Metroland

Keeping Sharp

I am trendy only by accident. Sometimes I’ve been in a place for years and the retro-seekers catch up. (Hats, for example.) Sometimes we arrive independently. It seems that I am no longer as alone in my passion for the Blackwing pencil as I was when its manufacture was ended. The choice of many illustrators from the 1930s on, it also attracted a fan base of writers (Steinbeck among them) and composers (Bernstein, Sondheim).

They are now manufactured by Palomino, and I have stocked up. I like to draft the stories I write by hand. As Sondheim points out, the soft pencils need frequent-enough sharpening to keep you from drowsing. And the sharpener itself is an impressive two-stage affair in which you first achieve a rough-hewn cone, then, in the second hole, hone it to a potentially lethal point.

I can’t say that it’s improved my writing. But it feels good to get away from the computer every now and then.

Metroland Readers Poll '15: Goods and Services

 

Best Optical Store

1. Empire Visionworks

2. DiNapoli Opticians

3. LensCrafters

The recently rebranded Empire Visionsworks is your favorite, but local mainstays DiNapoli was a strong second.

Best Appliance Store

1. Sears

2. John D. Marcella and Son Appliances

3. Lowe’s Home Improvement

Sears may be struggling, but its Kenmore line of products clearly remains popular.

Best Antique Store

1. Silver Fox Salvage

2. Trojan Horse Antiques

3. Aunt Katie’s Attic

Only a handful of votes separated these perennially popular Albany, Troy and Scotia businesses.

Best Bookstore

1. Barnes & Noble Booksellers

2. The Book House

3. Market Block Books

The last standing national bookstore chain may have won, but it was close. And the Book House and Market Block—which are twin heads of one local bookseller—got the most votes combined.

Best Comic Book Store

1. Earthworld Comics

2. Aquilonia Comics

3. Zombie Planet

Earthworld is your superhero source for superheroes.

Best Garden Store/Nursery

1. Hewitt’s Garden Centers

2. Faddegon’s Nursery

3. George’s Market Nursery

If the top three finishers in this category were trees, then Hewitt’s would be the sequoia.

Best Florist

1. Lark Street Flower Market

2. Emil J. Nagengast Florist

3. Frank Gallo & Son Florist

Lark Street comes up roses in this category, but there was strong support for both Nagangast and Gallo. We’re wondering, what happened to former winner Price Chopper?

Best Kitchen Store

1. Different Drummer’s Kitchen: The Cook’s Resource

2. Lowe’s Home Improvement

3. Williams-Sonoma

Different Drummer’s is an all-round gourmand’s store—and you know it.

Best Furniture Store

1. The Old Brick Furniture Co.

2. Taft Furniture

3. Huck Finn’s Warehouse & More

Low prices were first in voters’ minds in this category.

Best Pet Supply Store

1. Benson’s Pet Center

2. PetSmart

3. Healthy Pet Center

Local, independent chain Benson’s edged out PetSmart in this popular category.

Best Gift Store

1. Wit’s End Giftique

2. Maggie’s Gift Shop

3. Romeo’s Gifts

More than 26,000 square feet of selling space gave Clifton Park’s Wit’s End Giftique a clear edge.

Best Wine/Liquor Store

1. Empire Wine & Liquor Outlet

2. All Star Wine & Liquor

3. Exit 9 Wine & Liquor

Our readers enjoy an adult beverage now and then (and again). We know because this was one of the most popular overall categories.

Best Women’s Clothing Store

1. Macy’s

2. Kohl’s

3. Truly Rhe

Times change and retail stores come and go, but Macy’s almost always wins. Props to Troy’s Truly Rhe for a solid showing.

Best Men’s Clothing Store

1. Macy’s

2. Kohl’s

3. Enigma Co.

We’re sensing a pattern here: Macy’s, Kohl’s, and an interesting indie shop in Troy—this time, the Enigma Co.

Best Children’s Clothing Store

1. The Children’s Place

2. Kohl’s

3. GAP Kids

When it comes to dressing your fancy brats, the national chains are seemingly unbeatable.

Best Consignment Clothing Store

1. Plato’s Closet

2. Goodwill

3. (tie) Polkadots, Salvation Army

Only Plato’s Closet and Polkadots are consignments stores. Plato’s is geared to teens, Polkadots caters to children; Plato’s wins. 

