Category Archives: Albany

17
February
2022
Tags: Albany
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A Go Fund Me for a Friend

Every now and then a Go Fund Me pops up for someone I know, and this time it’s worth a share. Check out the page for Ken Screven, a history-making hero who could use a little help right now. See the Go Fund Me page his friends have set up for him here: https://gofund.me/dd2fd7dc. And feel free to share it.

Our friend Ken Screven needs our help.
 
Ken has been hospitalized since October 30, when he was admitted to Albany Medical Center. Ken spent most of November at AMC before being transferred to the Fulton Center in Gloversville. He’s since been back to AMC and soon will be transferred to the Shaker Place Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Colonie.
 
His medical expenses are piling up.  Although he worked for one company for more than three decades, his insurance coverage ended when he retired. He is now on Medicare and it’s not covering the extraordinary expenses of his medical care. We hope to raise $25,000 to pay his out-of-pocket expenses and to purchase equipment to allow Ken to successfully rehab and hopefully return to his beloved apartment in Center Square.
 
Ken is our legend: He was the first black man hired to report the news in New York’s Capital Region. We all remember hearing his deep baritone voice in our living rooms for 34 years while he worked as a reporter and anchor for WRGB, the local CBS affiliate. 
Ken is our hero: He was awarded the Albany Damien Center ‘Hero Award’ in 2020 in appreciation of his longtime advocacy for the region’s LGBT community.
Ken is our fighter: He’s a fierce (his favorite word!) defender of racial justice. 
Ken is our friend: So many of us have so many memories of Ken being there for us when we needed him.
 
If you follow Ken on Facebook, you’ve seen photos of scores of friends who visited him in Albany and Gloversville during the past four months. He wrote these words about a month ago:
“The actual number of people who continue to embrace my spirit astounds me. You guys don’t realize how much your continued joy and energy is lifting me up, even in dark times here in a nursing home. This photo is from a few months ago. My current energy level doesn’t reflect what I need to rejoin you but certainly, I feel and need your love and support and courage.”
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08
February
2022
Tags: Albany, Food
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A Magnificent Cider Doughnut

My parents enjoy a doughnut for breakfast, so I’d been making weekly deliveries of the fresh cider doughnuts that George’s Landscaping was offering, right up until the end of the calendar, when they informed me that the cider doughnut enterprise was going away for the winter, to return in the spring. It was a let-down, as they were the closest and easiest way to get fresh doughnuts to Amsterdam, but there are more doughnut options in the area, as evidenced by this glorious specimen from Cider Belly Doughnuts, which is right in downtown Albany.

The parking in downtown Albany is questionable on a good day, and right after a winter storm it’s a veritable nightmare, but I braved it on a recent Sunday morning and got the goods to get my parents through the next few days. Of course, the delivery guy got a couple for himself in the process, as it should be. Biting into a fresh and warm cider doughnut on a cold winter morning is hygge at its best. It warms the entire heart and soul. Check out Cider Belly Doughnuts if you need a fix.

 

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02
January
2022
Tags: Albany, Flowers
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A Mandevilla On Lunch

Lately I’ve been making the effort to take a lunch when I’m at the office, to get out and into the air, to walk and make some sort of exercise effort because this stagnation only worsens in the winter, and I don’t want to dig this rut any deeper. On a recent trip down the road, I stopped in Stacks Coffeehouse for a hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookie. (What? I can do chocolate on chocolate – hell, I’m out EXERCISING. Did a car magically transport me those 200 feet?) I sat at the counter and sipped from the warm cup, and to my left was a potted mandevilla, with a few blooms of the clearest and brightest yellow. It was such a happy sight. There, in the early days of winter, was a reminder of the glory days of summer – and sun and vacation and pool water. Outside the window was a world of grays and browns, and we haven’t even gotten to the mess that snow and salted roads have yet to bring.

