Evan Gallo

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    315 Hudson Ave Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    Not just the weekly overflowing cans (that also like to double as parking space holders), but it’s the stolen Market 32 cart and AMC wheelchair that have been sitting at this problem residence for way too long that need to go. Called AMC about retrieving their property today so we’ll see what they want to do. In the meantime, this house and too many of its neighbors destroy this area without meaningful consequence.
  • Center Square Albany, New York - Center Square
    This post is genuinely not an attempt at fearmongering, but I'm a bit troubled by what I was told by National Grid and had confirmed by a neighbor with a relatively similar past experience. I've received a handful of visits from individuals appearing (or purporting) to be utility representatives at times I haven't been home over the last few weeks. On Monday, the woman shown here placed a hangtag on my door after knocking; last Tuesday, the man pictured below immediately attempted to open my door before even knocking. While both simply have hard hats, neither seem to be wearing vests or have credentials attached. When I called National Grid to inquire about the hangtag (shown below) or even schedule an appointment, the customer service rep stated unequivocally that no service was currently needed at my house, let alone requiring entry. Moreover, she was "very alarmed" because of the specific color of the hangtag, which is not the color they use for missed service visits. She sternly stated her concern for this atypical encounter and that I should call the police, which I did. My head would not have gone in that direction, and I would not be posting this issue but for the extremely heightened response I got from National Grid. Has anyone else had this happen? Is this a miscommunication between customer service and field reps, or is this actually a scheme to gain unlawful entry to homes?
  • Hudson Ave Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square

    20+ careless properties. 3 dirty blocks. 1 gross street... and what turned out to be 2 angry porch pirates in a pear tree (unfortunately not pictured). Such a terrible look. And so, so frustrating it's all ignored by the powers that be with no recognition that a trashy appearance inspires trashy behavior (e.g. needles, encampments, house-to-house panhandling, package theft, graffiti, shootings, slumlords, bad tenants, and the list goes on and on and on).

    306-308 Hudson

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    Code Violations W archiwum
    164 Lancaster St Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    Is the 164 Lancaster-175 Jay "development" finished? Because tenants are actively enjoying great R&R with all the open-air amenities this dump has to offer. Graffiti, needles, endless industrial trash piles inside and blowing garbage outside that languish forever, dilapidated and unsecured fencing on an "active" job site, etc. etc. etc. The lack of any progress and accountability on this "project" are astounding. As only expired work permits and violation notices are visible, is construction even valid at this point? Once again, shame on Jay Street Apartments LLC and Landmark Realty Associate LLC for continuing to hold this area hostage by their joint malfeasance and utter disregard for their neighbors. A shining example of all that is wrong in Albany.
  • Center Square Albany, New York - Center Square

    Will spare the regular and endless examples of perpetual sidewalk barrels housed up and down Hudson and all throughout Center Square. Instead, here are a few routine delinquents who refuse to correct their behavior and are representative of the culture of indifference and neglect that plagues our community. WHERE is the heightened enforcement for previous offenders? WHY is living in a pigsty preferred practice around here?

    308 Hudson - Picking which weeks you move your full containers six feet to the curb is not an option. Placing your receptacles closer to an adjoining property line rather than under your stoop (or just leaving it to block the sidewalk) so you don't have to walk over your own mess is not an option. Stop leaving trash out every day of the week, put barrels in the backyard, and maybe this mess will be "resolved."

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    Center Square Albany, New York - Center Square

    Let's take another non-exhaustive look at the countless residences just in Center Square that actively flout our city's trash code. Don't attempt to downplay many of the photos without tremendous overflow because not pictured (or smelled) is the blowing trash on the streets, sidewalks, trees, and stoops associated with most of these locations once birds, squirrels, and pickers make their way through the mess every single day. All the more confounding is the amount of homes with under-stoop, alleyway, and/or backyard access that choose not to put bins away simply out of convenience (i.e. carelessness and laziness). DGS and Electeds, our neighborhood literally (i.e. not figuratively) looks and smells like sh... - sorry, I mean *human waste* to put it kindly. Everyday is a similar report of the aforementioned issues, missed street cleanings, homeless taking over vestibules, used needles, etc. etc. etc. What privileges or services do we receive in turn for our exorbitantly high taxes? How do I appeal the trash fee as usurious due to uselessness? At minimum, please confirm the sanitation code is a list of suggestions rather than mandates because I'm tired of keeping garbage inside all week and moving bins in the name of being a responsible community member. What consequence is there to not be an inconsiderate pig like the absentee landlords and irresponsible renters plaguing our city?

