ON THE MARCH
Immigrants and citizens, peace activists and Hispanic
community leaders, city officials and members of the faith community: some 250
people walked from the FederalBuilding
downtown to a rally at St. Michael’s Church at North Clinton
and Clifford Avenues on Tuesday, protesting proposed federal legislation
imposing harsh penalties on immigrants who have entered the country illegally.
| The messages, from marchers and rally speakers, were similar to those at
protests throughout the country: undocumented immigrants are workers, not
criminals. They are people trying to help their own families, people who
provide important services, who put food on Americans’ tables. “Every time they
buy milk,” said Teresa Quevado, “they pay taxes.” | “If this situation
continues,” said Quevado, who is a Cuban immigrant, “we’ll be living in a
communist country. I came from a communist country.” | The Senate has not been
able to reach an agreement on an immigration bill, but the House of
Representatives has approved a bill that would criminalize illegal immigrants.
Voting for the bill were local representatives Randy Kuhl, Tom Reynolds, and
Jim Walsh. Against: Louise Slaughter.
PLAYSCHOOL
First there was the act of Congress. Now enjoy the music of
No Child Left Behind. Six teachers at PenfieldHigh School formed the band to play
for student events and benefits.
“Play, as in music, is probably being generous,” says Rob
Unkless, the group’s lead guitarist and PHS biology teacher. “We really just
play to have fun.”
Unkless is joined by bassist Tim Graves, guitarist and
vocalist Paul Gabbey, lead vocalist Dave King, drummer Kevin Stewart, and
guitarist Jeff Henley.
Henley, a PHS social studies teacher, is also a Rochester
School Board member.
“We try to play things that the students like along with
things that we like. That way we get introduced to some of their music and we
introduce them to some of ours,” Henley says.
Ask the guys about their musical influences and you’ll hear
everything from Weezer to Abba, with a little country western thrown in for
fun.
“We all have very different tastes,” says Henley.
“It’s the only band you’ll ever hear that plays punk, metal, and Genesis in the
same 30-minute set.”
No Child Left Behind has played for Students against
Destructive Decision-Making and the Golisano Children’s Center. Later this
year, they’ll play in a battle of the bands to benefit PHS film students.
“We’ve had a few gigs recently,” says Graves.
“We try to work in conjunction with what the students are working on. It’s all
about the students. We wouldn’t dream of doing this in a serious way. But they
get a really big kick out of us. They usually scream for more, but by then our
ears are ringing. We’ve even had some crowd-surfing at one of our concerts.”
Penfield’s students, figures Graves,
probably never thought they’d be surfing in the cafeteria.
— Tim Louis Macaluso
MORE CITY LIVING
Is he doing this out of civic
commitment? Not really, says Nick Costanza, co-owner of Costanza Enterprises
development firm. He’s motivated by profit. And he’s convinced he can make it
developing housing in Rochester.
His newest project is an
approximately 100-year-old brick building at the intersection of Railroad and
Main Streets, a few hundred yards from the Public Market. “Up on the second
floor,” he says, “we’re going to put some small studio loft apartments, and on
the first floor we’re going to make kind of like an indoor extension of the
Public Market.”
Costanza’s reason for buying the Railroad
Street property about five years ago wasn’t
terribly complicated: “I’m always snooping around for stuff,” he says, “and I
saw it and liked it and bought it.” Then some other projects came along, and
the Railroad Street building was put on the back burner. Now, however,
construction has begun in earnest, and Costanza thinks the building will be
completed by September or October.
He is, he agrees, “taking a risk on
this.” Naturally, it’s one that he thinks will pay off. His other ventures
include the successful conversion of the TempleBuilding on Franklin
Street downtown into luxury lofts.
For the Railroad
Street building, Costanza envisions something
different: artists’ lofts. Each of the 16 studio apartments will be equipped
with kitchenettes and bathrooms. He’s creating indoor parking for tenants who
choose to live in their workplaces. Rent, he says, will be around $650,
excluding utilities.
Downstairs, Costanza hopes to create
an indoor market, the Station Market. The ground floor can accommodate about
100 vendors, says Costanza, who plans to charge slightly less per stall than
the Public Market. And unlike Public Market vendors, those setting up shop in
the Station can remain open all week long. Costanza estimates that there should
be room for about 50 cars in front of the building.
Don’t expect the next Gap or Banana
Republic, though. “You look at the mix and makeup at the Public Market vendors,
the majority of them are small farmers,” he says. “What’ll be nice here, it’ll
be cheap for someone like that.”
Strip malls may be today’s hot
commodity, and Costanza could have demolished the building and started from
scratch. It would have been easier, he says, than refurbishing the dilapidated
building. But the building’s architecture, history, and charm are valuable, he
says. Ten-foot-tall windows run the length of the building. The building’s posts
and beams are made of chestnut.
For those worried about having trains
as neighbors, Costanza scoffs. “We kind of think that’s nice,” he says.
— Sujata Gupta
MUSICFEST DEAL SEALED
Planning for this summer’s Rochester MusicFest, scheduled
for July 8 and 9 at Frontier Field, got officially underway last week when City
Council approved a contract with local radio station WDKX to run the event.
Despite reservations, councilmembers unanimously approved
the $721,750 contract at a special meeting on April 4. Late last year, Council
had approved spending $830,000 on New York City-based Lead Dog Marketing, but
after Mayor Bob Duffy took office in January, he scuttled the plan, saying he
wanted the city to hire local talent whenever possible.
DKX may lack Lead Dog’s experience with large-scale events
and with booking national acts, but the general manager for MusicFest will be
former Rochester Broadway Theater League vice president Nancy Calocerinos. Her
long tenure there included working on such productions as the touring shows of
“Phantom of the Opera” and “Miss Saigon.” Now president of her own marketing
firm, Calocerinos has been consulting for DKX for about a year.
Booking for MusicFest will be handled by DKX’s André Marcel
Langston. And Calocerinos says DKX has the clout to attract big names. The
lineup for the station’s 32nd anniversary concert (scheduled for April 30 at
the Eastman Theatre), will include, among others, Ne-Yo and Fantasia, the 2004
“American Idol” winner.
A major concern
about this year’s MusicFest is the late start in planning. At last week’s City
Council meeting, several councilmembers noted that booking for acts
typically starts in January. “There isn’t a whole lot of time to pull off this
event,” said Councilmember Bill Pritchard. “We are starting, if you will,
behind the curve on this.” But Calocerinos says that Langston began speaking
informally with artists about three weeks ago. Performers, she says, will be
announced in early May.
Calocerinos says DKX is also looking to bring in a Friday
night act at HighFalls.
“Now that we’re back down at Frontier Field, it would be great for us to sort
of to encompass the area,” she says, referring to the city’s decision to move
the event back downtown.
— Sujata Gupta
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2006.
