Crime & Federalism

After looking at my f/k/a Referer page tonight, I don't know what is strangest: that someone did a Google search for <"local schmocal">; that the first four results come from C&F and f/k/a [due to our post "fedLabs 101: local schmocal"]; or that there are a hundred other search results for that query. 

Before I get to the relatively serious part of this post, I have a public educational service to perform.  It has come to my attention that many people are not totally familiar with the use of "schm-" as a prefix in a "reduplicated rhyming compound." The Word Maven explains it well in an entry from June 6, 1996. In response to a question involving the term "gravity-schmavity (for a Wonderbra ad!), the Maven says:

The element schm- (also shm-) is added to the initial part of a word to form what linguists call a "reduplicated rhyming compound" jocularly expressing disparagement or derision of the word. The "schm" sound imitates various words in Yiddish, where the sound is quite common. Many of these words have been borrowed into English, such as schmaltz 'sentimentality', schmatte 'a rag or cheap garment', schmooze 'to chat or gossip intimately', schmuck 'a jerk', and others.

This usage is well established in English, going back at least to the 1920s. Your first example, fancy-schmancy, itself goes back to 1935. Although the early examples are primarily from Jewish writers, its current use is widespread, as is demonstrated by the widely promoted Wonderbra ad you mention.

If you don't believe the Word Maven, check out the Macquarie Book of Slang.

Now, back to business.  I wrote about Schenectady, New York's, oft-bumbling Metroplex Development Authority last week, ending with doubts over the financing of a new Hampton Inn on the central block of Schenectady's tiny downtown.  Well, the Inn project made the news tonight here in the NY Capital Region.   There were three small buildings left to take down before construction could begin on the hotel.  In a cable tv spot entitled "Mishap during demolition in Schenectady," Capital News 9 reported that, as the work crew began tearing down the structures this morning,  "part of the first building shifted and collapsed on some cars parked nearby."  Indeed,

"Jayme Lahut, executive director of the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority said, 'There was a plan put in place. Obviously it didn't work, but we will go back to the drawing board and come up with stronger measures. A couple cars were damaged, but they can be fixed. Nobody was injured'."

I have to tell you, tearing down stuff on that block has been Metroplex's forte until now.  If they can't get that right, I'm even more worried than last week.  (As an aside: that first building was Schenectady's only downtown Rent-A-Center, and none is coming back.  In this town, R-A-C is major retail. )  Indeed, and somewhat ironically, Ray Gillen, the new Chair of the Metroplex Board, is quoted just this past Sunday in the Albany Times Union (Jan. 30, 2005) putting down the prior work of Metroplex, with a quip reversing the Field of Dreams movie theme:

"Schenectady philosophy used to be if you tear it down they will come."

I don't think GIllen meant the news crews would come.  But, quite a few showed up today.   Gillen also complained about the first major consultant study done for Metroplex, calling "the $650,000 Hunter Downtown Master Plan a waste of time and money. 'I kept two pages and threw the rest out,' Gillen said, referring to the two-inch thick 1999 study by New York City consultants."   And, referring to the three-block street reconstruction that was supposed to help lure shoppers back downtown, Gillen said it was a nightmare, because it took three years to finish --  "some businesses failed -- the project was a disgrace."

The Hampton Inn is the first major project okayed by Metroplex since Gillen arrived.  We'll see if a few million here and there will bring more success than the projects of his predecessors. 

The Albany Times Union also focused this week ("Center stage in plan for revival," Jan. 29, 2005) on the very largest Metroplex project: a $22.5 million project that will convert the grand, old Proctor's Theatre into a performing arts complex, capable of mounting the largest touring Broadway shows.  The article notes that "City officials consider Proctor's the catalyst of downtown revitalization, calling the expanded theater the heart of efforts to convert State Street into an entertainment center that is ringed by small office buildings and other commerce."   I love Proctor's and for years it has been the only venue bringing people to Schenectady in large numbers from out of town.  However, here's the part that I find particularly disturbing (emphasis added):

The $9.5 million grant from Metroplex marks the single-greatest expenditure by the taxpayer-funded authority established six years ago to revitalize downtown. Despite the size of the Metroplex donation, the expansion has generated little concern or debate among the authority's board members.

Schenectady has been my home for fifteen years.  I live just a few blocks from Proctor's Theatre and the heart of our downtown.  A vibrant dowtown would be a wonderful thing.  Nonetheless, I worry about a taxpayer-funded authority that has so much power, but seems to pay so little attention to reality and to details, big and small.   Have your leaders found a better way to bring economic development to a city in the throes of a longterm slump?