lilacs everywhere at the Victoria Pool. Pool getting fluffed up for the season.

Food for thought from the Post Star Editorial when getting water at the Joe Bruno Spring at Saratoga Spa State Park

Editorial: Time to end ‘monuments to me’
StoryDiscussionEditorial: Time to end ‘monuments to me’
Posted: Friday, May 6, 2011 7:52 pm | (1) Comments

Font Size:Default font sizeLarger font size.If the Charles R. Wood Foundation donates a million dollars to a hospital wing, they don't put the name of his bank on the building. They put Charles R. Wood's name on it.

So why is it when some politician directs taxpayer money to a building or an athletic field or an educational program, people feel it's appropriate to put the politician's name on it?

What's even worse is that when that politician is later disgraced through unethical or illegal actions, the name of the building in his honor remains.

Retired Sen. Joseph Bruno, a convicted felon who was forced out of office because of allegations he used his powerful Senate majority seat to direct state business to contractors in exchange for "consulting fees," has at least 16 buildings in Rensselear County named after him, one in each town and city in the county.

Among the many buildings bearing his name is Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, home of the Tri-City ValleyCats, a professional minor league baseball team. So did Mr. Bruno donate his personal fortune to help build the stadium, as the aforementioned Mr. Wood did in donating his own money to everything from hospital wings to theaters?

No, he didn't.

Was Mr. Bruno a famous baseball player or a beloved coach or Little League benefactor?

No he wasn't.

Mr. Bruno is so prominently honored because he used his job an elected official to guide $14 million of the taxpayers' money to the people who wanted to build the stadium. That $14 million works out to almost $1 for every man woman and child in the state. But are our names on the side of the building? No they aren't.

Mr. Bruno is the not the first, nor the last, politician to be honored with a facade. He's not the only unethical one. He's not even the most recent one.

Rep. Charles Rangel, a congressman from Harlem, last year was found guilty by a House ethics panel and censured by the full House of ethical violations for, among other things, soliciting millions of dollars in donations from companies doing business before Congress for an academic building at the City College of New York. That episode is just one in a long list of accusations made against Rangel for illegal or unethical conduct. By the way, the name of that academic building for which he was soliciting all that money: The Rangel Center for Public Service. Even after he was censured, the college said it had no plans to remove his name from the building. They're probably not giving the money back either.

There are numerous other examples of politicians being honored for helping direct our tax dollars to a project. In many cases, the politician isn't accused of being corrupt or doing anything wrong. But having a permanent campaign ad on a prominent building is a pretty strong incentive for an incumbent legislator to lobby for funds for a particular project.

In 2007, for example, state Sen. Michael Nozzolio directed $1.5 million of state taxpayer money to an athletic facility in Monroe County. He also secured a $25,000 state grant for a youth soccer program. Guess who the soccer complex is named after. You can't buy that kind of campaign advertising. Or maybe you can.

Not everyone is taking this practice lying down.

In several states, there are movements afoot to outlaw the practice of naming public buildings and other property after incumbent or retired politicians. In addition to buildings, highways and airports are popular places to attach a legislative benefactor's name. Joe Bruno once had a bronze bust prominently displayed in the Albany airport. It's since been relocated.

Ending so-called "monuments to me" has been an uphill battle for New Mexico state Sen. Mark Boitano, who objects on the basis that it's "free 24/7 advertising" for the incumbents. "It's not right," he said. He not only wants the naming practice stopped, he also wants the names of sitting politicians removed from existing buildings. But so far, he's not getting much enthusiastic support from his fellow lawmakers. His bill has been tabled in the New Mexico state Senate.

Congress has also toyed with the idea of banning "monuments to me." The late Sen. Richard Byrd of West Virginia had more than 30 public entities named after him during his tenure in Congress, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Our public officials must reject any practice that makes it appear as if they're trading their office for personal gain.

Rather than naming public buildings after the politicians who secure taxpayer funding, why not name the buildings after the people who actually provide the funding?

John Q. Taxpayer Stadium has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Star editorial board, which consists of Publisher Rick Emanuel, Editor Ken Tingley, Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney and citizen representative Tom Sullivan.



Copyright 2011 The Post-Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


.Posted in Editorial on Friday, May 6, 2011 7:52 pm

Library "brown bag" by Saratoga's City Historian on "ten Springs", th.,5/12/11@noon.

Welcome to the Valley of the Ten Springs



Saratoga Springs’ City Historian Mary Ann Fitzgerald will take us back into time
spotlighting the neighborhood of the Valley of the Ten Springs for the May Brown Bag Lunch Program. Currently home to the Spring Run Trail which runs along the old railroad bed, Mary Ann will bring us back to the days when the railroad travelled to the famous mud baths and mineral springs in the valley and then continued to Saratoga Lake. Industry and tourism once surrounded the residents of this neighborhood, but today one can enjoy the tranquil two mile trail surrounded by the sounds and smell of nature.

The program will be held May 12th from 12 Noon to 1 PM in the Dutcher Community Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. The Brown Bag Lunch is cosponsored by the library and the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center.

For further information call 587-3241.

kentucky derby upon us, Saturday,May 7,2011.

2011 Kentucky Derby Post Positions
This first race in the coveted Triple Crown of horse racing attracts plenty of attention. Since 2005, when the purse went from one million to two million dollars, the "Run For The Roses" offers the biggest prize of all the Stakes races.

The May 7th running of the Kentucky Derby will be the 137th time that the race has been held. Meanwhile, here are the post positions announced at 5PM ET on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 from Churchill Downs:

2011 Kentucky Derby post positions

Horse Jockey Trainer ML Odds
1 Archarcharch Jon Court. Jinks Fires 10-1
2 Brilliant Speed Joel Rosario Tom Albertrani 30-1
3 Twice the Appeal Calvin Borel Jeff Bonde 20-1
4 Stay Thirsty Ramon Dominguez Todd Pletcher 20-1
5 Decisive Moment Kerwin Clark Juan Arias 30-1
6 Comma to the Top Pat Valenzuela Peter Miller 30-1
7 Pants on Fire Rosie Napravnik Kelly Breen 20-1
8 Dialed In Julian Leparoux Nick Zito 4-1
9 Derby Kitten Javier Castellano Michael J. Maker 30-1
10 Twinspired Mike Smith Mike Maker 30-1
11 Master of Hounds Garrett Gomez Aidan O'Brien 30-1
12 Santiva Shaun Bridgmogan Eddie Kenneally 30-1
13 Mucho Macho Man Rajiv Maragh Kathy Ritvo 12-1
14 Shakleford Jesus Castanon Dale Romans 12-1
15 Midnight Interlude Victor Espinoza Bob Baffert 10-1
16 Animal Kingdom Robby Albarado Graham Motion 30-1
17 Soldat Alan Garcia Kiaran McLaughlin 12-1
18 Uncle Moe John Velazquez Todd Pletcher 9-2
19 Nehro Corey Nakatani Steve Asmussen 6-1
20 Watch Me Go Rafael Bejarano Kathleen O'Connell 50-1

Picking a Derby winner

Will the Victoria Pool open on it's traditional Memorial Day date. Post Star wonders, Saratoga Snippets Blog. 4/25/11.

Sidewalk Swimming in Saratoga Springs
There are 34 days, 12 hours and 34 minutes to go, at this posting, on the countdown clock until the traditional opening of the Victorian Pool, according to an advocacy group monitoring the goings-on at the Saratoga Spa State Park.

On Monday morning, hiding in plain sight, DPW crews were out in force testing the arc and flow rate of city fire hydrants.

