Oh, SmAlbany!

On hiatus....:SmAlbany will not be in full action for the better part June 12th-June 27th, as I have a major deadline to entertain and will also be out of town twice. Sporadic, occasional posts will apear below this one, so scroll down to see if there is anything new. Regular posting will resume in early July. I will also most likely be recruiting a few people to become regular posters as well, since I think the site deserves more updating than the 4-5 posts I can give it a day.

Of course, if anything totally SmAlbany happens - like a teenage revolt at Crossgates or a city cop drunkely demolishing another garage - we'll be on with full coverage.

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"police were called in..":to calm down a food fight at a middle school in Schenectady yesterday! And then they were "called back again" when students "threatened to cause more trouble"!

Unbelievable.

A reader alerted me to the fact that the print TU yesterday had a breakdown of the celebrity field of golfers. It's priceless just to see who's participating. Here are some of the highlights of the 56 entrants: Jim Brown, Bret Saberhagen, Andy Van Slyke, the "candyman" Tom Candiotti, Wally Joyner, Rick Rhoden, Matt Williams, Mark Rypien, and Lou Holtz!

Wow. The breakdowns also include a section for each celebrity called "golf credentials." Definitely worth a read, especially for stuff like 69 year old Jim Brown's entry: Golf Credentials: not available.

I'm tempted to go up there this weekend...

If you've never been in Lake George during the annual Americade motorcylce rally - which draws 60,000+ bikers and is this wekend - then you really can't say you've "seen it all." SJC and I got caught up on Route 9 about 5 years ago in a swarm of hundreds of bikes crusing the strip. It was amazing. NOt worth a drive up there, but definitely worth a stop in town if you are headed up or down the Northway this weekend.

On a sadder note, two bikers have died up there already this week.

At the Guilderland library, a plan to put warnings on sexually explicit books in the "teen" section has been defeated. I don't know how I feel about this. The main reason the proposal was rejected seems sound - it would have created a crush of work for the librarians: However, I don't think i can endorse the intellectual reasoning that some librarians and teens were giving at the meeting: Both of these arguments seem silly. Setting aside the issue of the "rights" of minors, no one is going to deny that part of the job of parenting is making decisions for your children that are in their best interest, regardless of what they want. That is the essence of guardianship. No one is suggesting we restrict which books the teens read, only that we give parents an easy system to identify books that they may not want their children reading.

This argument goes double for the librarian. I understand the generally animosity librarians have toward censorship, but this seems more like informative disclosure than censorship. And how firm is this opposition to "forced value judgements" - do they really mean no value judgements? Don't the libraries sort their movies by rating? Don't the libraries carry CD's with "explicit lyrics" warning stickers on them? Wouldn't this just be a rating system similar to those? I don't think anyone is talking about pulling books off the shelves or restricting access to them - the whole point would be to put a color-coded sticker on the books so that parents would know what their children were reading.

Honestly, isn't the very idea of having a "teen" section a value judgement? Who decides what books go in there? I assume that they wouldn't put sexually explicit books in the children's room, right? So in some way, they are already screening out books that are inappropriate by age. And all that is being proposed here is not a screening out of books, but a labeling of them!

I tend to agree with this observer, who was at the meeting: Indeed. Now, maybe all this high-style rhetoric was just cover for librarians who don't want extra work. Fine. But it sure seems silly to me to pretend that giving parents information about the books in the children's section is censorship.

In other library news, the long-contested new library in Clifton park broke ground yesterday.

understands SmAlbany politics. He seems to think that he can get back at Bruno for vetoing the stadium by cutting off his campaign cash.

I just don't think Bruno cares, even though he apparently "let down the rest of America."

...and watch him play golf?: Well then. The article is right - i'm not sure what to make of this. The Celebrity Players Tour? What is the business model of this outfit?

I think i'd go watch Michael Jordan play golf, but the Tuna, and Al Del Greco, i don't know. This whole event is right in SmAlbany's wheelhouse, though, when you think about it - a celebrity golf event, at our premiere local golf course, and the big draw will be a 60-something out of shape (see photo) NFL coach who led the Giants to two Super Bowls..

Now that i think about it, the business model will work around here. Yup, there will be a big crowd. After all, it is SmAlbany.

And Etkin writes today that Parcells is building a retirement home in saratoga.

The TU reports today about a great beer up at the Davidson Brothers Restaurant and Brewery in downtown Glens Falls. I didn't know this place existsed.

