Not a big project, but under Cuomo, the old Frontier Town in North Hudson, empty for years, was turned into a pretty amazing state campground, with a couple of neat local brewpubs and restaurants springing up adjacent. I think those more micro projects are more worthwhile.
While I was glad to see Cuomo go because of his heavy-handed secrecy, we should also remember he got the tax cap passed and that has held property taxes in check ever since.
Over the years I’ve done a lot of business in the Lake Placid area. My business is very different than a retail store on Main St in Lake Placid. If I want to keep working for another couple of decades these games will pay off very handsomely for me. The alpenglow of repeated winter games in Lake Placid keeps the luster for the very wealthy. They’ll buy a $1million home in the area and tear it down to build something nicer. I’ll sell them some custom chandeliers and wall sconces. They may go into town and buy a stick of beef jerky once or twice but they’re not going to vastly improve the daily retail economy. It’s getting pretty hard to find a $1million home to tear down anymore. If you happen to be a housekeeper or caretaker in the region you probably have a half dozen or more billionaires in your phone contacts - and they will take your call. Meanwhile every 2 years for decades Little and Stec promised better cell coverage for the region. For these games the cell companies brought in a bunch of temporary cell towers, COWS, so people who don’t live here could get service for a couple of weeks.
It’s funny (not funny) to all of a sudden hear Dan Stec talking about the value of investment over the long term. Usually he’s talking about things like giving money back to the taxpayer - even as infrastructure ordinary people need to scrape out a living crumbles and is replaced in the most expensive and inconvenient way possible, on an emergency basis like the culverts on Bay Road or in Johnsburg last year. You’d probably be surprised at how many times I had to take the detour from South Johnsburg Rd during that time. Those poor people who live there were tremendously inconvenienced and with the price of gas last year it cost them $$.
We don’t have a lot of elected people who built a business, who work for themselves, who don’t draw a paycheck if they don’t keep their promises. Stec gets a check every single pay period. People like him. They love Betty.
Those "million dollar homes" ,I can't think of them without thinking of a scene from Russell Bank's Rule of the Bone where the narrator, a teen runaway, crashes in one of them and burns the twig furniture for firewood. (I'm not hating on Adirondack Rustic, just questioning the price tag ).
Well, much of that twig furniture is handmade by local craftsmen. The Adirondack aesthetic developed craft movement in the late 19th century of building and furnishing homes with local materials, local art, local craft and the fact that wealthy people have embraced the concept makes my business and that of many of my friends possible.
The thing is, when wealthy people embrace something, it then becomes out of reach for normal people. That's all I was saying. Not meant to take away from the craftsmanship at all. I think that was what the scene from the book was about . And isn't that kind of what"s going on with the investment being discussed? To create a service economy catering to the rich?
I don’t believe the intent of holding the games was to cater to the wealthy. The problem of the wealthy buying up all available property then not really being a part of the community is already decided. It’s done for the most part in the LP area. The benefits of big sporting events is in the long term, the cachet of a place with sports history. So youth hockey leagues will have competitions, skating, skiing competitions will book time at venues, travel and stay in hotels. Those people along with upper middle income people who go to the village for a weekend will be the pockets spending in retail stores, but that is a long term proposition. Anyone who thought they would fleece the tourists during the games was suffering from wishful thinking.
IMO, the problem of hamlets in the ADKs drying up is somewhat different but related to some of the things going on in Lake Placid, and is related to the failure of local governments to embrace the APA model intended to build small hamlets dense with services. It’s a big conversation that is largely being avoided because it’s really hard. Our elected leaders are avoiding it.
