Another scam alert!

Kay Duclos today reported the receipt of a scam email. She was first to do so, but probably won't be the last as we have learned from earlier scams.

This one purports to be from Nadeen Thompson (details below). It isn't. If you receive a copy please trash it. Do NOT forward it to anyone even for information purposes. In addition to just being annoying, such scam messages often have hidden codes embedded in them that can plant a virus in computers or create a loophole through which hackers can access your files and personal data.

In most scam messages, the sender claims to not have access to a phone and can only communicate via email and/or text. That's simply a way to get into your accounts 

Here is the text of the email Kay received:

From: "Nadeen Thompson" 

Sent: Friday August 26 2022 10:29:29AM 

Subject: Re: MY REGARDS TO YOU 

Thanks for your acknowledgement. I need to get an AMAZON GIFT CARDS for a friend of mine who is diagnosed with stage 4 Cancer. She lost her only daughter to the disease (COVID-19). It's her birthday but I can't do this now because I'm currently out of town.

I tried purchasing it online but unfortunately I got no luck on that. Wondering if you could get it from any shop around you or from Amazon online? I'll pay back when I get back. 

Kindly let me know if you can handle this.

A followup email said: 

From: "Nadeen Thompson"

Sent: Friday August 26 2022 2:05:09AM 

Subject: MY REGARDS TO YOU 

How are you doing? I need a favor from you. I'm Unavailable on Phone, Kindly let me know when you get this. Awaiting Response, Regards Nadeen

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Small change, but library vote is crucial

The main Troy Library, opposite Russell Sage College.

In the presence of other, larger taxes -- school, city, county, state, etc. -- we sometimes may forget the smaller yet very important levies such as those supporting our city library system.

As the Times Union recently reported, "Facing staffing problems due low salaries and benefits, the Troy Public Library Board of Trustees is proposing a 2023 budget that carries an increase of 10 cents in the city library tax to make the library more competitive with other similar libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System." 

The budget vote determining the future of the 125-year-old library will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at the main library, 100 Second Street, and at the Lansingburgh branch at 27 114th Street. 

Meanwhile here is some information that may help you decide (a) whether to vote, and/or (b) how to vote:

Due to financial and staffing problems, the library has from time to time reduced its hours of operation. 

As director Paul Hickok explains, "The library Board of Trustees believes that we must face these problems head-on with the help of our community, even though it will add an additional $191,763 to the library’s overall operating budget. This would add $15 to the average homeowner's annual property tax bill but will ensure our ability to provide the services that the people of Troy depend upon and enjoy.” 

You can access the full Times Union story here.

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Little Italy Marketplace gets $375K improvement grant

Troy's Little Italy Marketplace received a boost today with the announcement of a $375,000 grant to the city for express purpose of further developing the marketplace.

The announcement was made at a public event by Assemblyman John McDonald, who emphasized the bipartisan efforts behind the grant, also attended by various community and governmental officials including Mayor Patrick Madden and members of the Little Italy Quality of Life Committee.

The grant was spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko through state and municipal facilities grant funding (SAM). The money will go toward a playground, a new bocce court, splash pad, promenade, public space, and other amenities.

The city-owned Little Italy Marketplace is located on a former brownfields area between Liberty and Washington streets. Activities over the years have ranged widely, from a farmers market to bocce matches to a stickball tournament, inline hockey league, and varied entertainment events.

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As summer fades, our lighting should not

As summer winds down, the days grow shorter, as is the way of Nature. And, that means more hours of dusk and darkness. 

That also means we would be well-advised to raise our level of awareness when it comes to community safety on the Terrace. 

As we recently were informed by Tom Wade, our Community Safety Committee chair who had requested on our behalf that the City of Troy improve lighting on the Terrace, the city will NOT be doing so for the foreseeable future. 

We were fortunate several years ago, with John Paccione -- also a Safety Committee member -- spearheading the effort, to upgrade the lighting at the entrance to Hyland Drive, and to help several homeowners upgrade their front-yard lighting. However, we need more attention to such details. 

