Join Brookside Museum for their next meeting of the Brookside Explorers Club, a new history and learning club for kids!
Artwork from the “Artists Inspired by Their Community” program, an exciting collaboration with Ballston Spa Middle School, will be displayed in the History Hunters Hangout from July-September.
In tandem with the display on Saturday July 19, anytime from 10A.M. to Noon, History Scouts can join the fun by learning about some of Saratoga County’s most important landmarks through a learning activity, a craft, and play in this engaging and educational event. Kids of all ages are welcome to join the fun! Parental supervision is required. There is a cost of $5.00 per child and pre-registration is recommended. Visit www.brooksidemuseum.org to register.
An alleyway where late business owner Mark Strauss would illegally park now bears his name (Aidan Cahill)
There wasn’t a dry eye in city hall as friends, family members, business partners and elected officials gathered to honor late business owner Mark Straus with a street named for him.
The ceremony took place June 24 in City Hall — having been moved inside due to dangerous heat. The city renamed part of Maple Street after Straus, who owned and operated several businesses on Broadway.
Straus was remembered as someone who played a huge role in the shaping of Saratoga Springs — particularly Broadway. He opened his first shop in 1971 and quickly became involved in preserving and expanding Saratoga Springs’ businesses.
Many local leaders spoke about his character and impact on the city.
“To speak of Mark is to recognize a true pioneer in our community,” said Deann Devitt from the Downtown Saratoga Springs Business Association “Broadway in the 70s and 80s was a different place. Although it was lined with historic and architecturally beautiful buildings, many stood vacant, neglected and at risk of being lost. While many contributed to the revitalization of downtown Saratoga Springs, Mark had a unique vision, one of a bustling, connected and thriving downtown center.”
Similar comments were made by his son Alexander who said Straus worked hard to help entrepreneurs succeed in Saratoga Springs.
“He would make the time to help them realize their dreams,” Straus said. “He wanted to see people, especially entrepreneurs, find their foothold in this community and to grow and to really foster a city full of rich, vibrant, beautiful restaurants, stores and businesses.”
Straus said his father was proud of the city and his legacy. As for the alley itself, Straus joked that his father used to illegally park in it.
“He would just pull in and he never got towed,” Straus said. “He would follow every rule, but for some reason that alley, he felt like that was his parking spot.”
In 2012, The Saratoga Historic Preservation Society awarded Straus with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to preserving downtown Saratoga Springs.
While Union Avenue is typically known for horses, it was the horseless carriages on display this past weekend as Cars on Union took over the street.
The annual event took place between Nelson and East Avenues on Union — right in front of The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the Saratoga Racetrack. Cars from across the northeast took part with awards handed out at the end for best in show.
The event was sponsored by the Saratoga Automobile Museum. 2025 was the third iteration of the event which started in 2023. It comes as the Museum had to cancel its Spring Auto show due to wet weather which rained out two events.
Cars of all kinds were on display. From sleek sports cars to boxy SUVs and everything in between. The cars came from all over the world with American muscle side by side with the best from Europe and Aisa. While an American Chevy Corvette had the judge’s eye — winning top honors — it was a British frogged eyed Austin-Healey that captured the people and won the people’s choice vote. Other honors went to a BMW sedan and a right-hand drive Nissan Skyline — among others.
In a press conference surrounded by colleagues, family and friends, Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen announced she would be retiring August 1.
Hagen has served in the Saratoga County DA’s office in some capacity since 1993 — working her way up from Assistant District Attorney to the number two position within the office. She was elected District Attorney in 2014 and will retire with 32 years of service to the county.
Much of her remarks focused on thanking the many people she’s worked with over the years. She thanked citizens, law enforcement, fellow attorneys, political leaders and her family for their support over the years. Special praise, however, was reserved for her staff.
“No district attorney can do this job effectively without a team of professionals,” Heggen said. “I have been blessed over the years to work with an amazing group of attorneys investigators and staff work to achieve the right and just result in each case.”
Heggen said she’ll miss the camaraderie of the office but believes her departure won’t take away from their work.
“I leave with a deep, immense sense of pride in what we have accomplished, and I have faith that the good work of this office will continue in the years to come,” Heggen said. “I know that the work will go on because they are they are the special sauce that makes everything happen.”
Heggen made history as the first woman to be District Attorney in Saratoga County. In her remarks she noted this saying she followed in the footsteps of other female political leaders and hoped she made the path ‘longer and wider’ for anyone who comes after.
Gratitude for Heggen’s work was expressed by First Assistant District Attorney Alan Poremba. Poremba said he’ll miss being able to talk with her at work about family and other personal matters.
