Items tagged with 'Schenectady'
Schenectady Ale Trail
Great Flats Brewing in downtown Schenectady.
There is now a Schenectady Ale Trail and -- as you might guess from the name -- it's a collection of craft brewers in Schenectady County that are already operating or will be soon:
+ Frog Alley Brewery - opening soon in the new Mill Artisan District development in downtown Schenectady
+ Wolf Hollow Brewery - Glenville
+ Great Flats Brewery - downtown Schenectady
+ Mad Jack Brewery - in the Stockade in Schenectady
+ Druthers Brewery - Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady
+ Back Barn Brewery - opening in 2019 in Duanesburg
The marketing effort is offering a digital passport program for $40, which includes a free beer flight at each of the breweries. And if you go to all stops, you can get a free t-shirt.
The announcement of the Schenectady Ale Trail from Discover Schenectady also included some bits about the various brewing system capacities and production at the participating breweries that might be interesting to beer nerds. They're below.
Gawking at the new Schenectady train station
In a bit of a surprise the new Schenectady train station opened this past Wednesday, a few weeks ahead of the announced schedule. The $23 million station is the replacement for the old 1970s station that was demolished last year.
We had a few free minutes in downtown Schenectady today, so we stopped by to gawk at the station. It's small, but nice. And it has that new station smell.
We've included a handful of photos if you'd like to have a look.
The design is said to be inspired by the old-old Schenectady train station -- Schenectady Union Station, the one built in 1910 -- that was knocked down in 1971. For a while Schenectady's train service was moved to a stop in Colonie. See Carl's history of the demise of the old-old station.
As nice as the new station is, the best thing about it might be its location downtown just off the corner of Erie Boulevard and State Street. Of the Capital Region's four core cities, Schenectady is the only one that still has an operating train station right in its downtown. It's a reminder of what could have been for a place like Albany.
It's kind of great that you can walk to a train in the heart of Manhattan, say, and hop off right in downtown Schenectady and walk to a destination there.
Follow up: The Mop & Bucket Improv Theater
Amy Schumer dropped in at MopCo last week for a pop-up show
AOA is on summer break. So we'll have new follow-ups with people we've met and covered during the last year (or so).
Just over a year ago, The Mop & Bucket Company -- the Capital Region's longest running improv troupe -- took a leap of faith. Troupe founder Michael Burns and his wife and partner Kat Koppett purchased an abandoned firehouse on North Jay Street in Schenectady, renovated it, and created the MopCo Improv Theater.
They had hopes of creating not just a place for improv performance, but a community space for all sorts of performance, classes, and a hub for creativity. A year later they're creating new improv formats, playing to sold-out houses, expanding their repertoire of classes, and hosting a wide variety of performers from improv to storytellers to sketch comedy.
Oh, and last week, Amy Schumer paid them a visit for a sold out pop-up show.
Michael Burns, who's also MopCo's artistic director, talked with us about this last year of making things up.
Music Haven 2018 lineup
Nigerien singer/songwriter/guitarist Bombino opens the series in July.
The lineup for this summer's Music Haven series in Schenectady's Central Park is out.
One of the things that distinguishes Music Haven among the free summer concert series is its focus on world, jazz, and roots music. And a bunch of upgrades to the venue itself are set to debut this season.
This venue's schedule also includes a handful of concerts beyond the typical Sunday evening Music Haven concerts.
The series starts July 8. Here's the lineup...
Spin Doctors at Schenectady County SummerNight 2018
This year's Schenectady County SummerNight is July 13, and the headline is the band Spin Doctors.
Also part of the lineup: the bands Lucy and Bendt.
SummerNight is a free block party on State Street in downtown Schenectady from 5-10 pm. Shops will be open, and there are food vendors, kids activities, a sand sculpture, and fireworks at the end of the night. It's become a huge event -- last year's SummerNight drew an estimated 20,000 people.
