Albany Archives - Chris Carosa

Liberty Or Death: Which Would You Choose? (And Why?)

By Chris Carosa on March 25, 2025

When did you last hear a barn burner speech like this? Today, public speakers too often succumb to the lure of guilt into helping others. 250 years ago, they inspired a passion to better ourselves first—because you can’t save anyone if you’re sinking.

The crowd bustles in St. John’s Church. No scheduled sermon today, though, but they would soon get one. It’s Thursday, March 23, 1775, day four of the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond, Virginia. The air wafts thick with rebellion. Tensions between Great Britain and its American colonies could not have been higher.

Just ten days back, on March 13, British authorities under New York’s Cadwallader Colden, Continue Reading “Liberty Or Death: Which Would You Choose? (And Why?)”

Posted in History, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Billy Dee Williams, Cadwallader Colden, Cato: A Tragedy, Chief Justice John Marshall, Colonial America, Edward A.Pollard, Ethan Allen, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death, Great Britain, Joseph Addison, Judge St. George Tucker, King George, liberty, Liberty Men, Nathan Hale, Patrick Henry, Second Virginia Convention, Sempronius, St. John's Church, The Galaxy, The Lost Cause, Thomas Marshall, Virginia, Westminster Massacre

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: The Great Central Trail Becomes The State Road

By Chris Carosa on July 16, 2024

Previous: Pomp, Circumstance, Before Lunch In Geneva

The Cayuga Bridge helped improve travel times on the Great Genesee Road, which eventually became Routes 5 & 20. Source: Barber, John W., and Howe, Henry, Historical collections of the state of New York, S. Tuttle, New York 1842, p. 79

As General Dwight D. Eisenhower led the Allied effort into the heart of the Nazi regime, he couldn’t help but notice the transportation infrastructure that strengthened the defense of his opponent. Hitler began construction of his Reichautobahn in the 1930s. Although designed primarily for civilian use, war reports during the Eisenhower’s push into Germany in 1944 and 1945 repeatedly referenced the autobahn, “Hitler’s Superhighway.”¹

Impressed by these autobahns, Eisenhower proposed an interstate highway system once Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: The Great Central Trail Becomes The State Road”

Posted in History, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Auburn, Augustus Porter, autobahn, Buffalo, Canandaigua, Cayuga Bridge, Central Trail, Charles Williamson, civil defense, Dr. Peter Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, England, Erie Canal, Genesee Country, Genesee River, Genesee Road, Geneva, Great Central Trail, Great Genesee Road, Greater Western New York, Hitler, Interstate Highway System, Iroquois Confederacy, Jesuits, Main Genesee Road, Massachusetts, New York State Thruway, Old Fort Schuyler, Onondaga Escarpment, Ontario County, Phelps and Gorham, Preemption Line, railroads, Reichautobahn, road, Roman, Roman Empire, Rome, Routes 5 & 20, Seneca, Seneca Falls, Seneca Turnpike, Seneca Turnpike Road Company, State Road, The Beaten Road, The President and Directors of the Seneca Road Company, Utica, Waterloo

School Elections Matter, Too

By Chris Carosa on May 10, 2022

The moonless night trembled with eerie silence. Still, the veteran warriors waited with resigned anticipation. The now 54-day old siege had worn upon them. Yet, they stood, along with their courageous emperor, willing to confront their ultimate fate.

That final assault began shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the 29th of May, 1453. It would prove to be the last day of an Empire that had existed – in one form or another – for more than 20 centuries. Wave after wave of Ottoman attackers charged with relentless regularity. The 150,000 invaders far outnumbered the 7,000 war-weary defenders of Constantinople – the last capital of the Roman Empire.

Amid the battles cries and the shouts, the screams and the barking of orders, the first Continue Reading “School Elections Matter, Too”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, BOCES, Byzantium, Constantine XI, Constantinople, French Jesuits, Handbook of North American Indians, Haudenosaunee, Iroquois, Lewis Henry Morgan, Livingston County School Districts, Livonia, New York State curriculum, Ongweh’onweh, Ottoman, redlining, Roman, Smithsonian Institution

It’s Your Party And You Would Cry Too If It Happened To You. Don’t Let It Happen!

By Chris Carosa on March 1, 2022

Do you think you own your house? Better think again.

You almost lost it in this year’s New York State budget. You see, the state budget process is a very tricky – as in devious – tool. Unscrupulous politics have learned how to use it to enact legislation without even enacting it.

It’s an easy way to introduce controversial policies without the tediousness of actually having to vote on a specific law. Of course, those same conniving officials will quickly say, “Well, the budget IS voted on,” but that’s not the same thing as voting for a bill that only addresses the matter they’re trying to slip through via the budget process.

And about that process. You already know it only takes three people to craft the budget. It’s not an open forum. It’s a behind-closed-doors smoke-filled-meeting sort of thing. Just because we’ve changed governors doesn’t really change the process. Indeed, given the Continue Reading “It’s Your Party And You Would Cry Too If It Happened To You. Don’t Let It Happen!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, American Dream, home rule, homework, Livingston County, local rule, mandate, New York City, Niagara County, Orleans County, Vladimir Putin, zoning

The Real News About Kathy Hochul Being New York State Governor

By Chris Carosa on August 24, 2021

You’ve probably read the headlines about Kathy Hochul “making history” by becoming the first woman to hold the position of New York State Governor.

If you’re like me, you cringe every time you see the appellation “first” applied to anyone. With the clear exception of sporting events, landing on the moon, and a few others, the term “first” seems more like a back-handed compliment. In today’s world of woke, it makes people wonder if “token” wouldn’t be a better description.

And that’s not fair.

