On November 8, Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian met with the Rensselaer community in the Shelnutt Gallery for the Student Senate-sponsored Pizza With the Mayor. This year’s event was attended by around 30 people; most were students, but some administration and faculty members also attended. Members of the student government represented the majority of the students in attendance. Throughout the duration of the event, others trickled in and out to get a feel for the Mayor’s top priorities and ask a few questions of their own.
After the crowd settled in, questions were posed on topics including safety issues, both on campus and throughout Troy, the Congress Street and Ferry Street projects, and new businesses coming to Troy. Tutunjian briefly discussed his future goals while in office, but primarily focused on how to improve the Rensselaer area and how to better bridge the gap between the campus and the community.
With regard to the Congress Street project, Tutunjian explained the primary objectives of this reconstruction and how it would not only affect the immediate area, but also the community’s relations with campus. Some of these main points include improving traffic flow, enhancing pedestrian and bicycle mobility, and addressing safety issues in the area. He said some added benefits of this project include restoring the “historic character of the area” and separating the combined sewer system. By making the area easier to travel through, Tutunjian hopes that RPI students will take the opportunity to visit downtown Troy more frequently.
Along the lines of fixing travel conditions, Tutunjian addressed the traffic signal improvements that the city wishes to implement in the River Street to Second Avenue corridor and from Hutton Street to 126th Street. This would overhaul 13 intersections, with most being “completely replaced [to include] man/hand symbols, pushbuttons, and countdown timers.” Not only would this bring the area up to code for disabled citizens, but it would also “balance the needs of motor vehicles with pedestrian safety.” There are several other benefits to this renovation, which include reducing gasoline and electricity consumption—the signals would be LEDs, which would cut consumption by 80 percent.
On a different note, Tutunjian outlined the growth downtown by discussing several new developers looking to come to the area. He mentioned one in particular that has already renovated buildings for apartments that are now being leased for $3,000 a month. These include perks such as underground parking, heating, and security systems. He hopes that plans to improve both pedestrian and vehicle traffic—which would significantly decrease safety concerns—will bring similar developments to the area. Hopefully, this can be completed without destroying the historical value.
On the topic of safety in general, Tutunjian expressed his opinion that Troy has a bad reputation based on “hype rather than facts,” and that the city is actually statistically safer than Albany and Schenectady. He believes that the Department of Public Safety’s requirement of distributing flyers describing safety-related infractions may be helping the crime rate stay lower. Safety concerns were raised by several in attendance, especially with the increase in crime seen throughout the country. Tutunjian stressed the importance of keeping Troy safe—not only for the citizens, but also for the students, hoping they will find the city more attractive and continue to live here after they graduate.
Not all conversation was serious, however, as Tutunjian joked about the 15th Street Footbridge—a class gift from ’78—and how the city of Troy actually owns this property. When he heard there were plans to renovate this structure, he teasingly suggested that the city should set up a toll booth. Overall, though, the questions circled back to safety issues, which he fielded with confidence, indicating that Troy will be vastly improved and students should be and feel safer in the near future.
After the question and answer session, Tutunjian spoke more in depth with the faculty members and Student Senate members in attendance. He once again expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to personally meet the members of the RPI community, and he looks forward to future Pizza with the Mayor meetings. For more information on the projects listed above, as well as other major renovations schedule to occur, visit http://www.troyny.gov/projects/projectlist.html, which goes into further detail about plan objectives and funding.
