Comment Archives: stories: News & Opinion: Last 30 Days
Re: “Blacks, poverty, and the future of Rochester”
Echoing the other comments, the elephant in the room, to judge from this summary, is the self-perpetuating cycle of casual immorality and bastardy. Nothing will change absent an overwhelming moral and spiritual awakening.
Re: “Blacks, poverty, and the future of Rochester”
It's like Katy said you will have more children in poverty when Mom & Dad are 15 years old. They aren't going to be the CEO of some company. It's time for those in poverty to take responsability to teach thier young to STAY in school, work hard & wait to have kids. I wasn't handed everything, I had to claw my way to were I'm at. My grandparents learned english when they moved here with nothing, both parents were poor growing up & made it to the middle class. Each generation we try to improve our kids education. You got to suck it up & roll up your sleeves.
Re: “Blacks, poverty, and the future of Rochester”
The economic realities will remain bleak until the concepts of birth control and family planning are understood. It is pretty hard to 'raise' six children, with six different exCon/BabyDaddies with no money and no education. And that is the problem: they are not 'raised' they are released to the streets and the 'village' or 'aunts' , 'cousins' or 'grandparents.' If you look at successful black and Hispanic people, what they have in common is THEY WAITED TO HAVE CHILDREN UNTIL THEY COULD SUPPORT THEM. (Emotionally and financially)
Re: “Reading program helps stave off the 'summer slide'”
Yugoboy:
First, thanks for your comment. In answer to the question you pose, no one will like the answer, but money is an issue. Elaine Spaull went and shook the trees so to speak for more financial help this year, which is surprising since the program's coordinators have compiled some good research from the program that's quite supportive. Students from poor households are lucky to have one or two books in the home, while middle class suburban children are frequently provided with hundreds. And children who often don't receive gifts or items in the mail take a special interest in something that is addressed to them personally. It's hard to imagine that something so subtle can have such a big impact.
Tim
Re: “Reading program helps stave off the 'summer slide'”
Finally a reform I can get behind!
Why? It addresses one of the root causes of scholastic inadequacy and targets the fixes where they need to be: students and the families. If we can find a way to get parents on board this could really make a difference.
Will this solve all the problems? No.
If maintained beyond initial thrust, will it have a measurable impact? Probably - IF maintained.
Will it have a longer lasting impact on the people who actually need the help than current "reforms"? Absolutely.
Could a follow-up report possibly let us know how we as individuals can help move this forward to become available to children in all the city schools?
Re: “Owners of Craft Company No. 6 speak out against University Ave. project”
I didn't realize there was a building ban near firehouses. Funny, all the other city firehouses seem to do just fine in busy neighborhoods. I really grow tired of this NIMBY attitude in Rochester, this section of University Ave is nothing like the "East Ave Preservation District", this apartment plan more than fits in and will only benefit the neighborhood. People go to George Eastman to look in, not out, and the viewshed won't be largely affected. Besides GE himself was all for the progress of this City, he wouldn't want it stifled in his name by a bunch of NIMBYS.
1.) Might be the only valid complaint, however the neighborhood is filled with LARGE 3 story buildings and the new building would be in the area of several multi-story buildings
2.)Sounds like NIMBYS have stifled progress for too long.
3.)See above paragraph
4.)Invented issue, there is landscape screening the building from the GEH
5.) Not entirely true, the highrise at University and Goodman and the FlatIron building at Univesity and Atlantic would be bigger.
6.)This is true of almost all buildings on that stretch of University Ave.
7.) Valid point, but new trees will be planted and hardly seems like a valid reason to stop the project. Retool yes, stop no.
8.) Semi-true, this is a popular, urban neighborhood parking can be tough. Its a sign of an active neighborhood where people want to be. However, street parking on University is easy to find the majority of the time. Second this is more a symptom of a regional dependence on the car and our unwillingness to bike/walk/bus even the shortest of distances. The parking will be able to handle residents which is good enough.
9.) So what? Rush hour is 20 minutes in Rochester, again its a sign of vibrancy. Also part of #8 and the automobile dependence.