Interestingly, a big chunk of the World University Games was held in the Potsdam/Canton area. All of the preliminary men's and women's ice hockey competition was held at the arena's at Clarkson University, SUNY Potsdam, and SUNY Canton. SUNY Potsdam housed over 500 athletes and team staff. People we know in the restaurant business were underwhelmed. Many teams at this level of competition were on very tight budgets, and the teams [20 all told] for the most part "stayed in their bubbles" Did see a fair amount of folks in Wal-mart buying bulk quantities of groceries attired in team gear. The USA - Canada men's and women's preliminary games were sellouts. Canada won both men's and women's hockey, I've heard that the USA fielded a team of recent D-I and D-III graduates, as many of the top US men and women hockey players are in their college seasons. In other countries with out established programs like the US, I suspect they were able to send better athletes. Japan won the medal count.
I enjoyed the radio interview. Regarding layoffs in media I hadn’t realized that even CNN had cut way back. I used to see Chris Cillizza clips on YouTube. He now has a substack.
As to the lying by politicians I see a big difference between the occasional white, or maybe grey, lie and trying to tell me day is night and dogs are cats. To look at Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his loss is Orwellian level. Stefanik is a hairsbreadth away from going full QAnon. How else is she going to keep up? Despite ostensibly being leadership, she’s been outpaced by Marge Greene who’s certifiable. Greene might be the most powerful person in the House.
Was never a good investment nor was the Adirondack rest area in Warren cty. We seem to elect very short sighted politicians with little or no grasp of the needs of the many.
It’s a gorgeous rest area. I keep telling my wife we should keep a bottle of wine in the car and share it by the beautiful fireplace on our way back from Saratoga some night.
It seems too bad that not that much came out of all that spending as there are things you mentioned that are of greater use to those Northerners such as broad band.
Great perspective. I streamed most of the games and kept admiring the facilities, albeit the snow was scarce. It also made me think back to when I traveled to Italy with the National Guard in the 80s. We were winter training and had a day off where we could go to ski at Sestriere. Not easy to get to, switchbacks up through a pass and down the other side. The Adirondacks remind me of those windy Euro roads spilling into a town or resort here and there. Prime candidates for winter sports venues require mountains with significant elevation. The games this year were held all over, with most hockey being played up in Canton and Potsdam, curling in Saranac Lake and snowboarding and aerials at Gore. I appreciate the exposure it got, yet understand these are not big draws for spectators, especially during the work week. My attitude is that world class athletes deserve good facilities to compete and I'm glad we have some.
The FISU Games were a bright spot in this winter season, however many events were sadly under attended. I did not see any advertising in the news media (newspapers, radio and tv) nor coverage besides ESPN which many service subscribers do not get. It would have been a boost to the games had local news sports reporters attended to interview the athletes and shared moments on tv of these exciting games. Can you enlighten us as to why there was minimal to no coverage of games? Was it because ESPN had sole coverage?
The interview with Mr. Tinglsley regarding his multiple opinion pieces on Elise Stefanik during the past few years was excellent and I wish it could be heard by many of her constituents. Our representatives work for us and we place our trust in them that they will work with integrity, maturity and honesty to deliver results that will be of benefit. I have never been so disappointed in Elise until her egregious behavior surfaced during the first impeachment hearing for Trump. It was disheartening to see a once reputable representative turn in a totally different direction to follow and support a deranged man who held our country’s democracy in such disrespect and caused such divisive chaos. She has shown her true colors and they paint a pathetic picture of someone who chooses to blatantly lie, uses disparaging language and name calling of opponents, and takes credit for bills she opposed. The transition of Elise speaks volumes and I hope that her constituents wake up.
When I was in sports I remember sending three or four reporters to cover the Goodwill Games in Lake Placid. The entire newspaper does not have than many reporters anymore. Another impact of losing resources for our community newspapers.
Glad you checked out the interview on Elise. Looking back, there were a lot of columns on Stefanik, but all were justified. I stand by that.
People might kick back on this, but I think legal marijuana is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the North Country and where public investment should focus. Fortunes are being made- plus a lot of good jobs. There is already one growing cannabis business not too far from us. I'm sure there are others. I have no idea what a business plan would look like for that, but we've got space, cheap power, transportation networks and close to places to distribute it.
