Mayor Releases Statement regarding White Supremacist Group's March in Saratoga Springs
SARATOGA SPRINGS – City Mayor Ron Kim released a statement Monday requesting a report from the public safety department regarding Saturday afternoon’s “march in Saratoga Springs” by “a hate group that is known for acts of violence against people based on their vile, despicable, white supremacist views.”
“On Saturday afternoon a group known for their misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic, and anti-immigration views, and propensity for violence - including on Jan. 6, 2021 when its members stormed the United States Capital - briefly marched in Saratoga Springs,” Mayor Kim said, in the statement. “This is not a normal group of individuals seeking to influence public debate.”
“Pursuant to Title 3 of the City’s Charter, I am asking the Commissioner of Public Safety to provide my office by the close of business on Thursday, Aug. 10 with a full report of the incident, including:
1) what information was provided to the Department and/or Saratoga Springs Police Department prior, during, and after this group marched;
2) what actions were taken by the Department and/or the Saratoga Springs Police Department when it became aware of the march;
3) what relevant regulations and/or laws were violated by the march; and
4) any recommendations to prevent a repeat of this incident in the future.”
Title 3 of the City Charter grants the mayor authority to require any department to report to the Council in writing on the status of any function, program, or project involving the City, as well as “ultimate responsibility for and see to enforcement of City laws, codes, rules, and regulations.” The Charter additionally states that Departments shall provide aid and assistance to the mayor in execution of these responsibilities.
“I am also asking the other departments of our city government to weigh in on how we prevent a repetition of this incident and I know each is actively reviewing their responsibilities and mandates towards that end,” Kim said.
A handful of social media posts Saturday, apparently made by random passersby, depicted approximately three dozen masked people, draped in black or yellow T-shirts, standing in front of parked cars on the west side of Broadway while a tape recording of the “Star-Spangled Banner” played. A yellow pickup truck festooned with American flags and bearing a sign that read Law & Order atop its cab, stood on the west side of the Caroline Street and Broadway intersection.
Members of the Proud Boys also marched in Ballston Spa on Saturday, Village Trustee Liz Kormos reported in a post.
Monday’s statement from the city additionally included comments by councilmembers Jason Golub and Dillon Moran.
Commissioner Jason Golub of the Department of Public Works: “The message and methods of the Proud Boys is one that has condoned violence and ideologically motivated crimes over the past several years. This is not what the city or the people of Saratoga Springs stand for.
“While freedom of speech is a constitutionally protected right, there is no place for violent rhetoric or violent actions in our community. Saratoga Springs is a place where every resident and visitor must feel safe to be who they are without fear. We are a city that wants to build bridges not burn them down, to heal old wounds and find solutions. No matter a person’s background, beliefs, or circumstances, we as a community will not allow hate and violence to take root here. We live in a polarized time and can absolutely disagree on the best direction for our city or our country, but we cannot do so in a way that condones violence or makes it unsafe for anyone else to be whom they are. As a leader that is non-negotiable for our city.”
Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran: “Communication between city officials and between departments is essential. The city is inclusive and welcoming to all. We need to be made aware of the presence of a group that is emboldened to create an atmosphere of violence and disruption. That Commissioner Montagnino didn’t feel the need to let the city council know of this situation demonstrates an abdication of his responsibility to Saratoga Springs as a whole.”
Former city Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan, who is running for a seat as County Supervisor in the November election, released a statement during the weekend to “denounce what the masked individuals in today’s demonstration attempted to do and emphatically reject their ideology of hatred and bigotry.”
Saratoga Springs Approves Ordinance Prohibiting Firearm Possession while Intoxicated
SARATOGA SPRINGS — During its meeting on Aug. 1, the City Council approved a long-debated ordinance prohibiting intoxication or impairment by alcohol or drugs in a public place when in possession of a firearm.
The measure passed by a 3-2 vote. Commissioners Dillon Moran and Jason Golub, who each voted against the proposal, expressing general agreement with a majority of the ordinance’s components, but took issue with certain aspects of it.
“I think it’s a great idea as a piggy-back onto another offense - If someone is arrested for assault and you have reasonable suspicion that you can now search them for firearms or give them a breathalyzer,” Golub told the council. “But, to expect the police to identify those who are both drunk and carrying a firearm independent of another violation is a near-impossible exercise unless you want to violate people’s civil rights,” he said. “That’s my biggest concern.”
According to the ordinance, “intoxicated” and/or “impaired” is as defined by State Vehicle and Traffic Law.
