Derelict former Amsterdam drug store rehabilitated into law office - The Recorder

AMSTERDAM — A long-running restoration project at an old business along Route 30 is complete, giving a Gloversville law firm a new office in Amsterdam.

The Law Firm of Abdella and Sise cut the ribbon Friday on its new office at 186 Market St., which decades ago was the location of Tesiero’s Apothecary and more recently had been leased by the Apropos formal wear shop.

“It was an extensive and expensive project but well worth it,” Joe Sise said.

The law firm consists of two Abdellas and two Sises, each the descendants of multiple lawyers across multiple generations of legal practice in Montgomery and Fulton counties.

The Abdella Law Firm was started in 1939 by Ernie Abdella in Gloversville and carried on by his son George, who’s now in practice with his son Bob.

The late Robert Sise was a longtime judge of successively higher rank in the county and state. Three of his sons followed him into the legal profession, and when he retired from the bench, he joined two of them in their practice, which has since closed.

Robert’s son Joe Sise, meanwhile, became a prosecutor and then a judge himself, rather than go into private practice.

Though he served 23 years on the bench, Joe Sise decided to step down at a relatively young age, and Bob Abdella stopped by to propose a partnership when he heard the news.

Joe, not ready to retire, agreed.

“He’s just a top-notch, giving person with a big heart,” Sise said.

His wife, Robin Lynch Sise, a third-generation lawyer herself, also is a partner in the firm. It’s not a large staff, but they decided to add a second office, more as an investment in the practice than for elbow room.

“I’m from Amsterdam, Bob’s from Fulton County,” Sise said. “It’s a way for us to expand our practice and serve clients in both counties.”

Their new Amsterdam office was a wreck when they bought it. The owner of Apropos told The Daily Gazette in 2012 that she was moving to Guilderland in part because the rented space on Market Street was deteriorating. Apparently, little had been done to halt or reverse the decay since then.

“It was in utter disrepair, there were holes the size of garbage can covers in the roof,” Sise said. There were still mannequins piled up in a corner when he first saw it.

Google Street View shows the building a few years ago with a missing front window, cracked and weedy sidewalks and an open window to an attic where a few dozen pigeons had made their home.

The building was stripped down and rebuilt, with the entire roof and south wall replaced, along with the floor the pigeons had slimed.

The entire process took two years, a bit longer than it probably had to, Sise said. “We initially had a tough time getting the asbestos removal approved,” he said. “I kind of dragged my feet on that.”

In its vacant and crumbling state, the building retained the profile of its days as a drugstore, and the restoration continued that. The aluminum awnings are gone, but something like the original canvas awnings of 70 years ago might be installed someday. The large plate glass windows still face onto the sidewalk and the door facing diagonally out onto the corner of Market and Lincoln is still the main entrance.

Inside, leather-upholstered furniture sits atop gleaming laminate floors.

Sise said he’s happy and proud to be working in a renewed piece of his hometown, the drug store he visited as a child.

“To rehabilitate the old Tesiero’s Apothecary was real special,” he said.

source: https://www.recordernews.com/news/local-news/195137

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