Hope for the Wedgeway?
The empty marquee on the Wedgeway building at State Street and Erie Boulevard in Schenectady says it all — a testament to a vibrant past, an empty, decaying present, and an uncertain future.
With the last tenant, The Photolab, closing after 107 years because of a leaky roof, the Wedgeway will soon be entirely vacant.
It’s a sad chapter in a story that’s all too familiar, especially in older cities: code enforcement that comes too late, and even at its best — which it certainly was not in a case in which the city didn’t even cite the right sections of the code in prosecuting the owner — it can only do so much in the face of landlords unwilling or unable to keep up their properties.
With the building, owned by 271277 State LLC, which is run by William Eichengrun, now up for sale, there’s possibly good news: The Metroplex Development Authority says it’s talking with a prospective buyer.
If this sale goes through, Metroplex should do all it reasonably can to help a renovation project succeed. And, just in case, the city this time needs to
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be on its game in enforcing the code.
Like its empty marquee, the Wedgeway’s next chapter is still a blank page. We’re rooting for a happy ending.
When art becomes Exhibit A
Some forms of music tend to be grittier than others, rap being a case in point. It’s often about life experiences and points of view that are rougher than the more genteel musings of, say, Adele. But it’s a long stretch between writing some hard-edged lyrics and committing a crime.
Now, state senators Brad Hoylman, D -Manhattan, and Jamaal Bailey, D -Bronx, want to make clear just how big a stretch that is, and protect the right of free expression in the process. They’ve introduced a “Rap Music on Trial” bill that would ban the gratuitous use of art created by a defendant as evidence against them in court.
Driving the bill were cases like that of Lawrence Montague, who was convicted in Maryland of killing someone during a drug deal and sentenced to 50 years to life. A court allowed prosecutors to use rap lyrics he sung as evidence against him. In another case, Daniel Hernandez, known as “Tekashi69,” is said to have been pressured to become a government witness under the threat of having his rap lyrics used against him in court.
Artists, no matter their genre, shouldn’t have to worry that some creative prosecutor will someday use their creativity against them. The bill would require that prosecutors show there is a “valid nexus” between the art and the crime — an entirely reasonable requirement.
Wait for a fresh start in Spa City
Here’s a surprise: The current Saratoga Springs City Council, in one of its last acts, couldn’t come to agreement on a watered-down proposal for a Civilian Review Board for the police department. Mayor Meg Kelly ’s lastditch attempt not to stifle public comment hardly made up for the council’s failure to address the turmoil in the community.
With a state investigation of the police department’s handling of Black Lives Matter protests underway, better to put this on hold until January, when a council of mostly new members who have expressed support for a stronger board along the lines of one proposed by the city’s Police Reform Task Force will take office. In this case, justice delayed just might result in justice achieved.