All Over Albany

Albany tightened its rules for shoveling snowy sidewalks last winter -- so how'd that work out?

It should look like this.

If winter ever gets its act together and drops more snow on us, there will be sidewalks to shovel.

And shortly after that, Albany will no doubt engage in another round of its annual discussion about the fact that some sidewalks don't get shoveled.

It's an important quality of life issue for everyone in the walkable city, and it's even more important for people who have some sort of disability that makes it hard to get around. (Also: Shoveling is the neighborly thing to do.)

At the start of last winter the city of Albany tightened its rules so that the Department of General Services can now issue violations for unshoveled sidewalks directly after the 24-hour grace period following a snowfall. Ahead of that change we looked at violations the city had issued in previous winters to get a sense of where violations were being handed out, and to what sorts of properties.

Now we've had a whole winter with the new, stricter rules. So, was there a blizzard of violations issued?

Let's have a look.

(Yes, there are graphs and clickable maps, because of course there are.)

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Tea with Jack McEneny

Last week we were fortunate enough to spend a few minutes with Jack McEneny -- former state Assemblyman, unofficial Albany historian, and genuinely nice guy.

Jack visited the AOA downtown office for tea and a quick conversation. If AOA were continuing, we'd make this a regular feature, just because it's fun to spend time with Jack McEneny.

On this visit, he shared stories about getting into politics, his favorite job in his 48 years of public service, and what he thinks makes Albany a great place.

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A look around the project that's aiming to make over a big chunk of Arbor Hill

One of the largest construction projects in the city of Albany right now is spread across multiple blocks of Clinton Ave and will eventually involve 70 different buildings.

A Rochester-based company called Home Leasing is working to create more than 200 units of affordable housing in the rehabbed buildings, many of which had been vacant or were in otherwise rough shape.

Here's a look around the project, and a bunch of bits about what's in progress...

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The apartments on Elm Street, The Lionheart, Colvin Ave mixed-use, and more exciting tales of the Albany Planning Board

Exciting Tales of the Albany Planning Board is a program recorded before a live studio audience once a month in which the fates of multi-million dollar projects around the city are (partially) decided.

Included this month: Approval for those controversial Elm Street apartment buildings, a Colvin Ave apartment proposal, The Lionheart, The Wilson, demolitions and how big is that sign...

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Clinton Square, every hundred years or so

We've had a bunch of items lately about the Clinton Square section of downtown Albany because the city is in the process of figuring out which projects there should get a slice of the $10 million from the state's Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

So we thought you might find this photo interesting. It's Clinton Square -- the area around the intersection of North Pearl Street and Orange Street -- from (we're guessing) the 1920s. The photo is from the Albany Public Library History Collection. If you follow that link you can zoom into the photo and see a bunch of details.

One of the things that struck us about this photo is just how different this part of the city is now. There's no Palace Theater -- the old movie house wouldn't be built until 1930. There's no federal building in the background. And that row of buildings along the east side is now Wallenberg Park.

More than anything, though, there's just something overall about this scene that feels more human scale. At least, it does via the photo. (Also: Streetcars!)

Clinton Square is one one of the oldest major intersections in the city and it's been a topic of debate and discussion regarding development there for 200 years.

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Here are the projects in the mix for that $10 million that Albany has from the state for the Clinton Square area of downtown

The city of Albany has $10 million to spend in the Clinton Square section of downtown after winning the latest round of the state's Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Now it has to figure out what exactly that money should be spent on.

And here are the projects in the mix so far...

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The draft plan for the future of Albany's Lincoln Park is set to be unveiled next month

The draft version of the new master plan for Albany's Lincoln Park will be unveiled at a public meeting January 15. Press release blurbage:

Mayor Kathy Sheehan, the City of Albany Department of Planning & Development, and STIMSON Studio Landscape Architects will host a meeting to present the community with a draft master plan and provide an opportunity to discuss their ideas for preserving and improving Lincoln Park, and to learn more about the master planning process.