Not a big project, but under Cuomo, the old Frontier Town in North Hudson, empty for years, was turned into a pretty amazing state campground, with a couple of neat local brewpubs and restaurants springing up adjacent. I think those more micro projects are more worthwhile.
While I was glad to see Cuomo go because of his heavy-handed secrecy, we should also remember he got the tax cap passed and that has held property taxes in check ever since.
Thanks for the important fact check.
Over the years I’ve done a lot of business in the Lake Placid area. My business is very different than a retail store on Main St in Lake Placid. If I want to keep working for another couple of decades these games will pay off very handsomely for me. The alpenglow of repeated winter games in Lake Placid keeps the luster for the very wealthy. They’ll buy a $1million home in the area and tear it down to build something nicer. I’ll sell them some custom chandeliers and wall sconces. They may go into town and buy a stick of beef jerky once or twice but they’re not going to vastly improve the daily retail economy. It’s getting pretty hard to find a $1million home to tear down anymore. If you happen to be a housekeeper or caretaker in the region you probably have a half dozen or more billionaires in your phone contacts - and they will take your call. Meanwhile every 2 years for decades Little and Stec promised better cell coverage for the region. For these games the cell companies brought in a bunch of temporary cell towers, COWS, so people who don’t live here could get service for a couple of weeks.
It’s funny (not funny) to all of a sudden hear Dan Stec talking about the value of investment over the long term. Usually he’s talking about things like giving money back to the taxpayer - even as infrastructure ordinary people need to scrape out a living crumbles and is replaced in the most expensive and inconvenient way possible, on an emergency basis like the culverts on Bay Road or in Johnsburg last year. You’d probably be surprised at how many times I had to take the detour from South Johnsburg Rd during that time. Those poor people who live there were tremendously inconvenienced and with the price of gas last year it cost them $$.
We don’t have a lot of elected people who built a business, who work for themselves, who don’t draw a paycheck if they don’t keep their promises. Stec gets a check every single pay period. People like him. They love Betty.
Those "million dollar homes" ,I can't think of them without thinking of a scene from Russell Bank's Rule of the Bone where the narrator, a teen runaway, crashes in one of them and burns the twig furniture for firewood. (I'm not hating on Adirondack Rustic, just questioning the price tag ).
Well, much of that twig furniture is handmade by local craftsmen. The Adirondack aesthetic developed craft movement in the late 19th century of building and furnishing homes with local materials, local art, local craft and the fact that wealthy people have embraced the concept makes my business and that of many of my friends possible.
The thing is, when wealthy people embrace something, it then becomes out of reach for normal people. That's all I was saying. Not meant to take away from the craftsmanship at all. I think that was what the scene from the book was about . And isn't that kind of what"s going on with the investment being discussed? To create a service economy catering to the rich?
I don’t believe the intent of holding the games was to cater to the wealthy. The problem of the wealthy buying up all available property then not really being a part of the community is already decided. It’s done for the most part in the LP area. The benefits of big sporting events is in the long term, the cachet of a place with sports history. So youth hockey leagues will have competitions, skating, skiing competitions will book time at venues, travel and stay in hotels. Those people along with upper middle income people who go to the village for a weekend will be the pockets spending in retail stores, but that is a long term proposition. Anyone who thought they would fleece the tourists during the games was suffering from wishful thinking.
IMO, the problem of hamlets in the ADKs drying up is somewhat different but related to some of the things going on in Lake Placid, and is related to the failure of local governments to embrace the APA model intended to build small hamlets dense with services. It’s a big conversation that is largely being avoided because it’s really hard. Our elected leaders are avoiding it.
Interestingly, a big chunk of the World University Games was held in the Potsdam/Canton area. All of the preliminary men's and women's ice hockey competition was held at the arena's at Clarkson University, SUNY Potsdam, and SUNY Canton. SUNY Potsdam housed over 500 athletes and team staff. People we know in the restaurant business were underwhelmed. Many teams at this level of competition were on very tight budgets, and the teams [20 all told] for the most part "stayed in their bubbles" Did see a fair amount of folks in Wal-mart buying bulk quantities of groceries attired in team gear. The USA - Canada men's and women's preliminary games were sellouts. Canada won both men's and women's hockey, I've heard that the USA fielded a team of recent D-I and D-III graduates, as many of the top US men and women hockey players are in their college seasons. In other countries with out established programs like the US, I suspect they were able to send better athletes. Japan won the medal count.
