Items tagged with 'featured'
A few things I think about this place
I also think you go up to the observation deck of the Corning Tower sometime.
Working on AOA over the past decade has been a life-changing experience for me and it's shaped the way I think about so many things. It will probably be years before I fully realize how much.
As part of my own effort to take stock of all this, here are a few thoughts I have about this place.
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.)
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.
Exploring the Mid-Hudson Valley
The boundary of the Hudson Valley begins in our backyard, and the region spans from Albany to Westchester.
Famous for its natural beauty, dotted with farms, influenced by the arts, and layered with history, the Hudson Valley has a lot to explore. And focusing on the middle section is a good way to approach getting to know the region.
Here are a few ideas.
Everything changes: AJ Jones
AJ Jones
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
Many of us think there are things that we're good at -- things that are for us -- and things we're not good at. Those things are for other people.
AJ Jones is a student at Hudson Valley Community College. He started there as a home-schooler, working toward a GED, and then began working toward a degree in English. He was always a writer. Everyone said so. And he had no talent for art. He tried. He just wasn't good at it.
Then he took a chance and learned a lesson he shared with us.
A few answers to a few of your questions about the end of AOA
We have been overwhelmed by the response to our announcement last week that AOA will be ending December 31. Thank you to everyone who's posted a comment, sent us a note, or talked with us in person. We're tremendously grateful for all the support.
Many of you have had questions about why this is happening, whether there's a way to keep the site going, or what's next.
So we've pulled together a handful of the most common questions with a few answers. We hope they're helpful.
And, again, thank you.
Stuff to do this weekend -- and the next, and the one after that, and the one after that...
More than 500 weekends worth of proof that the Capital Region is anything but dull.
One of the perks of producing AOA has been that it was our job to know about interesting events happening in and around the Capital Region. And there's a lot.
In fact, most weeks we were overwhelmed with the amount and the variety of things to do around the area. And for roughly 545 posts over the years, it has been our pleasure to share all the music, art, theater, tours, talks, films, fundraisers, festivals and more that go on each weekend. (And ,for that matter, also during the week.)
Many of you have told us that you looked forward to these posts, that they've helped you make plans and create memories. That makes us so happy. But it also makes us sad that we won't be around to help.
So here's a kit -- a sort of DIY guide -- for finding fun stuff to do on your Capital Region weekends.
We hope you find it useful. And, as always, if there's something you like to do that didn't make our list, please add to it in the comment section so everyone can benefit.
Thanks for trusting us to help with your plans, and may all of your weekends be fantastic weekends!
Everything changes: Rachel Person
Rachel Person
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
Rachel Person has spent her life surrounded by stories.
From the time she was young, the Albany High alum has been passionate about books. She spent six years working at Symphony Space in New York City as the associate director of the public radio program Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story. And today she's the events and community outreach coordinator at Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs.
Her life's work has been about sharing stories with others, in part because books, like people, can change your perspective -- which in turn can change your life.
We talked with Rachel about the childhood book series, and the person, who helped guide her in her youth and still helps her out in a pinch today.
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...
Everything changes: Taína Asili
Artist Taína Asili
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
Taína Asili's work is hard to define. The internationally-known Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, documentary producer, bandleader, artist, and activist, who calls the Capital Region home, acknowledges that her work is unique. Influenced by Latin music, nueva canción, Afro-Latin, opera punk, flamenco, and rock n' roll, much of her music and art is connected to social justice issues and connects to the musical and artistic traditions of her ancestors.
From her earliest days, Asili says, there was never a time when she didn't identify as being a singer or an artist. But when you're forging your own path, when your style can't be easily defined, can be an incredible hurdle in a business that wants to package your work for sale.
In college, and for a few years after, Taina was part of a punk band, releasing albums and touring the world. But she felt like her voice had more to say than the punk genre would allow.
When her parents died -- and she herself was a single mom -- Asili says she went through a period where she felt lost. She traveled to Mexico where a trip to a town she never planned to visit set her back on her own unique path.
Everything changes: Michael McDermott
State employee by day, Santa by night
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
By day, Michael McDermott works in training for the New York State Attorney General's Office, but for one month out of every year McDermott trades in his jacket and tie each night at 5 pm for a beard and red suit to play Saint Nicholas on Santa's Magical Express.
McDermott has become an expert in change. In a former life, he helped two publishing companies move from legal pads to computers, and he moved into a job helping state workers tackle change in their work lives. That was a temporary position and a few years ago he was left looking for work again.
Losing a job can seem like the end of the world, but for McDermott it ended up being a life saver -- literally. And it gave this part time Santa a new lease on life.
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...
Everything changes: Robyn DeSantis Ringler
Robyn is the one on the left.
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
Robyn DeSantis Ringler began her career as a nurse in Washington DC in the early 1980s. Today, she's a lawyer, volunteering her time to help refugees being held at the Albany County jail.
The journey from nurse to activist to lawyer began with a VIP patient: President Ronald Reagan.
AOA will be coming to an end soon. Thank you for being a part of it.
One of the secrets of AOA all these years has been that we were often writing to ourselves. To be curious, to pay attention, to try something new, to talk with more people, to listen, to understand that change is hard but often necessary.
And here is a big change: All Over Albany will be ending December 31.
We hope you'll stick around with us through then -- AOA will continue to publish until the end of the year, and we have a few more interesting things on the way.
The last decade has been an amazing experience and we are tremendously grateful to all of you for being a part of it.
Everything changes: Jonathan Lajas
Mr. Lajas
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
Jonathan Lajas is known as Lajas to his friends -- and Mr. Lajas at the place where he spends most of his time: Albany Community Charter School.
Lajas is a social studies teacher, baseball and track coach, and mentor who says he "bleeds red and black," the school colors. He firmly believes the school has been a key part of bringing new focus to Albany's South End neighborhood.
