Metroland

Metroland Readers Poll '15: People and Places

 

Best Park

1. Washington Park

2. The Crossings

3. Thatcher Park

Whether due to the festivals, the tulips, the dog park, the neat way the light hits the trees at just the right time of day or, simply, its easy access for a quick sunlight picnic with a stealth bottle of wine in the middle of your work week, Washington Park crushed this category. 

Best Playground

1. The Crossings

2. Central Park

3. Washington Park

Pretty much everyone agrees that the best playground can be found in Colonie. We totally get why: They have some solid equipment and that cool, springy turf.

Best Day Trip

1. Lake George

2. New York City

3. Saratoga Springs

It warms our hearts to see an old-school, legendary upstate playground like Lake George take first place.

Best Bike Ride

1. Mohawk-Hudson

2. Corning Preserve

3. Zim Smith

We trust our readers on this one. You guys are a bunch of bike-riding fools and, according to you, the Mohawk-Hudson is twice as bikeable as the Corning Preserve.

Best Running Trail

1. Corning Preserve

2. (tie) The Crossings, Mohawk-Hudson

4. Zim Smith

However, when it come to running, you’re only slightly less enthusiastic in your preference for the Preserve.

Best Hiking/Nature Trail

1. Thacher Park

2. Five Rivers

2. (tie) Pine Bush, Plottenkill

Just can’t beat the Indian Ladder Trail. And no one did. You would much rather hike Thacher than even the educational Five Rivers Trail in Delmar.

Best Rock Climbing

1. The Edge

2. Albany Indoor Rock Gym

3. Thacher Park

We don’t know if we can condone rock-climbing at Thacher (is that even allowed?), but we’re pretty sure it’s safe at your other favorite spots.

Best Gym

1. Planet Fitness

2. Vent

3. Best Fitness

You all LOVE your P-Fit. But we wonder how often you actually go.

Best Tattoo Artist

1. Dustin Horan

2. John Abbott

3. Eric Brown

You’ll find No. 1 at the Dead Presidents Lounge in Albany, No. 2 at Ms. Dixie’s Tattoo and Pin-Up Parlor in Troy, and No. 3 at Impulse Tattoo in Glenmont. In case you’re looking.

Best Yoga/Pilates

1. Heartspace Yoga

2. The Hot Yoga Spot

3. Good Karma

Heartspace and Hot Yoga took this category easily, but Good Karma is the only local studio with a “flight center,” where students can do upside-down yoga.

Best Golf Course

1. Saratoga National

2. Frear Park

3. Van Patten

Local golf lovers don’t all care about fancier amenities such as those offered by the courses in Saratoga and Clifton Park, they’re just as happy to play on the municipal course at Frear Park in Troy.

Best Miniature Golf

1. Pirate’s Cove

2. Funplex

3. Oasis

Arrrr. . . . Oh, and by the way, Oasis in Troy has been closed for over a year.

Best Skiing/Snowboarding

1. Jiminy Peak

2. Gore Mountain

3. Whiteface

This was definitely a fantastic year for snow sports (if not for our collective seasonal affective disorder), and you overwhelmingly preferred to visit Jiminy and Gore to make the most of all that powder.

Best Ice Skating

1. Empire State Plaza Ice Rink

2. (tie) HVCC, Swinburne Park

We agree that it’s pretty awesome to ice skate right on the Plaza, but were surprised that the other indoor rinks didn’t get a little more love.

Best Bowling Alley

1. Playdium

2. Uncle Sam

3. Spare Time

This was a close one. Rock’N Bowl, Blacklight bowling, galactic bowling. Pretty much anywhere you can consume copious amounts of beer and call it a sport, right?

Best Pool Hall

1. Trick Shots

2. Golden Cue

3. Diamond 8

Golden Cue might be one of the oldest pool halls in the Northeast, but Trick Shots is by far your favorite place to sink your balls.

Best Bar

1. The Ruck

2. The Barrell Saloon

3. McGeary’s Pub

Y’all really, really love the Ruck. For so many reasons.

Best Hook-Up Bar

1. The Ruck

2. (tie) The Lionhart, Stout

4. Bootlegger’s

This was a landslide. Best bar, best beer, best wings AND best tail.

Best Gay Bar

1. (tie) Oh Bar, Waterworks Pub

3. Rocks

We love these places too, but where are the gay bars outside of Albany?

