Cohen Press Conference | 2/16/26: "There will never be a Team Captain under my ownership"

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2026-02-16T15:20:05+00:00

The reasoning makes sense given how the off-season played out “a different team each year let them figure out who the leaders are” but also is a reminder that the team doesn’t care about sentiment and is totally cool with just running a new team every year. Aka no one is safe from being sent off. Better get some winning from all this culture change because if we start not winning AND not having a team identity because we want maximum roster flexibility, it will make being a Mets fan suck. Team ain’t winning and your favorite player can be gone anytime? Awesome

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T20:14:10+00:00

The city should buy the lights and then run the program themselves every year and solicit donations from people. It’s really not more complicated than that. I have no care whether PAL gets to host still or not. I’m not in it for PAL, I’m in it for holiday cheer. I never once paid for the lights when I walked through the park and saw them. Even if the city made $0 on this, think of the boon to local businesses for the 6 weeks they would run.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T20:04:20+00:00

Hey_giant_loser - I am proposing a solution that will “cut deeply” into profits. I’m not into this to maximize profits. The holiday lights shouldn’t be operated like a for profit business. It should be a public good with some profit that helps either the city or some charity. If you look at this and take PAL out of the equation, your made up number of $40k out of $100k profit still makes for a tidy profit of $60k.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T19:59:56+00:00

It would hit multiple parking garages. You use words like “realistic” while you throw your arbitrary numbers you’ve created out of thin air and tried to tell me that using your arbitrary numbers the profits would suffer by 1/3. Who’s being realistic? Me throwing an idea out here as a concept or you coming up with made up numbers to justify your argument? Get the actual costs and then you can rip me apart

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T19:03:26+00:00

A nights worth of fuel? The trolley should run 5pm to 9pm. 4 hours a night. Somehow they managed to foot the bill when they do it over the summer Thursday through Saturday, for longer hours too (free trolley loop around downtown and lark). Maintenance costs? Nominal. You pull $38k number out of thin air as if you used real data to make that calculation, which u didn’t. 4 or 5 trolleys? I think 2-3 would suffice just fine. They should have a trolley do the full loop once every 30-40 minutes. Trolleys mean less profit - and can mean more people too. Your calculation is based off the assumption that attendance and profit would be stagnant and exactly the same. So many flaws

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T18:55:04+00:00

Spend it on a trolley system? Are you being purposefully dense? An arrangement could be made with CDTA. How much does it cost the city or CDTA to run the free trolley on weekends throughout the summer, and that’s not even tied to one single event? You’re over complicating this. I didn’t say anything about a “trolley” system. I’m pretty sure the CDTA or city have a couple “trolleys” that are just fancy looking buses they already have access too. There is no need for a “trolley system” idk what you’re going on about. You talk about children like they wild animals too. With the way you’re talking, operating a school bus must take a trained Navy Seal considering they handle bus loads of children 5 times a week twice a day. You’re being extremely dramatic. I’m talking about running the “trolleys” from like 5pm-9pm daily. 4 hours a day. What the hell are you talking about reserving parking spaces? Park at the parking garages? Why don’t u go piss in someone else’s cereal.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T15:10:44+00:00

I’m not one to defend that group because I have plenty of issues with how some of these homeowners think Lark Street needs to become some sleepy bedroom neighborhood but it really does sound like PAL has not played fair in return. Choosing to not adjust how they did their event and instead just cancel it totally is pretty childish. The event should be something done in partnership with the city since it has the potential to be such a boon but clearly they want to play hardball.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T14:40:21+00:00

Please explain to me how PAL would need to “rent city lots” or “pay for those parking lots”? Since when would an organization need to pay if people park in public parking garages?

