The Rogovoy Report 10.2.23

From around the corner to around the globe...

Oct 01, 2023

You are receiving this ad-free, reader-supported email newsletter because you are subscribed to The Rogovoy Report, a twice-weekly digest of news and cultural happenings, mostly in the greater Berkshires and Hudson Valley region. You may also receive Everything Is Broken, a once-weekly, sibling e-newsletter featuring original writing by yours truly. Thank you so very much for your interest and support.

REQUIRED READING

New York City Is Not Built for This

(The Atlantic) - New York City’s sewer system is built for the rain of the past — when a notable storm might have meant 1.75 inches of water an hour. It wasn’t built to handle the rainfall from Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy, or, more recently, Hurricane Ida — which dumped 3.15 inches an hour on Central Park. And it wasn’t built to handle the kind of extreme rainfall that is becoming routine: The city flooded last December, last April, and last July—an unusual seasonal span. “We now have in New York something much more like a tropical-rainfall pattern,” Rohit Aggarwala, New York City’s environmental-protection commissioner, said. “And it happens over and over again.” Less than 24 hours after Aggarwala’s statements, rain arrived in New York City — the kind that sends waterfalls through Brooklyn subway ceilings, dangerously floods basements, and floats cars on the road like rubber ducks.

READ MORE:

The quiet revolution of the Sabbath (New Yorker)

Working from home now has another powerful benefit (WaPo)

No, I don’t want to go for a walk with you (NYT)

Trump floats the idea of executing Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley (The Atlantic)

Donald Trump is going to get someone killed (Lucian Truscott)

How the mainstream media completely missed the story when reporting on Trump's visit to the South Carolina gun store (Lucian Truscott)

The lobby/lounge at the Life House, Berkshires hotel. The former Days Inn describes itself as "A reimagined 1970s lodge." (Photo Christopher Muther/Globe Staff)

Two Berkshires Motor Inns Have Been Reinvented as Chic Hotels, But Are They Worth the Chic Price?

(Boston Globe) LENOX, Mass. - Let’s start this story with a cliché because everyone loves a trite turn of phrase. It goes like this: You only get one chance to make a first impression. The saying came to mind because both Life House, Berkshires hotel in Lenox and the Blue Vista Motor Lodge in Florida (that’s Florida, Mass., the one without alligators) made a good first impression when I spent a gorgeous late summer weekend in the Berkshires. But only one of these recently refreshed hotels delivered. The other, sadly, didn’t live up to the hype or even promised services.

Blackinton Mill Owners: Delays Put $17M North Adams Hotel Project in Peril

(iBerkshires) NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - The $17 million expansion plans for the Blackinton Mill are tripping over a 10-foot high pile of hides that has been decaying for 60 years. The partnership that operates Tourists resort says the whole project — including a proposed bike path — is in danger of failing before it even begins if a November grant deadline to clean up the mess isn’t met. But Mayor Jennifer Macksey says more testing is needed before the city takes control of the one-acre site and is positing a February closing date.

READ MORE:

Adams Theater owner Yina Moore hosts ‘hard launch’ of new hotel, The Trail in Adams (Berkshire Eagle)

Adams cannabis dispensary owner facing stalking, assault charges in Vermont (iBerkshires)

Miss Adams Diner auctioned off for $80K (iBerkshires)

Olde Heritage Tavern has been seized by U.S. Marshals. Will the popular Lenox business stay open for business? (B Eagle)

Downtown business owners -- “angry, tired, frustrated, scared” -- seek North Street solutions from Pittsfield mayoral candidates (B Eagle)

Mural of man shot to death by Pittsfield police unveiled (WAMC)

Pittsfield resident, target of neighbor’s ire, complains about “the American monomyth that is the lawn feud” and predicts he won’t survive arrest, saying, “Our hallowed tradition of threatening people’s lives and livelihood to establish the legal right of every white person to live on a golf course is absolutely the stupidest thing about American culture, and it makes us look like unhinged psychos to the rest of the world.” (WAMC)

Initial price tag for Wahconah Park renovation is $30M (B Eagle)

Customers urge DPU to reject Housatonic Water Works rate hike (Berkshire Edge)

A storyteller, a farmer and a chef met at graduate school in Rome. Now, they run a mini farm in Great Barrington (B Eagle)

Bakin’ Bakery in Sheffield put up for sale (B Edge)

Owners of the Monterey General Store say they want to ditch the ‘old general store model’ and instead create ‘a destination’ (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

The Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition, a housing advocacy group, says it is losing its office space after its landlord, Foreland, requested a rent increase of 137.5 percent. (photo Maria M. Silva / ATU)

Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition to Leave Foreland Amid Rent Dispute

(ATU) CATSKILL, N.Y. - The Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition was founded in June 2020 to provide education about tenants’ rights and housing justice. Three years later, the organization says it’s experiencing the same fate as many of its clients: it is being priced out by a rent hike. The housing coalition has rented office space at 361 Main St. since the summer of 2020. But since November 2020, its landlord has been Stef Halmos, the founder and executive director of the arts complex Foreland, which officially opened at 361 Main St. in August 2021. On May 1, with HCHC’s current lease due to expire in August, Halmos informed the coalition by email that its $400 rent would rise to $950. The 137-percent increase was untenable for the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition, a Black-led nonprofit that also has offices in Hudson.

READ MORE:

Galvan’s ‘Depot District’ in Hudson lacks funding for low-income housing (GoR)

Hudson’s Pocketbook Factory developers eyeing purchase of Wick Hotel (GoR)

County exec: 401 State St. in Hudson not for sale (HV360)

Kitty's developer Ben Fain purchases historic but neglected Robert Taylor House in Hudson (GoR)

Colarusso awarded $4.6M Ferry Street Bridge contract. Company has filed two lawsuits against city in recent years. Hudson police commissioner quits day after contract awarded. (HV360)

Hey, did you like this edition of The Rogovoy Report? If so, please consider clicking on the “LIKE” button at the very end of this message. It matters to the gods of Substack.

The Rogovoy Report