On the surface, the two may seem unrelated, but consider that Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who has pledged to cut state costs — grew up in Queens, N.Y., where the swimming options for neighborhood youth were limited to either journeying to the WPA-constructed Astoria Pool, or playing beneath the streaming arcs of cool water unleashed from the neighborhood fire hydrant.

Affectionately nicknamed the Johnny Pump, these three-foot tall water geysers would be uncapped on hot, humid summer days to the joy of neighborhood kids. At minimal cost.

Taking into account the state’s budget woes, the costs to open and operate the amenities at the State Park like the pool AND the mysterious testing of hydrants in Saratoga Springs Monday morning, is there a nefarious effort underway to relocate the Victorian Pool to the city streets this year?

We’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out; Victorian swimmers, you have been warned.

– Thomas Dimopoulos

Geyser Creek being stocked with trout at Saratoga Spa State Park, 4/20/11.

Jansikwe and hundreds of other children brought buckets to receive a trout to release in geyser creek. A wonderful and unique event with live music, tie dyeing shirts, hot dogs and lots more fun for kids and their adult companions.

Philadelphia Orchestra may declare bankruptcy and two Saratoga Broadway buildings going on the auction block.

News
Philadelphia Orchestra board to vote on bankruptcy Saturday; concerned musicians oppose the move
Published: Friday, April 15, 2011

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Cellist Yo-Yo Ma joined Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC during the orchestra's 2010 residency in Saratoga Springs. Ed Burke file photo/eburke@saratogian.com

PHILADELPHIA — Members of the Philadelphia Orchestra concerned about a bankruptcy vote distributed leaflets to audience members before a concert to express their opposition to what they say would be a devastating blow to the famed ensemble’s future.

The musicians walked into the audience and handed out the leaflets Thursday night. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the crowd applauded as they returned to the stage. The musicians waved their instruments in gratitude.

The orchestra’s board is scheduled to vote Saturday whether to pursue Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The board tells WPVI-TV its $31 million in revenue is $15 million less than its costs.

The orchestra’s management is seeking givebacks including a 16 percent pay cut from the musicians as part of their ongoing contract negotiations.

The orchestra's annual summer residency at Saratoga Performing Arts Center is set to start its 2011 season July 27. At a March 31 meeting of SPAC's board, executive director Marcia White said this season would feature conductor emeritus Charles Dutoit as well as Spa City native and actor David Hyde Pierce as a narrator.

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Two Broadway buildings headed for auction block
April 15, 2011 at 5:33 pm by Dennis Yusko
SARATOGA SPRINGS - Two buildings on Broadway measuring more than 42,000-square-feet will be auctioned off next month, setting the stage for more big changes to the heart of this tourist city’s downtown business district.

Days after a 22,500-square-foot Borders bookstore shut its doors at 395 Broadway, news broke that the popular Saratoga Shoe Depot at 385 Broadway and a three-story building at 322-328 Broadway and the corner of Spring Street will be sold at auction on May 4.

Owned by Frank Panza, the shoe store is 22,252-square-feet, and is located just a few doors from Borders. The multi-story building is 20,678-square-feet. It’s ground-floor retail stores are partially vacant, and it contains residential units and a theater in the upper floor.

“They are kind of important properties,” said Chuck Anderson, owner of Anderson Auction & Realty, which is promoting the properties.

Panza could not be reached for comment, but Anderson called the May sales standard real estate foreclosure auctions due to non-payment of mortgages. Citing a city official who could not be reached late Friday, the Business Review reported that Panza owes $227,850 in taxes on 385 Broadway, and $96,102 on 322-328 Broadway.
The auction will take place at 11 a.m. May 4 at the Saratoga County Courthouse in Ballston Spa. Buyers will need a 10 percent deposit.

The Saratoga Shoe Depot, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, could close within 30 days after the auction, Anderson said.

The spector of two more giant storefronts on Broadway going vacant will further alarm city officials, who fretted over the closing of Borders. But Anderson thinks that they could change hands soon.

“We’ve already had interest in them from several companies,” he said.

yeh! All good things we want come to Saratoga eventually.

Table Hopping
Eat, drink and be candid
By Steve Barnes | E-mail | About Table Hopping
Quintessence to open in former Bloomers location in MaltaApril 5, 2011 at 4:48 pm by Steve Barnes, senior writer
The partners responsible for reviving Quintessence in Albany have added another restored silver diner to their portfolio. Joseph Zappone, the local lawyer and developer who, with his business partner, Pat Fiore, restored the New Scotland Avenue Quintessence and reopened it in August 2009, tells me the pair have purchased the former Bloomers an American Bistro location, on Route 9 just south of Northway Exit 13; Bloomers closed in late March. Pre-Bloomers, the building was the longtime home of the former Chez Sophie.

Given that minimal work needs to be done on the new location, Zapponse says, the plan is to open within a couple of months, though alcohol may not be available at first, depending on arrival of the liquor license. As at the Albany Quintessence, management of the Malta business will be under the direction of Nick Riggione, whose family owns the local Inferno Pizzerias and who is a partner with the owners, while Riggione’s brother Gennaro will supervises the kitchen. The menu will be the same as in Albany, and the name will remain simply Quintessence.

Zappone and Fiore last fall bought the former Kirker’s location in Latham with the intention of putting a Quintessence there as well. The availability of the Malta diner has put that project temporarily on hold, Zappone says, as the pair concentrate on opening in Saratoga County. They still plan to develop the Latham property, but not immediately, he tells me.

Posted in News, Recommendations, Restaurants/chefs | 9 Comments
9 Comments »
1.Hip hip hooray.

Comment by dominic colose — April 5th, 2011 @ 6:56 pm

2.I’m excited.

Comment by Mr. Sunshine — April 5th, 2011 @ 7:05 pm

3.WINNING! That’s about 60 seconds from our house!

Comment by Mark H. Delfs — April 5th, 2011 @ 8:50 pm

4.They must have bought it completely as-is, you can still see the bottles behind the bar if you drive by. Glad something is moving in there right away.

Comment by Smythe — April 5th, 2011 @ 8:50 pm

5.Were do I apply?!!

Comment by salvino — April 5th, 2011 @ 9:42 pm

6.Yeah! Bring on the spinach noodles! Can’t wait.

Comment by lakesider — April 6th, 2011 @ 5:35 am

7.Great location

Comment by pw — April 6th, 2011 @ 7:08 am

8.can’t wait!

Comment by mattydread — April 6th, 2011 @ 8:17 am

9.I love the albany location, it brings me back in time, but can only get there maybe once a month leaving in nearby saratoga we will be there more often, GREAT NEWS, CAN’T WAIT

Comment by john — April 6th, 2011 @ 9:54 am

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Siro's to take Manhattan.

Iconic Saratoga Restaurant is Off To the Races in Turtle Bay April 1, 2011 1:24pm1commentshareprint
Siro's of Saratoga, a trackside landmark restaurant, is opening a new restaurant in Turtle Bay, backed by celebs.
•Story•Comments Siro's of Saratoga is bring its upscale horse race ambiance to Turtle Bay. (www.sirosny.com/)By Amy Zimmer

DNAinfo News Editor

MANHATTAN — A little bit of Saratoga Springs, the bucolic upstate town where New Yorkers like to escape to the horse races, is coming to Turtle Bay.

The famed Siro's of Saratoga is opening a fine dining restaurant and more casual "Club House" at 885 Second Ave., between 47th and 48th streets, and has some heavy hitters behind it.

