Cover Story
Flight pattern
Local birders have long known about the birding hotspots near Lake Ontario — wisdom gained through long hours on the lens and guided by intuition. Now those assumptions are backed by hard science. A recent study conducted by the Nature Conservancy of Central and Western New York, Audubon New York, and the New York Natural…
Tim Mains lands schools superintendent job in Jamestown
The Jamestown school board has appointed Tim Mains – a longtime educator, politician, LGBT activist – as superintendent of that city’s public schools. Jamestown’s gain is a loss for Rochester. He’ll oversee a much smaller school district than Rochester’s, and one that isn’t facing nearly the same level of difficulties. But the move could be…
Kodak power plant deal could get OK
Kodak’s proposal to sell the Eastman Business Park’s utilities system could soon move forward.
Concert Review: The Lumineers, Cold War Kids, J Roddy Walston
I’m amazed — even scared a little — of the fragility of the path that led me to something I love. If I hadn’t been someplace in particular at a particular time I never would have met so-and-so, or experienced such-and-such. Hell, I almost didn’t meet my wife, and that would’ve sucked. So, on Friday…
Rochester Fringe Festival reveals 2013 headliners
Today the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival unveiled the headlining acts for the second year of the event, which will run September 19 to 28 in multiple venues in Downtown Rochester. Aerial dance troupe Bandaloop will return after its crowd-pleasing kickoff performances at the first Rochester Fringe, which reportedly drew more than 10,000 spectators. Bandaloop…
Week ahead: Council vote on school budget, Lej vote on Dem funding and Northampton Park
This post has been updated to include a link to the county’s environmental statement for the Northampton Park plan.
“Game of Thrones” Season 3, Episode 10: The finale that didn’t feel like a finale
I was fascinated to see how the showrunners would wrap up this season, especially given the intense public reaction to last episode’s Red Wedding. The answer is, they didn’t. Not really. What we got in the Season 3 finale felt more like a place holder than a proper finish. Some of the storylines were given…
Daily Choices: What to do on Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9
b>The Rochester Collectible & Vintage Toy Show kicks off on Sunday, June 9, at 10 a.m. at the Main Street Armory (900 E. Main St.). Admission is $5 (ages 12 and under free), and the event features favorite antique toys, die-cast and model cars, comic book action figures, model kits, dolls, miniatures, board games, and…
Analysis finds racial disparity in pot arrests
Blacks in Monroe County are 6.5 times more likely than whites to be arrested for possessing pot, says an analysis released today by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The organization looked at marijuana arrests in counties across New York from 2001 to 2010. It found that, statewide, blacks are 4.5 times as likely as…
Reductions at All City High may signal trend
Cuts to All City High’s teaching and non-teaching staff amount to a self-inflicted wound for the Rochester school district, says Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association. All City High’s instructional staff of about 120 teachers will be cut next school year to about 64, according to current plans, Urbanski says. That doesn’t include…
State says Monroe Community Hospital is back on track
County Executive Maggie Brooks’s office sent out a press release today saying that the state Department of Health has found Monroe Community Hospital in compliance with state and federal standards. The Department of Health revisited the hospital on June 3, according to a letter sent by the department to county officials. It found that the…
Northampton Park neighbors furious over fair proposal
The Monroe County Fair and Recreation Association wants the annual county fair to get back to its agricultural roots. The association, along with county officials, have their sights set on 25 acres of Northampton Park in Ogden to build new grounds for the event. Association officials say the revamped event will not be like the…
Daily Choices: What to do on Thursday, June 6
Festival: Head over to Edmund Lyon Park (Main Street, East Rochester) for food, music, and more at Festa Italia, held tonight through Saturday, June 8. Lunch is offered 11 a.m.-3 p.m., dinner 4-11 p.m. Admission is free except 4-9 p.m., when it is $8-$10. For more info, visit festaitaliaer.com. Music: Chicago-based Blizzard Babies is a…
Will historic conversions save the City of Rochester?
