On my almost daily walk along State and Main streets I’ve often noticed this boom lift blocking the sidewalks around the Powers Building . I’ve never given it much thought. I just figured Daniel Powers liked his windows really clean.
Then, last week while at the Fringe, my RocSubway teammate Joanne Brokaw got introduced to Scott Grove. As it turns out, Scott is that guy hanging high up over Rochester’s sidewalks—and he’s not cleaning windows…
In 2012, four individuals came together to bring something new to Rochester’s airwaves – a community run, free-form radio station that would reflect the voices and vision of the citizens of Rochester. Johanna Buran, Genevieve Waller, Matt Werts, and Mike Yates have now put most of the pieces in place to begin broadcasting this June.
RocSubway recently caught up with Mike Yates to find out what still needs to be done to make this dream a reality, and what listeners can expect when they tune in to the new WAYO 104.3 FM…
If you’re a regular follower of the #ROC Twitter scene, you have undoubtedly come across the musings of Lonely Medley Centre. The parody Twitter account @MedleyCentre has racked up over 1,000 followers since February and has catapulted into this year’s Best of Rochester contest alongside @RachelBarnhart.
No one seems to know who is behind the account which describes itself as “Just an empty mall looking for a few friends.” So I thought, as an empty subway tunnel, maybe we could hang out and get to know each other…
You’ve read about it. You’ve heard plenty of commentary about it. And if you’re like me, you still have plenty of questions about the Port of Rochester development. This past weekend Greg Weykamp, owner of Edgewater Resources, LLC spent an hour with me on site to answer my questions on everything from the design of the marina & proposed development, accessibility, marketability, and parking/traffic concerns.
In this six-part video series, Weykamp addresses many of the concerns expressed by Charlotte neighbors over the past few months. No doubt there will still be more questions as the project enters the design phase. But his willingness to spend time with me (and my two kids who are dancing around in the background) showed me that this may not be the monster some people have made him out to be . But you can watch for yourself, and please let me know what you think…
Last week I shared an interview with a local Lyft driver. A debate in the comments—and on Facebook—about the legality of rideshare services (such as Lyft) immediately ensued. After hearing from both sides of the issue, I’m just as confused as I was before.
On one hand, Lyft has responded to these challenges by saying its service is absolutely not illegal, and that their insurance has drivers and passengers covered. On the other hand, a local insurance agent, Michael Montag has reached out to RochesterSubway.com. He believes Lyft drivers are operating illegally – even if Lyft itself may not be illegal. I’ll post both responses here, and if you’re thinking of driving for Lyft or similar services, do your homework first…
Have you seen one of these big pink mustaches tooling around town lately? This past April a ridesharing service called Lyft entered the Rochester market. Lyft connects people—via mobile app—who need a ride with drivers in their area. The pink facial hair is sort of the calling card of the Lyft brand.
Recently I got to talking with a local Lyft driver, Fred from Penfield, and he says from his point of view, the service has been a smashing success. “There are about 40 of us in Rochester,” says Fred. “We are similar to Uber and Sidecar, but we are much friendlier and have a much bigger focus on safety.”
Besides the pink moustaches, it’s also common for drivers and passengers to fist pump at the start of each ride. The following is a summary of our conversation about Lyft…
Walter has been a fixture at local sporting events and concerts for decades. Known to most Rochesterians as “The Accordion Man,” Walter plays his squeezebox (and sings) outside most hockey, basketball and lacrosse games… at music events all around the city… and of course, a Redwings game would not be the same without Walter’s rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame playing in the background as fans line up at the turnstiles.
In a recent phone conversation with him, Walter told me he’s been playing around Rochester for three decades. He’s missed only one game in the past 15 years. And he’s gone through 83 accordions. His latest one is currently out of commission with broken keys and a worn strap…
Last month RocSubway Facebook fans brought us rumors of a new grocery store for downtown Rochester (those rumors turned out to be true). Now comes an equally exciting rumor from RocSubway that has also checked out. John Tachin, owner of Mr. Dominic’s restaurant in Charlotte has purchased the former Lakeshore Drive-In site and is considering plans to reopen it as a drive in movie theater…
The City of Rochester Bureau of Planning and Zoning is in the process of updating Center City Master Plan. From the City’s website, “The intent is for this document to be a strategic plan [to] help the city measure and celebrate downtown progress, prioritize further research and analysis, prioritize projects, and help secure funding.”
