>> From WXXI News.

This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made over the last week with some of the biggest stories to touch our community from national, state, to local news, our WXXI and city teams covered it all, and during this hour, we're highlighting that work and what you need to know to stay informed and engaged.

Last Saturday was the Best of Rochester Awards, the annual contest run by City Magazine, brought 400 people out to anthology on a Snowy night.

And we're going to talk to the city team about how it all went.

And we're going to play a little bit of a game to test your Rochester knowledge and have some fun to close the hour before that, we're going to be talking to WXXI Brian Sharp about some of the news surrounding Wegmans that you might have heard how the grocery store chain is using biometric data in some of its stores.

Brian will be here to talk about that.

But first, you know, certainly what a lot of people are thinking about.

Hundreds of people turned out in Iran last night to protest the deadly shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by an I.C.E.

agent.

It was one of many protests across the nation.

WXXI investigations and City Hall reporter Gino Fanelli was in Iran last night for that.

And Jenna is with me now.

Thank you for being with us, Gina.

How many people would you say were out there last night?

>> I would say about 6 or 700.

It was.

It was a pretty sizable crowd.

>> you know, I mean, as cliche as the question is, I mean, describe the mood, describe the scene.

>> People are angry.

I mean, I think that that protest I mean, very civil, very pretty well organized on short notice.

Nothing.

No fireworks or anything like that happening.

But talking with a lot of protesters out there, a lot of the organizers out there, people are very worried about the direction that the country is heading.

And Ice seems like kind of the the, the central point, that kind of exemplifies a lot of the issues that they see happening in this country right now of concerns about civil liberties, concerns about the approach to immigration enforcement, concerns about whether the law enforcement on the federal level was becoming militarized and what that might look like and how that will affect people.

And then this idea that came up a lot was whether or not the the death of Renee Nicole Good, the, the shooting by ice in Minneapolis was something that was surprising to people.

And the sad reality for a lot of them was, no, it was a really a foregone conclusion that something like this was going to happen eventually, during this administration's immigration crackdown.

And now it's the big fear of what comes next.

Do things get worse or do things get better?

>> So I think we can show you some of the video shot by our colleague Katie Epner of WXXI, as hundreds of participants lined, Patton would drive near the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection, Rochester Border Patrol Station as well.

If you're watching on YouTube, I think we can share that with you as well.

And, you know.

Yeah, there you go.

So I think you're going to feel some of the anger that Gino is talking about there.

justice for Renee.

They're chanting and in various places across the country, Gino, the chants were not just justice for Renee.

This is not true everywhere.

But there were some chants calling for retribution against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for what she has said this week, or other kinds of violence.

My sense is if there is any sort of escalation in violence, it's not going to sort of end well for anybody here.

What do you see?

>> I think that there's multiple layers to that.

I think if there is retaliation, retaliation by people against immigration enforcement as a result of things like this, it it does feel like to me, the direction of this administration, that's kind of what they want, is that any kind of violent retribution will be taken as an excuse to keep accelerating an agenda that's already in place.

But a lot of the arguments that I've also heard are that agenda is going to be accelerated no matter what happens, whether people lie down and take or whether they react it doesn't matter so far as whether or not the administration is going to continue doing what it's doing.

It just matters whether or not they're given more excuses to do it, or for the base that supports these kinds of actions.

and I've seen quite a few comments of people still supporting Ice as following this shooting and, you know, saying that this woman was a terrorist, that she had she got what she deserved, things like that.

I don't think you can change people's like that mindset.

No matter what happens, no matter how blatant it is.

there's a good portion of this country right now that is very dead set that no matter what these federal law enforcement agencies do, they are justified.

And that's because they're underneath the leader that they believe is justified in anything they do.

So the point being that no matter what kind of retaliation happens it's I, I think that you could argue very reasonably that that's going to be used as an excuse to progress martial law, more militarization, more sending in of the National Guard.

But there's also very, very clear arguments that that was going to happen anyway.

>> Well.

>> Look, I think in tense situations where we're learning hour by hour and we have a lot of different views of the shooting.

This is not 2004.

This is not 1980.

This is not a case where someone gets shot and we have a few bystanders having an account.

And then you get the police report and you don't have video evidence.

We have video evidence from multiple angles.

I was shocked at how quickly The White House made a declaration that the shooting was justified.

And that is not me saying the shooting wasn't justified.

Or was.

That is me saying every police department I've ever covered in our community in West Virginia, where I worked previously, currently, when one of your officers discharges their weapon and somebody dies, there is an investigation.

There is a careful process to examine the actions of the officer who shot because an American is dead.

And the idea that within minutes, you know that the shooter is a hero and that the woman was a terrorist and that she was trying to run over and kill people, and that this was a heroic act by an I.C.E.

agent acting in an act of patriotism is absurd.

There is not a police department in the country that would, I would hope, support that swift declaration at the very best.

What you ought to say is we support our agents, but we're going to investigate.

We don't want anyone to end up dead.

We don't exactly know what happened.

We know there's video.

We're going to review everything, and we're not going to put out a statement until we are confident.

We know absolutely everything about what happened.

It was remarkable that it went down this way.

>> This is the thing where I I've watched the video from multiple angles of the video, and I, I won't sit here and make a call of whether it's I have my own personal feelings on it.

But like, I, it's not even worth getting into that.

It's more that you're right.

I think this was a craven exercise in what this administration does, where you pick a narrative and you stick to it no matter what the evidence of your eyes and ears tell you.

And if you repeat it enough and you continue saying it enough, like the kind of rhetoric that got us in this whole situation with the escalation of Ice to begin with, that there's a a migrant crime wave coming to the country and killing and raping people.

you just have to stick to that rhetoric.