He's also a dancer and performer who once chased Lin-Manuel Miranda into an elevator to get an audition for the tour of his musical In the Heights. Lajas says his passions are education and performance, and one of his goals is to start a performing arts high school in the Capital Region. He has a boundless energy and a love for his scholars.
Lajas's love for learning came later in life, after being introduced to the students and teachers at Albany Community Charter School. But his passion for performance, something he carries into the classroom every day, was influenced by someone he met in the eighth grade -- when he was sent to detention.
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...
Everything changes: Alicia Lea
"I wanted to be accepted by everybody in all these groups. I wasn't pleasing myself. I was trying to please these other people."
Everyone has a moment in life when things change. Sometimes we know it right away, other times we only recognize it looking back. With the turning of the year, we're taking some time to listen to people's stories about the moments that changed them, and what they've learned.
When Alicia Lea was 16 years old, a high school guidance counselor told her that based on her age and family circumstances, she'd have more of a chance of becoming a pregnant teen than going to college.
"That made me angry," Lea said.
And it propelled her to put herself through HVCC and UAlbany. By day she was a model fine arts student -- but by night she was painting graffiti, living a double life that eventually fell apart. She got arrested, and ultimately learned valuable lessons about who she was as an artist and as a person.
Hikes and hot chocolates
We're very happy to congratulate Cristin on the publication of her new book Upstate Almanac: Outdoor Adventure in Upstate NY, which is now available as a paperback and ebook. To celebrate, we're sharing an adapted excerpt about some fun winter hikes.
If you think of hiking as a three-season sport, you're missing out. Hiking, snowshoeing, and getting outside in winter more generally, can improve your mood in the dark, dreary months of the year.
And one of the best parts of spending time outdoors in the winter chill is coming back inside and warming up with a hot chocolate.
With that in mind, here are some fun, easier winter hikes along with where to get hot chocolate nearby.
Here are a few ideas for making the most of your holiday donations
About this every year we get questions from people about making donations to local charities for the holidays. But this year we thought we'd turn the question around a bit and hear from someone whose org is typically on the receiving end, and get some thoughts on ways to make the most of our holiday donations.
So we're very happy to welcome Christine Schudde, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Capital District.
Many of us will look for a meaningful way to give back this holiday season. And there's a lot to consider when making a charitable donation -- which charity, how to donate, the best way to way help.
Here are a few ways to can make sure your holiday gift has the greatest impact.
A bunch of photos from this year's Santa Speedo Sprint on Lark Street
People wearing all sorts of holiday-themed attire -- festive speedos, pajamas, costumes, formal wear -- dashed down Lark Street Saturday for charity as part of the annual Albany Santa Speedo Sprint.
The sprint -- now in its 13th year -- is always one of the goofiest, happiest events of the year. It's organized by the Albany Society for the Advancement of Philanthropy, with the Albany All Stars Roller Derby, and is a fundraiser for the Albany Damien Center and the HIV/AIDS program at the Albany Medical Center. Jim Larson -- one of the organizers and the sprint captain -- said this year's event raised $19,000.
Here are many, many photos from this year...
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...
Where to buy firewood?
Wade asks:
I'm looking for a reliable source of high quality seasoned firewood. Does anybody have a firewood guy they would recommend? Delivery preferred but not necessary. Price per face cord? Thanks for you input, Folks!
Have to admit: We know next to nothing about buying firewood. So we're curious if people have not just a place in mind about where to buy firewood, but also maybe some thoughts or tips about what to look for.
So, got a suggestion for Wade? Please share! And a sentence or two about why you're recommending a place can be helpful.
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.
A large, interesting party space in Albany?
Maureen emails:
Hi, I'm trying to find a warm space with character preferably in Albany to host a dear friend's 50th. Have something like the Hollow? or Hangar? Or the Linda? in mind, but want to expand into rentable fire houses? old churches? It's for 85-90 people.
We've had similar questions in the past, but it sounds like Maureen is looking for a relatively large space and maybe something a little different.
One thing to keep in mind when hosting an event like this in what might be unusual space: You'll often have to coordinate catering or address details like seating. (That's one of the benefits of going with a place that hosts a bunch of events like this -- the venue often can handle that stuff.)
So, got a suggestion for Maureen? Please share! And a sentence or two about why you're suggesting a place can be helpful.
photo: Timothy Raab
Here's when the seasons really start and end in the Albany area*
* On average. And by these definitions, which are just one or two ways of looking at this topic. Really, it's winter whenever you decide to switch to the big coat and put the shovel in the car. | Also: Here's a larger, easier-to-read version of this graph.
Winter starts December 21 -- by the astronomical definition. And it starts December 1 by -- the meteorological definition.
But when does it really start in Albany?
Inspired by a chart and discussion on Twitter today attempting to mark the start of seasons in various places around the country based on normal temperatures, we figured it'd be interesting to look at the daily temperatures in Albany in order to define what you might call the "statistical" seasons. That is, when the seasons start based on what the temperatures actually are and not what the calendar says.
Of course, you can interpret numbers all sorts of ways. And in this case we ended up doing it two ways:
+ Breaking the year up into (roughly) four quarters according to normal temperatures. Winter's the coldest 25 percent of the days each year, summer's the warmest 25 percent, and spring and fall are what's in between. Looking at it this way, winter starts December 5 and lasts until March 10.
+ Looking at the distribution of temperatures here throughout the year and defining winter and summer as the days when temperatures are either in the bottom or top 25 percent of the distribution. Spring and fall are everything in between. Looking at it this way, winter starts December 1 and lasts until March 20.
And: See resulting chartage above. Don't worry, we've included a larger version here, along with a bonus graph.
Here's a bit more explanation and weather nerding...
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?