Yankees relief ace Mariano Rivera is a partner in the Club House and "Entourage" star Kevin Connelly is part of the team behind the upscale half of the eatery, said Keith Kantrowitz, a mortgage banker who is part of the group of investors behind the project.

The popular trackside restaurant has been a staple on the Saratoga social circuit since it opened in 1930.

The Saratoga institution, once described as "a stamping ground for equestrian-minded magnates, grandes dames, dandies and the occasional miscreant," is only open during the six-week racing season.

"In an often repeated line once uttered by a waiter, Siro's is where 'Goodfellas' meets 'Gone With the Wind,'" the New York Times wrote in 2003.


Siro's will not only bring its cassoulet, lamb shanks and raw oysters, it will also bring some horse culture.

Kantrowitz said it will be decorated with pictures of famous horses and other horse-related artwork.

"During the racing season many of our customers are from New York City and many of them are loyal," Kantrowitz said of the impetus for the downstate outpost.

Kantrowitz's group — which included New York Post publisher Paul Carlucci and Steven Schoenfeld, managing partner of a New York-based financial services firm — took over Siro's in 2009.

Kantrowitz expects the New York City restaurant and club house to open in 2 months.


Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110401/murray-hill-gramercy/iconic-saratoga-restaurant-is-off-races-turtle-bay#ixzz1IMwFOWaw

We are so ready for Springtime and the snow to go away.

Victoria Pool is beginning to emerge from its winter cover. Yes, Spring will appear again this year.

Filly Victoria Pool wins at Aqueduct Racetrack on 3/17/11.

SECOND RACE: Victoria Pool, 8-1 dropping in for 50G maiden claiming tag after losing her debut vs. NY-bred special weights by 14 lengths at 50-1, gunned to the front under Eurico Da Silva, chased by 30-1 first-time starter Maspeth Princess, Jose Espinoza up, with Dita, third vs. special weights last out, tracking the pace under a snug hold by Channing Hill. Dita made her move turning for home but hung, while Maspeth Princess turned in a strong bid but was repulsed by Victoria Pool in a long stretch duel. Bazinga, even-money favorite in her debut for Linda Rice, never got involved.




This filly is named after our favorite pool.

Waiting for spring at the Warming Hut.

More cuts for NYS Parks

Officials: Less money, but no ax for state parks (with video)
Published: Wednesday, March 09, 2011

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By PAUL POST
The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS — State parks will have even less money for much-needed repairs this year, but at least there’s no danger of sites closing, officials said Wednesday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget calls for a 10 percent — $17.7 million — reduction in parks spending, coming on the heels of a similar-sized cut last year.



Only $25 million is allocated statewide for capital projects, for a system that has more than $1 billion worth of needed repairs and infrastructure improvements pending.

“We’ve got to do more with less,” said Heather Mabee, Saratoga-Capital District Regional Parks Commission chair. “As long as there’s no further reductions we think statewide we can keep all of our parks and historic sites open. As far as we understand from the governor, there should not be any more staffing reductions.”

The commission met Wednesday at Saratoga Spa State Park with regional state parks leaders. The Saratoga-Capital region has 10 parks and 10 historic sites.

Last year, some parks — such as John Boyd Thacher Park in the Heldebergs — were temporarily closed because of the state’s dire fiscal condition, forcing the cancelation of many events and private functions such as weddings. Despite this, attendance at Saratoga-Capital parks and historic sites rose 16 percent, the most of any region in the state.

Officials attributed this to good weather compared to the rainy summer of 2009, an economy that kept people close to home and strong support from “friends” groups at several state parks.

Assistant Regional Commissioner Robert Kuhn said there are no major state-funded capital projects slated for Saratoga Spa State Park this year. However, fundraising has made new walks, steps and interpretive signage possible at the park’s Geyser Springs area. A ribbon-cutting is slated for Tuesday, May 24.

Elsewhere, plans call for replacing old bathhouses and showers at Thompson’s Lake in East Berne and increasing the number of campsites from 20 to 30 at Cherry Plain State Park. Continued...

longing for a nice warm morning and breakfast at the magnificent Saratoga Track.

oh how we love edward gorey, his spooky sensibility and adoration of New York City Ballet was very Saratoga.

NEWS bulletin from the spirit world: The specter of Edward Gorey, who died in 2000 at the age of 75, is haunting our collective unconscious.

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In a sense that’s as it should be; Gorey was born to be posthumous. His poisonously funny little picture books — deadpan accounts of murder, disaster and discreet depravity, narrated in a voice that affects the world-weary tone of British novelists like Ronald Firbank and Ivy Compton-Burnett — established him as the master of high-camp macabre.

Told in verse and illustrated in a style that crosses Surrealism with the Victorian true-crime gazette, Gorey stories are set in some unmistakably British place, in a time that is vaguely Victorian, Edwardian and Jazz Age all at once. Though Gorey was a 20th-century American, he conjured a world of gramophones and cars that start with cranks, of boater-hatted men in Eton collars knocking croquet balls across the lawn while sloe-eyed vamps in cloches look on, and sinister things sink, bubbling, into the reflecting pond. His titles are instructive: “The Fatal Lozenge,” “The Deadly Blotter,” “The Hapless Child,” “The Haunted Tea-Cosy.”

A wide audience has long known Gorey’s work from the 31-year-old animations used to introduce the PBS series “Mystery!” (now “Masterpiece Mystery”). The playfully perverse vignettes include a skulking villain in a cape and a swooning ingénue.

Before “Mystery!” Gorey’s set for the 1977 Broadway production of “Dracula” — large-scale versions of his black-and-white drawings, each melodramatically highlighted with a single, blood-red detail — spread his fame far beyond theatergoers.

But until the last few years true Gorey devotees were a secret society, wearing Gorey-philia like a Masonic ring. Now, however, their numbers have swelled. The writer Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket, said, “When I was first writing ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events,’ I was wandering around everywhere saying, ‘I am a complete rip-off of Edward Gorey,’ and everyone said, ‘Who’s that?’ Now, everyone says, ‘That’s right, you are a complete rip-off of Edward Gorey.’ ”

Tim Burton owes an obvious debt to Gorey, as do Rob Reger, creator of the goth gamine Emily the Strange, and Neil Gaiman, the author of the novella “Coraline.” Mr. Gaiman has an original Gorey drawing of “children gathered around a sickbed” hanging on his bedroom wall; he wanted Gorey to illustrate “Coraline,” he said, but he “died the day I finished it.”

Gorey illustrations are even becoming voguish as tattoos. Last year the ninth-season “American Idol” finalist Siobhan Magnus had a biceps tattoo of Death playing nanny to a flock of soon-to-be-doomed children, from “The Gashlycrumb Tinies,” Gorey’s grimly funny alphabet book.

The market for Gorey books and merchandise buoys indie publishers like Pomegranate, which brings some of Gorey’s books back into print each year, and Fantagraphics, which is releasing a third edition of “The Strange Case of Edward Gorey,” a portrait by the novelist and longtime Gorey friend Alexander Theroux. Attendance has been climbing steadily at the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, Mass., and curators of the first major traveling exhibition of Gorey’s original art, “Elegant Enigmas” — originally shown at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa., and now on view at the Boston Athenaeum — have been stunned by the enthusiasm surrounding the show.

“I knew Gorey had a wide following, but I had no idea of the mania,” said David Dearinger, an Athenaeum curator, before the exhibition opened there in February. News media inquiries and calls from the public had been coming in for months, he said then, “and the show isn’t even here yet.” Since the opening, he said last month, “the response has been phenomenal.”

