The New Orleans house of cards is falling down, city council member stepping down(beginning of a FAR reaching investigation)......Schenectady is not far from what New Orleans was before Katrina hit......

SHOW ME THE $$ TRAIL.......

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Just a sampling of what's been accomplished in a very short time
by our Democratic Administration

So this was quoted on the Democratic website. Yes, they are clearly taking full credit for this metroplex. Well, to that I say, let them take the credit. It is obvious that they are not doling out the metroplex money to just anyone. They are clearly doling it out to their same party affiliation. And what is so great about the 2 blocks on state street. Any numbskull could have set up bars every few hundred feet. That is all there is. And the rest of the city is falling down around 'the bars'! There is also a new bar that is being proposed on Jay Street. My God, how many do we need? Where is the diversity? Where is the mix of retail?

Metroplex was suppose to bring good paying, stable jobs to Schenectady. Instead, they have just made it possible for people to get drunk at new liquor establishments. To me, metroplex is a joke. And I am so glad that the dems are, in fact, taking the credit for these WONDERFUL JOBS they have brought to Schenectady. Perhaps I should quit my job and apply to be a bartender at one of these fine establishments. Or perhaps an usher at the movie theater. How about a cleaning person for the hotel?  NOW THAT WOULD BE A STEP UP, HUH?

I happen to know for an absolute fact that metroplex has turned people down before an interview with them. (must be they check with the board of elections first to see what party you are affiliated with.) And I also know for a fact,, that some of these new establishments aren't doing so good. Probably why they want SCCC to move their music department down there.

So with all of this said, I'm glad the dems are taking credit for this rediculous scam called the metroplex. Just another wilted feather in their cap!

http://www.dailygazette.com

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SCHENECTADY
$600K funding to continue work on downtown
Facade program getting largest grant
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

   Grants totaling $600,000 will be used to prepare a coffee house in the Proctors complex for a grand opening Sunday, to build a “vertical garden” near the Hampton Inn and to continue improving the facades of downtown businesses.
   The Metroplex Development Authority board agreed Monday to distribute the grants to the downtown projects.
   The largest grant of $495,000 goes to the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp.’s facade program, which Metroplex hopes to turn into a countywide program next year.
   The DSIC facade program improves the exteriors of downtown businesses using established architectural guidelines. Business owners who participate must at least match the Metroplex grant.
   Monday’s grant brings to $1.6 million the total Metroplex has distributed to the DSIC facade program since 2002. The grants have, in turn, have sparked owners to provide an additional $2 million in matching funds and to make a further investment of more than $4 million in interior building improvements, said Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen.
   The current round of grants is targeted toward “key properties in and around the Proctors’ block,” Gillen said. Since 2002, the DSIC facade program has provided grants for 72 facade and sign improvements projects.
   The Metroplex grant allocates $60,000 for program administration and $40,000 for architectural services. An architect under contract to the DSIC offers technical guidance in project development and construction oversight, officials said.
   “We view this program as such a success that we are thinking of making it countywide,” Gillen said.
   “We are looking about expanding the program to the Hamburg Street corridor, the Scotia business district and to some of the other commercial corridors, including the corridor in Duanesburg,” he said.
   Metroplex is already providing grants to the Upper Union Street Business Improvement District for facade work. The awards have totaled $730,000 since 2004.
   “It’s nice to have a BID to work with. If we didn’t have a group like a BID, we would administer the grants directly or use a contractor,” Gillen said.
   Union Street formed its BID in November 2001. The Hamburg Street Merchants Association in Rotterdam is considering the formation of its own BID, officials said.
COFFEE HOUSE
   In other awards, Metroplex gave a $50,000 grant to James Svetz to prepare 4,000 square feet inside the former Carl Co. for his Muddy Cup Coffee House and Cafe. The cafe is scheduled to open Sunday for Proctors open house of its $30 million expansion and restoration project. “I’m a determined person and I hope to be ready,” Svetz said Monday. He was taking a break from interviewing more than 100 candidates for 12 full-time slots at the Muddy Cup. As he spoke, workers were building the Muddy Cup from the ground up around him.
   “Everything is ready and in place, and everybody is working with us,” Svetz said. “We will offer a limited menu and all of our coffee house drinks on Sunday.”
   The Muddy Cup will occupy space in Robb Alley, the name given to the first floor renovated space of the former Carl. Co., which lies off Golub Arcade in the Proctors building.
   Svetz has already received a $50,000 loan from the Schenectady Local Development Corp. and plans to invest $50,000 in private financing to open the cafe. This would be his ninth cafe in New York state.
   Svetz said the cafe will be open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and to midnight on weekends. “It’s important to be open after 5 p.m. as part of an area’s redevelopment,” he said. “There is going to be a night life here and people will be coming down.”
   To stimulate the night life, Proctors and the Muddy Cup plan to schedule concerts, poetry readings, open mike nights and more in open space opposite the cafe in Robb Alley.
   Clark Music was slated for the space, but backed out, citing delays in the opening of the area. Both Morris and Svetz see the open space as a positive for the community.
   “It’s great to have this extra space. We will use it,” Svetz said.
   The space can hold up to 150 people.
   Morris said other activities will include chess tournaments and more.
VERTICAL GARDEN
   A third grant of $73,000 is going to Proctors’ 440 State St. to create a “living wall” opposite the Hampton Inn.
   Morris said the plan is to build a trellis along the exposed wall that faces the Hampton Inn parking entrance. “We will grow a vertical garden, which will be started next spring. This winter, we will paint the wall,” he said.
   The wall was exposed when adjacent buildings were demolished to create shovel-ready space for the aborted Diamond Cinema project years ago and then for the Hampton Inn.
   The 440 State St. building is owned by Proctors and contains a 100-seat theater and other space for cultural activities. It is part of the new Proctors facility, consisting of the Proctors main stage and the GE Theatre, which contains 450 seats and offers Iwerks movies.  

