SARATOGA REPORT

The Saratoga Mess:

Spa’s Nightlife is Under the ‘Scope

Part Two  (Read Part one Here)

By Jack Flash

 

 

The stream of headlines relating to incidents of violence and mayhem originating from Saratoga’s renown Caroline Street nightlife district is nearing ‘barrage’ status. One can most-certainly look forward to a Monday morning media fix that details the preceding weekend’s blotter of ugly incidents, injuries and arrests. 

 

The Chorus of the Chattering Class – which has an out-sized membership within the Spa City itself, mind you — then chimes in:

 

“What exactly is going on down there?”  “Why oh why?”  “Who’s to blame?”  “What’s the solution?’

 

It’s a loud chorus, for sure. But it’s not a chorus that is singing the same tune.  For there a lack of general agreement on all of those questions. Some folks even deny that that there is a problem down there, period! But most others do, then proceed to point fingers in multiple directions while offering fixes that are all over the map.  Everyone seems to be an expert, but no consensus is emerging.

 

So who’s got the best handle on this situation? Who can lend thoughtful analysis in a Cause & Effect manner, eliminate many of the prevailing myths & propaganda that hover over this topic and conclude by putting some sensible solutions on the table?

 

We shall attempt such a difficult mission, in three parts …

 

———————————————————————————————–

Part Two:

Hello, Houston: The Spa Has a Problem

 

Part One of this series took a look-back perspective, examining the long history of Saratoga’s nightlife and – to a lesser degree – its broader tourism economy.  The goal was to show how the changing tides of time resulted in identifiable waves of varying people / places / settings coming in over the ages. At the very least, such an exercise should negate the common refrain of “it’s always been this like this” emanating from the lips of many apologists for the current condition.  Reminder: it hasn’t always been like this.

 

So here we are in the Now of the Right Now.  As in: today.  Where we at? What’s the frequency, Homies?  What is this shit and who brought it into the house?  The search for that truth is structured herein as a point-to-point journey exploring the following queries:

 

  1. Is there a Problem?
  2. If Yes; what exactly is the Problem?
  3. Why is it a Problem?
  4. What is the Cause of that Problem?

 

The missing #5 in this formulaic routine is no doubt crossing the readers’ minds in auto reflex:  How do we fix the problem?  Slow down, podners. That wisdom is to be offered in the third part of this trilogy.  But as any North Country cow farmer is prone to advise: “ya can’t get there from here.” First things first.  One can’t fix a problem without knowing just what exactly the problem is.  Ready? Go:

 

  1. Is there a Problem?

 

Yes, there IS a problem.   All in Favor? The Ayes win, with 85% of the vote.  Next..

 

  1. What exactly IS the Problem?

 

Yes; the pressing need is for a clear and succinct definition to make this all work.  The             following is offered:

 

“ Saratoga’s core Nightlife District (aka: the so-called enlarged downtown Caroline Street             area) is much too-often the host and setting for widespread anti-social behavior;             including:

  • excessive noise
  • overcrowding
  • littering
  • over indulgence
  • verbal threats & harassment
  • drug sales
  • anti-sanitary behavior
  • and … the full range of all forms of physical abuse & violence.”

 

A long definition, for sure.  We could have easily shortened it to “A Clusterfuck of Idiots             Being Idiots while Served by Idiots that Don’t Give a Shit.”  But, alas, we are electing                         to take a more polite approach today with this analysis. More importantly, the above listing of           sample offenses is critical for this reason:

 

  • The error made by most others in regard to this matter is to define The Problem as simply and solely being the unfortunate tally of instances involving the most extreme examples of violence; i.e. stabbings, hospital-inducing fights and fatalities.

 

That approach is a serious mistake, mainly because it likely leads to inadequate resolutions.  As proof: we are seeing that right now with the single most-common solution being offered by both the Political Elites and Chattering Class: MORE COPS!  Here’s why that is a dangerous distraction:

 

  • Defining the goal as simply being a need to reduce the most extreme forms of violence CAN, in fact, probably be accomplished by adding dozens more officers on-site, in the street and positioned shoulder-to-shoulder. But even if that expensive mission is accomplished, the city is still left with everything else on that list up above. This includes the other forms of physical abuse and violence: pushing & shoving, indoor/patio fistfights, fingers-in-the face, etc. It would still be a cesspool.  The view here is of that being an inadequate vision.