Best Wine Bar

1. Lucas Confectionary

2. Wine Bar & Bistro

3. Mio Vino

Its big, big win shows, again, that Lucas Confectionary has become a central part of the happening scene in Troy.

Best Happy Hour

1. The Ruck

2. (tie) McGeary’s, Bombers Burrito Bar

4. Wheatfields

The Ruck’s the one when work is done. What with all the beer and wings and hookin’ up.

Best Bar Staff

1. McGeary’s Pub

2. The Ruck

3. (tie) Finnbar, Brown’s Brewing Company

Tess Collins and her staff are friendly, fun and great at their jobs. That’s why they always win here.

Best Strip Club

1. DiCarlo’s

2. Nite Moves

3. Double Vision

Newly reopened and reenergized, the “new” DiCarlo’s is as popular as the “old” DiCarlo’s.

Best Sports Venue (Spectator)

1. Times Union Center

2. Joseph L. Bruno Stadium

3. Bleecker Stadium

Given that the TUC is home to Siena basketball and Albany Devils hockey, this was a lot closer than you’d expect. Why? The Tri-City ValleyCats deliver a great night at the ballpark. A nice shout-out from Twilight League baseball and Metro Mallers football fans, too.

Best Bar/Restaurant to Watch a Game

1. Recovery Room Sports Grille

2. Wolf’s 1-11

3. The Ruck

The name says it all: This popular chain is where you go to watch the big game(s).

Best Trivia Night

1. The Ruck

2. Bombers Burrito Bar

3. Nanola

Who’s the “Canadian sprint canoeist” born in 1946 who has the same last name as the winning establishment in this category? Wolfgang Ruck, of course.

Best Public Official

1. U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko

2. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan

3. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Have we got a Democratic readership or what?

Best Citizen Advocate

1. Alice Green

2. Masai Andrews

3. Angelica Clark

Institutionalized racism was the civil rights issue this year, and your favorite advocates were all involved in organizing Capital Region responses to events in Ferguson and elsewhere. Dr. Alice Green took first, no doubt, due to her many years of service as founder and executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, and countless other achievements and recognitions in the areas of civil and criminal justice as well as community organization.

Best Animal Advocate

1. Steve Caporizzo

2. Mohawk Hudson Humane Society

3. Brad Shear

With his Pet Connection segments and off-air charity work, the ABC 10 meteorologist is generous in his efforts on behalf of animals.

Best Local Charity

1. Mohawk Hudson Humane Society

2. (tie) HUGS, Rescue Mission

4. Ronald McDonald House

You love your pets just slightly more than you hate cancer and homelessness.

Best Swimming

1. Grafton Lake

2. Lake George

3. YMCA

Outdoor lake swimming wins. The YMCA has that year-round thing going for it, but it also has all that chlorine.

Best Campground

1. Moreau State Park

2. Lake George

3. KOA

Go north, young men (and women). When the Capital Region goes camping, we like to get the hell outta town.

Best Suburb

1. Delmar

2. Colonie

3. Clifton Park

Compact, old-school Delmar wins again. And why not? Location, amenities, shopping and public transportation options are all first class.

Best Downtown (Living)

1. Troy

2. Saratoga Springs

3. Albany

Troy is the happening place to live, and you think so by a wide margin.

Best Downtown (Partying)

1. Troy

2. Saratoga Springs

3. Albany

Troy’s margin of victory was slimmer in this category. You may not afford to live in Saratoga, but you can apparently afford to drink there.

Best Up-and-Coming Neighborhood

1. Troy

2. Downtown Schenectady

3. Delaware Avenue, Albany

An entire city is not a “neighborhood.” Y’all are Troy crazy.

Metroland Readers Poll '15: Etcetera

 

 

The free-for-all category in which our readers muse sagely and rant wildly

Best use of public funds

Albany Public Library, CDTA, infrastructure, education, housing, Troy’s new snow emergency plan, Albany Convention Center, Alive at Five, Albany Barn, keeping Ladder 1 open, roads, moving Hoffman’s Playland to Albany, indict Silver, support for the arts, red light cameras, Troy’s Riverfront Park, blowing up the Wellington Annex, “is this a trick question?

