TU: E23 casino developer may move plan to Rensselaer, state comptroller's report: city of Albany facing financial challenges, rice cakes and hockey pucks
"Rensselaer County political sources familiar with casino developments in East Greenbush and Rensselaer" tell the Times Union that David Flaum, the developer pushing the proposed E23 casino project in Albany, is "moving toward making" the de Laet's Landing site in Rensselaer his preferred site for a casino. [TU]
A new report from the state comptroller's office detailed some of the financial challenges facing the city of Albany -- among them: 60 percent of its land is not taxable, its landfill is scheduled to close, and a third of its children live in poverty. But the city's financial state did not land it in the comptroller's category of cities under "fiscal stress." In an OSC press release, mayor Kathy Sheehan again stated that city is facing a $10 million deficit in its next budget. [NYS OSC] [NYSNYS/Troy Record] [NYS OSC]
The state Assembly transportation committee unanimously voted to move along a two-year renewal of Albany's residential parking permit system -- the first step in renewing the pilot program that is set to expire in February. (The renewal would also have to pass in the state Senate.) [TU]
A Schenectady man has been arrested in connection with last week's bomb scare in Niskayuna's Mohawk Commons shopping plaza. [WNYT]
Schenectady police are looking for burglars who broke into three separate homes overnight, making off with wallets, purses, money and video games. Residents of the neighborhood say a pedestrian tunnel under I-890 made it easy for burglars to escape their neighborhood, and have been asking the city to seal the tunnel off. [WNYT][TWCN]
Tuesday in the retrial of Adrian Thomas for the alleged murder of his 4-month old son: The boy's maternal grandmother testified that Matthew Dante Thomas was healthy before he was found unresponsive in his crib on September 21, 2008. [TU]
A 19 year old Kingston man will spend 15 years in prison after admitting that he killed a five-week-old when the baby would not stop crying.[WNYT][TU]
Two men were shot in Albany's West Hill neighborhood on Monday, but managed to walk into Albany Med on their own. SNUG members are expected to hold an anti-gun violence rally at the scene of the shooting later today.[TU][News 10]
Troy Fire Chief Thomas Garrett on the structure at 4-6-8-10 King street, which he says was a danger to public and firefighter safety:"I had the authority to take it down. I took it down" [TU]
A 53-year-old bicyclist has died after riding into the path of a car at the intersection of Federal and King Streets in Troy.[WNYT][TU]
A pick up truck driver is charged with leaving the scene of an accident and reckless endangerment, after he allegedly passed a group of motorcyclists in Lake George and slammed on the breaks in front of them, causing one biker to crash into the back of his truck. This was one of three accidents on the first day of this year's Americade motorcycle rally.[TU][WNYT]
Saratoga's City Council will hold a special meeting tonight on the proposed $30-million project to expand the racino to include a 108-room hotel and restaurant and 24-thousand feet of event space. The issue came up at a City Council meeting on Tuesday and the possibility of the city becoming a lead agency was a topic of disagreement. [Saratogian]
The Saratoga City Center is seeking permission to put a 500 spot, four story parking garage on it's parking lot. [WNYT]
A Rensselaer County Jury convicted Joseph Bensalah of assault for hitting a woman in the head with a snow shovel after he was thrown out of a South Troy bar.[TU]
NYS Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman on fracking and a uniform state energy police for natural gas vs a community's right to determine their quality of life "You don't bulldoze over the voice of the people on how they want to live." The high court is expected to decide by July 4 whether municipalities can use local zoning laws to ban tracking within their borders. [TU][News 10]
The state's highest court will look at the case of a Cohoes High School student who was arrested in 2010 for bullying remarks he made on Facebook that police believed violated Albany County's cyber-bullying law but civil libertarians say were perfectly legal. [TU]
The Schenectady City Council is seeking permission from the state to install red light cameras -- a request state officials never responded to when current mayor, then councilman Gary McCarthy first made the request.[Gazette]
Neighbors in Schenectady's Hamilton Hill neighborhood are fighting a proposal to replace a convince store that burned down in 2008, which was notorious for loitering and criminal activity. [Gazette]
The president of Railway Supply Institute urged federal regulators to support recommendations for stronger tank cars to transport crude oil.[TU]
Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson want to create a pocket park at the end of Union Avenue to honor the city's 100th anniversary.[TU]
Not summering in Saratoga this year: California Chrome.[TU]
If the Kings win the Stanley Cup, Jerry Brown gets a basket with Suffolk County Oysters, Saratoga Kettle Chips and Anchor Bar Wing Sauce, cupcakes and a hockey puck. If the rangers win Andrew Cuomo gets--rice cakes? Lightly salted. [NYT][TU]
When Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter were Colonie's boys of summer.
Hi there. Comments have been closed for this item. Still have something to say? Contact us.
Comments
From the Comptroller's report:
"The City’s population increased from 94,151 to nearly 135,000 during the first half of the twentieth century before falling back to 95,658 by 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, the population grew by
2.3 percent, to 97,856.
In 2013, Albany’s unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, compared to a statewide rate of 7.7 percent.
Albany is wealthier than most other New York cities when measured by household income. Albany’s median household income in 2012 was $40,145, higher than the median for all cities
of $38,913, although lower than the $57,683 statewide median.
However, the City also has relatively high levels of poverty. Approximately one in three children in Albany lived in poverty in 2012 (34.2 percent), compared to a city median of 28.4 percent and a statewide rate of 21.0 percent."
From this report, it shows Albany has a fairly stable population and while the unemployment rate isn't great, it is better than the overall state rate.
This is the part that grabbed my attention:
Albany's median household income is just slightly higher than other cities but 34.2% of our children live in poverty.
I expect that the comptroller used the official government definition and threshold for poverty, which as defined by HHS is only $15,730 for a two person household (single parent/one child). Can you imagine that?
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm
It's shameful that one in three Albany children is living in poverty - when (I think) the statewide rate is still bad at one in five. We're talking about children, who hold no power over their circumstances. How do we justify that? More importantly, how do we fix that? Can we utilize the 'Bridges out of Poverty' constructs to actuate change in our community?
http://schenectadybridges.com/
... said capgirl on Jun 5, 2014 at 10:15 AM | link