As we posted earlier today, the new Massry Center opened this week at St. Rose. Here's a short photo tour of the new building.
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The new Massry Center for the Arts at the College of St. Rose opened this week and it's quite the building. We got a tour yesterday and the place has some really nice spaces.
The thing that really caught our eye even before the place was even finished, though, is the way it fits into the context of the neighborhood surrounding CSR. Massry is a 46,000 square foot building, but it's relatively unassuming in both size and style from Madison Avenue. In fact, the size is almost hidden when you look at it from the street. It's like this modern building has just been discretely tucked into one of Albany's traditional neighborhoods.
Bill Koonz, an architect with Saratoga Associates, designed the Massry Center. We asked him a few questions yesterday about the thinking behind the design.
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Jerry Jennings says the City of Albany may have to lay off people now that it won't be getting that $5.5 million state aid payment (and $11 million in years after). Richard Conti, the Common Council president pro temp, says big tax increase may also be necessary. The city's projected budget deficit for 2009 is more than $14 million. [TU]
Albany's projected budget shortfall won't make infrastructure improvements easy -- no matter how badly they might be needed. See yesterday's flooding, which turned the lower end of Hackett Blvd into a lake. "Too much rain -- in too short a time. It's an older system. This is what happens," said a water department employee to the TU. There were also reports of raw sewage backing up into yards. [AOA] [TU] [CapNew9]
A state Supreme Court judge has ruled that Saratoga Springs -- and former public works commissioner Tom McTygue -- violated the constitutional rights of two developers by blocking access to their land with a dump truck. Both compensatory and punitive damages could be awarded. The original building permit had been issued in 1997. The developers sold the land earlier this year and the new owners have started construction. [TU] [Saratogian]
Officials from the Lafarge Cement plant in Ravena said at a public forum last night that they don't know exactly how much mercury their plant is currently releasing into the environment. A 2004 review reported that the plant was New York State's single largest emitter of mercury. [TU]
New York State has the nation's highest closing costs for home sales. [Daily Gazette]
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There are a couple author appearances this evening at St. Rose that look interesting. The Frequency North series is bringing Darcey Steinke and Gregory Pardlo to the campus for an open-to-the-public reading.
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Jimmy Fallon's career has hit a few speed bumps over the last few years. First he was the next Adam Sandler, but of course that meant being the next Adam Sandler. Then he scored a spot doing SNL's Weekend Update, but he got overshadowed by Tina Fey. And then there was that Queen Latifah Taxi movie, which has probably taken thousands of dollars in therapy to forget.
Well it looks like things may be turning around now for Jimmy. The buzz is that the Saint Rose dropout (apparently he's 15 credits short of a computer science degree) and former Metroland receptionist is on the short list for the Late Night chair when Conan takes over for Leno. (Which prompts us to daydream about what we could have done with all those tuition dollars.) Fallon's been on the list for a while now, but with the late night shuffle just one year away he's still hanging in there. And apparently he's the top choice of SNL producer Lorne Michaels, the guy who put Conan in the seat in 1993.
photo: David Shankbone, used under a CC Attribution / Share Alike license
... said James Cronen about Morning Blend: Troy signs lease for new city hall