My new blog can be found at http://streetsofstamford.blogspot.com. It’s still kind of rudimentary, but I’ll try to make it pretty as I go.

I owe many thanks to Mr. Stamford for giving me a forum for my first foray into the blogosphere. Mr. S.: As they say in the movies, we’ll always have Trump Parc…

Thanks everybody, and I’ll see you on the streets of Stamford!

JR

Each year it comes it only serves to expedite my search for a way out of this area. It’s like getting a letter directly from the governor saying, “Hey, time to fork over hundreds of dollars that my office can quickly spend on pork projects. Thanks for living here.”  Why can’t the state just slightly increase our income taxes and absorb this annoying fee. It would be a little easier to swallow and less paper work if it were included in our yearly state returns. Another idea is to just roll it into our real estate taxes (since I think a lot of the car tax goes to the city you live in?). This is just one of those taxes that were introduced years ago that will now be impossible to ever appeal.

Can some of these funds at least go to pay for improved service at the DMV? Every visit to the CT DMV has always been a complete and utter nightmare. Where do they find these people who work there? I don’t even want to know how much they are paid and what crazy pensions and benefits they must receive from the state. I receive better service at Burger King.

At least the state has stayed away from adding toll roads. Driving to NJ easily costs $20 now between all of the tolls and bridges.

Living on $900 a month from his police pension, John Braccia had to take a part-time job as a city custodian this summer to stay afloat.

“It got difficult,” said the Stamford man, 66, who retired as a city police officer in 1982 after 15 years on the force.

You only worked for 15 years and you get $900 a month and full health benefits?? You should be counting your blessings instead of complaining. What about the rest of Stamford’s retirees who worked for decades and receive no pension? What about the people who had the insight to actually save in retirement plans for their years after work?

The retired police officers signed a union contract and are getting the pension they were promised…end of story. If the pension is not providing them enough money, it should come as no surprise. They have known about the terms of the contract since they signed up.

So why do the tax payers of Stamford now have to help them out further when the city clearly does not have enough money.

Many of the police officers in this city make six figures and are very well paid. There is no reason they cannot contribute to their pension AND contribute to a retirement/savings account to live off of.

I am sick of people looking for free government hand outs. Yes, thank you for serving our city, but why should the government and the tax payers be responsible for your retirement? You contributed to a pension, the pension has not performed well enough to increase distributions, sorry but that is how it works. You want the tax payers to bail you out for your poor performing pension?

“It’s really a crime,” said Ralph Knapp, president of the Stamford Retired Police Association. “It’s not only a crime to the retirees but to the taxpayers of Stamford.”

Umm…Mr. Knapp, how is it a crime to the taxpayers of Stamford?? A crime that you could not plan for your own retirement?

In 15 years unions and pensions will be a thing of the past. So count your blessings that you even get anything.

I do like how the Mayor came out with a total bull shit answer which basically says f-you:

But Malloy said he supports an increase for retirees.

“I hope that the contract language and the performance of the pension will deliver an increase to them,” he said.

In other words, I will do whatever the city is obligated to do through it’s contract with the union. Fortunately for the city, that means you only get an increase when the pension fund actually performs.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_10162240

http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/76105

The Advocate has some articles today about the light rail study and Harbor Point and the latest in their 5000-part series on the Mill River Park plan. Most of the comments are just pleasant back-and-forth discussions of the pros and cons of each idea, however, each article’s comments also contain at least one blathering rant against all things progress and/or all things Malloy.

Stamford studies return of trolleys

This article is about the $141,000 study on the feasibility of building a light rail system in Stamford. It mentions the benefits as well as problems, and it presents the thoughts of supports and opponents within the city government. On to the comments section:

“You have to do something around here. Stamford is growing and there is no infrastructure to support it. 95 and the Merritt are already overtaxed and clearly cannot have capacity added to them. Any little thing that can get even a few cars of the road will help. Light rail could help, and expanding Metro-North and Shoreline East needs to be part of the equation.” Can’t really argue with this; 95 and the Merritt are clogged and can’t be expanded. Sounds like a reasonable person…then comes this wingnut:

“Stamford is a small to medium sized town/city and can not handle a trolley NOW THAT THE CITY REMOVED ALL RAILS a few years ago - trolley and freight train alike. Three years ago the mayor could not wait to remove the rails, and now HE WANTS THEM BACK AGAIN! Stamford has LOST its population with the outsourcing of jobs and closing down of companies that made Stamford great.” I had no idea the Mayor and city government forced Xerox out, closed Yale and Towne and made Pitney Bowes move its manufacturing out of the city.

“That $175M upgrading of the waster treatment plant is an example, It STILL SMELLS ON MAGEE AVENUE afterwards and WE were told the smells would no longer be there after the upgrading. In the case of Stamford and all the major upgrades wanted to bring in MONEY only, we are a small town and to do what is being voted on blindly would require eliminating the total areas around and in the downtown to re-design Stamford from the ground up.” What the hell does this have to do with anything? Sounds like just another Malloy-hater.