Opinions differ about why Gorey — whose name increasingly serves as shorthand for a postmodern twist on the gothic that crosses irony, high camp and black comedy — is casting a longer shadow these days. Mr. Handler attributes Gorey’s growing popularity partly to the sophisticated understatement of his hand-cranked world, a sensibility that stands out sharply against the exuberant vulgarity of our age of jeggings, “Bridalplasty” and “Jackass 3D.” “That worldview — that a well-timed scathing remark might shame an uncouth person into acting better — seems worthy to me,” Mr. Handler said.

Undoubtedly such romanticized visions of a more decorous, dapper past, which also inform the neo-Victorian and neo-Edwardian street styles of goths and steampunks, have as much to do with escapism as historical fact. But accurately or not, such subcultures see in Gorey’s work an invitation “to return to a time of gentility,” to quote the promoters of the annual Edwardian Ball, a celebration of Gorey.

In contrast, some fashion designers see Gorey’s anachronistic use of historical references as perfect for our age of mash-ups and remixes. The neo-Victorian couturier Kambriel, whose shows have featured Gorey-inspired sets and models reciting Gorey limericks, said that in her designs, as in Gorey’s tales, “the propriety of the past” is infused with the “playful mischief and irreverence” of the present.

Even a more established designer like Anna Sui has drawn inspiration from him. “My big attraction to Edward Gorey is that he picked up on all those cultures and was inspired by them but kind of spun them in his own brain and made his own world,” she said. Similarly, Martyn Jacques, the singer for the British “dark cabaret” act the Tiger Lillies — whose Grammy-nominated collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, “The Gorey End” (2003), set unpublished Gorey tales to the band’s seasick accordion and castrato vocals — celebrates Gorey’s refusal to bow to a boomer-dominated culture.

“When I was growing up you’d hear all these musicians, and they were all inspired by the Rolling Stones or Jimi Hendrix,” said Mr. Jacques, 51. “I thought to myself: ‘Why only be inspired by the 1960s? Why can’t you be inspired by the 1860s?’ ”

Mr. Dearinger attributes Gorey’s appeal to what he sees as the rise of cynicism in America since the ’60s. “I don’t mean cynicism in a totally negative way,” he said. “It’s the same kind of attitude that would look back and enjoy Jane Austen but enjoy Trollope even more. There wouldn’t be a Gorey, if there hadn’t been this late-20th-century fascination with camp and irony and cynicism.”

Gorey was an early adopter of this sensibility. At Harvard from 1946 to ’50, where he roomed with the poet Frank O’Hara, Gorey borrowed a page from the bourgeois-mocking wit of writers like Firbank and Oscar Wilde to create a deadpan, ironic worldview, one that appears strikingly contemporary in retrospect.

Such historically minded analyses can lose sight of the straightforward delights of Gorey’s art — his astonishing draftsmanship and pitch-perfect composition, informed by a lifelong love of film, theater and ballet. Many of the images “look like theater sets, so there’s that dramatic appeal to it,” Mr. Dearinger said. “They’re very well composed, easy to read, yet there’s enough detail in them that every time you look at them you’ll see something you hadn’t seen before.” Dizzily crosshatched or stippled, Gorey’s exquisitely rendered images reveal an encyclopedic knowledge of period architecture, wallpaper, fashion and interior design. They rejoice in repeated patterns, which contribute to what Mr. Dearinger called their “wonderfully decorative quality.”

Gorey-philes who take in the Boston Athenaeum show may be amazed to learn that Gorey’s original illustrations were no larger than their reproductions in books, typically just a few inches on a side. “You can picture him with his nose right on the paper, practically, and the pen just making tiny, tiny little strokes, each one where it’s supposed to be,” Mr. Dearinger said. “The amazing thing is that the mind that’s creating this already knows what it’s going to look like when you step back from it.”

Intriguingly, explanations for the mounting popularity of Gorey’s art rarely touch on its air of hidden, maybe even unknowable meaning. Whatever Gorey’s work appears to be about, it’s forever insinuating, in its poker-faced way, that it’s really, truly about something else. The philosopher Jacques Derrida might have said it is this very elusiveness — the sense that meaning can never be pinned down by language — that is Gorey’s overarching point.

For his part, Gorey, who rolled his eyes at anyone looking for deep meaning in his work, would doubtless have groaned (theatrically) at any attempt to make intellectual sense of his posthumous popularity.

As he liked to say, “When people are finding meaning in things — beware.”


A version of this article appeared in print on March 6, 2011, on page AR20 of the New York edition.

No Spring yet at Hawthorne Spring #1 on Spring St. or golf at Victoria Pool. We are sick of winter!

Record February 2011 snowfall for Saratoga.

A beatle comes to New York City Ballet,nytimes,2/23/11.

February 23, 2011, 2:17 pm
Paul McCartney Collaborates With City Ballet
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
In an unexpected intersection of celebrity pop music and ballet, that most refined of the performing arts, Paul McCartney has written a major orchestral work for New York City Ballet.

Richard Perry/The New York Times Paul McCartney, above at the Apollo Theater in December, has written an orchestral work for New York City Ballet.
It is a love story titled “Ocean’s Kingdom” and will be performed at the company’s fall gala on Sept. 22 and on other yet-to-be determined dates next season, Mr. McCartney and company officials said. Peter Martins, the company’s ballet master in chief, will create the choreography.

In its current state, the ballet lasts about 45 to 50 minutes, is divided into four acts and will feature a cast of about 40 to 45, including four or five main roles. A composer, John Wilson, is helping with the final orchestration, and the first act is to be played through at the David H. Koch Theater, the company’s home, on Thursday.

The other half of the gala program will consist of George Balanchine’s “Union Jack,” a sprawling work that Mr. Martins said would be a tribute to City Ballet’s latest Liverpudlian contributor.

Mr. McCartney first mentioned that he was working on a ballet score in an interview with the BBC in June, then set off speculative babble among balletomanes and pop music fans this month when he said at an awards ceremony in London that an announcement about the piece was coming soon.

In his first interview about the work, Mr. McCartney on Wednesday called it “basically a romantic story” involving two worlds — the ocean kingdom, representing purity, and the earth kingdom, “the sort of baddies.” The daughter of the ocean king falls in love with the brother of the earth king, and “you’ll have to see whether the couple make it,” Mr. McCartney said. “There’s all sort of troubles along the way.”

Mr. McCartney has long staked a claim in the world of classical music, and branching out into ballet music is just his latest foray into other realms. He has published books of poetry and children’s literature, and mounted shows of his paintings.

Mr. Martins said the idea of a collaboration popped into his head when he ran into Mr. McCartney at a fund-raiser for the School of American Ballet, the company’s training ground, a year ago.

“Of course, being a Beatles fan — because that’s my generation — I was very intrigued,” Mr. Martins said. “I knew of course about his foray into classical music and his interest in it. I said to him, ‘Maybe we could do something together.’ ”

The two men said that over the course of the year they consulted regularly.

“This is Paul’s baby,” Mr. Martins said, adding with tongue in cheek, “The only thing he has left to do is choreograph.” He said Mr. McCartney created the libretto on his own.

“He knows exactly what this is going to look like,” Mr. Martins said. “He even has choreographic suggestions. He did a nice little jump for me. I said, ‘To me, Paul, that needs work.’ ”

Mr. McCartney said he took up the suggestion because “I can’t refuse an offer,” especially one to do something fresh and challenging.

“I’ve come to love working with orchestras,” he said. “It’s a great palette.”

He wrote some “speculative” music and began reading about dance and attending ballet performances.

