Return Frederick Douglass to Prominence in Rochester
Rochester was the most important place in America for the early civil rights movement in this country. This is pretty much common knowledge to anyone who has ever lived in the Rochester area. We were among the most important points of the Underground Railroad, a key meeting place of abolitionists and suffragists, and a place where many firsts were achieved. However, it is as the home and final resting place of both Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, that the Flower City can stake its claim amongst America's great historic centers.While Susan B. Anthony has long had a worthy memorial at the Susan B. Anthony House on Madison Street, where is our memorial to Frederick Douglass? While Washington DC has the National Frederick Douglass Historic Site at Cedar Hill and Cincinnati has the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Rochester still has scant little to show for Mr. Douglass' achievements here and elsewhere. This must change, and soon. Today's Democrat & Chronicle has a story on two competing proposals to establish memorials to Douglass and the Underground Railroad. One proposal is the Frederick Douglass Resource Center, which would be built at a former steel fabricating plant on King Street not far from the Anthony House; the other is the Freedom Trail Interpretive Center at High Falls. Both of these proposals have merit and I applaud their backers for their efforts to build facilities worthy of Rochester's heritage. But shouldn't they be combined into one single effort capable of creating something that would firmly establish Rochester as a center for cultural tourism? Shouldn't this facility be built at a prominent location to ensure its own success while also having an important economic spin-off for the city that Douglass loved so much? In my opinion, the competing efforts should be merged into the "North Star Museum of Civil Rights" that would be built at the Talman Building (see picture below) on Main Street in downtown Rochester.
The Talman Building is where Frederick Douglass published his anti-slavery newspaper, The North Star, for 17 years. It is in a prominent location near the Four Corners and there is a large surface parking lot to its rear to accommodate school and tour buses. Although it is currently a fully-occupied 20,000 square foot Class B office building, I believe the conversion could be relatively easy since the building is well-maintained, its current owners are local, and there are not many tenants to displace. Besides, there is a ton of vacant Class B office space in downtown Rochester that could easily absorb these tenants. Personally, I'd be happy to show them around.
But wait, there's more! The above photo shows the Frederick Douglass Monument at Highland Park. This statue, the first government-commissioned statue to honor an African-American, was once located at the intersection of St Paul Street and Central Avenue in downtown Rochester (where the Inner Loop is now). Today, it is overlooked by residents and visitors alike due to its nearly invisible location off of South Avenue overlooking the Highland Bowl. This highly important monument must be returned to a prominent location in downtown Rochester. The legacy of Frederick Douglass must continue to be preserved and enhanced and what better place to do so than in his adopted hometown, our hometown.
Pictures from www.rochesterdowntown.com and Kathleen J. Eilers of RIT.
No Ferry in Future Port Plans?
Sasaki Associates unveiled its preliminary concept for development at the Port of Rochester last night. For the most part, I think it looks good though it is still quite vague and frankly, I could have done this work in my spare time for a lot less money. Then again, I don't have a catchy name like 'Sasaki' or 'Varoujan Hagopian' so that would have been a tough sell. One thing that caught my eye however was the lack of space for vehicles to board a future ferry/hovercraft operation. The D&C notes, "Each option shows residential development on land south of the terminal, once a staging area for the ferry operation."
Granted, this development will take place over 15 years (if not longer), so there is plenty of time to make adjustments to the plan. But it makes sense to me to include a development scenario that would incorporate a ferry service to Toronto or elsewhere. We won't need as large a staging area as we have today because it's clear that a smaller ferry is the only viable option. Also, the proposed hovercraft service would only carry a fraction of the vehicles that the Spirit of Ontario carried, that is, if a hovercraft would carry vehicles at all.It was nice to see that the concepts do not preclude light rail or bus rapid transit on the current CSX right-of-way. Personally, I would not live at the Port unless there was a convenient and reliable transit connection to downtown. The current Route 1/Lake Ave bus doesn't cut it. If development at the Port were to follow Sasaki's vision, with up to 850 units of new housing, a hotel, and a multitude of new shops and restaurants, and if a smaller ferry to Toronto were in operation, a dedicated modern transit line would be a successful component of the regional transportation system and could attract investment along its length. On the other hand, it could be a complete failure. But that's what real cities do - they try. It remains to be seen whether Rochester wants to be a real city in the 21st Century.
Picture Rochester
A short story on Channel 8 profiled some young amateur photographers' new web site that aims to point out the fine details that make Rochester the great city that it is. The picture above is taken from the site (www.picturerochester.com) and the site is in the links to the right. Hey, that rhymes! Keep up the good work guys!
