Crashes result in 2 charges of DWI ROTTERDAM — Two men face charges after they allegedly drove drunk and crashed their vehicles early Friday morning. The accidents happened at about 3:30 a.m. on the westbound lane of Interstate 890 near the High Bridge Road exit. Police responded to the scene after receiving two calls from two residents reporting loud crashes in the area. Officers learned that Joseph M. Rafferty, 24, of 1980 Western Ave. in Albany had allegedly crashed his car into a guardrail. Police said another driver, Kristopher G. Walker, 21, of 112 James St. in Scotia then crashed his car into Rafferty’s vehicle. Walker claimed he did not see Rafferty’s car. After they spoke with both drivers, police officers conducted field sobriety tests on both drivers and then arrested them. Neither man was injured and there were no other passengers in either vehicle. Rafferty was charged with felony aggravated driving while intoxicated and failure to keep right. He was arraigned before Judge Michelle Van Woeart and remanded to the Schenectady County Jail. Walker was charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation. He was released on an appearance ticket and expected to return to court on April 28.
ROTTERDAM Firm hired to design new station Land sought for facility to house town’s police, courts BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Rotterdam officials have approved a study they hope will draw the town closer to a new police station and court. Members of the Town Board unanimously agreed to hire Clough Harbor & Associates to design the structure. The $35,900 contract will be partially funded by a $25,000 state grant the town received last year. “They already have committed to and done most of the work,” said Supervisor Steve Tommasone during Wednesday’s board meeting. “Now what they’re doing is basically taking the next step.” Nearly four years ago, Clough Harbor returned part of a $38,700 feasibility study that investigated moving either the police and courts or the town offices to the former Curry Road Shopping Plaza. The project was ultimately scrapped last year when board members decided to develop the property for commercial and residential uses. At the time, Tommasone suggested the traffic near the plaza would be too diffi cult for police and emergency vehicles to navigate. He also suggested the 11-acre property could be developed and sold to help defray the costs of a new public safety facility. Last month, board members informally agreed to allow Tommasone to discuss property acquisition, in part to locate a site for the police and court facility. Now, he said, the goal is to finish a design study for the facility before the fall. “We don’t necessarily have to have the property before we have the building designed,” he said. For years, town police have grumbled about the conditions at their station off Princetown Road. The building was constructed more than a century ago and once housed an elementary school. Rotterdam Police have occupied the three-story brick building since the early 1970s. Police and court officials have lobbied for better quarters for more than a decade. Deputy Police Chief Bill Manikas said conditions at the station have since deteriorated further while the case load has steadily increased. He said the 44-member department continues to work around leaks in the ceilings, inadequate interviewing rooms and offices that sometimes double as storage areas. “We’re getting by, but it is a 100-year-old building,” he said Thursday. “It’s inadequate for a police station for numerous reasons.” Routinely, the courtroom is filled beyond capacity, spilling people into a narrow corridor. Manikas said moving prisoners up the stairs between the court and the department’s basement holding cell can also pose a dangerous situation. Despite these drawbacks, Manikas said the police are understanding of the time it takes to plan a new station. He said the general sentiment is that they would rather the station be planned correctly instead of hurried. “Obviously, we understand it’s a very expensive undertaking and I think the town wants to do it and do it properly.” BRUCE SQUIERS/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER A deteriorating wall is evident at the rear of the Rotterdam police station on Thursday
I swear I remember reading that in one of the local newspapers. Cause I remember thinking how generous that was for Galesi to donate the land. UGH...I hate when I can't get my hands on a hard copy of something like that!!
Studies have already been done and it really doesn't matter where we put the damn building.....there is money available (we discussed this months ago on the forum) it just needs to get done----I guess waiting for the folks who rub elbows(and palms) together to get all the studies they need(want) is the hold up.....along with contract negotiations being the bugger they are......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
I think that the real hold up is finding the perfect piece of land near the five corners as that's the spot that the Town Board has selected to have it built.
I think that Draper School sounds like a good place. What I remember from earlier articles is that they were going to have land donated, down on South Westcott, down by the library somewhere. I think putting it down there would be unbelievable. You want the police station at least somewhere CLOSE to a main route.
Too bad we now have MFRH going at the Curry Road Shopping Plaza...if and when they ever decide to break ground...or start getting rid of the K-Mart (3818 days and counting since Rotterdam Square opened...)
ROTTERDAM POLICE DEPARTMENT Brian Holmes, 17, of Euclid Avenue, Schenectady, was charged April 1 with petty larceny. Bryon Faulkner, 46, of Old Fort Avenue, was charged April 2 with aggravated criminal contempt and third-degree assault. Summer Smith, 24, of 9W Catskill Inn, Catskill, was charged April 2 with third-degree unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Luz Mendoza, 23, of N. Manning Blvd., Albany, was charged April 2 with petty larceny. Eric Herrington, 21, of Second Avenue, was charged April 3 with first-degree unlawful dealing with a child. Joseph Rafferty, 24, of Western Avenue, Albany, was charged April 4 with aggravated driving while intoxicated, a felony. Kristopher Walker, 21, of James Street, Scotia, was charged April 4 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and driving while intoxicated. Justin Dergosits, 19, of Guilderland Avenue, Schenectady, was charged April 5 with third-degree bail jumping and petty larceny. Ryan Knaupp, 17, of Shirlwood Drive, was charged April 5 with second-degree harassment and resisting arrest. Kristina DeCarlo, 16, of E. Lucille Lane, Schenectady, was charged April 5 with petty larceny. Daniel Graham, 30, of Liberty Street, Schenectady, was charged April 7 with third-degree assault. Harry Marmaduke, 26, of Harrison Avenue, Schenectady, was charged April 7 with third-degree criminal tampering and petty larceny. Samuel Rose, 46, of Melrose Street, Schenectady, was charged April 7 with third-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
2 police officers, elderly woman injured in crash ROTTERDAM — Town police said two officers and an elderly woman were injured when the patrol vehicle struck her car on Princetown Road Monday afternoon. Lt. Michael Brown said Officer Vincent Stone was driving east on Princetown Road when a vehicle driven by Vincenza Martini, 71, of Rotterdam attempted to cross from Burnett Street onto Myrtle Avenue. Martini's vehicle was struck on the driver's side door, causing signifi - cant damage to both vehicles. Brown said Stone and his passenger, Officer Jeffrey Amoroso, were on routine patrol. He said the patrol vehicle did not have its emergency lights activated and appeared to be traveling around 30 mph. "It appears as though Martini failed to yield the right-of-way for the officers," he said Monday evening. "There is no evidence of excessive speed." Brown said both Stone and Amoroso were taken to Ellis Hospital for evaluation. He said Martini was also taken to Ellis, complaining of neck pain.
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