However, there are a number of other SmAlbany microbreweries. In ranked order, based only on the beer. None of these breweries are so great i'd recommend a 2 hour drive to get to them, but they all have something worthwhile on the menu:

#1) The Saratoga Brew Pub (Phila Street, near Ben and Jerry's): definitely the best local stout and a good pale ale. Unfortunately, no sampler plate available.

#2) The Albany Pump Station (near the river off of Broadway): a good assortment of beers, try the Scottish Light or the Kick-ass brown. As a bonus, the food is good , which is rare at a brew pub. Sample plate of 8 beers for six bucks.

#3) The Troy Pub and Brewery (river street, downtown): the beer is just ok. Get the sampler plate and see what you like - they have a lot of beers here and not all are on tap all the time. I like the oatmeal stout the best. This place is now called "Brown's" because they are trying to widen the market for their beer.

#4) Big House Brewery (downtown Albany): The beer just isn't that good. And it's overpriced. At all costs, make sure you don't go on weekend nights, it's way to crowded to be tasting microbrews.

The mayor has undercut the initiative for a ballot based charter review in the fall: This is a wake up call to all the opponents of the mayor. He's not Paul Clyne. He's got resources, friends, and ruthlessness. But most of all, he's got bravado. When told that the charter commission would block the ballot initiatve, he responded: You gotta love bravado like that. But the take-home point here is that the mayor has the power, he doesn't want to give up the power, and he doesn't want anyone voting on the power. As I've posted before, I think a strong mayor is important. But not this strong. Whatever the faults of legislative government, the common council needs to be more than it is now. I hope the ballot initiative gets on the ticket this fall, but i'm not going to hold my breath.

has got parking on their mind. New plans to address problems in Albany and Saratoga. Honestly, the problems are a lot worse in Albany than in Saratoga. Saratoga's problem is basically a problem for visitors. The tiny downtown can't handle the parking crush of people coming into town. As the business communnity expands, the parking must as well. It used to be only be a problem in August, but it's steadily become a year-round issue.

Albany's problem is a problem for residents. Everyone who considers living downtown has to take into consideration the cost and hassle of parking. In many cases, it keeps them away.

Early summer bars...:The period of time between the college graduations and the opening of the track (roughly Memorial Day until the last week of July) is an excellent time to check out some of the bars in both Albany and Saratoga. There are a number of bars in both locations that absolutely need to be enjoyed when they are not crowded. June and July is the time to do it. Here's a quick review:

Albany

During the school year, much of Albany is overrun with the SUNY crowd, and that's fine, but it makes many of the bars hot, loud, and meat-market-ish. If you're looking for a good place for a relaxing pint, it's not quite what you are looking for - you really have to stick to the lark street scene. However, now is the perfect time to check out some of the SUNY bars, as they are decent places, especially in mid-town, when the crowds settle down. The following places are recommended not as the best bars in Albany, but as the bars that improve the most when the college kids go home:

#1) Washington Tavern (Western Ave., near the Quail street intersection) - without a doubt, the single bar in Albany that changes the most when the kids head home. The specials are the same, but the atmosphere goes from frat party to relaxed pub. You can access the dartboard, find a table easy, and even hear other people talking. A great bar that just isn't great when it's crowded.

#2) The Long Branch (N. Lake Ave, near SUNY downtown campus) - a nice college bar that has a good "old school" feel when there aren't many people there. Scarred wood tables, cheap pitchers. Absolutely can't go there during the school year.

Saratoga

The Saratoga bars are certainly fun in August. No one will deny that. You can't put 40 bars and 10,000 people in 3 square blocks of small town and not generate a good time. But many of them are actually more fun in June and July. The crowds are smaller, the prices are cheaper, and the weather is already good enough to sit outside. Again, the following bars are not the best bars in Saratoga, but they are the ones that you should check out before the August crush:

#1) City Tavern (Corner of Caroline and Putnam) - This is the new hotspot, I guess. The only really great part of this bar is the roofdeck, and that's just a zoo in August. Definitely check it out before then, but realize that it will still be somewhat crowded up there. Just a great view of the city.

#2) Gaffney's (Other Corner of Caroline and Putnam): You just can't go to Gaffney's in August, it's just too crowded, and it's full of the college crowd. But it does have the best outdoor seating in Saratoga, and the drinks are actually reasonably priced. Just make sure you don't eat dinner there, not worth it.

#3) The Tin and Lint (Caroline near Broadway): A great college-style basement bar There is literally no air-ciruclation in the place, but it's a great atmosphere for splitting a pitcher with some buddies. Plus you can actually use the pool table if it's not crowded. Translation: stay the hell away in August.

