legal and financial independence. Another exciting new program involves workshops and mentoring for girls in secondary school, aimed at helping them overcome obstacles to their future success. Soroptimists at SoroptimistSaratoga.org.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” ~Henry Ford~

Walking downtown seems so different now.

Retail shops and favorite restaurants are shuttered, with signs about the Governor’s mandate posted on doors and windows every which way you turn. 

No one expected this pandemic. And no one could have predicted the havoc it would play on lives, businesses, everyday joys in life – now on pause for the foreseeable future. No one ever would have guessed we’d have to wear masks out in public, staying six feet away from others. 

At first, we thought it would be a week or two of inconveniences – we were sure things would return to normal quickly, and we could get on with our lives. 

Of course, that, and more, proved untrue. 

People lost jobs; businesses closed, folks of all ages passed away from Covid-19 alone in hospitals, away from family and friends. Only essential jobs with essential workers remained. Travel ceased, seemingly overnight. State borders closed – or discouraged visitors for the time being.

All of us wondered how long this could go on – when would we re-open – what would we do in the meantime? 

If we weren’t in The Twilight Zone, it sure felt like it.

It still does.

Saratoga has always been a strong community. One of the things I love most about living here is that we’re a city full of people who rally together to help in times of need. 

So, the moment restaurants began to think outside the box, determined to do everything they could to stay afloat-we were open to the idea-excited to help out. 

Though some might have wondered if buying one or two meals curbside could even make a difference, there were more of us that said, “Our favorite place has a to-go menu, let’s order dinner.”

And the act of patronizing local places ignited hope for recovery – in me, at least. 

Below are a few of my favorite places to eat in Saratoga. I’ve always loved the restaurant staff, the building’s atmosphere, the freshest food, and imaginative recipes out there. 

Besides that, I’m a hugger – a big fan of greeting with a warm smile and handshake, leaving with a doggy bag and tight embrace. I’ve made friends in these places. I care about their livelihood. 

And they care about me.

Hugs will have to wait, for sure. But I can still smile behind my mask, ask how everyone’s holding up during this pandemic, offer a warm greeting, and say thanks as I leave. 

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Olde Bryan Inn

An old stone house with Revolutionary-era ties, this restaurant serves sandwiches, steaks, and hearty American fare. They have the best French onion soup.
www.oldebryaninn.com/take-out-menu

Eddie F’s

I was never so excited to discover this place. I’m from Boston, and seafood is a must there. I love their whole-belly clams, scallops, and super-thin battered onion rings.
www.facebook.com/eddiefseatery

Ravenous 

Here, it’s all about crepes – savory and sweet. Don’t even get me started on their French fries and poutine! I miss going in to sit by the window. I’m grateful they offer their full menu, even though it’s a curbside pick-up.
www.ravenouscrepes.com

Mrs. London’s

A boutique bakery that’s still open. (Thank God!) The seats are put away for now, but they sell pastries, sandwiches, loaves of bread, soups, and more. The last time I was there, you could buy discounted wine and spirits with a purchase. They also ship. Pretty cool.
www.mrslondonsbakery.com

Hamlet and Ghost

Bottled cocktails to go? Packed with delicious food from the kitchen? Ummm, yes, please. Their take-out menu is pretty extensive, and their signature touches of imagination and originality are written all over it.
www.hamletandghost.com

Taquero

Whoever said serving tacos, rice bowls, salads, and doughnuts was a good idea? Yes, I said doughnuts. Personally, I think they should be one of the four food groups. At Taquero, it’s all about ‘fresh and delicious.’ You need to try this place out if you haven’t already.
www.eattaquero.com

Duo

This is a pretty neat restaurant, serving Japanese cuisine and Hibachi. When they re-open, I suggest you make it a date-night. Dine on the freshest sushi, sashimi, steak, chicken, and seafood dishes. For now, no cash or in-person orders. Curbside only. 
duo-japanese.com

Flatbread Social

I miss the atmosphere here. I miss playing shuffleboard with friends while our pizza is baking. Their take-out menu is pretty extensive, and they even have a drink menu – craft cocktails, bottles of wine, and growlers to-go. Love that!
flatbread.social

BWP

While Wheatfields and 2 West are both closed, the WOW Restaurant Group offers up BWP for all my barfood faves… Wings, Pizza, Apps… yup!
beerwinepizza.com

These are only a handful of fantastic restaurants that have risen to the occasion in this unprecedented time – I’m sure you could add many to my list. I could, too.  Here’s the thing – they all need our help. Not just in a monetary way, either. Seeing our faces, knowing that we haven’t forgotten they’re an integral part of our community means a lot. 

