SARATOGA WHAT?

Has anyone seen the latest edition of Saratoga Living Magazine? It’s trying very hard to be something that it is not. There are some quality images in the zine and a nice local feature about Garland Nelson but other than that it isn’t that good. Until recently Saratoga Living was the best magazine around here and now it clearly is not. It used to be $5 and now it’s free. WTF? The new owner, local lawyer Tony Iianello has taken a high-quality product and has single handedly destroyed it in a little over a year. He has systemically fired most of the local writers and replaced it with writers who are not local folks at all. The new editor is taking the magazine in an entirely different direction and seems to be obsessed with celebrity. Ugh. I guess it’s safe to say that Simply Saratoga and the new Upstate Magazine will be vying for the best local stories and images.  It is just mind boggling that a once highly successful magazine is falling from grace right before our very eyes.

 

Saratoga Springs certainly has more pluses than most small cities but it still has an underbelly. There was the shocking murder of a local person two days ago. The kind of stuff that plagues other larger communities are slowly creeping into the fabric of Saratoga. The crime and pandemic of drugs, the air of desperation in the homeless and soon to be homeless population. The over development of our land and the meteoric rise of the cost of living here are making its indelible mark on our dear city. The downfall of Saratoga Living Magazine is symbolic of the uptick of superficiality of the entire nation in general. We used to rise above it and now it is an increasing weight on our shoulders. A burden of sorts, a malaise that you can see in those thrill seekers on Caroline Street just past the hour of midnight. They so much want to feel like they are having a good time but they know deep down they are not. Waves of sadness flourish until the wee hours of the morning; the witching hours as I call them. It pains me just to watch so I look away. Is the end near for Saratoga?  A fading star? What will finally break our winning streak? Only time will tell.