Best misuse of public funds

Andrew Cuomo, Troy’s King Street demolition, New York State Legislature, “University at Albany cutting humanities,” red light cameras, politicians, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, Albany’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Tappan Zee Bridge, suburban sprawl, “paying to move Hoffman’s to Huck Finn’s,” Schenectady Metroplex, “Governor’s Mansion not being used.”

Best way to lure people to the Capital Region

Saratoga Race Course, LarkFest, Albany All Stars Roller Derby, more Trader Joe’s locations [editor’s note: you TJ’s people aren’t satisfied, ever, are you?], arts, candy, casinos, “change the road signs,” colleges, craft beer,  jobs, “legalize it,” lie, lower taxes, mini hot dogs, music, outdoor festivals, political drama, advertise our proximity to other places,

Best time to be had in the Capital Region for under $10

Empire State Plaza summer concerts, Tri-City ValleyCats, Alive at Five, Troy Night Out, classic movie nights at the Palace Theatre, Peebles Island State Park, New York State Museum, Caffe Lena’s open mic,  Troy’s Rockin’ on the River, “Redbox and stay home,” Spectrum 8 Theatres, Empire State Plaza Ice Rink, “ice cream cones at Jumpin’ Jacks while listening to the free concert series on the water,” Washington Park.

Best place to see and be seen

Troy Farmers Market, Saratoga Race Course, “that inane ‘Were You Seen’ feature on the Times Union site,” Lucas Confectionary, Alive at Five, PearlPalooza, Lark Street, “Oliver’s Beverage Center around 4 PM on Fridays,” SPAC, the Joe, UAlbany women’s basketball games, Washington Park’s Knox Street Mall, “I’m too old for that shit.”

Best thing that could happen to Albany

Wegmans, BusPlus Purple Line, stop the bomb trains, arrest Cuomo, bury I-787, aquarium, “the WonderBeards break big,” light rail, skate park in Washington Park, “the Empire State Plaza never happened,” restore historic sites, “people stop bitching about the Empire State Plaza—that place is awesome,” more parking, more concerts, IKEA, impeach Cuomo, “SPRING!!!!”

Best thing that could happen to Troy

Less crime/drugs/murder, BusPlus Blue Line, movie theater, better bus service, “the whole ‘next Brooklyn’ thing could fade away and Troy could just be thought of as cool on its own,” aquarium, “the mayor would fix the water pipes—dick,” Uber, “WonderBeards go platinum,” waterfront development, “new mayor—where are you Harry, we miss you!”

Best thing that could happen to Schenectady

Casino [editor’s note: this is happening, right?], the casino falls through, “pave the damn roads,” skate park, less crime/drugs/murder, GE resurgence, downtown grocery, “oust Gary McCarthy,” Wegmans, socialism, land bank, “knock down I-890 and bring back Pleasant Valley Park,” gentrification, meteor/asteroid, more parking, earthquake, zeppelin service, retail stores.

Best thing that could happen to Saratoga Springs

Affordable housing, “it’s perfect,” longer track season, nothing, no more horse racing, more parking, “stop building condos and fairly tax the ones we already have,” stop sprawl, Chick-fil-A, cigar bar, “don’t change,” bike lanes, Kid Rock, “remove pokers from residents’ asses,” more poor people, slow growth, “stop being so snooty,” more opera, Wegmans.

Best thing that happened in 2014

Paul McCartney at the Times Union Center, Wellington Annex implosion, Albany Barn opened, Schenectady casino announced, Cider Belly Doughnuts, “eating chicken at the Flying Chicken (see also 2013 and 2015),” The Neighborhood That Disappeared, Union College NCAA hockey championship, Whole Foods opened at Colonie Center, “WonderBeards played at Gug’s a few weeks ago” [editor’s note: not bad, dooders], Kathy Sheehan inaugurated, Republicans took over the state senate, Dance Flurry festival.

Best reason to live in the Capital Region

Affordability, quality of life, change of seasons, the people, Troy, proximity to other places, music scene, Nipper, history, “all the atheists,” diversity, creative energy, arts, fall foliage, quality of life, the Snowman’s ice cream, WEXT, state jobs, Stewart’s Shops, global warming, “friends become family.”

Best local celebrity you’d like to date

Skeeter Creek’s Buddy Cocker, Matt Baumgartner, Trishna Begam, Jeff Nania, Julie Chapman, Mickey Rourke [editor’s note: huh?], Rosemary Armeo, Yolanda Vega, Mary Panza, DJ Trumastr, John Gray, Nipper.