“Once in a while we get a chance to just unwind,” Poremba said, “It may be late on a Friday afternoon; we would just sit back take a deep breath and say, ‘What a week?’ And then we talk about our families, and we talk about what the weekend is going to be like. Those are the moments that I love the most, when I got to talk to Karen, on a personal level.”
After 32 years in the Saratoga County DA’s office, Karen Heggen is retiring. Photos by Aidan Cahill
Poremba also highlighted the way she handled the challenges of being a DA in light of changing laws and policies.
“This may have been the hardest decade to be a DA in the state of New York, with jail reform, discovery reform, and parole reform.,” Poremba said. “She led this office, and she did such a fantastic job.”
Poremba pointed out that while other jurisdictions saw many cases thrown out due to failure to adhere to the reforms, due Heggen’s leadership the same trend wasn’t repeated in Saratoga County.
As for what comes next, Heggen didn’t reveal any professional plans but said she wants to spend time with her family — particularly with her baby grandniece. As for her family’s reaction, Heggen told reporters that her husband is looking forward to not having to wait till the weekend to spend all day with her.
Upon her retirement, Poremba will take over as acting DA until one can be elected. Heggen said she won’t endorse anyone to take her role while Poremba declined to say whether he’d be running as he wanted the focus to be on Heggen’s career.
Members of Saratoga Pride march in the parade. The 10th annual Saratoga Pride Festival will be held Sunday June 22.
Sailors from the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit walk in the parade. The Navy will celebrate it’s 250th birthday this October.
The skies may have been gray but on the streets, it was red, white and blue as far as the eye could see.
Thousands of spectators and participants showed up to this year’s Annual Saratoga Flag Day Parade put on by the Saratoga-Wilton Elks Lodge #161 which took place Saturday June 14. It followed its normal path starting on North Broadway and traveling one mile south to its conclusion in Congress Park.
Flag Day is a federal holiday which celebrates the adoption of the US flag by the Continental Congress in 1777. It was first made a holiday by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1937 with nationwide recognition by the federal government coming in 1949. This year’s parade was the 56th annual parade in Saratoga — following the same route it did in 1968. It also coincided with the 250th anniversary of the formation of the US Army.
This year’s parade featured dozens of civic groups, businesses, marching bands, drumlines and everything in between. There were slapstick routines from the Oriental Shriners, many groups were handing out flags and many first responders and military in class A Uniforms.
While pets and other animals might not have been allowed at the Broadway on Belmont Festival, it wasn’t the case for the parade. Dogs, ponies, llamas and even a unicorn or two doted the parade route — as both participants and spectators.
Members of Indivisible Saratoga/ADK carry flags down Broadway. They were the last group spectators but the largest with 1,500 people participating.
The largest single organization in the parade was Indivisible ADK/Saratoga who had 1,500 people march in the parade carrying flags. This was in coordination with demonstrations across the country. There were also a few demonstrators around the Saratoga Springs City Council building representing both sides of the political aisle.
A girl dressed as the Statue of Liberty waves at spectators.
It was both a somber and celebratory night at the latest Saratoga Springs City Council meeting.
The meeting took place on Jun 17. During the meeting, topics such as homelessness, a parade to honor Saratoga’s Baseball team and a new police horse took priority. City Council also held a moment of silence for two lawmakers recently killed in Minnesota.
Homelessness
Homelessness was on everyone’s mind during the public comment portion of the meeting. All but two of the residents who spoke expressed concerns about what the city is doing to help the homeless population.
Most of those who spoke advocated for low barrier homeless shelters and expressed concerns over an ordinance in the works that they worried would criminalize homelessness in the City of Saratoga Springs.
The ordinance in question — entitled “Camping prohibited on certain public property” — would replace an ordinance passed in 2016 sought to prevent people from obstructing public sidewalks by sitting or laying in them. While Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll told reporters that the ordinance hadn’t been finalized yet, he did give some hint as to what it would look like during the meeting.
Coll said the ordinance on the books right now isn’t enforced due to court rulings as well as being too vague for officers to properly enforce. The new ordinance would model one that was implemented by Grants Pass Oregon and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024.
“In substance, the new ordinance is going to say you can’t camp in a public parking garage, a public parking lot, a public gazebo or a public sidewalk,” Coll said.
Coll said the new ordinance would specifically outline what camping materials entailed and expressed his views that it is “not humane” to allow people to live on the street. He also said the ordinance came after hearing from the business community who worried about the safety of their employees, particularly at night.
Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi also spoke on the topic, clarifying that while the city paid for homeless shelters, it was not something that fell within their charter responsibilities. Instead, according to Commissioner Sanghvi, it was typically the responsibility of the county.