The people behind some of the City of Rochester’s highest-profile building projects updated the audience on their plans and their progress at a luncheon put on Tuesday by the Downtown Development Corporation. FILE PHOTO The Sibley building. You should expect to see some action around the Sibley building this summer, said Gilbert Winn, managing principal…
Costello lays out CityGate plans for Mt. Hope neighbors
Developer Anthony Costello met with residents of the Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood last night to discuss his company’s CityGate project. He pitched the project as a walkable, mixed-use development that will draw on the canal front and incorporate some of the history of the Iola campus. Costello and his son, Brett, announced new plans for…
Feedback 6/5
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. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources; those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit those selections. We don’t…
SPECIAL EVENT | Roc Brewing 2nd Anniversary
Roc Brewing is celebrating two years, and will hold a celebration on Saturday, June 8, beginning at noon. The indie brewery will usher in the summer with a taste of its limited-release IPA series, consisting of three one-of-a-kind beers: The Big DIPA, Lil’ SIPA, and Down Unda IPA. Our city has some stellar places to…
Buying power
A new report from the New York Public Interest Research Group says that state legislators representing the Rochester region relied heavily on campaign donations from lobbying and special interest groups in 2012. | The report says the 18 legislators representing counties in the Rochester region brought in $2.1 million from lobbying firms and their clients,…
Urban Action 6/5
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Meeting will highlight Greece prayer case The Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union will discuss the Galloway versus Town of Greece case at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5.…
CLASSICAL/ROCK | Musica Spei
We think of early composers of sacred music as having a clear line to heaven and hell. But, what if Renaissance sacred music was actually inspired by the music of the masses being sung, hummed, and whistled on the streets? Join the a cappella group Musica Spei for a performance of Renaissance sacred music influenced…
Our tone-deaf governor: Cuomo and the cities
Our governor is one tough guy. He is Getting Things Done. And as he reminds us frequently, he plans to Get Lots More Things Done. One of the latest things he’s doing is ending the financial crisis in the cities of New York State. “Let’s stop talking about the issue,” he said when he announced…
ALTERNATIVE | Blizzard Babies
Chicago-based Blizzard Babies is a likable outfit that hangs loose and mixes up equal parts surf punk and girl power. So when the quartet rolls into Roc City — presumably on snow machines — at least the group will be performing at the right venue. Blizzard Babies sounds downright familiar with its garage-pop vibe, albeit…
MUSIC FEATURE: The Lumineers
It really only takes one band to spearhead the initiative, to get things rolling. Two bands and you’re underground. Three or more bands and it becomes a scene. And if one or more of those bands hits the Top 40 and is selling out venues wherever it plays, well, you’ve got yourself a movement —…
POP/ROCK | Fuel
While most of you will remember Fuel from the band’s late 90’s-early 00’s heyday (“Hemorrhage,” anyone?), it has been steadily churning out new records, in spite of various line-up changes. However, if you only remember the act for its big hits, you are doing yourself a disservice. Even better, as there is currently an as-yet-untitled…
CHOW HOUND: Wylie Chayote and more
“This is so far removed from Flour City Diner cooking,” says chef Jerry Manley, who recently put his popular comfort-food repertoire on the back burner in order to try his mano at Mexican cuisine, which involves a bevy of ingredients that Manley hadn’t worked with professionally… until now. Lucky for us, the results of this…
JAZZ | Michael Formanek Quartet
Since his debut with The Tony Williams Lifetime at the age of 18, bassist Michael Formanek has enhanced the music of greats like Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, and Freddie Hubbard. He’s one of the most in-demand sidemen on the contemporary scene but, when he performs at Bernunzio this week, Formanek will be the leader of…
Fabo Collabo 2013
In January 2012, several of Rochester’s leading dance groups came together to create a collaborative performance known as Fabo Collabo. Geomantics Dance Theater, the Bill Evans Dance Company, FuturPointe Dance, BIODANCE, and Push Physical Theatre shared the Geva Nextstage. Now, Fabo Collabo is back, but in a very different way. This year, it is more…
JAZZ VOCAL | Tessa Souter
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Chopin may not be known for jazz standards, but, then again, they didn’t live long enough to meet Tessa Souter. A captivating singer whether performing standards or originals, Souter made a bold move with her latest album. She took some of the greatest melodies in the history of classical music, wrote…
“After Earth”
Despite the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Evil Empire, the empty fears about Y2K, the uneventful coming and going of the millennium, the film industry regards the future with a love for both panic and profit. For some decades now, the post-apocalyptic vision has dominated science fiction movies, and when Hollywood…
CHAMBER POP | Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot hails from our neighboring Syracuse, and the band has made a name for itself on the indie-rock scene. The band plays a brand of pop music that is made distinct through a heavy use of string orchestrations. Recently, the band released the album “Beta Love,” which is perhaps its most accessible, mainstream…
“Now You See Me”
Bank-robbing magicians is the basic idea behind “Now You See Me,” and it’s such a ridiculous and yet ingenious premise for a movie that it’s a wonder it hasn’t been done before now. The marriage of magic to the heist film genre is a natural fit; both require a fair amount of misdirection, sleight-of-hand, and…
TRIBUTE | Joe Scalissi
I first dug this cat at last year’s fabulous Festa Italia as he tag-teamed the wide-eyed crowd with a Sinatra impersonator to complement his take on Dean Martin. Even off stage, Joe Scalissi was in character with Martin’s rapid-fire repartee, charm, and high-octane cocktailing. On stage, the man recreates the legend to a fault —…
Daily Choices: What to do on Wednesday, June 5
Special Event: Enjoy a little Medieval Merriment tonight, 5:30 p.m., at Temple B’rith Kodesh (2131 Elmwood Ave.).
