Latest news with #Press-Republican
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Plattsburgh awarded $405K Restore New York grant
PLATTSBURGH — A redevelopment project at 5500 Peru St. in the City of Plattsburgh was recently awarded a $405,000 state grant. The project will include the rehabilitation of a former recording studio called Wayward Sound Studio into an active mixed-use property that includes 4,300 square feet of commercial space and two affordable apartments. As previously reported by the Press-Republican, Wayward Enterprises LLC, run by James Ward of Plattsburgh, is the owner of the property at 5500 Peru Street. Ward spoke to city councilors late last year to advocate for the project. He said floor plan for the building at 5500 Peru Street has two 2,100-square-foot apartment units on the second floor of the building with plans for a possible business on the first floor. The plan was for each apartment to have three bedrooms and two baths, he said in December of 2024, however, Ward acknowledged the plans may change if and when the project gets closer to the engineering and design phase. 'I think it's awesome,' Mayor Wendell Hughes said about the city receiving the grant. 'To have … some state money come in and help us out is amazing.' The funding is from the state's Restore New York grant program, which 'supports municipal revitalization efforts with funds to help remove and reduce blight, reinvigorate communities and generate new residential and economic opportunities statewide.' According to the state, the program, administered by Empire State Development, is designed to help local governments encourage new commercial investments through community revitalization, growing local housing and putting properties back on the tax rolls to increase the local tax base. 'Being added to the tax base in the city is a good thing,' Hughes said. The city's $405,000 grant was part of more than $50 million awarded to 50 projects through the State's Restore New York Communities Initiative, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week. 'Revitalizing and rehabilitating vacant and blighted areas of our communities for housing or development is vital to make downtowns thrive,' Hochul said in a news release. 'Restore New York helps our municipalities plan for the future by catalyzing economic growth and supporting housing, businesses and cultural spaces. We are further unlocking the potential of these sites and communities across New York.' The city being chosen for the Restore New York grant seemingly bodes well for future applications. It's a 'step in the right direction,' Hughes said. He said he is now hopeful this award could open up the possibility of bigger projects getting funding down the road. 'That's the hope,' he said. 'I'd like to get a bigger project maybe next time. But again … It's amazing that we won and we were chosen over a lot of other places that didn't get it. So it's exciting for the City of Plattsburgh.'
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds rally for "Hands Off"
PLATTSBURGH — Mary Gillen is afraid. Standing, umbrella in hand, at the 'Hands Off' protest in Plattsburgh Saturday, Gillen described the fear that drove her to brave the rough weather and turn out that day. 'I am afraid that my granddaughter will grow up in a world where she has no rights and I'm afraid my son will fight in a war against a country who were once our allies,' she said. 'I am truly afraid of everything we have stood for being dismantled.' 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS STILL ALIVE' Gillen was one of hundreds who gathered in Plattsburgh and one of thousands who gathered in more than 1,200 demonstrations around the country Saturday as part of the 'Hands Off' effort protesting the actions of President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk. The Plattsburgh protest was organized by Show Up Plattsburgh, a group that has organized other rallies and community service efforts locally. Show Up Plattsburgh founder Jesse Murnane told the Press-Republican that the gathering Saturday was 'a reminder that our freedom of speech is still alive and exercising our rights to do so is important.' 'It allows a safe place for people who are frustrated with the dismantling of federal policies and destruction of international relationships to come together and network,' Murnane said. Murnane gave a count of roughly 850 people in attendance according to an overhead drone photo count. 'SOMETHING I CAN DO' Protest signs at the Plattsburgh rally called out a range of issues including the deportation of immigrants, the Trump Administration's tariff policies and the efforts of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Others voiced more general concerns over freedom, liberty and democracy with many branding Trump a fascist leader. Attendee Steven Engelhart said he attended because he is 'horrified' of the direction he sees the government moving under the current administration. Protestor Dan Yokum agreed. 'I am afraid for the future of our country, the present and the future,' Yokum said. For some, the protest was an opportunity to have a feeling of doing something about the current political climate. 'It feels like there has been a lot of bad stuff going on, and I thought there isn't much I can do alone, but this is at least something I can do,' attendee Emily Powers said. Many were surprised but happy with the level of participation despite the rain. 'It is wonderful to see so many people here and the fact they are all here in this weather says something about how they feel about what's going on in the government and that they care about democracy,' Gillen said. For attendee Bill McDowell, the amount of people at the protest is a testament to how people in the North Country feel. 'It shows that people in the North Country care about the future,' he said. ENSURING PROTECTIONS Beyond protesting national political issues, Murnane said the rally was intended to show a message to local politicians of constituents' concerns over such issues affecting their communities in the North Country. 'I continue to focus on Show Up being a positive but strong reminder to our politicians locally that we have to pay attention to the issues coming our way and we need leaders to ensure protections or resources are available to our most vulnerable neighbors,' Murnane said. Murnane said that she was pleased to see the turnout despite the poor weather. 'I was approached by young, vibrant attendees asking how they can get involved. This means, in my eyes, the rally was a success.'
