Admiring Troy
Oh, look, there's Troy, in a big feature in in today's New York Daily News. A clip:
"Troy is the place where Henry Hudson turned around," goes the chorus of a rock anthem by The Parlor, a popular band from this upstate town.
But while the famous explorer didn't find the Northern Passage to the spice markets of Asia, a new generation of urban entrepreneurs is discovering opportunities here.
With an abundance of affordable studios, shops and homes in grand turn-of-the-century buildings, artisans, restaurateurs, and other creative types are helping resurrect this venerable old town just north of Albany.
It goes on to mention the Confectionery, multiple residential/retail conversions, Ekologic, RPI and other names you'll recognize. If you've been following along with what's up in Troy lately, there's not much in the feature that you don't already know. But it's some pretty sweet pub for the city, especially in a publication the size of the Daily News.
A little more context for the feature: The author is Suzanne Spellen, who made a name for herself in New York as "Montrose Morris" on the popular Brooklyn Brownstowner site. Last year she made the move from Brooklyn to Troy, which got mentioned by the New York Observer.
As Spellen wrote on Brownstoner at the time:
The reason for this piece is a culmination of those plans. In a week, I'm moving out of Brooklyn, and am moving to Troy, N.Y. If you don't know, Troy is a beautiful little city seven miles north of Albany, on the Hudson. It used to be the second most prosperous city in America, home to a large steel industry and garment factories. Troy was called the "Collar City," because of all of the factories manufacturing starched, detachable collars and cuffs for shirts at the end of the 19th century. It's got some fantastic architecture, some by names I've mentioned here, and although it has been in the same economic decline as many other small cities upstate, like Brooklyn, it's on the rise, with a bourgeoning arts scene, markets, music and high-tech manufacturing.
There's so much more to Troy, including its largest employers, Rensselaer Poly Tech (RPI) and Russell Sage College. It's on the Hudson, and near the Amtrak Station to New York City. There's preservation galore going on up there, and in nearby Albany. Much of the city actually looks like parts of Brooklyn, as seen in the photo above of Washington Park. I'm renting a fabulous place, in North Central Troy, owned by a friend, also from Brooklyn. It's going to be great. Look out, Troy.
And, as you might expect, she's started a blog about Troy. And she's been writing about the city for Brownstoner.
image: NY Daily News
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Comments
I love Troy! Great article.
... said Kathleen Lisson on Oct 4, 2013 at 2:28 PM | link
it is great that these new Trojan businesses are getting attention and Troy is being recognized for the awesome place that it is, but the fact is that the people who made Troy ripe for this Renaissance are being ignored and overlooked for their contribution. This process started 10 years ago; not in November 2012. But cheers and congrats.
... said colleen on Oct 4, 2013 at 3:32 PM | link
I know there were gems in Troy long before the Confectionery. Nobody is saying there wasn't. However, the wine bar put Troy on the map for a ton of people who wouldn't have ventured there in the first place. I'm sure since November of 2012 many business have enjoyed better numbers and traffic. Sure, everyone would like a mention in an article like this or many others that have been published locally, but rest assure they're not complaining about a boost in business.
... said L-town on Oct 5, 2013 at 12:20 PM | link
So true, it's funny to see these people stand on the front lines and accept all the credit for what's going on in Troy right now, but the truth in the matter is that there was great people in Troy that started the ball rolling. Vic was still chasing all the girls around Troy with baseball bats when this started. Let's keep it real. Some stripes can't be covered
... said Troy guy on Oct 5, 2013 at 5:47 PM | link
Sounds like the old cool places better step up their game, learn some new tricks or get a good marketing company. They were there before, and they are there still there now, but it doesn't last forever. And they better make changes or get creative like every other business in the world has to survive and thrive. All part of small business hell.
Vic and Heather are seriously hard workers and came up with some creative ideas, who cares where they came from or what they were doing before? They also go above and beyond in customer service just like a bunch of my other owner/friends in Troy. I've got great stories and I tell them to who will listen to me babble. Who doesn't keeping their money with their friends in the city the live in?
... said Kevin McCashion on Oct 7, 2013 at 3:02 PM | link
so classy to anonymously post garbage about people on the internet. oh wait...
people act like they write all these articles about themselves. put away the sour puss and enjoy troy.
... said L-town on Oct 8, 2013 at 8:25 AM | link