SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 4th annual Sing in the Streets Festival—a free, family-friendly celebration – will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18 on the streets surrounding Caffè Lena.
The gathering celebrates the historic venue marking 65 years of live music and grassroots culture.
The event will feature 15 acts across 7 stages, with a genre-spanning lineup that includes folk, blues, jazz, country, and soul. A dedicated Family Stage will offer performances tailored for children and families.
Performers include: Carling & Will; Catfish in the Sky; Cold Chocolate; Ellen Pieroni Encyclopedia of Soul; Emily Barnes; Guitaro5000; Golfstrom; HEARD; Jacob Shipley; Mercer Patterson Quartet; Sara Milonovich & Greg Anderson.
“Sing in the Streets is our way of saying thank you to Saratoga Springs,” said Sarah Craig, executive director of Caffè Lena. “It’s our gift to the community that has embraced Caffè Lena for 65 years, and a chance for people of all ages to experience live music for free, right in the heart of downtown.”
Founded and organized by local musician and Caffè Lena Director of Finance & Operations, Mateo Vosganian, the festival has grown each year in scale and impact.
“Sing in the Streets was created to bring Caffè Lena’s mission out into the open—literally,” said Vosganian. “It’s all about accessibility, discovery, and joy. This event lets people stumble into something beautiful—whether that’s a band they’ve never heard of or a shared experience with a neighbor they’ve never met.”
The festival is free and open to the public and will take place rain or shine. In case of inclement weather, performances will move to nearby indoor locations. A full schedule and weather plan will be posted at www.caffelena.org in the days leading up to the event.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council approved an ordinance during its meeting at City Hall May 6 to ban roosters in Saratoga Springs.
Previous city regulations set crowing cock noise restrictions from midnight to 7 a.m. The new ordinance does not allow roosters to be kept at any time on any property in the city, excepting as part of a farming or agricultural business in conformance with the UDO.
The amendment specifies the term “rooster” as any adult male domestic chicken or any adult male bird capable of crowing. Hens, which lay eggs, are still permissible.
The vote was preceded by a Public Hearing, during which a half-dozen local residents addressed the issue, the majority of whom voiced approval of the ban measure, and some of whom addressed the council while accompanied by a soundtrack of crowing roosters claimed to have been recorded in their neighborhood.
The cities of Albany and Rensselaer, the village of Ballston Spa and the town of Wilton all similarly have ordinances that prohibit roosters, and the cities of Schenectady and Mechanicville prohibit altogether the keeping of any livestock or poultry.
The Saratoga Springs Police Department staged a joint training exercise with the Saratoga Springs Fire Department and other agencies at Saratoga Race Course on May 1, 2025. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The call came in at 12:35 p.m., a voice cackling over the police radios to report a bad actor with a long gun firing onto a crowd from the second-story balcony of the paddock suite. A dozen officers descended upon the scene.
Fourteen members of the Saratoga Springs Police Department, as well as the Saratoga Springs Fire Department, paramedics and members of the state Park Police staged a joint training exercise at Saratoga Race Course on May 1, in preparation of the upcoming Belmont Racing Festival.
The police department will have anywhere between 10 and 20 officers onsite at the racecourse during the high-populated stakes race days, said Lt. Paul Veitch head of investigations with Saratoga Springs Police Department.
Veitch, who began his career as a police officer 26 years ago, said training for the summer meet began in February and has at times included the Saratoga County Sheriff’s office, the FBI, and members of the Department of Homeland Security, among others.
John Payome, a retired Air Force veteran and an actor with Saratoga’s Home Made Theater, was among the “victims” of the May 1 training exercise. City police reached out to the organization to request HMT members role-play as victims.
“It gets us close to the real-world situation without actually being in the real world,” Payome said at the conclusion of the training, after “healing” from his wounds. “As actors, we want to give them that real world training.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The state assembly last week passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act.
“I co-sponsored and helped pass this bill to potentially mitigate the suffering for New Yorkers afflicted with terminal illnesses,” said Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, in a statement.
“The Medical Aid in Dying Act would allow terminally ill New Yorkers with a prognosis of six months or less to live to request, through a tightly regulated process, medication they can administer themselves to bring a peaceful death,” Assemblywoman Woerner said. “When medical treatment is unable to reverse the severity of illness, and near-term death becomes certain, some individuals request to accelerate the often-painful process of dying with the aid of prescription medication. Others may take comfort in being given the option to reclaim a semblance of control over how their life will end, such as being surrounded by loved ones at home.”
“By allowing New Yorkers a choice, we are providing those who are near the end of their life’s journey and who are suffering to an unbearable extent, a degree of dignity,” Woerner said, adding that 10 states and the District of Columbia have allowed similar end-of-life care options through legislation, ballot measures, or judicial rulings.