“For me, the sheer athleticism is the most astounding thing about what I’m seeing,” he said. “It’s like a meeting of the Olympic games and art, and I find that fascinating and challenging for me, to see what can be done.”

Get your suits ready !!!

100 days until Memorial Day, traditional opening day of the Victoria Pool. Let it be!

Happy Valentine's Day to all our Victoria Pool Lovers.

Yaddo is Evermore but Saratoga's Broadway McDonalds is Nevermore. Scheduled to rise again in the Spring.

Opera Saratoga announces 2011 schedule. Tra-la, can Spring be far behind?

Opera Saratoga reveals season
By Michael Janairo Arts And Entertainment Editor
Published: 12:00 a.m., Thursday, February 10, 2011

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Opera Saratoga, which was formerly known as Lake George Opera, will be celebrating its 50th season this summer with a special anniversary concert and two operas produced in its first year: Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" and Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte."

This season marks the company's 14th summer at the Spa Little Theater at the Saratoga Spa State Park. In addition to the performances, the company also offers pre-performance talks about the operas (free for ticketholders), a free concert outdoors, the annual ball and a family-friendly opera to be performed during SaratogaArtsFest.

Subscriptions range in price from $130 to $190 and are now available at 584-6018. Single tickets go on sale mid-February. Visit the Opera's website at http://www.operasaratoga.org for additional information.

Here are the main events of the season:

Main Stage Productions at Spa Little Theater

"Die Fledermaus": 7:30 p.m. June 29, July 2; 2 p.m. July 5, 10. Performed in English and featuring Kyle Pfortmiller ("The Barber of Seville," 2006; "Don Pasquale," 2009) as Eisenstein; Curt Olds ("The Pirate of Penzance," 2008) as Dr. Falke; Elizabeth Pojanowski, a 2010 apprentice artist, as Prince Orlofsky; and Metropolitan Opera soprano Emily Pulley as Rosalinda. Opera Artistic Director Curtis Tucker will conduct and Nelson Sheeley will direct.

"Cosi Fan Tutte": 7:30 p.m. June 30, July 9; 2 p.m. July 3, 6. In Italian with English titles features John Stephens ("Don Pasquale," 2009) as Don Alfonso; Adriana Zabala ("The Barber of Seville," 2006) as Dorabella; and Andrew Garland ("La Boheme," 2007) as Guglielmo. David Lefkowich, who directed the 2008 production of "La Traviata," returns to direct and Albany Symphony Orchestra's Music Director David Alan Miller will conduct.

50th Anniversary Concert: 7:30 p.m. July 8. Artistic Director Curtis Tucker and returning guest conductor Mark Flint will take the audience on a musical journey through the company's first 50 years, with returning guest artists accompanied by the Opera Saratoga Orchestra. Flint has conducted more performances for the company than any other conductor.

Free Opera Insights: There will be free pre-performance opera talks for ticket holders one hour before each performance in the Spa Little Theater. Patrons will hear the history and stories behind each opera, as well as information regarding the casts and director.

Other events

"The Trial of BB Wolf": June 10-12. Opera Artistic Director Curtis Tucker has composed a new family-friendly opera that will be performed during SaratogaArtsFest weekend. The opera features elements of favorite children's stories set to music composed by Curtis Tucker with libretto by Nelson Sheeley. Tickets are available through http://www.SaratogaArtsFest.org.

2011 50th Anniversary Opera Ball: 7 p.m. July 1. The Saratoga Hilton Hotel. Opera Saratoga's gala will feature Albany band Spare Parts and will take place for the first time at the Saratoga Hilton Hotel. Ted and Carol Newlin serve as the 50th anniversary chairpersons and Helen Mastrion and Courtney Smith are auction co-chairs. Proceeds will benefit Opera Saratoga's numerous educational programs.

Free Concert in Congress Park: 5 p.m. July 4. Opera Saratoga will perform a free concert as part of Saratoga's annual Independence Day celebration. Listen to arias prior to the city's firework display.

Reach Janairo at mjanairo@timesunion.com or 454-5629.



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Opera-Saratoga-reveals-season-1005466.php#ixzz1DZ1Nx4qV

Hoping for no pool/park closures this year! times union 2/9/11.

ALBANY -- Don't expect a repeat of last spring's budget-driven threats to close state parks, the acting head of the park system told a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday during a hearing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed 2010-11 budget.

But get ready for a different kind of drama around the beginning of June, when the state Department of Environmental Conservation is slated to release proposed rules to regulate the controversial natural gas drilling technique called hydrofracking.

Andy Beers, acting commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, credited layoffs during the waning days of the Paterson administration with giving the park system breathing room to absorb the additional spending cut of 6.2 percent, or $19 million, sought by Cuomo.

"We will not be repeating last year's scenario," Beers said during a hearing of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. The budget also contains no changes in park fees, with Beers saying fee hikes last year have brought the parks "up to market rates."

A park advocacy group that includes former parks commissioner Carol Ash, who went through the political firestorm that followed last year's closure threats, took Beers' announcement with a grain of salt.

"While it may be reassuring to hear that the agency has no plans to close parks at this time, it is difficult to see how they will be able to achieve required savings without serious service reductions and even closure of some park operations," said Erik Kulleseid, director of the Alliance for New York State Parks.

His group called for the state to impose a 1-cent fee on disposable plastic grocery store shopping bags that would yield $60 million a year help pay for the parks. The group released a poll of 1,000 registered state voters that found 73 percent supported the idea of the bag fee.

"The crisis facing New York's state parks goes far beyond this year's budget proposal. Although parks may be open, there are pools and campsites not open due to the continuing deterioration of the system," Kulleseid said.

Chowderfest was a rip-roaring success today in spite of snow, sleet and lots of slipping/sliding.

Saratoga Spa State Park attendance up almost 500,000 in 2010. Victoria Pool attendance way up. Umbrella fundraiser being considered.

State parks see rise in attendance, but lose budget money
Story Discussion State parks see rise in attendance, but lose budget money
DREW KERR - dkerr@poststar.com The Post-Star | Posted: Thursday, February 3, 2011 11:45 am | (3) Comments

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Jason McKibben
Jason McKibben - jmckibben@poststar.com Moreau Lake State Park nature educator Rebecca Mullins, center, leads a snowshoe hike through the park's Red Oak Ridge trail Tuesday, January 25, 2011. The park maintains an active calendar with events targeting people of all ages. Attendance at state parks in the Saratoga-Capital region jumped significantly last year.


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Snowshoe through Moreau Lake State Park
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Parks attendance by the numbers
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2011-12 budget proposal calls for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to cut spending by more than 8 percent in the next budget cycle.

The total budget would fall from $228 million to $209 million. The proposed reduction comes as attendance at state parks reaches record highs.

In 2010, officials reported that attendance at state parks topped 56.9 million, up more than 1 million visitors from the year before.

Attendance is also growing locally.

A look at the numbers:

Saratoga Spa State Park

2010 - 1,948,587

2009 - 1,480,000

2008 - 1,449,000

2007 - 1,742,545

2006 - 1,483,000

2005 - 835,000

Moreau Lake State Park

2010 - 425,167

2009 - 396,000

2008 - 368,000

2007 - 357,000

2006 - 268,000

2005 - 338,000
Hard hit over the last several budget cycles, New York's state parks and historical sites are facing another austere year, even as the number of visitors coming to the venues grows.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2011-12 budget proposal, released Tuesday, calls for a more than 8 percent cut in spending at the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The department's budget would fall from $228 million to $209 million under the proposal.

Supporters say the parks have absorbed severe cuts each of the last two years and further reductions could compromise infrastructure and deter visitors.