And it doesn't matter if the people that.

Aren't on your side disagree with you or don't believe you or don't buy it because it's not for them.

It is for the people that are of the diehard base that are still there, and they are waiting to be told what to think about this, no matter what was shown in that video.

If The White House was going to say it was justified, the people that are on the side of this administration were going to believe it's justified, no matter what.

That video showed, so long as the narrative was set by this president.

And that's the reality of it.

So you're right, this isn't a matter of deciding whether or not it was justified.

And I'm saying it wasn't.

And the president is saying it was.

It is a matter of before, seemingly before the president even watched a video, he determined it was justified.

That's not based on evidence.

That's not based on an investigation.

That's not based on proof or police protocol or any kind of constitutional rules that surround how Ice is supposed to operate.

It is based on rhetoric and narrative.

And under this administration, what Ice is doing is it's it's almost like a mandate of God that no matter what they do, they are righteous and patriotic and morally justified.

And you don't need to see the video.

You don't need to see what happens.

You don't need to hear the granular details of what led up to that shooting.

All you need to know is that Ice are patriots and they're the good guys.

And what they do is justified.

And that is the the rhetoric that they're sticking with.

>> I would have expected.

>> Online talking heads to say that not the vice president, not the president, not.

>> Look at an administration that has online talking heads in the cabinet.

>> I want to listen to you got a clip of sound from last night.

I think Reverend Myra Brown was there.

And we've got some sound from some from the event last night.

Let's listen.

>> This should never have happened.

This should stop us all in our tracks.

If they can come for Renee Nicole Good, they can come for you and me.

>> That's Reverend Myra Brown at the event in Iran last night.

And before we let Gino Fanelli go, I just want to mention a couple of things about this.

My goal is always to take the temperature down and try to just have sober conversation, even about hard things.

And we're going to do that in the days to come.

We're going to try to we're going to try to have conversations about this, that add something beyond all of the noise that there is.

And we're going to think we're going to try to be thoughtful about how to do that.

And I know people are angry.

but again, if you are calling me or emailing me right now saying she should have just listened to the officer, you got to understand two things.

Number one, there is evidence that one of the officers on the scene was telling her to get out, as in drive away, and the other was telling her to get out of the car.

One was saying, get out of here.

One was saying, get out of your car.

She had two different things.

She was hearing.

From what I can understand about it.

Again, the reporting.

I'm still trying to get the full picture.

But then the other part is it is one thing to say, listen to officers and you're going to be okay.

Okay, that's advice you can give people, but that is not an evaluation of the proper conduct or not of the people who are armed agents of the state.

There are reasons that police are very careful in investigating when their own members discharge their weapons.

There's reasons that they have protocol for if we're going to shoot, do we shoot to kill?

Because a lot of people are like, well, shoot them in the leg.

Well, it's been explained many times why they don't do that.

They have to shoot to kill if they perceive a threat.

They have protocol for whether they shoot into a vehicle.

If that vehicle is moving, there's a reason that this stuff takes time to investigate.

Give it time.

Give yourself time.

And if anybody has certainty within five seconds, ask yourself what the agenda is.

We got to be better than this.

We got to be better than this.

there's a demonstration in Geneva tonight at 5:00 outside Geneva City Hall.

I suspect there will be more Gino Fanelli.

>> I'm sure this weekend, I think this isn't going away.

This is going to be a situation that will simmer for quite a while.

We may see it escalate.

We may see it de-escalate, might come in waves.

But this this isn't going away anytime soon.

>> Thanks for coming in.

Thanks for working late last night.

>> Happy New Year everyone.

>> That's Gino Fanelli covering the story for WXXI News.

We're going to take a brief break.

Welcome my colleague Brian Sharp on the other side of this break.

>> I'm Megan Mack Monday on the next Connections, we debut the move to Include podcast.

It's a series where people with disabilities lead conversations about self-advocacy, disability rights, and everyday life.

Six episodes with host Noel, she talks with Self-advocates people in the disability community about what matters to them and what should matter to all of us.

That's coming up Monday on Connections.

>> In today's media environment, you have a lot of power.

You can make a direct impact on your community by powering this public radio station with your monthly sustaining membership.

Right now, what matters the most is your participation.

Please start or increase your monthly donation.

>> This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson and glad to have my colleague Brian Sharp from WXXI News here.

He's Investigations and Enterprise editor for WXXI News and a big talker story this week, Wegmans is responding to reports about the use of biometric data in some of its stores, where the stores have facial recognition cameras.

so yeah, this is this is one of those stories that had a lot of people talking.

And I'm not going to anoint you the expert of all things biometric.

You've been learning just like everybody else this week.

>> Yeah.

No.

And that's I, I was as I've on post on social media, I was one of those who was like, yeah, okay.

You know, aren't we being surveilled and looked at and whatever.

>> Other cameras everywhere.

>> Yeah.

and so, yeah.

And I just kept thinking.

And so then I called finally I was like, you know, I'm just going to call over, called over to RIT, and they're like, yeah, we got a guy.

And so talked to him and after about a half an hour, I was like, okay, now, now I'm sort of getting on the borderline paranoid about this, but and to quick, quickly add, it's not just Wegmans you know, it's I think Home Depot, Walmart who else?

Target, I think has been sued.

you know, you go on to then if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, down rabbit holes, go to whatever chain store you frequent and check out their privacy policy, and you'll see all the information that they're collecting.

which is a little unnerving.

>> I guess.

Yeah, I mean, I, I have to admit.

So I was kind of where you were initially.