“I commend those who have tirelessly advocated for this bill, and I’m hopeful that the Senate and the governor will follow suit in signing this meaningful legislation into law.”
Adelphi Street shelter, operated by RISE, on May 6, 2025. RISE’s main office – where a new Homebase Therapeutic Community Center is being developed, may be seen in the distance on Union Street. That building will not have shelter/bed capabilities. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The operator of the city-based 24/7 low barrier homeless shelter delivered what it called “an urgent message on the future” to City Hall this week: without a city commitment to fund shelter operations through 2026, the agency would cease shelter operations with an anticipated closure date on June 3.
Following up on its two-page letter addressed to the City Council dated and signed by RISE Housing and Support Services Executive Director Sybil Newell on April 29, members of the nonprofit housing agency showed up in numbers at City Hall during this week’s meeting to deliver their message in person.
“We want to ensure the low barrier we’ve worked on so hard on for the past couple of years remains open long enough to find a permanent solution, so we don’t end up back at square one,” Newell said during the night of the May 6 council meeting.
“We are funded through the end of December 2025. However, for the past two years we’ve really had to scrape and struggle to get funding committed every year and that has left us in complete limbo close to at the end of our contract, every year,” Newell said. “We are simply asking them to commit to funding us through the end of next year (2026) so we aren’t scrambling and scraping again in a few months, and we can really get some momentum behind finding a permanent solution.”
Some of the council members were admittedly “caught off guard by the letter,” and after lengthy discussion during its meeting seemed to come to a consensus to revisit the issue more fully during its next meeting on May 20.
RISE has operated the Adelphi Street low-barrier shelter since 2022 as an emergency response to visible homelessness in Saratoga. The shelter currently serves more than 30 people who cannot access traditional shelters due to mental health or substance use challenges. The June 3 date cited as potential closure precedes by one day the start of the highly anticipated Belmont Festival week in Saratoga Springs and the closure would result in the near three dozen people RISE serves without its serviceable shelter.
“We want to bring public attention to this issue at the most salient point in the year,” Newell said. “Unfortunately, on December 31, nobody’s paying attention to homelessness. That’s why we’re paying attention to this now.”
The Adelphi Street shelter, local just of South Broadway, first opened as a winter-season Code Blue shelter operated by Shelters of Saratoga in winter 2019-20, evolving into Saratoga Springs’ first low barrier year-round facility when RISE assumed operations in 2023. Local developer Sonny Bonacio secured a temporary lease on the property, renovated the building, and provided it rent-free to RISE on a temporary basis. That time frame is soon coming to conclusion.
The current cost of operating the low barrier shelter is approximately $42,000 per month, or a half-million dollars per year, which includes staffing, utilities, meals and additional support services. “That amounts to about $45 per day per person, year-round, and that’s if we serve 30 people,” said Newell, adding that the number of people served is often higher and is currently at 35. The city of Saratoga Springs is funding the approximate $500,000 costs through the end of this calendar year.
“The owner of 4 Adelphi Street, Peter Kodogiannis, has graciously allowed us to use that space for the low-barrier shelter, and (previously) allowed the city to use that space for Code Blue. He is not pleased that a solution has not been found yet,” Newell said. “He called me the other day wondering when our shelter will be leaving and about how much progress the city and the county have made toward finding a permanent solution. I was not able to give him that answer. So also on behalf of him, I’m here speaking and trying to put pressure on the city and the county to come up with the solution so that isn’t put in an impossible situation where he has to put a homeless shelter out on the street to get his building back.”
Saratoga County recently purchased a 1.4-acre parcel at 96 -116 Ballston Ave. (Route 50) in Saratoga Springs for $3 million as the future location of a permanent Code Blue homeless shelter. “Code Blue” is strictly a cold-weather seasonal shelter and does not address year-round homelessness. Additionally, the county has strongly maintained that it has no willingness to operate as a low barrier facility.
Whether dialogue between the city, shelter operators, and the county will now become heightened remains to be seen, although there appears a desire among some to do so.
“While I can only speak for myself as a county supervisor, I would like to see the county get more involved,” said Michele Madigan, who represents the city of Saratoga Springs at the county board. “I think it would be beneficial for RISE to educate the supervisors on what a low barrier shelter is.”
“With the buying of the property for Code Blue, I think it gives us the perfect opportunity to locate all of these services in one location if we can just get the county on board,” Newell said.
The city invites residents to participate in the city’s budget process.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi and the Participatory Budgeting Committee have announced the launch of Cycle Four of the City’s Participatory Budgeting program, beginning May 1, with this year’s special theme: “Year of the Child.”
