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By Joe Minissale--
January 30, 2004
TROY
- Hollywood producer Sandy Horowitz, who is renovating
several downtown buildings in the city, said he fell
in love with the Collar City when he first saw the waterfront
years ago.
"I'm a sailor, my passion is for the classics,"
Horowitz said. "When I first came here with fresh eyes,
I was amazed. I met Dock Master Gary Hate. He said that
100 years ago, there were about 30 or 40 boats ready
to dock."
During a Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce
breakfast at Franklin Plaza on Thursday, Horowitz, developer
John Hedley and Realtor David Bryce presented ideas
and plans that they believe will attract more residents
to Troy, and bring more retail businesses downtown.
Horowitz said he is working to create a club on the
waterfront called "The Troy Boat and Maritime Center,"
where sailors and rowers can gather. He also said that
he plans to turn the Marvin Neitzel building at 444
River St. into New York City-style loft apartments.
"Troy is the city that started the Industrial Revolution,"
said Horowitz, who was born in Brooklyn. "Getting into
the 21st century won't be difficult."
Hedley, who owns Hedley Cadillac and has developed Hedley
Park Place and Flanigan Square, said that when he first
starting selling cars in 1960, Troy was a bustling city,
but he noticed a decline as people moved away.
To reverse this, he said he wants to build a cyber-café
and a large plaza filled with upscale boutiques, which
he hopes will spur more RPI students to shop downtown.
"Troy is a college town," said Hedley. "There are 30,000
students between RPI and Russell Sage. And there are
60,000 people in the whole city, yet we don't even have
a shoe store."
Hedley, who recently purchased the Market Block building,
said he is still awaiting the necessary funding to bring
his three-story vision to life.
Some 220 people, including District Attorney Patricia
D'Angelis, Mayor Harry Tutunjian, and Rensselaer County
Executive Kathleen Jimino, attended the breakfast, and
had to be pleased with what they heard from these businessmen.
"Troy has a great potential for residential," said Horowitz.
"I've been to Europe, Paris and California, and Troy
is it: It's not going to be a matter of how to get people
here. It's going to be about how to get people out."
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