Not that my personal view matters here, but like, I think sometimes people are very, very guarded and sometimes people think, look, there's cameras everywhere.

What's the big deal?

What what started to kind of clinch it for me was hearing some of your conversation with Jonathan Weisman, who is principal lecturer in cybersecurity at RIT, and we got a couple of cuts we're going to listen to here.

But correct me if I'm wrong here.

Part of the issue is this is not like, you know, you lost a credit card or I mean, like this is different, right?

>> Right.

Yeah.

And that and sort of what, you know, what he was getting at is that you know, retail and other folks have been collecting this data for a long time.

and it's, it's a case where, like, he was using the example once they have this and Wegmans says they keep it for a short amount of time, then they dump it.

It's really you collect the information, you care to compare it against a known database of people who've been created problems in their stores for one reason or another, shoplifting, et cetera.

if there's a match, boom.

Security knows they're there.

And then according to them, if they're not, they they dump it.

But what he's saying is that it's you collect this information, you create a database that becomes a target for hackers, and then they get this information and that doesn't change as you get older.

So maybe there's nothing, but there's increasingly these systems that use authentication, authentication for you to get in.

And so five, ten years from now, those are still your fingerprints.

That's still your face.

That's still your biometrics.

>> So let's listen to some of what Weissman had to say.

The first is what biometric data actually is.

Let's listen to that.

>> If your password is stolen, you can change it.

If your credit card is stolen, get a new one.

If your biometric data is stolen, you can't get a new face and you can't get new hands.

These are permanent identifiers of yourself that, if compromised, will always be there, can't be changed.

>> Okay.

And then given that why Weissman thinks this is a concern, let's listen.

>> A great concern is how these biometrics are being stored for a company to collect all of these data points on you, that will basically be keys to your identity.

How are these keys to your identity?

How are these master keys being stored?

Once cyber criminals know that companies are storing such identifiers, these databases become targets of attack.

If cyber criminals get a hold of your biometrics, they can pass those biometrics to systems for authentication and convince those systems that they're you.

>> Okay, so, you know, not great, right?

That's what maybe started to change your view.

>> You feel a little one point.

I said, well, now I'm starting to get paranoid.

And and he said, that's my job.

>> Well, I mean.

>> He was only half joking.

>> Half joking about that.

But.

So tell people what Wegmans said.

Essentially.

>> So Wegmans has said, you know, and they that they have deployed this first.

So this all came up because they posted signs in a couple stores in New York City, Brooklyn, Manhattan saying that they were collecting this data.

and so that got the attention of Gothamist and then others.

and then when we reached out to them, there was sort of a standard statement and they said, well, it's a small fraction of our stores across a small number of states, but to their point, they're not going to say, well, we're collecting at this store, but not at that store, because if you're a shoplifter, then you know, okay, which store not to hit.

but from.

Yeah.

And they say they, they meet and they gave me the alphabet soup of protocols that they adhere to.

But the one thing Weissman was saying is that you also have companies that are not Wegmans and others that are not experts in cybersecurity, who are now getting into this space that that deals with data.

And, yeah, they deal with like he was mentioned, they deal with your, you know, other numbers, your credit card numbers, et cetera.

but you can change those if there is a breach.

And when it comes to biometrics, it was you know, and he says this, you know, again this is nothing new.

Office of Personnel Management U.S.

government got hacked ten years ago.

Millions of fingerprint files stolen.

And you know what's become of those?

There hasn't been a real documented case, but the use of, again, that authentication is becoming more commonplace to where then these particular files may be become more valuable.

>> To be clear the law is different in different places.

And I know a number of our audience have asked, well, why doesn't Wegmans have to tell you where this is happening?

And if you're in New York City, it's a different situation, right?

>> New York City, they have a law that says this has to be shared.

And and this is where I started again, going down rabbit holes.

Illinois, I think, was one of the first states to put into law.

There's laws in California and elsewhere, New York state, there's been a proposal which the city could put in regulation of some kind similar to New York City if they wanted to.

We talked to the city council president.

He said it's surfaced, but I don't know that right now.

It is top of mind.

It could be becoming top of mind.

We've asked, is the mayor's interested and not heard back?

So they have the ability to do so, but so far haven't gotten there.

>> Okay.

Other responses from lawmakers.

What are people saying?

>> I think I mean, the New York City or the New York City, the New York State proposal that I saw goes as far as outright banning it.

so and then there's yeah, there's other variations to get at regulating and transparency.

but again, it's one of these things where it's been around for a long time.

and that's I think the thing that Weissmann would say is that, you know, the thing is that cases like this just bring it to people's attention.

but that collection has been happening.

If you go to Walmart, I think it's Walmart or Home Depot.

Their disclosure about this is extensive.

in terms of what all they collect and what they do with it.

And so you have facial recognition, you have voice capture, you have fingerprint capture.

You have I mean, you can go to stores and use your fingerprint or handprint to purchase things.

There's thinking of I mean, I think one of the stores I looked at said, well, if you're in a parking lot, be aware we're we're capturing images of you and we have license plate readers.

And so people know it's down to a point where some stores, if you walk in their store, they know you are there.

>> That's the next part that I find confusing.

If they know you are there and they know about you, the argument that I'm seeing online goes like this.

It's not just about looking for shoplifters now.

It's about dynamic pricing now.

It's about figuring out the Brian Sharp is in my store.

And Brian, as a well-heeled journalist making all the fabulous wealth of journalism, can afford to pay higher.

>> Over at the clearance aisle.

>> Can afford to pay higher for the Skittles and Cheerios that you're buying, and we're going to use that information to when when Brian gets rung up, it's higher prices.

is that sort of science fiction as far as we can tell?

