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The NEW Schenectady (Part 11): The good, the bad and the ugly in Central State Street
By Kathleen Moore

Neighbors look out for each other amid crime, run-down buildings

SCHENECTADY — It seems like there’s always construction going on in the Central State Street neighborhood.

There are many abandoned and badly deteriorated buildings in the neighborhood, but a constant influx of new owners has kept the streets busy with contractors replacing roofs, propping up old porches and painting window sills.

There are still many vacant buildings left. And the construction has been largely fueled by investment landlords. Now, what was once a owner-occupied neighborhood has so many renters that there are entire blocks without a single owner.

But renters said they found something unusual when they moved to Central State Street. There, they said, they were treated like owners. Many renters said they were greeted by their neighbors as soon as they moved in. That tradition is usually reserved for new owners, who are seen as more likely to live in the neighborhood for years.

But then, in this neighborhood, renters often stay for years.

Carla Cappiello was surprised when her upstairs neighbors, also renters, came down to meet her after she moved in.

“They came down and introduced themselves,” she said, adding that they began treating each other like “real” neighbors.

“They actually went on vacation and we watched their birds for them,” she said.

She goes upstairs to borrow sugar and eggs if she runs out.

Other renters have banded together to enforce proper behavior in the neighborhood.

When two drunk men tried to push their way into a young woman’s apartment, her next-door neighbor was horrified that she didn’t have anyone to help her.

“He said, ‘We don’t put up with that around here. If anything happens, you call me immediately.’ That meant a lot,” said Michele S., who asked that her last name not be used.

Longtime tenants said they particularly look out for new renters who appear to be impoverished. Often, young mothers or young couples with their first child move into the neighborhood because they’re looking for a safer but affordable environment for their children, they said.

Neighbors have pitched in to buy them everything from diapers to food. It’s not organized — just something that tenants said they did, on their own, because it was the right thing to do.

One of the recipients, Becky Benoit, said her next-door neighbor’s help is the best thing about the neighborhood.

“They do a lot of stuff for us, if we need anything, and they won’t let us pay them back. I’ve tried,” she said.

Shifting demographics

A third of the neighborhood’s population is children, according to the 2010 Census. That’s a change from two decades ago, when the neighborhood was primarily made up of elderly residents. More than 3,000 people have left — and been replaced with new faces — in the past decade........................>>>>....................>>>>................https://www.dailygazette.com/news/2011/sep/12/0912neighborhood/?mobile

The more I read these reviews of the Schenectady neighborhoods, the more I get the sense that it's just a ploy for McCarthy in the November election.

Really? The neighborhood where a man was recently found dead in a vacant buidling? Where hookers are everywhere and we're looking at neighbors borrowing sugar from each other???

Yellow journalism 101.

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“They actually went on vacation and we watched their birds for them,” she said.

She goes upstairs to borrow sugar and eggs if she runs out.

OMG.....I guess this neighborly behavior is enough to make anyone want to move there!!!  
They are kidding here....right?????
Do most of these folks have jobs too?
I mean why else would anyone want to move here?...........for the jobs, of course!

She probably got the sugar and eggs with her benefit card

The neighborhood where Bethesda House was dumped and displaced a minority business. Where Trustco is robbed monthly. Where police have to shoot an armed nut running around in broad daylight. Gang and graffiti headquarters where you can't give away property. And this "reporter" is worried about borrowing sugar? Keep the progress going?

Quoted from rachel72

The more I read these reviews of the Schenectady neighborhoods, the more I get the sense that it's just a ploy for McCarthy in the November election.

Really? The neighborhood where a man was recently found dead in a vacant buidling? Where hookers are everywhere and we're looking at neighbors borrowing sugar from each other???

Yellow journalism 101.

This is so funny i cant stop laughing. 'Wow, takes a life form lower than a rock to ruin a thread about good will .... " .

Schenectady- a place where people can find  something  crappy to say anytime anywhere-  

Quoted from Sombody

This is so funny i cant stop laughing. 'Wow, takes a life form lower than a rock to ruin a thread about good will .... " .

