SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council on March 1 gathered for their first meeting in a long while inside the first-floor chamber room at City Hall, where Mayor Ron Kim began the meeting with the standard Salute To The Flag and requested all in attendance remain standing for a Moment of Silence in observation of the people of Ukraine. 

• Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi reported the final Sales Tax figures for 2021 at just under $15 million.  “This is really good news,” Sanghvi said. “That is about $5 million over our 2021 revised budget and surpassed 2019 by 11.5% and surpassed 2020 by 35.3%.  “Truly astounding numbers and we all should be very pleased.” 

Of the cities that impose their own sales tax (not including New York City), Saratoga Springs had the strongest year-over-year increase of 32.5%, followed by Norwich (27.8%) and Ithaca (23.4%), according to a statement issued in February by NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. 

• The council set a Public Hearing regarding traffic mitigation measures in the Caroline Street School vicinity to be held just prior to the next council meeting on March 15. Some traffic control ordinances under consideration that will require council vote include reducing the speed limit, extending the one-way street corridor, and installing No Parking and No Standing signs on existing poles. 

Tuesday night, the council was in agreement over one temporary measure not requiring ordinance passage – that is - prohibiting vehicle traffic in front of the school altogether during student drop-off and pick-up times. That measure is expected to be implemented on a temporary basis prior to the March 15 meeting. 

• The City Council is expected to vote at its March 15 meeting to extend an “outdoor dining” measure first approved in 2020 to alleviate space restrictions implemented during the pandemic. The measure is undergoing re-writes and a Public Hearing will be held in advance of the vote, later that same night. 

The measure is anticipated to permit eating & drinking establishments to serve patrons outdoors through November 2024. 

Some of the potential points under consideration include specifying an application process through the Department of Accounts for licensed eating and drinking establishment to obtain permits and establishing a committee on outdoor dining to provide recommendations. 

Permit holders will be responsible for clean-up and disposing of garbage and debris in their allocated outdoor space. Restrictions include that no music may be played at any time; smoking is also prohibited. A schedule of fees, which is currently being prepared, will be presented prior to each season. 

• Mayor Ron Kim announced that the inaugural meeting of the Infrastructure Committee will take place this week. The designation of the committee was one of Kim’s first acts as mayor and is tasked with organizing a priority list of needed city infrastructure projects in advance of the pending arrival of federal funds targeting regional infrastructure projects. Each council member proposed staff appointments to the committee, which has former Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen as its chairperson. 

• A Public Hearing regarding 2022 Water and Sewer Rates and some potential increases will take place prior to the next council meeting on March 15. 

• A third Public Hearing regarding the potential formation of a civilian police review board was held on March 1. An ordinance is anticipated to be presented to the council on April 5, said Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino. 

A Decades-long Dilemma for City Officials, Residents, and Tourism Advocates

Bar. 

Bar. 

Restaurant & Bar.

Pizza joint. 

Car lot. 

Bar. Tavern. Bar, bar, bar. 

There are at least 16 venues that boast a variety of libations in the imbibing emporium that sprawls across the westernmost part of Caroline Street and its adjacent pedestrian thoroughfares.

Nestled in a concentrated terrain of downtown Saratoga Springs, it has showcased a party-like atmosphere for several decades. For nearly as long it has drawn the ire of some city leaders and the public alike, each making calls to tamp down the festivities. 

Highlighted by a spate of arrests and charges related to violent acts over the past few months, there is an increased focus on activities on Caroline Street after dark. Whether detrimental activities are actually on the rise or are a perceived reality as a result of a vibrant social age is one point of debate. Some information may soon be forthcoming with the pending release of the city’s Department of Public Safety annual report. And while it will not provide a block-by-block examination of police-related activity during the 2021 calendar year, it is anticipated to contain the number of calls for service and arrests to provide data that may serve as a comparison to previous years of reported activity.    

Are things more active in terms of arrests today than has been the case in the past? 

