Going west from Kodak Park these days, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Traffic on Ridge Road, now in the destruction phase of a multi-million-dollar rebuilding project, moves fitfully. Within the city limits, a shallow trench runs down the south side of a rocky road. Across the way, debris and dust throw down […]
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Overdue
Overdue The county’s laissez-faire approach to the library by Chris Busby It’s no big deal to have an overdue library book or two. Almost everyone has done this at one time or another. And most folks return the books in short order and pay the small fine, mildly rebuking themselves for their absent-mindedness. Monroe County’s […]
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GM gives the village of Honeoye Falls some vehicular zip.
It’s no insult to say the village of Honeoye Falls is “off the beaten path.” In fact, that’s the phrase Mayor Steve Gustin uses to describe his hometown. A quick look at the map confirms the description. The village — well known for Victorian homes, businesses, and restored mills along Honeoye Creek — has profited […]
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Welcome to the machine
by Chris Busby At least three Democratic candidates for seats on the Rochester City School Board will continue their campaigns, despite failing to get the party’s endorsement at its May 17 convention. Howard Eagle, Jim Greco, and Woody Hammond say they’ll gather petition signatures to force a primary this September, in hopes of running on […]
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Strong minus Stein
Almost exactly two years ago, Dr. Jay Stein, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center, joined a group of notables on the Hochstein Music School stage to discuss socioeconomic change in Rochester. Under the baton of visiting National Public Radio host Juan Williams, Stein said “the key” to our future “is academic institutions.” […]
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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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Safe clubs, safe crowds
City Newspaper wasn’t at the recent meeting between public officials and concerned nightclub owners. And most nightclub owners we followed up with wouldn’t speak on the record. Even the one elected official we’ve spoken with about the meeting preferred anonymity. But the elected official said the “big issue” tackled at the meeting was the […]
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Filling Giuffrida’s sneakers
Joanne Giuffrida’s departure from the city school board puts her fellow board members in a potentially contentious position. Granted, the fractious board, which has brawled over the departure of former superintendent Cliff Janey and its own bylaws during the past year, has been a powder keg of conflicting personalities for some time now. But […]
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The special-ed scare
When “Phil” responded to a temporary employment agency’s newspaper ad for special-education paraprofessionals in the Rochester City School District, he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. But Phil — who requested anonymity for fear he’d lose his temp job should he criticize the district — says he had a genuine desire to […]
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Gates: a gateway for canal development?
True or false? Gates is a Canal Town. Trick question: T and F are both correct. Not that the bedroom-and-strip-mall township just outside the city limits is a Canal Town in the Realtor’s sense. Gates will never be taken for Fairport, Brockport, or others that have highly developed commercial zones right on the Erie […]
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Great moments in Rochester’s future: 2003-2013
A City Newspaper special project about public stuff you should care about Folks, in times like these, it’s easy to get down about the state of our fair area. The economic picture looks bleak at present, and if you peer far enough into the future, it begins to resemble Picasso’s “Guernica.” But despair not! […]
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Consolidating logic
The next exec: The second in an occasional series of articles addressing issues related to the 2003 Monroe County Executive race. Call it political Fear Factor. A year ago, County Executive Jack Doyle convened three public forums to discuss the concept of consolidating local governments and school districts. The forums were inspired by remarks […]
