Alleluia! I rejoice! A psychiatrist has bought the infamous Union Street Bed and Breakfast [Aug. 26 Gazette]. A doctor with his healing skills can transform the house into positives. Question: How can the “sex dungeon” be exorcised? Evelyn McClean, the Hope Diamond owner, requested a priest to bless the unlucky gem. The “dungeon” can be transformed into a classroom to teach sex addicts about peaceful mental health strategies. In my college class on abnormal psychology, I gave a research paper on sex addiction. One case study noted that the female sex addict suffered from manic depression. Another case revealed a male sex addict had a brain tumor. The sex orgy cesspool can now blossom into a sunburst of healing. ROB VICTOR CURTISS Schenectady
New plans for controversial Bed & Breakfast move ahead
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer Last updated: 12:45 a.m., Thursday, November 20, 2008
SCHENECTADY — City zoning officials have approved an application for a special use permit by a local physician to convert a much maligned Union Street bed and breakfast into a medical office, according to the man's attorney.
Stephen Signore said Wednesday night that his client Dr. Thomas Qualtere, a Slingerlands psychiatrist, had already "done a significant amount of renovations" to the three-story, Victorian-style mansion at 1362 Union Street.
And the doctor already had potential tenants lined up, Signore added.
"He has doctors who have already expressed an interest to utilize these spaces," Signore said, noting that Qualtere hoped to open for business by year's end.
The City Planning Commission approval Wednesday night is the latest step towards erasing any memories of what critics had said was a sex den run by B&B owner Robert Alexson.
He had defiantly resisted city efforts to shut him down since opening in 2001 but subsequently put the place on the market and then auctioned it off over the summer.
A notice addressed to neighbors around the property read: "We are all looking forward to a new use for this property that is more in keeping with our family-centered, residential neighborhood." A handful of some of those neighbors attended to meeting to get more information about the new doctor's facility.
In August, Dr. Qualtere outbid about nine other interested parties for the 6,000-square-foot, three-story, Victorian-style mansion built in 1896. The home at 1362 Union St. has 14 bedrooms, two large living rooms, a formal dining room and commercial kitchen.
SCHENECTADY Party’s over at former B&BMental health care offered in building where swingers met BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
People still show up at the former Union Street Bed and Breakfast looking for sex parties, almost a year after it closed and was sold at auction. But these days, they are greeted by a sign that politely tells them that the B&B no longer exists and that the building is under new management. If they are looking for mental health services, however, they have found the right place. “We take walk-ins,” said building owner Dr. Thomas Qualtere. Otherwise, they have to find their entertainment elsewhere, Qualtere said. “It no longer is a bed and breakfast, although people stop by Friday and Saturday. People still think it is a party place,” he said. Qualtere purchased the 111-yearold mansion in August for $180,000. Former owner Robert Alexson sold the building and moved to Florida. He had operated a bed and breakfast there and also advertised weekly sex parties on the premises. The basement came with a fully equipped dungeon and a hot tub. The city tried several ways to close down Alexson. In May 2008, city Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden served him with a cease-and-desist order, saying that an investigation proved that Alexson was running an adult business by hosting publicly advertised swingers’ parties in a part of the city not zoned for such an enterprise. The order gave him six months to “wind down” the parties before city officials took action on what they considered a violation of Schenectady’s zoning laws. ...........>>>>.........>>>>.............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....2&Continuation=1
Getting down to business at former playpen Psychiatrist lauded for converting building that had irked city and neighbors
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published in print: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
SCHENECTADY -- Psychiatrist Thomas Qualtere has no need in his practice for the eight-seat hot tub with extra blowers, one of the few remaining vestiges of the former Union Street sex den that had vexed city officials for years.
After a Tuesday ribbon-cutting to mark the official opening of Schenectady Mental Health Associates, Qualtere said he plans to knock down a wall to remove the tub from the basement. He recalled the shock he got when he went downstairs on Oct. 30 after closing early on his purchase of 1362 Union St. from Robert Alexson.
"I was surprised by the last three customers in their birthday suits," Qualtere said of the man and two women whom he described as "floating around like Flipper," a reference to the dolphin of television and the movies.
The basement of the 113-year-old, 6,000-square-foot Victorian mansion has been converted into a computer room and storage area for patient records.
Several speakers on Tuesday lauded Qualtere, 53, for opening a business Schenectady can take pride in.
"Today, your practice is more in keeping with the strong character of Upper Union Street," said Mayor Brian U. Stratton said during his remarks on the porch of the house that sits on the edge of the city's historic district.
Chuck Steiner, president of The Chamber of Schenectady County, talked about Qualtere's philanthropy and the fact that the practice employs "10 people and counting."
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