Column as I see ’em May 2026
Saratoga Report Publisher Dan De Federicis was energized by the weekend’s summery weather and shares his thoughts, hopes, opinions and of course complaints! Here we go:
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Ok let me start out channeling my inner curmudgeon and…as warned above… complain. It annoys the heck out of me that major routes into the Spa City do not have signs indicating you are entering Saratoga Springs. I’ve criss-crossed this state over the past several decades and almost every town, city and village in the state has these signs – i.e. VILLAGE OF SPLIT DITCH – at their borders with neighboring municipalities. With Saratoga Springs it’s hit or miss – and it seems like more misses – on major state routes such as RT 9 coming north from Northway Exit 13 or Rt. 29 coming West from Schuylerville. It is annoying and baffling – it seems like it should be a basic requirement – especially for a destination city like Saratoga Springs. A CITY!
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Not a complaint but a disappointment I guess: Geez I hate to see the Sperry’s location continue to sit empty year after year, summer after summer. The person who bought it in 2024, Nove Restaurant owner Louis Lazzinnaro, recently put the Sperry’s property as well as the lot he owned next door up for sale for $3.9 million. The lots have approval from the city for building 39 apartments, presumably a significant sweetener for prospective buyers. Stay tuned.
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Now for something positive: Not far from Sperry’s, Gaffney’s – or should I call it “The New Gaffney’s” – underwent significant interior renovations over the winter and had a soft opening on May 1st. This opening was after a long period of closure and – prior to that – one hot mess after another with the ownership group that purchased the popular bar/restaurant from founder and longtime owner John Baker. I was out of town on the opening night but I had a nice conversation soon after with Baker, who attended the opening and he was really upbeat about the new ownership/management group. He told me “They are the perfect stewards to honor the legacy of Gaffneys.” High priaise from a guy who spent most of his adult life making that Caroline Street establishment such a popular nighttime destination. Things look great there – a nice menu, positive vibes – and who doesn’t love dueling pianos? YES! I’ve been in touch with the management team and hope to write something soon. You can link their Facebook page here and website here.
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I’m nostalgic for the Saratoga of 20 years ago when I first moved here, and while I’m happy Gaffneys is back, I’m still sad that PJ’s BarBQSA is gone. I drive by the former PJ’s location often and noticed recently a new building is taking shape there. Below is a picture of the framework of what apparently will be a new structure behind the former restaurant building, which is still there. I am not sure just what is being built there and what it will be, but a few years back a marijuana dispensary was proposed to go in there, so if you’re the betting type….
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So this release from CDTA indicates that the Saratoga Summer Trolley will return Saturday, July 4th. So we don’t get the trolley for The Belmont? The trolley will just sit idle in a lot somewhere as tens of thousands visit The Spa City? Seems like a miss to me. There was a time when the Saratoga Summer Trolley started on Memorial Day, but apparently no more. -
I’ve had enough Belmonts in Saratoga for one lifetime. How about you?
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The Mrs. saw the movie “The Devil Wears Prada 2” last weekend, and I just happened to receive this email from past Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen who had some info on a Saratoga connection to the sequel: Did anyone notice that Suleika Jaouad, daughter of Skidmore Professor Hédi Jaouad and artist Anne Francey, appears in the movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’? Suleika, a musician, lecturer and author a of a best-selling book, is the wife of famous musician Jon Batiste. Both Jon and Suleika appeared twice in the ‘party in the Hamptons’ scene of this popular movie. Suleika grew up in Saratoga Springs. All roads lead to Saratoga! Thanks for that info Chris!
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If you find yourself with some time in the car someday check out the Oak Ridge Neighborhood on the city’s Eastern Plateau. Houses there are going up at a pretty good clip and they are really big and, in my opinion, beautiful. What makes Oak Ridge a unique development is that the center portion of the neighborhood was apparently designed like the older neighborhoods of Saratoga Springs. Many of the houses are very close together, shockingly so for a new development at those price points, and there are alleys behind the houses. This Oak Ridge setup mimics many parts of old Saratoga, where yesterday’s carriage houses – now garages or oftentimes residences – are accessed via the back alley. The outer ring of Oak Ridge contrasts the central area described above, as these more-recentily-built homes seem bigger, are on wide lots and consequently are further apart like a traditional new development. Certainly worth your time to take a drive – or perhaps a bike ride – through and have a look-see.
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Another ride worth taking – this one notably further away than Oak Ridge – is to the village of Stillwater. I am specifically writing about the community’s stunningly beautiful two-year old public library. It’s not just the comfy building – once a small factory – that makes a visit there one of the most pleasant you could ever have to a library, but the views from the second floor window are the grand prize. I took some pics to share here, but decided not to post them so I don’t spoil your experience. You’ll have to get there yourself to see what I mean.
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And keep your eyes moving on your next trip out Route 9P along Saratoga Lake because you never know what interesting things you’ll see. You don’t see too many AMC make cars (remember them?) near Saratoga these days, but just past the North Lake Stewart’s is this AMC Pacer (pic below) advertising a local small engine repair shop. And across the street is a sign for “The Seaweed Guy”, which I thought was a rejected Marvel Superhero idea, but in actuality The Seaweed Guy appears to be a hard-working entrepreneur who found a niche to make a living. You see a lot of that in Saratoga.