By the way: It's been 27 years since Spin Doctors released Pocketful of Kryptonite, which sold more than 5 million copies in the US. And, according to the band's Wikipedia page, they've been together together and making albums ever since, except for a two-year hiatus around the early 2000s.
photo: Lucy Onions
GE Realty Plot walking tours
Nobel Prize winner Irving Langmuir lived in this home on Stratford Road in the plot. / photo: Wikipedia user Daniel Case (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Schenectady city historian Chris Leonard is leading a walking tour of the GE Realty Plot neighborhood May 19. Blurbage:
Leonard will cover the dynamic events and unique cast of characters who have called "The Plot" their home. The tour includes stories and anecdotes about GE inventors and executives, Schenectady business and political leaders, entertainers, and incomparable individuals, as well as the formation of The Plot and ongoing efforts to protect these stately homes. Some of the many luminaries covered include Charles P. Steinmetz, Irving Langmuir, Izetta Jewel Miller and Ernst Alexanderson.
The GE Realty Plot sits just to the east of Union College. The college sold the land at the beginning of the 20th century to General Electric (it was trying to pay off some debt) and the company developed the plot for homes for its executives and researchers. It's a beautiful, walkable neighborhood.
The walking tour is the morning of Saturday, May 19. Tickets are $20 -- "which includes entry into one of the homes, and a 15-minute break with snacks on its large front porch" -- and available online.
By the way: It looks like this tour will be offered each month through October.
Dry goods and carpets
Knit underwear? Check.
— Schenectady Hist Soc (@SchenectadyHist) January 31, 2018
Dapper staff? Check.
Carpet hanging from the windows? Check.
H.B. Salisbury's Dry Goods and A.B. Coffin's Carpets at 162 State St. was the place to be. pic.twitter.com/AFfubHwJUr
The Schenectady County Historical Society shared this photo on Twitter Wednesday of the old Salisbury Dry Goods and Coffin Carpets that was once on State Street in Schenectady. The historical society says the photo is labled 1885-1888.
We're always suckers for old storefront photos. But the thing that really caught us about this pic is the people. If you click over to the large version of the pic, you can see them more clearly. They're all dressed up. And it's like they're all not exactly sure about how to stand there while having their photo taken.
We wonder what they'd think if someone told them them that more than a century later this photo would be translated into instructions by a machine, transmitted across wires and the open air, and then displayed on pieces of glass that people carry around in their pockets.
By the way: The historical society's Grems-Doolittle Library and Archive has a good blog that highlights pieces and stories from its collection.
Galaktoboureko at Blue Ribbon
Galactic burrito!
That's not what we're talking about today, but it's how to phonetically sound out galaktoboureko, the subject of this edition of Eat This!
The galaktoboureko -- a 3-inch high pastry -- is difficult to pronounce at first, and perhaps that's why it often goes by it's more common moniker: Greek custard.
Cereal sundae from Bumpy's Polar Freeze
The lies we tell ourselves as adults: It's completely fine to eat ice cream -- just ice cream -- as a meal if 1) you skipped some other meal in the day, or 2) you've been sick/it's been a bad day, or 3) it's the only viable thing you can really bring yourself to make.
The guilt association or judgements of ice-cream-as-a-meal are laid to waste when you add in some sort of traditional meal fodder -- for instance, cereal.
Bumpy's Polar Freeze in Schenectady understands.
Neba Sandwich from Mike's Neba
Whoever coined the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" probably didn't mean for the quip to apply to a sandwich.
Hey, love comes in many forms, including -- but not limited to -- roast beef layered between bread.
When people speak of comfort food, sandwiches are rarely listed in the ranks, but sometimes a PBJ just the way Mom made it, or a melty grilled cheese, provides a feeling of warmth akin to the embrace of a lover after a detente from distance or quarrels.
The Super Neba from Mike's Neba in Schenectady offers the same.
The new design for the Schenectady train station
That image above is a rendering of the new train station planned for Schenectady. There are a few more renderings after the jump if you're curious.
