Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 1, dated Sept. 14, 2018.



If you're reading this, you're probably already aware that



I'm tired of reflecting on what the short-lived alt-weekly did or did not achieve—I talked to the



The tone/style will be more informal than what I produced for The Alt. I'll use slang, abbreviations, shorthand, "I," etc. I might occasionally speak up at the myriad city meetings I attend, rather than adhere to the more traditional, fly-on-the-wall code of decorum for reporters. I see this as something like a "neighborhood blog" for the city of Troy, one that reflects my own interests/tastes/sensibilities.



I may set up a Patreon or something like that in the future, but I don't yet want to take or ask for your money, because I'm still not sure if I'll be able to deliver something consistently good. I'll be pursuing freelance gigs in addition to compiling TL each week, and those paid opportunities, if they materialize, may take precedence on occasion.



So, TL is, and may remain indefinitely, a pilot project. (And I guess it already kind of started earlier this week, when I



Contact me (luke.s.nathan@gmail.com, or just reply to this email) any time with story ideas, suggestions on how to make this newsletter better or more interesting, or for pretty much any reason. The last time I checked, there were 155 of you. Thanks so much, early adopters, for taking an interest in whatever this might turn out to be.



OK, content...

, you're probably already aware that The Alt is transmogrifying into The Collaborative, a Proctors-backed, monthly magazine expected to launch later this year. The same day (8/31) that venture was announced , I was told I wouldn't be retained for it.I'm tired of reflecting on what the short-lived alt-weekly did or did not achieve—I talked to the TU , the ABR [$], and WOOC about it all—but I would like to tell you that almost immediately after learning of my layoff, I started dreaming up something like this. (People suggested it, too.)The tone/style will be more informal than what I produced for The Alt. I'll use slang, abbreviations, shorthand, "I," etc. I might occasionally speak up at the myriad city meetings I attend, rather than adhere to the more traditional, fly-on-the-wall code of decorum for reporters. I see this as something like a "neighborhood blog" for the city of Troy, one that reflects my own interests/tastes/sensibilities.I may set up a Patreon or something like that in the future, but I don't yet want to take or ask for your money, because I'm still not sure if I'll be able to deliver something consistently good. I'll be pursuing freelance gigs in addition to compiling TL each week, and those paid opportunities, if they materialize, may take precedence on occasion.So, TL is, and may remain indefinitely, a pilot project. (And I guess it already kind of started earlier this week, when I posted on Medium what, as you'll see, likely will be a frequent component of this newsletter: a roundup of recent governmental meetings I attended. Click that link for some stuff about the Troy Community Land Bank, a decades-old reverter clause, potential opioid-related litigation, and more.)Contact me (luke.s.nathan@gmail.com, or just reply to this email) any time with story ideas, suggestions on how to make this newsletter better or more interesting, or for pretty much any reason. The last time I checked, there were 155 of you. Thanks so much, early adopters, for taking an interest in whatever this might turn out to be.OK, content...

Neighborhood Watch

Lately I've had my eye on a pair of rather ungroomed properties near my apartment—203 and 207 Fourth Ave., which together total about a quarter of an acre and include gated parking space, indoor storage, and outdoor storage. Here's what they looked like from Fourth St. this past Tuesday afternoon:

And here's what they looked like from the Church St. alley (not sure why the gate was open; it was also open when I visited last week):

Both parcels are owned by Finelli Development, LLC, an entity related to Finelli Construction, which was founded decades ago by brothers Mark and John, according to its website.



The Finelli brothers bought both of these Fourth St. properties from the city of Troy, paying $500 for each (203 in 2012, 207 in 2016), property records show. They own or have owned well over a dozen properties in Troy, according to their Sept. 2016 proposal for 207 Fourth, which I recently obtained through an open records request.



When I reached John Finelli by phone on Tuesday afternoon, I told him that the lots appeared "quite overgrown" and asked if he had any future plans for them.



He took issue with what I guess he perceived as my too-oblique approach. "Why don't you just spit out what you want to say?" he said. "Strap your balls on and spit it out. I'm listening. I answered the phone."



He went on, "Why don't you just say, 'Mr. Finelli, I would appreciate it, and the neighborhood would appreciate it, if you would clean up your lot'?"



He finally said he would attend to the matter sometime this fall. "I know it looks like crap, and I will get it cleaned up," he said, before jokingly asking if I wanted to take on the job. The phone call lasted only a few minutes.