The plant was doing better than other mandevilla I’ve seen indoors, thanks to its proximity against a floor-to-ceiling window pane that let all the light in. It was a glorious vision, unfurling a few graceful tendrils and showing off a couple of other blooms at various angles. As much as I wanted to rush the winter through, I paused to reflect on the beauty of the moment. While the mandevilla bloomed like it was still summer, a gray squirrel with pointy ears of white hopped across the sidewalk and leaped onto the first trunk of a stand of trees. Nimbly navigating the climb, it soared from branch to branch, higher and higher, until it began moving horizontally through the canopy, foraging in the air for what it will need to get through the winter.

I finish my cookie and the hot chocolate – a lunchtime version of what the squirrel was doing, and much sweeter in my humble opinion. Taking one last look at the mandevilla and savoring its cheerful beauty, I exit the café and head back to work. 

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21
December
2021
Tags: Albany, Dazzler of the Day
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Dazzler of the Day: Sean McLaughlin

Today marks his birthday, so there’s no better time to crown Sean McLaughlin as Dazzler of the Day. He’s one of Albany’s most active community supporters and organizers, and I’ve long held that he should run for local office given his love for the area and his tireless efforts at making it a better place. His networking prowess knows no equal, and if you want something done he’s the first person many people seek to help make it happen. Above and beyond these testaments, however, he’s simply a good guy and friend – and good guys are getting harder and harder to come by these days. Happy birthday Sean – and many happy returns of the day!

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02
November
2021
Tags: Albany, Dazzler of the Day, General
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Dazzler of the Day: Subrina Dhammi

Evening anchor Subrina Dhammi has seen various Hunks of the Day to her left and to her right over the years, and now it’s her turn to step into the Dazzler of the Day for her studied poise and pizzazz on Channel 13, WNYT. When she’s not anchored to the news desk, she’s running or dancing or spending family time with her husband and daughter. 

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01
November
2021
Tags: Albany, Music
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Downtown, Downtempo

WHEN YOU’RE ALONE AND LIFE IS MAKING YOU LONELY
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO DOWNTOWN
WHEN YOU’VE GOT WORRIES, ALL THE NOISE AND THE HURRY
SEEMS TO HELP I KNOW
DOWNTOWN

Most kids think of their parents simultaneously as the most glamourous people on earth as well as the oldest people on earth. I was no different, so when my Mom told us stories of how she used to go shopping in downtown Albany, it felt like the fanciest place in the world. She also had a record (a real vinyl record) of Petula Clark singing her signature hit ‘Downtown’ that I would play on our first record player and imagine my mother walking along Pearl Street seeking out a dress or hat or a piece of jewelry. She grew up in the time of Jackie Kennedy and the elegant suit dresses of Chanel paired with a pill box hat. It was a classic style that endures to this day.

JUST LISTEN TO THE MUSIC OF THE TRAFFIC IN THE CITY
LINGER ON THE SIDEWALK WHERE THE NEON SIGNS ARE PRETTY
HOW CAN YOU LOSE?

Years later, she would also show us the brighter lights of New York City and Boston, and I would eventually get lost in both on occasion, but somehow they always paled in comparison to the way little old downtown Albany sounded when it was the most exciting retail perch near Hoosick Falls or Amsterdam, NY. While its days of bustling feel lost forever, there are still glimmers of it when all the state workers are out and about for lunch, or when a new restaurant or store opens up. They are too often fleeting, but some linger…

THE LIGHT’S SO MUCH BRIGHTER THERE
YOU CAN FORGET ALL YOUR TROUBLES,
FORGET ALL YOUR CARES
SO GO DOWNTOWN
THINGS WILL BE GREAT WHEN YOU’RE DOWNTOWN
NO FINER PLACE FOR SURE
DOWNTOWN
EVERYTHING’S WAITING FOR YOU
DOWNTOWN… DOWNTOWN

This revamped version of ‘Downtown’ as sung by Anya Taylor-Joy in ‘Last Night in Soho’ is the remake I didn’t realize we needed, bringing a melancholic undertow to the notion of Downtown as a frame of mind, a time and place lost to history but rekindled in a new generation, and a new way of making one’s way through the world. The original optimism of the song is tempered by the recent decades that have certainly worked to dampen such enthusiasm. Yet hope remains on the wistful and breezy notion of finding spaces and places of escape.

