The Rogovoy Report 8.5.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

Aug 04, 2024

When Yuppies Ruled

(New Yorker) - In 1979, an article by Blake Fleetwood in the Times Magazine reported a surprising phenomenon: young people were moving to big cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. This was news because America’s metropolises, New York especially, had been given up for dead, gutted by white flight, a deteriorating economic base, and financial mismanagement. In the nineteen-seventies, New York had lost eight hundred thousand people, ten per cent of its population. Yet the evidence suggested, Fleetwood wrote, “that the New York of the 80’s and 90’s will no longer be a magnet for the poor and the homeless, but a city primarily for the ambitious and educated — an urban elite.” It was an uncannily accurate call. Those “ambitious and educated” gentrifiers were the young urban professionals, the yuppies.

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Why I hate Instagram now, by Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic)

In Search of the Backbeat: The Rolling Stones' new drummer, Steve Jordan (The Nation)

The art of the do-nothing vacation (WaPo)

FASCIST TAKEOVER WATCH:

Trump Says Americans ‘Won’t Have to Vote Anymore’ If He Wins

(The Atlantic) - Donald Trump told a group of supporters that they won’t have to vote again if they elect him to the presidency. “You won’t have to do it anymore,” Trump said at the Turning Point Believers’ Summit in Florida. “It’ll be fixed; it’ll be fine; you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.” Trump’s remarks represent an extraordinary departure from democratic norms in the United States — rarely, if ever, has a major party’s presidential candidate directly stated his aim to make elections meaningless, a notorious hallmark of autocracy.

What can a city do when neo-Nazis start marching down its streets? (NYT)

A warning from history, by Jeremy Yudkin (Berkshire Eagle)

ABC host reportedly received death threats after Trump interview (The Guardian)

Trump calls union leader who endorsed Kamala Harris ‘stupid’ (The Guardian)

The coming Lawyer Wars over the certification of this election (Lucian Truscott Newsletter)

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Publisher’s Weekly Hails Rogovoy’s Upcoming George Harrison Book

(Publisher's Weekly) - Last week saw the first review of Seth Rogovoy’s upcoming George Harrison book -- Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison from Oxford University Press -- in Publisher’s Weekly. The trade journal called the book about the former member of the Beatles “a boisterous celebration of George Harrison,” featuring “astute analysis of Harrison’s musical evolution and delightful turns of phrase,” saying “this loving ode will captivate Harrison’s fans.” The book itself doesn’t publish until October 1, but it is currently available for pre-order from your local, independent bookseller or from all the major online retailers.

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From Jaws to Star Wars, John Williams’s memorable and masterful film scores (NEPM)

REVIEW: In ‘Pamela Palmer’ at Williamstown Theatre Festival, a blonde, a gumshoe and an existential mystery (NYT)

REVIEW: World-premiere ‘Forgiveness’ is stellar at Barrington Stage (ATU)

Sandisfield-based Benjamin Luxon, rich baritone thwarted by hearing loss, dies at 87 (NYT)

Meshell Ndegeocello, formerly of Hudson, could have had stardom but chose music instead (NYT)

American Modern Opera Company brings ‘zany’ opera charting 300 years of Roman history to The Clark (Berkshire Eagle)

Pamela Z plans to fill The Foundry with her signature vocal gymnastics and electronic sounds (B Eagle)

Ukraine-born Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska set to make her Tanglewood debut (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

At 25, MASS MoCA Has Secured Its Place in Contemporary Art. But Has It Lifted Up North Adams?

(Boston Globe) NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - MASS MoCA opened in 1999 in the old Sprague Electric Co. factory complex with a two-fold promise: It would bring world-class contemporary art to the Berkshires while also leading an economic revival in this faded factory town. MASS MoCA has delivered on its artistic promise. It now ranks among the largest contemporary art museums in the country. Now, after 25 years of odds-defying expansion, MASS MoCA is at a crossroads. The campus still has numerous buildings that could be developed. But instead of expanding the museum’s footprint, director Kristy Edmunds is seeking to usher in a new era of sustainability, stabilizing MASS MoCA’s finances, making its campus more environmentally friendly, and delivering more fully on its economic promise to the city — all while maintaining the museum’s freewheeling spirit.

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Firm chosen to lead study on ‘reconnecting’ North Adams, charged with providing options for addressing the failing overpass to create a more connected and thriving downtown (iBerkshires)

Army Corps of Engineers to recommend modernizing North Adams's flood chute system (Berkshire Eagle)

Amid ongoing sexual abuse investigations, longtime dean at Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield abruptly resigns (WAMC)

Candidates for 3rd Berkshire State House seat make their case to voters at public forum (WAMC)

North Adams Regional Hospital finally receives Critical Access Hospital designation (iBerkshires)

Housatonic Water Works annual report reveals yet another salary increase for beleaguered water company’s owners (Berkshire Edge)

State Dept of Public Utilities approves Housatonic Water Works 90 percent rate increase request (B Edge)

Town is weighing whether it can fight the rate hike approved for Housatonic Water Works customers (B Eagle)

The state is chopping 275 acres of forest and using herbicide near a drinking water source in Mount Washington (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Graves for young women, girls and infants who died while detained at the New York House of Refuge for women and the New York State Training School for Girls, which operated on this Hudson, N.Y., property between 1887 and 1975. (photo Dani Smith/courtesy Incorrigibles)

In Rare Memorial Service, Graveside Tribute Paid to New York’s Formerly Incarcerated Girls

(The Imprint) HUDSON, N.Y. - Over the past century, towering red cedars have watched over a hidden cluster of narrow, aging gravestones in upstate New York — a buzzing cicada or the occasional groundskeeper among the few visitors. But something unexpected happened Monday in this wooded cemetery for girls and infants, tucked on the sprawling property of what is now a men’s prison. Mourners gathered to leave white roses on more than a dozen long-neglected and unadorned graves of teens sent away to be locked up, often for minor transgressions. Dozens of attendees listened to speeches, prayer and verse, and watched an interpretive dance to honor the young people. Generations ago, they were cast off and incarcerated, maligned under obscure statutes defining them as “incorrigible” for behavior viewed as inexcusable at the time, such as “sexual transgressions.” Many were sent from around the state to the small town of Hudson for being a victim of their parents’ abuse. New York City-based artist Alison Cornyn has spent the past decade researching and documenting the lives of the so-called “incorrigible girls” whose remains can be found on the site that now houses the Hudson Correctional Facility for men.

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NYS reparations commission begins year-long study of slavery's impact (ATU)

State designates Hudson a ‘pro-housing community’ (GoR)

National Night Out -- intended to build ties between citizenry and local police - coming to Hudson riverfront (HV360)

Hudson considering lowering citywide speed limit to 25mph (GoR)

Plans revealed for restoration of Hudson’s Public Square (GoR)

Catskill music teacher at center of tape incident fined $1,000 (ATU)

Dia Beacon architects redesigning Philmont’s waterfront, downtown (ATU)

New section of Rail Trail opens in Copake (HV360)

Saugerties celebrates 30th anniversary of Woodstock ‘94 with concert, festival (Daily Freeman)

Bard graduate released as part of Russian prisoner swap (ATU)

Equal rights amendment to appear on NYS ballot this November (HV360)

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