PUNK | The Vaginors
Self-described as noise fuzz and total nonsense, Millennium punks from Down Under, The Vaginors, have me intrigued. The band is a sloppy and chaotic old-school tantrum with the subtlety of a fist-fight at a garden party. Live, the band is a come-on, a dare, and a show you really ought to see. The Vaginors perform…
ART | Finger Lake Plein Air Festival / Dichotomy Art Bazaar
‘Tis the season for outdoor art festivals! Here are two taking place this week; for more events check out our online calendar at rochestercitynewspaper.com. Take a daytrip to lovely Canandaigua for the Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition and Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday, June 5, with a private reception, and will continue through Sunday,…
Daily Choices: What to do on Friday. June 7
New movies opening in wide release today include “The Internship” and “The Purge.” This week, Cinema Theatre will screen “Different is the New Normal,” Vintage Drive-In will screen “Excalibur” and “Highlander,”
RECREATION | Adirondack Club Expo
If you’re new to the region or just have yet to explore the local great outdoors, check out the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Outdoor Expo, held on Saturday, June 8, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Mendon Ponds Park (Douglas Road, beach area). The event is free and open to the public, and will features members of local…
Budget hangover
Compared to some past budget deliberations, the city school district’s budget for 2013 to 2014 passed without much fuss. But to close a $50.2 million budget gap, Superintendent Bolgen Vargas made a cut that has some students, teachers, and parents worried. Even some board members are apprehensive about the cuts they approved. The new budget…
RECREATION | Landmark House & Garden Tour
As a perpetual renter and dreamer-of-my-future-home, I often admire the more beautiful, well-kept homes of others as I walk through the city streets. It’s thrilling to catch a tease of a gorgeously maintained garden, or witness a home evolve over time as owners solidify their tastes and invest in the nest. If you’ve ever wondered…
![[UPDATED] Brockport trustee challenges embattled mayor](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/news3-1.webp?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
[UPDATED] Brockport trustee challenges embattled mayor
Embattled mayor Maria Castañeda is seeking a second term, running against Margaret Blackman, a current village trustee and retired professor of anthropology at SUNY Brockport. Blackman is joined by newcomer Valerie Ciciotti, and incumbent trustee Carol Hannan on the Revitalize Brockport party. Castañeda’s running mates on the Taxpayers First party line are Rick Ross and…
DANCE | Stompology VIII
Learning to dance is a great way to stay fit while having fun and being social — and you won’t dance awkwardly in circles or sit sidelined at this summer’s many weddings. Learn vintage dances such as the Charleston, tap, blues, and more at Stompology, Groove Juice Swing’s 8th annual solo jazz-dance weekend, to be…
SPECIAL EVENT | Tony Awards Live
Even though I’m not an avid watcher or awards shows, the fact that the adorable Neil Patrick Harris is again hosting this year’s Tonys is a particularly tempting factor. RAPA’s East End Theatre (727 E. Main St.) will host a Tony fundraiser, including a live screening of the Tony Awards, on Sunday, June 9. The…
