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SARATOGA SPRINGS - She was 54 and without a home when she lay across a loading dock, not far from the school where she’d attended classes as a young girl. Her body was discovered the next day, on a frigid December morning on the city’s west side.

A community of residents and clergy, business leaders, politicians and everyday folks were motivated to action that winter of 2013. In quick order, they came together. Their goal: creating a space where people without a home can find shelter during frigid nights, get fed a warm meal, recharge their bodies, then head back out into the light of the next day to try and secure a more stable standing.

A temporary emergency shelter was launched that Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Parish Center. Since that time, a series of temporary winter shelters have been sited at a variety of venues across town.  From the west-of Broadway Salvation Army building, to the east-of Broadway Soul Saving Station Church, each move faced push-back from some residents who lived in the community where the shelter planned to relocate. Each group expressed a desire for a shelter to be sited, followed with the caveat: just not here.

Soul Saving Station church on Henry Street has hosted a temporary Code Blue shelter the past three years but soon will repurpose the space where the temporary shelter operated, making it not a viable winter option for Code Blue. Enter Presbyterian New England Congregational Church.

 “We are talking about a partnership with Shelters of Saratoga to turn our Nolan House – which is our big, Victorian brick house - into Code Blue,” said Rev. Kate Forer, a Massachusetts native who became Senior Pastor at Presbyterian New England Congregational Church in 2016. “We had a meeting with our congregation this past weekend to introduce the idea to them. And we also had a meeting with our neighbors to introduce the idea to them as well. “

A permanent shelter location was thought to be found in 2017 on Walworth Street, where a Code Blue structure would be built on property belonging to Shelters of Saratoga – the organization who operates the Code Blue program. Local business owner Ed Mitzen, and his wife Lisa announced they would pay the costs for the new, permanent shelter to be built. In September 2018, however, following a lawsuit filed by local residents challenging the proposed shelter expansion as not being in accordance with zoning regulation, a Saratoga County Supreme Court judge nullified previously granted approvals by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board which would have allowed the shelter to be built.

Meanwhile, the need for a shelter is strong. Since opening in the 2013-14 winter season and through 2017-18 – the latest figures available, the number of those seeking shelter has increased each year. During the 2017-18 winter season, Code Blue was open 162 nights, served more than 8,000 meals, and provided sleeping quarters for a total of 6,480 overnight stays – or on average, 40 nightly guests.  Presbyterian New England Congregational Church - or PNECC - was also open during 90 of those nights to care for “overflow” guests. 

“The congregation is open to the idea – this is part of the core mission of who we are as a church,” says Rev. Forer.  “For over 40 years, our mission has been about serving vulnerable populations. Our mission statement is that we are working to make God’s love and justice real in our world,” the pastor said.  “This homeless population is already here on our campus and Code Blue does not have a place to go for the 2019-2020 season. We feel it is our duty and obligation to care for our brothers and sisters and to care for them with the necessary services to – not only survive - but to thrive.”

An executive order issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo directs emergency shelters to operate when temperatures drop below 32 degrees. Code Blue’s temporarily housing at the Soul Saving Station Church often found the 41-bed shelter at full capacity.

Any alterations required to site an emergency shelter at PNECC would be minimal. “The soup kitchen is right next door, so we wouldn’t need a kitchen,” said Karen Gregory, executive director of Shelters of Saratoga. “There would have to be some additions - bathrooms and showers – but there would be very limited changes.” 

The organization anticipates the facility will house 55 beds, which would likely eliminate the need for an off-site overflow emergency center.

“We’re having the conversation. Can this happen at the church? What does it look like, and how do we involve the community members in the conversation?” Gregory says. “We still have lots of steps and lots of conversations (to have) about it.” A preliminary schedule of future meetings is expected to be completed next week.

“We’re still in the talking phase, but I am reaching out to every member of the community, every member of the county, every member in the city in their government positions and saying: please come to the table, have a conversation with us and help us to find a permanent solution for Code Blue,” Gregory said. “It’s desperately needed and there’s a governor’s mandate directing the county do that, but I need the county’s support in order to really move that program and that project forward. There needs to be a collaboration.”

Earlier conversations to potentially site the shelter by Bethesda Episcopal Church on Washington Street didn’t pan out due to the shelter’s proposed location in the building - being on the fourth floor could create issues and obstacles, Gregory says - as well as the rent. “It’s not something we could financially endure and still keep our programming intact,” Gregory says.  The Mitzens remain on board, Gregory added.  “They are strongly supporting Code Blue and are staying on as donors and trying to help us find a solution. They’ve been incredibly generous, kind and patient.”

Discussions regarding PNECC have stipulated that the church would continue to own the Nolan House building and SOS would run the Code Blue program. At some point, a permanent location will still need to be secured.

