albanyweblog.com
A weblog about the politics and affairs of the old and glorious City of Albany, New York, USA. Articles written and disseminated from Albany's beautiful and historic South End by Daniel Van Riper. If you wish to make a response, have anything to add or would like to make an empty threat, please contact me.
Article Index by Name in Date Order
2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006
Welcoming The Capital South Campus Center,A new college building is dedicated in my neighborhood, and Jerry Jennings may have a flukey idea to replace the unwanted Convention Center, 5/11/13
I Am Not A Radical, An offhand comment sets the blogger ranting about the Bill of Rights and the prescient observations of Alexis DeTocqueville
Mr. Calsolaro Retires, The introduction of Dorcey Applyrs, a rumination on representational politics and discovering the Plumeri Complex near my house
A Casino In The Convention Center, The mayor stubbornly pushes His money-draining boondoggle by any means at hand, 3/14/13
A Letter To Mr. Longo, As Section 8 housing subsidies disappear, the dynamic director of Albany Housing Authority takes some unnecessary steps to save money, 2/27/13
A Tragic Death Wish, This year’s Martin Luther King march to my neighborhood in honor of the great victim of gun violence, and the recent virtual murder of Dr. King’s spiritual heir Aaron Swartz by federal authorities, 1/30/13
At The Dawn Of Good Government, Kathy Sheehan announces her run for mayor of Albany, another challenger hovers and the Treasurer’s office is now wide open, 12-29-12
The Anonymous Save, The 2012 presidential election may have been salvaged by a coalition of online patriots, 12/2/12
Postcards Of The Park, Trying to imagine Beaver Park 100 years ago and martinizing the South End, 11/7/12
The Much Better Corporatist,One last chance: an appeal to younger voters to save The Empire from destroying itself, 10/28/12
Paddling To Waterford, A visit to the farmer’s market and The Wife inspects the breastworks, 9/20/12
The September Elections,Here’s my biased and opinionated guide to some races in the upcoming Democratic Primary in and around the City of Albany and in Albany County, 08/25/12
An Obscure Little Run,Despite having lost the corporate sponsor a 5K race in Lincoln Park was a success that should be repeated, 7/21/12
A Ribbon Cutting At Giffen,Volunteers rebuild a South End public schoolyard and the County Executive muscles in on Jerry's turf, 6/30/12
The Medal Hurling Ceremony, Part One, The Wife goes to Chicago and attends an important historical event that you didn’t hear about, 5/29/12
The Medal Hurling Ceremony, Part Two Veterans of our recent corporate wars make their stand in Chicago and The Wife doesn't get tased, 5/29/12
Now We Can Ride The 100 Bus, The regional transit authorities are pushed into doing the right thing, and a local hero goes national, 5/8/12
The Murder Of Bathhouse #2, The Albany City government shamefacedly tries to hide the looting of our forcibly abandoned treasure, 4/26/12
The South Pearl Street Memorials,After decades of deliberate neglect the authorities confront gun violence and the entire South End is rocked, 3/31/12
Albany Mayor Kathy,Mayor Jerry Jennings is ripe for an electoral takedown and there is one woman who can do the job, 2/20/12
The First Dr. King Day After Freedom Is Repealed, Our politicians betray us big time, and Brighter Choice marches a vision of the corporate future to my neighborhood, 1/26/12
Santa Woden And Black Pete, The blogger deconstructs the jolly fat god of Christmas and takes great joy in the desecration of bogus tradition, 12/23/11
Ending Support For Gun Violence, The big local politicians are forced by the public to restore funding for a successful effort to stop random shootings in Albany’s neighborhoods, 11/28/11
The Final Non-Violent Uprising,The Occupy Wall Street encampments in New York City and in Albany are terrifying the corporate parasites and their politicians, 10/28/11
A Graveyard Of Commerce, Albany’s walled-off waterfront offers a boat launch, some casual tourism and raw sewage, 10/3/11
Too Much Water And Privatized Turbine, How the late summer floods in the Hudson Valley were greatly exacerbated by mismanagement, and how the blogger found religion in the middle of Great Lake Sacandaga, 9/15/11