DON’T HANG AROUND AND LET YOUR PROBLEMS SURROUND YOU
THERE ARE MOVIE SHOWS DOWNTOWN
MAYBE YOU KNOW SOME LITTLE PLACES TO GO TO
WHERE THEY NEVER CLOSE DOWNTOWN
JUST LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM OF A GENTLE BOSSA NOVA
YOU’LL BE DANCING WITH THEM TOO BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER
HAPPY AGAIN

There is a time in most of our lives – maybe our twenties, sometimes into our thirties -when the world feels as glamorous as it will ever feel, when we are as handsome and young and fashionably turned out as we will ever be, and if we’re lucky we catch the feeling, and feel the crest and synergy of it as we walk in our own ideas of Downtown. Somewhere my memory turns into that of my mother’s, and I’m browsing the endless counters at some department store, spritzing perfume and letting the silk of scarves run through my fingers as if they were the smallest jewel-like streams of water. 

THE LIGHT’S SO MUCH BRIGHTER THERE
YOU CAN FORGET ALL YOUR TROUBLES,
FORGET ALL YOUR CARES
SO GO DOWNTOWN
THINGS WILL BE GREAT WHEN YOU’RE DOWNTOWN
NO FINER PLACE FOR SURE
DOWNTOWN
EVERYTHING’S WAITING FOR YOU
DOWNTOWN… DOWNTOWN

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05
September
2021
Tags: Albany, Art
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Imitations of Life in Downtown Albany

Seward Johnson sculpted these works of art which are currently scattered throughout downtown Albany, creating a jolt of surreal awareness when something you assume is human out of the corner of your eye suddenly turns inanimate upon closer examination. Those little tricks of perception have always been one of the most fascinating parts of art for me. Tricking the brain and challenging our too-often-unchallenged perspective is a main tenet of art that’s going to matter.

Sculptures like this also beg for some sort of engagement and interaction, even if it’s just posing for a silly selfie with them. We need more of that in this fractured world, and the idea of art as something for everyone is a comfort as we head further toward division. Art unites all of us in ways that little else can.

On a recent lunch break, I took a walk through downtown to see which of these I could find – there are a total of ten in various downtown locations – I managed to locate seven so far. The quest for the remaining three will continue next week.

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04
September
2021
Tags: Albany
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ALB Whimsy

Albany holds its whimsical enchantments close to its vest, only revealing them to those who are patient and who take the time to really look. That means going a little further on a daily lunch walk or simply keeping your eyes peeled for unexpected delights like a painted parking meter or a parking garage mural. Always a bane to the existence of the downtown worker, parking is a necessary evil that we might as well make as pretty and whimsical as possible.

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30
August
2021
Tags: Albany, General
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Two Decades Working for the State of New York

Twenty years ago today Andy dropped me off at my very first job with the State of New York. It was at the Department of State, and my position was officially called ‘Data Entry Machine Operator’ which was salaried at a Grade 5. I distinctly recall my nerves as I walked into the elevator for the first time. Alone in that confined space as it brought me to my work floor, I thought of Madonna’s entrance for the ‘Drowned World Tour’ which I had seen just a couple of months prior. She stood there rising into view as the smoke cleared – alone and taking on the world completely by herself – and I thought if she could do that then surely I could manage to make it through the day. My next thoughts turned to Andy, and the little bag of snacks he had made for my lunch. If he could be there waiting to pick me up at the end of the day, then I would be all right. As I stepped off the elevator and into the world of state work, I had no way of foretelling that two decades later I would be just a few buildings down on Broadway, high on the tenth floor looking over the Hudson River, and beginning my 20th year with the State of New York. 

My state journey has been somewhat of a winding one, considering that most people I know have only ever worked at one or two agencies. I’ve been fortunate enough to have spent time at five separate agencies, and in each one I learned various lessons that helped me along in my career. A detailed diary of those adventures can be found in the links below, so there’s no need to delve deeper into it here. Instead, I’m pausing to reflect on having lasted for twenty years, and to appreciate the various friends I’ve made along the way. They know who they are, and the parts they played are celebrated in the Confessions links below. 