Best kept secret in the Capital Region

Troy, the Malt Room, Leah’s Cakery, Kateri Peace Conference, Tivoli Preserve, Averill Park’s Town Tavern, “you don’t really have to stop at red lights,” Hudson River, Mohawk River, prostitution, “who killed Legs Diamond?”

Best [???] add your own category

Best Body Piercer: Karla Sharps (Tattoo World) and Will VonDoome (Classy Body Art); Best Doughnuts: Cider Belly Doughnuts; Best Celtic Band: Triskele; Best Medium: Katie Manning-Hilton; Best Youth Organization: Troy Boys & Girls Club; Best Cuban Food: Carmen’s Café.

 

 

 

Message from the Occupation #OccupyAlbany

It didn't look like anyone/anything was stirring at the Occupy Albany camp in Academy Park when I rolled by on the No. 13 bus (New Scotland Avenue) at about 5 minutes past 8 o'clock this morning, but Occupy Albany issued a press release last night.

Highlights:

They're concerned about the Albany police turning them out tonight, though the APL hasn't yet made any indication this would happen. They're calling for supporters to turn out by 11 PM tonight, "to demonstrate their support for the movement and for Albany's policy to this point of allowing the participants to join together and be heard."

As the State of New York wouldn't let them camp overnight in Lafayette Park, OA suggests you contact Gov. Cuomo. "Any citizens concerned by Governor Cuomo's stance regarding Occupy Albany's non-violent and respectful assembly in a City of Albany public park and wish to share their thoughts on this matter should contact the governor's office at 518-474-8390."

You can also keep up with OA on their website.

Full release after the jump.

Chickens Tonight!

At the request of Albany Common Council Majority Leader Daniel Herring, who sponsored the initial ban on farm animals and fowl within city limits, Realtor David Phaff created an online survey to determine the real estate community's opinion on city chickens.

After his survey was discovered by numerous pro-chicken folks who answered in support of urban fowl, Phaff is apparently trying again with a more private survey. This evening we recieved a forwarded copy of the email below.

Dear:

We are conducting a survey regarding the proposed amendment to the Albany City Codes regarding the keeping of hens. Your response would be appreciated. This survey has been modified from its original version.

Here is a link to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=SV9cE1X8YOhKEJ_2fVQexEvg_3d_3d

This link is uniquely tied to this survey and your email address. Please do not forward this message.


Thanks for your participation!

Your Opinion Counts

 

VOTE in the Metroland Readers Poll!  

State Bulletin: Help Me, Readers

What, Me Worry?

This week I thought I would kick off a monthly feature for the State Bulletin. As a neurotic, anxiety-ridden journalist, I need reassurance from time to time that I haven’t completely gone off the deep end. So I plan to ask you, the reader, a series of questions, and I hope that you will let me know if my fears and thought process aren’t completely out of whack. Feel free to e-mail, send letters to the editor, post on our Facebook, or comment on the blog. Nothing would make me happier than to hear that I’m just being an idiot.

1. Given my shaky relationship with Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, should it scare me that he was the master of ceremonies at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inauguration?

2. Is it OK that the hair on my arm stood on end when Cuomo spent a few good sentences stroking Jennings’ ego during his inauguration speech? Saying: “Special thank you to Jerry Jennings. Didn’t he do a great job as a master of ceremonies? A really great mayor, Jerry Jennings.” Cuomo spent more time talking about Jennings than he did acknowledging Attorney General Eric Schneiderman or Comptroller Tom DiNapoli—people whom, you would think, he will be working with a little more closely than Jennings. That is, unless Jennings does plan to increase his general proximity to Cuomo—by, lets say . . . oh, I don’t know, taking a position with the Cuomo administration.

3. Should it worry me that Cuomo apparently thinks Jennings is “a really great mayor?” We know Jerry has raised some serious cash for the governor, but does that have anything to do with how he has run the city?

4. Is it just a little weird for you to read that I completely support Jennings’ push for bars to close earlier to reduce crime? Sorry, bars.

5. Is it weird that my girlfriend wants a ukelele for her birthday?

6. Is “I really want a ukelele for my birthday, no seriously,” code for something?

7. Should I be concerned that Cuomo didn’t announce his plans to fight corruption in Albany before the State of the State? All sorts of other ideas from his speech were floated in the press days beforehand—a hiring freeze, a property tax cap, anything that might annoy labor unions, but why not take the pulse of those testy legislators?