 

The above outcome is not sufficient. In other words, we do not buy into an approach of “as long as people aren’t dying down there, we’re good with it and ready to take our bow.”  But  it is realized here that many others do not share this view, unfortunately.

 

  1. Why is This a Problem?

 

True; some observers conclude that the Cost vs Benefit calculation here is such that the current             setting weighs more heavily toward the Benefit side of that dynamic.  Their thinking is that this     “exciting night life” tag that is part of the Saratoga brand brings people into town, who in turn        make everyone rich and fat – including the City thru sales tax receipts.

 

The counter here against that logic is two-fold:

 

  • Sales Tax? Our (rudimentary) math concludes that it takes $2,000 in tax-generating sales (alcohol, etc) to compensate the City for the cost of a single police officer down there.  That is PER-HOUR! Continue that exercise by counting the number of officers deployed on a summer night, the two horses, the cars, opportunity costs (where they could be elsewhere). Yes, to be fair the city also generates property taxes on the inflated #’s assessments put on the properties down there due to the business volume, etc, etc ….. but one should at least agree there’s no financial home run enriching city taxpayers and minimizing their own tax bills.

 

  • Positive Civic Branding? The theory here is that the city brand – especially the downtown sub-brand – is  being NEGTIVELY EFFECTED by this Caroline Street mess.  Granted, it is successful in attracting the specific clientele attracted to the current landscape (which we will get to in a bit), but there can and should be no doubt that Saratoga’s goodwill asset is taking a hit with the spate of a scary headlines.  That is why Caroline Street is more and more becoming the playground for a very narrow (and identifiable) consumer base while chasing away others.  What SHOULD acutely concern local officials is how the city’s traditional tourist lifeblood – the racing crowd –  is increasingly turning away from nighttime @ downtown.  The locals have already done so.  Houston?

 

  1. What is the Cause of this Problem?

 

While the answer to this one gets people all flaky & wacky and sends the whole conversation    into an armpit of alleged (and ignorant) bouncing-ball claims of snobbery, classism, anti- capitalism and even racism, accurate finger-pointing is easy.  The two (2) primary causes of the “Downtown/Caroline Street Nightlife” problem are

 

  • Too many young people gathering in too small a footprint
  • The emergence of so-called “NiteClub Culture” in that very same footprint

 

Now, those same “there’s no problem here” proponents will counter that the solution to #1 (too             many young people) is to just expand the footprint! While that actually makes for a logical     argument on its own merit, it becomes null & void when considered in the absence of point #2     (NiteClub Culture).

 

For here is the unfortunate reality: NiteClubs –  which as we explained in Part One is a          relatively recent phenom locally –  have as their core consumer base a psychographic (vs             demographic) profile that is more prone to participating in that long list of anti-social practices          we began this analysis with.

 

For here is where this all lands as we connect the first two parts of this series together:

 

  • This isn’t about those young longhairs that owned the place way back in the 70’s. Nor is it the hip music and coke-fueled crowds that followed. Nor is it the Y2K+ older crowds getting out of the ranch house to dance away the night to those classic oldies tunes. They weren’t the problem—or at least the kind of problem we have now.
  • We are now dealing with a different breed of cat. A totally different animal. It’s the upstate version of Club Kids 2.0 in sociological terms that are now the embedded creatures of the night. It’s all a Grand Bargain, actually: if this town is OK with being Jersey Shore – North , then it should not be surprised that it has to deal with its wannabees.  BTW: when is Snooki coming back to the DJ booth at Gaffneys?

 

 

Your head explode yet?  Flames coming out of your ears? Good. Deal with it. We’re just getting warmed up here. Stay tuned for Part Three, where this continues zeroing-in on the crux of this matter –  and YES! even offers creative and out-of-the-box solutions to this Mess as a conclusion.

 

Warning: it won’t be pretty.

 

 

(Read Part One of this 3-part series here)

Jack Flash is Saratoga-based serial entrepreneur and observer of matters of the national and local social condition and political order.  Depending on his workload and leisure calendar, he occasionally publishes thoughts and opinions on his semi-active Saratoga Flash News page.