What's old đśââď¸ is new again (neon visor not required)
BUT FIRST: Jason Golub scores a redo. City Council meeting recap. Opera in the news.
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Code Blue and animal care: City Council highlights, from Tuesdayâs meeting
Quick recap of Tuesdayâs meeting, together with Saratoga Civic Pulse.
Public hearing re: lowering speeds school speed limits outside the tax district (think Saratoga Springs High School zone on West Avenue) from 30 mph to 25 mph will remain open until the next meeting, March 3.
Code Blue update, via Supervisor Sarah Burger: 196 unique individuals have used the shelter this season; the current capacity is 75 beds. The County Board of Supervisors will vote on March 11 to declare lead agency status for the proposed permanent Code Blue shelter on Ballston Avenue.
The mayorâs department honored City Attorney Anthony âTonyâ Izzo for 40 years of service to the City of Saratoga SpringsâŚand reappointed Amy Bloom and Eden Compton to the Arts Commission.
The finance department reported that the bank accounts are reconciled through 2025 â excluding the General Fund, which is undergoing a detailed transaction review.
The public safety department authorized money to the Capital District Veterinary Referral Hospital for emergency care of a malnourished stray dog â and a contract was authorized for the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital for the Mounted Police Unit.
For more details, please visit Saratoga Civic Pulse.
Speaking of our City CouncilâŚ
Theyâre going to need a redo on their vote regarding former Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub and the legal fees he incurred while fighting a 2024 official misconduct charge, reports Melanie Snyder in the Daily Gazette. The Council voted 3-1 last August to decline paying his criminal defense costs (a staggering $47,270.97) after the charge was dismissed. But on Wednesday, State Supreme Court Justice Richard A. Kupferman granted the lawsuit. âThe ball,â writes the outlet, âis back in the cityâs court.â
âŚand speaking of Opera Saratoga alum
Did you know that Golub served on the Board of Opera Saratoga before he was tapped by the governor for a state role? Two other OS alum made the news this week â and deserve a massive round of applause. Sopranos Shannon Crowley and ShelĂŠn Hughes Camacho were named national semi-finalists in the Metropolitan Operaâs storied Laffont Competition. Crowley was a Festival Artist with our local company (the Capital Regionâs only professional opera company) in 2023, and Camacho brought the house down as Musetta in Decemberâs first-ever holiday show, La bohème â and returns this summer to star in The Elixir of Love. They will compete Sunday, March 15 onstage at the Met.
The âweekend vibesâ Dish Saratoga (think foodie news and other lighter fare) will be delivered on Sunday.
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Whatâs old đśââď¸ is new again (neon visor not required)
Step-counting with a touch of nostalgia: why âmall walkingâ is cool again (yes, really)
I love a sedate mall walk. No, Iâm not pumping my arms and walking as fast as I would if I were late for meeting. (Although many of my fellow striders are).
Instead, Iâm catching up with friends, or keeping myself busy while my teenage children and their friends cavort in the arcade, peruse the lotions and potions at Ulta, hit me up for cash to buy cookies at Saratoga Dessert Bar, all at the conveniently located Wilton Mall. (And I can hit up BJâs and Target after too!)
Iâm not alone.
This relatively brutal winter has stirred up some major cabin fever among Saratogians, who (anecdotally anyway) have really hit the mall in force this year, tying up their sneakers for laps with friends. Who can blame them: no ice, even surfaces, people to socialize with â plus coffee and cookie opportunities and a touch of nostalgia.
âMall walkingâ is officially trending in the 12866.
âThe temperature is a big win,â says devoted strider Christa Hyland, who was chaperoning a trio of kids, returning things and shopping at Old Navy, reviewing requests for Noobiesâall while hanging out with her own friends and racking up those steps.
âPlus, you get your dose of Vitamin D,â says Laura Tilton, pointing to the skylights.
Not everyone is ready to drink the mall walk Kool-Aid though. My father, a longtime member of the AARP, asked me: âIsnât it for old people? I mean mall walking? Really?â
Yes Chris, really.
Heâs right to be skeptical. Mall walking has been a national trend for a few years, stemming from Gen Zâs love for social workout trends â and throwbacks. So yes, mall walking is old. But nostalgia is in, and in Upstate New York it became a necessity, too, thanks to this epic cold snap inspiring a new crop of walkers ready to hit the mall like itâs 1985.
Like my dad, Dan De Federicis, a former New York State trooper and publisher of the Saratoga Report, is also unmoved by the charms of the mall walk.
âI did it once, and that was enough,â he says. âMy daughter was in a cheerleading class, so I said, âWhy not get some exercise?â My knees are now screaming in pain. Maybe I wasnât wearing the right shoes. My friends love it, but itâs not for me.â
Iâm on Danâs friendsâ side.
For me, I get gossip, mom points and a climate-controlled, safe and even environment sans ice. The thought, âWill I break a hip?â never enters my addled, perimenopausal mind. And I can reward myself with a cookie at the end.
I will admit though: I look forward to the timeâseemingly many many weeks into the futureâwhen the snow will melt, and I can walk outside without fear of hitting the deck, or the 20-minute project of bundling up.
đ ICYMIâŚ
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