“IF we got the trolley, Who would clean the tracks and roads, WE have NO Public Works as it used to be - road clearing, maintaining sidewalks, repairing the roads and curbing; all that has been privatized to certain companies that do shoddie jobs to say the least - potholes return in three months, curbs disintergrat, etc. No to the trolley as the to put it in would constrick the regular vehicle traffic as the roads can not be widened and made safe for the users. Safety comes of Money!!!” Ignoring the horrendous grammar and spelling, this is just inane. The reason the city struggles with maintenance is that people demand more and more and more, yet they scream for blood if anyone even hints at a .00000000000001% tax increase. I don’t like seeing my taxes go up, but you can’t have it both ways, people.

A future that could mirror the past

Just a nice article about people’s memories of the trolley as it was back in the day (you know, before the Landmark plaza took a literal and figurative crap on Main Street). The only notable comment is this one:

“When I was growing up, Stamford was a great place to live. The trolly was gone , but the tracks were still in place,on West Main Street anyway.Things were in a slower mode. People walked alot and stopped to talk to one another. You hardly see that any more.In my opinion, Stamford was better then than it is now.” Another person who longs for “the good old days.” I guess they conveniently forgot about that little period called the 1980s where downtown was desolate except for the crackheads and hookers.

Harbor Point takes shape

Another article about Harbor Point. No real news, no interesting comments.

Mill River restoration stays afloat

Must be a slow news cycle, because it’s time for your daily dose of Mill River Park news! Nothing new here, but the same ranter from the light rail article, Wally from Stamford, goes off again about how HORRIBLE this whole thing is. The odd thing is, the side bar to his comments says he’s in Redding. His comments:

“I grew up near Woodside Park, now Scalzi, and know what happened in 1995 through the mid-60’s with this river.” Yes…? What happened??

“The River itself has not been dredged since atleast the early 70’s and has been left to rot and turn into a junkyard in general.” THIS IS WHY THEY WANT TO DEMOLISH THE DAMN DAM. Do these people not get it? I think they don’t want to get it, because then they’d have nothing to scream about.

“It is about time Stamford realizes WE ARE NOT “NEW YORK CITY” with so much park land to play with; we are a small town that needs to retain its own image - which by the way has drawn all these New Yorkers into Stamford itself - for the next generation to enjoy.” ENOUGH with the “We are not a mini-New York” crap. Stamford is a city, and pretty much the only nice one in Connecticut. If you want to live in a small city, then move to Waterbury or Meriden. Enjoy the nightlife there.

“If the Zoning Board goes along with this project, then we Know Why the Trump Parc was allowed to be built where it is. IT is all about IMAGE, but who’s - the cities or the city governments???” Here’s a thought: Maybe Trump Parc is being built there because there’s no overwhelming reason why it shouldn’t be.

This is from a different person:
“The town growth is long out of control, which is one of the many reasons I have recently moved out of state.” Growth is out of control? So they should’ve stopped at Hoyt Street and left the rest of the city as farmland? What century is this??

“How quickly Trump got his building up, while other areas seemed more suitable, South End, etc.,” Yes, attack Trump again. That’s original. By the way, the South End IS being redeveloped.

“Notice driving down West Broad St from the hospital or down High Ridge Rd from Lord & Taylors’s, what does one see……….It’s a travesty.” What’s a travesty about West Broad Street? It’s kind of run down, but there are some new developments over there. And what’s wrong with High Ridge Road? Nobody loves strip malls, but would anyone live along a major four-lane road if it were residential??

“But unfortunately, the voices of the minority (Real Stamfordites go unheard.” No, they are heard…right here on the Topix pages. I need a drink.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_9969840

“Four Greenwich teenagers were arrested last night after officers found flat-screen televisions in two different cars, both allegedly robbed from Sportsplex, a fitness club on Brownhouse Road, city police said.”

Can’t their teenagers stick to vandilising Greenwhich?

Here’s a rundown of the top “dead spots” in Downtown Stamford:

City Place

I’d be pissed if I had bought a luxury condo at the corner of Washington Boulevard and North Street, gone away to the south of France for three years expecting to return to my new digs, and come back to THIS:

Well, the upside is that you’ve got valet parking…

…and grocery delivery:

Broad Street, down the block from 122 Pizza Bistro

This corner has been empty for a loooong time, and Blog Stamford found an apparently dead proposal for it. It’s odd that this lot has sat for so long considering it has a huge parking lot already in place, plus great exposure on Broad Street. Maybe the McDonald’s crowd scares off any potential developers.

Broad Street, on the corner of Broad and Greyrock

How can Stamford have matching empty lots on one of its busiest downtown thoroughfares? Maybe that traffic cop knows the reason. Or maybe the “coming soon to this location” sign can tell me.

OH MY GOD, THEY TURNED HIM INTO A ROBOT! AND THEY STOLE THE “COMING SOON” SIGN!!!!

(Editor’s note: The coming soon sign used to have a rendering of a nice mixed-use building in, what else, gray and red brick.)