When I was at the office the other day, I wondered what my 26-year-old self would have made of my 46-year-old self – with the lines and the gray hair and the extra bit of padding around the stomach. The people I admired and looked up to then were the ones I still remember to this day for their kindness and fairness, and I realized that those were the goals I was still trying to achieve. The other thing I realized as I was talking to Sherri and mentioning our time in the state was that exactly ten years from today I would be eligible to retire. That suddenly didn’t seem like such a far way off. The first two acts are done – there’s just one more to go… and I’m not in any hurry.

Confessions of a State Worker Part 1: “Each man had only one genuine vocation – to find the way to himself… His task was to discover his own destiny – not an arbitrary one – and to live it out wholly and resolutely within himself. Everything else was only a would-be existence, an attempt at evasion, a flight back to the ideals of the masses, conformity and fear of one’s own inwardness.” – Herman Hesse

Confessions of a State Worker Part 2:  “I don’t like work – no man does – but I like what is in the work: the chance to find yourself. Your own reality – for yourself not for others – what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.” – Joseph Conrad

Confessions of a State Worker Part 3: “This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”~ Alan Watts

Confessions of a State Worker Part 4: “No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Confessions of a State Worker Part 5: “There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” – Coco Chanel

Confessions of a State Worker Part 6: “Becoming is better than being.” – Carol Dweck

Confessions of a State Worker Part 7: ““Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” ~ Mark Twain

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29
August
2021
Tags: Albany, Dazzler of the Day
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Dazzler of the Day: Shawn Gillie

Nobody knows how to hustle as well as Shawn Gillie, and for all that relentless work ethic, as well as his hard-won notoriety in the Capital Region, he gets crowned as Dazzler of the Day, which I’m sure he’ll poke fun at, but which I intend with the most genuine of appreciation and earnest gratitude for all that he’s done for the community over the years. A man of many hats, and countless career endeavors (DJ, comedian, owner and founder of Gillie’s Getaways – see his website here), he dazzles with a hilarious wit, and has mastered the truly talented comedian’s hat-trick of turning his own personal heartaches into a story of survival, making everyone around him feel good even when he himself isn’t always feeling it. There’s a nobility in bringing that kind of joy to other people. There’s also something profoundly generous about him, which was apparent as I searched his FaceBook profile for photos – in almost all of them he was there with other people – a testament to his genuine attachment to and love of others. He can wisecrack his way out of it, but at the heart of everything he does is a desire to connect and make other people happy – and that’s more dazzling than just about anything else. 

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12
August
2021
Tags: Albany, Food
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A Tale of Two Dinners

Two of our favorite restaurants in Albany are blessedly run by the same family, and located within the same building, which makes the only dilemma which one to choose when dining with friends and family. On a recent week, we solved the problem by choosing both: a date-night dinner with Andy at dp: An American Brasserie, and a family dinner of celebration at Yono’s. 

For our date-night dinner, we went with dp: An American Brasserie to keep things a little more casual and loose. There’s a vibrant bar scene there (and some impressive cocktail and cocktail options) along with standards such as burgers and mussels and an amazing octopus opener. I owed Andy a dinner for the magic he’s worked on the Mini Cooper – repairing a scratch with his knowledge and prowess, and managing to get a replacement windshield when the Mass Turnpike kicked up another stone to crack the previous replacement. He chose this restaurant because it’s the site of his favorite hamburger, and every dish he’s had there has been divine. I tried the chicken sandwich, and devoured all the fries that came with it. Many of Andy’s as well. I’m a fry guy. 

For dinner with our parents, we booked a table at Yono’s, easily the nicest restaurant in Albany, and one where we have spent many a fancy dinner, for birthdays and anniversaries, and simply when celebrating the fact that we are still around to enjoy dinner at this stage of the world’s game. That alone is worthy of a dinner of appreciation and gratitude, and nowhere is that better celebrated than at Yono’s. 

