SCHENECTADY Upper Union Street getting a boost Area to see new sidewalks, trees, signs, parking BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
The upper Union Street business district will get a fresh new look this spring as part of a $740,000 project. A public hearing on the project will be held 6 p.m. today at the Metroplex Development Authority office on the fourth floor in Center City. Metroplex and the city are each contributing $350,000 and the Upper Union Street Business Improvement District is putting in $40,000, which is coming from a state grant. The project is scheduled to be done in phases over the next three years and to cost at least $2.4 million to complete. Metroplex, the city and the BID will provide additional money for later phases based on fi nancial availability. Local merchants support the work. “I have been lobbying for this project for about eight years,” said Sondra Stephens of Sondra’s Fine Jewelry, 1624 Union St. “We are trying to make it more like Saratoga. “Everyone is waiting for [today] to see what they are going to do and how they will do it. I am all for it going forward as long as they have a plan about how they are going to handle parking, and I am interested in the time frame,” Stevens said. Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen said the upper Union Street merchants have been pressing for the project for years. “It is something they want. The business community came together and came to the city and us on it. This is taking upper Union Street to the next level and continuing the momentum there,” he said. Upper Union Street BID Chairman Guy Sementilli, of Scotti’s Restaurant & Pizzeria at 1730 Union St., said the main focus of the project is to improve pedestrian traffi c. “We need proper curb cuts. The curbs are so outdated; we need a makeover.” The project will also improve signs, add road striping and increase parking spots, he said. City Engineer Bernard Sisson said the first phase is to mill and repave Union Street from Dean Street to the city’s boundary with Niskayuna and to install new curb cuts and sidewalks along the route. In addition, trees will be planted and new light fixtures installed, similar to those on Jay Street. Sisson said the city will minimize disruption to vehicle and foot traffic by completing one side of the street at a time. The work will take approximately three months to complete. “We take out one sidewalk, pour curbs and provide temporary access to businesses and residents. We do one side at a time. There will be some disruption,” Sisson said. The second phase is to perform similar work from Dean Street to Garner Avenue, Sisson said. This work may take two years to complete and would cost approximately $1.7 million, he said. As an alternative, the city will look at replacing material inside the circle design at Union and Dean streets, Sisson said. “We will cost it out and see how expensive it is to replace,” he said. Sisson said the city will pay its share through bonding. Metroplex receives revenues from a portion of the county sales tax. Anthony Adonnino, past vice president of the Upper Union Street BID, said local merchants have been working on the project for four years. “It is a reason I became a member of the BID. I know they spent a lot of time and resources on downtown, but they need to maintain...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00901
This is Upper Union St-the college is 2 miles down. The sidewalks are pretty bad especially between Baker and Hot Harry's on Keyes Avenue. New curbing just what every shopper looks for. Nice to know that the City is so flush to afford this matching contribution. Dean St again? This is where the City wasted hundreds of thousands on Florida style bricking which buckled the first winter and had to be replaced.
Metrograft is finally shifting its focus off 2 blocks Downtown. Too late for many. Check out Tony (across from Gershon's Deli) if you need expert shoe repair. Upper Union St is the way Downtown oughta be; quality retail, diverse food, specialized services. Wish every business on Union St much success and continued profitablity.
Oh, and I'm sure that the timing has nothing to do with the fact that it is an election year!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The timing has to do more with responding to Mr. Eats letter yesterday demanding help for Mt. Pleasant. This story is a rerun. Gazetto official publication of the Metroplex Authority. All the press releases fit to reprint. Get the real deal here.
Upper Union St already is Schenectady's Downtown. Other than going to Proctor's once in a blue moon there is nothing over there. For Mexican sans the beer go to Hot Harry's/Union@Keyes. Can't help but wonder what if the $3 MILLION duped into the BIG HOSE was used on Upper Union St or better yet-returned to the taxpayers?