“It’s a good question,” says Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino. “We’re just putting the finishing touches on our annual report, so I don’t know the answer. I suspect if there is an uptick it’s a relatively minor one, but it’s been getting more attention, and because it’s been getting more attention the perception is that there’s more happening.”    

Over a five-year period between 2016-2020, the city had averaged approximately 30,500 calls for service, 1,290 arrests, and 28.33 incidents involving uses of force per year, according to the city of Saratoga Springs Police Department 2020 year-end report, which was released February 2021. 

That Was Then

After a 20-year run, the brakes were pumped on the annual Caroline Street Block Party after the year-2000 gathering saw an expected crowd of 5,000 grow to approximately three times that size. A number of customers at Gaffney’s required treatment at Saratoga Hospital after a bottle-throwing incident. Some partiers were witnessed climbing construction scaffolding downtown. Others simply had passed out, according to published reports. 

Despite organizers’ claims that only a small number of people caused the majority of the problems, city officials stepped in to caution that changes needed to be made. 

“We want to change the focus a little bit,” then-Gaffney’s Restaurant owner and member of the Caroline Street Association John Baker told The Saratogian at the time, announcing the annual gathering would be moving to a jazz and blues festival format.  “This will attract a different kind of crowd. We want to take it away from a rock-and-roll focus,” said Baker. 

More recently, there have been periodic attempts to change the city bar closing times to earlier in the evening. 

A decade ago, then-Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen had designs to change the last call in the city from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. in the aftermath of a Caroline Street brawl that involved hundreds of people and resulted in several arrests and injuries to a handful of city police officers. Similarly citing public safety concerns last summer, then-Commissioner Robin Dalton attempted to move a measure that would change the closing time from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. 

“I am personally worried about the safety of my police officers every night when they go out, especially between those hours and the safety of the people coming to enjoy our nightlife,” Dalton told the council last August. The City Council adopted a resolution to do so, but the measure also requires the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors as well as the State Liquor Authority to be on board. 

“I wouldn’t change anything about downtown Caroline Street as far as hours,” says Zack Lynch, a photojournalist, and local resident for 45 years. “Closing bars earlier is not going to help. It’s not as if shaving an hour off is going to help anything. People will still be there. They’ll just be getting out earlier and causing the same problems.”

Since September, Lynch has spent a considerable amount of time in the late-night and early-morning hours downtown capturing street images along Caroline Street. 

“Downtown Saratoga as far as I can tell is the same as it has ever been Sunday to Thursday. Friday is a typical busy night, but on Saturday that intersection of Caroline Street and Putnam late at night is just chaos. It’s something different than it’s ever been,” says Lynch.   

Bypassing his traditional photo equipment, Lynch has been using phone cams and dashboard cams to capture the street footage. What began as a project initiated as a recovery exercise following a car accident in which he was seriously injured manifested into a decision to use art to help a social issue, he says.     

“I’ve been down there for 24 weekends. I’ve seen three stabbing victims, six assault victims. I’ve seen eight people on the ground, some bleeding, unconscious. I’ve seen over 20 ambulances. I counted them,” Lynch says.  “As Saratogians we know that there’s a Track Season, and then there’s an Off Season – when there‘s not the chaos, the overload of business, the tourists; when we all get to relax and go back to normal. When they leave we get our town back. Now on Saturday nights in Saratoga we lose our town again.” 

The footage he shares pinpoints an increase of activity at the crossroads of Caroline and Putnam streets at about 3 a.m., when crowds spill onto the street at closing time, filling much of the thoroughfare with revelers overseen by a handful of police officers. Much of the problem, he says, begins: “When they close the doors to say the night’s over.” 

“The police are light-handed and even-tempered. I can’t find one shred of bad cops and I’ve watched them make so many arrests. I’m watching them too,” Lynch says. “And the owners of the places who I know are stand-up people there for the long haul and there for the community. The chaos is pretty much located to one day a week. It’s just one thing, but it makes it all look bad.”   