A draft plan can be viewed online , and in a series of open houses the City is now gathering public input on that draft. The last open house is this Wednesday evening (details at the end of this story).
I had a chance to catch up with Jason Haremza, senior planner with the City of Rochester, to ask a few questions about the update…
Recently, RochesterSubway.com asked Facebook fans who they were voting for in the upcoming race for Mayor. The results are in. Statistically speaking, no one should read too much into this crudely constructed poll. But it did attract some rather interesting results.
If this race were decided on Facebook likes, Tom Richards (Independent) wins hands down with 23. Alex White (Green) finished with 7. And Lovely Warren (Democrat) pulled in 2 (and one person voted for all three candidates). Richards also had the edge with the shear number of comments left.
If anything can be taken away from this, it’s that Lovely Warren supporters were missing in action. Not one positive comment was left for Warren. Either they don’t read RochesterSubway.com, or they are busy on the campaign trail. We’ll know for sure tomorrow night.
DO NOT miss your chance to voice your choice at the real polls tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the comments…
If you’re a RocSubway reader and you love learning about Rochester as much as I do, you might want to check out 585 Magazine. It’s a pretty slick new bimonthly packed with tasty local bits on every topic imaginable. Plus, you might catch an occasional story on local places & history written by yours truly. In the current issue I attempt explore Rochester’s incredible, Olmsted-designed park system – in 800 words or less! Completely impossible, but I tried.
First, head over to 585 Mag and check out the story . Then come back here for fun extras, including Olmsted’s original plan drawings of Highland, Seneca, and Genesee Valley Parks, AND audio from my interview with JoAnn Beck, cochair of the Landmark Society’s Olmsted subcommittee…
Last September the Bread and Water Theatre group expressed interest in purchasing the Westminster Presbyterian Church at 660 West Main Street after learning that its owner had asked the City for permission to demolish it. That demolition request has been denied (for now). Meanwhile, the same theatre group now has its eye on another historically significant church…
“The units at Erie Harbor are very poorly designed and overpriced… The ground floor units don’t even have a view of the river – it is blocked by a berm… Shoddy construction… The stairs creak… Tacky… Ugliest building in Rochester…” These are all comments you may have heard about the Erie Harbor Apartments which were officially opened last fall .
When comments like these were left under a recent post on RochesterSubway.com, Jim Mayer didn’t take it sitting down. He contacted me and invited me to visit his home. He and his wife Irene sold their home in Brighton and now live at Erie Harbor. I admit, after nearly a three hour visit, I left feeling a bit jealous at just how much this couple is loving life in their new digs…
Rochesterians love to brag about how many cool things were invented right here in Rochester. The automobile, the automatic voting machine, fuzzy pipe cleaner, The Simpsons LEGO couch gag, Jell-o… hold up… what? You didn’t know the Simpsons LEGO couch gag was a product of Rochester? It’s true…
Recently I asked, “Who is Spaceman?” This guy’s work has been showing up in unexpected places around town for a while now. Although I’m still not sure who the guy in the space suit is, the actual artist did come forward. And I had a chance to sit down with him at Boulder Coffee in the South Wedge. Among other things I asked him what he thought about people who call his work “trashy” or “criminal.” With the Geico Gecko watching us from the billboard across the street, he pointed to it and said, “Would you rather see a Geico ad at every four-way stop? I’m just trying to make people smile.”
For two hours we talked about his work, what motivates him, life in Rochester, keeping our waterways clean, philosophy, Tibetan monks, and other stuff. For obvious reasons he wishes to remain anonymous, so I’ll refer to him in this interview as “Spaceman Artist”. Here’s a taste of our conversation…
At one of the Greentopia films a few weeks ago my ears caught the sweet sounds of Cammy Enaharo and I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since. Cammy, 20, is from Rochester… so I admit I may be a little biased. But give her music a listen and I think you’ll agree, this girl is going places…
RochesterSubway.com has been nominated for Best Local Blog of 2012. If you’d like to cast your vote, simply fill out City Newspaper’s Final Ballot before October 3 (5pm) and select “RochesterSubway.com” for question #66.
