By Mark Scott
Albany, NY – Hello from Albany, where I'm spending the week on assignment with Susan Arbetter at the Capitol Pressroom. This is more like a blog posting than a news article. But I thought I'd share some reflections about our state capital.
First of all, the Legislative Correspondents Association's (LCA) room in the State Capitol reminds me of a scene from the movie, "The Front Page." It's old. Pictures of New York's governors hang on the walls. There's an old piano that Harry Truman once played. In fact, it has a little note attached to it signed by Truman himself. But I say I'm reminded of "The Front Page" because the room is dominated by newspaper reporters. The only broadcast media with permanent space in the LCA room is Susan's Capitol Pressroom. And up the stairs, right next to Tom Precious of the Buffalo News, is public radio reporter Karen Dewitt's desk and recording booth.
Even though the State Legislature is not in session, the reporters are still here, putting out stories. On Wednesday, my wife, Mary Lou, was sitting outside Susan's studio waiting for us to wrap up the show when she heard a couple of reporters talking about Governor Paterson's plan to call the Legislature back into session. She thought she had a "scoop" for me. Sure enough, by the time I returned to my hotel room and booted up the laptop, there were already stories by the Associated Press, Buffalo News and Albany Times-Union, about the Governor's plans.
Susan tells me it's much different now than when the Legislature is in session. I was able to walk into the vacant Assembly chamber (see the adjacent photo) and see where the Governor delivers his annual State of the State address. The chamber looks much bigger on TV! Still, my first day here on Tuesday turned out to be rather exciting. The legendary Pete Seeger was here, along with actor Mark Ruffalo, to talk about their opposition to the extraction of natural gas from shale formations in upstate New York. Pete joined Susan on the Capitol Pressroom. What a thrill to meet such an iconic figure of our age.
It was nine months ago that WBFO added the Capitol Pressroom to our daily schedule. I sat down with Susan and production assistant Patrick Lynde after Wednesday's show to talk about her career, Patrick's future plans and the historic State Capitol. Susan says she was born in New York City but grew up in rural Pennsylvania. She says that early on, she knew she liked to talk to people. Please click the audio player above to hear our conversation
On Tuesday, Mary Lou and I did a very "touristy" thing. We bought tickets for one of those combination bus and boat vehicles you have probably seen. (Tragically, one was involved in a fatal accident in Baltimore a few weeks back.) In Albany, it's known as the Aqua Duck. We even received complimentary duck calls! Hokey as it was, our tour guide Norman, a retired salesman, was well prepared and presented some really interesting information about our state capital. When he asked for the names of the four New York governors who became US presidents, I shouted out Grover Cleveland. He was quite impressed that I knew that and then began picking me out for jokes during the rest of the trip.
I'll be in Albany through Friday, joining Susan on the Capitol Pressroom. On Thursday's show, we'll hear from a charter school advocate from Buffalo and we'll get an update on the race for attorney general in New York. We may even hear from former New York City Mayor Ed Koch. So, tune in WBFO at 1:00.
Thanks for reading. And if you have any thoughts you'd like to share, pass them along to mscott@wbfo.org.