Where It’s At
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A project under consideration at the city’s Land Use Boards will see the demolition of a single-story building on Church Street to be replaced with a five-story building standing 61 feet tall that will house 23 condominium units and first-floor commercial space.
The existing brick structure at 78 Church St. currently houses the floor covering store Torrells Carpetland and was built between 1909 and 1926, according to the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. SSPF last week sent a letter to the city to say it does not object to the building’s proposed demolition.
The project applicant is SpringCity Development Group – a development arm of Bonacio Construction.
Palazzo Riggi Goes Up for Auction Next Month
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 20,000-plus square foot mansion on North Broadway known as “Palazzo Riggi” will go up for auction on Sept. 8. The list price is $12 million, nearly $6 million less than the $17.9 million price when the 6-bedroom, 7-full and 6-half bath home first hit the market last September at $17.9 million.
Owned by Michele Riggi, the mansion, built in 2003, includes two custom kitchens, four fireplaces, an elevator, home theater, personal fitness room with steam shower, and a bowling alley. There are 12 rooms in all regarding the Luxury Collection auction, as posted by listing agent Berkshire Hathaway Adirondack Premier Properties.
Behind the Gates: Villa Balsamo Hits The Market
“The tile work which we performed could only be compared in extent and quality with that found in such places as Newport, R.I. or Hollywood, California where price was of secondary consideration. The objective for the entire house and grounds was it be the finest that could be produced. The first consideration was always quality.”
- Excerpt of a letter written by J. Francis Purdy, of the J. Francis Purdy tile and marble company of Albany, to J.B. White, J.B. Realty of Saratoga Springs, Sept. 14, 1951.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Strands of rope and twisted wire span the metal gates and stone entryway stations of the Ballston Avenue estate. A pair of ornate lamps peek streetside across the busy Route 50 thoroughfare where motor vehicles speed on by. A large marquee standing tall atop all of it spells out the most recent use of the property: Villa Balsamo - Restaurant, Cocktail Lounge.
The property, which measures 14 acres in all and features natural ponds, sites a nine-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion set back approximately 350 feet from the road. In its near-century of existence, the 10,240 square-foot structure has served a small handful of owners and has functioned as a private home and as a public restaurant. A return as either one of those options is possible in the future.
“It’s waiting for its next owner and occupant,” says Patrick Gibson of the Diehl Done Team at Keller Williams. The property is listed at $4.3 million.
Floyd J. Shutts, a bank manager-turned-knitting-business-wholesaler, purchased the land in 1927 and reportedly invested a half million early 20th-century dollars to build his 15-room mansion two years later. Following his death – Shutts’ was buried at Ballston Spa Village Cemetery in 1934 - the estate was purchased in turn by restaurateur Gerald King (during whose ownership in the 1960s Bing Crosby was among the visitors, vintage scribes insist), and by Schenectady businessman Chester Hotaling – who turned it into the Chester House restaurant.
At some point in the mid-20th century, Saratoga Springs realtor J.B. White, whose offices were at 100 Broadway, sought to put the property up for sale and apparently reached out to the J. Francis Purdy Co. of Albany for detailed information about the work Purdy had conducted during the initial development of the mansion. The historical files of the Saratoga Room in the Saratoga Springs Public Library provide a copy of the letter response penned by J. Francis Purdy to J. B. White dated September 14, 1951.
“In reply to your letter of the 12th regarding the Shutts estate on Saratoga-Ballston Road – the tile work which we performed for Mr. Shutts in his home could only be compared in extent and quality with that found in such places as Newport, R.I., or Hollywood, California where price was of secondary consideration,” the letter reads.
The tile used in the master bathroom “were of the most expensive produced,” Purdy writes, and “the tile work in the other bathrooms, solarium, game room, kitchen, halls, pavement over garage, etc., represented the best that our industry could produce according to the standards of 1929.”
Purdy concludes: “It was a sad development that Mr. Shutts did not live long to enjoy with his family the beautiful home and grounds he developed.”
An undated advert regarding “The King Shutts Estate” indicates the property would to be shown only through appointment by J.B. White. Price for the complete property: $85,000.
In the mid-1970s, the property was purchased by Joseph Balsamo. Balsamo came to America in 1950 from Sorrento, Italy, served in the Merchant Marine, and was reportedly part-owner of a restaurant in Queens that stood half a mile north of Kennedy International Airport and half a mile east of Aqueduct Racetrack.
“When he saw this place, it took him a year of driving up here from Brooklyn once a week and waiting for the owner to come out to collect his mail,” Ralphie Balsamo told Saratoga TODAY regarding his father’s efforts to purchase the estate.