Suburbs: Unsafe at Any Speed
Unless you live under a rock (in which case how the hell do you have internet access?), you are likely to catch at least a glimpse of the local news either via TV, radio, or the WWW. If you have paid attention to said news, you're likely to see the same thing every day: "Car accident sends two to hospital," "Fatal Accident, Driver Charged," "Pedestrian Killed by Motorist," etc. These stories are aired so often, I typically pay no attention to them while waiting for a story of real substance which usually never comes. This morning though, made me think differently.
Yesterday evening, 20-year old Shawn Beach was killed riding his bicycle home from work as a Manager at the Pittsford McDonald's. He was hit by an SUV that was getting on to I-590 North from Monroe Avenue in Brighton. Apparently, the driver of the SUV will not be charged because Shawn was wearing all black. Funny, I thought not yielding to pedestrians and bicyclists was against the law and that speeding onto an expressway on-ramp was a ticketable offense, especially on such a relatively dense roadway as Monroe Avenue. This post is not about Shawn however, and it is not about idiot SUV drivers whom I lambasted in an earlier tirade. This post is about the popular notion that it is safer to live in the suburbs than in the city.
I admit it, you are more likely to be a victim of a violent crime if you live in the city. But that alone does not make the city a less safe place to live than the suburbs. Accidents relating to weather, terrain, and vehicles must be considered. Checking local media outlets over the past week, I came across at least three fatalities and four injuries sustained in accidents involving automobiles in the suburbs. There were likely many more accidents in our suburbs that went unreported because no one was seriously injured and the accidents didn't tie up traffic. Conversely, in the past week, according to the local media, there were two shootings and one violent assault in the city - there were no murders. So who is really safer?
It is also important to note that while the local media spent considerable news time on the youthful victims of violent crime in the city last year, no time was spent discussing the number of children killed or injured in car accidents (let alone other accidents) in the suburbs. Don't get me wrong, I am concerned about violent crime and its impact on the city and our quality of life, but the perception that crime is all that goes into the equation when considering safety is thoroughly ignorant and needs to be debunked. Recent studies have shown that people are more likely to be killed or injured in suburbs than in inner cities. I don't have the citation/link available, but I remember a study that showed the suburbs of Dallas to be the least safe place to live in America when all factors (violence, auto accidents, weather, etc.) were taken into account. Other suburbs were at the top of the list as well. So parents, if you're listening and if you care about your children, please do the right thing - raise them in the city.
RGRTA Hates Poor People
Allow me to be the first to compliment or better yet praise RGRTA for their management of RTS service over the past decade. Fares have been maintained at an affordable level, new service has been introduced, customer service has been improved, and Renaissance Square will undoubtedly (IMHO) be a major success not only for bus riders, but area residents as a whole. That being said, the new "simplified" fare structure proposed by RGRTA is an absolute travesty and must be stopped.
I understand the logic behind "simplifying" the RTS fare structure. The current multi-zone system is a tad convoluted and could scare away potential discretionary riders (i.e., those who choose to ride the bus, not those who have no choice). But doing away with transfers and forcing everyone to pay $1.25 every time they get on the bus is an assault on the urban poor, whether by overt or subconscious effort.
Allow me to explain. Currently, Patron X takes the bus from near their home on Jefferson Avenue, heads downtown, and then transfers to a second bus to go to his/her job in Irondequoit. Patron X currently pays $1.25 for the Jefferson-Downtown trip and $0.15 for a transfer to the Downtown-Irondequoit trip for a total of $1.40 one-way. Under the new fare structure, Patron X would be forced to pay $2.50 for that same trip or purchase a day-pass for $3.00 (that would go up to $3.50 in October). Either way, Patron X will be paying more while everyone else will pay less (
and doesn't it feel good to pay less?). It is even more appalling when you consider that someone who lives on Bay Street in the City and works on Lexington Avenue in the City would have to pay $2.50 but someone who lives in Batavia and works downtown would only pay $1.25.
Does this sound fair to you? "It's going to mean different things to different people, depending on their travel pattern," explained Jacqueline Halldow, an RGRTA spokesperson. Be honest Jackie, it means that the working poor clustered in the City of Rochester will pay more and face more confusion. Sure, it will be less confusing for suburbanites to take the bus into town, but it won't seem less confusing to minimum-wage-paid city residents who must now decide between purchasing a $3.00 day pass or a $1.25 one-way fare every day? Clearly, RTS makes more revenue from the working poor who rely on the bus to get them to their jobs (wherever they may be) than from discretionary riders, who are more comfortable driving alone in their SUV than riding the bus. So why is RTS proposing to make the working poor pay more while giving wealthier residents a break?
