Jan. 9 was “Quitters Day,” when many people give up on their New Year’s resolutions. I’d be curious about how many people reading this column did just that.
I stopped doing New Year’s Resolutions a long time ago because most of the time, that’s just what I did — quit.
On average, it takes 66 days, according to a 2009 study in the European Journal of Social Psychology, but it is argued that it could take as early as 18 days and as long as 222 days. If you are a quick study, good for you, you’d nail a habit in less than three weeks.
If that’s the case, why is Jan. 9 Quitters Day? Even for the 18-day person, you are still nine days away from forming a habit.
Someone once told me at some point in my life, 90 days does the trick to form a habit. I’d be more inclined to believe that number than 18.
I think the “new year, new you” philosophy is great in theory, and we all like to think that starting a new year is a fresh start, and really, for many, it is.
How many times did you or someone you know have a disastrous year and just couldn’t wait until it was over? I’ve had a few of those years, that’s for sure. The year I was diagnosed with cancer was certainly one of those years. I couldn’t wait until the calendar turned to Jan. 1.
Somehow, when the clock turns to 12 a.m. on New Year’s Day, our luck automatically changes, and I wish it were all that simple.
One person I know who has a positive approach to a new year is City of Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo. Each year in early January, we sit down for a one-on-one and discuss some of the past year, but more importantly, what the mayor has planned for the new year.
More times than not, he’s pretty accurate with his wish list for the new year on projects he’d like to see through.
Of course, it’s not always smooth as butter, and there are a few hitches along the line.
For example, the Fort Pittston project is something he would have loved to have started a while ago, but one thing he wanted to do was get the building on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, which took some time.
Permits, property acquisitions, and such also took time. Once again, for 2026, he hopes to see some movement on the building that will provide additional housing for the city.
As you will read in today’s edition of the Sunday Dispatch, the mayor has several projects that will begin in 2026, and Fort Pittston is just one of them.
The seven-story tower known as Market & Main will undergo movement this year, as well as the demolition of Quinn’s Supermarket to make way for a four-story parkade with two of its four sides featuring housing.
The long-awaited American Theatre is a part of the Market & Main project, and I, for one, am very excited about that project. The theatre will have approximately 650 seats and a large stage.
I recall speaking to the mayor about the stage, and I mentioned that the width of the Pittston Area stage, with the depth of the Wyoming Area stage, would be ideal. He agreed and said the stage will be spectacular.
Of course, Market & Main will have a combination of retail, offices, and several floors of residential. No balconies are in the plan for the structure, but I would have loved to seen that happen on the west side of the building.
My guess is there may be another rooftop project in the future for Market & Main and wouldn’t that be amazing? What sunsets you can catch from seven stories high.
The land where the current Quinn’s Supermarket parking lot will also be an incredible feature. There will be green space, with plenty of trees and plants in a sunken garden, a courtyard featuring a potential water feature, and a stage for outdoor concerts.
Without a doubt, next to the Tomato Festival lots, this could be the number one spot to gather in the city.
Housing at the Market & Main tower, housing at the parkade, and housing at the Waterfront Warehouse across at Kennedy Blvd., it would definitely be a hot spot.
With that said, one of the biggest items on the mayor’s list is the securing of a grocery store. The mayor said the footprint for a food store would not be as big as what Quinn’s was, but it would be adequate enough to serve all of those in the radius of the parkade, including the Infantino Towers with their 60-unit, one-bedroom apartments.
More than likely, you will see a traffic light installed at the corner of Market & Kennedy Blvd. in the future.
The new Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance building, although not a Pittston City project, has been framed with steel and is moving right along.
So, we have a lot to look forward to, personally, professionally, and privately in 2026.
As Oprah Winfrey once said, “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right, not through perfection, but through persistence and grace.”
Quote of the week
“The New Year stands before us like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We ourselves hold the pen, and the choices we make will write the story.” —Melody Beattie
Thought of the week
“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering quietly that it will be happier if we meet it with courage and patience.” —Alfred Lord Tennyson
Bumper sticker
“New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday.” —Charles Lamb