The persistence paid off. Joseph Balsamo, who died in 2018, successfully convinced the owner to sell, and soon after Villa Balsamo began its offering as a restaurant, showcasing the culinary talents of the family’s Southern Napolitan cooking.
Task Force Targets Potential Sites for Permanent Shelter
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness has identified a 3.7-acre lot on Lake Avenue/ State Route 29 as its primary selection to site a permanent homeless shelter.
The vacant lot is listed for sale at $800,000 and is located between the Northway overpass and a Stewart’s Shop near Weibel Avenue.
The Task Force was formed In February 2023 and charged with locating a potential permanent site for a homeless shelter and navigation center by July to recommend to the City Council. The ad hoc group began with evaluating some two dozen potential sites across the city. They concluded with their vote of recommended locations on July 20.
Alternative sites that ranked highly included a parcel at 153 South Broadway – property that stands in close proximity to two temporary shelters, although the owner is reluctant to sell that property according to Task Force discussions; 1.6 acres at 3290 Route 9 / Top Hill motel with a sale price listed at $1.9 million; a 1-acre property at North and East Ave for sale at $1 million, and 260 Maple Ave./ Gateway Motel, which extends to 1.5 acres, potential purchase price not known.
Each venue offers some set of challenges – from Land Use Board review to area variances required (although the latter would seem unnecessary were the city to outright purchase the property), proximity or lack thereof to venues currently providing social services, access to public transportation, and, given the track record of previous attempts made: opposition from some area residents when a site is ultimately selected.
The discussions will now move to the Saratoga Springs City Council, which next meets at City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 1.
There is still much to be discussed and funding sources to be evaluated, including what level of support may be provided by the county.
Relative to the preferred site on- Route 29: the location is not in close proximity to social services, and there is no current bus stop allocated – although one may be advocated for via CDTA, the ad hoc board surmised. The site would ultimately need a use variance from the ZBA, as well as subsequent Site Plan approval from the Planning Board and County Planning Board review. The Stewart’s Shop, located at Gilbert Road and Lake Avenue is anticipated to soon undergo a 2,500 square-foot to 4,100 square-foot expansion.
Where It’s At: A Private Social Club on Woodlawn
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The city’s Land Use Boards are considering a proposal for a Special Use permit that would site a private social club for businesspersons just west of Broadway, on Woodlawn Ave.
The approval is sought at 118 and 121-125 Woodlawn Ave. in connection with two parcels that measure .14 acres and .23 acres, respectively.
The applicant is seeking to use 118 as a private/social club for businesspersons to be operated by a not-for-profit entity, with 121-125 Woodlawn to serve as off-street parking for club members, according to documents first submitted to the city in June. Saratoga TODAY first reported on the venture on June 15.
The club is anticipated to operate 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 8 a.m. – 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and provide light meals and bar service for its approximately 200 members. No amplified music will be allowed. The club will serve as a place for its members to conduct meetings, as well as a place for members “to relax and unwind after a day at the office,” according to documents filed with the city.
The building at 118 is located on the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Van Dam Street, just west of the convergence of Broadway/Route 9 and the Saratoga Hilton. For more than a century, the property was owned by various religious operations and operated as a religious house of worship,
The existing gravel lot at 122-125 would be upgraded and consist of 22 parking spaces.
The initial director, founder and organizer of the club will be Lisa Moser – co-founder with husband Robert of Prime Construction. Membership to the club will include an application process for membership, annual dues and an initiation fee upon acceptance.
The city Planning Board is anticipated to discuss the proposal at its workshop on Aug. 3.
New Senior Center Opens
SARATOGA SPRINGS — After more than 40 years of setting up shop on Williams Street, the Saratoga Senior Center this week began its physical relocation into the future: one mile southwest and to its new home adjacent to the Saratoga Regional YMCA at 290 West Avenue.
“Shut down, packed up, and moving over here,” executive director Lois Celeste explained to hundreds of visitors attending the center’s first event staged at its new location. The senior expo was held July 20 and featured a variety of speakers, presentations and more than 40 community vendors.
The new site hosts multiple classrooms, a kitchen and dining room, a chair-and-table area for card games, an art room, exercise room, employee offices, and an education center.
The Meeting Room will host gatherings of the Alzheimer’s Association as well as various medical insurance organizations, and the Game Room will be fitted with computer stations, a TV, ping-pong tables and a pair of pool tables.