10.) Can be handled with traffic engineering and street design.
11.) A problem that's yet to happen, handle it when it occurs. Again a very minor problem. People cut through parking lots on corners to avoid lights, does that mean we ban corner gas stations? Reaching at straws
12.) Another invented problem, RFD has firehouses on Monroe Ave, Lyell Ave, North Clinton, Hudson, Dewey, North Goodman, Genesee, South, and Wisconsin which frequently goes through the E. Main intersection. All dense neighborhoods with busy vehicular traffic with no problems.
13.) Minor problem, needs to be retooled, no need to scrap the project,
There you go, a point by point rebuttal. These concerns are all fabricated or overblown.
Re: “Rochester's apartment boom”
Brett Garwood is obviously out of touch, along with the city's demo program. They are destroying fragile neighborhoods and ensuring the will never return without significant city reinvestment (luckily City Hall can funnel that money through their friends and campaign donors). People will buy older homes with small yards and no driveways, if they wouldn't Park Ave, Susan B Anthony, and the South Wedge would be empty. Ironically, the South Wedge is seeing a major boom, Park Ave is doing fine as ever, and Susan B. Anthony is seeing a lot of interest. City Hall is way out of touch, people are moving or staying in the city because of the neighborhoods. City Hall is trying to suburbanize JOSANA and other neighborhoods, Sorry but if I want a suburban house I'll go to the 'burbs. This wanton destruction of at risk neighborhoods needs to stop. Its a waste of money and many of the houses demo'd are in good shape while actual dilapidated houses are left standing. Less money could be used to get the house back into use and it would contribute to the tax rolls. No one wants to live in a neighborhood where the street is 50% empty. The only neighborhoods that have seen natural, organic revitalization are those that remain largely intact. Corn Hill has only seen a resurgence because of massive city and private investment.
Alex White makes a good point about the loans, subsidies, grants, and infrastructure improvements the city does. Most of the projects subtract from the city coffers, not add. College Town costs Rochester $17 mill in street improvements, and we won't even see a penny in tax "profit" until 20 years down the road. That's if the developer doesn't default on the $20 million loan that city got on their behalf (just like Sibley and Wilmot), which well be stuck with if they fail to pay.
Re: “Richards gives sober State of the City address, with an appearance by Spider-Man”
Hi darlingdyan - In short, no. The speech was not delayed this year and is usually given during this season.
Re: “Richards gives sober State of the City address, with an appearance by Spider-Man”
Spiderman at a "sober" State of the City address? What happened? Was Bozo the Clown busy?
Re: “Richards gives sober State of the City address, with an appearance by Spider-Man”
Am I missing something? Isn't the State of the City (or Nation or State or School District) done in January? Delaying this address for campaign season is a BLATANTLY POLITICAL MOVE for the self-described apolitical public servant.
Oh and I've read Warren's ed plan and heard her speak on education... being honest about school outcomes is hardly "trashing the district." What has Richards done on education except make excuses for the district and show up to some of the photo opps when Vargas makes home visits to truants.
Re: “City should turn down University Ave. project”
J.A.M., you raise important points. Regarding our contribution to the Eastman House: we make contributions to numerous area arts organizations and other non-profits, as do many local media. That support is clearly stated on the organizations’ promotional material. We’ve written articles praising those organizations, and we’ve written articles criticizing them.
On the issue of the apartment ownership: It’s a two-flat, 100-plus-year-old house next door to our home – meager competition for a 102-unit, spanking new building. I suppose you could say any new apartments are competition for our units. But I’ve cheered on other new apartment developments, when they were in locations I thought were appropriate. And you might make the argument that the density in the neighborhood, and the resulting popularity of the area, makes our apartments more desirable. Our property value has certainly increased. So perhaps we have a vested interest in more apartments. And any development that adds to the city’s tax rolls helps every other city taxpayer, including me.
But overall, I think you’re right: On the apartments issue, I should have indicated that my husband and I own a rental property in the neighborhood, letting readers decide whether that had any bearing on the subject.
