From what I gathered on the street today the building inspector paid a visit to the structure on the corner of Bridge and Margaret Street (the former Zachery’s Pizza spot) where a concrete panel fell from the roofline last Saturday afternoon. The yellow-tape forbidden zone was extended around the corner to the front entrance on Margaret Street.
According to a street source, the building is going to be fixed tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 14th). He also said that the concrete panel on the Bridge Street hit the sidewalk about 45 minutes after the crowd watching the Battle of Plattsburgh parade had cleared out. No one was hurt.
Five days and counting. It should be interesting to see if the unsafe building can be fixed by tomorrow.
So far the Press-Republican hasn’t run any articles about the situation. Like I say, some of the PR gang should get out of their offices and walk around the town to see what’s going on.
Maybe “walking the beat” is beneath certain reporters and editors. (It is for the city police most of the time.) A couple of recent editorials demonstrated that PR employees are greatly concerned about traffic flow, getting to and from work. These editorials praised the latest changes at two intersections near the news offices that speed up the commuting process.
But can you cover local news when you’re either ensconced either in a car or an office? I wonder if the typical PR reporter or editor could find his way downtown without his butt attached to a car seat. Only a couple of exceptions come to mind when I try to remember seeing a PR person downtown on foot.
Or maybe the newshounds are afraid that someone will bark at them for taking photographs of public places and buildings. (See the post, A Threatening Image?) Hey, I get yelled at and I don’t get paid a cent. But I care enough to press on and report on what is going on.
Downtown Plattsburgh decaying to the point where lives and limbs are being endangered is news.
2 comments:
A veteran reporter for the Boston Globe once described how he would troll the rough and tumble streets of South Boston simply talking to residents about what concerned them. He was able to write at least one news story a day -- sometimes more -- and was also responsible for many award winning pieces about the Southie mobsters ( a la The Departed). All this came from simply opening his eyes and ears to the goings on around him. He lamented that in most j-schools today the skill of how to find the true "heartbeat of the beat" is rarely, if ever, addressed. Most reporters visit downtown for a few minutes and the headline that results is, "Crowd Enjoys Battle of Plattsburgh Celebration". Few stick around downtown -- or talk to people downtown -- to uncover the true headline, "Crowd Narrowly Misses Falling Tile".
Anon:
Good observations. One complaint about modern journalists is that while they have to be objective or fair, they are sometimes too removed from the common man. As someone who doesn't own a car, I find it amusing that the Press Republican devotes two different editorials praising the intersection changes that make it quicker for its employees to commute back and forth. How about an article about how those intersection changes affects people like me who get around primarily on foot? And what about people with disabilities?
With the population trend shifting from a young majority to an older one, plus problems with the energy supply (gas), I predict that years from now you will see articles about older citizens needing better crosswalks to get around town. Between health issues and the expense of owning your own vehicle, more citizens will be on foot and also using public transportation. Then you'll notice a change in the editorials -- unless the editor is driven to work by his chauffeur.
Luke
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