Under the Overpass: Minimal Monday’s Rhythmic Revival in Albany’s Clinton Square

ALBANY — Connor Heid and Steve Mink, two area DJs just out to build a sense of community within the burgeoning Clinton Square neighborhood, are spinning an idea local politicos had when they first proposed the Albany Skyway.

Heid, known as Cauzee, and Mink, who performs as SM Ink, host a weekly pop-up EDM show they share across social media as Minimal Monday. The name has everything to do with the musical subgenre, but aptly names the aesthetic in which the show takes place.

Under the moon shadow of a highway overpass, revelers are drawn by a ribbon of electric light. It leads to a perch underneath Interstate 787, hovering over a municipal parking lot within feet from where the city hosts its rain date location for Alive at Five. It has a vantage point unique for a city that yearns to tear down the interstate to reconnect with the river. From here, both are visible.   

Minimalism has been around for decades, but its following has grown since it first emerged 20 years ago. Where trance focuses on melodic tones, minimalism is characterized as repetitive with a focus on rhythm. Logistically, on these Mondays, it involves someone lugging a hand truck up the walkway to transport two studio speakers, a folding table and a Pioneer turntable.

The repurposed thoroughfare opened last April as a $13 million elevated park and walkway, connecting the city’s transplant residents to the state’s 750-mile-long Empire State Trail. Politicos envisioned it as a means to bridge a community together, with festivals and revelry, but that has been slow to come. Like a cathedral, it draws a crowd once a week. The cathedral reference may be a metaphor, but the show garners a growing parish: people looking to atone for a 9-to-5 living by pounding their sins into the ground at 130 beats per minute.

Heid said he happened across the site while walking his dog. The lights and the park’s relative seclusion sparked the idea to play there after a disgruntled roommate persuaded him to spin his music elsewhere. He crossed paths with Mink at a show, and after striking up a conversation about their craft, the wheels started turning for Minimal Monday.

“I took a walk up here with my dog one night at about midnight and just plugged in: just me and my dog, hanging out,” he said. “We were here for like two hours … people hit me up on Instagram saying, ‘Where the heck is that?’” 

Mink was one of those on Instagram asking Heid about the location.

“I told him I really want to do a stream here,” Mink said. “So we started talking and then we just decided it would be [much like] throwing a party.”

There have been as many as 60 people at a show. Like the inside of any club, there are some nodding their heads from the sidelines while others dance in front of the turntable. There are others dancing with glow sticks and the sort, reminiscent of another pop-up show featuring fire dancers nearby on Tuesday night.

Thumping bass and crashing hi-hats resonate across empty parking lots and against the darkened windows of nearby commercial buildings. There’s no one to complain about the sound, which explains why there has been no hassle from the city. The crowd collects their garbage and leaves the area as they found it, Heid said. 

Just a few weeks ago, they received an unofficial stamp or approval from the city’s highest seat. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan reposted Mink’s picture from a recent show on her Instagram feed. “Skyway Dance Parties,” she wrote, accompanied by a green checkmark.

“That’s what I’m pretty much doing right here,” Mink said. “People that like to dance and have a good time. … You have positivity. You have a good time to dance. Hang out with people. Meet new friends. I met so many new people down here.”

Investment Opportunity

The Skyway is a manifestation of transformative urban planning that started roughly a decade ago, placing people before cars, and shifting commercial offices into apartments. A cursory glance at Zillow.com shows scores of luxury apartments ranging in price from $1,025 for a one-bedroom on Columbia Street, to $2,300 for a two-bedroom on Steuben Street.

“It illustrates a new wave of targeted and transformative investments in the economic and regional potential of Albany’s historic downtown,” Assemblymember Patricia Fahy said last April. “As we look to build upon this work to reimagine more of I-787 to reclaim and re-access Albany’s riverfront, the Skyway will help to reinvigorate our local economy and adjacent neighborhoods.” 

Developers have already poured more than $380 million into these neighborhoods over the past ten years. Capitalize Albany Corporation estimates that more than half a million square feet of office space has been converted into residential property in the Sheridan Hollow, Clinton Square, and warehouse district in that time. And the trend is only growing. 

More than 300 apartments are currently under construction, including Rosenblum Companies’ 745 Broadway and Jankow Companies’ 48 N. Pearl projects. Redburn Development Partners plans to introduce more than 100 additional apartments to the market once it is finished converting the 11-story Central Warehouse building, representing a $100 million investment.

Growing neighborhood

“I moved in, like a lot of the other people … I moved in right before COVID,” said Weston Miller, a resident of Sheridan Hollow. The Averill Park shared how he now recognizes neighbors coming out each Monday night, something he wasn’t able to do when he first moved in before the throes of the pandemic. “So, now that we’re on the other end of that … one thing I think that really needs to follow suit is social opportunities.” 

Capitalize Albany Corporation said it anticipates its Clinton Market Collective will open next spring at 11 Clinton Avenue. The new $3.5 million market concept will support startup businesses, diverse pop-up retail, installments by local artists, and signature events.

Miller, who is vice president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, hopes to see downtown eateries adapt their schedules to support local residents. Many of them, he said, continue to cater exclusively to daytime professionals. Nonetheless, the changes popping up around Albany show promise.

“I hope the people involved would look at [Minimal Monday] and appreciate where we’re coming from,” said Miller. “At least from my perspective … I think this is the kind of thing that downtown needs to do.”