Some owners have upgraded their front-yard pole lights, but many have not. So, we have a mix of dull bulbs, even some original pole lights that have long provided inadequate illumination because their once-transparent panels have oxidized, and others that have been out of commission for months. All of that has resulted in dark areas on the Terrace that invite nefarious activity. 

During the COVID pandemic, we saw a marked increase in the number of non-residents regularly walking through the neighborhood. While the vast majority are neighbors from Highpointe and even the Terrace at Stoneledge, it is not inconceivable that some may have been looking for vulnerabilities. 

To that end, the Community Safety Committee and the THCA Board are asking that the owners/residents of each home review their individual lightning situation. 

• If you have original pole lights, that means they are 25 years old or so, and are badly outdated. A professional electrician can provide guidance about whole or partial replacements.

• If you have not upgraded individual pole light bulbs to modern LED bulbs, the Committee (Tom, John, and Bill Shover) can advise you on how to do so at minimal cost. 

• If your lights do not work at all, that obviously can and should quickly be remedied. 

While such efforts will not completely compensate for the City's decision not to help, it will "light a candle in the darkness" and help make our community just a bit safer. 

Thank you for your attention and, we hope, your efforts to help you and your neighbors.

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You can join a Tiffany glass tour of Troy

 

A stained glass window at the main Troy Public Library.

If you're unaware that Troy is a treasure trove of Tiffany glass creations, you can learn a lot more by taking the annual tour offered by the Hudson Mohawk Gateway. 

"We our thrilled to announce the return with five co-hosting locations of our annual Tiffany glass tour," the organization said. "Troy is said to have more Tiffany glass per square mile than any other city in the world, including a few of the most famous ever produced. 

"This guided walking tour and lecture covers the life and work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and several of his illustrious employees in their production of some astonishing works of art in glass."

The driving-and-walking tour is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, September 17, for $25 per person. The tour has limited tickets available on a first come, first served basis. You can go online to get ticket reservation information.

"Remember, this is a multi-block walking tour, so wear your comfortable shoes," the organizers say.

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Fluid leak prompts traffic alert

As of 1:54 this afternoon, the Troy Police Department was on the scene of a large fluid leak in the area of Congress and 8th streets. 

According to the TPD, the following streets are temporarily currently closed to all traffic: 

• Congress Street between 8th and 15th streets 

• 8th Street between Peoples Avenue and Congress Street

• Ferry Street and 6th Avenue (eastbound) 

Please be prepared to seek alternate routes of travel for a period of time.

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Re-connecting the Terrace community online

As promised, today we are officially re-launching our community website to provide an online repository of forms, notes, announcements, and photos for the residents of the Terrace at Highpointe. 

We hope this forum will provide an opportunity for all Terrace residents to stay fully informed about the business and leisure of the community. And, it is intended to provide an easy way for those of the community who have "snowbird" status to keep in touch back home. 

If you have any news, information, photos, or other data you would like to share with your Terrace neighbors, please email them to theterraceathighpointe@gmail.com (it's not case sensitive) and we'll help spread the word. 

Please take a few minutes and look around this site so you know what we've put together for you. You'll note that key Terrace documents and forms are included, along with lists of leisure time organizations, schools and colleges, government entities, etc. 

So, please bookmark this site so you can access it on a regular basis.

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Danger: Another Terrace email hack

If you received an email today purporting to be from Tom Savchik, please ignore it. 

Tom and Peggy just confirmed for me that Tom's email account has been hacked. He did not send out a note about having an accident or a followup note about having surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He is fine, he is at home, but he is mystified. 

This is the third time in about a month that a Terrace resident's account has been hacked. That raises the suspicion that someone has gained unauthorized access to Terrace residents' contact information through one means or another. 

To that end, please be very careful if you receive an email from anyone on the Terrace. If you do open such a message, be sure the content isn't about some vague and unusual situation. Best bet: If you suspect any such message, call the supposed sender to ascertain if it is a legitimate message. 