Re: “Violence on the mind”
I'm not really sure how this report goes from the Boston Marathon bombings to corruption in state government; Is there supposed to be a link between the two? I don't think there is and I'm not sure what the closing argument is supposed to be: What ever will we do about corruption in Albany? And what will we do about the Boston bombings? Not exactly a coherent argument.
Re: “City should turn down University Ave. project”
The publisher has now acknowledged not one but two significant conflicts of interest that the original print article did NOT disclose: One, her company is a "substantial" (her word) donor to one of the parties to the controversy. Two, as a competing provider of rental housing in the same market, she has a financial stake in the outcome.
To what extent either of these circumstances influenced the article is an interesting question, but not the main point. Any credible code of ethics mandates avoiding even the APPEARANCE of a conflict of interest. Accordingly, at an absolute minimum these conflicts should have been disclosed early and often.
Re: “City should turn down University Ave. project”
Douglas Fisher - As to "debasing" the Eastman House, one might argue that tacking on the museum wing has already accomplished that debasement. And since the Eastman House management themselves are the folks who threw away their best chance to preserve the, "original creative vision" of the site (assuming that the original early 1900s vision contemplated adding the aforementioned museum wing in the 1980s) perhaps you should be chastising them.
Re: “City should turn down University Ave. project”
Henry Hope Reed, who died on Wednesday at 97, pioneered the concept of urban walking tours, such that the New York Times once covered his doing this. His lessons are relevant for Rochester.
Whereas the walking tour that I gave in Victor village on Saturday focused on historical aspects of the locale's 19th-century buildings and their occupants -- such as my identifying the long-ago business in one building and the long-ago businessman's home in his nearby house -- Henry Hope Reed's walking tours were a mobile critique of his subject locale in terms of his own architectural lens.
Reed was an unabashed classicist, and rebelled against what he considered to be an unthinking contemporary treatment in adaptive reuses of historic buildings. For a half century, contemporary "updating" via adaptive reuse has been the favored philosophy in utilizing buildings of our historic architectural heritage, following the precepts of Frederick Rath, promulgated nationwide during his tenure at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Back in the day, I took one of Henry Hope Reed's Manhattan walking tours, this one wending through Greenwich Village. I recall particularly his insights into the alternate preservation philosophy embodied in the Jefferson Market Courthouse, repurposed as a branch of the New York Public Library.
While praising the conservation of the Ruskinian Gothic detailing of the 1870s structure, he railed against the blanket insertions of large single-pane window glass replacing the multi-paned window treatment originally used. He felt that it changed the entire massing of the building to have such a series of large blank spaces spread across the walls.
Henry Hope Reed's classical orientation seems to be a lonely voice today. Many in the general population have no compunction about clamoring to debase -- or even destroy -- significant architectural landmarks as they see fit, giving minimal respect to the carefully thought-through architectural vision which created the structure at issue.
Thus, a nationally-significant 1889 brewery castle was destroyed in Rochester last year for a parking lot, with the complicity of City Hall.
Many others have no problem with debasing an important National Historical Landmark locally in favor of inserting next door a 102-unit four-story apartment house looming over the carefully restored and tended historic lawn and gardens. They even support having a swimming pool abutting these historic gardens, while the brick and glass reflect the shouts of swimming children into the intended contemplative repose of the historic gardens.
Oh, sure, the apartment house supporters have their arguments, some of which may sound compelling in the abstract, but they all gloss over their implicit disrespect for the original creative vision of the landmark site which some are seeking to preserve for the benefit of posterity.
Re: “The D&C by the numbers”
No matter the format, the quality of the news coverage has declined appreciably in the last year plus. That's why I unsubscribed. Very little news left between the ads. Very little local coverage at all. Are there but two or three writers left?
Re: “Court says communities can ban drilling”
It seems humans are prone to losing their common sense. We either do not spend enough time noticing or understanding what is going on around us or we simply let ourselves say it does not matter.
