Albany, New York
Albany is the capital of the
U.S. state of
New York. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 95,658. It is the
county seat of
Albany County.
The
City of Albany lies 145 miles (233 km) north of and slightly east of
New York City, and slightly to the south of the juncture of the
Mohawk and
Hudson Rivers. Albany has close ties with the cities of
Troy, New York and
Schenectady, New York, forming what is generally known as the
Capital District, which in turn makes up the bulk of the Albany-Troy-Schenectady-Saratoga Springs
Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of 825,875, making it the fourth largest urban area in New York State.
Albany is built on the site of the Dutch
Fort Orange, and its surrounding community of
Beverwyck. The English acquired the site from the Dutch in
1664 and renamed it Albany, in honor of the
Duke of Albany. A
1686 document issued by
Thomas Dongan granted Albany an official charter.
Today, Albany remains a center of government and education.
Albany is the fourth oldest continually-inhabited city and the second oldest chartered city in the United States. The original native settlement in the area was called
Penpotawotnot. Its colonial history began when Englishman
Henry Hudson, exploring for the
Dutch East India Company on the
Halve Maen (or
Half Moon) reached the area in
1609. In
1614, the company constructed
Fort Nassau, its first
fur trading post near present-day Albany. Commencement of the fur trade provoked hostility from the French colony in
Canada and amongst the native tribes, who vied to control the trade. In
1624,
Fort Orange was established in the area. Both forts were named in honor of the Dutch
House of Orange-Nassau. Nearby areas were incorporated as the village of
Beverwyck in
1652.
|
New York State Capitol Building, completed in 1899 at a cost of $25 million was the most expensive government building of its time. Three teams of architects labored on it. |
|
Capitol viewed from the east. |
When the land was taken by the
English in
1664, the name was changed to Albany, in honor of the Duke of York and Albany, who later became King
James II of England and James VII of
Scotland.
Duke of Albany was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the Scottish King. The name is ultimately derived from
Alba, the
Gaelic name for Scotland. Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by Governor
Thomas Dongan on
1686-07-22. The "Dongan Charter" [
1] was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to
New York City three months earlier.
Pieter Schuyler was appointed first mayor of Albany the day the charter was signed.
In
1754, representatives of seven British North American colonies met in the
Albany Congress.
Benjamin Franklin of
Pennsylvania presented the
Albany Plan of Union, the first formal proposal to unite the colonies. Although it was never adopted by Parliament, it was an important precursor to the
U.S. Constitution. Albany native
Philip Livingston was one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence.
William Alexander, a general in the
Revolutionary War, died in Albany in
1783. Several
US Navy ships have since been named
USS Albany in honor of the City's historical and military importance.
In
1797, the state capital of New York was moved from
Kingston to Albany, about 50 miles north. The
State Capitol building was constructed between 1867 and 1899 and inspired by the
Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) in Paris, France. Notable architectural features include its "Million Dollar Staircase."
The City's location on the
Hudson River made it a center of transportation from the outset. In
1807,
Robert Fulton initiated a
steamboat line from
New York City to Albany. On
October 26,
1825 the
Erie Canal was completed, forming a continuous water route from the
Great Lakes to New York City. The
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad between Albany and
Schenectady, New York opened on
September 24,
1831 and subsequently became part of the
New York Central Railroad.
Erastus Corning, a noted industrialist and founder of the
New York Central, called Albany home and served as its mayor from
1834 to
1837. His great-grandson,
Erastus Corning II, served as mayor of Albany from
1942 until
1983, the longest single mayoral term of any major city in the United States.
Between 1965 and 1978, the
Empire State Plaza was constructed in Albany's Midtown, west of Downtown and south of the Capitol building. It was, and remains, controversial, in large part because it required the demolition of several historical neighborhoods and the forced removal of their inhabitants. The Plaza was conceived by Governor
Nelson Rockefeller and is now named in his honor. The Erastus Corning Tower stands 589 feet (180 meters) high, the tallest building in New York State outside New York City. Four other smaller towers, the Legislative Office Building, the State Library and Museum, the Justice Building, and the impressive performing arts center known as "
The Egg" make up the rest of the Empire State Plaza. The design of Empire State Plaza is based loosely on the National Congress complex in the
Brazilian capital of
Brasilia.