Seeking Reasons, Exploring Solutions

“We’re certainly working with a goal in mind to have more officers present,” says Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino. “We’re looking into trying to maximize the number of officers who are physically present.” 

Montagnino has heard the commentary from some in the local community pointing to out-of-town visitors as the cause of Saturday late-night problems.   

“We are Saratoga. We’ve got the reputation of being a party place where folks from out-of-town come to visit. It doesn’t surprise me that we have large groups of people who come from out of town and so the people getting involved in incidents as victims or as perpetrators – there’s a good possibility they’re going to be from out of town,” he says. “My recollection (however) is that there were also a few serious incidents in recent years where the perpetrators and the victims were locals.”   

Montagnino, who became Public Safety Commissioner on Jan. 1, has received some public push-back regarding recent comments he made that were published in The Gazette regarding late-night disturbances on Caroline Street. “What I’m told is that there are some unsavory characters who enjoy the gangster rap, and late on a Saturday night tempers sometimes flare,” the commissioner said in the article, which was published in February. 

This week, Montagnino apologized for making those comments. 

“I’ve heard what people have said. I’m 66 years old and I think I’m mature enough to know when I’ve made a mistake, and this is certainly one of those times,” Montagnino said during the March 1 City Council meeting. “I apologize if I insulted or offended anyone. That was not my intent.” 

He subsequently went on to explain what had initiated his commentary by reciting the lyrics of “Shake That,” a 2005 song by Eminem and Nate Dogg. “I’m not excusing what I said, I just want to give a little background,” the commissioner continued. “’If you don’t have a weapon just pick up a rock’ – that’s a lyric in the song… my belief, and I might be wrong, is under certain circumstances (identified as drinking alcohol and lacking sound judgement) people might act when encouraged by violent language.” Commentary uttered from the space in the room where the public was seated suggested he probably should have quit while he was ahead.    

The city’s Department of Public Safety is slated to release its annual report on March 14. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Between 5 p.m. on Saturday and 4:30 p.m. Monday, there have been four reported robberies of retail establishments in the city of Saratoga Springs, police said.

“A weapon was not observed in any of the incidents, no force was used, and no injuries took place that we are aware of,” said city Assistant Chief of Police Bob Jillson, in a statement released Tuesday.

The general descriptions of the involved man, as well as how the incidents took place appear to be similar and police, who are conducting an active investigation, said they believe they may be related.

The times and locations of the incidents are as follows:

Saturday, Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. at Super Smoke N’ Save at 109 West Ave.

Monday, Feb. 21^st: 1:45 am, XtraMart at 154 South Broadway; 4:22 p.m., I Love NY Pizza at 26 Congress St.; 4:30 p.m., Post Time Wine & Spirits at 170 South Broadway.  

Police said in every case a man entered each establishment alone and demanded cash. Police did not say whether they believe a vehicle was involved. The two locations where Monday afternoon’s robberies are said to have occurred are in walking distance of one another.

Authorities are asking anyone who may been in the area at the time of the reported robberies and believe they have information to call the Saratoga Springs Police Department at 518-584- 1800, or via an anonymous Tip Line at 518-584-TIPS.

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The 45th Annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival will return for a full two-day and two-stage exhilarating festival experience on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

The roster of 24 musical groups is headlined by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, returning to the festival for the first time since 1998; soul music legend Booker T. Presents: A Stax Revue; powerhouse vocalist Ledisi for her festival debut; jazz/hip-hop crossover great Robert Glasper; and New Orleans funk and jazz collective Galactic featuring Anjelika Jelly Joseph for its festival debut.

“The 2022 Festival promises to be a memorable one in so many ways. Not only thanks to a stellar and varied line-up, but also to the sheer joy of being back to full scale,” said SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol, in a statement. The 2022 gathering marks the 25th anniversary of its partnership with Freihofer’s bakery, with parent company Bimbo Bakeries USA having reaffirmed their commitment to the festival with a multi-year title sponsorship.