SCHENECTADY Speakers back Upper Union streetscape plan Merchants hope project includes more parking
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Sondra Stephens is keeping her business in Schenectady, even when the city next year begins to rip out her sidewalks and close down one side of her street. The work is part of a $2.4 million streetscape project to improve pedestrian traffic in the busy upper Union Street business district. Stephens, owner of Sondra’s Fine Jewelry, 1624 Union St., only hopes the city will add more parking spaces as part of the project, which is scheduled to take three years to complete. And she said she is willing to sacrifice gardens in front of her shop to create the parking spaces. Stephens attended a public hearing on the streetscape project Wednesday night at the office of the Metroplex Development Authority. Metroplex, the city of Schenectady and the Upper Union Street Business Improvement District are paying for the streetscape project. Phase one of the project begins this summer, at a cost of $750,000. The city and Metroplex are contributing $350,000 and the BID $40,000. The work involves remilling and repaving Union Street from Dean Street to the Niskayuna border and installing curb cuts, sidewalks, trees and new street lights along the route. Phase two is scheduled to begin in 2010 and includes similar work from Union Street at Dean to Garner Avenue. The plan is to add additional parking in front of Gershon’s Deli & Caterers, 1600 Union St. The work will cost $1.7 million. Five people attended the public hearing and all spoke in support of the project. Their only concern was that more parking be added in the business district. Stephens said on-street parking will help local business owners who have to compete with malls and their abundant parking. She said she has been approached by mall owners to locate her 12-yearold business out of the county, but said she is committed to staying in Schenectady. Iris Williams of Hulett Street said she was happy to see Union Street receive the attention but said she would also like to see Metroplex and the city do the same for businesses along Albany Street. “I would like to see it get upgraded and would like to bring back businesses to Albany Street,” Williams said. “I am representing the merchants here.” Williams is a member of ACORN, a............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01301
Gazette Reporter Lamendola characterizes ACORN as "a grass roots community organization"? ACORN is the low-income advocacy group that is currently under investigation for massive voter registration fraud. Despite the charges, this group could be eligible for billions of dollars in aid as part of the economic stimulus proposal drafted by the Democrat party majority in the House of Representatives.
ACORN supports liberal causes and routinely backs Democratic candidates for office. If the stimulus package is approved, they will receive substantial government funding. Yet, the reporter misrepresents the organization as "grass roots".
I read the Feb. 4 article [“Upper Union Street getting a boost”] regarding more beautification in Schenectady’s upper Union Street Business District. What I would like to know is, why hasn’t Wright Avenue been included in this improvement? For those of you not familiar with the street, Wright Avenue is off Union Street; it brings you to the entrance of Central Park, at the Rose Garden. Our street has been left out of every improvement since I’ve lived here, for the past seven years. The street has potholes, broken curbs around the islands which allow tractor trailers, school buses and cars to drive up on the grass. My husband and I, and our next-door neighbors, work very hard to beautify these islands in the spring, only to have them destroyed by trucks, buses, cars and people walking their dogs and leaving the mess for us to clean up. If the curbs were repaired, it would at least keep the traffic and snowplows off the islands. I hope Wright Avenue will be considered with the rest of the Union Street area improvements.
SCHENECTADY Upper Union Street project to fix up sidewalks BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.
A major sidewalk and curb project is under way along upper Union Street that is expected to take several months to complete but is not expected to affect access to businesses. The $740,000 project will install new curbs and sidewalks along both sides of upper Union Street from Dean Street to Van Antwerp Road. The project will also place 23 trees in special concrete planters along the route, along with decorative lighting fixtures. A gateway pillar will be added to welcome visitors to the business improvement district from Niskayuna. Work is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 1. “Proper curbs cuts and nicer sidewalks will help pedestrian traffic and create a nice, safer look to the district,” said Guy Sementilli, chairman of the Upper Union Street Business Improvement District and owner of Scotti’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria. Union Street will remain open to traffic during the work but will be subject to parking and lane adjustments. Businesses will remain open during the construction as well. “The city is making the project businessfriendly for us. Everything is hands-on, and communication has been great,” Sementilli said. “There will be ramps with railings from the roadway to businesses. Never will there be a time when our businesses will not be operable.” The Metroplex Development Authority and the city are each contributing $350,000 and the Upper Union Street DID is putting in $40,000, which is coming from a state grant. The city is paying its share through bonding. Metroplex receives revenues from a portion of the county sales tax. The project is scheduled to be done in phases over the next three years and cost at least $2.4 million to complete. Metroplex, the city and the BID will provide additional money for later phases based on financial availability. ......................>>>>.....................>>>>.............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01500
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This is Upper Union St-the college is 2 miles down. The sidewalks are pretty bad especially between Baker and Hot Harry's on Keyes Avenue. New curbing just what every shopper looks for. Nice to know that the City is so flush to afford this matching contribution. Dean St again? This is where the City wasted hundreds of thousands on Florida style bricking which buckled the first winter and had to be replaced.