>> I mean, I don't I don't know, I've heard that as well.

I mean, you still shop you I mean, for me, I look at like, what's the price?

What's the per unit price I compare.

So I have an idea of what I'm going to be shelling out when I get to the register.

I've heard other avenues, though.

It's like, well, we can, because product placement is key.

We can track who of if we have a demographic that we want to track, we can see of this demographic where they move in the store, where they're going to go to.

How do we prioritize so that, you know, the well-heeled demographic demographic like, might move in this particular way?

And so we're going to put all those products over on this area.

It's going to, you know, because there's much more of a science to that than I begin to understand.

>> Okay.

And I don't think Wegmans has at all indicated that that's what's happening.

No, they're saying this is really just about security and safety for shoppers and for the stores.

Yeah.

So to be I'm going to be fair to them because we don't have Wegmans on the program today.

So I want to read the full statement.

So everybody knows exactly what Wegmans is saying about this quote at Wegmans.

The safety of our customers and employees is a top priority.

Like many retailers, we use cameras to help identify individuals who pose a risk to our people, customers or operation in a small fraction of our stores that exhibit an elevated risk.

We have deployed cameras equipped with facial recognition technology in New York City.

We comply with local requirements by posting the mandated signage to notify customers about the technology.

This technology is solely used for keeping our stores secure and safe.

The system collects facial recognition data and only uses it to identify individuals who have been previously flagged for misconduct.

We do not collect other biometric data, such as retinal scans or voiceprints.

Images and video are retained only as long as necessary for security purposes, and then disposed of for security reasons.

We do not disclose the exact retention period, but it aligns with industry standards, persons of interest are determined by our asset protection team based on incidents occurring on our property and on a case by case basis, by information from law enforcement for criminal or missing persons cases.

We do not share facial recognition scan data with any third party.

We understand concerns about fairness and bias in facial recognition systems.

We employ a multitude of training and safety measures to help keep people safe.

Facial recognition, facial recognition technology serves as one investigative lead for us.

We never base our decisions on a single lead alone.

Our goal is simple to keep our stores safe and secure.

That's the full statement from Wegmans.

So again, nothing there about dynamic pricing or any other reason.

It's all about safety and security as far as we can tell here.

I think unless local governments, for example, if the city of Rochester decided there was enough interest to try to do what New York City is doing, maybe they would seek to change something.

Although I don't know how much.

Wegmans has a footprint in the city of Rochester and like, nothing, right?

I mean, like, where's.

East Ave?

East.

So thank you Brian.

East Ave.

So there you have a Wegmans here.

So if municipalities follow New York City's lead, maybe.

But otherwise, is this a done deal?

>> Yeah.

And I, I think, again, it would go back to even I don't know how you address the issue that Weisman brings up, which is storage, security, safeguarding it.

You can collect it with the best of intentions.

but hackers seem to find a way into if they can find a way into the U.S.

government.

well, maybe that's not as secure as we would think, but.

But, yeah, they need to.

I don't know how you legislate a level of security.

Maybe you you could, but I think that's almost as much of the concern as collecting it in the first place.

>> And again, my understanding from your reporting is that Mayor Malik Evans confirmed after checking with the city's law department.

Yeah, that you know, that they could they could do more legislatively, but they don't know how much interest there is either on council or in the community.

>> Right.

It's it's surfaced.

what Miguel Meléndez had told me is that it had come up.

It had been talked about but, you know, and this was early on, I don't know how the rest of the week, if something's bubbling now, I haven't checked back with them to see at this point if they've heard more from constituents and decided, yeah, let's do that.

Or to your point, is this really something that the state should take on or the county should take on?

Because whack a mole by town is isn't all that effective?

>> Right?

lastly, let me just read a couple of emails here.

David writes to us to say that he's concerned that biometrics data collected could facilitate the development of an extreme police state, something we need to be worried about right now.

So there's that's a vote against this.

Here's one that Brian Sharp is going to be very excited to answer because of all the expertise you have in biometrics and A.I., right?

Carly asks.

Retailers have declared 2026 the year of Agentic Commerce.

How might facial recognition data inform A.I.

driven commerce?

>> That's a story for another day.

I'm going to have to wait.

>> For Brian to go.

I award you zero points and may God have mercy on your soul.

That's a very listen, Carly.

That's actually a really.

>> Good question.

And no, I'm not making light of it in any way.

Oh, it's an area that like.

Yeah, I'm just beginning to understand.

>> And that that is a conversation for another day.

To be clear, Brian's actually right about that.

I'm not being cheeky, but when Carly describes what the industry is saying, it's the year of Atlantic commerce.

That's a term we got to get used to.

Agentic means agent, means A.I.

agent, which means you're going to be interacting with agents, which means you're interacting with A.I.

anthropomorphized beings is the wrong word.

I don't like to anthropomorphize.

I don't like to say he she I don't like to give names.

Like this is Mark, your A.I.

agent who is helping you shop today.

Yeah, like, no, Mark is not.

Mark is not a real thing.

It's it's A.I.

But we are going to see more of that in commerce.

So before I let you go, what's the last what are the next questions?

I guess the questions are how much more interest is there in pursuing this or pushing Wegmans on it?

>> Yeah.

And I think, you know, I went to the city and really then it goes to the county, which we haven't approached yet to see if there's I know Rachel Barnhart, a legislator.

Barnhart has has raised this and it's just.

Yeah.

Is there support broadly across the legislature to act or, or if this comes up at the state level, because this is a story, you know, it with Wegmans, but it's far more than them that has ricocheted around the state.

