albanyweblog.com
Updated
February 10, 2008
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.
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Check the bottom of the page and try them out.February 10, 2008
Demolition City
Despite his claims to the contrary, Jerry Jennings is working feverishly to tear down the City he claims to care about
Right now I am extremely angry. I am so goddam angry I don’t know who I should snarl at first.
About an hour ago (this is Saturday afternoon) I saw that someone had posted the following on the Democracy In Albany (DIA) website which I present verbatim:
had to make an emergency run to the big box hardware store for a thermocouple last night. along the way, my normal route straight down south pearl was interupted by a blockade.
hi-powered lights, and fire trucks hosing down what appeared to be several buildings falling under the wrath of wrecking machines.
it was around 9:30pm on south pearl, between alexander and fourth ave. anybody have a clue what happened? i certainly didn't hear about any fires or buildings collapsing on their own, presenting a hazard for the community. nothing in the TU online today.
so what's the story?
With that sinking feeling I went down there to see what they had done to the South End this time. Sure enough, not only had they destroyed the historic Albany Knitting Company building, they'd destroyed the entire goddam block. All those beautiful brick buildings, going to the Rapp Road Dump.
This is the Jennings administration up to their old tricks, sending out their preferred demolition contractor to start work at 9 PM on a Friday and work through the night. This is done to avoid confrontations with the press or preservationists or people who love Albany. By the time anybody figures out what is happening, Albany’s architectural treasures are a pile of rubble. Too late and too bad.
The contractor these days is DiTonno and Sons. Back in the 1990s the preferred contractor was an outfit called A. Ritz, which at that time happened to be located in my neighborhood at the end of my street. I can’t tell you how many times we heard their big trucks and equipment rumble out in an ominous parade at 9 PM. Some things never change in this City.
It costs a whole lot extra to have DiTonno’s guys working after dark and on weekends instead of during the day. But no matter, this is taxpayer money, plenty more where that came from. It’s worth the extra cost so as to avoid confrontations with outraged citizens.
While grimly returning from the scene of desolation on South Pearl, my brain started to put together a few things that it should have figured out already. Sometimes I’m painfully slow in the head. After the dimbulb lit up over my head, my mood took another dive into utter rage.
It’s like this. I reported on this blog back in November that the City Industrial Development Agency had floated a loan to the City for $1.7 million. The loan was to be used by the City of Albany to set up a Strategic Acquisition Fund, or SAF. This is supposed to be a revolving fund to be used to acquire abandoned properties. And I’ve heard that the SAF may also be used to stabilize distressed buildings.
This $1.7 million disappeared mysteriously into the general fund in Jerry Jennings lousy 2008 budget, which is crippled with a substantial deficit. Good old Dom Calsolaro (1st Ward) caught this little accounting maneuver and raised objections. In response, His Majesty released a little bit of the IDA money back into the SAF where it belongs.
But not much of it. Most of the IDA money remained in the general fund. Then, in a mighty blink of comprehension, I remembered something Dominick told me the other day: “The money to pay for building demolitions comes out of the general fund.”
Oh my stinking urine dog mother. Jerry Jennings is using the IDA building acquisition money to tear down buildings.
Excuse me a moment. I have to suppress an urge to scream and throw around tables and chairs like a banana-starved chimpanzee. I’m sure the fine employees here at the Ultraviolet Cafe on Delaware Avenue where I’m pounding this into my laptop would not appreciate that.
On December 27th of last year, our Buildings and Codes Committee, which is part of the Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations (CANA) met with The Mayor at City Hall. He made a very reassuring statement to us:
Look, I was born and raised here. I don’t want to knock these buildings down. It’s the last thing I want to do.
Well, this February 6th His Majesty said an interesting thing to the full CANA meeting at the public library, something quick that few people caught: “We have about a hundred buildings that we need to knock down.”
No one asked Jennings how he was going to pay for these demolitions with a budget running a deficit. I didn’t think of it that evening. Now I know what he had in mind when he said that.
As a result of this funding source, the demolitions are coming down fast. What’s next on the gun sights? Well, a likely victim is 402 Madison Avenue, which is between Lark and Dove Streets.