Paul Tonko Does The Right Thing, The President and the Republicans continue to compromise the economy, but our Congressional representative stands firm. 8/6/11
The Patriot’s House,Celebrating the Fourth of July and contemplating economic freedom at the oldest building in the South End, 7/14/11
Our Pool Is Now Open, The City is sending signals that it wants to shut down Lincoln Park Pool, so go swimming right now this summer while you can, 6/30/11
After The Assassination, Don’t worry folks, no conspiracy theories here, just questions. Besides, our politicians never lie. 5/22/11
Look At These Tulips, The whole world is being sent to hell but finally it’s Spring and the flowers are out, 5/8/11
Brattleboro, Fukushima And Albany, Other than money, there’s exactly one very horrible reason why we may end up with a nuke power plant on the outskirts of Albany, 4/24/11
Police Dispatchers And Corruption,The blogger explains why he has developed such a bad attitude toward City of Albany officials, why his attitude is very much justified, and why he may soon have to change his opinion, 3/31/11
The Blogger Goes To Church,The fastest growing established church in Albany gives The Wife an award, and she neglects to mention her infirmities, 2/26/11
They’d Shoot Him Dead Today, Instead of merely reporting on this year’s Martin Luther King march that ends up in his neighborhood, the blogger rants and raves about injustice almost to the point of incoherence, 1/23/11
Showdown At The Bath House, A sit-in protest at Bath #2 reveals that Mayor Jennings is becoming politically isolated, 1/10/11
It Came From The Sky, Right outside our window, a heartwarming tale of sudden death and evisceration for the holiday season, 12/25/10
The Assault On Bath House #2,The City of Albany refuses to access funds to renovate and save one of the last community centers in the South End, 11/14/10
Hilltown Hutus And The Lawyer From Buffalo, The corporate media fails to promote the Tea Party candidate for governor, 10/11/10
The End Of Summer Picnic, The Labor Day Picnic in Menands is one of the few ways to observe the holiday locally, 9/16/10
Jerry’s Judge And The Stupid Trial, Albany City Court judge Helena Heath-Roland convincingly demonstrates that she is not emotionally qualified to sit in judgment of others, 8/19/10
The South End Brought Back To Life, Construction begins in earnest on and near the bottom of Morton Avenue in the South End 7/31/10
The Creek At The Mouth Of The Normanskill, Navigating part of the waterway that separates the South End from the suburbs, 7/5/10
The Four Chiefs Beat The Old Boys, Congratulations to Albany’s new Chief of Police Steven Krokoff, let’s see if he can keep the promises that got him the job, 6/22/10
The Jerry Jennings Memorial Dump Fee Bond, A routine backroom tax hike becomes controversial and reveals some of the forces at work inside the new Common Council, 6/2/10
Charter Schools And Obscene Profits, Why Brighter Choice is so hot to impose even more unwanted charter school buildings on the City of Albany and soak the taxpayer, 5/12/10
Crossing The Hudson In Style, Checking out the very new and very old Walkway Over The Hudson State Historic Park, 5/3/10
A Resolution Asking For Justice, Albany’s new Common Council leads the nation by once again asking that the US Constitution be respected, 4/17/10
The Crown Jewel Reopens, Howe Library becomes the new cultural and community center of the South End, inside is near perfect but outside problems remain, 04/04/10
David Brown Hates Swimming Pools, In the name of profit the CEO of the Capital District YMCA is waging war against the City of Albany, 3/25/10
One Very Tough Governor -David Paterson stands firm against the corporate media and the public approves, 3/11/10
Corrupt Water Over The Dam - The flood control system for the Hudson River is being badly mismanaged, bringing threats of damage, disease and higher taxes to Albany, 2/28/10
A Letter To Governor Paterson - The blogger begs for money for the South End and partially solves the State budget crisis, 2/9/10
Marching Through The Slush, Lots of citizens but few politicians at this year’s Martin Luther King event in Lincoln Park,1/24/10
Inauguration Day In Albany - Our elected officials get sworn into office, and the next day the blogger meets the Governor, 1/10/10
Scapegoats For Endless War - Now we know why Albany’s Yassin Aref And Mohhamed Hossain have been perjured into prison, 12/20/09
