Cover Story
Endorsements 2014
Our picks in key races for NY State Senate, Congress, and our split-pick for governor.
Election results: Slaughter’s squeaker, Cuomo wins, Funke unseats O’Brien
Wow! The race that almost no one took seriously turned out to be the shocker of the evening. It looks like longtime Democratic incumbent Representative Louise Slaughter may have managed to win a 15th term in a fight for New York’s 25th Congressional District. But her win is by the slimmest of margins. Just 582…
Theater Review: “I’m Not Rappaport” at Blackfriars Theatre
I can appreciate a playwright who describes his line of work as “the Las Vegas of art forms, and the odds are terrible.” Herb Gardner wrote few plays, but he did hit the jackpot at least twice: once with “A Thousand Clowns” in the 1960’s, and again with “I’m Not Rappaport” in the 1980’s. Blackfriars…
Film Review: “Birdman”
It is of course tempting, if a bit too facile, to construct a comparison between the situation in “Birdman” and the realities of Michael Keaton’s career. He began performing as a comic, then as an actor in some entertaining film comedies — “Night Shift,” “Johnny Dangerously,” and “Mr. Mom,” for example — then achieved great…
WEEK AHEAD: Elections, info session on UR-East deal
Tuesday is Election Day, and there are Congressional, state, and local offices on the ballot. The biggest election, of course, is New York governor. Democratic incumbent Andrew Cuomo is seeking re-election against Republican Rob Astorino, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, and Libertarian Party candidate Michael McDermott. And there are three proposals on the ballot: one…
Downtown district delayed, smaller borders likely
Creation of a downtown business improvement district has been delayed a year. And when the process starts up again, the boundaries of the BID will probably shrink, says Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation. The RDDC had proposed a district that would encompass 13 neighborhoods: everything within the Inner Loop and High…
Question Bridge discussion: Led by RIT’s MOCHA
The latest panel in a series of discussions surrounding “Question Bridge: Black Males” was hosted by 10 members of RIT’s MOCHA (Men of Color, Honor, and Ambition.) This panel, held Wednesday, October 29, brought out many of Rochester’s youth and gave them an opportunity to share their opinions with attendees. After a short clip of…
RHA scandal scoreboard: everyone loses
A key moment in the Rochester Housing Authority scandal will come when Adam McFadden’s three-month stint leading the organization ends. It’s never made sense to me why McFadden would step down from his long-term post with Quad A for a temp job, unless he expected to parlay that into the permanent position, or he was…
Good government group laments lack of competitive state races
Election Day is creeping closer, and one good government group says that this year’s races show the increasingly pronounced effects of partisan gerrymandering. Citizens Union, which supports a state ballot proposal revamping New York’s legislative redistricting process, today released a short white paper on those effects. It says that 31 percent of all state legislative…
Robert Burley: “The Disappearance of Darkness”
In “The Disappearance of Darkness,” Canadian photographer Robert Burley explores the rapid dissolution of film manufacturing — and film-related industries — as digital photography technology became more commercially accessible to the masses in the mid-2000’s. The show’s work itself straddles the line between the two worlds; Burley shot the images on sheet film, then scanned…
ELECTRO ROCK | Jimkata
Blending electronic music with heavy guitar and drums, Jimkata produces a cross-genre sound that is hard to label. If you had to label it though, the closest thing would be electronic-indie-jam-rock — elements from those genres stand out the most. The group does a great job mixing sounds, resulting in some seriously spacey grooves. On…
Urban Action 10/29
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Talk on academic freedom The University of Rochester will present “Digital Means, Political Ends, and Academic Freedom in the Gilded Age: a Conversation with Steven Salaita,” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 30.…
FOLK | Aztec Two-Step
It’s safe to say that after playing together for more than 40 years, Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman of Aztec Two-Step have this acoustic folk duo thing down pat. Boasting impressive Simon and Garfunkel-esque harmonies and an even more impressive dual acoustic lead, Aztec Two-Step has successfully carried the sound of 60’s folk into this…
Best of Rochester 2014
It really did come to the final countdown — I promise that will be my only groan-worthy 80’s pun. More than 14,000 people took our final Best of Rochester Readers Poll — our second-highest number of respondents behind 2013’s record-setting turnout — and a few of the contests really came down to the wire. A…
Best of Rochester 2014: Critic Picks
City’s critics weigh in with some of their favorites from around town
JAZZ | Trio X