When I walked by Thursday evening, I noticed the Fourth St. frontage had been pruned back a bit (not by me):

Progress! Maybe now, drunk on power, I'll start asking the city when it will pedestrianize the slip lane across the street.

Meeting Diary

Zoning Board of Appeals, 9/11

Poestenkill Place. I arrived late because I had my regularly scheduled WOOC appearance, so I missed this item. This is The Community Builders' 84-unit apartment complex at 244-246 First St. James Rath, the ZBA's new secretary (formerly Capital Roots' Healthy Communities Coordinator), told me that its area variances were approved. The project still needs approval from the planning commission.



One suggestion in the planning staff report for the project: "more ground level penetrations for vehicular and pedestrian access." Apparently, at least as initially envisioned, the complex would have no entrances in its "walls" along First, Second, and Ida streets. The ZBA did not mandate this change, Rath told me, but perhaps the planning commission will.



Hudson Terrace Management, LLC. This developer needed an area variance, which it obtained (4-1, Normile dissenting) to build a 36-unit apartment building at 221 Stow Ave. There was some neighborhood pushback on this one, and some of it was a bit ridiculous. One man said he was "not a fan of apartment complexes." A woman said the new structure meant she would "never see another sunset."



The most compelling public commenter was a current tenant of the existing, 48-unit Hudson Terrace apartment complex at the site, which, according to her, needs some work. For one, it needs new windows (ice accretes inside when it's cold), she said, and a development team rep agreed; the team will replace all of them when it builds the new structure. The ZBA included this as a condition of its approval, just to be safe.



Habitat for Humanity. The nonprofit's Capital District chapter had two items on the agenda, both of which were approved: 79 & 81 Fifth Ave. (two single-family homes, variances for setback and parking deficiencies) and 13/15 Cross St. (one single-family home). One resident spoke against the Fifth Ave. projects' absence of off-street parking.



Habitat has built more than a dozen single-family homes in Troy over the last four years, according to one of its applications.



Standard Manufacturing. This massive, adaptive reuse project in Lansingburgh—151 mixed-income apartments, a carriage house repurposed as a "community center," 117 parking spaces (up to 10 banked), new retail spaces plus the preservation of the Arakelian family's apparel biz—obtained its needed use and area variances without much fuss. It still needs site plan approval from the planning commission.



One public commenter offered concerns about parking, and another, um, said this: "With this new apartment complex that's going to be coming in here, who are we actually renting to? Are these going to be the same type of apartments that we have down here on River Street where we have some undesirables hanging out?"



Both the ZBA chair and the project team rep called this line of inquiry "valid," and the latter sought to address it by pointing out that the Arakelian family will continue to operate their business at the site, so "they're not going to want undesirables in that building, for sure."

Rensselaer County Legislature, 9/11

I wanted to attend this one, but couldn't (it was at the same time as the ZBA meeting). Here's the agenda packet. I was hoping to watch the video, but as of early Thursday afternoon, it was not yet posted to the legislature's YouTube page. Two items of interest, nonetheless —>



Cigs. The five-member Democratic minority introduced a local law that would ban the sale of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to people under the age of 21. (The TU wrote about this initiative earlier this month.) The minority office told me on Thursday that the bill will be up for a vote on Oct. 9 if it makes it out of the health committee.



Waterfront trail. I wrote about this potential initiative back in May. Wouldn't it be cool if you could ride your bike from Troy to Rensselaer, without needing to cross the Hudson River? The legislature unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday "authorizing" the county executive to work with the municipalities of Troy, Rensselaer, and/or North Greenbush to explore funding opportunities, feasibility, etc.

Court Diary

Thursday, 9/12, Troy City Court, Criminal Part. I picked, by dumb luck, a pretty interesting morning to hang out in court. A little after 10 A.M., James Lance, a city code enforcement officer, was arraigned on seven charges related to his alleged role in a city-owned property transaction.



Here's what happened, according to the state Attorney General's complaint: In Dec. 2014, then-city engineer Andrew Donovan submitted a bid for 226 Cemetery Rd. in Lansingburgh, a wooded parcel right along the Uncle Sam Bikeway. Here it is, as shown in the (very useful) app LOVELAND:



Donovan said in his winning proposal that he intended to clear the property and build a single-family house. The deed, executed in mid-2015, contained a reverter clause—as is standard for city property sales—that obligated him to carry out these plans and bring the property into compliance with relevant codes within six months, or else potentially forfeit the title.