Schenectady- a place where people can find  something  crappy to say anytime anywhere-  

The question everyone should be asking themselves..........is why would a 'family' move to schenectady....including that area? Is it because of the vast number of good paying available jobs? or is it because of the lucrative welfare benefits? What are the stats?

THOSE are the important issues that should have been addressed.  People borrowing sugar and feeding birds isn't a 'story'.....it is nothing more than FLUFF.

And that ain't no CRAP!

Central State Street has drive-by shootings in broad daylight, if they are talking about the area above McClellan. So much for the concern for families.
This is propaganda. Who said it was a thread about good will?

Quoted from Sombody

ruin a thread about good will .... " .
  

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Really? The neighborhood where a man was recently found dead in a vacant buidling? Where hookers are everywhere and we're looking at neighbors borrowing sugar from each other???

That's not sugar  

Quoted from Sombody

This is so funny i cant stop laughing. 'Wow, takes a life form lower than a rock to ruin a thread about good will .... " .

I'm so flattered you you've taken the time to read my post! My above quote was from the 9/11 thread.

The only way to change these areas is not by lying about it in an article, it's about putting City resources at work, getting jobs to our City and stop placating the masses. This is not a good will article, it's yellow journalism and a ploy for the upcoming campaign...in my opinion.  

This is one in a series of articles purportedly to show what the neighborhoods are really like now, as opposed to perceptions which are sometimes outdated. It is telling that the reporter didn't bother to interview someone with a deep, current knowledge of some of these neighborhoods, even though that source was very near. I'm speaking of Judy Atchinson. Why wasn't she interviewed? She seems to be very articulate, informed, and very forthcoming as to the day to day reality of life in these neighborhoods. At no time was this series presented as being about good will. A series of touching vignettes about neighbor helping neighbor doesn't cut it as far as journalism.
The reporter skimmed over or sanitized some of the pertinent facts. Why would a family move here? That is a GOOD question. "In search of a better life" or "a safer environment for their child" are euphemisms, and in my opinion, no editor should allow an article to be published which contains obvious euphemisms or raises more questions than it answers, if the purpose of the article is supposedly to inform. Safer but affordable? In an area with drive-by shootings? Safer than what???
The reporter seems astonished that there are actually some nice people in some of these "bad" neighborhoods. This to me isn't newsworthy, the reporter's personal epiphany.
I agree with Rachel. McCarthy's campaign materials contain the phrase, "The Neighborhoods are Next!" and this seems like the warm-up.

When it's stated" the neighborhoods are next" SPECIFICALLY what does that statement entail.   Condemming homes, fixing streets/sidewalks, infrastructure enhancements?   If the main issue in many of the neighborhoods is the TYPE of people residing there, nothing short of mass evictions of any neg. element will alleviate that concern.   You can forget that as a viable possibility.   So what you may wind up with is a very nice improved infrastructure with the same inhabitants residing there.   After these improvements why would ANYONE want to move out then.    Some may look upon it as pretty gift wrapping paper over a box of rocks.   Another way to look upon these hood improvements, one could suppose, is that this would drive out any neg. element.   Any proof of that in the past?   What say you?

Well, the Vale neighborhood got the sidewalk/bricks etc. treatment a few years back and it has only gotten worse. I don't think any neighborhood is getting infrastructure improvements as far as sewers/storm drains or anything vital like that. The city seems committed to doing it piecemeal, on an emergency basis. So you'll frequently be seeing redone areas torn up again right away to fix something underground.
I wish whoever becomes mayor would give up on these grandiose plans and just do the job of running the city. See that the police department is functional, the roads get plowed, the sewers work, department heads know what their job is and do it, etc. We used to have a dog census. When was the last time that was done? I really think half the traffic lights in the city need synchronization. How is it that we have such high taxes and poor or nonexistent delivery of services? I think if I were mayor I would pay a consultant to do an in-depth study of the city's revenues/expenses.
I'm getting off topic, but no, I don't think there is any proof of the kind of projects you describe actually improving an area. You don't get gentrification  without the "gentry".