Andrew Cuomo made a stop in the city Tuesday afternoon to reveal the design for the $23 million station. It's the second go-around for the project. You might remember that the first attempt -- announced in 2015 -- ended up having to be re-bid after the the only bidder quoted a price $10 million higher than the amount budgeted. The old station was closed last month. [Cuomo admin] [DSIC] [Daily Gazette] [TU]
This new design looks like it might be more aesthetically attractive than the first one. It's scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
A look around Great Flats Brewing
Every month it seems like there's a new brewery somewhere around the region. And one of the most recent is Great Flats Brewing in Schenectady.
The brewery opened three months downtown, and this Thursday had its official ribbon cutting.
Here's a look around the brewery space, along with a few bits about what's going on there.
A look around the new Slidin' Dirty in Schenectady
The popular restaurant Slidin' Dirty opened a new location in the Foster Building on State Street in downtown Schenectady Thursday. It's the second location for owners Brooke and Tim Taney, who started out with a food truck in 2012, and then opened a permanent location in downtown Troy in 2014.
The new spot in Schenectady is much bigger than the Troy location, occupying two floors behind a large arch window that looks out onto the street.
Here's a look around the new space, along a few quick bits from the Taneys about why the picked Schenectady and the path from a food truck to multiple locations.
Electric City Trolley
Earlier this month when CDTA announced the new Capital City Shuttle service for downtown Albany, officials mentioned that they were working on a similar service for Schenectady.
And the transit org officially announced that service Tuesday: The Electric City Trolley starts this Thursday, June 22. It'll run Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 4 pm to 1 am, with pick-ups every 20 minutes at each stop. And it's free.
That's a map of the route above.
Like the Albany service, the Electric City Trolley will have realtime schedule and tracking info as part of the Cityfinder app built by Transfinder (iOS | Android). If you've already downloaded it, you don't need to do so again -- just launch the app and it will now give you the option of which city you'd like to see.
CDTA advertises on AOA.
Capital City Shuttle
CDTA is staring up a free shuttle service this week that will run from the Warehouse District through downtown Albany to Lark Street. The "Capital City Shuttle" starts this Thursday, June 8 and will run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights through Labor Day.
"People come here without a car. People live here, who don't have a car. People work here who don't have a car. And they need a menu of options," said CDTA executive director Carm Basile while introducing the program Tuesday. "This is just another notch on our menu of options."
Here are a few more bits about the shuttle service, along with updates about the planned regionalization of taxi service and the upcoming bike share...
Blues Traveler at Schenectady County SummerNight 2017
The headliner for this year's Schenectady County SummerNight will be Blues Traveler.
Also in the music lineup: Moriah Formica and Lucy.
The free block party on State Street in downtown Schenectady is July 14 from 5-10 pm. In addition to the music, there will be kids activities, games, a sand sculpture, food vendors, a cannoli eating contest, and fireworks at the end of the night.
Walking tours of Schenectady, scandalous and otherwise
The upcoming slate of Schenectady walking tours organized by the Schenectady County Historical Society is out -- and it includes a "Scandalous Schenectady" tour June 6:
From bootleggers to brothels, Schenectady's Stockade is no stranger to scandal. Join us for a walking tour of Schenectady's sordid moments, and stay late for a drink special at the reputed Stockade Inn!
The full schedule is below -- tour topics include architecture, African-American history, Jewish history, and pre-revolution history.
SCHS also has more of its popular "Secret Stockade" tours planned for the summer months (details at that link above).
Drink Schenectady
The The Capital Craft Beverage Trail has an event called Drink Schenectady coming up Saturday, April 15 at the Schenectady Armory from 2-6 pm.
It's similar to the Drink Albany event held in the fall. Blurbage:
Enjoy samples from all local Capital Region beer and cider producers along with local live music, vendors, food and games. All proceeds for the event go to benefit the Capital Craft Beverage Trail Association. ...
Early bird general admission tickets are $35 until April 1, after that they're $40. There's also a VIP ticket for $60 that gets you in early for a cocktail hour.
Capital Craft Beverage Trail? Mission statement: "To promote the facilities of craft and farm-based beverage producers in the Capital Region of New York as a unified tourist destination, including representing, protecting and promoting the common business and regulatory interests of its members and their role as part of the fabric of Capital Region and to promote tourism in the region."