>> Legislator Barnhart put out a public letter to Wegmans asking for a meeting directly and laying out her concerns about the use of this kind of data and why she is concerned, and we'll see if that bears any fruit in terms of a meeting or anything else.

So I know you'll be covering it.

We'll talk to you again soon.

Thank you for popping in here.

>> Thank you.

Glad to have you back.

>> Brian Sharp.

Our colleague at WXXI News.

We're going to take a very short break and the team from city is coming in next.

>> I'm Megan Mack Monday on the next Connections, we debut the move to podcast.

It's a series where people with disabilities lead conversations about self-advocacy, disability rights and everyday life.

Six episodes with host Noelle Evans, she talks with Self-advocates people in the disability community about what matters to them and what should matter to all of us.

That's coming up Monday on Connections.

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>> This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson and we're going to close this week by talking about the Best of Rochester Awards, which were this past Saturday, and some of the folks behind the event are with us now.

Let me go ahead and welcome Katie Epner, who's in studio with us, director of Video production for WXXI Public Media.

Hello, hello.

>> Hello, Evan.

Happy Friday.

>> Mike McGinnis customer success manager by day, emcee and ring master of ceremonies, deluxe by night.

Well, they loved the work you did there.

>> I do what I can, you know, I get up there and throw out a few words, see what happens.

>> You get people excited.

>> I try to get them going.

You want to get people.

>> Get people very excited.

So great to have you here.

And and we're going to have Leah Stacy joining us in just a second.

Editor of City Magazine.

What we've got all kinds of candy in the set here.

If you're watching on the WXXI News YouTube channel, you didn't bring these Mike McGinnis.

>> I wish.

>> I did as much as you are the emcee extraordinaire.

>> I know I want to grab them all.

>> No, we're we're going to get to why we are strewn with candy here in the studio in just a second here.

But first, a little recap of the event.

There are about 400 attendees.

It was it was packed there, wasn't it?

>> It was awesome.

It was more than 400 great.

Nearly 500 great vibes.

The energy was so high.

And you know, it really just I think everybody left the event just really in love with Rochester.

>> 136 awards given out.

Were you tired?

>> It was a lot of awards.

It was a lot of awards.

All very worthy awards.

you would have thought that maybe I'd get tired, but there was literally right in the middle of it, a burst of energy from the crowd.

And I was like, oh, I guess we are going, going, I like that.

>> And there were live performances.

There was a great comedy group there led by well, they're called Thank You Kiss and they're great, but producer Megan Mack says we shouldn't talk about that.

That's just fine.

they were great.

There was a dance group, a drag queen, social media influencers, games and more.

and Jake wore a costume of the city newsstand.

He won his boxy.

>> Whoa, whoa, whoa, you are breaking a serious code of the mascot law.

>> Evan, I couldn't.

>> Who who was boxy was there.

Boxy is.

>> Oh, boxy is boxy.

Jake.

Is Jake.

Boxy is boxy.

>> I didn't I didn't see them in the same room together.

Well.

>> That's a great point.

>> Never.

The two shall meet.

a bunch of firsts for awards this year here.

And so anything stand out to you?

Mike McGinnis?

Anything pop to you, Katie?

>> Oh, yeah.

The one thing that I remember most was in the middle of announcing actor of the year, best of actor Madison Zabawa.

She there's a big cheer.

And I was like, yeah, but then all of a sudden people were taking a bunch of photos, and I jumped in the background of the photos because I was just on stage and realized Madison was there and they were getting.

And I was like, hey.

And so she got to get a bunch of live shots.

It was fun.

We started cheering for her.

It was a great time.

>> And it was, oh, hey, Leah Stacy, editor of City Magazine, joining us here as well here.

to close the week here, I'm going through the current issue here, the best of Rochester for city here.

And big night in the best of drink category.

Big night for Lux Leah Stacy.

>> Yeah, they really campaign for themselves though.

I gotta hand it to them.

And we've heard that you may be asked if you are a fan of the bar and you come in to to take a moment and and vote, which, you know what I respect, we tell people all the time, campaign for yourselves if you want to win, if you want to see yourself on there.

>> It says democratic of a process as you'll ever find.

Right?

I mean, it's there is primaries and then there's voting and city, the city city staff has nothing to do with the winners.

So really, I mean, if you're listening out there and you have a friend, you have a venue, an establishment that you want to see on the ballot, you got to do the work in primary the heck out of it.

>> I love it.

>> Best bar to drink solo.

Lux Lounge, best bartender SIM Sergeant from Lux.

>> Yeah.

Did he take his shirt off at the awards?

>> Oh.

>> It'd be weird if he.

>> Did it right.

>> Of course.

>> He did.

I think there's the one.

>> In the in hype booth.

Our photo booth.

they sent us the gallery, and I was going through it, and I was like, huh?

Oh, oh.

>> That's Sims signature.

If you make it past 2 a.m.

at Lux, you're gonna see Sims.

>> Or if he wins or if he wins Best of Rochester.

>> If he wins.

Best.

>> Yeah.

>> Or if he wins best of.

You kept your shirt on.

I understand.

>> I got inspired, but I did keep my shirt on, I did.

>> You had to keep that bow tie on.

>> by the way, I just want to say in the best of drink category, best coffee shop, there could have been a dozen nominations.

>> There could have been 30.

>> There could've been 30.

This has become such a good coffee community.

and by the way, if you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing some great pictures.

There's the bow tie for Mike.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Along with Berto and Leah and CEO Chris Hastings having a great time out at anthology.

It really was an awesome event.

but Ugly Duck Coffee wins best Coffee Shop, but boy, it could have been so many.

We are really a great coffee community.

