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Schenectady County SummerNight scrubbed again this year | The Daily Gazette SECTIONS Shares0 SCHENECTADY – Schenectady County SummerNight is a no-go this year. It’s the second year in a row the event hasn’t been held because of the pandemic. The block party started 16 years ago and is typically held sometime in mid-July, drawing upwards of 20,000 people to downtown Schenectady for an evening of live music, food and family-friendly activities. The event has grown over the years to feature not only local bands but also national acts on several stages, as well as a kids zone and a Schenectady County Battle of the Bands.
Live music returning to Scotia’s Freedom Park | The Daily Gazette SECTIONS Shares0 GAZETTE COVERAGE Kicking off on Wednesday, June 23, the Freedom Park Summer Concert Series will feature biweekly in-person concerts through Aug. 28. “After 2020’s completely virtual season, we couldn’t be more excited to be live and back on the park stage this year,” said Cathy Gatta, the president of the Freedom Park Foundation. To bring back in-person shows, organizers will rearrange seating, sectioning off pods of about 10 feet each, so that attendees can socially distance themselves from other groups. At this point, New York State allows up to 500 attendees at outdoor concerts without the venues having to check for vaccination or COVID-19 testing, said Gatta. “We are hoping the restrictions keep loosening as we go through the summer, but at this point, we’ll take what we can get.”
Hot Capital Region housing market boosts mortgage tax revenue | The Daily Gazette SECTIONS The continuation of lower mortgage interest rates and fewer homes for sale on the market means properties are going for above-asking value, leading to higher mortgage tax distribution in the county. Add that to people refinancing their homes for various reasons and the county has seen an increase in the mortgage tax it collected for the period of October 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 compared to the same time period for 2019 to 2020. The increase means a larger distribution to municipalities in the county, which the Legislature voted 13-0 to distribute Tuesday evening during its monthly meeting. Legislators Brian McGarry and Cathy Gatta were not present at the vote.
Schenectady County Public Libraries to stay open longer starting Monday | The Daily Gazette SECTIONS GAZETTE COVERAGE The move comes as in-person capacity has increased to 50% and both the county’s and state’s positivity rates remain low. “Positivity rates in our county have remained low, allowing us to expand capacity and in-person hours at all of our open library branches,” said Legislator Cathy Gatta, Vice Chair of the Education & Libraries Committee. “While COVID-precautions are still in effect, we hope that this expansion allows more of our residents to enjoy all our libraries have to offer.” The county’s seven-day positivity rate as of Friday was 1.55%, according to a release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The state’s positivity rate is at 1.6%.