Cover Story
Douglass’s Rochester: Voting rights
Voter suppression in New York can’t be attributed to a single barrier, rather it results from a long list of complex problems.
City backs down on downtown parking
City officials have changed their mind about when people will have to feed parking meters to park on downtown streets. Recently, the city extended paid street-meter parking to 8 p.m., but faced with a growing protest, officials have decided to revert to the previous 6 p.m. start of free parking. To help close a projected…
Wilt withdraws from Assembly race
Brighton Town Board member Robin Wilt withdrew from the 136th Assembly District race Friday afternoon. The reason, she said, is that there’s still work to do in the town, particularly when it comes to issues of race, diversity, and equity. Wilt’s brief Assembly campaign, which began soon after she lost the Democratic primary for the…
Film review: ‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’
Gus Van Sant’s new film successfully side-steps cliché in its details, but feels like yet another story about the healing power of art and the necessity of humor in the face of suffering.
NYCLU unveils data on RPD policies, actions
The NYCLU unveiled an online database that contains extensive information about police department policies in seven communities, including Rochester.
City Council moves forward on site for homeless encampment
The City of Rochester and some advocates for the homeless are one step closer to establishing a designated encampment for the chronically homeless. City Council unanimously approved a measure Tuesday night that transfers 97 Industrial street, a vacant lot near West Broad, to the Rochester Land Bank Corporation. Council member Jackie Ortiz abstained from the…
THEATER | ‘The Trials of Robin Hood’
Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, and a picnic to this week’s free performance of “The Trials of Robin Hood,” held at the Penfield Amphitheater. Presented as a dramatic reading of Will Averill’s play, the story is told from the perspectives of the fabled thief himself, Maid Marian, and Prince John, and contains three different endings.…
FESTIVAL | Puerto Rican Festival
Rochester’s longest-running cultural festival, the Puerto Rican Festival, celebrates its 49th anniversary this week with three days of live music, food, cultural events, and celebrity guests. The fest will feature local bands and dance groups as well as national headliners, and honor this year’s theme of Tradition, Rhythm, and Culture. This year’s headliners are Pirulo…
SPECIAL EVENT | Jazz & Jambalaya Fundraiser
Laissez les bon temps rouler! An afternoon of Jazz & Jambalaya will be held this weekend at French Quarter Café as a fundraiser in support of the Baobab Cultural Center and Ujima Rochester. The Baobab promotes a deeper understanding of African history and culture, and Ujima Rochester strives to make a positive difference in the…
FILM/COMEDY | John Cleese ‘Holy Grail’
A cult favorite for a generation, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is an absurdist-comedy musical interpretation of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Kodak Center this weekend is hosting a special screening of the film in honor of its 40th anniversary re-release. Immediately after the screening, Monty Python…
ART | ‘Interior/Exterior’
The long-standing friendship between renowned local photographers Carl Chiarenza and Roger Bruce is highlighted in “Interior/Exterior,” the current exhibit at RIT’s University Gallery. Bruce and Chiarenza have dramatically different styles and methods, but share a passion for the elemental roots of the photographic process. Their combined interest in the history and aesthetics of photography is…
Feedback 7/25
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. The Dems’…
VARIOUS | Warped Tour
For a lot of people who grew up in the late-90’s and the 2000’s, Warped Tour means something special. It was a summer ritual when a ton of bands — usually some of that year’s biggest punk, pop punk, metal, hip-hop, and rock acts — who’d normally never play your town finally set up in…
JAZZ | Ben Goldberg & Kirk Knuffke
One plus one may usually add up to two, but in the world of jazz it’s often much more. Bring together two top musicians like clarinetist Ben Goldberg and cornetist Kirk Knuffke for an evening of improvised music and the sky’s the limit. Goldberg, known for his work in jazz and Klezmer music, has played…
ROCK | Daughtry
I kept telling myself that something good had to eventually come out of “American Idol.” Season five offered some salvation from all the pop palaver: That’s when Chris Daughtry cleaned up. The band that bears his name has since gone on to release four albums, all of them landing on the Billboard top 10. Daughtry…
ROCK | CKY
We all love bands that aren’t easily defined or classified. West Chester, Pennsylvania’s CKY has been called grunge, stoner rock, 90’s rock, even skate punk. All of those labels are accurate, more or less. But the band is a little more sophisticated than that with a dynamite dynamic display. There’s also some “Jackass” blood —…
ROCK | Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner is a bit of a word wizard. His lyrical poetry has helped elevate the Sheffield, England, group to major festival headliners. The group’s latest album, “Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino,” has a different destination in mind: the moon. It trades in the rock-heavy riffs of hits “I Bet You Look Good…
Album review: ‘Horizontal Dialogues’
Raffaele Califano “Horizontal Dialogues” Alfamusic facebook.com/www.RaffaeleCalifanoMusic.it European jazz artists take the first step toward cultural exchange by falling in love with and playing the great American art form. One of Italy’s top drummers, Raffaele Califano, goes one step further by featuring the excellent American saxophonist Seamus Blake on his new album. Appropriately titled “Horizontal Dialogues,”…
Album review: ‘In Transit’
Jeff Dingler “In Transit” Self-released jeffdingler.com Some of the best music is indelibly attached to the life of its creator; bassist and composer Jeff Dingler’s “In Transit” is a case in point. Dingler was deeply involved with jazz, classical, and Balkans music before spending a year in Ethiopia, absorbing the culture and especially the music…
FESTIVAL | Native American Dance & Music Festival
Ganondagan’s Native American Dance & Music Festival, held this week, will give all people the chance to experience the vibrancy of both contemporary and traditional Native American culture. The event will present traditional dance in regalia, artisan demonstrations, Hodinöhsö:ni’ storytelling, and a Native American Arts Market. Vocalist Gary Farmer (Cayuga, Wolf Clan) will perform with…
Review: ‘Dogfight, the Musical’ at JCC CenterStage
The Vietnam War is a looming menace throughout the story, but the real villain is toxic masculinity — disguised as brotherhood and camaraderie — that is portrayed with a loathsome and sickening success by the young actors.
Pandafan takes indie rock down to its roots
When Hurricane Sandy in 2012 caused blackouts on Long Island, Grace Denatale and Delaney Hafener resorted to old-timey entertainment with their friends. They grabbed a guitar and started singing. The lights eventually came back on, and Denatale and Hafener kept playing together and developed Pandafan. Combining indie rock songwriting and folk instrumentation, Pandafan paints a…
Review: ‘Mama Mia! Here We Go Again’
Sweet, sunny, and very silly, it’s a movie that unquestionably has no real reason to exist. But since it does, this is just about the best possible version we could have hoped for.
CHOW HOUND: Farm-to-Table focus at Native Bar & Eatery
The big, beautiful patio is a main selling point for the new downtown restaurant, which has a local-ingredients focus on the menu and at the bar. Plus Quick Bites and Openings.