>> I think without looking.

I think Ugly Duck has won the last few years.

and we have a couple winners like that where it's like five plus years in a row that they've won now, and we're kind of noodling.

Maybe a Hall of Fame, and you get moved to the Hall of Fame after so many years winning.

Wow.

Maybe it's five plus.

I know I'm really shaking this up by dropping this right now.

And then we make room for some of the newer folks I don't know.

>> Oh, I see what you're saying.

Like the legacies.

>> Yeah.

We moved some of the legacy winners.

>> I don't know, I need to see Pizza Wizard just rubbing it in the face.

>> Well, they haven't they haven't won five years in a row yet, but they are so funny.

>> If you're watching on YouTube, look at oh, we had boxy in the previous picture.

Yeah.

>> Boxy is.

>> No.

Yeah.

There you go.

okay, I'm gonna read some of the winners because if people haven't picked it up yet, I think they should know somebody.

>> Did you all talk about boxy, though?

>> We did talk.

Okay.

I was in trouble.

>> We had some breaking news.

>> For outing boxes.

Identity?

>> Yeah.

Oh, no.

That's fine.

We we posted, like, a photo of him peeking out of the box on Instagram.

>> So controversial.

>> There's box.

>> Boxing might not always be the same.

>> There might be men in black suits knocking at your door tonight, because that is a serious breach of code of conduct.

>> I guess I didn't know either.

>> Is this on the radio?

Is this live?

>> I don't know.

>> All right, so we're gonna do best of drink.

Best of food before we get to the game here, okay?

Everyone can play along with here.

So we mentioned best bar to drink solo was Lux.

Best barista.

Mariah Quincy from Cafe Sasso.

Best brewer.

Ellen Gooch from strange Bird.

Best cidery blue barn.

Best cocktail bar.

The daily refresher and I really wanted to get to this one here.

Best zero proof drink for the haters.

What a great category.

The Tangerine Dream at Radio Social, a zero proof cocktail.

It looks awesome.

Have you had it?

>> I have, it's really good.

Sometimes I add spirits to it, but it's that good.

It's like that good of a base.

But I also really like orange flavored things.

and it's got this kind of like nuttiness from the oat milk.

it's it's just really it's a good drink.

It's got bright.

>> Colors, which is all I really look for in a drink.

>> Yeah.

And I think Berto wrote that blurb.

Right.

He's his wife, especially.

Lizzie is a fan of that drink.

So he was very skeptical.

And she was like, no, no, you have to try this.

And so he tried it a couple weeks before we were putting this all together, and he was like, oh, that is something I never would have ordered.

And it's so good.

>> And I'll read a few more here.

best craft brewery, strange bird, best distillery.

Rochester or Finger Lakes?

Iron smoke, best dive bar.

Lux.

>> Oh, I was like, who won?

I can't remember, there's too many.

>> If you have to guess, it's probably Lux.

Best juice bar.

Just juice for life.

Best LGBTQ bar raw.

And on the list was Bachelor Forum.

>> And is the avenue on there too?

Oh yeah, because I feel like they both announced in the process of this happening.

Yeah.

And I think you're going to see Flora on that list next year, because that also opened kind of while we were in process of doing this.

And I've heard really great things, man.

>> best Italian restaurant.

Fiorella.

Best late night eats.

Angry goat.

Anybody been to angry goat here?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> For sure.

They're veggie.

Garbage plate is amazing.

>> All right.

>> I've never had anything bad there.

I also remember getting like a PB and J during like the post pandemic when you had to get like, the dollar menu item with your drink or that.

>> Yeah, that's right.

>> It was giant.

It was like this big.

>> best Mediterranean Aladdin's natural eatery, best Mexican restaurant.

Nino's.

Ninos.

>> But no nanos.

>> Nanos.

Yeah.

Best new restaurant.

Patron saint.

that was on the list with redwood shell and Carmela's.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Best outdoor dining.

The owl house?

Probably not this time of year.

Best pizza from Pizza Wizard.

So that's just a little selection.

>> I remember a couple of years ago.

this is before your time, Leah.

I think like Mark's Pizzeria won best pizza.

>> Oh, yeah.

And then there was a, there was a conversation about that because they were stuffing the ballot.

Oh, I know, and I'm blasting them in line by saying that.

But we switched platforms and we started tracking IP addresses.

And so we could tell when people were stuffing the ballot.

And we started disqualifying people who were stuffing the ballot.

>> Oh, this is the info we want.

>> Wow.

>> I can't yeah.

>> This.

>> Is really good.

>> I don't think that's gonna really hurt marks much.

>> It's on the record.

We would we would have that conversation with them ourselves.

>> I haven't been to shell, by the way, either.

>> Oh, really?

>> That's.

There's one.

>> So.

Yeah, Brenda and I went during fringe to to check it out.

had a really good cocktail.

Had a couple really good bites.

Have you gone?

>> No, I haven't been there.

But it's such a cool spot.

>> It is a cool spot.

It's it's a spot that intimidates some people, I think.

But they do have a large parking lot.

>> Well, it's all here.

And the Best of Rochester 136 winners.

>> Yeah, 36.

>> All of them.

>> Plus how many blurbs are written by the reporters and the freelancers, because that's really like, this is my favorite issue of the year, because obviously all the all the all 136 winners are listed.

But there's also really fun blurbs of like, how would you describe it?

It's like a fun little superlative issue where, you know, we write funny things like, you know, I'm looking at Roberto Lagares best bar stool for a yap session.

Yeah.

Shell restaurant.

You know what?

Looking at the photos, that would be very comfortable.

>> They're comfortable.

>> Stool too.

