I’m happy to see that a local construction guy plans to restore two prime old buildings in downtown Schenectady, and I just hope he manages to do them before going to jail.

The construction guy is Jeffrey Civitello, and he faces felony charges for allegedly assaulting a neighbor with snow shovel, and given his criminal record, a judge is not likely to cut him much slack should he be convicted.

The details appear in my column in the Sunday Gazette, to which I refer the curious reader.

In brief, Civitello has bought and is working on the Morgan building, near the railroad overpass on State Street, between Broadway and Erie Boulevard, and claims to have a contract to buy the Foster Building, farther up State Street, though there is some dispute about that.

One of the two owners of the Foster tells me there is no contract.

Ray Gillen, head of the Metroplex Authority, has continued to show the Foster to prospective buyers, to the dismay of Civitello, who thinks Gillen is trying to cut him out.

But if anyone cuts him out it will be a judge. Civitello did six years in federal prison, from 1996 to 2002, on drug and other charges, and if he gets nailed on these current assault charges, I doubt if he will be in position to rehab anything, except possibly himself.