This is an exciting opportunity for residents, visitors, and community organizations to shape Lincoln Park's future and help to prioritize potential projects and initiatives being evaluated within the Park. The ideas presented at this meeting will be based on the feedback provided from the October 9, November 14, and December 4 design input community meetings.

At that December public input meeting, the team from Stimson presented a handful of ideas for the park that seemed to get a warm reception from the crowd, including a new trail around the park, more and better basketball courts, an amphitheater, and a giant slide playground.

One of the other big items in the park's future is a probably replacement of aging Lincoln Park Pool. At the public meetings for this master plan, the crowds very much seemed to be in favor of replacing it with something similar to what's there now. And this week the city of Albany was awarded $262,500 by the state to put toward the planning and design a pool replacement.

This next Lincoln Park master plan meeting is Tuesday, January 15 at 6 pm in the Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST) auditorium (94 Delaware Ave). If you enter the school from the parking lot off Delaware, the auditorium is right there.

Earlier
+ A few of the ideas that are in the mix for the future of Albany's Lincoln Park
+ The plan for a sewer facility in Lincoln Park is set to move forward next year -- with a significant change

Death Wish Coffee has its eye on Albany

Death Wish Coffee is eyeing a spot on Livingston Ave in Albany for its first cafe.

The location -- 71 Livingston -- is currently an empty lot right next to Albany Distilling's bar and bottle shop. The coffee company would build a two-story building that would include a cafe, retail store, and tasting room.

"One of our most valued business partners is Albany Distilling, so the opportunity to be right next to them and be down south in Albany is great," said Shannon Sweeney, Death Wish's content manager.

The company currently produces a coffee-flavored vodka with Albany Distilling.

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A peek at the plan for the new Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany

A rendering filed with the city as part of the exterior signage plan.

Here's a peek at Capital Repertory Theatre's planned renovation of an old warehouse space at North Pearl Street and Livingston Ave into a new theater space. The project is scheduled to make its first appearance before the Albany Planning Board this Thursday evening.

The project description from one of the development docs filed with the city:

The project includes the renovation of the existing 1800's vintage Nabisco building for use as a live theatre venue, 310 +/- seat auditorium with associated front and back of house facilities including a smaller 100 person performance and rehearsal space, box office, cafe/bar, gallery space, props and costume work area, dressing rooms, and administrative offices. The theatre will operate throughout the year, primarily matinee and evening showings arranged around performances. The offices, props and costume work area and rehearsal space will be used during normal business hours throughout the year.

The architecture firm working on the project is CSArch.

The proposed exterior plan includes four LED signs: three signs 4.5 feet by 40 feet, one each along the North Pearl side, Livingston side, and mounted on the roof; and a vertically-oriented sign on the corner that would be 18 feet tall and 4 feet wide. "The displays will be installed as permanent installations, illumination and scrolling LED graphics will be regulated by the theater and primarily limited to hours of operation."

The warehouse site doesn't have any parking and the docs also provide a peek at The Rep's plans for that.

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Farther off, down the block

Our conversation with Erik Schlimmer this week about his book of Albany street name histories set us off looking through the Albany Public Library's online collection of local history photos.

And we happened across this photo of Central Ave from sometime during the 1920s. It's looking west from what was then Northern Boulevard and is now Henry Johnson Boulevard. Two things that caught your eye:

1. "High grade" candies.

2. The scene off in the distance. If you head over to the New York Heritage site that hosts the image, you can zoom in very close. And the little details are great. The store signs, a man wearing a bowler, a horse-drawn wagon with straw or hay, a man pushing what looks like a carriage, a buttoned-up couple walking arm in arm, kids, and the obligatory guy staring toward the camera with the what-is-going-on look.

photo: Albany Public Library History Collection

The Swinburne Skating Rink is open for the winter

The city of Albany's Swinburne Skating Rink is now open for the winter season.