Yep.

Yeah.

So, you know, there's just fun things like that.

I remember, gosh, a couple years ago was like, most gratifying trip to the bathroom.

And it was like for the Acme.

>> Yeah.

>> Bathroom.

>> Yeah.

>> That was it was like, what's going on in that bathroom?

>> Well, it's kind of it was like a treacherous, like, little ride down.

Right.

And then it had, wasn't there, like graffiti all over the walls and like a great mirror.

And you could just, like, if you did a selfie in there, it was like, people know where you are and rip Acme.

>> Yeah.

It really is like the this issue is the best way to find like the hidden gems in a city, like in different varying degrees of humor.

It's good stuff.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> You've been in that bathroom, by the way.

>> I don't know if I've been to other very treacherous downstairs bathrooms before, but not that one.

>> I wonder if they kept it the same.

>> So that issue is out now.

and not only do you get the winners, but the whole category there.

So you see a lot of cool things there.

I want to say also about the event of the anthology, to Katie's point about getting nearly 500 people, for all the cynicism that people have about everything going on in the world, that's a night that you feel like there's a lot of special stuff happening.

Like, we're in a we're in a special place, and City Magazine reminds you of that.

I just, I mean, kudos to everybody.

Totally.

>> I love being, being involved in city and going to these events more and more.

you see your regular cast of characters, but you also start to notice the people who are joining that regular cast of characters like Rochester, like, we're so lucky to be as small as we are where a lot of people would say that's a drawback, but I love it.

I love going out and seeing a familiar face pretty much anywhere I go.

And I mean that that was anthology Saturday night.

Just so many familiar faces and then faces that I realize I'm seeing more of around.

And it's not like it's hard to introduce yourself and make a new acquaintance.

>> Make you a little proud of our our city here, Mike.

>> Oh, 100%.

I work remotely and everybody knows that I live in Rochester, and I've worked with people from all over the world and they're like, oh, Rochester, New York.

And they say, we feel like something's always happening in Rochester.

What is going on over there?

And I try to be involved.

but so for us to have this awards and for me to be able to tell the whole company about this sort of thing was exciting.

It's exciting for me.

And it, you know, stirs up a little, a little scuttlebutt about Rochester.

I like.

>> That, I like that too.

So what's the game that you've got for us?

Katie Epner.

>> So we're taking we're trying to syndicate.

No, I'm just kidding.

>> Let's see how this.

>> Goes on the radio.

So Mike and I so, so yes, the whole show, the whole best of award ceremony was like a variety show, which was Leah's pilot this year, which was awesome.

So, yeah, we had Step crew, drag queen comedy troupe, and Mike and I wanted to do an interactive game, so we had a bunch of people come to the center of the dance floor and we said, we're going to list off ten things you've done in Rochester.

And if you have not done this thing, leave the circle.

And the whole thing was we were going to find the best fan of Rochester.

Oh, right.

Okay.

So I've got I've got our list here and yeah.

>> I also got a shout out the the origin of that game.

Mike and I built that sort of from never have I ever for a fringe show that we did.

Yeah.

Six years ago.

And when we were working on the script, he's like, oh, we should pull that thing we did.

And you guys crushed it.

It was so much fun.

>> It was fun.

Yeah.

>> Okay, so what are we gonna do?

>> Okay.

All right, here we go.

So I want to say in the game we had probably, like, what, a hundred people and narrowed it down to a final four.

And we had to do a tiebreaker, which we're going to do the tiebreaker here too, because it was really fun.

Okay.

>> We're just chucking candy.

Hold on.

Let me get this.

>> Yeah.

Do I need a pile?

>> You get a piece of candy for every place you've been.

>> you're going to get a piece of candy for everything you've done.

Yes.

>> For everything you've done.

So I just want the kit-kats.

Nobody wants those kit-kats.

>> Okay, I'm actually going to throw them at you.

>> I'm ready.

>> Okay, here we go.

Let's start.

Evan, have you been to a First Friday?

>> Yeah.

>> Good job.

Incoming!

>> Multiple.

How many?

How many do I get here?

just one for that.

Yeah.

>> One for that.

>> Have you been to Turning Point Park?

>> Oh, I like yesterday, almost.

I mean, I.

>> Live listeners, please play along.

I'm throwing you to.

And if you've done all these things, congratulations.

You're a great fan of Rochester.

All right, here we go.

Number three.

have you had a rooftop beer or beverage at the brew house?

>> Oh, the Genesee brew house.

Oh, of course.

>> Mike, that's you tossing.

>> There you go.

>> This one I'm excited to hear about.

Have you been down to the Rochester subway?

>> no.

And that's a big one on my list of things I really want to see.

Never done, never done it.

>> This goes to me.

That one.

Mike gets that one.

Yeah, that should have been mine.

I've been down.

>> A couple.

>> Mike.

You've been down there?

>> Oh, yeah.

And it's cool.

>> It's awesome.

>> Yeah.

>> There you go.

>> Leah I gotta say, I was down there like a couple.

It was almost always after the Saint Patty's Day parade.

Like we'd wander down there in our green and just, like, walk around.

>> How did we get here?

>> All right, so this.

>> Is going to be mildly embarrassing, but I'm just going to say every time the subway thing comes up, somebody says, does that mean we had like a real subway in the city and like, and I was like, I'm always like, I have no idea.

I mean, like, what?

>> No, but.

>> Yes.

>> You do know we.

>> Yeah.

I mean like.

>> Oh, the face, it wasn't a.

>> Real subway.

It wasn't a real subway.

It like, was the subway that ran like down what is now 490.

And it just went under, under downtown for ease of.

