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Fire-scarred Schenectady building will be demolished
Motorists should avoid section of McClellan Street while work is done on Thursday
BY PAUL NELSON
Updated:07:56 p.m., Wednesday, December 29, 2010

SCHENECTADY -- A burned-out building on a busy Schenectady street corner will be razed by construction crews Thursday at a cost of $50,000.

And city officials say they hope to ultimately recoup the cost of the work from the owner.

"We don't do it for free," said Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden Wednesday, discussing planned efforts to go after the owner of the large, brick-clad building at 902 McClellan St., which until Dec. 10 had housed apartments and a Pentecostal church on the ground floor.

The structure included five one-bedroom and studio apartments on the second and third floors and the ground floor church. There were no reported injuries.

Authorities have labeled the fire suspicious and police filed drug charges against an woman who rented an upstairs apartment and were questioning her in connection with the blaze. It was unclear Wednesday if she faced any charges related to the fire.

The city attorney said the owner has been cited for maintaining unsafe conditions; Assistant Corporation Counsel Kate McGuirl is handing the prosecution. The city also has been unsuccessful in getting insurance information for the parcel, Van Norden added.

On Thursday, morning commuters should avoid McClellan Street between Eastern Avenue and Parkway and Union streets from 6 to 11 a.m. Specifically, two lanes of Eastern Parkway and one of McClellan Street will be closed, according to a statement from the city. The blighted structure is scheduled to be knocked down at 10 a.m. by Jackson Demolition Service of Schenectady, which was awarded the contract to raze it on Wednesday, city officials said...............>>>>...............>>>>..............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....55.php#ixzz19Yy1XUMm

Before Christmas...  For two days, maybe more...  National Grid had literally 3-4 trucks / vans on that corner...

The whole corner blocked off with tape and red cones I think...

I cannot figure out what the heck they were doing that took that many people that long to do.

(Assuming they were doing something relating to "killing" service to the building...  near as I can tell, they had not cut any holes in the street or sidewalk.  It really perplexed me)

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SCHENECTADY
Strapped city faces razing bill
Burned building must come down; owner owes taxes
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    A fire has left the city with yet another big bill on its hands, and it has barely enough money to pay it.
    The suspicious blaze at 902 McClellan St. on Dec. 10 left tenants and a fl edgling church homeless. Investigators are still trying to determine what started the fire. But the city’s consulting engineer has already gotten to the bottom line: the building must be demolished.
    “It will be knocked down. It presents a risk to the community because it might collapse,” Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said. “It’s been certifi ed structurally unsound.”
    A lane of Eastern Avenue in front of the building has been closed off since the fire, as has the sidewalk around it.
    Four companies put in bids for an emergency demolition project. The lowest responsible bidder was Jackson Demolition for $50,000, plus up to $10,000 for asbestos testing.
    “It’s more than we thought it would be,” Van Norden said. “So we had to scramble around to make sure we had the money.”
    Work will begin with asbestos testing today, he said.
    The city has already ticketed the owner, Frank Popolizio, in the hopes of eventually forcing him to pay for the demolition. But he also owes more than $30,000 in back taxes on the building. He hasn’t paid taxes on it in years, and American Tax Funding stopped trying to collect more taxes on him two years ago, according to city tax records. ................>>>>........................>>>>...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01302&AppName=1

Popolizio owes back taxes - there's a surprise.

Working together works! Best part the City doesn't have any money to knock it down {$50,000 plus $10,000 for asbestos removal} and the insurers don't know anything about this building. This is probably one of the deadbeat properties that the clueless City DEMS want to balance the 2012 budget. Rotsa Ruck!

     Keep up the "work"-Death Ray, Mayor SOS and Landslide Savage! You really turned things around from bad to horrible. Another downtown Gin mill that doesn't pay any taxes just might turn it around.

$15k/yr in taxes.

OH MY GOD.

It is indefensible that the taxes were that high on that building.

Too bad he didn't donate to the "cause" and stroke the right people. He would have tax-free PILOT deals!

I question the timing. The city is a nightmare to drive through during normal days. But they close off a major area of the city THE DAY BEFORE NEW YEARS EVE????

How about January 3rd?

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Body found in rubble of Schenectady fire scene
By PAUL NELSON Staff Writer
Updated:02:59 p.m., Friday, December 31, 2010

SCHENECTADY -- A man's body was found in the rubble of a fire-damaged building that was being demolished Friday, authorities said.

Investigators did not find the body when they examined the interior of 902 McClellan St., following a Dec. 10 fire that heavily damaged the building.

On Thursday, a Times Union reporter received a voice mail from a caller who reported that his brother lived in the house and had not been seen since the fire. In the brief message, the caller said his name was Frank Sheehan and that his missing brother lived on an upper floor. Sheehan did not leave his phone number and efforts to reach him failed.

The newspaper alerted two members of the police department and a member of the fire department.

Officer Michael Crounse on Friday confirmed he spoke to a Times Union reporter but he said police could not search the building because the city engineer had deemed the building structurally unsound.

Mayor Brian Stratton, District Attorney Robert Carney and several detectives are at the scene.

Evidence technicians are taking photographs and they have closed off the area around the building.

Police covered the body with a blue tarp and removed it shortly before 3 p.m...........>>>>...............>>>>........................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....33.php#ixzz19ipsIhma

No wonder they wanted it torn down so quickly

Now Popolizio might be in some serious trouble if those code violations contributed to the death of this man.

Now the Times Union has to inform the police about a Schenectady missing person? Instead of the other way around. At least the Mayor is on the scene. I'm sure he will get to the bottom of this.

Quoted from JackBauer

Now Popolizio might be in some serious trouble if those code violations contributed to the death of this man.

They have turned a blind eye at FP for decades. This will be no different.

Hey....isn't this the same guy who owns the restaurant on Erie blvd? Or is that another popolizio?

Owns something on Erie Blvd?    Betcha DV is cheering for Popolizio to get more taxpayer money.

The city should take his businesses to satisfy all the debt he is piling on the taxpayers


By the way, DV, uh, remember that scumlord Craig Alsdorf who failed to turn the heat on in the old Hotel Foster and caused a million dollars worth of damage, and then your buddies - the team of Savage/Gillen/Stratton chose to screw the taxpayers by lavishing on him a whopping quarter of a million dollars!!!!!!   AND he was tax delinquent on it and many other properties.


So, DV, what has your team of buddies done to get the taxpayers their money back from Alsdorf?    And what is your team going to do to get the taxpayers money back from Popolizio???????????????????

Of course, you have NOT said one word in opposition to giving Alsdofrf all that money for the Foster Building, so we will be waiting to see whether you say anything specifically about this Popolizio.

A sad tragedy for the dead man and his family. Then the indignity of the man's body lying there all that time.