Mayor John Safford also spoke, expressing his concern for the over 100 children facing homelessness in Saratoga Springs.
A hearing on the proposed ordinance is set for July 1.
Police Department Gets a New Horse
A lease on a new police horse was approved at the meeting. The horse, named Sly, will be a familiar face to officers as it’s the same one they had to rescue from a frozen pond back in February. The 23-year-old horse has been leased free of charge to the department with the department just having to cover vet bills.
According to Coll, the horse will help supplement the department at a time when one of their other horses, named Appollo, is set to retire due to old age.
Parade for Baseball Teams Planned
Two of Saratoga’s baseball teams will receive a parade this coming week. The Saratoga Springs High School baseball team and the Saratoga Central Catholic School Baseball teams are both state champions this year — winning the titles on the same day. While certain details still need to be ironed out, according to city council the plan is for the parade to be on Broadway from Congress Park to Saratoga Springs City Hall on June 25.
While there had been some discussion of the parade taking place on the sidewalk, the council was in agreement that a parade through the street would be more appropriate.
Other Items of Note.
Other items on the agenda for the meeting included a presentation on needed changes to the main Department of Public Works garage, the withdrawal of multiple ordinances regarding updated city employee pay due to the need to discuss them further and several jokes made by city council members about the lamas which followed them during the recent Flag Day Parade.
In the break between Belmont and the normal Saratoga racing season, Saratoga County residents will have a different type of horse race to watch: the primary elections.
Of the over 100 offices up for election in November in Saratoga County, only five of them have a primary challenge. Here is a rundown of the elections and candidates in your backyard.
Saratoga Springs
While seven local positions in Saratoga Springs are on the ballot in November, only one has a primary challenge. Commissioner of Accounts Dillion Moran is facing a primary challenge from Joseph Levy for the Working Families Party nomination.
Moran was endorsed by the Working Families Party along with fellow Saratoga Springs candidates Minita Sanghvi and Shafer Gaston — who aren’t facing a primary challenge in this election.
Moran was elected in 2019 and hasn’t faced a primary challenge since then. He and Levy addressed voters in a recent forum held virtually by the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County. In the forum, Moran focused on his efforts since he assumed office, while Levy focused on the legislative issues he would push as a member of city council.
Town of Ballston
Republican voters in the town of Ballston will decide who they want to be their supervisor. In Ballston, incumbent Eric Connolly is facing a primary challenge from former Ballston Town Councilman John Antoski. Connolly has been endorsed by the Ballston Republican Committee, according to their Facebook.
Connolly was elected in 2019 and hasn’t faced a challenger in the primary or general election since. At the time, he beat fellow Republican Timothy Szczepaniak in both the primary and General elections.
Antoski is far from a newcomer in this election. He first ran for town council back in 2009 but lost. He ran again in 2013 and served until 2021.
Town of Greenfield
It’s a three-way fight for the Republican nod in the Town of Greenfield. Their supervisor’s race features incumbent Kevin Veitch against challengers Micheal Gyarmathy and Daniel Cochran.
Veitch first ran for the position in 2021 and has yet to face an opponent in a primary or general election. Prior to being elected supervisor, Veitch was on Town Council for four years. He has been endorsed by State Senator James Tedisco, Assemblyman Matt Simpson, Saratoga County Clerk Craig Hayner and the Saratoga County Conservative Party.
Cochran and Gyarmathy, meanwhile, both have experience in Greenfield politics. Gyarmathy currently serves as a member of the Town Council in Greenfield but is not running for reelection to run for supervisor. Cochran meanwhile served for 12 years on the town council — among other positions within the town council.
In a forum held virtually by the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County, both challengers focused on government transparency and zoning issues within the town. Supervisor Veitch didn’t participate in the forum.
Elsewhere in the county
Outside of Saratoga Springs and adjacent towns, there are two elections taking place. To the north in Hadley, incumbents James Brewster and Tina Ladd are on the ballot in the Republican primary against challengers Freemont Young and Cecil Hayes. Meanwhile to the west in Providence, Randy Hunter and David Winney are running in the Republican primary for Highway Superintendent.
New York is a closed primary state — meaning you must register with a given party to vote in their primary. Election Day is Jun. 24. Voters can find their polling place on the Saratoga County Board of Elections website.
Those looking to vote early can go to the Board of Elections office at 50 W. High Street in Ballston Spa or at the Saratoga Springs Rec Center at 15 Vanderbilt Ave. Early voting goes until Sunday Jun. 22.
Saratoga Springs —One of Saratoga’s favorite summer events is back. The third annual Cars on Union rolls into town on Saturday, June 21, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, transforming Union Avenue into a vibrant celebration of automotive style and culture, all in support of the Saratoga Automobile Museum.