Okay, it looks like a pile of crap. It IS a pile of crap. It sags and you can see through the house. And it is quite vacant. But understand that this house has been sitting here since 1845. It belongs there. It needs to be stabilized and ultimately brought back to life.
The City determined last October that the building had structural problems. But they sat on the report, keeping it secret. They didn’t even inform the owner. Suddenly, we have an emergency, and last week the City posted a ten day abatement order. If nothing is done in ten days, DiTonno knocks it down. ( I understand that a short extension has been negotiated.)
After looking over the house this morning, I agree with what I’ve been told, that the house could be made safe from collapse for between ten to twenty thousand dollars. But I’m told that the cost of demolition would be well in excess of twenty thousand dollars. Is anybody in City Hall good at math?
It would take quite a bit more to renovate 402 and bring it back on line. Unfortunately, if the building were located on the other side of the street, it would be eligible for historic funding and tax credits. Apparently, someone decided that the buildings on one side of the street are not as historic as the other.
That shouldn’t matter. Demand for housing in downtown Albany is on the upswing, and will continue to rise as the national economy contracts and gas prices rise to record levels. There is a serious danger that in the next five to ten years property values all across downtown will become out of reach of the middle class. The Hudson Park neighborhood, where 402 is located, is already pretty pricey.
The point I’m making is that preserving and stabilizing these buildings is economically justified, not way off in the future but a few short steps from now. Funneling IDA money to a preferred contractor may put money into the “right” pockets, but it’s killing our City. And it assures that Albany’s insolvency will grow until the City dies.
Time is running out for 402, so I posted a diary entry last Thursday night on the DIA website. Now, the regular posters on DIA are an argumentative lot, and often say ridiculous things. But I was astonished at their comments to my post:
(AlfredMoisiu) I also doubt that the owner knew nothing. Why would the Fire Department randomly do a secret inspection of a building? [It] just doesn't add up.
(alfrednewman) That would be a complete waste of resources... Sure, the building is old. So what? Being old doesn't mean that it should be saved.
(hailstorm) sometimes you just have to know when to let go. as another poster here has described, this building is an absolute hazard. it may be unique, but it's still a hazard.
I’m getting ready to do my chimpanzee act again. I’m starting to see why The Mayor is getting away with this crap.
What the hell is wrong with these people, why don’t they go live in Colonie if they like parking lots so much? I hear Colonie is in even more financial trouble than Albany. Might this have something to do with this widespread obsessive mania for creating parking lots, no matter the cost?
Wait, it gets worse. You see, I made the mistake of mentioning on the DIA post that I got my information from Historic Albany (HA), the nonprofit that advocates preservation of historic buildings in Albany. They demanded that I take down the post. Why, you may ask? From an email I got from HA:
We do not want to jeopardize the progress we are making with the Fire Department. I think your posting would be better served later, if needed. This will not make the chief happy nor will it endear him to include us in the dialogue of vacant buildings.
Gaaaah! Who cares if City officials are happy or not? They’re supposed to be working for us, not the other way around! They’re tearing down our City today and now, but we should be worried about hurting the Fire Chief’s feelings!
I will never understand this whole thing about withholding vital information “until the right time.” Secrecy serves the powerful. When us regular folks voluntarily agree to play their secrecy game, we are ceding to them a degree of power over ourselves that they don’t deserve.
The only rational reasons for withholding information is if one wants to deceive. Those reasons would be a) giving the wrong idea, b) allowing the wrong idea to proliferate, or c) lying.
The good intentioned folks at Historic Albany are not interested in doing any of these deceptive things. That’s a solid fact. But lo and behold, our City officials do these things all the time. Who wins when you suppress information?
Okay, I think I’ve pissed off enough people with this post. Various City officials (again,) the staff at Historic Albany which will never talk to me again without spitting, and the regular posters at DIA who may very well start a flame war in my direction. I tell you folks, I write this blog to serve mankind.
By the way, DIA honored my sullen request and pulled my 402 Madison post off his site by midday, no problem. He may be anonymous, but he’s a helluva a guy. And I still feel like a chimpanzee.
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