A Visit To Fort Ticonderoga - A warm weather Sunday visit to remind everybody that our nation is built upon Liberal values and that winter will not last forever , 11/30/09
Killing Our Neighborhood Post Offices - The US Postal Corporation wants to shut down our urban post office stations . . . because they aren’t located in the suburbs, 11/15/09
One House And One Gang At A Time - Mayor Jennings finally takes responsibility for the South End, and slugs The Wife in the jaw, 11/3/09
Lincoln Park In Autumn - A fleeting moment on a warm sunny day in the South End at the end of October, 10/27/09
Jerry’s Serious Problem - Winning this last election may turn out to be the worst thing that has ever happened to Jerry Jennings, 10/11/09
Demolition By Neglect - A proven method by which preferred suburban “developers” get around laws designed to protect our urban heritage in Albany, 9/27/09
Watching The Big Primary (Part Two), 9/4/09
Watching The Big Primary (Part One) - A review of Corey Ellis’ battle to bring Albany into the 21st century, part 2 will be about the ward races and other Citywide races, 8/24/09
The Daily Gazette Commits Suicide - The only independent daily newspaper in the region voluntarily disappears from the internet... and the blogger takes a short break from Albany politics to write an obituary, 8/5/09
Winning Through Intimidation - This September, Current Mayor Jennings may try to defend himself from Corey Ellis by scaring the voters away from the polls, 7/21/09
Liability, Sidewalks And Junked Cars - Or, how to get things done in a City with a corrupt government, 6/28/09
The Orange Leachate Of Rapp Road - Looking at the poisonous runoff from the Albany “Landfill” and where it ends up, 5/25/09
Stimulating Delaware Avenue - A tale full of irony as federal money revives a dormant infrastructure project next to my neighborhood, 5/14/09
On Blueberry Hill - Checking out a hotly litigated corner of Albany’s Pine Bush on a hot day, 4/30/09
Smells Like Medical Waste - Is Albany Med flushing raw sewage and medical waste into the Hudson River . . . via my neighborhood?, 4/18/09
Single Payer Health Comes To Albany - Congressional representative John Conyers and HR 676 pack the Westminster sanctuary on a Sunday afternoon, 3/31/09
The Mayoral Waiting Game Ends - Finally! But now we have a split race as two viable and competent candidates take on the current mayor of Albany . . . and each other, 3/10/09
The Jared Holt Project - Against all odds, the South End is being rebuilt from the inside out, 2/28/09
The King Of Sprawl Is Dead - The damage Joe Bruno did to our region is his lasting legacy, 2/17/09
Justice For Wrongly Prosecuted Muslims - A guest editorial from Steve Downs, an appeal to our new President Obama to right the wrongs of the previous administration and defend the Bill of Rights. 1/30/09
The Day Before The Inauguration - More people than ever, but hardly any politicians make the annual short march across Lincoln Park to the King Statue, 1/25/09
The Miracle At Eagle Court - The City of Albany takes responsibility for its actions and fixes the damage it caused to lower Morton Avenue, 12/30/08
The Big, Stinking Money Funnel - What Jerry’s Dump, the proposed convention center and the War Against Iraq all have in common, 12/14/08
The Next Mayor Of Albany - The blogger asks a rude question, hoping to find out who wants to run the City, 11/24/08
Trying To Keep It Real - Has our long national nightmare ended with this last presidential election, or can we expect more of the same in a different package?, 11/10/08
Watching The Financial Crisis - Here in the South End, the looming global recession doesn’t look all that bad, 10/27/08
Insane McCain And The South End - The presidential candidate wants the military to kick down our doors and search our homes, 9/28/08
Where The Steck Campaign Ended - At the losing headquarters watching Paul Tonko claim victory after the polls closed, 9/14/08
Glasnost At Hearst? - The ascension of Jay Jochnowitz to the Times Union editorial page may mean a new era of openness and accuracy, or maybe not, 8/24/08
Moss Island And Lock 17 - Our waterways are one of New York’s greatest assets, but they remain mostly unused, neglected and almost forgotten, 08/08/08