Residents are invited to propose community projects that uplift and benefit children, youth, and families – funded by up to 0.25% of the City’s annual budget.
All Saratoga Springs residents aged 18 and up are encouraged to participate. Project idea submissions will be accepted from May 1 through July 31, 2025. Individuals and non-profit organizations are welcome to submit proposals.
Since its inception in 2022, the PB program has funded a number of projects benefitting local youth, including:
Free children’s art programming through C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios
– Free family-friendly programming and performances by Opera Saratoga
– Retrofitting the Saratoga Children’s Literacy League Book Bus
– Nutritional education at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, teaching children and families how to prepare meals using fresh, local ingredients
– Geyser Elementary School outdoor learning center
This year, residents are encouraged to think creatively about projects that align with the “Year of the Child” theme. Categories may include: Youth Arts and Culture; Recreation and Play; Literacy and Learning; Health and Wellness; Environmental Projects.
All ideas will be reviewed by the PB Committee and City for feasibility and impact. Selected proposals will be placed on the PB ballot later this year, and winning projects will be implemented using city funds following a citywide vote and City Council approval.
In Saratoga Springs, the process encourages local community members to participate in the city’s budget process. In its most recent cycle, the City Council approved funding for six community projects totaling $99,658.
To learn more about Participatory Budgeting or submit an idea, visit: https://saratoga-springs.org/2682/participatory-budgeting.
Patricia Temple was selected by Saratoga Rotary as Senior Citizen of the Year. Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Rotary selected Patricia Temple, of Schuylerville, as its Senior Citizen of the Year.
Temple is a volunteer bookkeeper for Greater Schuylerville Youth Center and longtime treasurer for Old Saratoga Seniors Club. She is also a part-time employee of the town of Saratoga, Wilton Emergency Squad board member and a supporter of the local branch of the American Legion, Schuylerville Public Library and the Schuylerville Central School District.
Temple will receive $1,000 to donate to the charity of her choice, and she has chosen ‘Old Saratoga Seniors’ as the recipient.
Saratoga Rotary celebrated the awarding of Temple as its Senior Citizen of the Year with an event on April 30.
Prestwick Chase residents took part in an Earth Day initiative last week.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The residents of Prestwick Chase took their Earth Day springtime efforts to Denton Road in Greenfield on April 28.
Eight residents of the active senior 55+ living community volunteered their time to pick up cans, bottles, and other garbage along the road from the railroad trestle on Denton Road to Locust Grove Road in honor of Earth Day.
Roadside clean up signs, trash bags, and grabbers were supplied by the Town of Greenfield Highway Department, who later picked up the garbage collected by the residents.
“As a resident of Prestwick Chase, I wanted to continue my community involvement,” said longtime resident Carol Imhof.
Prestwick Chase was established in 1999 and is a 55+ independent living community located at 100 Saratoga Boulevard in Saratoga Springs. For more information, call 518-584-7766 or visit www.prestwickchase.com.
BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office has issued a public advisory regarding a game with “dangerous and potentially deadly consequences,” according to the department.
Referred to as “Senior Assassin,” the game is played by high school seniors who “target” one another with water pistols to eliminate their opponents while typically wearing goggles and inflatable swim “floaties” as attire, the sheriff’s office said.
Recently, there was an incident in the town of Malta where the Sheriff’s 911 Center received several calls of a male with a firearm on U.S. Route 9 that turned out to be a water gun. In a separate incident, a suspicious vehicle complaint in Halfmoon resulted in a young female running towards the vehicle while screaming and holding an object in her hand as deputies spoke with the vehicle occupant. Both incidents were connected to the game.
“If you’re going to participate in this game, for everyone’s safety, use good judgement, Undersheriff Jeffrey Brown said in a statement. “Water guns may look realistic, and running towards any active police investigation can have significant unintended consequences.”
BALLSTON SPA — Saratoga County District Attorney announced Stephen A. Frank, 48, of Lake George, was sentenced May 2 to an aggregate 8-1/3 to 25 years following a jury trial during which he was found guilty of four counts of criminal contempt, three counts of aggravated criminal contempt, and two counts of assault. A week-long trial took place in January.
“A Saratoga County Court jury heard testimony from multiple witnesses regarding defendant Frank’s actions that resulted in injuries to the victim on multiple dates. He was also convicted of repeatedly violating orders of protection,” Heggen said in a statement.
The victim provided the court with a statement describing how the defendant’s abuse caused physical injury as well as lasting emotional and mental wellbeing effects, Heggen added, and also spoke about similar effects Frank’s actions had on two minors – one of whom testified at the trial.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Pratt and Joseph Frandino, together with county District Attorney Investigator Jack Barney.