Stay safe! 

-- Bill Dowd

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A changing of the Terrace guard

To My Fellow Terrace Residents: 

I'm baaack! 

As you've been informed by Steve Sanders, he has stepped down as president of the Terrace at Highpointe Community Association. We all thank Steven for his diligent and tireless service to the community in that role for the last 6+ years. 

I've been asked by my fellow Board members to return to the presidency, an office I have held three times before along with 26 years on the Board and the decades-long chairmanships of several key committees such as Architectural Review and Rules. I hope to make use of that experience to again help guide and serve the Association, this time through the end of 2023. 

To that end, I thank all of you who have sent me messages of support or expressed such sentiments in person. To them and all other Terrace owner/residents, I ask that you continue to support and encourage your volunteer Board. 

What can you look forward to? 

• We have had a Terrace website for some years, but it has not been utilized to any great degree. I plan to resurrect and update it as a device to help all residents easily stay in touch with the community, something that is particularly important since a growing number of our residents have taken on "snowbird" status and are not in residence here year-round. Stay tuned for news on that front. 

• In addition, I plan to regularly communicate with everyone on major issues of our community via e-mail blasts and in person. But, as we all know the best communication is a two-way effort. To that end, I encourage you to let me know any concerns you may have, and/or to communicate directly with our various committee chairs as appropriate. They are the specialists on such things as Grounds, Beautification, Architectural Review, and Rules and should be the first people you reach out to. 

• So, as we go forward into Year 28 of this community (the first residents -- including Lorraine and the late Harvey Bailey, and April and I who moved in by August 1995 and watched the rest of the Terrace being constructed), I ask you join me in working to maintain the quality of life and the property values of our community through volunteerism and neighborliness. 

Best wishes to all, 

Bill Dowd

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A farewell message after 6+ years

Dear Terrace Neighbors:

As I have mentioned, on August 20 I will be stepping down as your Terrace at Highpointe Community Association president and Bill Dowd will be replacing me. 

Many of you know that Bill is an original owner, a multiple-term past president, and a longtime member of the Terrace Board of Directors. Our association will be in great hands under his leadership for the next year and a half. 

I am grateful for the honor of having represented this wonderful community for these past six and a half years. During that time we have been able to maintain our property and its services in very good if not perfect condition. We were able to keep our dues structure from going up in spite of inflationary pressures.

Jerry Gordon has done a great job as our treasurer in overseeing our income and expenditures. We revised our By-Laws and Declaration which were in need of updates after 25 years. It was a tremendous undertaking that Bill and Jerry were largely responsible for. 

In so doing we also provided choice for our neighbors who wish to change the exterior color of their shutters and doors. The other Board members -- Sid Legg, Ellen Gordon, Ned Alaskey, and Bill Shover -- have done outstanding work in so many large and small ways. I am personally indebted to them for all their efforts. 

And, through the very difficult pandemic summers of 2020 and 2021 when there was so much isolation we kept our community in touch with one another with a number of outdoor events. The pizza parties and ice cream party were wonderful successes, thanks mainly to Ellie Debonis. Thanks to the efforts of John Paccione, we upgraded the lighting at the entrance of the Terrace. And, Tom Wade is in touch with the City of Troy to investigate the possibility of adding additional lighting around the Terrace to brighten our area at night. 

We all appreciate the unsung efforts of our Beautification Committee for adorning our environs at various holiday times. And, this past year we organized our community to stop the havoc and congestion that would have resulted on Oakwood Avenue if a school bus depot had been located directly across from our entrance as was proposed. 

Of course, there are always more issues to manage. Our strength is in the genuine care and concern we have for our common property and for each other. Like any other community we will at times face problems and adversity, but I have no doubt that under the leadership of Bill and our Board, and with the support of all of us, we will continue to be a model for what a great Homeowners Association can be.

Thank you again for the privilege of being your President. 

Best wishes, Steven Sanders

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