I’m sure of it.

ALBANY — On Sunday, approximately 50,000 tests were conducted statewide regarding COVID-19 infections, with less than 1,000 people testing positive for the virus, and 54 reported deaths. 

“That is the lowest number we’ve had since this began,” state Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. “The progress is just phenomenal.”

Saratoga, Albany, Glens Falls and the surrounding communities are currently in “Phase One” of the reopening process, and an evaluation of infection rates is underway with the possibility of the region on Wednesday going to “Phase Two.” 

“The Capital District region is moving to go into Phase 2 on Wednesday. All the numbers look good there. We’re going to run them by our local team to make sure they are as good as we think they are, but at this point the Capital Region is on track to go into Phase 2 on Wednesday,” Cuomo said.

Phase 2 reopening includes hair salons and barber shops, in-store retail, real estate, offices and others. Distancing, mask guidelines and crowd limits remain in place. For details go HERE.

“What we have done with this COVID virus is really an amazing accomplishment, and it was all done by the people of this state. They did it, 19 million people did what they never did before. They responded with a level of determination and discipline that I was amazed with frankly,” Cuomo said Monday. “Remember where we were: we had 800 people die in one day. We had the worst situation in the United States of America. At one point we had the worst situation on the globe. And now we’re reopening in less than 50 days. We went from an internationally terrible situation to where we’re talking about reopening today.”

The Saratoga County Department of Public Health Services today confirmed the death of one more county resident from COVID-19 — a 69-year-old male from Halfmoon. Updated statistics:

Click Here for Local Ice Cream Shops Close Windows, Open Drive Thru’s

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A local neighborhood on the west side of Saratoga has brought up concerns regarding an access road for which Canadian Pacific Railway uses an easement.

Property owner Joseph Ogden noticed the access road when he first moved to the residential area with his family almost eight-years-ago. After looking into the history of the access road, he began to question if Canadian Pacific actually requires use of the path, or is even legally entitled to it.

“When there was only a couple houses in this neighborhood, use of the access road made sense…maybe it was more out of the way, but the neighborhood now is residential and it’s problematic,” Ogden said.

Adjacent to Grand Ave, Ogden said the easement was originally given to the property owners when the overpass was built so residents could have access to Grand Ave and not become landlocked. From what Ogden has noticed, the only use of the path is from unauthorized vehicles using the road to privately dump garbage on an adjacent parcel of undeveloped land. 

“People come in and they bring truck loads because they think that this is something they can get away with. They don’t understand that this is really private property. The railroad and the property owners themselves are the ones that hold the easement,” Ogden said. 

The undeveloped parcel of land now holds loads of broken cement, rocks and even a CRT (cathode ray tube) television. As the neighborhood grew with more families and houses, he grew concerned over the path’s overall safety, adding to the environmental concern. 

“They have not articulated to us that there is something unique about this particular path that gives them some kind of different functionality,” Ogden said.

He started contacting the railroad company about a year ago, voicing his concerns over the safety and asking if the rail company actually needed access to the path.

He asked: “you have several other access points on the west side as a railroad company and just here in the city, do you really need this? We also noticed we don’t use it a whole lot. It’s not even plowed in the winter…it’s covered in snow for those months and if you’re only using it seldom throughout the year, do you really need it?”

He said at first, Canadian Pacific said they would look into the access road and it’s use, but after nine months of follow-up by Ogden, finally answered they were not willing to submit the use easement. 

“They’ve admitted to me that they don’t use it, that they don’t need it,” Ogden said. “My goal, as a citizen and property owner and our goal as a neighborhood here, is to have Canadian Pacific acknowledge that they do not use this access road anymore. They don’t need the access road anymore. It’s private property and the full ownership and full use of it really needs to be returned to the property owners, given that it doesn’t appear to have any extra functionality for the railroad. I know they don’t use it a whole lot and it’s engendering this unauthorized dumping. The safety of our entire neighborhood is in question, including the well-being of our young children. We cannot tolerate this any longer.”