  
  
  

Anybody hear a sucking sound?  That's the tax dollars.

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The current round of grants is targeted toward “key properties in and around the Proctors’ block,” Gillen said.

There you have it.  More money being dumped into a few blocks of State Street in the City of Schenectady at the expense of the county taxpayers.  Mr. Gillen's own words support the assertions of the critics of Metroplex.

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“I’m a determined person and I hope to be ready,” Svetz said Monday. He was taking a break from interviewing more than 100 candidates for 12 full-time slots at the Muddy Cup. As he spoke, workers were building the Muddy Cup from the ground up around him.

These are the high paying jobs that residents of Schenectady County are paying the 10th highest property taxes in the nation to attract.  I'm guessing that the wages are somewhere between minimum wage plus gratuities to perhaps $8.50/hour.  We need to attract industry and high tech jobs to the region, not create more minimum wage retail jobs.

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Svetz said the cafe will be open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and to midnight on weekends. “It’s important to be open after 5 p.m. as part of an area’s redevelopment,” he said. “There is going to be a night life here and people will be coming down.”

No one will come to downtown Schenectady for "night life" until and unless the police presence (foot patrols) is increased and the homeless and the criminal element are removed from the area.  The public will disappear when the sidewalks are rolled up at 5 to 6 pm when those who work in the area for the state and local government depart for home in the suburbs.  This is what occurs in the several block area around the State Capital in Albany and there is much more to offer there.

You are absolutely correct on all counts Z. I would like to know if any of them on the metroplex can tell me exactly WHEN enough will be enough. How long will we, the taxpayers be working to pay for their 2 blocks of State Street? Now it is said that they are on to Erie Blvd. When will these areas be self sufficient? When will Proctors start paying it's own way and contribute to the local economy?

If the Muddy Cup or any of these other 'fine' establishments are so great, than get the 60% of the city population that is on public assistance, and give them these wonderful high paying jobs.

The Stockade...sure it has history, but you wouldn't catch me walking down there during the day let alone at night. And the same goes for the new movie theatre. And Jay Street, well forget that! And now with the fires on Union Street, I wouldn't go there either. Look at their so called Little Italy. The area is actually scarey. And let us not forget all of the privately owned businesses that we, the taxpayer has funded, that have gone belly up!

Crime is out of control and yet it appears that the metroplex just turns a blind eye and goes plunging forward. Downtown is NOT 'coming back' as they state. These are only words that make them believe that it is. If you tell a lie long enough, people begin to believe it!

I am sorry to say, but Schenectady (city) is just a dumpy little insignificant city like Troy-let! And the people of the city deserve more. Those residents have waited out storm after storm in that city, hoping that with each administration it would get better. They were hopeful. Their only hope, along with the surrounding towns, is to change the administration....and the sooner the better.

Speaking of storms, I wonder how ready the city is for the impending snowfall after the "wonderful" response that they've been budgeted well and able to give over the past couple of years.