"The integrity of the system that's been built up over generations, really the fabric of our state park system, is just going to be torn," said Robin Dropkin, executive director at Parks and Trails New York.

Dropkin said she has been told that no parks or historic sites are expected to close, but parks officials on Wednesday refused to say how they would absorb the funding cuts, if approved by state lawmakers.

Testimony from parks leaders is due Feb. 8, and more details should be revealed about the budget impact at that time, officials said.

Last year, asked to cut $11 million from their budget, state parks officials said they would need to close more than 50 state parks and historic sites, while cutting back at another 24 parks.

The John Brown Historical Site near Lake Placid, where the abolitionist lived and is buried, was among the sites threatened with closure. Officials also considered shuttering the Victoria Pool at Saratoga Spa State Park.

Fierce opposition led to the withdrawal of the closure plans, but supporters say the parks system is, nonetheless, suffering from a lack of state support.

Even if no parks are closed this year, Dropkin and others say they are concerned that infrastructure is not being maintained and that putting off repairs could lead to more costly work in the future.

"The bottom line is parks are still hurting, they're still operating on a shoestring budget and they're in trouble," Dropkin said.

The cuts are surprising, supporters say, because attendance at parks is at an all-time high and parks have been shown to generate tax revenue for the communities where they're located.

In 2010, officials reported that 56.9 million visitors visited the state's 213 parks and historic sites, up by more than 1 million visitors from 2009.

Locally, Saratoga Spa State Park and Moreau Lake State Park drew more than 2.37 million visitors last year - up

more than 27 percent from 2009.

Parks supporters say they might have to begin augmenting the state budget with outside dollars.

Corporate donors or foundation money should be sought, or a dedicated funding stream created to help offset losses in state aid, they say.

The funding stream could come from a voluntary surcharge on motor vehicle registrations or a penny tax on plastic bags, according to Erik Kulleseid, the director of a new parks advocacy group, the Alliance for New York State Parks.

"You can debate whether the state should or should not be paying for these things, but at the end of the day if you want things to change we have to start looking elsewhere," he said.

Louise Goldstien of Saratoga Springs, a leader of the Save the Victoria Pool Society, said group members are considering an money-raising effort to support a project unlikely to get state support.

Group members want to bring in as many as 40 new umbrellas they believe are needed at the pool but which could cost up to $15,000, and they are thinking about holding a fundraiser to support the effort.

"We always felt like we were paying for the parks already with our tax dollars," she said. "But this year I don't think we have a chance. These are different times."

Not everyone is on board with the idea of expanding public-private partnerships.

Martha Swan, director of John Brown Lives, which supports education efforts at the John Brown Historic Site, said she is uncomfortable with the idea of raising money for the site.

The site, which will be particularly important this year as the country celebrates the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, should be supported by the state, she said.

"It's a very troubling scenario for me because I feel like parks and historic sites are a part of the public good, they're part of what makes people feel like part of this place," Swan said. "And it feels like the state is diminishing their commitment to the common good."

Copyright 2011 The Post-Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



Posted in Local, Saratoga on Thursday, February 3, 2011 11:45 am Updated: 5:11 pm. | Tags: New York, Andrew Cuo

come chowder-up on Saturday everybody.

Saratoga Springs set to welcome chowder heads again
Sunday, January 30, 2011
By Jeff Wilkin (Contact)
Gazette Reporter




Photographer: Bruce Squiers

Connie Crudo relaxes at Bailey’s in Saratoga Springs with chowders prepared to promote next month’s Chowderfest in the city.Text Size: A | A | A
As queen of Saratoga Springs’ summer society, Marylou Whitney knows all about haute cuisine.

Quail in puff pastry shells — served with foie gras and truffle sauce — is a natural for an August party.

As a queen of Saratoga Springs’ winter society, Connie Crudo is an expert on hot cuisine. Clam chowder, sausage chowder, corn chowder and shrimp chowder are naturals for the February party Crudo puts together every year.

The gathering is Saratoga’s 13th annual Chowderfest, part of the city’s Winterfest. This year’s pilgrimage for potatoes, clams and assorted vegetables will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. About 60 restaurants will serve chowder in 3-ounce cups for $1 a sample, and about 60 chefs hope their concoctions are convicted of culinary excellence — and win one of six “best of” categories.

“I think Chowderfest is an affordable, fun thing to do on a cold day,” said Crudo, membership and services coordinator for the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau and unofficial queen of the party. “I think we’ve got great restaurants and these restaurants have great reputations. There are diverse offerings, and there are a lot of bars that sell chowder, too.”

Saratoga Springs 13th annual Chowderfest
WHEN: Saturday

WHERE: Assorted restaurants in Saratoga Springs

HOW MUCH: $1 per 3-ounce sample of chowder

MORE INFO: www.discoversaratoga.org/chowderfest
The festival is a big deal for both restaurants and chowder lovers. “It’s a very family-oriented event,” Crudo said. “You see a lot of large groups, it’s great for the kids and it’s great for the older people. Everybody comes bundled up and prepared to stand in line.”

They pick up their ballots first, from any bar or restaurant on the chowder roster. They’ll taste the thick soups, and vote for favorites in categories that include “Best on Broadway,” “Best off Broadway,” “Best Newcomer” and “Best Non-Downtown.” Ballots will be dropped off at the Saratoga County Arts Council and the Saratoga Springs Visitor Center and tabulated later in the day.

Exploration and discovery
Exploration and discovery are two reasons people decide to try dozens of chowders, depending on their appetites. “There’s everything,” Crudo said. “There’s vegetable, there’s chicken chowders, clam chowders, shrimp chowders, Southwestern chowders. I can’t tell you who is serving what because that is top-secret, confidential information until the last minute.”

The event started small. “I have records that go back to 2002, and in that year there were 18 participants,” Crudo said. “In 2010, we had 56 participants.”

This year, Sperry’s, Lillian’s, the Parting Glass, Gaffney’s, Maestro’s and Stadium Cafe are in. So are Wheatfields, the Wishing Well, Cantina, the Grey Gelding, Hattie’s and the Seven Horse Pub. Even Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on Phila Street gets a piece of the action. Scoops of the store’s “Phish Food” ice cream were sold as dessert chowder in 2010. There are even chowders for dogs — pooch-friendly stores “Dawgdom,” “Impressions of Saratoga” and “Sloppy Kisses” will have bowls for the bark set.

Money raised by the convention bureau — each restaurant pays a $150 participation fee — is given to charity.

Joe Richardson, who owns both Bailey’s Cafe on Phila Street and the adjoining Peabody’s Sports Bar and Grille, said Chowderfest provides a boost for the community the same way Saratoga’s popular First Night does on New Year’s Eve. Other restaurant owners say the same thing — chowder attracts people to city kitchens during what is traditionally a slow time.

John Capelli, executive chef at the Olde Bryan Inn on Maple Avenue, said competitive spirit mixes with community spirit.

“It’s not necessarily about us winning,” Capelli said. “We all win. It’s a situation where Saratoga is known for a lot of things, horse racing, the spring waters and such, but we also have an excellent variety of restaurants. There are over 100 places to eat in this city. It’s an opportunity for people to maybe go to a restaurant they’ve never tried before.”

Sizing up the competition
Chefs can also check out what’s happening in other kitchens.

“You want to find out where they’ve got something better than you,” Capelli said. “So you can figure out what they did a little bit different. You’re sharing recipes. As competitive as it is, it’s a lot of fun. I’ve got chefs that come down and try ours after they wrap up and vice versa. One of the things I’m saying if I’m serving is, ‘Who’s the best so far? What do they have out there?’ We’re all curious about what each other is doing.”