Spitting On The Bill Of Rights - Both Michael McNulty and Barack Obama voted against the Fourth Amendment by voting for the unconstitutional FISA bill, 7/27/08
Mastering The Pine Bush Triathlon - Watching The Wife continue her transformation from a sorry weakling into a healthy athlete, 7/20/08
The Right To Bear Arms In Albany - While concerned citizens confront escalating gun violence, irresponsible activist judges undermine gun control legislation and clueless local politicians deny there is any problem at all, 7/7/08
Throwing Money Into The Albany “Landfill” - Reality finally arrives while Jerry Jennings continues to dream of bigger dumps and more revenue
Ending The Freihofer’s Boycott - Despite what Weston did to Troy, The Wife ran this year in the Freihofer’s Run For Women and made good time, 5/31/08
A Positive Political Shift - State Senator Neil Breslin may face a primary challenge from a newcomer worth considering, 5/17/08
Swiftboating Barack Obama - The smearing of H. Carl McCall may show how the corporate media plans to undermine the probable Democratic candidate for president, 5/8/08
The Bogus “Security” At City Hall - Down the road no one puts up with checkpoints, but here in Albany everyone submits and no one asks why, 4/27/08
Dr. King's Early Spring Afternoon - A hastily arranged commemoration of Martin Luther King’s day of death is a success that may happen again, 4/13/08
Diva de Loayza’s Ghost Bike - After a year and two deaths, the City of Albany refuses to remove the staggered stoplight or provide warnings at the corner where Diva was trapped and cut down, 4/6/08
Declining Buildings Next To My Neighborhood - A close look at how apartment buildings in Albany unnecessarily go vacant and die, 3/22/08
The Virtual Assassination Of Governor Spitzer - The White House probed for a weakness and the corporations destroyed one of their most effective enemies, 3/16/08
An Interview With Phil Steck - The first declared candidate for our 21st Congressional seat gives a detailed conversation about the issues in this Albanyweblog exclusive report. Listen to the four part audio interview in mp3 format at the bottom of the page, 3/3/08
What America Needs To Do - Yassin Aref still admires the country that falsely declared him a “terrorist” and offers some excellent advice, 2/16/08
Demolition City - Despite his claims to the contrary, Jerry Jennings is working feverishly to tear down the City he claims to care about, 2/10/08
Alcohol And A Big Gun - A triple gun murder in our neighborhood flashes through the media and disappears, a story neither glamorous enough or white enough to remember, 2/3/08
Property Taxes And Sprawl - The Governor dances around the only solution to New York’s fiscal crisis, 1/26/08
Martin Luther King From Another Perspective - Instead of waiting for the marchers, the blogger sits through blather and strolls through the park, 1/21/08
Sorting Out The Presidential Primary - The electronic machines are crooked and so are most of the candidates, but it’s all about the act of voting, 1/14/08
Democratizing The Planning Process - At long last a Common Council member wants to bring decision making out of the toilet and into the sunshine, 1/6/08
A Rant Against Christmas - In which the blogger reveals that he is an antisocial bitter crank who frowns upon other people’s joy and happiness, 12/30/07
Twelve Questions For Congressional Candidates - If we the people don’t set the standards for our candidates, there are certain others who are more than willing, 12/19/07
The Windows Of Howe Library - The Facilities Plan contractors try to sucker the community without much success, 12/9/07
Jerry Jenning’s Exit Strategy - The Mayor chooses his successor and lets him tackle the vacant building crisis, 11/30/07
Turkeys Trotting In Troy - It’s a modern parade, the annual Thanksgiving Day road race in Troy, 11/22/07
Neil Breslin Looks To Washington - Our State Senator will announce his run for the 21st Congressional District - an Albanyweblog exclusive report , 11/5/07
Critical Mass Does Halloween - Radical bicyclists in costume make Albany drivers take them seriously, 10/29/07
Slandering Governor Spitzer - Once again, an unholy alliance attempts to undermine good government in New York State, 10/23/07
Dead Life In A Political Prison - At great risk to himself, Yassin Aref describes the interior of his federal cage... an Albanyweblog exclusive report.
