Back Again, Back Again*
Sun-burnt, bug-bit, and aching, I coasted into Albany, NY with 500 or so others bicyclists who rode the 400 miles from Buffalo along the Erie Canal. It was a physical challenge, a wonderful chance to meet a huge range of riders and to see parts of Western New York up close and personal. (Do you wonder why even older, less fit riders did better than I did? Click here for Gina Kolata's explanation)
While I read no newspapers and looked only once at a computer, I did speak to many upstaters. The first thing I learned is that there is no such place as upstate.
We read and write about "upstate Republicans" or the need "upstate" for economic development. "Upstate" is too broad a brush for the varied communities to our North and West.
Even rust belt cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Schenectady defy generalization. Some have gentrifying waterfronts, others seem utterly in ruins. When the plants closed, the bars, beauty salons, car dealers and supermarkets closed too, so many communities feel ghostly with empty store after empty house.
Many Republicans "upstate" are eager for change. The GOP Supervisor of one, fading former dairy town told me that twelve years of Pataki misleadership had brought his community nothing at all. When I asked him (and the Mayor of a larger City nearby) about Industrial Development Agency reform they agreed with DMI Blogger Adrienne Shropshire's analysis right down the line See the NY Jobs With Justice development position for more info on IDA reform. Yet their GOP state senators didn't insist that Majority Leader Joseph Bruno deliver. Also read Steve Perez's report on the sad fate of IDA reform at the hands of the State Senate -- click here for the WFP version. (Perez who wrote for the Working Families Party blog and on housing issues, writes that he'll be doing Web Outreach at the UFT).
Many previously dispirited progressives are eager to elect more progressive Democrats to office. In Canandaigua, for example, control of City government shifted to Democrats in '06. Now people I talked to are fired up to retire Randy Kuhl and replace him with Eric Massa.
One of the better surprises was to hear a wonderful 3-women fokish singing group Red Molly -- about which I will write tomorrow -- but pencil in August 1, 2007, at 12:30 for their free NYC appearance in lower Manhattan--24 State St. (1 Battery Park Plaza) between Pearl St. and Bridge St. New York, NY
*For the words and music to this 1936 song which celebrates the re-election of FDR and the end of Prohibition click here. It was recorded then by Bill Cox, but I first heard it from the New Lost City Ramblers.
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Bicycles | New York | Upstate | Red Molly
Everything that the State does affects the chances for recovery
Submitted by Daniel Millstone on 23 July 2007 - 1:48pm.
of upstate communities: inland wetland regulation, canal tourism, IDA bonds, milk price supports. The key questions are not whether the State will ride into town and solve everyone's problems (The state's already in every town), but rather how can state policy encourage people and businesses, preserve the environment and help job creation. I snuck into an abandoned factory in Solvay, for example,(extra points if you remember the Solvay process) where it was clear that major asbestos abatement would be required before those buildings could be reused or even demolished. Should the state pay for the abatement? Of course, waiting for the state can also be endless and useless -- but must it be? I'll be back to the area in late September.
One of the biggest
One of the biggest hindrances to Upstate revival-- and one of the congenital defects of New Yorkers in general-- is the ingrained expectation that help will come from politicians who will legislate us out of our problems. Until that expectation alters, we won't see much change for the better.
Glad you enjoyed the bike ride.