Fun in Saratoga

The Ice Cream Man in Saratoga is open!

In a very well timed soft opening on the year's first warm weekend, the Ice Cream Man on South Broadway opened today!   It's open until 9pm seven nights a week.  Look for a more official grand opening sometime around the beginning of May.

New York Times article on opposition to gambling in Saratoga

This article was in Monday's edition and can be linked here.

The article has an interesting map of Saratoga Springs highlighting all the key landmarks that have relevance in the gambling debate. 

And I learned a new word in the article:  busker - a person who entertains people for money in public places (as by singing or dancing), usually while asking for money.

Under the radar development on Washington Street

I was driving down Washington Street last week near Pope's Pizza and I saw this new office/residential development at the corner of Central Avenue.  A quick online search and I saw that it will be called Washington Commons and is being developed by Steve Ethier.  According to this Saratogian article, the photo below shows the first of what will be two mixed-use buildings hosting medical and other offices on the first floor, and residential units on the second floor.

You can also view this webcast of the Saratoga Springs Planning Board meeting from 2011 where the plan was discussed by the developers.  The relevant portion starts at 7:48 into the video.  Gotta love the internet.  OK, take care folks.

 

Ups and downs on South Broadway

I noticed that Papa Johns and The Ice Cream Man have new signs on and out in front of the building.  I reported just over a month ago that The Ice Cream Man may open in May, but I get the feeling that will come sooner. 

Staying on South Broadway, a bit further towards downtown, it appears that the Carriage House Inn is closed. The sign is down and it is all of the windows are shaded.  I don't know if this is just a seasonal thing (although its web site shows rates for the winter), but you may recall that I reported back in September that it was for sale.  Well it's a beautiful property so let's hope it's just a seasonal thing and it opens back up this spring. 

OK that's it for now.  Blogging becomes harder and harder these days - but fatherhood is going great and Margarita and I are blessed with our beautiful daughter!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year, and that you're staying safe and warm in this blustery weather. 

 

Saratoga Brueggers is reopened

453 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 518-584-4372

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Saratoga Snippets

These "snippets" posts are hard for me to write b/c they often take 2+ hours to create and edit.  With a three-month old at home I'm lucky I have time to shower.  Well I'll try writing this over a few days and see if I can fit it in here and there.

• Margarita and I were out Greenwich way a while back and we stopped in to the Ice Cream Man for a sandwich.  The staff there tells me to look for the new Saratoga South Broadway location to open in May or June of next year. 

 

• While heading out Rt 29, we noticed that the former Mango 29 Deli, near Schuylerville, is now "Joe's Deli".
• CORRECTED:  I haven't had a chance to go into the new TC Paris Sweet Mimi's Bakery in the former Beverly's location.  That place sat empty for almost two years, so it's good to see it filled.  TC Paris is on Henry Street where Inferno Pizza used to be - I would like to check that out to.  Thank you Alexandra for alerting me to my error.
• Speaking of closed Saratoga eateries, I miss the Saratoga Diner and Restaurant.  All those empty restaurants on South Broadway and nobody wants to open a good diner.
• Purdy's has been the big dog of Saratoga liquor stores, but now that they expanded into the neighboring former Hallmark store, it's even a bigger dog.  Look out little dogs.
• Friday, November 29th is the last day to receive your early registrant discount and save $5 for this year's First Night Saratoga 5k Run. So don't wait another day - register today at www.saratoga-arts.org/firstnight/5krun to be a part of a great Saratoga tradition!
• If you thought this year's July 19th track opening was early, you were right.  But if they open on their usual opening Friday, the 2014 opening date will be an even earlier July 18th.  Let's hope NYRA has since squashed any dumb ideas to open earlier. 
• I sure miss Andrew McGuire, the former Saratogian Sports reporter.  Our hometown daily's thoroughbred horse racing coverage has plummeted since he left.  AP Wire stories just don't do it for me.
• Continuing on that subject, I wrote a long posting about how the Saratogian's Breeder's Cup coverage showed how some of their weekend sports deadlines were around 7pm.  Trouble is, I was never able to finish it and it quickly became old news.  Nonetheless I put a lot of work into it and again it pinpointed just how early the Saratogian's weekend publishing deadlines are, so I'll link it on a back page here if you care to read it in it's incomplete form.
• Hate to pile on our hometown daily, but they got scooped on their own story about paywalls going up on their web site.  Both Saratoga Wire and All Over Albany were days ahead of the Saratogian's announcement of it.  There never seems to be a sense of pride, ownership, or timeliness of news items at the Saratogian - items they should own and/or be the best at. You'd think they'd at least want to be first to report important news items about their own publication.
• I see Gaffney's new addition came out looking nice.  I don't get downtown as often as I used to - and I get to downtown bars even less these days - so some of these snippets are reporting months' old news.  Gaffneys will be holding a South American wine pairing on December 7th.  Click here for more info.