8. Should it be nagging me that his biggest ethics reform move so far has been to issue an executive order mandating an hourlong ethics class for his staffers? Isn’t that just sort of a waste of state money? Shouldn’t your staffers have picked up ethics training in school for law or public policy? Wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to hand them a workbook titled “How not to Be Scumbages, Insult Kerry Kennedy and Intimidate People?”

9. Should I believe that Andrew Cuomo—the man who benefited the most from large corporate donations this campaign season—is actually committed to reforming the system that allows such donations?

10. Does the fact that the biggest hooplah about the City of Albany’s doomsday budget was over a bathhouse scare the hell out of any one else? I mean no disrespect to the bathhouse, which I think is a great asset to the community. I just wonder if there aren’t a few more things we should be causing a stink about.

11. Is anyone else a bit disturbed that Councilman Anton Konev, who led the charge to save the bathhouse, couldn’t be bothered to be in the country to vote to override Jennings’ veto of the measure that would have saved it? True, there likely would not have been enough votes to pass the override had Konev showed up, but his absence just adds to the already clownish image of the council as a whole.

12. Is it odd that I can’t watch shows about strange animal life or medical procedures because they give me nightmares, but I have a hard time changing the channel if 48 Hours—the real-life murder investigation show—is on?

13. Does anyone else sometimes have their ears close up due to eustashian tube dysfunction? My doctor says he has the same thing, but I would hate think my doctor can’t hear me most of the time.

14. And just so you poor Troybanians don’t think I never think about you, let me pose this question: Does the following logic make sense?

Because Mayor Harry Tutunjian supported demolishing Troy’s former city hall on the grounds that it is moldy and full of cracks and something better might replace it, then it follows that Tutunjian should step down right now because he has been moldy and full of cracks for the last few years? Clearly it would be easier to replace Tutunjian with an eager, fresh public servant than it will be for a construction company to obtain the financing to build something new where City Hall once stood—especially in this economy.

--David King

The Year in Pictures: Around the Corner and Down the Block

The Albany Public Libraries finalized their $29.1 million branch improvement plan, which opened two new branches, expanded and renovated three existing locations and overhauled its collections to better serve the city’s residents. Photo by Joe Putrock.

 

The Year in Pictures: Something to Declare

The Hellions of Troy, among other civic-minded Trojans, rallied in March to lure Google to Uncle Sam’s hometown. Photo by Alicia Solsman.

 

The Year in Pictures: Our Favorite Covers

 

The Misadventures of Brian "Skeevo"

Our favorite neighborhood stalker/County Legislator Brian Scavo steered his misogynistic public comments in a new--and racist--direction this week.

Tuesday morning, Scavo commented on the Times Union Blog in response to fellow legislator Wanda Willingham's attempt to convene the City Committe, which Albany Democratic Chairman Dan McCoy says no longer exists since a new chairman was not appointed following the elections.

His comment?: "Back of the bus sister, so sayest king MC coy, let us bow before master MC coy."

Yeah. He really said that--and pissed off a whole slew of folks in doing so.  

Now Willingham, some of her Legislative colleagues, representatives of the NAACP and the Albany faith community and members of the Albany Common Council and the City Democratic Committee are holding a conference tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 19) at the former YMCA building on Washington Avenue at noon to condemn his comments and demand an apology. 

"These comments are not only disrespectful and offensive to me but an affront to the entire African American community of Albany,” stated County Legislator Willingham in a press release issued earlier today. “Thoughts and comments such as this demonstrate ignorance of the history of the African American community and serve no purpose other than to divide our city.  No one, especially an elected official should be heard uttering these words in 21^st Century America.”

This afternoon, Scavo released an e-mail apology with the subject heading "Learning Experience."

"I see this as a learning experience and an opportunity to have an open conversation about diversity and cultural sensitivity without automatically branding each other a racist," Scavo's email reads.

"Now, I look forward to turning my attention back to passing a budget that meets needs of the resident’s of Albany despite of race, creed, color, age, sexual orientation, social status or otherwise without unreasonably raising taxes upon the people of Albany."

Yup Brian. All fixed. Now back to "Helping People."