The west side of Washington Blvd., between Main Street and Park Place

This is the big grassy lot across from Trump Parc and the new Aria restaurant. I believe they razed some houses and small buildings here, but nothing has gone up in their place. I also read somewhere that this is intended to become part of the Mill River Park eventually.

Here’s a shot of the back side of Whittaker Place, a strange little street with one house on it that runs through the empty area and ends right next to the Mill River Styx.

Another shot from the other side of the empty lot. Looks like business is booming for Robert S. Weiss & Company.

Greyrock & Main Street, next to the AT&T building

The good news: this tiny parcel of land next to the mall sits quietly awaiting its rebirth as THE LUXE!

The bad news: it’s on the same block as…

THE HOLE

I’m not a fan of using eminent domain outside of transportation or other clearly public purposes, but is there some solution to this problem? Can the city and/or state create some sort of incentive package to get the owners to either develop this site or sell it?

It pisses me off that most of the owners of these sites are sitting on them and collecting their tax write-offs while they wait for their neighbors to improve their real estate values.

Honorable Mention

The west side of Bedford Street

I know we’ve griped about this at length, but the empty stretch of stores on Bedford Street is disheartening, embarrassing and just awful. I applaud the owner for wanting to attract high-end retail, especially in the shadow of the mall, but it’s been at least two years since the food market closed and at least a year since Temple closed. Get something in there, for cryin’ out loud!

The east side of Atlantic Street, south of Broad

I hate how the mall not only set local and mom-n-pop businesses back 20 years, but also how the whole Landmark monolith killed Main Street and Atlantic Street. And our veterans would be disgusted if they saw how trashed Veterans’ Park is.

It’s not the biggest picture, but Atlantic used to look like this:
It’s a typical 1950’s downtown, with Billy & Susie going to the local department store with Mom to buy school supplies. Then along came the big, ugly, brown turd that is the Stamford Town Center and Landmark Square, and now the block looks like this:

Of course the Palace is amazing, and there are some great restaurants (mmm…Galangal) and other spots, but overall, this stretch of Atlantic doesn’t even come close to Bedford and Summer.

Well, that’s my list of the lowlights of Downtown Stamford. Did I miss any? Any disputes with my gripes?

Living and loving the C-T-Dub,
JR

Right in the middle of an economic downturn, local service providers seem to have no interest in taking my business.

Driveway - I have called two local companies to provide an estimate repaving my driveway. Both came to meet with me, both very pleasant, and then left and never called me back with an estimate. Phone calls back to them go unanswered. Another service provider provides an estimate but then falls off the face of the earth.

Roofing - I have about a 300sq foot section of roof which needs to be replaced. I received 1 (overpriced) estimate to fix the roof and all other companies never call me back to set up a time to meet. Roofing companies seemed to be against using answering machines or cell phones.

Tree Service - I need one single dead tree removed on my property and can have the wood left on the spot. First service provider comes out, is very professional and provides an estimate for $2000. Second provider comes out and provides an estimate for $700. I approve the $700 estimate and ask when they can come out. He responds that Tuesday of last week will work great. Tuesday rolls around, the guy never shows up or calls.

Microwave Repair - I drop off my microwave to be repaired at an unamed local repair shop…it takes me two weeks to have someone return my calls to find out the status of the problem and approve the repair costs.

What is with these people? For all three of these jobs I cannot tell you how many people I called and never get any type of response back from. Even when I tell them I want to pay them for their work, they dont care and never provide their services. I think I need a full time assistant who does nothing but call local businesses for repair services. I cannot imagine an instance at my work were a customer would call with an order and I would choose to ignore it. Are Stamford businesses doing so well that they can be this selective?

A lot of people may say “you get what you pay for”, but I feel like I am calling on the most reputable busineeses in the area. My latest trick is going with people who advertise on the bulletin boards in supermarkets, if the have the drive to do gurellia marketing, I hope they will at least return my call

The Advocate website has the latest article in their 5000-part series about the EVIL DECEPTICON DESTRUCTION of the cherry trees in Mill River Park. There’s nothing new in the article, just like there’s nothing new in the inane comments posted below it; it’s just the same usual blathering about “How dare they destroy Stamford’s heritage??”, “This will only benefit people in the Trump building,” and “Why do they keep trying to make Stamford into a mini New York?” (A stupid phrase that Blog Stamford railed against.)

Some highlights, followed by my comments:

“More and more Stamford natives are leaving their hometown because of the urban spread which continues even after people attend meetings and are opposed to it.” Urban spread? They’re building on brownfields and empty lots, not spreading out!

“There are ways to keep our city from getting more and more traffic due to the high-rise building sprouting up all over Stamford.” WRONG! High-density development will decrease traffic. Sheesh.

“The only one benefitting from this mess is the Real Estate crews and contractors that the City always hires to mess things up.” Um…how about the people who will enjoy a revitalized Mill River Park? Some people just have to make everything sound like a plot to put money in politicians’ friends’ pockets.

“I have yet to hear a reason why a world class, ecologically sound park centrally located in the center of the city is a worse alternative to a poorly maintained pocket park lining a concrete pond that is a vestige of a no longer relevant industrial past.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.