I enjoyed the radio interview. Regarding layoffs in media I hadn’t realized that even CNN had cut way back. I used to see Chris Cillizza clips on YouTube. He now has a substack.
As to the lying by politicians I see a big difference between the occasional white, or maybe grey, lie and trying to tell me day is night and dogs are cats. To look at Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his loss is Orwellian level. Stefanik is a hairsbreadth away from going full QAnon. How else is she going to keep up? Despite ostensibly being leadership, she’s been outpaced by Marge Greene who’s certifiable. Greene might be the most powerful person in the House.
Politicians no longer twist the truth, they are just bald-faced lies.
Was never a good investment nor was the Adirondack rest area in Warren cty. We seem to elect very short sighted politicians with little or no grasp of the needs of the many.
It’s a gorgeous rest area. I keep telling my wife we should keep a bottle of wine in the car and share it by the beautiful fireplace on our way back from Saratoga some night.
It seems too bad that not that much came out of all that spending as there are things you mentioned that are of greater use to those Northerners such as broad band.
These comments below re Cuomo are very informative.
Great perspective. I streamed most of the games and kept admiring the facilities, albeit the snow was scarce. It also made me think back to when I traveled to Italy with the National Guard in the 80s. We were winter training and had a day off where we could go to ski at Sestriere. Not easy to get to, switchbacks up through a pass and down the other side. The Adirondacks remind me of those windy Euro roads spilling into a town or resort here and there. Prime candidates for winter sports venues require mountains with significant elevation. The games this year were held all over, with most hockey being played up in Canton and Potsdam, curling in Saranac Lake and snowboarding and aerials at Gore. I appreciate the exposure it got, yet understand these are not big draws for spectators, especially during the work week. My attitude is that world class athletes deserve good facilities to compete and I'm glad we have some.
Wish we taxpayers didn’t have to pay for them.
The FISU Games were a bright spot in this winter season, however many events were sadly under attended. I did not see any advertising in the news media (newspapers, radio and tv) nor coverage besides ESPN which many service subscribers do not get. It would have been a boost to the games had local news sports reporters attended to interview the athletes and shared moments on tv of these exciting games. Can you enlighten us as to why there was minimal to no coverage of games? Was it because ESPN had sole coverage?
The interview with Mr. Tinglsley regarding his multiple opinion pieces on Elise Stefanik during the past few years was excellent and I wish it could be heard by many of her constituents. Our representatives work for us and we place our trust in them that they will work with integrity, maturity and honesty to deliver results that will be of benefit. I have never been so disappointed in Elise until her egregious behavior surfaced during the first impeachment hearing for Trump. It was disheartening to see a once reputable representative turn in a totally different direction to follow and support a deranged man who held our country’s democracy in such disrespect and caused such divisive chaos. She has shown her true colors and they paint a pathetic picture of someone who chooses to blatantly lie, uses disparaging language and name calling of opponents, and takes credit for bills she opposed. The transition of Elise speaks volumes and I hope that her constituents wake up.
When I was in sports I remember sending three or four reporters to cover the Goodwill Games in Lake Placid. The entire newspaper does not have than many reporters anymore. Another impact of losing resources for our community newspapers.
Glad you checked out the interview on Elise. Looking back, there were a lot of columns on Stefanik, but all were justified. I stand by that.
People might kick back on this, but I think legal marijuana is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the North Country and where public investment should focus. Fortunes are being made- plus a lot of good jobs. There is already one growing cannabis business not too far from us. I'm sure there are others. I have no idea what a business plan would look like for that, but we've got space, cheap power, transportation networks and close to places to distribute it.