Best Sporting Goods Store

1. Dick’s Sporting Goods

2. (tie) Empire Mountain Sports, Goldstock’s

4. Play It Again Sports

The big chains may be overrepresented in this category, but local legends Goldstocks are hanging in there.

Best Head Shop

1. Northern Lights Smoke Shop

2. Orion Boutique

3. Déjà vu

Each establishment has its partisans, but Northern Lights heads the list.

Best Cigar/Tobacco Shop

1. Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe

2. Edleez Tobacco

3. Smoke Shop

Your perennial favorite—Habana Premium—wins again.

Best Holistic Shop

1. Crossroads Gifts & Wellness

2. Honest Weight Food Co-op

3. Hippies, Witches, & Gypsies

Crossroads in Schenectady specializes exclusively on health, wellness, and divine inspiration, and apparently inspiring readers to maximize their voting.

Best Art Supply Store

1. Arlene’s Artist Supply

2. Michael’s

3. Savoir Faire

Arlene’s wins big again—and with a large overall vote total reflecting the store’s high standing in the arts community.

Best Bicycle Shop

1. Downtube Bicycle Works

2. Plaine and Son

3. Troy Bike Rescue

The Downtube folks are the experts at all things cyclist, recognized by readers with their yearly win.

Best Toy Store

1. Toys ’R Us

2. G Willikers

3. Ta Da!

Wow, Toys really are Us, going by their voting score. But if you want something really special, why not try the locally owned runners-up?

Best Jeweler

1. Hannoush Jewelers

2. Kay Jewelers

3. Northeastern Fine Jewelers

It was close, but the family-run Hannoush Jewelers edged out the national chain.

Best Day Spa

1. Kimberley’s A Day Spa

2. Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness

3. (tie) White Sands Massage Spa, Roosevelt Baths

For our readers, Kimberley’s in Latham has the magic touch.

Best Musical Instrument Store

1. Parkway Music

2. Drome Sound

3. (tie) Guitar Center, Collar City Guitars

Parkway Music turned it up to 11, proving that they meet your musical needs with a 100-vote victory margin.

Best Apple Orchard

1. Indian Ladder Farms

2. Goold’s Orchards

3. Golden Harvest

Indian Ladder in Altamont won by a bushel load. That Rosie (the Highland heifer) really knows how to get out the vote.

Best Farmers Market

1. Troy Waterfront/Winter Farmers Market

2. Schenectady Greenmarket

3. Saratoga Farmers Market

Is it the selection? Is it the location? Is it the live music? Is it the fact that you’re guaranteed to run into someone you know? With the Troy Farmers Market, it’s all of the above.

Best Produce

1. Honest Weight Food Co-op

2. Troy Farmers Market

3. (tie) Price Chopper, Hannaford

They’re both so good that we’re guessing Honest Weight beat out TFM because it’s indoors year-round.

Best Shopping (Plaza)

1. Stuyvesant Plaza

2. Clifton Park Center

3. Mohawk Commons

A wipeout. Not. Even. Close. Stuyvesant Plaza dominated this category by more than 300 votes.

Best Shopping (Mall)

1. Colonie Center

2. Crossgates Mall

3. Wilton Mall

On the other hand, while Wilton Mall was a distant third, your loyalties to Colonie Center and Crossgates are more closely divided.

Best Shopping (Downtown)

1. Troy

2. Saratoga Springs

3. Albany

You really enjoy the compact, pedestrian-friendly downtown retail offered by Troy and Saratoga. Sorry capital city: Albany wasn’t in the running.

Best Shopping (Outlet)

1. Lee, Mass.

2. Lake George

3. Woodbury Commons

Lee has a lower sales tax. Lee wins.

Best Supermarket

1. Price Chopper/Market Bistro

2. Hannaford

3. Honest Weight Food Co-op

The perennial winners are one-two again, while Honest Weight, looking more like a supermarket in its new location, takes third. But really, have you people ever tried Shop Rite?

Best Health Food Store

1. Honest Weight Food Co-op

2. Whole Foods

3. Uncle Sam’s Health Food

Honest Weight was once the only real health food store in the area; 35 years later, and they’ve once again won this category by a landslide.

Best Record Store (Used)

1. Last Vestige Record Shop

2. River Street Beat Shop

3. FYE

As interest in new vinyl grows, so does your craving for classic vinyl. And Last Vestige wins with its mind-blowing selection. There was plenty of love for Troy’s RSBS, too.

