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VISIT www. Volume 15, No. 47
AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE COMPLIMENTARY
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, September 14, 2023
Manager Ticketed While the Housing Controversy Grows
Arts, Music Event Is This Weekend
By WRILEY NELSON
City of the Hills Festival Lengthened to Two Days
ONEONTA he manager of the Town House Inn on Main Street in Oneonta was arrested and the city made a decisive move toward shutting down the lodging in an escalation of the ongoing controversy over emergency housing. Manager Premodh Vilakkupatthil, 43, turned himself in on Tuesday, September 5 after city police called him; he was issued a ticket for second-degree criminal nuisance. According to state law, a person is guilty of this misdemeanor offense when they knowingly or recklessly maintain conditions that endanger a number of people, or when they knowingly or recklessly maintain any premises where people gather to engage in unlawful conduct. Town House Inn has been at the center of Oneonta’s emergency housing controversy. It was the site of a shooting incident on Thursday, August 31, when gunfire struck two vehicles in the parking lot. City Chief of Police Christopher Witzenburg reported a fatal overdose at the motel in recent weeks. There are currently about five Department of Social Services emergency housing clients at the inn. Town House sits on two parcels of land, owned by the Oneonta Masonic Lodge and by Alan G. John. The arrest comes just weeks after the Otsego County Board of Representatives approved an expanded DSS contract with Motel 88 on Chestnut Street in the face of reservations voiced by Common Councilmember Len Carson (R-5th Ward) and other city officials. “We’ve had well over 400 police calls there in the last year,” Mayor Mark Drnek added. He said that the city has initiated litigation with the inn and aims to shut it down. Drnek recently established the Council’s Safe Homes and Neighborhoods Committee in response to “growing community concerns regarding the related issues of the idle undoContinued on page 10
ONEONTA n expanded two-day City of the Hills Festival will be held in downtown Oneonta on Saturday, September 16 from noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday, September 17, from noon to 5 p.m. Presented by the Community Arts Network of Oneonta, the City of the Hills Festival will feature an artisan and maker’s market with more than 50 vendors on Main Street; a beer garden with local brews and live music; drag and burlesque at CANO; plus children’s activities, artist demonstrations, workshops, yoga, acoustic music, and more. “The festival is a celebration of the Oneonta community and it’s one of CANO’s most popular signature events, along with February’s annual Chili Bowl,” said Hope Von Stengel, executive director of CANO. “Last year’s festival was so successful that we expanded it to two days and added more art and vintage vendors, more activities, more live music, and collaborated with other groups, including SUNY Oneonta, Hartwick College, Foothills, FOR-DO, and others.” Musical acts feature local and regional bands and performers in a range of genres, from Americana and jazz to college rock and hip-hop. The festival concludes with a performance by reggae/ska band The Big Takeover on Sunday. “It’s always a vibrant, joyful event and we’re excited to have a fun weekend for residents and visitors,” Von Stengel said. With support from Earlville Opera House and Golden Artist Colors, CANO commissioned artists Diana Cozzens and Emily Falco to create new murals downtown. The weekend will also feature an augmented reality community art gallery presented Continued on page 11
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Photo by Chip Northrup
We Remember COOPERSTOWN—Amember of the Cooperstown Police Department drops the Main Street flag to half mast on September 11, in memory of those who lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks.
Fetterman Award Nominations Sought COOPERSTOWN he Clark Sports Center has asked the public for nominations for the Patrick C. Fetterman Award. Fetterman was a long-serving associate director of the Alfred Corning Clark Gymnasium. Recipients are honored for their dedication to local youth athletics and have their names added to a trophy sculpted by local Continued on page 13
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Couple Responds with Courage After 9/11 by ► clerk endorsements keep coming, page 4 Helping at Ground Zero ► reflections on school INSIDE
► FCO Matching Grant opportunity, page 2
sports, page 4
By Monica Calzolari
► pathfinder village in the news, page 6 ► events include walks, workshops, sales and more, page 7 ► hartwick clean sweep is this weekend, page 12 ► vaughn thomas wins award, page 12 ► sports briefs, page 11 Follow Breaking News On
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ONEONTA teve Fabrizio has been coming to Oneonta to visit his cousins since he was 9 years old. Born in Rockaway Beach, Fabrizio identifies as a New Yorker from Queens. On September 11, 2001, Fabrizio and his life partner, Lisa Schwartz, said goodbye to each other like every other day. Fabrizio ran a personal training business out of a gym on 86th Street. His first appointment was at 6 a.m. He describes his clients as “very high-strung Wall Street types who exercised before work.” His partner worked for Merrill Lynch at the time and commuted by subway from their apartment on 57th Street to the World Trade Center. When a co-worker heard the news of the first plane Continued on page 3
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Photo by Stacie Haynes
Let the Learning Begin! COOPERSTOWN—Eleanor Spencer is greeted by Cooperstown Elementary School Principal Amy Malcuria on her first day of school as sister Meadow looks on. CCS students returned to school on Thursday, September 7.
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