#4) The Parting Glass (Lake Ave., out of the way): A tremendous Irish pub, complete with live music, 10 dartboards, italian shuffleboard, two large bars, and great pub food. Unfortunately, you'll never get a table in August, and you can't play darts when people are standing in front of all the boards. Check it out before July 27.

Obviously, before the track opens, we'll review the best August bars in Saratoga - there still are some secret gems up there.

the stadium is dead!

As I've written about previously here and here, the proposed public funding of the west side stadium is a massive scam to have the state (read: us) pay for a construction project that can't possible turn a profit in the future. If it's such a good deal, let private investors fund it!

And, good lord. The proponents of the stadium are still arguing that the stadium is the "key" to New York getting the Olympics. Earth to Pataki and Bloomberg: we're not getting the Olympics. Not with a stadium, not without one. The latest odds at Ladbrokes (a English gambling house that takes bets on all sorts of wierd things) will get you 33 to 1 if you bet on us getting the games. Let Pataki fund the stadium by winning that bet!

I've said it before - no New Yorker, and especially no upstater, can sanely be a proponent of this stadium.

...it's running as a headline in today's paper. Murder, attempted child murder, arson, and attempted plane-suicide line the albany papers right now. Ugh.

Well, at least the Yankees haven't lost 7 of their last eight. Oh wait, they have.

Revamp the mayor's power?: Anit-Jennings politicos are looking to alter the power of the mayor as a way to curb Jennings power. This is an extremely important issue. Of course, I'm not really interested in whether or not it gets on the ballot. It should and I think it will. But that's not the real issue here. The real issue is the merit of the proposal and whether or not the changes are good for the city.

I'm actually teaching a course right now on executive power, and I was lecturing on this very topic this week. From a political science standpoint, there are at least three things worth mentioning in this debate about shifting power from the mayor to the council:

1) Weighing the value of a strong executive vs. the value of a powerful democratic legislature. Contrary to what you might here from either side in a debate like this, there are good reasons to have a strong executive and good reasons to have a powerful legislature. The American experience with England illustrates this perfectly: we rejected the King as a despotic executive in 1776, but after a decade long trial of radical legislative government, we rejected that in 1789 and installed a fairly strong presidency. What is the problem with legislative government? Generally, four major things hold it back: First, a diffusion of power, in which all decisions are generally compromises. This results in a lack of forceful and consistent leadership that can often be provided by an individual. Second, a diffusion of accountability. As soon as something goes wrong, everyone just points at each other and declares themselves blameless. Third, the lack of a general representative. In a legislature, no one represents the whole - the whole is simply the sum of district (or ward) representatives. Thus, no one actually has the greater good as their electoral incentive - they only have an incentive to help their ward. A unitary executive elected by the whole must pay attention, in theory, to the betterment of the whole. Finally, and perhaps most importantly (at least on the national level) is quickness of reaction time in crisis. No legislature can respond to crisis as fast as a singular executive can. And this is the main function of the executive, to take charge in a crisis. People tend to put their faith - for better or worse - in one person when the chips are on the line. All the other things bad about a legislature (diffusion of power, diffusion of accountability, lack of general representation) are maginified in a crisis, when you want clear, non-ambiguous leadership.

Now, all three of these problems were recognized by the Founders, who sought to install a presidency in the U.S. that could provide something of a solution to them - a unitary president represents the whole of the nation, can be held accountable for his action exclusively, and has the singularity of mind to produce non-ambiguous policy, which generally produces better leadership. However, everyone knows the problems of a too powerful executive. I'll give you three classic ones: first, a powerful executive is in many way antithetical to democratic governance. Singularity of mind - which is great for crisis leadership - can be deadly in day-to-day leadership in certain circumstances. Simply by creating "crisis as routine," executives can tend toward dictators. Second, the non-diffusion of power tends to create larger than life figures who can dominate public life and exert far too much control over society. The singular nature of the executive (be it mayor or president) is perfect for the TV age - no legislature has the speed or unity to oppose an executive in the sound byte age. Their control over the bureacracy of government services adds to this problem, as it provides them a patronage slush fund with which to grease their power. Finally, individuals are fallable, and executives don't have to evaluate their ideas as often as legislators. They have little need to see opposing viewpoints. Great in crisis and when leadership is needed. Not so great at other times.

