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A YouNews picture leads to press conference on $30,000 neighborhood repairs

By MIKE LaFAVE

Story Created: Sep 1, 2010 at 3:11 PM EST

Story Updated: Sep 2, 2010 at 3:27 PM EST

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - A picture may be worth a thousand words, but one YouNews picture is worth a $30,000 road repair.

After seeing a picture on the YouNews section of www.wktv.com that showed two year old Ethan Riley watching construction workers on their street, which was in need of repair, Utica Spokesman Angelo Roefaro called the poster and told her the city would hold a press conference on the repair work featuring her two year old son.

According to Mayor David Roefaro, a number of calls were made to his "May I" hotline concerning the intersection of Kellogg Avenue and Caroline Street in West Utica. Now, $30,000 in upgrades are being made that otherwise, may never have happened.

"There were a lot of potholes on this road," said Mary Zarnoch-Riley, the young boy's mother. "This road is part of the Utica bus route, so it gets a lot of traffic. It also gets a lot of foot traffic. We have some people in the neighborhood in wheelchairs that are disabled. It just wasn't safe for them to get on the bus. It wasn't safe for them to be crossing the road with all those obstacles."

The May I hotline is closed for the rest of the year, but the mayor says his door is, "always open."
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