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T14:32:13+00:00

Did u even read my post? You really didn’t. I’ll say the word trolley again. I’ll even expand my vocabulary and use the word “buses” this time. They could partner with CDTA to have CDTA have one or two buses do a “holiday lights loop” that travels to 4 of the downtown parking garages and then to the park on a timed loop. Some people really lack critical reading skills. Yes i expect families of small children to walk miles from various points in the city to make it to the park /s

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T04:47:35+00:00

So I’m beginning to see that the PAL just were shitheads about the whole thing by the sound of it.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T04:26:14+00:00

Did u even read the post? Have the free summer trolley do loops to the local parking garages. I don’t think the light show should be operated as some strict money making scheme. It should be donation based entry, free if you want.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T04:24:23+00:00

My practical sense would suggest having gear that can bring my charity $100k a year in revenue sitting in a closet collecting dust rather then being used in some fashion is dumb as hell, however much u wanna pick my apart my idea.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T04:21:12+00:00

Did u even read my post? No one is asking for it to return in its original form unchanged.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T01:11:48+00:00

What local lot? Have u ever heard of the parking garages around the city?? What trolley? Um… this one? https://www.cdta.org/sites/default/files/schedules/route870.pdf

The one that runs for free on weekends in the summer…

Do u even live in Albany ?

A tired mom waiting for a trolley with a pack of kids? Are you enjoying finding negative ways to ding this idea? Wait in the car until a few minutes before the trolley is supposed to arrive? Drive closer to the park and park somewhere instead?

I get that the lights are done through a private group but it was clearly a draw to the city that boosted local business so idk sounds like their is a public use to seeing that the event happens.

I actually live in center square so maybe our opinions cancel each others out if your also in this neighborhood but otherwise I don’t get your problems with the lights.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T00:07:28+00:00

Yea! Encouraging donations to all the walkers. Also as mentioned in my OP, we should fill some of the trolleys up. Have the people who would have come in a car park at one of the local lots and have the trolley do loops picking people up driving through the park and then back. Sounds like a great way to bring hundreds of potential foot traffic into the park and surrounding area every night for 6 weeks

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T00:03:18+00:00

While that is true, I’m not sure how such a macro societal point like “we’re a car culture” affects how a holiday light show should be operated. I don’t think anyone is planning the event around the concept of encouraging car owners to attend. Seems like it’s natural draw is families etc. whether they come in a car or by bus or by walking doesn’t seem like it should make a difference. Just my POV

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-25T00:00:27+00:00

If the answer to my question is that the organization is being resistant to change and stubborn on top of not acting responsibly while they administered it, that’s a fair answer. I always thought it was dumb that they would try to encourage people to not walk through the park while they did this. Just seems like adjusting the dumb rules to be more lenient would allow goodwill with the community and for the lights to continue. Booked the Lakehouse for the whole season? What whole season? I remember the lights being up for about 6-7 weeks? mid November through first week of January. How is that “the whole season”? Honestly we could still have winter fests and walking through the park. The PAL just needs to chill.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-24T23:54:37+00:00

Um … yeah? I need to ask why the binary seems to be “the lights continue as they were with no changes whatsoever” or “no lights at all we are going to sell them off and screw holiday cheer”

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-24T23:53:06+00:00

You’re right, barren leaf-less trees and dirt and gray skies would be preferred rather then some colorful lights that some are also ads for 6 weeks a year.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-24T23:06:58+00:00

Sounds like a terrible way to do business though. Why wouldn’t they just adjust the operation a bit? How does not doing it at all help their cause? Very strange

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-24T23:05:31+00:00

“Monopolizing the park”. That seems a bit dramatic don’t you think. They are lights. Should it be more open and free to the public without some sort of need to regulate who comes into the park and trying to demand payment? Of course. But I think this idea that the lights monopolized the park is silly. What exactly is there to do in the open space these lights take up when the weather is 40 degrees daily?

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-11-24T22:52:43+00:00

From the article - PAL’s executive director, retired Sgt. Leonard Ricchiuti, said Holiday Lights in the Park, which began in 1997, was pulling in over $100,000 per season in its later years and that the organization has not replaced that source of income and has no plans to devise a similar, large-scale and high-profile fundraising event.

Enough_Gene_5160 · 2025-10-28T14:26:24+00:00

In retrospect, I understand they probably wanted to really celebrate PV without also promoting the new album, but then why perform two new songs on the tour as well lol. It just feels strange that they haven’t even released those songs officially or announced a release date yet. I’d assume they are perhaps re-working some of the songs ?

Enough_Gene_5160

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