Common sense tells me hydrofracking, when fully explained and understood, could not possibly take place anywhere. Surely, people would just say NO before it had a chance to get started. Fracking uses up millions of gallons of water and injects toxic chemicals into the ground....GAME OVER, right? But wait, there's more. JOBS! Economic prosperity will come to regions of poverty. Employed people spending their wealth means success and growth for businesses. The only loser is Earth.
There are examples besides hydrofracking. Back in 1938 a patent was issued for a new process meant to ensure coal mines shored up with wood could withstand the test of time. Pressure treated lumber was born. It almost makes sense that in the dark, dangerous depths of the coal mine, the combination of arsenic, copper and chomium did not seem much like an added threat. But soon, the toxic poison arsenic made a leap into the light...your new backyard deck, your garden shed, your picnic table and your child's jungle gym were all nearly indestructable and would last an eternity. All this time people knew that the pressure treated wood contained arsenic and no one set off the alarm bells. How could this be? How could we invite a toxic poison into our homes, yards and families?
It is happening again with hydrofracking. Concerned citizens are asking why fracking is being considered in New York. Some did not have the chance to ask this question before fracking was already in their neighborhoods. It seems we truly never learn from history. It seems common sense loses to the power of corporations and the greed of individuals. How many times must we suffer the consequences of our own making? How many times will we acquiesce because we still believe government and corporations are doing the right thing.
Common sense, history and science all say NO to fracking. What do you say?
Re: “Owners of Craft Company No. 6 speak out against University Ave. project”
Ms. Tow;er - City provides a "Feedback" section for this type of letter. So why is it be published under the "News" category?
Re: “City should turn down University Ave. project”
RE: Christopher--Great reasoned OPPOSITION! Ms. Towler's statement "adding density to an area of the city that doesn't need more" is ambiguous since "area" could refer to NOTA or the whole Park/East Ave area. But. . .
it's really not unfounded for either considering their one-lane roads can't accommodate current traffic that backs up from Portsmouth to Culver when the Gleason Works lets out or such shortage of parking that one of the businesses on University is considering relocating because clients can't find a place to park. The same is true for traffic now backing up from East Ave all the way to the 490 entrance to get out of the Park Ave area and sometimes over 30 cars waiting in line on the 490 exit to get on Culver at rush hour; of course, finding parking spots for tenants or business customers in the Park Ave. area has always been a major problem. I agree with everything Christopher says: perceptive, important, and balanced.
The city really does need to reassess its values, goals, and planning (as Ken discusses). During the last year the City approved demolition of the Cataract Building (now a parking lot built by NYC developers who never actually came here) after it spent millions to create the faltering High Falls area across the bridge. The 19th century stores there, across from the original Kodak building which could become MCC, have just been restored. Why the demolition? the complete lack of vision?
The City also approved the demolition of the last remaining historic buildings from "Old Brighton" on East Ave. so Wegmans could build its unnecessarily HUGE store which tries unsuccessfully to imitate old buildings now lost forever. So how much more of our city history will be demolished? Will 933 University be next? It certainly is change, but is it worth this ongoing destruction of Rochester's historical "fabric" (borrowing Ms. Towler's word). She's dead-on right in observing this 933 University Ave. proposal of demolition and over-development is a potentially dangerous precedent and potentially (more) bad City planning.
Re: “Blacks, poverty, and the future of Rochester”
The transition from poverty to working class is the easiest of the upward transitions to be made and people born into a disadvantaged set of circumstances are in the prime position to enjoy some upward mobility, regardless of race or neighborhood. Being self-made has some unique benefits that being born with a silver spoon does not convey. Hard work builds character and a key motivating factor is to provide better opportunities for your kids than you had.
My inclination is that the failure to thrive discussed here is not due to people being black, or people being in the city, but it's primarily a lifestyle choice of the people described, e.g. a conscious decision to indulge in unproductive behaviors while gaming the social safety net instead of undertaking the hard work of self improvement, or perhaps just not realizing that there's another way to live due to lack of role models.