The rink is in Swinburne Park (surprise) and it's covered, so it can operate in all weather. It's open for ice skating Monday-Sunday (see the schedule below), and it also offers learn-to-skate, stick-and-puck, and hockey sessions.

Admission is $1 / 50 for under 18 / 25 cents for seniors. Skate rental is $3. Skate sharpening is $5. And the rink is available to rent for parties.

If you haven't been to the rink before, it's located just to the west of Bleecker Stadium. And if you're looking for a place park, there's a lot off 2nd Street. (That street runs one-way west, so the the closest cross to head up that block is Ontario.)

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Gawking at the @HudsonPark residential conversion in Albany

At the corner of Myrtle and Swan.

This week we got a chance to gawk at the still-under-construction residential conversion of the former Long Energy building at Myrtle and Swan, right across from Lincoln Park in Albany.

It's an interesting project, in part because of the design challenge of reshaping the complex of three historic buildings -- they were originally used in association with breweries -- into apartments.

The project also represents a significant addition of residential units -- 75 -- to the neighborhood.

Here's a look around, along with a few more bits.

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A few of the 700some stories about the street names of Albany

Morton was named after Washington Morton, husband of Cornelia Schuyler Morton. (He was the son-in-law of Philip Schuyler.) As for the other street... is that Hawk or Hawke?

There are 785 streets in the city of Albany. And Erik Schlimmer has figured out the backstory for the name of almost every one of them.

That monumental effort -- it took him four years -- is collected in the new book Cradle of the Union: A Street by Street History of New York's Capital City. (Mentioned earlier.) And the result is like a bag of local history potato chips. Once you snack on a few of the street name histories it's hard to stop.

"In all place names -- street, the town they live in, a mountain range, a stream, a pond, a building -- there's usually a story behind the name," Schlimmer told us this week when we met up with him. "And the story is usually pretty good."

Here are a few of those important or funny or surprising or sometimes dramatic stories...

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A big chunk of downtown Albany was just sold, and there are some big plans for the buildings

A large group of historic properties were sold in downtown Albany this month, and the deal could be a major milestone in the ongoing transformation of the neighborhood.

Over the span of two days last week, Redburn Development Partners closed on "The Kenmore Portfolio," which includes the prominent Kenmore Hotel and Steuben Club buildings on Pearl Street, as well as the Capital Repertory Theatre building.

Redburn is planning apartment conversions for many of the buildings, which it sees as a continuation of downtown's recent shift toward being a residential, "18-hour" neighborhood.

"We think that we have the correct vision for what's needed in downtown Albany," said Jeff Buell, one of Redburn's principals, today via phone. "I think it's an absolutely transformational project that must be done if Albany's going to be a 21st century city."

Here are a few more bits about what's happening.

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The new Zaitoon Kitchen location is open

The new Zaitoon Kitchen at Crossgates Commons in Albany opens today. It's in the former Noodles & Co. spot near the McDonald's.

This is the second local Zaitoon location -- the first opened near the Latham Circle last year. Its menu includes a lineup of dishes inspired by Afghan and Middle Eastern cuisine: kabobs, kofta, falafel, salads, hummus, naan wraps, and a bunch of interesting small plate/side options. Zaitoon touts its food as "cage-free, veggie-fed, halal."

As Deanna suggested last year, it's worth going with a group so you can try a bunch of different things. We've been a handful of times and the food has been good each time. Prices are about what you'd pay at Chipotle or a similar fast-casual place.

We popped into the new location Sunday during a soft opening. The new place is bigger than the Latham location, and the design is modern.

The hours are Sunday-Thursday 11 am-9 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am-10 pm.

A few of the ideas that are in the mix for the future of Albany's Lincoln Park

What should Albany's Lincoln Park look like five years from now? Or 10 years from now? Or even 50 years from now?

That's the question at the center of the ongoing process to develop a master plan for the city's second largest park.