Many people have been asking why Tom Selleck of the classic TV drama Magnum P.I. has been campaigning for RochesterSubway. Tom held a press conference at Letchworth State Park this weekend to answer these questions…
The song is Patience by Guns N’ Roses. The man behind the guitar is Dave. I’ve seen Dave playing on the side of this I-490 service road in downtown Rochester for years. Today I finally got out of my car and spent a few minutes with him. He’s a real good guy. Stop and say hello if you see him…
Meet local rapper “Bricksonion”. Brick first started rapping when he was 13, but didn’t take it very seriously until he was about 23. Now he is known around town for his music , and for operating Rochester’s first mobile recording studio.
The spate of recent articles in the D&C regarding local construction projects also means that there will be a great amount of demolition of older buildings and historic properties. Take, for example, the recent decision to demolish the Cataract Brewery buildings in High Falls. The cost to demolish the properties alone—estimated at $800,000 to $1 million—is more than twice the amount for which Genesee Brewery was recently selling the two Cataract Brewery buildings and a large parking lot. That same amount could be used to install a new roof and windows, “button up” the building, and abate the lead paint, within the older “gem” brewery building. Although the oldest Cataract building is currently a “liability” in the words of a developer who recently toured the property, it could actually act as the driver for redevelopment. Historic Preservation Tax Credits, coupled with city, county, state, and federal monies, could pay for at least 30-40% of construction costs, and potentially way more if the City took on the lead abatement costs and Genesee Brewery and its owner, KPS Capital, acted as an investor or partner in redevelopment.
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
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with the New York State Thruway (I-90). Read more about the history of the Rochester Subway.
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![Meet Scott Grove, a Rochester artist, sculptor, furniture designer, architectural preservationist, among other things. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/scott-grove-powers-building-maintenance-01.jpg)
. I’ve never given it much thought. I just figured Daniel Powers liked his windows really clean.
![Lyft is a San Francisco–based company whose mobile-phone app facilitates peer-to-peer ridesharing; enabling passengers who need a ride to request one from drivers in their area. [PHOTO: Lyft]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/lyft-ridesharing-01.jpg)
![Lyft is a San Francisco–based company whose mobile-phone app facilitates peer-to-peer ridesharing; enabling passengers who need a ride to request one from drivers in their area. [PHOTO: Flickr, Bootleggerson]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/lyft-ridesharing-bootleggersson.jpg)
![Walter, Rochester's accordion man, performing underneath the Freddie-Sue bridge in Corn Hill as a crowd gathers for the Eddie Money 'Party in the Park' concert [PHOTO: Jeff Gerew, C7Photo.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-accordion-man-walter-palmer-01.jpg)
![The marquee sign at the former Lakeshore Drive-in Theatre in Greece, NY. [PHOTO: NewYorkDriveIns.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-lakeshore-drive-in-movie-theater-marquee.jpg)
![Rochester Center City [PHOTO: RocPx.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-center-city-master-plan-01.jpg)
![Recently, RochesterSubway.com asked Facebook fans who they were voting for in the upcoming race for Mayor. The results are in. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-race-for-mayor-2013.jpg)
![One of the pedestrian bridges in Genesee Valley Park. This was not originally part of Olmsted's plan. [PHOTO: Rochester Public Library, Local History Division]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/genesee-valley-park-bridge.jpg)
![The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 42 Favor Street in the Cornhill Neighborhood. [PHOTO: J.R. Teeter]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/ame-zion-church-favor-street-rochester-01.jpg)
![Jim Mayer and his wife Irene invite us into their home at Erie Harbor Apartments. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/erie-harbor-apartments-01.jpg)
![34 year-old Rochester native, Mike Battle, is a Color Modelist on the FOX T.V. series, The Simpsons. [PHOTO: Brooks Stonestreet]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/simpsons-mike-battle-01.jpg)
![Cammy Enaharo, 20, Rochester [PHOTO: Facebook.com/CammyEnaharoMusic]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/cammy-enaharo-1.jpg)
![Genesee Brewery. [Flickr Photo: _Yoshi_]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/genesee-brewery-sign-yoshi.jpg)
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