The house was never built. In an interview last year, Lance told the AG that he inspected the property in Sept. 2015 at the request of Donovan, who "was seeking required documentation" from the code department "that would allow him to have the reverter clause declared satisfied, giving him clear title to the property." Lance told Donovan "that the property could not pass inspection because a trailer and other debris was still located on the property."



But then, Lance told the AG, Lance's "direct supervisor, who reported directly" to Donovan, told Lance "to compose a letter" saying that the property "was in compliance with the deed's reverter clause." Lance wrote this letter, though he allegedly knew it was not true, and the city eventually gave up its right to reacquire the property.



Donovan resigned in April 2016. He is referred to throughout the complaint as "Unnamed Person #1"; it's unclear if he or anyone else will be charged with anything in connection with this matter. Lance's attorney told the TU that the charges his client faces are "very, very defensible."



Multiple city employees attended the court proceeding, including corporation counsel James Caruso. Two men hugged Lance in the middle of the courtroom, immediately after his handcuffs were removed (he was R.O.R.'d), a moment captured by the TU's Skip Dickstein. Lance is on administrative leave, the mayor's office told the TU.



Here's a picture I took of Lance (far left, partly out of frame) and others after they left court and briefly congregated on the sidewalk:



The Links

Troy police officer charged in Little League fight (TU, 9/9) + this editorial (9/11) + this video of a 2017 incident (9/12)

Regeneron plans to add 1,500 jobs in East Greenbush (TU, 9/11)

The Boys & Girls clubs of Troy and Albany are merging [$] (ABR, 9/12)

Sanctuary for Independent Media fall season of events (AOA, 9/11)

Plan to rebuild Rensselaer County office building leaves some wondering (CBS6, 9/12)

Troy worker charged in attorney general's probe of land sale (TU, 9/13)

City of Troy Draft Solid Waste Management Plan [PDF] (Sept. 2018 - This will be discussed on 9/18 at 6 P.M. at city hall by the city council general services committee)

Capital District Draft Trails Plan [PDF] (Sept. 2018)

Book 'Upstate Girls' portrays lives of challenge in Troy (TU, 9/14)



Events, Past & Future

I'm taking an acting class, which I've never done before, at The Arts Center of the Capital Region. The first class was this past Wednesday—I've been assigned a monologue from Hamlet, to be performed a month and a half from now—so I can't recommend or dis-recommend it quite yet, but it might be worth at least looking over the center's pretty broad class offerings for the fall. (If you can find a physical catalog around town, it's probably a bit easier to browse than the website, which divides the classes across more than a dozen pages.)



Have you bought tix yet to the Troy Foundry Theatre's "Catastrophe Carnivale" at the Gasholder Building? The preview is 9/20, and opening night is the following night. It seems worth attending even if you don't like Beckett, since it's such a cool space. Here's the FB event page.



EMPAC's fall season has started, but I think the most intriguing stuff starts next month, as part of its 10 year celebration.



I have not yet been to Nighthawks' weekend brunch, but the pics look good. Here's this weekend's menu. Another food option this week: on Monday (9/17), there's another Soul Cafe at Oakwood Community Center ($3 suggested donation).



I attended Superior Merchandise Co.'s coffee roastery launch party on 9/7. This should be a pretty neat use of a carriage house!



Monday nights (7 to 10 P.M.) are jazz nights at Lucas Confectionery. I went recently and it was very lively. An option to keep in mind as the weather gets colder and socializing opportunities dwindle...

Mayor Patrick Madden is hosting an end-of-summer BBQ fundraiser in Lansingburgh this Sunday. I'm not going (it's $60), but if you go, I wouldn't mind if you sent me an email (luke.s.nathan@gmail.com) afterwards and let me know if anyone notable attended, anything interesting was said, etc. I'd be open to keeping your identity secret, just let me know if that's your preference; we can talk it over.



Yesterday was another Primary Day in New York. RensCo Dems picked Nixon. I asked Mayor Madden's office who he voted for but didn't hear back.



The All Over Albany Startup Grant deadline is Sept. 26. Here are the details.

Open Call

Brand me. I probably should have given a lot of careful thought to the "branding"/overall aesthetic of this newsletter before launching, but I didn't. Want to design a better banner? And maybe figure out a way to apply that theme a bit to the rest of the newsletter? Email me. Just a simple "Hey, I'd be interested" and a link to your work is fine. Please don't do any work up front. If we work together, I'll pay you.



Suggest an Interviewee. I'd like to have maybe one interview with a Troy-related person included in each TL. Nominate someone (or yourself), please.

Thanks for reading, everyone!!!! Look out for the second issue next Friday.