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Continuing with AMC cars, it’s time for the Saratoga Auto Museum to bring back the 70s and have a show of those memorable vehicles from the American Motors Corporation – and let’s include AMC’s predecessors the Nash Ramblers and such. Who doesn’t smile when looking at one of the aformenentioned Pacers – or a Gremlin as my friend Dave Coons had in high school. My Mom had an AMC Concord when I was a kid – a pedestrian car for sure. My childhood neighbor had a Javelin, which was a pretty cool looking muscle car. That auto show I’m suggesting would not be complete without the Pacer Limo – the “Mirthlimo” if you recall – from the 90s movie Wayne’s World. I looked it up and the Mirthlimo still exists and is in a private connection somewhere, in case you were wondering.
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Thank you to longtime Saratoga Report supporter TL for alerting me to the fact that the former Kane’s Wine shop, which was sold to new owners just about a year ago and was rebranded as One Dream Fine Wine & Spirits, has a sign in the door that says “temporarily closed” which has been there for the past several months. I am trying to reach the owners for clarification but all I can find online is a TikTok page. More when I have it.
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In my searches for news in Saratoga County I find a lot of things about different Saratogas around the world. While they aren’t what I am looking for – I’m guessing you don’t want the recap from the city council meeting in Saratoga Springs, Utah – they are nonetheless often interesting. I tripped across this Reddit thread on the Saratoga Motel in Chicago – that’s Motel with an ‘M’, which should give you a clue. It’s near O’Hare Airport, which can be a plus I guess, but after reading that thread I think I’ll pass on staying there.
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The Saratoga name goes well beyond midwestern motels for sure. The water in Saratoga is why people started coming here long before we had horse racing and Live Nation brought us the classic bands such as Chicago year after year (did you see how I slipped that in?). Anyway, I saw a snazzy Saratoga Water TV Commercial during the NHL playoffs on ESPN, specifically a Kings-Avalanche game. I’m not sure how much civic pride we should have in that because the product has the Saratoga name, but I don’t know how much of Primo Brand’s Saratoga water actually comes from Saratoga Springs these days. Primo Brands is based out of Tampa, FL and has a large operation in Stamford Ct. Oh well, it was fun to see the commercial anyway.
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Continuing with my off-the-mark-but-interesting-nonetheless Saratoga search results, John F. Kennedy Jr. was piloting a Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga II HP airplane when he and his fiance Carolyn Bessett perished in a crash in 1999. There was recent renewed media interest in that crash, probably due to the new series “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” that aired on FX and Hulu earlier this year. Because JFK’s doomed plane was a “Saratoga” model, my inbox was getting hit every day with Kennedy conspiracy theories, but they finally died down for now.
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So the building that housed AJ’s Dry Cleaners for many years was under contract to be sold last year, but the deal fell through and the property is still listed for sale. It is in a pretty good location, but the building is nothing special and the lot is not very big, so who knows what happens there. The building of the A.C. Marriott Hotel sure changed the complexion of that stretch of Lincoln Ave.
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Not far from AJ’s former location is The Counter at Five Points. I am a fan, and you can find me in there periodically enjoying one of their solid egg sandwiches, fresh coffee or – drumroll please – a 12-oz. can of RC Cola. You can’t get a single 12 oz. can of soda too many places these days, and until I stopped in a few weeks back looking for a little caffeinated sweetness, I haven’t had RC Cola since probably the early 80s. It was pretty darn good!
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Back to complaints. I wasn’t paying attention over the winter when the state agency known as NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation started cutting trees near the Lincoln Baths in Spa State Park. I guess it was announced, but I don’t think there were any public meetings about the removal of 84 trees. 84 mature, beautiful, shady and glorious trees – right where the Sunday Farmers Market is – or used to be anyway as I think it was moved to the Warming Hut area. This was all done as part of a project to revamp the South Broadway park entrance and expand parking plus some other improvements (see below). The press release claimed some of the trees to be removed were dead or dying – no doubt true – and some were non native varieties. But what is clear is that many of them were not dead and were native – yet those majestic trees came down anyway. I am not questioning the project as I see it will bring a lot of good, but it looks like they are putting a new Hannaford in there for God’s sake. They couldn’t accomplish this and keep more of those beautiful trees – around for several decades – out of the chain saw’s way? Yes they planted a lot of new trees to replace the cut ones – but my grandkids will see them, not me or you. As a citizen I am not happy. How did that happen?
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Did you hear about the bear visiting neighborhoods on Saratoga’s East side last week? No doubt because the parking lot construction chased him out of the park…sorry – couldn’t resist. Anywho, my friend Pat Cannon had a fun take on that and you can read it here ICYM my original posting of his piece last week.
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Let me end on a positve note here. The food at 550 Waterfront/Lago/Druthers by Lago since the restaurant opened years back has been – on a year-to-year basis – hit or miss in my book. I’ll call last summer’s Italian-themed menu a miss. I took the kids there Saturday with the temps a perfect 78 degrees and no surprise – the parking lot was packed – I couldn’t find a spot. We finally did snag a spot for the family truckster (A Toyota, not an AMC) and got our name on the list and got a table in a reasonable amount of time. We had a terrific server (Emma, I believe), we liked many choices on the menu and enthusiastically (read: hungrily) put in our orders. Considering how packed the place was the food came out rather quickly and it was hot and good. Three thumbs up from me and my girls for Lago by Druthers! Bravo!
Thanks for reading folks, have a great week and stay cool!
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