"This is an iterative process, this is about asking you what you want," mayor Kathy Sheehan told the crowd at a public planning meeting at TOAST Elementary Tuesday evening. "And creating a vision for a park that will live on for decades -- and be a vision for the park that reflects the community."

The city has hired a landscape architecture firm out of Boston to help it develop this plan. On Tuesday the firm's reps presented a few ideas they have in mind, and members of the public highlighted what they like so far...

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Here's another chance to offer ideas for how Albany should spend $10 million downtown

The zone in which the city is focusing on for funding projects.

Update: This meeting has been postponed "due to the overwhelming number of project forms received" and the need for more time to review. The new date is TBA.

The city of Albany is getting $10 million* from New York State as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative -- and there's another public meeting coming up December 12 to talk about how to spend that money.

Meeting blurbage: "Join us to develop a plan that maximizes investment, connects surrounding neighborhoods and transforms Clinton Square into an inclusive destination, and vibrant place to live, work and play."

At the last meeting to gather public input, the team heading up the planning process explained that the city is looking for projects that are ready to go in the following categories:

+ New development or rehab of existing structure
+ Revolving loan and grant funds
+ Branding and marketing
+ Public improvements

Examples of candidate projects cited at the meeting: The proposed Quackenbush mixed-use development, an arts education and employment training program at The Palace, signage for the Capital Craft Beverage Trail, and Clinton Ave streetscape upgrades. A local planning committee will be selecting the projects to fund.

There's still time to propose a project -- the deadline is this Friday, December 7. (If you have a project in mind, you should contact the planning team. It sounds like they can provide some tips on putting together your pitch.)

The upcoming meeting is Wednesday, December 12 at The Palace from 5:30-7:30 pm.
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* Well, $9.7 million, technically. Of the $10 million, $300k is set aside for planning.

That project to figure out the history of every Albany street name has been completed, and there's a new book based on it

More than three years ago we heard there was a guy working to figuring out the backstory for the name of every street in the city of Albany. And we were very intrigued. (Because... obviously.)

We also admit that the project sounded, well, really hard. Like a mountain you start hiking up knowing you're probably never going to quite make it to the top.

But Erik Schlimmer got it done. And the book based on his efforts -- Cradle of the Union: A Street by Street History of New York's Capital City -- is now available. Blurbage:

Within Albany's city limits there are 785 streets, and author Erik Schlimmer figured it was time to historically decode every single street name. During his four-year-long research project he examined nearly 1,000 print and online sources and interviewed historians, residents, and fellow researchers. ...

Schlimmer is most at home decoding names in the Adirondack Mountains. In 2014, his first place name book to that range, History Inside the Blue Line, was released. Two years later a second one, Among the Cloud Splitters, was published. He found urban history just as interesting. "I'm drawn to mountain history, especially when it comes to who settled the valleys and who climbed the mountains first. But street name history is equally fascinating. It's what I call 'obvious history.' These are the streets we live on and travel down every day. Who can tell you why even their own street is named so? It's neglected history."

The book includes a foreword by Jack McEneny. It's $22 and available online (see the link above).

We haven't the seen the book, yet, but we're looking forward to checking it out.

The Albany Public Library is eliminating late fines for books and other items

Updated

The Albany Public Library announced today that it's eliminating late fines for books, DVDs, CDs, and audiobooks starting January 1.

It's also waiving previously racked-up late fees for these types of items.

But if there aren't fines, what's going to prompt people to bring books back on time?

Well, you might be surprised about how that works now.

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A look inside 2 Judson Street

We got a chance this week to stop by the open house for 2 Judson Street, one of the properties that's for sale as part of the Albany County Land Bank's Neighbors for Neighborhoods program (a few details about that program below).

There are handful of photos to go along with this post, in case you'd like to gawk. Because, you know, we definitely wanted to gawk.

The property is part of the McPherson Terrace row on Clinton Ave in West Hill, a string of buildings (not all have survived) that date to the late 1880s/early 1890s. And they're related to Albany architectural royalty: The great Albany architect Edward Ogden participated in developing the strip. (Ogden and his son Charles, also an architect, designed a bunch of beautiful buildings around the city.)

