Notes from around town

 Walking along Congress Street this morning en route to the bus stop, I caught sight of a flier circulating and condemning Governor Hochul for what appears to be her position on the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. 

Problem is, the fliers have been glued onto vacant storefronts so they can't be removed. It's clear these people, whomever they are, want to get their message across, but unless they have hard, solid evidence that the Governor has done anything wrong, this is just a cry in the wilderness. So far, no one is taking responsibility for the fliers.

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With the proliferation of Mexican restaurants in downtown Troy, Muddaddy Flats has closed its doors on 3rd Street as of February 10. The owner said a month ago he had taken tacos off the menu because so many other eateries that have opened, including La Capital, La Victoria, and Sabroso, also feature tacos and other Mexican delicacies. Muddaddy Flats spent 11 years overall, and the downtown corridor is poorer for the loss.

On the other hand, two new businesses have opened along 4th Street, near Fulton Street.

Paper Moon, which opened February 5, is a bookstore that is slowly developing its inventory. For comics fans, the store is carrying some Japanese manga novels, something that Aquilonia Comics, around the corner on Fulton, between 4th Street & 5th Avenue, doesn't showcase as much, and Aquilonia's been around since 1985 (current ownership began in 1996).

Paper Moon is occupying a former dentist's office.

Collar City Deli took over a former nail spa at the corner of Fulton & 4th, across from Nite Owl News, last month. It's your basic Mom & Pop market in the 21st century, and the inventory there is evolving, too, though some prices are a little higher than Nite Owl or other local shops.

File it under "work in progress".

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Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin took a page from Donald Trump's playbook in disparaging former County Legislator Cindy Doran, who resigned from the Legislature Monday in order to relocate to Wilton in Saratoga County.

Photo courtesy Albany Times-Union.

McLaughlin slammed Doran on X (formerly Twitter), claiming she was "nasty" and a "lazy legislator". Of course, Doran has her defenders, who have refuted McLaughlin's pathetic attempt at Trumpian bullying. We don't need that here. Ever.

Because McLaughlin decided to lie and disparage Doran on her way out of town, he gets the Weasel ears. It's a coincidence that the above photo has McLaughlin further channeling Trump by wearing a familiar blue suit & red tie. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.