“We actually have a sound system and a projector – we’re coming into the next century here,” said Celeste, flanked by the new-look gleam of marble and glass.
The new location boasts plentiful parking and a quartet of columns that frame the entryway that lead to a main reception area inside. A physical therapist will be on-site five days of the week. There is still some work to be done prior to the new center’s opening.
“We don’t know how long it is going to take to set up operations, but our goal is to have a soft opening with classes by the first or second of August,” Celeste said. “It will be a kind of a one-stop shop.”
The non-profit, non-residential community center welcomes adults aged 50 and over. Cost is $35 a year to participate in programs, trips and social activities tailored to adults and seniors.
The Center was founded in 1955, purchased its own building at 162 Circular St. five years later and in 1979 relocated to a larger facility at 5 Williams St. The Williams Street venue that is being vacated is owned by the city of Saratoga Springs.
The city last year announced plans to use the location when empty to site a 24/7 permanent homeless shelter. Earlier this year those plans were quashed, however, after the proposal met with a backlash from some community members and parents of students of the nearby Saratoga Central Catholic School. Plans for the future of the city-owned property are not currently known.
PHISH : Two Special Shows at Saratoga Announced; Tickets Available NOW
SARATOGA SPRINGS – File this one under: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Weeks of public speculation and rumors that Phish would perform a pair of concerts in Saratoga to benefit Vermont and upstate New York flood recovery efforts were confirmed July 25 with the announcement that that band will appear at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Aug. 25-26.
A short, one-day ticket request period is underway NOW at: https://phishfloodrecoverybenefit.shop.ticketstoday.com/Splash.aspx.
Tickets go on sale to the general public 10 a.m. Saturday, July 29. Travel packages will be available and go on sale 9 a.m. on Friday, July 28.
A limited number of Foundation tickets will also be available that include a ticket to the show, a private pre-show performance with Phish’s Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, access to the Foundation Lounge before and throughout the show, and special Foundation poster and merch, in addition to other amenities.
100% of net proceeds from all concert and merchandise sales will be directed to The WaterWheel Foundation’s 2023 Flood Recovery Fund, which will support the many victims and their families, area businesses, and non-profits. The Recovery Fund will support both shorter-term needs and long-term recovery and resiliency projects.
Where It’s At: Barstool Sports Founder’s New Home Plans in Saratoga Springs
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy will be seeking an area variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals this week that would permit the demolition of a ranch style home and the subsequent construction of a new home upon property he purchased in Saratoga Springs earlier this year.
The Fifth Avenue property was purchased in March by Portnoy’s company, Smokeshowcity LLC of Miami Florida, for $1.4 million, and sites an approximate 1,500 square-foot ranch style home. The property is bounded by the Oklahoma Training Track on the lot’s south side.
Plans call for demolition of the existing home and construction of a new residence.
Recent plans submitted to the city by Balzar & Tuck Architecture depict a dining room, living room and kitchen downstairs, a pool and patio area in the backyard, and three bedrooms and baths upstairs. A fourth bedroom and bath, as well as a fitness room is indicated in the basement, according to plans the architects submitted to the city.
The ZBA meeting takes place 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 24 at Saratoga Springs City Hall.
The Fifth Avenue property would need only the approval of the ZBA to move forward.
Another project on that night’s ZBA agenda - 12 Ballston Avenue Chipotle Area Variance – would require eventual approval from all three city Land Use Boards – the Planning Board and Design Review Commission are the others – before plans for a new restaurant may move forward, according to the city’s building department.
Attorney Update: Nov. 20 Saratoga Springs Gunfight
An incident last November that involved an alleged altercation between three men and an off-duty Rutland County sheriff’s deputy took place in the Caroline Street-Broadway area, with a subsequent police response that resulted in about 20 bullets fired overall in the pre-dawn hours.
The three men - Alexander Colon, 28, Darius A. Wright, 29, and Christopher (AKA Christian) E. Castillo, 28 were each subsequently charged with one count attempted assault in the third-degree, a misdemeanor, in connection with the incident. According to the prosecutor’s filings, the charge specifies each of the defendants “attempted to cause an injury to a person by repeatedly punching him.” Each of the men pleaded not guilty.
The off-duty deputy, Vito Caselnova of Glens Falls is facing eight charges, including attempted murder.
This week, in an update first reported by NewsChannel 13, Caselnova’s attorneys want his alleged victims charged with gang assault, alleging that Colon was the initial aggressor.
