I don't think I ever went into the Silver Diner, but I think, from what I remember, that's about what the inside of Tops used to look like before they went ahead and built the new building (which I must say is now one of the crown jewels of Rotterdam...we could use more like it).
I remember eating at the Silver Diner. Morrettes and Mikes Hot Dogs were around back then too. As teenagers, we would goto the movies, either at the State Theater, Proctors or the Plaza. When the movie was over, we would walk to one of those diners/resaurants to eat.
Morrettes had the best steak sandwiches around and Mikes hot dogs and hamburgers were good too. Then there was Carols and the small hamburger shop near the corner of River Rd and Erie Blvd. The White Tower and the Toddle House across from what was the old Van Curler Hotel. You could walk all over the city and feel totally safe as crime was almost unknown back then.
SCHENECTADY Worry over toxins delays sale of diner BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Nearly a year after the Schenectady City Council agreed to sell the Silver Diner, it’s still not in buyer Ed Zemeck’s hands. A legal argument over the unlikely possibility of an environmental disaster has held up the project for 10 months. The sticking point has been this: If Zemeck finds toxins in the ground when he digs a small space for bathrooms, who would pay to clean the land? For 10 months, attorneys on both sides have argued, raising more and more unlikely possibilities as they attempted to craft a contract that would hold their clients blameless in all circumstances. Meanwhile, Zemeck reinforced the bracing on the diner, which he installed well more than a year ago in hopes of keeping the building stable until he got permission to renovate it. By now, he’d hoped to be running his office inside. “Our interest is still high. We haven’t given up yet,” he said. “We wish we could be having some action with the spring weather.” A piece of wood that fell off the diner was so old that it shrank, he added. “It just came loose. It was shrinking and drying out just from the long time it’s been there. You know, that was supposed to be a temporary situation,” he said. But he said the diner is in such poor shape that another year of inattention won’t make much difference. “It doesn’t help to let it sit there, but it can’t get much worse,” he said. In response to his frustration, the parties offered a compromise Thursday. In essence, the city has agreed to take care of any contamination from the Robinson Building, which was torn down last year near the diner. Zemeck, if he agrees, would be responsible for contamination from the diner if found in the small space to be used for bathrooms. Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen, whose agency has been mediating the dispute from the beginning, is optimistic that the compromise will be accepted. “You know lawyers,” Gillen said. “There’s all these scenarios that are just so unlikely. It’s very unlikely he will run into problems. He’s not digging in the ground except for bathrooms. So I believe we’ve reached a compromise where he’ll be able to move forward with the project.” But Zemeck wasn’t thrilled with the proposal, saying he’d be happier if the city tested the soil fi rst. A study has recommended soil tests, he said. “We can’t proceed because the city will not agree to do any testing,” he said. “I have to sign off saying I’m responsible for any hazards found in the ground. That wouldn’t be very smart for me to do.” If he accepts, he said he could begin work almost immediately. He expects to spend $400,000, including a $40,000 Metroplex loan and a $50,000 facade grant. As an engineer, he restores historic buildings for a living. He lobbied the city for four years in the hopes of saving the diner and plans to use it as his Prize Construction Company office until he can find a diner operator to.............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00903
Last May 2008, the plex hired Prize Const. (Kemeck) for $3,000 to examine the property. At that time, they were suppose to identify any asbestos or other environmental issues. I would have thought that ground contamination would have been addressed at that time. The plex, at that time said they would loan Kemeck $75,000 to put the diner in basic working order. $40,000 to help in the restoration and DSIC would give them a $50,000 facade grant.
Now in June 2008, Zemeck was allowed to buy the diner for a buck. And because the diner needed to build an addition to the diner to accommodate the restrooms, part of the Robinson's property would have been deeded to Zemeck.
Now, after that brief history of almost one year ago... if Kemeck is suppose to specialize in historic renovations, one would have thought that the ground contamination would have been paramount right from the beginning of this venture. Kemeck has been after the city for at least 4 years for this property, why is ground contamination still an issue that is not resolved?
IMHO, I don't think it is up to the taxpayers to pay for the removal of this ground contamination (if there is any)ONCE a private business purchased it. Especially purchasing it for a buck! When they already have approval for $75,000 in taxpayer's dollars toward restoration and facade grants.
I guess I am totally baffled on WHY the ground has not been tested for contamination after all of this time. This is just so metroplex. I swear they do things a** backwards...always putting the cart before the horse with failing project after failing project... at the taxpayers expense.
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 Silver Diner is another disgrace that must be put at Death Ray's feet. This is a historic diner that could have been sold and moved to another City. Instead Death Ray allowed it to fall apart, refused to act, so now it cannot be relocated. A diner exactly like this was moved from NYC to Wyoming.
This is a City that has no regard for its history, has "leaders" that lie about historic preservation and continues to make the same mistakes over and over. Meanwhile, Troy is protecting its historic Downtown and opening new businesses without a Metrograft sales tax and idiotic extra level of unelected fatcats.