My proposal is to have two zones, city and suburb. All rides beginning and ending within the city would cost $0.50, all rides that begin in the city would cost $1.00, and all trips that begin outside of the city would cost $1.50. When a bus exits the city fare zone, an enunciator would let patrons know that they will have to pay the suburban fare when they exit the bus. I would also re-institute the downtown free fare zone, allowing people to hop on and hop off anywhere within the Inner Loop and High Falls for free.
Hopefully I'm wrong about this because in all likelihood, it will easily pass the RGRTA Board which is dominated by suburban Republicans who are seemingly hellbent on destroying the City of Rochester. Using the bus system to encourage suburban sprawl and harm the city is a new and innovative way of doing so.
Ignorance and Stupidity in Ontario County
Residents of Honeoye, Naples, and Victor are being treated to the joys of good ol' American free press this week. Hometown Newspapers, publishers of the Honeoye Herald, Naples Record, and Victor Herald, made the supremely intelligent decision to print the cartoon that has had the entire world at the brink of chaos for the past week. You can read less opinionated stories about it on the
WROC or
RNEWS websites. While the editors of these podunk rags claim that they are simply "informing" their readers, I think it is just another example of the extreme cultural ignorance that exists in the suburbs and rural areas of modern-day America.
"Our intent wasn't to disrespect the religious beliefs of any of our readers. It was not to titillate. It wasn't to do any of that stuff. It was basically to inform our readers knowing that they're weren't going to get these pictures anywhere else." - Mike Fowler, owner of Hometown Newspapers.Admit it Fowler, if this incendiary and offensive cartoon were truly worthy of print, it would have appeared in at least one of the major American news outlets. Instead, the only local media outlet that chose to run the cartoon is a paper with a combined circulation of 4,200 that is more likely to be used as kindling than as an information source. Then again, you must consider their readership - 99.9% white, Christian, shotgun-owning, Fox News-watching, red-blooded Americans. The likelihood that these people would show sympathy/respect to people of other races, ethnicities, or creeds is about the same as a member of Hezbollah rolling a perfect game at Roseland Bowl - slim to none.
In defending his dumb decision to run the cartoon, Fowler said "People want to know what all the fuss is all about." Personally, I wouldn't characterize worldwide protests, burning embassies, and an increasing threat of war as being simply a "fuss," then again, I don't run a respectable news source such as the Naples Record so what do I know. Loyal reader Rose Mary Hooper puts things in perspective for us, "I think it's not in great taste, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. This is a free country, if you don't like it don't look at it." If it's not in "great" taste, Ms. Hooper, is it in "mediocre" taste or just "so-so" taste? The simple fact is that this Ontario County jerk, knowing full well that printing this image would cause pain for the 10,000+ Muslims in Greater Rochester, did so anyways just to sell a few more of his fishrags to his prejudiced neighbors.
Here's my take, Muslims are passionate about their religion and rightfully so. I don't think a cartoon depicting Jesus as a drug-addicted male prostitute would go over terribly well in the Bible Belt and I don't think a cartoon of the Pope fellating a camel would be well-received in South Boston. Would they riot and burn down an embassy or two? Probably not, but we need to understand that there are socio-economic factors at play here, not to mention that Muslim law forbids the visual depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, even if in a positive manner. I think some things are better left to words, that's why we don't see graphic images of murder victims or scenes of child pornography in our local news. There is a fine line between offensive and wrong, these newspapers crossed it; let's hope our community does not suffer for their ignorance.
SUV Drivers Hate Personal Responsibility
I'm not a fan of typical American sprawlburbia and its associated lifestyle. I've addressed many topics during the short existence of this blog to support my personal opinion on the subject. Large front yards, three-car garages, and drive-thru lines don't appeal to me. I recently came across a tragic story that has turned my attention to a related pox on the American landscape: the SUV.
Last week, CBS News aired a
story about the dangers of the blind spot in front of your car. Huh? I've never had a problem seeing in front of
my car, at least not while sober. Then it hit me. No, not the front of someone's car, but the point of the story. They weren't talking to people like me who drive small cars. Rather, they were talking to Mr & Mrs Smith, proud SUV-owners from Anytown, USA. Still, I decided to continue paying attention because Susan Koeppen, a former Rochesterian, was telling the story. And what a story it was.