• Not too far away from Gaffneys, I see there is a new cigar shop on Putnam Street on the other side of Izumi Restaurant.  Check out Adirondack cigar shoppe's web site for info.
• Sometime when I wasn't looking, 13 Caroline became the Caroline Street Pub.  Heck for all I know that's been the case for years.
• Also when I wasn't looking, the Crown Grill became "The Crown Grill at the Circus Cafe".  Back in April, when the Crown Grill first opened, owner Colin McLean told the Saratogian "The Crown Grill will be upscale-casual and will offer guests a separate and distinct dining experience from Circus Café,".  I guess that "separate and distinct" part is out the window.
• Also when I wasn't looking, someone plowed down the old house and motel cottages on Ballston Ave near those white condos abutting the Saratoga Spa Park.  I wonder what the plans for that now open lot are.

• What's going on with that building immediately adjacent to the Best Western on South Broadway?  It's seems like it's been half built - or half rehabbed - for 3 years now.  It looks terrible.  Did somebody run out of money?

• I don't want to put this last because I'd hate to end on a sad note.  I just wanted to say I knew Kyle York a little and I thought he was a very interesting, nice, and intelligent guy. I was very sad to hear about his untimely death. RIP Kyle. 
• Finally, did you catch this opinion piece in the Times Union this past weekend about Las Vegas style casino gambling in Saratoga Springs?  Interesting.  I have mixed feelings on the issue, but I think it's important to point out that someone voting "NO" for a constitutional amendment for Vegas-style casinos in the state, might not necessarily vote "NO" to Vegas-style casinos in their municipality once the electorate of the state has already approved the amendment.  In other words, some could have been against the amendment, but after it passed they might think that since it's going somewhere, it should go to Saratoga.   Just a thought.

Hey everybody have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!  I am a blessed person so I have a lot to be thankful for. 

St. John Neumann residence listed for $1.5 million

As I predicted a while back, the St. John Neumann residence, next to St. Clements Church on Lake Avenue, has been listed for sale for $1.5 million.  John Hart of Remax has the listing, which you can read here.   It's a beautiful building with a lot of beautiful large trees in a park like setting.  Let's hope the city has some protections in place to protect those trees should  a developer wish to remove them.

 

 

Bon Ton Fish Market is kaput; new Albany-based owner will reopen under different name soon

I stopped out to the small strip mall on Rt 50 in Wilton Sunday night only to see this sign below on the door of the former Bon Ton Fish Market. 

 

Employees at neighboring establishments advised me that the Greenwich, CT based Bon Ton, which opened in August of 2012, closed about a week and a half ago.  They further advised that an Albany-based person, whom they didn't know but apparently already sold seafood in some capacity, will reopen a fish market in another name at the same location within about a week.  Meanwhile, Moby Rick's seafood on Lake Avenue seems to be going well, at least based on my recent visit over the weekend.

 

Check out new restaurant 15 Church's new web site and Facebook page

This restaurant, which has been in the works since earlier this year, will make great use of a historic building behind the post office.  The owners and the chef have a great following and I believe this place is going to be special and am in eager anticipation.  You can link 15 Church's web site here and its Facebook page here.

 

New news to me: The Carriage House Inn is for sale

Well just a day after I questioned whether I would have time to blog, it appears I have time for at least some quick entries.  Maybe that's the trick to keeping this old blog fresh as I adjust to my new, and much more important, responsibilities.

So anyway, I was just perusing the real estate listings and I saw that the Carriage House Inn, the beautiful place on South Broadway with 14 rooms, is for sale.  In fact it looks like it has been for sale since July.  A cool $1.7 million, give or take, gets you the deed and keys to this classy property featured in the Youtube video below.  Select Sotheby's has the listing here.