Censoring The Majority - A massive antiwar protest is kept secret while the bodies pile up, 9/28/07
The Bombing Of Alexander Street -Albany makes a profit by encouraging the abandonment of 19th century buildings, 9/14/07
Vermont Nuke Plant Collapse - The corporate media suppresses a story vital to our health and well being, 9/2/07
The House At 48 Hudson - Thanks to one of Albany’s best citizens, the Van Ostrande House survives in an asphalt wasteland, 8/4/07
Where’s My Dung Beetle? - An ancient production teaches us what we need to know today, 7/29/07
A Letter From Yassin Aref - The celebrated victim of government terrorism struggles with his fate, 7/21/07
Michael McNulty And Dick Cheney - Our congressional representative from the 21st District has been reinventing himself, but still hasn’t arrived, 7/14/07
Inside The Politician - Since hardly anyone reads blogs during high summer, the blogger offers his unfounded opinions on the behavior of elected officials, 7/8/07
The Mayor’s Iraq - There are better ways to spend $300 million dollars than to waste it on a convention center, 7/1/07
The Response To Diva’s Killing - The class A bicyclists have much to say to the blogger, and so do others, 6/21/07
Who Killed Diva de Loayza? - A bicyclist run down on Western Avenue pays the
ultimate price for bad traffic planning, 6/10/07The Blogger Hits The Big Time - Talking about Truth and Power at a regional youth conference, 6/4/07
Blind Shots At A Moving Target - A call for talk but no solutions to gun violence in Albany, 5/27/07
The Tulip Queen And Joan Jett - Some pretty good photos of the Tulip Festival, 2007, 5/17/07
Holding The Judge Accountable - Justice Teresi is not behaving like an unopposed incumbent . . .
for good reasonAlbany Needs Bike Lanes Now -Time for the politicians and planners to wake up and smell the bicycle grease, 4/22/07
Outsourcing The Democratic Picnic - Apparently, Albany County is not good enough for the Albany County Democrats, 4/17/07
Rotary Death For Pedestrians And Bicyclists - The Mayor finds a new and creative way to destroy our neighborhoods, 4/2/07
The Real Editorial Page - How the daily rags handle political news that they don’t like, 3/11/07
David Soares And The Old Boys - The DA upsets the apple cart by following the law to the letter, 3/4/07
A Plague Upon The Hearst Rag - How dare the Colonie-based “Albany” Times Union attack and insult the South End, 2/27/07
Snow As A Weapon Of War - The City uses the Valentine's Day Blizzard for political harassment, 2/18/07
Same As The Old Boss - New Governor Spitzer embraces failure by promoting “charter” schools, 2/11/07
Martin Gets Ignored - Freezing rain scares off the politicians this year, 2/3/07
Tear Down 787 - A “crazy notion” has suddenly become a respectable and necessary idea, 1/28/07
Fried Tree Rat In The Sky - An unfortunate squirrel demonstrates the danger of suspended power lines in Albany, 1/11/07
Wasting Gas For Christmas - Celebrating that nominally Christian pagan holiday by driving in the suburbs, 12/31/06
Losing The Only Radio Station - WRPI is being destroyed by bad management with a misguided agenda, 12/17/06
Return Of The Burn Monster - For some ridiculous reason involving money, garbage incinerators are making a comeback, 12/7/06
Neighborhoods Work, Part Two - 11/29/06
Neighborhoods Work, Part One - 11/22/06
Buying Books at The Armory - Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit, 11/17/06
So I Was Wrong - But the problems with fraudulent electronic voting machines remain, 11/8/06
