As the Letter to the Editor I wrote more than five years ago pleads and explains, the City and Metroplex should be spending its DRI (Downtown Revitalization Inititative) money to promote and protect our “real Downtown”, rather than straining to find ways to attract the public from Downtown to Mohawk Harbor, which is a mile away. Sheparding customers to Mohawk Harbor can only weaken downtown business, taking away the foot-traffic and bustle needed to make an urban downtown thrive. And, see our posting Schenectady DRI should fine-tune our Real Downtown [updated] March 7, 2020

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Therefore, I am pleased to report that “New signage [has been] installed on the Jay Street alleyway entrances, part of the Jay Street Pedestrian Walkway DRI Project.” (See SDIC Facebook post, April 14, 2025). The new arches designed by Schenectadian Anthony Ruscitto look very good in the released photos, and I hope to see them soon in person. Of course, I also hope that somehow the larger portion of DRI dollars can still be salvaged away from the inexplicable campaign to help Mohawk Harbor attract business before it is squandered on the Jay Street wasteland north of Little Italy.

FYI: This is the map returned when I asked Google Maps in 2020 for the walking directions from “Downtown Schenectady” to Mohawk Harbor. Among other information, note the location Google Maps designated as Downtown Schenectady. . .