Capelli said it’s also fun to watch people during the chowder Saturday. On snowy days, he’s seen people slide up to the Olde Bryan on cross-country skis. They park them next to the fireplace and sip the hot stuff. “It’s kind of like a live-action Norman Rockwell moment,” Capelli said.

Louis Maggiore, operating partner at Longfellows on Union Avenue, also appreciates the crush for chowder.

“If you walk down Broadway during the Chowderfest, there are people everywhere,” he said. “It’s great for the restaurants, people are talking to each other, everybody’s tasting a bowl of chowder, they’re having a good time. They make an all-day thing out of it, it’s almost like tailgating at a football game.

Richardson expects a lot of people and a lot of chowder at his two locations. “Last year, we did 1,911 cups at Bailey’s and 1,260 at Peabody’s — we ran out at 3:30 there,” Richardson said. He’s planning on between 60 and 70 gallons for the two restaurants this Saturday. And crackers — all Chowderfest participants get two cases of oyster crackers from the Westminster Cracker Co. in Rutland, Vt.

Crudo begins preparing for Chowderfest around the middle of December. Restaurants sign up, the party starts rolling and Connie is soon spending most of her time on chowder business. Office colleague Angela LaTerra takes care of advertising in newspapers, radio and magazines.

While chili contests still outnumber chowder parties, Crudo said soup shows are catching up. “They’re becoming more common,” she said. “Ballston Spa does a chowderfest now, Troy does a chowderfest now. I’ve got people calling me, ‘How do you do it? How can I have a chowderfest?’ I’ll share. Just don’t have it on the same day as ours.”

Because chowder heads are on the streets during the winter party, weather can be a concern. “A couple years ago, we had an ice storm the night before,” Crudo said. “By the time we got downtown, it was all cleaned up. The city has been very cooperative.”

Tabulating the votes
This year, Chowderfest has a new wrinkle. Instead of counting ballots over the weekend and announcing winners on Monday — the practice in past years — chowder fans are invited to a second party at the Saratoga City Center at 5:30 p.m. Ballots will be tabulated, and a cash bar and disc jockey will keep people occupied until results are announced.

“We’re trying to keep them downtown for a couple extra hours,” Crudo said.

And the event is becoming more ecologically friendly. A reusable mug with lid and spoon is available for $5, so people who make the purchase won’t be using and tossing bunches of disposable cups and spoons. The mugs are being sold at Celtic Treasures, Crafters Gallery, Crush and Cask Wine and Liquors, Impressions of Saratoga and Just Plain Good/Life Is Good.

Chowderfest is designed to warm interiors, but Crudo said some people want to warm exteriors, too. That’s why festival long-sleeve T-shirts have always been popular. The 2011 model costs $7.

“I once got an e-mail from a man in Florida who had always attended, but said he couldn’t make Chowderfest because of illness,” Crudo said. “He said, ‘I need my shirt. Can you mail me one?’ So I did. Can’t break up his collection.”


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major antique show at Dance Museum/Washington Baths, Ice hockey at warming hut. Love our Spa Park.

Saratoga Spa State Park. candlelight ski and snowshoe, friday, february 4,2011,6pm-8:30pm at the Warming Hut.

1.5 miles of candlelit trail

hot food and drinks!

ice skating!

snowshoes and skis available for rent.

call Alli at 518-584-2000 Ext. 116 for more information

New Parks Commissioner to be named, Rose Harvey.

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Harvey is new parks commissioner
Posted on January 27, 2011 at 2:11 pm by Rick Karlin, Capitol bureau in Environment
1 Share 6 share E-mail We heard the naming of a new Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation was in the works today and here she is: Rose Harvey. She comes from the Jonathan Rose Companies most recently, which describes itself as a green real estate firm that does a lot of municipal work, and she’s got a long resume of working on open space issues. It’s unclear what this means in terms of the speculation that Parks and Rec might be somehow merged with the Dept. of Environmental Conservation, although a merged outfit would presumably still need a parks chief. Here are the details:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the nomination of Rose H. Harvey as commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

“Rose Harvey’s experience and knowledge as well as her expertise creating countless cost-effective parks, playgrounds and open spaces in underserved communities with efficiency makes her the person we need to lead this agency,” Governor Cuomo said. “I thank her for her public service and look forward to working with her.”

Currently, Ms. Harvey is a senior fellow at the Jonathan Rose Companies, where she acts as an advisor and researcher on parks and open space issues, and launched a non-profit organization to fund, design and develop safe, well-managed parks in urban neighborhoods. She was also recently a McCluskey Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

For 27 years, Ms. Harvey held multiple leadership positions with The Trust for Public Land, most recently as Senior Vice President and National Director of Urban Programs. There, she oversaw all real estate acquisitions, urban park design and developments, managed the finances of a $20 million annual operating budget, and closed between $50 and $75 million worth of land and parks transactions each year across 8 states – a total of nearly $1 billion and more than a thousand new and enhanced parks, gardens and playgrounds in underserved neighborhoods in New York City, Newark, N.J. and Baltimore. She has also established large landscape woodlands and natural areas throughout New York State and the Mid-Atlantic region.

Ms. Harvey began her tenure in the parks and open space arena as the Assistant Director for Conservation Easement at the Maryland Environmental Trust, where she negotiated protections of private lands holding environmental significance.

Ms. Harvey received her B.A. from Colorado College in 1977 and M.E.S. at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 1984. She currently serves on the Board of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Yale Leadership Advisory Council. In the past she has served on many conservation organizations, including the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Hudson River Institute and Walsh Park Low Income Housing. In addition to multiple state and national awards for her environmental stewardship and advocacy for open space and parks, Ms. Harvey has written multiple articles and op/eds in numerous national media outlets and industry trade journals.

Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, M.D., Chair of the New York State Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said, “Ms. Harvey has been key to many of the great additions to state parks of the past 20 years. I look forward to working with her to foster strong private-public partnerships that protect and enhance New York’s parks, open spaces and heritage. I am also deeply committed to working with Governor Cuomo’s administration in preserving our state’s recreational landscapes and natural resources.”

Frances Beinecke, President of Natural Resource Defense Council, said, “Ms. Harvey’s decades of experience in creating hundreds of parks and thousands of acres of open space makes her the perfect choice to lead New York’s agency tasked with protecting and preserving public land. I applaud Governor Cuomo for selecting such a dedicated professional.

Ned Sullivan, President of Scenic Hudson, said, “Rose Harvey brings to this critical job sterling credentials and experience in land conservation and in creating and managing urban gardens and parks. Governor Cuomo has selected an outstanding candidate to help him implement his broad reform agenda and to meet the state’s responsibilities as steward of our unparalleled parkland.”

Kim Elliman, CEO of the Open Space Institute, said, “Rose brings an unparalleled passion for providing all New Yorkers with access to parks and open space. Throughout her 30 year career, she has built an incredible track record of creating and protecting parks, from vest-pocket parks in cities to landscape parks like Sterling Forest. She is singularly qualified for the job and I commend Governor Cuomo for his selection.”

Leslie Wright, New York State Director for The Trust for Public Land, said, “Governor Cuomo’s selection of Ms. Harvey as Commissioner for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation shows that he is serious about maintaining open space and making it accessible to as many New Yorkers as possible. Ms. Harvey’s storied career in establishing parks, playgrounds and gardens in urban areas, combined with her ongoing advocacy for open space makes her the ideal candidate to lead this agency.”
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we need an umbrella fundraiser for the Victoria Pool soon. Any ideas?? Preliminary estimate for beautiful pool umbrellas about $15,000.

