Gary McCarthy

The Curious Case of McCarthy the Creeper

One would think that the Mayor of a City would be above chasing young girls around at

night while drunk….well, not in the case of Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy!

In 2016, a young woman named Sara Dingley was doing some trash picking when she

had the misfortune to run into Mayor McCarthy late at night. According to the account

published in the Times Union (Audio: Chase involving Schenectady Mayor McCarthy

released) that includes the audio of the 911 call from the young woman, she had been

threatened by McCarthy and he appeared “highly intoxicated”. The second part will be

no surprise to the city residents who regularly see McCarthy drunk at local watering

holes and derisively refer to him as “Otis”, but the first accusation of him threatening and

intimidating the woman may be shocking.

Dingley drove directly to the police station, and McCarthy followed her there, it’s no

surprise that the Schenectady cops who work for McCarthy didn’t do anything, despite

the fact that the victim made a complaint.

Lt. Wesley McGee made that on scene call, and shockingly, he was also a finalist to

become Schenectady Police Chief at the time! This was done despite the fact that

Sergeant Michael Dalton “smelled alcohol” around the mayor and recommended that

the State Police be called in, as an independent agency.

In the end, the police failed to administer a field sobriety test to McCarthy, failed to take

any action regarding the woman’s complaint and failed to turn the situation over to an

outside police agency. As a result, vital information was not collected, which allowed

McCarthy to later avoid charges after a separate investigation by the Saratoga County

DA.

You or I would have been tested and arrested, but in Schenectady it pays to be Otis!

Super Bowl 2022, McCarthy makes racist post, blames staff

Picture it, you’re watching the Super Bowl in Schenectady and getting ready for a great

halftime show featuring Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent and others. You jump on your

phone and tap Instagram to see what the world has to say.

There you see the following post from your Mayor.

“Today during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, your children will learn about your ratchet

past.”

WTF?

Ratchet is often used as a substitute for “ghetto” and is considered by many to be a

racially offensive term.

Can’t you see it? Gary alone at the corner of the bar (as he often is) thinking he was

making a clever “with it” post, only to have the whole digital world react negatively,

causing him to scramble to find a way to erase it.

While that certainly may have been the case, the Mayor blamed his staff and called it a

mix up. He promised whoever was really responsible would have consequences, which

rang about as hollow as OJ searching for the “real killer”.

But it’s all working out well for Ole Gary. He just got a 19% pay raise in the 2025 budget,

while he imposed new garbage fees and raised property taxes on residents.

In the Schenectady Swamp-the joke is almost always on us!