I know. I’ve lived with this designation. The “first” Italian-American to do this… The “first” Catholic to do that… The “first” graduate of Gates-Chili high school to…

Each time, despite the apparent good intentions of various speakers of those words, it always felt condescending.

While I’m proud of my heritage, I didn’t want to be remembered merely as an Italian-Continue Reading “The Real News About Kathy Hochul Being New York State Governor”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Albany, Allegany County, Buffalo, Catholic, Charle Evans Hughes, Chautauqua County, Democrat, Erie County, Fortune Magazine, Frank Higgins, Gates Chili, governor, Greater Western New York, Grover Cleveland, Horace White, Italian American, Jack Kemp, John Roberts, Kathy Hochul, Manly Fleischmann, National Football League, New York City, New York State, Republican, Reuben Fenton, Roger Goodell, self-esteem, Tammany Hall, Tom Perez, United States Supreme Court, William Donovan

What Do You Think An Independent Greater Western New York Should Look Like?

By Chris Carosa on July 6, 2021

Last week’s Commentary received an inordinate amount of positive feedback (see “It’s Time For Greater Western New York To Declare Its Own Independence,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, July 1, 2021). Since these came from a variety of sources on a plethora of platforms, it’s likely you haven’t had the opportunity to see them all.

Allow me to summarize.

It starts with a simple question:

“What do you think an independent Greater Western New York should look like?

OK, it turns out it’s not so simple as you might think. But at least it sounds straight-forward. While the answer to this question yields a spectrum of solutions, at least most Continue Reading “What Do You Think An Independent Greater Western New York Should Look Like?”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Allegany County, Autonomous Zone, Buffalo, Cattaraugus County, Chautauqua County, dictatorship of the majority, Erie County, Genesee County, George Borrello, Greater Western New York, independent, Midsummer Night's (Virtual) Town Hall Meeting, Monroe County, New York City, New York State Assembly, New York State Senate, Orleans County, Rochester, Safe Act, statehood, Stephen Hawley

It’s Time For Greater Western New York To Declare Our Own Independence!

By Chris Carosa on June 29, 2021

One of the perks of serving as a national reporter includes access to a coast-to-coast network of sources. I usually stick to my standard beat (finance and retirement) when sourcing questions. Every once in a while, however, I stray from that path and have a little fun.

As a life-long booster of the Greater Western New York region, I’m always searching for ways, no matter how small, to help promote the region.

Now, combine these two facts together and you can understand how I discovered this Continue Reading “It’s Time For Greater Western New York To Declare Our Own Independence!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, America's First Frontier, David DiPietro, Declaration of Independence, Gadsden, George Borrello, James Ostrowski, Mark Aselstine, Midsummer Night's (Virtual) Town Hall Meeting, New York City, Safe Act, Stars and Bars, Stephen Hawley, Susan B. Anthony, Western New York

Don’t Let Them Divide and Conquer Us

By Chris Carosa on May 18, 2021

A while back I ran across a reporter’s query. It seemed this journalist wanted to know if the “right-wing” is decentralizing the Internet. That struck me as an odd thing to ask given most feel it is the “left-wing” that kicked the “right-wing” out of the clubhouse.

But, hey, if you want to sow division, this is the way to do it.

In 1894, five years before he became governor of New York State, Theodore Roosevelt wrote ever so eloquently of the need to come together as one nation and avoided the divide and conquer strategy that serves America’s enemies well:Continue Reading “Don’t Let Them Divide and Conquer Us”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Americanism, Andrew M. Cuomo, bandwagon effect, divide and conquer, E Pluribus Unum, Finger Lakes, Genesee Country, Greater Western New York Region, Lockwood R. Doty, New York Billions, New York City, New York State, Regional Councils, reverse myopia, Rochester Chamber of Commerce, social proof, Southern Tier, Theodore Roosevelt, Western New York, Western Region

Why Is New York State Trying To Kill Print Newspapers?

By Chris Carosa on March 23, 2021

Do you enjoy reading this newspaper? Do you enjoy reading anything in print as opposed to reading a screen on an electronic device?

If the answer to either of these questions is “yes” the State of New York is brewing a budget that will certainly disappoint you. And the clock is working against you to prevent this.

As you can read from the Letter to the Editor below from Michelle Rea, Executive Director of the New York Press Association, the Extended Producer Responsibility Act may soon make it financially impossible for newspapers – and especially small newspapers like the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel – to maintain a sustainable business.

That’s too bad. We recently asked our readers “In your own words (not to exceed 25), Continue Reading “Why Is New York State Trying To Kill Print Newspapers?”

Posted in Business Tips, Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, democrats, Extended Producer Responsiblity Act, Michelle Rea, New York City, New York Press Association, New York State Senate, newspapers, republicans, Samra G. Brouk, Senate Bill S1185B

We Need High-Speed Broadband, Now!

By Chris Carosa on January 19, 2021

“I would long since for the time that no votes buy our cares;
For people that once possessed command, high civil office, legions and all else,
now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”

– From Satire X, Juvenal, ca. 100 AD

When the Roman satirical poet Juvenal wrote these lines centuries ago, he meant it as an exposé of government corruption. It also represented a warning to a populace too eager to sacrifice freedom for immediate delights.

Unfortunately, rather than a cautionary alert, Juvenal’s “bread and circuses” has become a blueprint from which every dictator since has built his empire.

You can now add Andrew Cuomo to the long sorry list of power-mad rulers seeking to Continue Reading “We Need High-Speed Broadband, Now!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Andrew Cuomo, Bread and circuses, broadband, Covid, highways, Juvenal, Marjorie Byrnes, New York Post, New York State, Richard Parsons, roads, soma