New life for buildings in Schenectady's Eastern Ave neighborhood -- and aspirations to lift the whole neighborhood
Schenectady's Eastern Avenue neighborhood, a residential strip not far from downtown and Union College, has been struggling for years with blighted buildings and closed businesses.
But several people are now looking past the deterioration and neglect, instead focusing on the potential behind the century-old homes and historic structures. They're investing money and time toward bringing new life to individual properties, hoping to lift the entire neighborhood.
Here's a look at a handful of people and projects.
Gawking at the new Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady
The Rivers Casino and Resort is set to open next Wednesday, February 8 at the Mohawk Harbor site on Erie Boulevard in Schenectady -- as you've no doubt heard.
There was a tour for members of the media yesterday as the casino continued its final preparations and trainings. So we went to have a gawk at the project that's gotten so much hype since the state's December 2014 selection of Rush Street Gaming to build and run a casino at the site.
Here are a bunch of photos...
A few details about the proposed Mill Artisan District project in Schenectady
A rendering of of the proposed project from the REDC briefing book.
One of the interesting -- and potentially transformative -- Capital Region projects to get state money during the recent Regional Economic Development Council awards is The Mill Artisan District. The project aims to renovate a three-block area in downtown Schenectady into space for craft beverage producers, artists, retail, and residential.
Here are a few more bits about the project, along with some of the potential tenants...
I-890 from above
If ever you thought you'd like to zone out while watching aerial video of the newly reconfigured I-890 interchange in downtown Schenectady,* the Cuomo administration helpfully provided such video Thursday as part of the official completion announcement of the project.
The clips also include some views of downtown Schenectady and the GE campus.
But, mostly, it's just one shot after another of infrastructure, man.
____
* Not likely, but you never know.
A look at MopCo's new Schenectady theater
The new MopCo Theater is at 10 North Jay Street in Schenectady.
Two things we should disclose before you start reading this post.
1. One half of AOA performs with the Mop & Bucket Company. (Hint: It's not Greg)
2. The Mop & Bucket Company advertises on AOA.
MopCo, the long-standing Capital Region improv company, now has its own theater -- a renovated former firehouse (and onetime strip club) on North Jay Street. It's sharing the space with its sister company, Koppett, which uses improv to train employees of companies such as Facebook and Apple in creativity.
In addition to its own improv shows, MopCo will use the new theater to host other improv troupes, classes, readings, music performances, story nights, and a wide variety of other special events.
MopCo officially opens the new space this Saturday with a TheaterSports show by its house team.
The company has been playing at Proctors for many years. For the last two years it worked on growing the business in a small rented space on Union Street while it searched for a permanent home.
The founders considered different areas in the Capital Region, but eventually found that home right around the corner in a broken down building in Schenectady's Little Italy.
Mapping a history of inequality in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy
A clip from the HOLC map for Albany.
You've probably heard of the term "redlining" -- it refers to the practice of denying services, such as mortgage lending, to people in certain neighborhoods based on the race or ethnicity of the people who live there. It's one of the ways discrimination became incorporated into economic systems in this country.
The practice and the term have roots that stretch back to the 1930s and a federal program called the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), which surveyed cities and graded sections of them based on perceived "security" of investments there. From those surveys came maps -- with redlined sections.
A project based at the University of Richmond and involving researchers from a handful of institutions -- Mapping Inequality -- has gathered up these maps and made them accessible online.
So we pulled out the maps for Albany, Schenectady, and Troy.
Breathing Lights begins
Stanley Street in Schenectady
The much-anticipated Breathing Lights project opens this weekend in Albany, Schenectady and Troy. For the next two months hundreds of vacant buildings in the three cities will be illuminated from the inside by gently pulsing lights as part of the public art installation.
The project is backed by up to $1 million in funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies, and it won out over more than 200 other entries in a national competition for public art projects.
Here's a quick overview, along with some thoughts at the start of the project's public phase...
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?