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Constantino believes he has the right stuff to run in NY-21
PLATTSBURGH — Anthony Constantino is running for the NY-21 Congressional seat because he wants the 'best possible people in government.' 'I just like solving problems,' Constantino told the Press-Republican in a recent sit-down interview. 'I said (to myself) I'd be able to solve much bigger problems in this role and I'd … be one of the more talented people that'd be available for the job.' Constantino, 42, is a Republican from Amsterdam. He's the CEO of StickerMule there, a distributing company of 1,200 employees and growing. He is hoping the Republican Committee chooses him as the nominee for the NY-21 Special Election when it eventually occurs. The NY-21 seat is being vacated by long-time Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who was nominated by President Donald Trump for the role of United Nations Ambassador. The Senate is expected to vote on her confirmation this week. If confirmed, Stefanik will resign as congresswoman and Gov. Kathy Hochul will have 10 days to declare a special election. As the current law states, that election must happen within 70 to 80 days after that. 'READY FOR WHATEVER' But it could be delayed until the date of a primary in late June. 'I'm ready for whatever, and I'm already putting every bit of infrastructure in place to effectively campaign once I get the nomination,' Constantino said. 'I already started running ads in the district.' Constantino said if nominated and then elected, the experience of running StickerMule will undoubtedly help him learn how to manage the NY-21's large geographical size, which includes Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Hamilton, Essex, Warren, Washington, Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Schoharie and parts of Jefferson, Rensselaer and Otsego Counties. 'I know how to build massive, distributed organizations, and I think I can get the district connected and working together as a team very effectively so that people are made aware of issues more effectively, and issues are addressed more effectively,' he said. 'The way the district communicates right now is not so effective — it could be a lot better. But I have a massive organization, it's spread out all over the place and I know how to get a large organization that's distributed, working together effectively and different people being heard, which is something we need in this district … There's different problems (everywhere) and everybody needs to be heard.' An example of this already, he said, is that he services millions of customers at StickerMule, gets 5,000 to 10,000 emails a day and each one gets answered. 'I'm actually really excited about the aspect of servicing the constituents, giving them a way to get in touch with me effectively, and getting them effective responses,' he said. 'I know how to do that at scale, through my business, and I want to bring that skill set to the district. Obviously, I want to make the case that people can get more done remotely than face to face. The district's so big …' If elected to the seat being vacated by Stefanik, he said he will do his best to work with the president to get stuff done for the North Country. BORDER SECURITY He said one of the biggest issues facing the district is the Northern border and ensuring it's secure. He said he will be NY-21's biggest advocate. 'Border security doesn't just protect the United States of America. It's protecting the immigrants as well. What Democrats are doing with regards to open borders, it's cruel all around. It's hurting America, because on the Northern border, we have people coming to bring terrorism and drugs and crime,' Constantino said. 'It's hurting America, but it's also hurting these immigrants that they buy these plane tickets, they save up all their money, and they buy these plane tickets and they cross and some of them freeze to death, and they end up dead in people's backyards, and that's very cruel. It needs to stop. and I don't think anyone will be better than me about advocating to put an end to that, working with the president on that issue and making people aware it's bad all around.' INTERNET ACCESS Increasing cell service and internet in the most rural areas of the district will also be a top priority for Constantino. 'I built an incredible company because I had access to the internet … You can build massive companies from anywhere in the world now if you have an internet connection. But in order to enjoy the internet economy, you need an internet connection,' he said. 'And in far too many parts of the district, we don't have high speed internet. You need not just internet, you need fast internet. So we need to bring high speed internet to the district and also cell service … I've experienced it myself. My phone drops all the time and somebody said to me that it's a safety issue. I said: well, it is a safety issue, because you can't call 911, but it's also an economic issue because you can't conduct your business if the calls are dropping.' TRUMP SUPPORTER Constantino is also a staunch supporter of President Trump and held several rallies in support of him leading up to the 2024 Election. He said he flipped many Democratic votes into Republican votes during those events. He said during that process, he effectively marketed Trump's campaign and knows he can market himself better than any other candidate could as well. Constantino said he has 'finite resources' to campaign. This is part of the reason why he believes the Republican county chairs will choose him as the nominee. 'In my short amount of time in politics, I'm already outperforming … I also put $2.6 million in my campaign account — my own money,' he said. 'No one else put up money like I put up money — $2.6 (million) is a big number — and I want to use all my talent and resources to help steer New York in the right direction, to help build the Republican Party. I think in the event I get this seat, we're going to be able to do something really incredible. I think things are going to change really quickly and … I'm going to bring a lot of organization and excitement to the Republican Party … I'm going to build a massive organization that's going to help the party not only maintain this seat, but win other seats.'