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Capital Hills in the winter

We stopped by Capital Hills in Albany to walk for a few minutes today.

The city's municipal golf course is closed for golf for the season -- which means it's now open for walking, dogs, sledding, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and other winter outdoor fun.

The course is a beautiful tract of hilly acres alongside the Normans Kill on the city's southwest edge. And it's fun to explore the various trails during the winter months. Be sure sometime to check out the old course that sits in the center of the front nine -- it's so serene after a blanket of snow.

Capital Hills is a dog wonderland during the winter, where they can trot around off leash and play with other dogs. It's a wonderful amenity, but please be responsible about it. That means making sure your pup will be polite with other dogs and people. And, yep, you've gotta pick the up the poop.

See also: It's winter. Your dog has pooped. What now?

The plan for a sewer facility in Lincoln Park is set to move forward next year -- with a significant change

The plan for the Beaver Creek Clean River Project -- the sewer facility planned for Albany's Lincoln Park that prompted an upswell of community skepticism this past spring -- has changed, officials announced at a public meeting Tuesday evening at TOAST Elementary.

The project still includes a new sewer facility and park space in the old Beaver Creek ravine, but engineers have made a significant design change that officials say will result in both a smaller footprint and smaller impact.

Here's what's up.

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Here's another chance to offer suggestions on the future of Albany's Lincoln Park

From October's public planning session.

The city of Albany has another public meeting coming up to talk about the future of Lincoln Park.

City officials and the consultants working on a master plan for the park will be at the Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST) December 4.

This is a follow-up meeting to two meetings earlier this fall to gather input about the future direction of the park. Among the ideas that came up during a meeting at Hackett Middle School in October: better neighborhood connections, better walking paths, better lighting, improved fitness facilities, a new playground, more attention paid to landscaping, more winter activities, maybe a dog park.

Another topic at the meeting: People's preferences for the shape/type of the next Lincoln Park pool.

The city has hired the landscape architecture studio Stimson to help with the master plan. Back in October the team said it would be presenting a collection of options based on that input at this meeting. (The final master plan proposal is scheduled for a public meeting January 15 at TOAST.)

This public meeting is Tuesday, December 4 in the cafeteria of TOAST (94 Delaware Ave) at 7 pm.

Beaver Creek Clean River Project
A reminder that the next public meeting for the Beaver Creek Clean River Project -- the sewer facility / public garden project planned for the Beaver Creek ravine in Lincoln Park -- is this Tuesday, November 27 at TOAST at 6:30 pm.

Albany is set to build the link between Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail and the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail -- here's the plan

What part of the trail underneath 787 could look like.

The city of Albany is planning to start construction next year on the much-anticipated link between the Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail and the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail.

The South End Connector is a key piece of the region's growing network of alternative transportation paths. When finished, it will offer a protected path for cyclists and pedestrians along the two miles from the rail trail's South End trailhead and the Mohawk-Hudson trail on the Hudson River. And it holds the potential to offer people within the South End a safer way to the riverfront.

The South End Connector has been in public planning for more two years, and the idea for the trail stretches back even farther. The city unveiled the construction plan and a new timeline last week at a public meeting.

Here's a look at what's in the works...

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Stuck on Albany

These Albany-themed stickers by local artist Cara Hanley are delightful and they're available via Etsy for $8. Blurbage:

Set of 4 Albany stickers made from my original watercolor paintings. These stickers are made from a durable vinyl with a laminate that protects your stickers from scratching, rain and sunlight.

We'd be happy to get them as a gift, and we bet other people would, too. You know, if you're looking for some fun, small gifts for the upcoming holiday season.

See also: The rest of her Etsy shop, which include a number of local-themed works.

[via Justin and Daniel]

Earlier: Senate House Marigolds

photo via Etsy