“I think we have to see how this goes, but I am totally open to a collaboration anywhere in Saratoga that would support this, and I will continue to work to follow the governor’s mandate,” Gregory said. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College presents the exhibition Streb Action, June 1 through July 21, in which the acclaimed dance company Streb Extreme Action turns a gallery into a rehearsal and performance space, and an exhibition of its archive of cutting-edge work since its 1985 founding by choreographer Elizabeth Streb.

Streb and company will be in residence from June 4 through June 21, and will rehearse in the gallery on most afternoons. Those rehearsals are open to the public. The exhibition will feature notebooks that reveal Streb’s colorful, hand-drawn choreographic notes and ideas, and videos that show some of the company’s earliest recorded performances.

 In addition to open rehearsals, Streb and her dance company will offer a free public performance on June 14 at the museum, conduct public workshops during Frances Day, the museum’s annual community day on Saturday, June 15, and develop new work in collaboration with Anne Bogart, the Co-Artistic Director of SITI Company and Skidmore’s Summer Theater Workshop, called FALLING & LOVING.

Public events:

Thursday, June 6, 7 pm: Film and Discussion. Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb Vs. Gravity, a film by Catherine Gund
Join us for a screening of Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, followed by a talk with Streb. The film by Catherine Gund traces the evolution of Streb’s movement philosophy as she pushes herself and her performers from the ground to the sky.

Thursday, June 13, 7 pm: Dialogue with Elizabeth Streb, Anne Bogart, and Ian Berry. Anne Bogart, Obie-winning director and co-artistic director of SITI Company, and Elizabeth Streb will discuss a new piece they are collaborating on while in residence at Skidmore College called FALLING & LOVING. The dialogue will be moderated by Dayton Director Ian Berry.

Friday, June 14, 7 pm: Streb Extreme Action in Performance
The Streb Extreme Action Company is known for physically demanding performances that combine virtuosity, technical skill, and popular appeal. Witness this company defy gravity in a program that features new and recent works including Molinette, Air, Tilt, Revolution, and Remain.

For more information, GO HERE. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – This week, city Accounts Commissioner John Franck announced a minor track exemption would be in effect this summer aimed at “offering entrepreneurial opportunities to the youth of our community,” by allowing kids to continue the longtime practice of selling bottles of water and pencils outside Saratoga Race Course.     

“We’re continuing what we started last year, to encourage minors to become entrepreneurs,” explained Franck, who during his childhood years had sold pencils outside of the racecourse.

The prevailing practice of kids selling water for a buck-a-bottle to patrons outside the entry gates of the Saratoga Race Course faced elimination at the close of the 2017 summer season when the city’s then-Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen said he has fielded numerous complaints connected with the issue. Code Enforcement officer Jack Donnelly supplied a letter that cited numerous complaints involving kids obstructing traffic, older folks – not just kids – selling and refilling multiple coolers of water, and families arguing with one another about their “spot,” to the point where the police had to intervene.

The act was never legal to begin with, with no sales tax charted, and no licensing involved. Vendors are typically required to obtain a license to sell their wares in Saratoga Springs. A 1934 ordinance exempts from the city’s licensing ordinance only the sale of milk, periodicals and newspapers.

“Unless the City Council acts otherwise, this illegal activity is not going to take place in 2018,” Mathiesen said, in late 2017.

A few months later, the council, led by Accounts Commissioner John Franck, worked on a proposal that delivered a compromise to allow the kids to sell water, but prohibit certain areas -  such as the publicly congested sidewalk near the main gates on Union Avenue – where they may do so. Prior to the start of the 2018 meet, the City Council passed a resolution to allow a minor track exemption as part of the city's Peddling and Vending ordinance.

The exemptions specify designated areas and times where water and pencils may be sold and parents or guardians must file an application with the city’s Department of Accounts to register. The city will subsequently issue an ID badge, which must be worn by the minor at all times. For more information on how to do so, visit the city’s offices at 15 Vanderbilt Ave., call 518-587-3550, or go to: saratoga-springs.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A rollicking piano, nicely harnessed by a sturdy rhythm section, channels alongside the vocal sass of Annie Rosen and launches into Tommy Johnson’s 1928 “Big Road Blues,” introducing the sixth album by Capital/Saratoga region favorites Annie and the Hedonists.

Produced by Grammy award winner, Joel Moss and recorded at the legendary Dreamland Studio in Woodstock, the new album - “Bring it On Home” – features 12 vintage blues and jazz tracks from the 1920s through the 1950s, as well as a trio of original contemporary blues songs.    

On Friday May 31, the band will stage a record release party at Caffe Lena.