From his urgent, early-1970’s recordings like “Nation Time” to his cutting-edge, contemporary sound in Trio X, multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee has never stopped innovating. At the Bop Shop the master saxophonist, and sometimes trumpet player and valve trombonist, will be joined by his two equally progressive trio mates. Bassist Dominic Duval has played with Cecil Taylor,…
Best of Rochester 2014: Food & Drink
Readers Poll Results
DANCE | Upstate NY Fall Latin Dance Festival
The 3rd Annual Upstate NY Fall Latin Dance Festival, hosted by Essence of Rhythm Latin Dance Co., takes place this weekend and includes workshops and performances featuring performers from as far as Detroit, Boston, and Toronto. Darin Price, director of Rhythm Society, expects participants from all over New York State and beyond. DJ Sisco from…
OPERA | National Opera Week 2014
It’s National Opera Week, so take a singer to lunch! Or better yet, take yourself to the events that Rochester Lyric Opera is offering this Saturday, November 1, to celebrate the vocal arts in Rochester and in upstate New York. Events on November 1 include: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: “The State of the Vocal…
Best of Rochester 2014: Goods & Services
Readers Poll Results
LITERATURE | Stephen Greenblatt
Harvard professor Stephen Greenblatt is an author, leading figure of the New Historicism — literary criticism that emphasizes the historic and cultural context of a text — and one of the most influential writers on Shakespeare and early modern culture. Greenblatt will visit the University of Rochester Thursday, October 30, and Friday, October 31, to…
CLASSICAL | “Haunted House Music”
The musical shivers will keep coming a few days after Halloween, courtesy of the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester’s concert of “Haunted House Music” on Sunday, November 2, at Hochstein Performance Hall. The program includes two of the best-known scary pieces in classical music: Tartini’s “The Devil’s Trill” Sonata for violin, played by Juliana…
Best of Rochester 2014: Local Color
Readers Poll Results
FILM | “Björk: Biophilia Live”
This Wednesday, the Dryden Theatre (900 East Avenue) will screen a special presentation of “Björk: Biophilia Live,” a new documentary concert film from directors Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland (“Berberian Sound Studio”). The eighth studio album from the eccentric and endlessly innovative Icelandic pop star, “Biophilia” has been described as “the multidisciplinary, multimedia exploration of…
HIP-HOP | Lil Boosie
During his first press conference after being released from prison earlier this year, Lil Boosie pulled out a massive, ornate throne for the stage. On the surface, it might seem excessive, but in Southern hip-hop — especially in New Orleans and his hometown, Baton Rouge — Boosie is royalty. Since 2000, the rapper has released…
Best of Rochester 2014: Arts & Entertainment
Readers Poll Results
KIDS | The Hess Toy Truck Mobile Museum
Things are going to get a little meta this weekend, when a toy museum that looks like the toy it’s dedicated to rolls up to Rochester’s toy museum. Got that? The Hess Toy Truck Mobile Museum will visit The Strong museum (One Manhattan Square) on Saturday, November 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. What…
CLASSICAL | Stefan Engels
The Rochester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, along with the Eastman School, WXXI, and several area churches, will launch the 2014 Rochester Celebrity Organ Recital Series this Sunday with a performance by Stefan Engels. Professor of Organ and Leah Fellinwider Centennial Chair of Organ at Southern Methodist University, Engels is internationally known for…
Best of Rochester 2014: Nightlife
Readers Poll Results
LITERATURE | Rochester Jewish Book Festival
Beginning this week, the JCC Lane Dworkin Jewish Book Festival celebrates 22 years. The annual celebration of Jewish literature and culture will take place Sunday, November 2, through Sunday, November 16, and features such authors as Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Ari Shavit, Nora Rubel, Wendy Kout, and Oliver Horovitz, among others. The two-week series of events…
PROG ROCK | Stick Men
When they aren’t working with King Crimson, drummer Pat Mastelotto and bassist Tony Levin join up with guitarist Markus Reuter for the spacey, electric Stick Men. When with the Stick Men, Levin — who has worked with everyone from Peter Gabriel to Tom Waits and Pink Floyd — puts down the bass in favor of…
Best of Rochester 2014: Best Answers
Answers from the primary ballot
FILM | Polish Film Festival
Beginning Saturday, November 1, and running until Monday, November 10, University of Rochester’s Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies will host its 17th annual Polish Film Festival. Screening at The Little Theatre (240 East Avenue), the festival will hold screenings of nine different award-winning Polish films. The festival begins with a screening of…
Arturo Sandoval
Maybe it was the time difference between Rochester and Los Angeles, or maybe his management made a mistake, but I knew I was calling trumpeter Arturo Sandoval a bit too early when he answered the phone in a groggy voice. He suggested calling back in 10 minutes, so I did. “I just took a Cuban…
