The December meeting should be the 20th, but I will hold off to post until after the November meeting in case there is a change due to the holidays.

There will be a Park Ave Festival wrap up meeting on Tuesday, October 11th at 6:30pm in the boardroom of Kirkhaven Nursing Home. And the next PARC meeting will be on its regularly scheduled date of October 18.  PARC secretary, Jimmy Catalano, is trying to schedule a meet and greet with Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard for the meeting.

———————————————————————————————————————————

About the Park Ave Revitalization Committee (PARC):

This group is made up of area residents (PANC) and any interested paid member of PAMA. You do NOT need to be active in PANC to attend these meetings, ALL residents are welcomed.

PARC meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30p.m.in the boardroom of Kirkhaven Nursing Home 254 Alexander St. ANY resident in the area is welcomed to attend.

Bruce Trombley and Cindy Gellar are co-chairs of PARC.
Secretary: Jimmy Catalano

Crime Prevention Bulletin

It has come to the attention of your Crime Prevention Officer that
there has been an increase in the number of “Pan Handlers” in your
neighborhood. This increase may be attributed to residents giving money to
these individuals as well as leaving returnable cans and bottles out in the
open for “bottle collectors” to pick up.

While I’m certain that this is done with the best of intentions, it is not
uncommon for “Pan Handlers” and “bottle collectors” to commit crimes of
opportunity such as burglary, larceny and robbery while in your
neighborhood soliciting handouts. Furthermore, some habitual burglars use
the guise of “bottle collector” to conduct surveillance on their potential
targets.

Pan Handling in itself is not illegal, however Aggressive Pan
Handling is a violation of Rochester City Code 44-4. This Municipal code
states:

“No person shall solicit in an aggressive manner in a public place.”

SOLICIT- shall include the spoken, written or printed word or such other acts or
bodily gestures as are conducted in the furtherance of immediately obtaining money
or any other thing of value.

AGGRESSIVE MANNER shall be defined as: (condensed version)

• Intentionally or recklessly touching another person or approaching within an arms length, without consent during a solicitation.
• Following the person being solicited, if that conduct is likely to cause imminent fear or intimidation of a criminal act against them.
• Continuing to solicit within five feet of a person who has responded negatively, if hat conduct is likely to cause fear or intimidation.
• Intentionally or recklessly blocking the safe or free passage of the person being solicited, or requiring the person or driver of a vehicle to take evasive action to avoid physical contact with the solicitor.
• Intentionally or recklessly using words likely to cause a reasonable person fear or intimidation.
• Approaching a person in such a manner as to cause fear or intimidation

In addition, the Rochester Police Department would like to remind all
residents of this neighborhood to follow these basic tips to deter crime:

1. Report to 911 immediately all suspicious activity such as persons loitering, going door to door, or the sound of glass breaking.
2. Report any attempt to break into your house or garage, such as cuts on your window screens near the locks.
3. Keep your doors, windows and garages locked when not at home (even when in the yard or at a neighbors).
4. Install and use deadbolt locks on all exterior doors.
5. Notify a neighbor when you are going to be away.
6. Discontinue newspaper delivery when going on vacation.
7. Keep outside lights on all night or use motion sensor lights all around your home.
8. Trim shrubs to deny burglars a hiding place, especially shrubs around windows.
9. Lock up ladders and trash toters where they cannot be used by a burglar.
10. Don’t leave returnable cans etc. out for the “homeless”.
11. Never open your door for a stranger.

Be a good neighbor…watch your neighbors’ property.

CONTACT YOUR CRIME PREVENTION OFFICER FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION AND A FREE SECURITY SURVEY
FOR YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS

———————————————————————————————

Rochester Police Department
East Division Office NSC SouthEast Area
630 N. Clinton Av. 846 South Clinton Av.
Rochester, N.Y. 14605 Rochester, N.Y. 14620
585-428-9800 585-428-7640
Crime Prevention Officer Brian Bannerman 428-7647

Crime Prevention Bulletin

It has come to the attention of your Crime Prevention Officer that
there has been an increase in the number of “Bottle Collectors” in your
neighborhood. This increase is likely due to neighborhood residents leaving
returnable cans and bottles out in the open or in recycle bins for these “bottle
collectors” to pick up.

While I’m certain that this is done with the best of intentions, it is very
common for “bottle collectors” to commit crimes of opportunity such as
burglary or larceny while entering premises where persons are not at home
with the intention of collecting returnables. Furthermore, some habitual
burglars use the guise of “bottle collector” to conduct surveillance on their
potential targets.

Because of these risk factors involved with attracting “Bottle
Collectors” to your neighborhood, I recommend you do not leave bottles or
cans out in the open where they may attract these individuals.

In addition, the Highland Section Crime Prevention Unit would like to
remind all residents of this neighborhood to follow these basic tips to deter
crime:

1. Report to 911 immediately all suspicious activity such as
persons loitering, going door to door, or the sound of
glass breaking.
2. Report any attempt to break into your house such as
cuts on your screens near the locks.
3. Keep your doors and windows locked when not at home.
4. Notify a neighbor when you go on vacation.
5. Discontinue newspaper delivery when going on vacation.
6. Trim shrubs to deny burglars a hiding place, especially
shrubs around windows.
7. Lock up ladders where they cannot be used by a burglar.

Be a good neighbor…watch your neighbors’ property.

Sgt Brian Bannerman, Crime Prevention Officer with the RPD, said the data is updated every few days.  I don’t yet see the incidents that I emailed our neighborhood association about from late last week, but hopefully those will be up soon.

You can create updates and alerts too, if you want to keep tabs on your neighborhood without having to remember to visit the site:

www.crimereports.com

Boulder Coffee Opens on Park Ave

Boulder Coffee opened today in the old Spin location.  The paper on the windows came off this weekend.  My kids are too young for coffee and they were even excited, as we peeked in no less than 10 times this weekend.