A new court filing by Caselnova’s attorneys alleges that prosecutors didn’t let grand jurors know they could also charge Colon and two others with attempted murder and gang assault, according to the news report, and comes a supplement to a defense motion that had asked the court to dismiss the indictment against Caselnova, accusing the district attorney of prosecutorial bias.
Bomb Threat Evac at Live Nation SPAC Show: No Arrests Yet
Arrests have yet to be made in connection with a July 8 bomb threat that saw the evacuation of Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the cancellation of an appearance by show headliner Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Several area law enforcement agencies responded to the bomb threat. The threat was ultimately deemed a hoax.
In a statement made July 9, authorities said the incident was under investigation, and that “this case will be investigated as Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D Felony.”
Mapping Progress: Local Man’s New Venture Helps Others Find Their Way
SARATOGA SPRINGS — “Even after 17 years, I’m still in a honeymoon period with Saratoga,” says Dan De Federicis. “It’s just a wonderful place to be in any stage of your life.”
The retired State Trooper relocated from his native Buffalo to Albany in 2001 after being elected president of the NYS Troopers PBA. “Each successive year, I found myself coming to Saratoga Springs more and more. It was 4th of July holiday weekend in 2005 when I drove to Saratoga from Albany four times! That’s when I said, ‘That’s it. I’m moving to Saratoga Springs.’”
These days, De Federicis operates Saratoga Report – a local news aggregator website that collects and displays links to Saratoga-related stories.
“It’s funny, for my website, Saratoga Report, I do all these searches every morning - anything to do with Saratoga - and I came across this sale offer,” he says. “I made some calls.”
The calls led him to Charlie McCabe, handler of the estate of his dad Matt McCabe – a much loved Saratoga Springs businessman, musician and a former city commissioner. Notably, Matt McCabe operated Saratoga Guitar for more than a quarter-century until his untimely passing in January 2021 due to complications of COVID-19.
In October 2020, McCabe had purchased a franchise in Discovery Map of Saratoga. The Discovery Map International brand was founded in 1981 and features hand-drawn maps of more than 130 largely tourism destinations with more than 90 franchisees.
The maps, which are free, provide travelers a resource to find local lodging, dining, shopping, services and fun things to do in their focused locations. Overall, more than 16 million maps are printed annually, according to the company.
Focus areas range from Santa Monica, California to the Berkshires and Hyannis in Massachusetts. Eight municipalities are showcased by Discovery Map in New York State alone – East Hampton, South Hampton, Lake George, Lake Placid and Saratoga Springs, among them.
“As much as we rely on our smartphones, people still prefer printed-out maps,” McCabe said at the time of his franchise purchase. “The maps are truly like works of art and reveal the character of an area... and there is a lot of that in Saratoga Springs and the surrounding areas.”
“I did my due diligence, looked into the company, called other franchisees around the country and learned they’re really good to work with,” says De Federicis. “I saw it as an opportunity, and that it was Matt McCabe who had previously owned it, only added to it. I feel honored to follow in his footsteps.”
Paper maps have made a resurgence in recent years, with maps and atlases selling 1.8 million units last year, up 20% over 2021, according to the NPD Group, an international agency that measures business data and analytics.
The Discovery Map of Saratoga covers all of Saratoga County. It is colorful, two-sided, measures about 18 inches by 14 inches and is bordered by thumb-sized adverts. It folds neatly into quarters and depicts a large segment of Saratoga County on one side, and a close-up of downtown Saratoga Springs on the other.
De Federicis found a business opportunity as well as something close to his heart.
“There is so much going on in Saratoga, there is a lot of opportunity to grow this. I not only wanted to work in Saratoga, but I wanted my work to be about Saratoga,” he says. “What I’m doing now, I love doing. It doesn’t even seem like work to me.”
The franchise term is for 10 years, and the maps are updated and printed annually. De Federicis said his plan is to secure advert sales from those who want their establishments depicted on the map for next year’s edition through this calendar year and go to print on the 2024 issue in January. Interested parties can contact Dan De Federicis at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
“The support (from Discovery Map) is incredible. For instance, let’s say I sign up a new restaurant. Well then, their staff adds the building to the map. And they’re not just going to draw a dot or a square, the building will look like the building it’s representing.”
The maps are folded to a convenient 8.5-inch by 11-inch size and available free of charge up and down Broadway and all-around town, as well as across the county in local stores, restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions, among other places.
While the maps will be updated annually, one characteristic will be preserved, De Federicis says.
“On the map itself there is a caricature of Matt McCabe with his guitar. As soon as I saw that, I told Charlie that his father’s caricature will stay on there for as long as I own this map.”