    (Picture is of 294 State on Dove side)

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    293 Hudson Ave Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    A similar mess is back within a week of your “resolution” just for it to sit for another month. The endless cycle of neglect continues.
  • 293 Hudson Ave Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    One of the many and non-stop sad sights in the area, as every bad actor feeds off the other without repercussions. Fits right in with (and is a likely result of) the abhorrent mess, dump, and public safety hazard just down the street. Reminds me of that old Albany proverb: absentee landlords of a feather flock together.
  • Code Violations W archiwum
    164 Lancaster St Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    Please explain how the two-property, three-street disaster that is 175 Jay and 164 Lancaster continues to persist (and flourish). Closing the gate that has been left swinging for weeks and attaching a 2x4 to the section of fence that has been falling down on Dove are laughable band-aids given the absolutely decrepit state of this multi-block garbage dump. Shame on Landmark Realty Associate LLC (a North Carolina company that has presumably never visited Albany, NY) and Jay St Apartments LLC (aka slumlord) for being inadequate community partners and allowing these issues to persist for years; shame on the Mayor and our Councilwoman for not seeking condemnation and foreclosure proceedings years ago. It is abhorrent that such a large swath of Center Square could be written off as an illegal landfill and intravenous drug user's paradise. What am I missing in Chapters 133, 133A, and/or 313 of the City Code that authorizes this attractive nuisance (health and safety hazard is more like it), willful neglect and blight, and outright disrespect? It's high time to knock it all down and start over with owners who actually care.
  • Center Square Albany, New York - Center Square
    Weeks, months, and years of routine reporting by myself and many others re: the disastrous state of garbage collection and enforcement in Center Square, Hudson Park, Madison, etc. (i.e. the entire City) resulted in a grand total of ONE meaningless violation notice recently being posted in the greater-Hudson Ave area. Grace periods to cure violations continue to be arbitrary and incongruous (your warning says 5 days while you publicly post 10 days in contradiction) for persistent issues that could be dealt with immediately (and ultimately have the intended effect of cleaner communities). I heard there may have been some minor cleanup today, to which I say, “great… and then what?” As has been relentlessly pointed out, clean ups without lasting remedies do nothing to change indifferent behavior or remove the permanent grime that is ever-present here in Albany, requiring more mindful neighbors to remove it themselves all the time. The solution is straightforward and extremely simple: no trash is put out in public view until the night before garbage day. Why is that such an impossible endeavor? Why does the Dept. perpetuate a failed (or utter lack of) policy that has no proactive component? Would you instead like to extend your cleanups to the rest of the community to deal with everything left sitting, rotting, and blowing every day? Because redundancy is required, let’s look back on some of our worst weekly offenders. Don’t worry, everything has been out well-longer than today.
  • Illegal Trash W archiwum
    Center Square Albany, New York - Center Square
    Just a little sampling of some of Center Square’s finest residents who add weekly charm to the neighborhood (before, during, and after trash collection). For 306-308 Hudson, no acton to the endless barrel brigade is necessary because DGS states that garbage on sidewalks is OK as long as “most of it’s contained.” No comment on what to do with the rest that blows up and down the block though.
  • Illegal Trash W archiwum
    98 Chestnut St Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    As usual, the smelliest house on Chestnut treating the sidewalk and street as its personal trash can. Truly remarkable given that a barrel remains on the stoop 24/7, but why use it when a tree is easier? At least it pairs nicely with the endless beer bottles and cigarette packs this pig leaves to spruce up the neighborhood.
  • Illegal Trash W archiwum
    301 Hudson Ave Albany, New York, 12210 - Center Square
    Two microwaves and a TV shuffled between the curb and stoop for over two weeks. Did I miss the block party, or is this neglect just another day’s work of an absentee landlord/careless resident?