Ms. Koeppen told viewers the tale of Mr & Mrs Quick from an anonymous town somewhere in this vast nation (the writers probably couldn't tell where they were since where they were looked just like where they were the day before and where they were probably going to the following day). Mrs Quick asked her husband to please move his SUV into the garage presumably so that she could put her own SUV in the driveway. Mr Quick, ever the loving husband, politely obliged his lovely wife and went outside, put the key in the ignition, and hit the gas. SMACK! "Stupid toys" he thought to himself as he drove over them with his HEMI-powered behemoth. Mr Quick (no pun intended) checked his rear-view to see what toys he had destroyed and found that he had not driven over toys, but rather, he had just driven over his one-year old daughter.
The situation is absolutely horrific and I don't mean to trivialize it by making light of it. However, rather than take responsibility for his actions, Mr Quick wants the automakers to make these assault vehicles moron-proof. Apparently, it's not HIS fault that he drove over HIS daughter. Nope, the automobile manufacturers should share the blame. They should put warning devices on SUVs to let their idiot drivers know that they're about to hit something. The article states, "The Quicks are calling for automakers to install sensors in all cars so that other families don't experience a tragedy like theirs." I've got a better idea for families with young children, let alone any other living human being, do not purchase an SUV. Novel concept - you won't kill your child and you'll save some money at the pump too.
Making the Case for a Performing Arts Center at Midtown Plaza
Before anyone reads this the wrong way, I want to make one thing clear: I support the development of Renaissance Square. I believe it will improve the physical environment of the Center City, I believe it will improve the quality of bus transportation (both inter and intra-city), I believe it will lead to increased 24-hour activity downtown, I believe it will improve the viability of Main Street retail, I believe it will improve public safety downtown, I believe it will improve the MCC educational experience, and I believe it will improve the quality of performing arts in the region. That being said, I'm worried about the decision our leaders may make with regards to the location of the mid-sized theatre that will
not be located at Renaissance Square.
Today's paper reports that the decision-makers are leaning towards building the new mid-sized theatre on what is now a parking lot bounded by Main, Chestnut, and Gibbs streets. There are indeed many pluses to that location. It sits kitty-corner from the Eastman Theatre, our local grande dame of the arts, and would be amidst the urban campus of the prestigious Eastman School of Music. Also, and most importantly, there are no buildings on the land. It would be easy, inexpensive, and non-controversial to build there. But is it really the best location for this theatre, which will likely be the most highly used of our performing arts venues? My opinion: absolutely not.
As the title of this post indicates, I believe that this theatre would best serve the needs of the community if it were built at the current site of the McCurdy Building at the Main Street entrance to Midtown Plaza (see picture below). This ugly, hulking structure is the unsightly face of Midtown along Main Street. Many passersby surely think to themselves, "if it looks that bad on the outside, I don't even want to see what's on the inside." That is regrettable, because on the inside, Midtown is actually an attractive, albeit dated, place. Unlike the Urban Land Institute, which recommends tearing down nearly all of Midtown, I propose something much less radical. If we could redevelop the perimeter of Midtown, with newer, brighter, more welcoming entrances, and incorporate a variety of new uses, it is logical that more of us may find our way into it. Building this theatre on Main Street as part of the redevelopment of Midtown would help accomplish that goal.
There are other practical reasons for building the theatre at Midtown. The underground parking garage and truck tunnel would certainly be beneficial for theatre-goers and arts groups using the facility. There would be potential for shared operation of HVAC, security, food services, etc. Its location in between Renaissance Square and the Eastman Theatre would fill that gap and encourage walking between the different facilities. If we as a community were willing to invest $60 million in constructing this new performing arts venue at Midtown, its current owner/developer (New York-based Pembroke Companies) might be willing to chip in to improve other parts of the facility such as modernizing the interior, renovating the Tower, or improving the facade along Broad Street and Clinton Avenue. An innovative idea would be to give the naming rights for the theatre to the company that agrees to take significant space at the nearly-vacant Tower (i.e., Constellation Centre or Verizon Theatre)
I'm not dead-set against the other site, but I think that site has the opportunity to be something more appropriate for its location, such as a mid-rise residential structure with first-floor retail catering to the student and Grove Place population. That sort of structure is less likely to be built, without exorbitant public sector assistance, at Midtown. This is an exciting opportunity for downtown, let's not waste it by taking the path of least resistance.