Election Prediction: Expect Disappointment - Electronic voting machines will make a mockery of our electoral system, 11/2/06
Good And Bad Citizens - The establishment of two-tiered security at Albany International Airport is a prelude to bad times ahead, 10/28/06
Please Bring Us Your Garbage - A corporate trash hauler dictates City policy to Mayor Jennings, 10/22/06
The Terrorists Are Coming for You - The bogus convictions of a Muslim cleric and a businessman are a serious defeat for all patriotic Americans, 10/19/06
News Updates: Sorta Like A Real Blog - Art on a moonlit night, subsidizing corporate schools with roadwork and internecine party politics, 10/8/06
Party Chairman Commisso - A powerful backroom politician comes out of the shadows, 9/30/06
A Walk In The Rain - Inspecting the South End with the out of town consultants, 9/22/06
Albany Should Generate Power - We have the means, let’s create power while we still can, 9/16/06
Great Sacandaga And Albany - How energy “privatization” caused flooding on the waterfront this past July, 8/26/06The Thruway Is The Problem - A guest editorial from the esteemed Mr. John Wolcott, 8/11/06Suburbia Commits Suicide - Luther Forest will destroy Saratoga County, 8/5/06
Triathletes In The Pine Bush - Slow, fat and sickly, The Wife takes the willpower prize, 7/17/06
Suburbanizing Albany - Mayor Jennings invites some the worst possible people to plan Albany’s future, and pointedly excludes the best, 7/8/06
The New Michael McNulty - The Congressman appears to have finally caught on about Iraq, and he earns approval from a key constituent, 6/18/06
Upscale In The South End - As urban property values rise and suburban economies collapse, the poor will have to leave town, 6/8/06
Those Fraudulent Voting Machines - 5/26/06
Albany’s Corrupt Planning Board - 41 Holland Avenue site plan is secretly approved and the citizens are screwed. Again., 5/21/06
The Human Dumping Issue - An offhand comment starts a firestorm of indignation, 5/14/06
Bulldozers Attack The Pine Bush Preserve - Jennings goes too far in pursuit of his dump, 5/6/06
Lincoln Park In Bloom - A photo tour of the South End’s treasure in April, 4/23/06
Showing The Kids Which Way To Go - A homegrown Poetic Dream and a new kind of dance, 4/10/06
The Fortress Of The Secret Police - What does the FBI have to hide from the taxpayers?, 4/7/06
Three Short Items - A terrible tragedy, a political dismemberment, and a terrorist at large, 4/3/06
Where The Dump Grows: The Common Council votes to condemn part of the Pine Bush, 3/26/06
Throwing Our Kids In The Dump - “Charter” schools, corporate government and efficient robbery, 3/12/06
An Unprovoked Attack By The Corporate Media
How television “news” is manufactured from thin air, 3/5/06Revitalization Out Of Spilled Blood - The City changes South End policy for the better, 2/26/06
Cavaleri's Is No Longer There - We're running out of good Italian restaurants, 2/12/06
More Than Zoning - Walgreens, the corporate enemy we don’t need, 2/6/06
A Long Rumination On The City Of Albany “Landfill” - Wherein The Mayor gets desperate, the wife cavorts in her underwear, and the garbage hits the fan, 1/30/06
The Mystery Of Holland Avenue - So, why’d they do it? 1/22/06
Shivering For Dr. King - Where politicians meet The People, briefly, 1/17/06
Where’s The Art?, No Trains, No Galleries, No Firlefanz, 1/15/06
Trying To Cow The Next Governor, 1/12/06
Michael McNulty And Impeachment, 1/7/06
A Great Day For Terrorism (A description of the swearing-in ceremony for the Common Council members.) 1/1/06
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