The Hedonists - comprised of core members Annie and Jonny Rosen, Donald Young and Peter Davis - are accompanied by drummer Jerry Marotta,  who spent two decades Jerry dividing his time between recording and touring with Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Tears for Fears, Joan Armatrading, Paul McCartney, and countless others. With “Bring it On Home,” the band is amiably assisted by guest musicians John Sebastian (yes, that one), Dave Davies (no, not that one), and Randy Reinhart. 

“This record differs from the other five,” says guitarist Jonny Rosen, “in that we decided to focus on two related genres of music, as opposed to our previous albums which were an eclectic mix of folk, country, bluegrass, blues and jazz.”  

The 12-song release features tasty renditions of a mid-20th century Parisian waltz (“Under Paris Skies”), a cornet and trombone mating that weaves through the sultry 1924 tune “Prescription for the Blues,” and a musical re-make of the Depression-Era protest song “The Panic Is Own,” whose updated lyrics include themes of the plight of the immigrant, the (lack of) gun control, rising oceans, Russian hackings and the ever-widening gap of economic inequality in a new world.

“Bring it On Home” also features a smattering of original tunes – from the Davis and Moss co-penned 12-bar blues femme homage “Bring It On Home To Mama,” to the love lost sorrow-cholic “Long Distance Call,” and “Who’d be knocking (Knocking on my door/ so late at night)” penned by Davies about one particularly strange pre-dawn awakening when the songwriter was startled from his slumber to find a stranger standing over his bed.  

Annie & the Hedonists album release concert will stake place 8 p.m. Friday May 31 at Caffé Lena, 47 Phila St. Special guests: Randy Reinhart and Dave Davies.  For reservations or more information, call 518-583-0022 or visit Caffe Lena. org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – In a unanimous 5-0 vote, the City Council on May 21 adopted a resolution in support of the Paris Climate Agreement. 

“This resolution represents the city’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, in which nation’s around the world recognize the threat of global warming and are committed to take action,“ said Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan, who introduced the resolution during the City Council’s meeting Tuesday night. 

“From the Spa Solar Park to the in-process plans to ensure city buildings are more energy efficient, the City Council has already taken a variety of proactive steps that recognize and address our concerns about climate change,” said Madigan, adding the future-looking statement that with the city’s 2020 budget, she intends to increase the city’s financial commitment to sustainability - specifically referencing a desire to increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations on city-owned property as well as modernizing the city’s fleet of vehicles.

The Spa Solar Park - a 7,992 panel, 2.5-megawatt solar array built on the city's former Weibel Avenue landfill – was energized in August 2017. As of February 2019, 3.82 million kilowatt hours were generated providing more than $66,000 of budgetary savings for the city.

The resolution, Madigan said, commits the city to continue its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. “The resolution references the creation of a Climate Action Plan and we are currently having internal discussions on how best to proceed,” she said.

The council subsequently unanimously also approved a Local Law to establish a sustainable energy loan program in the city, as well as authorizing the mayor to sign a municipal agreement with the energy improvement corporation ("Energize NY Open C-PACE Financing Program").

The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015, according to the United Nations Treaty Collection. In June 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord - the procedures of which may begin in November 2019.  Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation aimed at preventing Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.

New York has mandated a statewide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Three hundred students, eight buses, and five hours of driving led to an educational experience of a lifetime for Maple Avenue Middle School’s eighth graders. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new five-story building targeting a prominent Broadway location signifies the most current new mixed-use development anticipated to be built in the city. The .73-acre site on the west side of Broadway is bordered by The Stadium Café to the north and Druthers to the south. 

The multi-story building at 385 Broadway will feature approximately 10,000 square feet of retail/commercial space on the first floor, and 69 multi-family residential units on the upper levels. The proposed project moved through the city’s Land Use Boards in late 2018. 

Demolition of the existing 22,000-square-foot building is expected to begin in the next few weeks, with construction slated to begin as soon as demolition is completed, according to the Albany Business Review. The project is being developed under the name Broadway 385 LLC, a partnership that includes Tom Newkirk, owner of Saratoga National Golf Club, and Peter Rosecrans Jr. of Burns Management. Rosecrans did not return a phone message seeking comment for this article. 

An earlier proposal presented to the city in July 2018 called for 72 apartments - 27 of which were designated as “micro apartments. Revised plans depict an overall decrease of the number of residential units to 69 - with micro-units measuring 500 to 650 square feet. The proposal also notes the providing of 49 parking spaces.

Two of the building’s current tenants – National, and Frivolous are expected to take up residence on the ground floor of the new building, which will have the potential to add a third tenant. 

The building at 385 Broadway was sold at a bank foreclosure auction to Newkirk for $2 million, according to a Daily Gazette article in December 2011.