The bottom line is that neither the executive or legislature should have total control of a situation. The best governance comes when both have some restrained power and must work together, along with the flexibility to have the executive deal with functions best left to its strength and the legislature involved in functions best suited to its strength.

2) Now, some may say this is a debate better suited to the president than the mayor. Actually, the opposite might be true. While presidents do have to handle foreign policy crises, in other spheres of life they are rarely "on the front lives of government." Mayors, on the other hand, are the quintessential day-to-day "front-line" governemnt agents. No legislature is every on the front lines - they simply write the laws. But the executives must enforce them and then deal with the associated problems. The president has a million people doing this for him and a million layers of intermediaries between him and the workers (i.e. he doesn't talk to the FBI agents personally). Not so with a mayor: mayors are generally right out there dealing with day-to-day city issues: snow removal problems, sidewalk cracks, crime, noise, robbery, etc. Even if hte mayor is not personally dealing with constituent complaints in his office, he is directly dealing with the police, fire, health, and other departments of the city. It is absolutely vital to the health of a city to have a good mayor who works hard, provides leadership, and solves problems.

3) The "short-term" problem in democratic politics - this is an issue of rules changes. When we want to change such a fundamental thing as the power relationship of the mayor and city council, it is rarely done in a political theory blue-print manner. Instead, it comes at the push and pull of electoral politics - just like it is this year. People are upset at the mayor, they want to weaken him if they can't remove him, so they propose changes to the underlying structure of the government. That's fine. But you should always keep it in mind and remember the long term consequences of the actions. Sure, Jennings may have too much power. But always try to think about how much power you want the mayor to have in 10 years, not how much power you want Jennings to have next January. .

So, where does that leave us? Well, I think the recommendations made by this ballot initiative are probably a good idea on the whole. While I am generally sympathetic to having a strong executive, these changes wouldn't undercut the mayor's ability to be a leader. In fact, they seem to provide only a mild check on some of his powers - the very powers that tend to lead to abuse - unchecked spending and unchecked appointment power.

What I don't want to see is the total emaciation of the mayor's office. These things tend to come in avalanches, and I do think executive leadership is vital in a city like Albany. We should generally have a strong mayor. Hopefully, reason and even-handedness will be brought to this question. While the current proposals are fine, we need to be careful not to go to far. Mayors, like presidents (and unlike legislatures), are the source of leadership. We can't forget that. Often, a better bet is to change the personnel rather than weaken the office. I'd much rather see these people focus on bringing in a great mayor than trying to reduce the power of the mayor, whoever he is.

As Bolingbroke said in 18th century England, "don't fetter the executive, just get the right man in the office." Or something like that.

If you'd like to read more about this, i'm sure that Democracy in Albany will be covering it non-stop. It's right up in DIA's wheelhouse, who, BTW, has a new site that looks great.

A new Red Robin is set to open on Rt. 9 near Latham Farms soon. I'm skeptical.

As many readers know, I'm a big proponent of local food in SmAlbany. Red Robin is part of the new breed of psuedo-fast-food and psuedo-chainish-ness. The restuarants are generally clean, the food is generally better than McDonalds, and they market themselves as upscale and cheap. Plus, their gimmick is bottomless french fries. There is already one in Clifton Park, and my mom and sister really like it.

I'm probably going to go to the one in Latham just to check it out for myself. That is unless someone can give us a good review without me having to do that.

I hope no one goes there, but i'm sure that won't be the case. But at least it might put the McDonalds across the street out of business.

It's always a tough call to ask non-profits and charities to pay some taxes, but in the case of.Union college and the city of Schenectady, I'm in favor: That's a lot of public services.

Capital region Living has a list of local fairs included in their summer "things to do" recap.

The NYS legislature is poised to legalize scalping for concerts, sports games, and other events at venues with more than 6,000 seats. I've been wondering lately why the old scalping laws have not been junked in most states. The old argument - that scalpers can buy of reams of tickets and charge whatever they want, thus hurting consumers - is just not realistic anymore. Most tickets can be bought over the internet, and everyone has a fair shot there without waiting in line. Plus, almost no events allow unlimited, or even more than 8 at a time, purchase anymore.

I've found that psuedo-illegal scalping on Ebay is actually a great thing for people who don't have the money to go to an expensive, sold-out event. In a number of situations, I have purchased 4 yankees playoff tickets on the internet using a credit card, and then scalped two of them on Ebay for more than the cost of the enitre package of 4. That way someone who really wants to go can buy the tickets, and someone who can't really afford to go (like me) gest to go at a reduced cost (or for free.) Who knew legal scalping was a progressive redistribution program!