Aquarium at the Port of Rochester: Don't Get Your Hopes Up
Yesterday the local media latched onto an announcement that a Great Lakes research center (to be known as the Lake Ontario Natural Resource Center) affiliated with SUNY-Brockport would be built at the Port of Rochester. The sexy aspect of the announcement was an aquarium that would be incorporated into the facility to showcase the aquatic life of Lake Ontario and presumably the other Great Lakes. Naturally, when they heard that an aquarium would be built at the Port, local residents and business owners got excited. Admittedly, I too got butterflies when I thought of a gleaming new aquarium adjacent to the Ferry Terminal. But at some point, reality reared its ugly head in the form of the reported price tag for this facility - $7 million.
The media, IMHO, is doing a disservice to the community by mentioning that an "aquarium" would be part of this research center. The fact is, for $7 million, we're likely to get a fishtank full of zebra mussels next to a Coke machine in the lobby of the building (see above picture). We shouldn't kid ourselves -- this will NOT be a tourist attraction. First of all, we'd need at least 10 times that amount to build an aquarium of even modest proportions. The newly-opened Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, the largest in the world, cost $200 million (see picture below). Secondly, who the heck is going to pay admission to look at lake trout and salmon? The New Jersey State Aquarium (now known as Adventure Aquarium) was built to showcase aquatic life native to the Garden State and nearly went bankrupt because people weren't intrigued by grey/brown fish. It cost them $52 million to construct a worthless facility that had to be renovated and refocused, for many millions more, only a year after its grand opening.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't support the development of this research center, which will likely provide jobs and spur additional investment at the Port. What I am saying is that the facility shouldn't be promoted as being/having an "aquarium" because that word conjurs up images of the National Aquarium and Inner Harbor in Baltimore or the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Sure enough, News 10NBC already found someone thinking that way: "John Fay wonders if the city will back a proposed environmental research center on the property. “I can almost visualize something like Baltimore Harbor where they've got the huge aquarium and all that,” Fay said."
Call it an "Institute", call it a "Museum", but don't lead local residents on - haven't we done that enough at the Port already?
Attention Residents of Greece: Your Sh*t Does Stink!
All too often, I'm told that I need to move to the suburbs once I have children. "School district is the one thing to remember when choosing where to live," I was recently informed. Many of these apparently concerned citizens live in places not exactly known for their brilliance: Irondequoit, Penfield, and of course, Greece. Therefore, I know I'm not alone amongst City residents, and future parents of City School District students, when I say that I'm getting a kick out of the pathetic Greece Central School District's Superintendent debacle. While it's not quite on the level as the disgraced Palmyra-Macedon School District's William Nichoporuk episode, it's all the more humorous because it is happening to the second-largest district in Monroe County and home of many of Rochester's most staunch detractors. The irony is delicious.
For those unfamiliar with the events there, I'll provide a brief summary. Margaret Keller-Cogan, the Greece Superintendent of Schools for a whopping 45 days, is under investigation by the EEOC for discrimination while she was the Vice-Superintendent. Rather than face the music, she opted to resign and rather than face lawsuits, the Greece School Board granted her resignation with a handsome severance package. That's right, their elected school board decided to allow their failed Superintendent to retire with a full years pay plus additional benefits rather than stand up for what's right. What an embarrassment. It's bad enough that Greece Athena High School makes the news every few months, not for educational achievement, but for some brawl or a kid bringing a weapon to school. Now they lavish their departed "leader" with a golden parachute worthy of a Tyco executive. How proud of their schools are they now?
I've never understood the attraction to Greece. Other than the lakeshore and the neighborhoods closest to the City, Greece is a dump. It is Nowheresville, USA. As an example of why I could never live there, besides the fact that it is populated by closed-minded Republicans, their relatively-new Town Hall has a tacky, non-functioning lighthouse even though it is miles from the waterfront. I typically understand and even encourage kitsch in the design of new buildings, but that design crosses the not-so-fine line between fun and utterly stupid. Maybe the lighthouse is to help cars navigate their way through the sea of parking that surrounds the building. Their Supervisor, John Auberger, is an absolute buffoon. In the name of progress, the Town demolished historic neighborhood commercial buildings in the Barnard area in favor of an Eckerd and its oversized parking lot. That Eckerd closed down less than one year later and now sits vacant and unusable.
I could go on and on about why Greece is an awful place to live. But I won't. I'll just smile contentedly with the knowledge that the City's Wilson Magnet High School is the top-ranked school in the Rochester area (and one of the best in the nation), that the City's Superintendent Manuel Rivera has been named the best Superintendent in the state (and one of the best in the nation), and that the RCSD is soon to embark on a nearly $1 billion capital plan to ensure that the City has some of the best facilities in the state (and the nation). Maybe
I should be advising suburbanites on where to raise
their children.