“We’ll be celebrating 25 years of partnership with Freihofer’s, as well as the first of a new multi-year commitment from the company. While a number of other jazz festivals are changing and downsizing, Freihofer’s support is allowing us to go back to the full Saratoga Jazz Fest experience its long-time fans have come to love and expect,” Sobol said.

 Highlighting the 15 festival debuts, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Booker T. Jones, the famed front man of Booker T. & the M.G.s, and the acclaimed producer of the legendary Memphis-based Stax Records, will showcase his 10-piece band with three lead vocalists performing his smash hits with the M.G.s, “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High” and “Time is Tight” and classic Stax songs “Try a Little Tenderness,” “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding), “Hold On I’m Coming” (Sam and Dave), and “Gee Whiz” (Carla Thomas), among others. Also making her festival debut is 2021 GRAMMY winner and fourteen-time GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Ledisi, who will return to SPAC on August 3 as part of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s season in a program dedicated to the music of Nina Simone.

 Returning for the first time since 2019 is the popular Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage with rhythmic, global and funk grooves by groups from Red Baraat to Cha Wa to Tiempo Libre and some of the most exciting contemporary artists in jazz: Matt Wilson, Craig Handy, Connie Han, Ryan Keberle, Emmaline and Dan Wilson. In addition, the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars will celebrate George Wein, the founder of the festival who passed away at the age of 95 in September 2021.  Following stunning Jazz Fest debuts in 2021, Hot Club of Saratoga and Garland Nelson leading Joyful Noise will return to kick-off the amphitheater line-up on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

 “My mentor and the festival founder, George Wein, always focused on producing events for everyone and that’s exactly what we’ve done for our big return,” says Danny Melnick, the festival producer and President of Absolutely Live Entertainment. “Our 45th festival features award-winning musical legends, unique all-star collaborations, cutting-edge bands and many popular rising stars.”  

In addition to two non-stop days of great music on two stages, fans can also enjoy a host of amenities including a fine arts and crafts fair, artist CD signings, southern style barbeque and other food vendors at SPAC’s newly renovated concession area. Guests are welcome to bring in their own food and beverages, as well as blankets, tents and lawn umbrellas. Parking for the event is free. Performances will begin each day on the Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage at 11 a.m. and on the Amphitheater Stage at 12:00 p.m. 

Tickets for the festival start at $65 and will be available online at www.spac.org beginning March 16 at 10am to the general public and starting on March 7 at 10am to SPAC members (tiered by level). Two-days passes are also available for a savings of $10 per ticket (offer ends 5/1). $20 amphitheater ticket options are available for children ages 12 and under and students with school-issued ID at time of entrance. Seating is best available with some exclusions. Lawn seating is free for children ages 12 and under.

SPAC is offering a $20 student and child amphitheater pass, available for children ages 12 and under and students with school-issued ID at time of entrance. Children ages 12 and under are admitted free on the lawn. SPAC will continue to monitor health and safety guidelines mandated by New York State and the CDC and will adjust ticketing and safety policies accordingly. Full guidelines will be published in advance of the ticket on sale and may be found at spac.org.   

2022 FREIHOFER’S SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL LINE-UP:

SATURDAY, JUNE 25

Amphitheater:

Booker T. Presents: A Stax Revue*

Robert Glasper

Galactic featuring Anjelika Jelly Joseph*

Con Tumbao* featuring Issac Delgado, Robby Ameen, Oscar Hernandez, Conrad Herwig, Pedrito Martinez, Juan Munguia, Alain Pérez, Mike Rodriguez, Tony Succar & Miguel Zenon

Ozmosys Band featuring Omar Hakim & Rachel Z

Amina Figarova Sextet plus Strings*

Hot Club of Saratoga

Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage:

Red Baraat*

Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt with Dawn Thomson, Nadje Noordhuis, Jeff Lederer & Martin Wind

Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith* 

Connie Han Trio*

Emmaline*

Dan Wilson Trio*

SUNDAY, JUNE 26

Amphitheater:

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Ledisi*

SuperBlue: Kurt Elling featuring Charlie Hunter

Eliane Elias

Matthew Whitaker*

Garland Nelson’s Joyful Noise

Charles R. Wood “Jazz Discovery” Stage:

Cha Wa

Tiempo Libre*

Carolyn Wonderland*

Ryan Keberle & Catharsis*

Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars celebrate George Wein* featuring Mike Rodriguez, Steve Davis, Jimmy Greene, Bill Cunliffe, Dave Stryker, Todd Coolman & Dennis Mackrel

 *Indicates Festival debut for that project

SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Saratoga Performing Arts Center this week announced the return of its resident companies -- New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra -- to their summer home in Saratoga in 2022.

The diverse season features SPAC premieres and debuts by women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) composers, choreographers, performers and conductors, alongside iconic masterworks of the classical repertoire.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET returns with the full company from July 12 – 16, with its roster of more than 90 dancers under the direction of Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, accompanied by the New York City Ballet Orchestra, led by Music Director Andrew Litton.

The Company will present four programs including the full-length story ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream; an evening dedicated to 20^th Century Masters highlighted by Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace, returning for the first time since 1967; and a program showcasing works by contemporary choreographers including new pieces by Jamar Roberts and Pam Tanowitz, and the return of Justin Peck’s In Creases, gracing the SPAC stage for the first time since its World Premiere at SPAC in 2012. Back by popular demand is also a special “NYCB On and Off Stage” presentation designed to introduce the season with an intimate, up-close look at selected excerpts from the Company’s repertory of ballets that will be featured during the residency.

“After two long years without the full New York City Ballet in residence at SPAC, it is tremendously exciting to be announcing the return of the full Company in July 2022,” said Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, in a statement.

“It will be a perfect celebration of their return with timeless works of Balanchine and Robbins, SPAC debuts by Jamar Roberts and Pam Tanowitz, the return of Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace, beloved story ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and NYCB On and Off Stage. The latter, born from the need to conform to COVID guidelines in 2021, was a format that was immensely popular with audiences. It will be a perfect kick off to the residency – as both an intimate behind the scenes look at NYCB as well as a poignant reminder as to how far we will have come since March of 2020,” Sobol said.

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA’s three-week residency (July 27 – Aug. 13) will feature Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Aug. 10–13) leading four programs including a finale featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Highlighting the residency is the return of world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma (Aug. 5) and violinist Joshua Bell alongside star soprano Larisa Martinez (July 29). Making their 2022 SPAC debuts is a diverse roster of artists including fourteen-time GRAMMY nominee Ledisi singing the music of Nina Simone (Aug. 3), pianist and NPR host Lara Downes (Aug. 4), soprano Angel Blue (Aug. 12-13), 26-year-old superstar violinist Randall Goosby (Aug. 11), and Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet company, BalletX July 27), performing a new work choreographed by NYCB’s Tiler Peck.  

Also featured will be more than a dozen SPAC premieres including the East Coast Premiere of Contact by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts composed for the genre-crossing ensemble Time for Three (July 28). SPAC’s popular film nights will also return to delight audiences of all ages as the Orchestra accompanies, live to picture, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ in Concert (July 30) and The Princess Bride in Concert (Aug. 6).

“SPAC’s ambitious and artistically inspiring programming continues our effort to bring significant contemporary works and iconic classics that have never been performed at SPAC to our stage, while also presenting a record number of works by BIPOC and female composers throughout the season,” said Sobol.

Tickets will be available beginning on March 7 for members (tiered by level) and on March 16 for the general public. New for this season, evening performances will be held at 7:30 p.m.

SPAC will continue to monitor health and safety guidelines mandated by New York State and the CDC and will adjust ticketing and safety policies accordingly.

The season kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12 with NYCB On and Off stage. For a full detailed listing of performances, tickets, and other information, go to: spac.org.