Right Bumble. The Silver Diner is another Metrograft mess. A year later they bring up soil contamination? Meanwhile, Ray wins a "prize" from the worst Chamber in the State and was reappointed 13-1 by the idiots running this County into the ground. Where is silent Judy D on this taxpayer ripoff?
Friday, June 19, 2009, 2:52pm EDT Silver Diner for sale—again The Business Review (Albany) - by Michael DeMasi
A deteriorating railroad car diner in downtown Schenectady is once again for sale after a local construction company withdrew from the project.
Ed Zemeck, president of Prize Construction in Niskayuna, said he couldn’t pursue renovations of the Silver Diner on Erie Boulevard because his hands were tied by the city.
“Basically the city and Metroplex [Development Authority] didn’t fulfill some of the things they said they would do,” Zemeck said.
Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen said he didn’t want to get into a “tit for tat” with Zemeck over the project. He said the city and Metroplex needed to see progress on the structural repairs because the building probably can’t survive another winter.
“I think it was a bunch of different issues that came together,” Gillen said. “We made a lot of concessions to him along the way.”
City officials a year ago announced a deal with Prize Construction in which the company would purchase the old rail car for $1, maintain its art-deco styling and restore the interior as its new office.
The long-term plan was to eventually open a diner, recalling the days when General Electric Co. workers from the nearby factories would line the counter and fill the booths.
Those days are long gone, but historic preservationists have pushed for years to spare the diner from the wrecking ball. The city took possession of the property several years ago through a tax foreclosure.
Under the deal with Prize Construction, the Metroplex was going to loan $40,000 and the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. would have provided up $50,000 from its matching-grant facade improvement program.
Prize Construction would have spent at least $90,000.
In order for the work to proceed, Zemeck said the city was supposed to transfer ownership of adjacent land to the Metroplex and test the soil for contamination. The parcel where the diner sits would have then been enlarged to allow for future expansion and parking, Zemeck said.
Now its too late-another complete mess by Death Ray and horrible taxpayer ripoff Metrograft.
They refused to sell and move it when it had value. They refused to sell it to those that wanted to run it as a Diner. Now that it is collapsing Death Ray is worried about the County taxpayers {sheeple} and wants a quick sale? You can't make this stuff up. Death Ray has no experience in rehabbing anything. His answer is always knockdown and try unsuccessfully to rent the new building.
Future grim for Schenectady diner Wrecking ball could be served up if developer's plans don't pan out; council meeting tonight
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published in print: Monday, June 22, 2009 SCHENECTADY -- Much of a historic diner that once served General Electric workers might be hitting the trash heap.
The latest developer who agreed to resurrect the Silver Diner on Erie Boulevard has walked away from the project, and now the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority says that short of someone else immediately coming to its rescue, the 73-year-old diner will likely be scavenged for artifacts and demolished.
"It's very small and it's in very bad shape," said Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen about the diner, a converted 1918 railroad car that opened on Election Day 1936. "We've tried. We thought we had the right guy. And now unless we get serious interest, we've got to move on."
However, the developer, Prize Construction's Ed Zemeck, said Sunday it was City Hall's law and building departments that essentially quashed the deal by not allowing Zemeck to use an empty lot behind the diner to expand the building and bring it up to code.
City Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard, who wants the eatery renovated, said she'll pose the question at tonight's City Council meeting about how to make the project work.
"Everyone thought it was settled," said Blanchard, who voted with the rest of City Council last year to sell the diner to Zemeck for $1. He never took ownership of the building. "No one likes the idea of taking it apart."
Zemeck stepped forward after years of failures to save the diner, which served meals to GE workers for decades. The diner hasn't been used since the 1990s, and the city took the building back for delinquent taxes nine years ago. The roof failed, and water has severely damaged the structure. Zemeck had to erect a wood frame so the restaurant wouldn't fall into the street.
The original deal involved Zemeck renovating the diner for use as his office, and then eventually expanding behind it with another restaurant. Zemeck told the city he wanted the property behind the building right now to assist him in putting in an adequate bathroom and other renovations; that property is behind the demolished Robinson building...............>>>>...........>>>>.......................http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=812527
This is a quote from the june 6th 2008 article in the gazette....interesting when you compare it to the gazette's last article.....
Quoted Text
The diner itself sits on a tiny parcel of land, without enough space for an addition. But Robinson’s — which stretched from behind the Silver Diner to State Street — is now gone, giving Zemeck enough space to add the bathrooms. Part of the Robinson’s parcel will be deeded to Zemeck with the Silver Diner land, Gillen said.
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
Logged
The Silver Diner is another disgrace that must be put at Death Ray's feet. This is a historic diner that could have been sold and moved to another City. Instead Death Ray allowed it to fall apart, refused to act, so now it cannot be relocated. A diner exactly like this was moved from NYC to Wyoming. 
Now its too late-another complete mess by Death Ray and horrible taxpayer ripoff Metrograft. 
