‘Grim and depressing,’ New York Post? We think not.

Marcia Greenwood | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Big crowd for the Christmas keg tree lighting More than 400 kegs make up the keg tree at Genesee Brew House.

We’ll admit it. Late fall and winter in Rochester can be gray. Really gray. But in a story about the newly opened Brooklyn Wegmans, New York Post writer Maureen Callahan not only called our city unfashionable, but “grim and depressing.”

That isn’t nice, Maureen Callahan. Have you ever spent any time here? More than a few Rochesterians on Twitter, including Bob Duffy, tend to doubt it.

The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce CEO (and former Rochester mayor and police chief and state lieutenant governor) joked, “Yes NYC — Upstate has electricity, running water, indoor plumbing — and Wegmans!”

That's right. And dismissing Rochester entirely as a bleak backwater is like dismissing Brooklyn entirely as an over-gentrified, overpriced enclave of single-origin espresso- and craft-beer-swilling wannabes.

Wegmans is the pride of Rochester - and now you will know why.

It’s simply the best.

Yes NYC - Upstate has electricity, running water, indoor plumbing - and Wegmans!



Why are New Yorkers losing their s--t over Wegmans in Brooklyn? https://t.co/NCaCSwMoeP via @nypost — Bob Duffy (@BobDuffyROC) November 6, 2019

So here, without further ado, are 10 examples of Rochester being neither grim nor depressing:

ROC Holiday Village

Not only aren’t Rochesterians fazed by cold, snowy weather, they tend to embrace it. In its 2018 debut, December’s ROC Holiday Village at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park drew more than 100,000 people. The headline over a story about the launch said it all: “Huge crowd depletes Holiday Village opening-night food, hot cider and alcohol.”

Genesee Brew House annual keg-tree lighting

Genesee Brewery keg tree is lit! Thousands gathered in Rochester Friday for the Genesee Brewery keg tree lighting ceremony.

What started as a lark in 2014 has turned into one of Rochester’s biggest annual holiday events. The “tree” has grown from 300 empty kegs to 520. And the crowd has grown from hundreds of people to, last year, more than 6,000. Magic.

Snowstorms

Snowstorms can be pretty. So can snow on the ground. It’s not always fun to shovel. Or drive through. But Rochesterians are not averse to walking places, especially to pick up essential storm provisions.

Fringe Festival

Each September, hundreds of shows by performing and visual artists draw tens of of thousands of people to downtown’s East End. People were packed in like sardines — sardines, we tell you — for this year’s Plasticiens Volants’ “Pearl: Secrets of the Sea” performance on Parcel 5.

That time the Rochester Red Wings became the Rochester Plates

In August 2017, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our city’s iconic gastrointestinal delight, the Garbage Plate, the Red Wings officially changed their name to the Plates and drew a standing-room-only sellout crowd of 13,281 at Frontier Field. And a new Rochester tradition was born.

Fall

Watch: Drone footage of fall foliage Watch drone footage of fall in the Rochester area.

Of course, the Rochester area, with all its deciduous trees, is simply spectacular in early autumn, from Durand-Eastman Park to Mendon Ponds to Letchworth.

At night

Our downtown sure does look pretty illuminated by coordinating LED lights. As does the High Falls.

Lilac Festival

Highland Park is an absolute stunner. And the smell of all those lilacs, to say nothing of the smell of all those funnel cakes, is something to behold.

Patio season

Nothing like a little al fresco dining at Magnolia’s on Park Avenue or TRATA at the Culver Road Armory. Or drinks on the roof of the Genesee Brew House or in the sand at Marge’s Lakeside Inn in Sea Breeze.

Jazz Festival

Rochester really shines during this summer staple. Just ask Sheryl Crow. During her 2017 headlining performance in Kodak Hall, the hit-maker exclaimed, “Your town is gorgeous, and I think I’m going to move here.”

If it made her happy, it can't be that bad.

MGREENWO@Gannett.com