For many of us, neighborhood coffee shops are about so much more than just coffee.  (Neighbor, Michael Brown, gets huge kudos for rallying the neighborhood and reaching out to so many local businesses and others to help maintain the character of that corner.  Someone buy that guy a cup of coffee.)

So stop in, buy a cup of something and welcome our newest neighbor — Boulder Coffee.

Oh happy day.

The following is a recap of the agenda:

FLOWER CITY CHALLENGE 1/2 MARATHON TURNING THE CORNER ON BRUNSWICK:
Ellen Brenner, Park Avenue neighbor and one of the owners of Fleet Feet on Monroe, attended the meeting to remind everyone to get out and cheer for the runners this Sunday, May 1.  They will be running through various neighborhoods along the route.  There will be a contest for the most spirited neighborhood, so let’s get out and cheer. (Those of you who run know how helpful it is to see people out cheering for you as you make your way through the race.   No cigarettes or donuts, please.)

• Turning Right on Brunswick from East Avenue:  Around mile 4.5, the runners will turn right on Brunswick from East then turn right on Park Ave. The fastest runners will probably be there around 7:50am, with runners passing through until about 9am.  2200 runners are currently registered.  You don’t even have to get out of your jammies to cheer them on.  Let’s show them our spirit!  13.1 miles is a long way.

DEVIL MAY CARE:
Jimmy Catalano (PARC secretary) and Elaine Spaull (city council representative) requested that we set up a Park Central neighborhood meeting to discuss any grievances some neighbors still have with the store at the corner of Brunswick and Park.  Jimmy, Elaine and Cindy Geller (Park Avenue Merchants’ Association president) will attend the meeting, as well.  Those grievances and concerns will be presented to the owners of the store in written form.  The owners have expressed a strong desire to work with the neighborhood, so Jimmy and Elaine believe this is the best next step.  I will be sending two proposed dates for a meeting soon, so we can decide what works best for those who want to participate.

APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PARCEL OF LAND AT 751-759 PARK AVE:
We don’t have any further information on when the meeting with the developer will be held (Peter Siegrist, the city zoning official assigned to the application, has been out of the office).  The neighborhood should definitely get involved from the very beginning on this one to assure any concerns are addressed.  From what I could tell around the table, no one is against development; they just want to make sure it is the right kind of development.  Many have concerns that a 48 unit apartment building will bring down rents in the neighborhood and cause parking issues.  I will keep you all in the loop as soon as we are notified by the city about the meeting.

A PROACTIVE NEIGHBORHOOD IS A STRONG AND VIBRANT ONE:
Jimmy, Elaine and Cindy met a couple weeks ago to discuss strengthening the Park Avenue neighborhood.  Given the recent application to develop the parcel of land at the end of Argyle/Park and concerns raised the past few years over zoning and other neighborhood issues, they believe it is time for the Park Avenue neighborhood to become more proactive.  Elaine would like to work with the city to educate commercial  landlords to ensure that their potential renters know the requirements for business permits and any other related necessary approval steps.  She wants to push landlords of derelict properties to take care of them (for example, the rundown nature of the Talmudic Institute at the corner of Park/Brunswick).  Jimmy will be meeting with the police again to continue diligence around bottle/can collectors who carry their carts through our neighborhoods.  They both noted the activism in the South Wedge and Mt. Hope neighborhoods and would like to see Park Ave regain the activism it once had to assure our neighborhood remains a strong, safe and vibrant neighborhood that people want to visit and live in.

NEW BUSINESSES WHERE THE RITE AID USED TO BE:
The property that currently houses Wilson Farms and Cobbs Hill pizza is filling its vacant space! Most of you already know about the HairZoo.  Golden Tans will relocate to the building soon too.  A new clothing and accessories store, Wearhouse, will be opening there soon.  And a gym (we don’t know which one) will also be moving into the back of the building where the old stock and delivery areas for the Rite Aid were.

NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRICAL BOXES BEING PAINTED: Through a grant and other funds collected, PARC has $3,000 to paint the various electrical boxes in the neighborhood. The Southeast Area Coalition (SEAC) is currently accepting proposals from local artists interested in having their work grace the boxes.  If you know anyone who is interested, have them contact SEAC for RFP information.

MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT:
The Park-Meigs NA beautification project with the greenspace along Park Ave will be starting soon.  They are currently discussing fence design and are meeting with the historic preservation board on May 4th.

HANGING FLOWER BASKETS:
The Park Avenue Merchants’ Association (PAMA) donated hanging baskets for the intersections along the Park Ave retail areas (the old ones wouldn’t retain water and left the flowers crumbly and dry).  Once it’s warm enough, you’ll be seeing some lovely flowers gracing the neighborhood.

Kirk Bethel, owner of Spin, recently posted a comment on our original post about the closing of Spin.  I wanted to share it with you, in case you do not come across it otherwise.

Thanks for reaching out to the neighborhood, Kirk.

Kirk April 21, 2011 at 11:20 pm

It’s been a couple of months and I so wish we could have said good-bye to all of our customers and friends on the Avenue. It was a very hard decision and the sudden closing was the only option we had. On behalf of my family, I want to thank everyone who supported us in our efforts to keep things going.

Sadly, we just couldn’t continue to lose money much less put money into improvements. With a 45% increase in green coffee prices in 8 months, our decision was unavoidable. Final nail, so to speak.

I’m excited for the folks at Boulder Coffee Company who are remodeling and will open in 5 or 6 weeks. I wish them well and hope everyone will support the new shop. Of course it won’t be Spin Coffee Roasters coffee but it will be better than any chain coffee could even hope for.

Thank you all for your kind words.