This is definitely a situation where the advantages of the free market outweight the problems of the free market.

The TU lead editorial today is a forcefull plea for Bruno (and Silver) to kill the westside stadium. Amen to that. Any upstate politician - really, any politician - who supports this stadium should be thoroughly taken to task by his constituents in the next election. I will be ashamed of Bruno if he doesn't block this now.

With I-90 set to be shut down between exits 2 and 5 for much of the summer, drivers will be forced onto local roads to get many places. Apparently, the local towns are taking no chances: So, definitely avoid I-90 between Albany and exit 24 this summer, and also stay off the surrounding roads - the rage could be extremely high.

Not bad. Soares' office seems to be winning state grants and putting them to useful purposes. I do wonder why the state has these grants in the first place for local DAs to fight over, but I'm glad that we got them and not some other city. It is, after all, our state taxes that are paying for them.

The police union in the city isn't happy about the mayor bringing in the Guardian Angels or Pataki putting troopers in patrol cars: I can see how these things can be counterproductive - a handful of new officers is not going to improve anything if they don't get along with the current officers, and that just may be the case with the Guardian Angels and the troopers. But did Jennings really do this without consultation of the police force? I'd love to know that - the TU certainly doesn't say.

Latham Biryani ($$, 1, 88, Route 9 Latahm, about a mile south of the circle): Surprisingly good and cheap Indian food - a good place to try if you've never had Indian cuisine. Located in an old Pizza Hut, it's strange to walk into this place. However, the menu is loaded with Indian favorties, they have a daily lunch buffet that's only $5.99, and the food is tasty. Try the chicken tekka marsala. The Naan is excellent - try the garlic style. Wednesday nights they have a buy-one-get-one-cheap special on a number of dinners. Most recently ate here: early June, 2005. See reader comments.

For all I had heard about Blogger having lots of problems, I didn't experience them until yesterday, when i couldn't get a post written all day. But never fear, SmAlbany is back up and running today!

...and that means it can't be long (well, 3 weeks) before there's a viable option for watching good local baseball!

I totally undesrtand the impulse to "zone-out" stores like Wal-Mart or put restrictions on construction of new big box stores. Malta, for instance just extended their construction ban. But this seems to be taking it a little too far.

Then again, I've never been there. Maybe it is nice to have no stores around.

...my parents didn't think like this back in the early 80's. From a letter to the TU today: Sometimes I think this "violence on TV and movies" stuff is a little overblown. I saw Return of the Jedi when I was 5. I had a plastic lightsaber. So did all my friends. We're fine.

I think that Star Wars is so obviously fantasy that even a 5 year old sees it for what it is. Plus, the archetypes of good and evil are so in-your-face clear that it probably does more to morally center children than it does to encourage them to violent behavior. But idunno, maybe i have no idea what I am talking about. Episode III certainly is the darkest of the six films. And the former hero, who many children might admire, becomes the lead villian. I suppose if Luke had joined the dark side at the end of Return of the Jedi, that could have messed with my head in 1983. But i doubt it.

At any rate, my kids will be watching Star Wars before they are 10, that's for sure.

Is it me, or does the pricetag on this local highway project seem a bit steep considering the benefits and the "problem": Look, I know stuff costs a lot of money, and if stuff is "aging" and needs to be fixed, fine. But what's the big problem with Thruway between exit 23 and 24. Escalating bottlenecks? Don't we already have a "direct connection between the Thruway and Northway, called exit 24?"

Maybe we need these improvement. Maybe we don't. But someone is getting rich on this, and it's not me.

The local spelling bee champ is off to Washington this week for the national spelling bee finals: I used to think the national spelling bee was neat. But then I saw Spellbound, and I realized that anyone who wins it is at least partially crazy, and definitely has crazy parents. Liane will not win. 2 hours a day of studying is what the winners do before they eat breakfast. But, as I said, it's not clear to me that you'd even want to do what it takes to win this thing.

There's a saying in politics that "a local election doesn't begin until a challenger ridicules an incumbent." Well, the race for Albany mayor has begun, as Archie Goodbee launched his first true attack yesterday: Jennings' continual denial that there "isn't a gang problem" in Albany is going to be put to the test this summer. After all, if you start proposing solutions, you must think there's a problem, right? It will be entertaining to see if Jennings is forced to come up with some kind of proactive answer to the "non-problem."

UPDATE: Mayor Jennings has been spotted with the "Guardian Angels":