This popular and inclusive car show is open to all makes and models, from timeless classics to modern marvels, with a special feature on sports and exotic cars. Whether you drive a meticulously restored vintage ride or a head-turning supercar, Cars on Union is your chance to shine.
“Bringing a car show right into the City of Saratoga and closing down Union Avenue is such a unique and exciting way to connect the Museum to our community,” said Megan Hennessey, Executive Director of the Saratoga Automobile Museum. “It’s a fun, vibrant day where we celebrate all kinds of cars, and as a fundraiser, we’re always thrilled to include anyone who wants to show off their vehicle.”
Attendees will enjoy an impressive mix of vehicles from across the Northeast, all set along one of Saratoga’s most iconic streets, surrounded by beautiful homes and historic architecture. To cap off the event, don’t miss the exciting Parade of Cars at 1:45 PM, a thrilling finale where every vehicle roars to life and departs at once. It’s a spectacular way to see and hear these amazing machines in motion.
Vehicle registration is open now at www.saratogaautomuseum.org. Pre-registration is $25 per car and closes at 4:00 PM on Friday, June 20. Day-of registration will be available for $30 per car.
Admission is free for spectators. Come for the cars, stay for the community, and enjoy great food, music, and a high-octane summer Saturday in support of a great cause. Join us on Union Avenue (between Nelson Avenue and East Avenue) and help us make this year’s Cars on Union the biggest and best yet.
For more information and updates, visit www.saratogaautomuseum.org or follow the Museum on Instagram and Facebook.
A Saratoga County Sheriff’s Deputy was injured during an incident at Saratoga Hospital.
The incident occurred on the morning of June 15. According to the Saratoga County Sherrif’s office, Jeffrey W. Fifield of Fort Ann is alleged to have kicked a deputy and threw a metal walker at them. No one else was injured in the assault.
The deputy was evaluated and treated for their injuries at a local urgent care. The Sherrif’s Office withheld the name of the deputy and their exact injuries out of respect for their privacy.
In a press release, Undersheriff Jeffrey R. Brown condemned the attack on the deputy.
“This is yet another example of the dangers our men and women face every day,” noted Brown. “We will not tolerate assaults on our deputies and will use every tool available under the law to hold those who do so responsible. We wish our member a speedy and full recovery.”
Fifield was charged with 2nd degree assault and 4th degree possession of a weapon as a result of the incident. At the time, he was in custody on charges of 2nd degree burglary and petit larceny. Fifield was also arrested by New York State police in Sept. 2024 for possession of stolen property in Hudson Falls after he was allegedly found in possession of an ATV that had been reported stolen among other stolen property.
Representatives from the Veterans and Community Housing Coalition march in this year’s Flag Day Parade. Photo by Aidan Cahill.
Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner and Senator Jim Tedisco announced that they have passed new bi-partisan legislation in both the state Senate and Assembly to build new senior supportive housing in the town of Wilton for veterans in need.
Woerner and Tedisco’s legislation (A7312/S7139) enables the transfer of 15 acres of state land along Northern Pines Road in the town of Wilton to the Veterans and Community Housing Coalition to build 12 new housing units with the possibility of future expansion if funding becomes available.
The home will serve veterans with physical and mental health needs by providing supportive housing services such as 24-hour staffing, personalized care plans, transportation to medical appointments, medication assistance, help with bathing and dressing, and other personal hygiene activities, housekeeping, meal preparation, social activities and peer-to-peer support.
“Our country’s heroes deserve affordable housing and quality healthcare, and this bill addresses both. I appreciate the Veterans & Community Housing Coalition bringing to me the opportunity to assist them in expanding supportive housing for Veterans in our community. I am grateful for the Office of General Services for facilitating making these state lands available for building needed housing,” Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner said. “I thank Senator Tedisco for his partnership in enabling our former military members gain access to the stable housing and comprehensive support services they so critically need,”
“Many of our veterans who heroically served our country with dedication and honor have service related injuries and mental health-related challenges that are long lasting and permanent,” said Senator Jim Tedisco. “No veteran who put their very life on the line for our freedom and liberty should ever be forced into a situation where they are homeless or can’t afford a place to live. I was pleased to work in a bi-partisan fashion with Assemblywoman Woerner to pass this legislation to ensure our veterans who need help have a supportive place to call home,”
“I want to thank Senator Jim Tedisco and Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner for always taking care of the residents of Wilton and Saratoga County and our veterans who have given their all for the United States of America,” said Wilton Town Supervisor John Lant.
The bill now heads to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for her review and signature.
