Title: Forget It, Jake, It's Schenectady: The True Story Behind The Place Beyond the Pines
Publisher: Fayetteville Mafia Press
Publication Date: 2023
Language: English
ISBN 10: 1949024520
ISBN 13: 9781949024524
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: very_good

About this title

Synopsis

Stranger things do tend to happen in Schenectady―once a booming metropolis nicknamed the “City That Lights and Hauls the World” thanks to the dominating presence of General Electric and the American Locomotive Company, though those days are ancient history. GE has nearly abandoned the city, and ALCO closed up shot over fifty years ago. Hence, the title of this book: Forget It, Jake, It’s Schenectady: A Police Department Under Siege, and the Man Who Led It, a nod to the bleak conclusion of the classic film Chinatown, one of cinema’s most devastating expressions of abject resignation and defeat.A chance meeting between onetime Schenectady Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek and author David Bushman in a Lyft car that Kaczmarek was driving was the genesis of this book, originally intended to track the rise and fall of a veteran cop with what appear to be two defining traits―an almost inhuman capacity for perseverance and a truly remarkable ability to attract notoriety and criticism. However, as the author’s research―including interviews with over two dozen people who lived through the events depicted in these pages―progressed, the book mutated into something else: a consideration of the recent history of the entire department―both its failures and successes―especially during Kaczmarek’s six-year reign as chief, but also involving such celebrated cases as the arrests and convictions of child killer Marybeth Tinning and serial rapist-murderer Lemuel Smith, who claimed to be controlled by the spirit of his deceased brother.In one of the more notorious cases of police corruption in New York State in recent times, the FBI set its sights on the Schenectady PD in 1999, launching an investigation that would eventually result in the imprisonment of four officers, the suicide of a fifth, and the resignation of Kaczmarek, who himself would wind up behind bars ten years later after copping a plea to criminal possession of cocaine. The events of this period loosely form the basis of the 2012 crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines―a literal translation of the Mohawk word “Schau-naugh-ta-da”―which starred Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Eva Mendes and was cowritten by Ben Coccio, who grew up in Schenectady, and Derek Cianfrance, who also directed, and whose wife likewise passed her wonder years there. Much of the blame for these catastrophic events was leveled then―and still is―at Kaczmarek, who spent twenty-seven years on the force, serving as chief from 1998 to 2002 before resigning in the wake of the federal investigation. Kaczmarek―”Kacz” to friends and to enemies, and he had a plethora of both―is the son of a longtime Schenectady police officer who, late in life, married the daughter of a local bookmaker. When Greg Kaczmarek was appointed chief, he was ordered by the mayor, his political benefactor, to hold a press conference publicly denying long-swirling rumors that he was a drug user―which, he insists to this day, he wasn’t at the time, notwithstanding his eventual arrest for possession of cocaine, purchased from the head of a major drug ring who also happened to be a close friend of his stepson. Here you’ll meet quite an assortment of colorful characters―law-enforcement who broke the law, and others who―heroically―didn’t; attorneys who defended the city, sued the city, or built a career on prosecuting those responsible for protecting the city; a public safety commissioner who charmed some, infuriated others (including the mayor, who eventually squeezed him out, reportedly because he was jealous of his popularity), and eventually perished in the September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center; mobbed-up gamblers who paid off cops while battling to up their piece of the pie; drug dealers with names like Slim and Misty Gallo who ran their product all over New York’s Capital Region before finally being taken down by wiretaps.

About the Author

David Bushman is the author of four books, including, Murder at Teal's Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks (2022), Conversations with Mark Frost (2020), and the editor of a new Dr. Who essay book (2022). He is a former television curator at The Paley Center for Media and TV editor at Variety. He is cofounder and copresident of Fayetteville Mafia Press.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Blue Vase Marketplace is a family owned business and has been selling used books since 2012. We place the utmost importance on customer satisfaction.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Blue Vase Marketplace, LLC
94 W. Golden Meadow Dr., Maple City, MI, 49664, U.S.A.

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

Information regarding the right of withdrawal

Statutory right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).

We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Blue Vase Books, Interlochen, Michigan, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal does not apply to:

The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.

Shipping Terms

Please note that orders may ship from one of two locations depending on where they are sorted from once in USPS hands:

Michigan Location: Our physical store location
Illinois Distribution Center:

Orders will be fulfilled from the location that USPS sends your item off to based on the location of where the item will be delivered.
All shipments include tracking information, which will be provided once your order has been processed. If you have questions about where your specific order will ship from, please contact us.

Estimated Shipping Times:

Orders shipping from Michigan: [3-7 business days]
Orders shipping from Illinois: [4-10 business days]

We appreciate your business and will always strive to get your orders to you as quickly as possible.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.
Order quantity	3 to 14 business days	3 to 6 business days
First item	� 0.00	� 7.32

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.