From a heavenly amuse-bouche to some lobster fried rice, the lead-ups to the main course are always just as delectable as the entrees themselves, and the ending is indeed a happy one. Whether you want something casual and fun in the front, or something more refined and leisurely in the back, dp: An American Brasserie and Yono’s offer both sides of a divine dining experience in downtown Albany. 

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31
July
2021
Tags: Albany
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A Pot Plant Grows in Albany

Enjoying an increasingly-rare walk during my lunch half-hour, I passed this little plant growing on Pearl Street right in Downtown Albany, and was struck by how familiar it looked. After sending it around to friends of mine who know about such matters, it was confirmed that this was a pot plant, growing in broad daylight right on one of the busier stretches of sidewalk, and I thought of how far we have come as a society. 

Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em.

Light it up. 

Take a toke.

It’s all good. (And legal!)

(Oh, I was also informed that this one is not quite ready to harvest, so let’s just leave it be. Apparently we are looking for the buds. In all my years of gardening, there is still much to be learned.)

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26
June
2021
Tags: Albany, Dazzler of the Day
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Dazzler of the Day: Jim Larson

One of my all-time favorite people of Albany, Jim Larson handily earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning thanks to years of community-based efforts at making our world a better place. He’s one of those inspirational forces who takes such joy in helping others that you want to be better whenever you’re around him. He’s the guy who started the Albany Santa Speedo Sprint (and likely inspired countless Speedo sprints which quickly followed in other cities). Helmed by Larson and the Albany Society for the Advancement of Philanthropy, the event has raised thousands of dollars for the Albany Damien Center and the HIV/AIDS Program at Albany Medical Center. I can’t explain the excitement I felt when he recently posted the poster and date for this year’s return (December 4, 2021!) – not just for the Speedo peeks, but for the chance to once again see what Jim does best: inspire, entertain, and conjure pure joy. 

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27
May
2021
Tags: Albany, Dazzler of the Day
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Dazzler of the Day: Benita Zahn

Four decades in any business is an impressive run – forty years in the news business is the stuff of rarefied talent and almost superhuman dedication. Benita Zahn is our Dazzler of the Day as she wraps up her first act as news reporter and heads into a new career that seems tailor-made for her unique aptitude. For all her pleasant on-air demeanor and local theatrical work (you haven’t lived until you’ve seen her belt out ‘You Gotta Have a Gimmick’ with all her assets alight from ‘Gypsy’, which I was fortunate enough to glimpse ) one of her passions through the years has been a genuine and deep-seeded desire to help people get healthier. Her new endeavor looks to continue that in an even more direct fashion, and she is poised for her next act with all the seasoned panache and pizzazz that only a true dazzler could conjure. 

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04
May
2021
Tags: Albany
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A Lunch Walk Beside A Magnolia

The past few weeks haven’t been conducive to taking my usual lunch-time stroll through Downtown Albany on my days at the office, but last Tuesday I returned to the practice – a reminder of how important it is to break up the work day with a proper mental reprieve. In this case, a walk on a lovely spring day when all the trees were fresh of growth, and a magnolia was just finishing up its early magnificence. 

The benches were blessedly empty. Even after a year of quietude and non-crowds, I still embrace this solitude. Beauty can be enjoyed on your own, something I fought against for so long I almost started to forget. A squirrel was my only companion on this walk, and he or she didn’t seem keen on striking up a conversation. 

Beneath a magnolia, I paused and did my best to inhabit the moment, to be present, to feel every pulsation the day was eliciting. Such presence is the goal of any good day. I will do better to remember that. 

Magnolias are a breed of tree that I’ve always admired from a distance, and in someone else’s yard, where they can deal with the messy aftermath of these glorious blooms. Such thick petals don’t scatter lightly on the wind – they tend to fall straight down, littering the lawn and making a muck of things when spring rains wait only to rot the fallen. But on days like this, when their blossoms are still carried high, brilliant against a blue sky, I entertain fantasies of planting one of these somewhere on our tiny lot. 

I’ll try to return to this space in a week to remind myself of why that’s a dirty idea. 

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