THEATER | Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man”
When “The Best Man” premiered on Broadway in 1960, Kennedy and Nixon were the presidential candidates. Two recent all-star Broadway revivals of Gore Vidal’s caustic comedy have proved that its behind-the-scenes look at the machinations behind a presidential nominating convention is still pretty timely after a half-century. Vidal pits William Russell, a liberal, intellectual former…
ALBUM REVIEW: “A Little Luck”
Maria Gillard and Scott Regan “A Little Luck” Self-released Mariagillard.com Apparently this has been going on for a while, this sweet collaboration between Maria Gillard and Scott Regan. These two folksters have come together to create “A Little Luck,” a plaintive, acoustically-rooted foray into American music. It’s bare-bones but not bleak; rare but well done It’s unique…
FILM | LunaFest
Hot on the heels of the High Falls Film Festival, Rochester plays host to another celluloid celebration spotlighting the work of talented female filmmakers. LunaFest is a traveling program of short films made by, for, and about women. Since 2000, the annual festival has toured the nation, bringing a unique, thought-provoking collection of films to…
DINING REVIEW: Raj Mahal
I have something to confess: I hate the pumpkin spice over-saturation that is going on nowadays. These warm spices are found not only in seasonal pies and lattes but are popping up absolutely everywhere — it is just plain overwhelming. Thankfully if I want to embrace these fall flavors without ruining my palate, Indian cuisine…
FILM/MUSIC | “The Phantom of the Opera”
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will be in the Halloween spirit this weekend as it provides live accompaniment to the 1925 silent film “The Phantom of the Opera.” One of the first classic Universal Monster movies — behind only 1923’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” — “The Phantom of the Opera” stars Lon Chaney Sr. as…
Feedback 10/29
Send comments 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, and we edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. Setting the record straight Re: “Bad Jews” review by David…
Elegy to an era
Two current exhibits at George Eastman House, held in conjunction, explore the history of imaging innovations from Kodak’s early days up through the present, and show an artistic documentation of the end of film manufacturing. Together, these exhibits provide a full picture of the imaging history of Image City, Rochester’s hand in the development of…
Some progress on indigent defense
New York State has settled a lawsuit that accused it of systematically depriving poor criminal defendants of their right to counsel. And in doing so it has recognized, for the first time, that it is responsible for providing legal representation for those defendants, say state civil rights and indigent defense groups. In a 50-year-old decision,…
Writing from the outside
In the age of computers streamlining everything into smaller units, “National Teen Set Outsider” is fighting back as a punk-rock backlash against a strictly online age. Started in 2010 by Will Carroll — a blue-haired, pompadour wearing, jovial man, usually seen in a studded leather jacket — “Teen Set” offers Rochester a unique brand of…
Ebola: Not worried, but getting ready
Strong Memorial Hospital is well prepared to both identify a patient infected with the Ebola virus and to provide treatment, says Dr. Michael Kamali, chair of the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine. “Much of our direction is coming from both the Centers for Disease Control as well our internal folks —…
Rainbow Theater Festival presents
When he graduated from Nazareth College in 2000, J.R. Teeter had already started a theater company, at least in name. For his senior thesis, he directed a play and gave the performers a name: Bread & Water Theater. Almost a decade and a half later, Bread & Water is still trying to give Rochester basic…
Area talent helps rebuild fuel-cell industry
American Fuel Cell’s origins are quintessentially Rochester. The firm’s founders, Dan O’Connell and David Wetter, both worked at General Motors’ Honeoye Falls fuel-cell vehicle lab before it shut down at the end of 2012. With their experience in the fuel-cell industry, each man probably could’ve left the region or found other high-tech research and development…
GARAGE ROCK | The Priests
The Priests is one of the best bands to ever come out of Rochester. The band’s sound epitomized the Garage-Pop Records sound; its volatility was palpable and proved to be the only thing to unseat the band. In a wash of feedback and chaos, The Priests captured the energy of garage mavens like The Sonics,…
‘No’ to schools bonding
On the November ballot this year is an example of the peculiar, expensive, and sometimes devious way that New York’s elected officials run our government. Proposal 3 (dressed up, to win votes, as “the Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014”) authorizes the state to borrow up to $2 billion for “the single purpose of improving…