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Crime is out of control and yet it appears that the metroplex just turns a blind eye and goes plunging forward. Downtown is NOT 'coming back' as they state. These are only words that make them believe that it is. If you tell a lie long enough, people begin to believe it!

I am sorry to say, but Schenectady (city) is just a dumpy little insignificant city like Troy-let! And the people of the city deserve more. Those residents have waited out storm after storm in that city, hoping that with each administration it would get better. They were hopeful. Their only hope, along with the surrounding towns, is to change the administration....and the sooner the better.

Downtown is NOT coming back like it was---it will be more like Lark Street/Saratoga.....as for the residents waiting out the 'storm',,,,take a lesson from Louisiana---dont wait in the Dome run like hell and take care........

Metroplex has pumped too much money into the two block area made of gold to admit that they're failing in reviving Schdy. As Senders said keep telling the lie until everyone believes it.

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Metroplex has pumped too much money into the two block area made of gold to admit that they're failing in reviving Schdy. As Senders said keep telling the lie until everyone believes it.

When did I say that???

I think it's that comment, oh, how do you say it???


SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!

http://www.dailygazette.com

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SCHENECTADY
Eatery to open on State Street
Union graduate excited to bring Bombers to city
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

   A Union College graduate who once drove an ice cream truck in Scotia plans to open his second Tex-Mex restaurant, Bombers Burrito Bar, directly across from Proctors in 2008, he said Thursday.
   “It’s our 10-year anniversary Oct. 3, and I wanted to pick the perfect place. And I feel Schenectady is that place,” said Matt Baumgartner.
   Baumgartner opened his fi rst Bombers on Lark Street in Albany 10 years ago next month, using $15,000 he won at a poker game at Turning Stone Casino. The Lark Street Bombers will remain open.
   He will lease 3,500 square-feet at 433 State St., adjacent to Center City on the west, in space occupied by Nextel and Scooters, said Ray Gillen, chairman of the Metroplex Development Authority. Metroplex will provide Baumgartner with a facade grant, he said.
   The new Bombers will have a liquor license and will offer Tex-Mex food, but no live entertainment.
   Baumgartner said opening his second Bombers in Schenectady “is sort of a homecoming to me. I went to college at Union and worked at GE and then I drove an ice cream truck in Scotia. I am familiar with the area and am excited about being part of it.”
   Baumgartner, a native of New Hartford in Oneida County, studied Spanish and economics at Union College. After graduating, he took a job in financial management at General Electric Co. in Schenectady, but quit after his poker game win.
   Baumgartner wasn’t always keen on Schenectady’s downtown, but Metroplex officials asked him to take another look. What he saw helped make up his mind to invest there after he sold another Albany club, Noche Lounge, which he opened in 2005.
   “I had looked at Schenectady in the past and was hesitant,” Baumgartner said. “Now, I am really excited. I can’t wait.”
   Schenectady County Legislature Chairwoman Susan Savage, who had pressed Gillen to get Bombers downtown, said, “This is a project we worked on for a long time. We are excited to have a new venue for the downtown arts and entertainment district.”
   Gillen said Baumgartner signed a lease agreement Thursday with Metroplex. “This is the first of many exciting things we have planned,” he said. He called Bombers on Lark Street “a very popular spot, a major destination,” and he said the new Bombers “fits in with the eclectic mix of retailers we are bringing downtown.”
   David Buicko, chief operating officer of the Galesi Group, a major downtown developer, said the opening of Bombers provides “a great venue to come back to after Proctors and the movie theater. The more places people can go to for entertainment and fun, the better.”
   Galesi’s next downtown venture is to take over operations of Center City in mid-October from current owners, The Lupe Group.  

  
  
  

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Schenectady County Legislature Chairwoman Susan Savage, who had pressed Gillen to get Bombers downtown,

Nothing says class like getting all dressed up for a night out, going to Proctors to see Phantom of the Opera, and then finishing the night off with a couple of burittos at Bombers Buritto Bar.  Susan Savage has a wonderful vision of downtown Schenectady.  I haven't been downtown in years, but now that I know there is a buritto bar, there's no place else in the area I would go.  

Now I understand why they haven't tried to relocate the head shops on jay Street......It fits the Morris/Savage vision of downtown.  Coffee shops, head shops, studio apartments.  They're turning it into hippie heaven.  These hippie's Morris and Savage want to turn downtown Schenectady into Haight St. and Ashbury.  Next thing Metroplex will be moving downtown, if it isn't already, is the free clinic.