>> But it came from Maplewood, right.

Like it went out that far.

>> Not underground.

No.

It came up at Broad Street.

>> Oh, so you're saying like a real subway is only underground?

>> It was like almost a mile.

>> Like some historian is about to send me a long email.

>> Disappointing.

>> Rochester.

Subway.

>> Right.

Rochester subway.

>> All right.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

An episode in and of itself.

It is.

It's going to be okay.

Next one.

Have you been to Shakespeare in the bull?

>> Shakespeare.

Shakespeare in the bull.

Oh, no, I haven't.

been the Highland bull.

>> The bull.

>> If you are ever driving past and you see it, just get out of your car and go.

That's how.

>> It is.

>> So I should lie.

This is a hard one for me to admit that I haven't because I should lie.

>> But there's also poetry in the bull now, too, which is really delightful.

In June, Writers and books does that.

>> Yeah, when it's nice.

Get over there.

>> It's that thing more.

It drives me nuts.

It's just sitting there empty most of the year.

>> Hey, before you go to the next one, producer Megan Mack jumped right in here.

Saturday, February 7th, 7 p.m.

on WXXI on WXXI-TV the end of the line Rochester Subway 2.0.

>> Yeah.

Oh.

>> Award winning documentary originally produced in 1994, tells the little known story of the rail line that operated in a former section of the Erie Canal from 1927 until its abandonment in 1956.

>> We produced that.

That's playing at the transportation.

>> In 1984.

We were kind of young.

Yeah.

>> I don't think you produced it.

>> Wow.

>> Well.

>> We should all go.

>> Yeah, that would be a fun.

>> That's probably on passport people.

>> That's a pro's pro.

>> That's screening by the way is at the little at that date and time.

So Saturday, February 7th 7 p.m.

at the little.

And it'll be on the air later at a later date.

>> So nice.

Thanks, Megan.

>> There you go.

Okay.

Next one.

>> That's incredible.

I'm impressed.

>> Oh, my God, we got 2.5 minutes.

We gotta get really moving here.

>> Here we go.

Next one sledding at Alison.

>> At Alison.

I've sledded in so many places.

Yes, for sure.

I have.

My son was six.

>> Coming to you.

>> Yes we have.

>> There it is.

Sledding.

Alison.

Check.

And the next one toured.

Susan B Anthony a house.

Yeah.

Okay.

>> Nice.

have you done it again?

>> A long time ago, but.

>> Yeah.

Have you done a landmark society architectural tour in any of the city's vast neighborhoods?

>> No comment.

>> that one.

No.

>> I highly recommend.

have you bought peanuts from Conehead?

>> No.

>> Me neither.

It's on.

>> Our.

>> List.

This is the big one.

We'll be there.

>> One.

Have you ever done a cheeseburger shot at Lux?

>> Ooh.

>> The best dive bar.

>> No.

And there's probably not any amount of money that can convince.

>> Oh, no.

>> No.

It's okay.

This one's on me.

>> Yeah.

>> Oh, yeah.

There you go.

>> Oh, good.

>> Okay.

And real quick, this is our tiebreaker.

Evan, how many people are buried at Mount Hope Cemetery?

>> Oh.

>> Price is right style.

>> How many people.

>> Closest without going over?

>> Holy cow, it's so big.

>> Everyone have a.

>> Hundred thousand.

>> Oh.

That's cute.

Over 350,000.

>> What.

>> Oh, 350,000.

Not that far away from a hundred thousand.

It's not like it was 3 million.

>> Triple.

Okay.

Yeah.

Good job.

You were in the right amount of.

>> The right.

>> Amount of digits?

>> Yes.

>> 350.

>> We had guesses for our four finalists.

One said 16,000.

Another said like 750,000, but the two in the middle were pretty close.

And a great job Josiah with have Hope tattoo.

He is our best fan of Rochester.

>> Josiah nice work.

>> And before we lose the hour let me just say that was no shade deluxe.

I would try a cheeseburger shot.

It just sounds like it might be gastrointestinally challenging.

>> You'll get really drunk.

>> How do you feel about pickles?

>> Oh, God.

Oh, boy.

>> What's that?

How do you feel about pickles?

>> Pickles?

I like pickles.

>> Yeah, you'd be fine.

>> Okay.

>> They're great.

>> Yeah.

Thanks, everyone.

Leah, any big surprises in before we lose the hour here?

Any big surprises in your best of here?

>> No, there weren't really any upsets.

I just want to add that we're really appreciative to the almost 500 people who came out and supported this new sort of form, because it's the first time we've ticketed.

And that was really big.

And we have to keep finding ways to power a city in and Fun City, and this is one of them.

And we just really appreciate everyone who rallied behind that that night.

>> Well said.

Mike, everyone loved your work.

Thanks for popping in here.

>> Hey, thanks for having me.

Always a pleasure.

Let's throw some more candy.

>> On the mic again.

>> Throwing candy is great.

Katie, I know you're you're such a big creative mind.

I'm sure you had a blast there.

Thanks for popping.

>> In here.

I was honored to be asked.

>> Thank you very much.

And from all of us at Connections.

Thanks for wrapping up this week with us.

As we said earlier this hour, this team at WXXI News and City, we cover everything from the light to the very heavy and everything in between.

And we're glad that you are along with us.

We will talk to you next week.

>> This program is a production of WXXI Public Radio.

The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of this station, its staff, management or underwriters.

The broadcast is meant for the private use of our audience.

Any rebroadcast or use in another medium without expressed written consent of WXXI is strictly prohibited.

Connections with Evan Dawson is available as a podcast.

Just click on the Connections link at wxxinews.org.