Best Video Game Store

1. GameStop

2. Pastime Legends

3. Jay St. Video Games

The national chain with the ubiquitous mall locations won, but Pastime Legends and Jay St. both received strong support from gamers.

Metroland Readers Poll '15: Media

 

Best Local TV News

1. WNYT NewsChannel 13

2. WTEN News 10 ABC

3. WRGB CBS 6

NewsChannel 13 is still number one. ABC News 10 is still number two. We’re surprised, however, that CBS 6, who present the most technologically sophisticacted newscast in the market, didn’t do better.

Best Local TV News Anchor

1. Elisa Streeter

2. John Gray

3. Benita Zahn

NewsChannel 13 won the overall “best news” category, but ABC 10 swept the individual categories (plus Twitter). What does this mean? Beats us. We do know, however, that this recognition for Elisa Streeter is well deserved and long overdue.

Best Local Meteorologist

1. Steve Caporizzo

2. Bob Kovachick

3. Paul Caiano

ABC 10’s “Cap,” who is celebrating 25 years as a meteorologist in this market, was your overwhelming choice.

Best Local Sportscaster

1. Liana Bonavita

2. Rodger Wyland

3. Marisa Jacques

When ABC 10 and Fox 23 merged their news operations, Bonavita was one of the few Fox anchors (along with John Gray) kept on. Clearly, this was the right decision.

Best News Radio Station

1. WAMC

2. WGY

3. 100.9 The Cat

It’s another big (and well-deserved) win for WAMC Northeast Public Radio and their multi-state news operation. News director Ian Pickus and company should take a bow.

Best Talk Radio

1. WAMC

2. WGY

3. Talk 1300 AM

You can’t get enough of Joe Donahue, the Roundtable panel and Vox Pop, can you? With WGY, your support for Chuck & Kelly and Joe Gallagher is duly noted. And as for Talk 1300, I guess y’all are too liberal for Paul Vandenburgh.

Best Local Music Radio

1. WEQX

2. WEXT

3. Fly 92.3

The voters have spoken: Keep on doin’ what you’re doin’, WEQX. Public radio’s WEXT was a strong number two.

Best Local Radio DJ

1. Kevin Richards

2. Jake Allen

3. Brian Cody

Our voters dig that modern country sound: Kevin Richards edged out fellow 100.9 The Cat DJ Jake Allen for number one.

Best Local Publication

1. Metroland

2. Times Union

3. The Daily Gazette

Thanks, again. You’re too kind.

Best Local Arts Coverage

1. Metroland

2. Nippertown

3. Times Union

No, really, stop it. Thanks!

Best Local Print Journalist

1. John Gray

2. Paul Grondahl

3. Jordan Carleo-Evangelist

ABC 10 anchor John Gray’s weekly column in The Record wins him this category again. Strong showings for TU aces Grondahl and JCE, too.

Best Local TV Commercial

1. Fuccillo

2. Mohawk Honda

3. Catseye Pest Control

Billy’s still huge.

Best Local Website (News)

1. Times Union

2. All Over Albany

3. News 10 ABC

The TU’s web presence still tops the local media community for breaking news.

Best Local Website (Community)

1. All Over Albany

2. Keep Albany Boring

3. Nippertown

Go ahead, AOA, feel the love on your 7th birthday. You dominated this category.

Best Local Website (Arts)

1. Nippertown

2. All Over Albany

3. Keep Albany Boring

With respect to arts, however, Nippertown doubled AOA’s vote total.

Best Local Website (Music)

1. Nippertown

2. CRUMBS

3. Captial Underground Radio

Breaking concert news, reviews, photos . . . Nippertown is On It.

Best Local Podcast

1. CRUMBS.net

2. Capital Underground

3. A Small American City

Hard to believe CRUMBS is closing in on its 20th anniversary—which predates the invention of podcasts.

Best Local Blog

1. All Over Albany

2. Table Hopping

3. Keep Albany Boring

Another solid win for AOA.

Best Local Twitter Feed

1. Lydia Kulbida

2. Kevin McCashion

3. Cinephilny

We agree: ABC 10’s Kulbida, with her wide interests and quick wit, writes terrific tweets. As for number two, nobody knows #troycrazy like McCashion. Nobody.