The idea of a Performing Arts Center in downtown Rochester is not new. And Rochester Broadway Theatre League Board Chairman Arnie Rothschild has been a key player in arts-center discussions since the beginning. The initial idea — developed in 1997 by a broadly based task force — was to build a complex with several […]
Chad Oliveiri
Posted inNews & Opinion
Johnson on Renaissance: city was excluded
Typically, when a multi-million dollar development project in the heart of a city is announced, the mayor of that city knows all about the project before the news hits the papers. But that wasn’t the case last week when Governor George Pataki pledged his support for a Renaissance Center — combining an arts center, […]
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Gannett takes aim
Gannett Co., Inc. has brought its battle for the hearts, minds, and spending habits of young readers to Rochester. Gannett confirmed last week that it has chosen Rochester; Wilmington, Delaware; Pensacola, Florida; and Greenville, South Carolina as launching sites for its next wave of free, youth-aimed weeklies. But details on the new Rochester […]
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Great expectations: Is change in the works for City Council?
Ten candidates, four seats. The ballot might be telling you that broad changes are in the offing for Rochester City Council this election season. But don’t believe the hype. Change and City Council don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. Democrats dominate voters in the city of Rochester. And City Council, to a member, mirrors its constituents. Aside […]
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Going bust
Monroe County is in deep trouble — Marianus Trench deep. Staggering deficits, crushing taxes, youth flight, jobs vacuum, partisan bickering, and a stagnant economy spell a bleak future unless we start turning things around, and quick. How bad is bad? Business leader Tom Richards goes so far as to say that the city of […]
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Primary challenge: the city School Board race
Seven people are running in a Democratic primary for what must surely be the most thankless of all local elected offices, the Rochester School Board. Although there will be Republican, Independence, and Working Families parties on the ballot in the November election, the four winners of the September 9 Democratic primary will have a strong […]
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Fun with numbers
The Rochester Broadway Theatre League has gotten the government funding it needs to buy the Auditorium Theatre, but how’s it going to pay for $2.5 million in renovations? The RBTL thinks it has found a solution. But that solution may be less certain than RBTL hopes. Because of low interest rates, RBTL President […]
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Pricing the Farash gift
At first glance, news that a big-time local developer wants to donate high-profile downtown property to the County of Monroe sounds good. But Max Farash has handed county legislators a dilemma: Is it wise to accept the gift — even if it will cost the cash-strapped county and city money for at least a […]
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Let the games begin
It was an interesting chain of events. Last Monday, July 7, City Newspaper received a press release from the Maggie Brooks for County Executive campaign committee. A press conference was scheduled for Tuesday, at which the county clerk and representatives from the Rochester Broadway Theater League would make “an important announcement about a community project […]
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Voting day at the Church Home
June 27 is a big day for roughly 235 employees at the Episcopal Church Home. At the heart of the nursing home, among the warm wooden beams and Tiffany stained glass windows of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, these workers — service, maintenance, and clerical employees; licensed practical nurses; certified nursing assistants — […]
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Go figure
Common sense suggests respected incumbents won’t lose the endorsement of their party unless something goes really wrong. But common sense and politics don’t always mix. When South District City Councilmember Tony Thompson recently failed to gain the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for a second term, it wasn’t by a sliver. It was […]
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Big debt downtown
Economic development can be a gamble between public officials and private real-estate developers. When the gamble pays off, everybody wins. The developer attracts tenants to a property, such as businesses that create jobs, pay taxes, and improve the general economic climate in the area. The developer makes a profit. And the public entity that […]