Will this winter 2011 ever end?

High Winter is upon us, Avenue of the Pines, Lawrence White,photo.

Geyser restoration continuing, PostStar, Saratoga Blog.

Restoration plan sprouting up
StoryDiscussionImage (3)Restoration plan sprouting up
By DREW KERR dkerr@poststar.com The Post-Star | Posted: Friday, December 3, 2010 12:05 am | (1) Comments

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DEREK PRUITT
Derek Pruitt - dpruitt@poststar.com Lester Beninati and his grandson Scott Beninati sample mineral spring water near the island spouter spring at Saratoga Spa State Park on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. Beninati brought his grandson along who was visiting from Alaska and hadn't been to the park in years. The geyser spring, at right, and the surrounding visitor area have been restored through a public-private partnership with donations near $150,000. .
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..SARATOGA SPRINGS — When state parks officials set out to restore the area around the mineral-water spouting geyser that served as the genesis of the city's tourism industry there was one project they didn't anticipate having to tackle - fixing the geyser itself.

But, in overhauling the area around the so-called island spouter this summer, officials at Saratoga Spa State Park discovered the 300-foot-deep well bore dug to reach the limestone layer where the mineral waters percolate had been compromised.

The geyser - the only such formation east of the Rockies - would sit dormant unless a new well casing was installed.

It was, and this week the geyser was shooting a 10-foot arch of mineral water fresh from the fault line on which it sits.

The repaired spout is among several efforts made over the last five months to beautify the area surrounding the geyser and other mineral springs that dot the 100-year-old state park.

Workers have also cleaned up an area near the geyser where visitors can fill glasses with mineral water, put in new sidewalks so the area is handicapped-accessible and rebuilt a pavilion next to the geyser.

Future plans call for adding signs that will explain the history of the park, its springs and their role in the city's tourism industry, and putting in an extended trail network and a new overlook area.

Those efforts will be taken up again in the spring, and officials said this week they hope to have most of the work done by this time next year.

"People have been very excited about the whole process," park manager Michael Greenslade said. "I think having this area cleaned up and dressed up will just make it that much more attractive to people."

Work to restore the area around the geyser began in May, when officials kicked off a fund-raising effort as part of the park's centennial celebration.

More than $150,000 in donations has since been collected, and officials are seeking another $100,000 to finish the renovations.

Heather Mabee, a volunteer parks commissioner who represents the Saratoga region, said the money that has been raised shows people are willing to step in and support parks when their tax money will not.

Public funding for state parks across New York has diminished in recent years because of budget shortfalls, and officials said they sought private money for the restoration because it was unlikely tax dollars would be spent on such a project.

"People are still contributing, whether it's $5 or $1,000," Mabee said. "We've really been overwhelmed by the public's realization of how important these springs are."

Mabee said restoring the springs is important because they played a critical role in the development of the park, and are such a part of the community's history.

The state bought the land around the springs in 1910 as industry moved to exploit natural gases beneath the surface, threatening the environment.

The area later became a mecca for tourists who sought the mineral water's restorative powers, and park visitors remain enthralled by the water today.

"This is the place in the park that attracts the most tourists, which is really why we picked this place to focus on," said Alane Ball Chinian, director of the Saratoga-Capital region for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Another project in the park was undertaken this year through a public-private partnership.

Two dozen white pines were planted along the Avenue of the Pines last month through a program in which the drink company Odwalla distributes money for tree-plantings in parks.

And a group of resident volunteers, part of a "friends" group that supports the park, has restored a pair of pavilions this year.

Chinian said the efforts show that parks can find ways to make improvements despite limited resources.

"What I think this work really shows is that we're moving on, even in this very difficult economic time," she said.

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.Posted in Local, Saratoga on Friday, December 3, 2010 12:05 am Updated: 12:06 pm. | Tags: Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Spa State Park, Geyser, Mineral Water

Our beautiful Spa Park after the first big snowfall of 2011.

New York City Ballet to tour the world for third week of ballet lost to Saratoga and SPAC.

City Ballet Creates A Troupe For Touring
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
Published: January 6, 2011
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CloseLinkedinDiggMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink New York City Ballet is creating a small and nimble touring ensemble in the hopes of broadening its appeal around the country and the world.

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While the company’s stars often perform elsewhere on their own, establishing an official spinoff is a departure for the company. Performances by the new group, called New York City Ballet Moves, will also replace work days lost when the company shortened its summer season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Centerto two weeks from three weeks several years ago.

In an interview this week the ballet master in chief, Peter Martins, said the small works that Moves will perform can easily be accommodated by more modest sites, like university auditoriums. “There’s a whole market we haven’t been exposed to,” Mr. Martins said.

He said that he envisioned the possibility of more than one small company operating at the same time, and that he saw the European summer festival circuit as fertile ground.

Without solicitation Mr. Martins took pains to emphasize that the new company would not be an apprentice or grade-B group.

“This is not a diminished product in any way,” he said. “These are not students that I’m training to get in the company. These are top-notch dancers. You’re getting the real thing when you hire this group.”

A rotating group of dancers will make up Moves, and it will include members from every level of the company. The roster for the first season consists of the principal dancers Jared Angle, Joaquin De Luz, Robert Fairchild, Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski, Tiler Peck, Amar Ramasar, Daniel Ulbricht and Wendy Whelan; the soloists Adrian Danchig-Waring, Erica Pereira and Rebecca Krohn; and the corps de ballet members Chase Finlay, Anthony Huxley, Lauren Lovette, Brittany Pollack and Taylor Stanley.

Musicians will be drawn from the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Moves will have its first performances this summer at the Vail International Dance Festival, on July 31 and Aug. 1 and 2, followed by four performances, Aug. 5 to 7 at the Center for the Arts in Jackson, Wyo., where a group of City Ballet dancers performed last summer in what the company called a trial run.

They will present two programs, consisting of George Balanchine’s “Duo Concertant,” Jerome Robbins’s “Dances at a Gathering,” Mr. Martins’s “Fool for You,” “Hallelujah Junction” and “Zakouski,” and Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” pas de deux and “Polyphonia.” The musical accompaniment includes one and two pianos, piano and violin and taped voice.

A natural connection links the Vail festival to City Ballet: the festival’s artistic director is a former City Ballet star, Damian Woetzel. “Knowing that they were starting to look at this as a way to present the company differently, I looked at it and thought this would be fantastic at Vail,” Mr. Woetzel said.

In Vail the dancers will present a program that Mr. Martins called a lecture-demonstration and the festival called a “rehearsal-style romp.” It will be devoted to solos for male dancers by Balanchine, who is perceived has having focused more on female dancers. (“Ballet is woman,” went his famous line.) “The irony is he choreographed great material for men,” Mr. Martins said.

The new program is a return to City Ballet’s history of touring, especially its frequent travels in the United States in the 1950s through the early ’80s. That helped build a following and expanded the pool of potential dancers, Mr. Martins said. But when a musicians’ contract after 1986 required the orchestra to perform with the dancers in any North American engagements, traveling with large-scale works became too expensive, he said.

Most of the recent touring has thus been abroad. City Ballet also appears regularly at the Kennedy Center in Washington. While visiting companies there are required to use the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, a deal was worked out in 2002 allowing the two orchestras to alternate.

Mr. Martins said the touring would not be a source of revenue, but was expected to break even.

A version of this article appeared in print on January 7, 2011, on page C3 of the New York edition.
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