Chester A. Arthur, 21st U.S. president, is buried in
Albany Rural Cemetery in
Menands, north of the City.
Main article: List of Mayors of Albany, New York
From Albany's formal organization in 1686 until 1779, mayors of Albany were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original City Charter. From 1779 until 1839, mayors were chosen by the New York State's
Council of Appointment, typically for a one year term that began in September. After 1840, Albany's mayors were directly elected by the city's residents. Albany has had 74 mayors since its inception.
Gerald D. Jennings is the current
Democratic mayor; he was first elected in 1993 and is currently serving in his fourth term of office.
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Albany's four agency buildings in the Empire State Plaza as seen from State Street. |
Albany is located at (42.659829, -73.781339).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.8
mi² (56.6
km²). 21.4 mi² (55.5 km²) of it is land and 0.5 mi² (1.2 km²) of it (2.15%) is water. The
Pine Bush, located on the far edge of the city with
Guilderland and
Colonie is the only sizable inland
pine barrens and
sand dunes in the
United States and home to many endangered species including the
Karner Blue butterfly. Four lakes exist within city limits, including
Buckingham Lake,
Rensselaer Lake,
Tivoli Lake, and
Washington Park Lake.
Albany is the hub city of the
Capital District, which itself is a large component of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which was ranked the 56th most populous in the
United States of America in the
2000 Census, with a total population of 825,875.
Transportation
*
Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) provides bus service throughout Albany and surrounding areas (including
Schenectady and
Troy and provides management for the local airport and rail station (see below).
*
Albany International Airport, located in Colonie, serves Albany and the greater Capital Region with air service across the US and to one Canadian destination. There is no public transportation service between the airport and downtown Albany.
*
Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station (located right across the Hudson river in
Rensselaer) was Amtrak's fourteenth busiest station as of 2004 and serves as a connection point for many Amtrak trains.
*
Greyhound,
Trailways, and
Peter Pan/Bonanza buses are all served by a downtown terminal which is not far from most state office buildings and is convinent to most CDTA lines.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 95,658 people, 40,709 households, and 18,400 families residing in the city. The
population density was 4,474.6/mi² (1,727.5/km².) There were 45,288 housing units at an average density of 2,118.4/mi² (817.9/km².) The racial makeup of the city was 63.12%
White, 28.14%
Black or
African American, 0.31%
Native American, 3.26%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 2.15% from
other races, and 2.98% from two or more races. 5.59% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 40,709 households out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.3% were
married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.8% were non-families. 41.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 19.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,041, and the median income for a family was $39,932. Males had a median income of $31,535 versus $27,112 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $18,281. About 16.0% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
Albany is sometimes referred to as "Smallbany" [
2], with varying degrees of affection or derision. "Smallbany" generally infers that Albany's culture lacks sophistication when compared to such large metropolitan areas as New York City or Boston. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's dismissal of Albany as "a City without a good Chinese restaurant" provides one nationally-reported example of the so-called "Smallbany mentality" [
3], which has also been reinforced by references to Albany in sitcom or film scripts as a provincial backwater. Albany's reputation for cultural mediocrity may also stem from its status as the "most average City in America:" the region's demographics more closely mirror national averages than those of any other city, making Albany an ideal and popular standard test market for new business and retail products [
4].
Local media have reported on the "Smallbany mentality" and its effects on the local arts and music communities [
5]. Despite the perceived lack of outside recognition for many of its cultural activities, however, Albany does indeed possess an active home-grown artistic community, and serves as a key regional crossroad for nationally touring artists and acts. In recent years, the city's government has invested marketing and financial resources to cultivate venues and neighborhoods that can attract after-hours business, as well as public art installations. Pearl Street, Broadway and
Lark Street now serve as the most commercially active entertainment areas in the City. Summer concert series are sponsored by the City and local businesses at the Corning Preserve, Tricentennial Square and the
Empire State Plaza. Albany's independent and underground artists, musicians and writers actively work in a variety of clubs, bars and coffee houses located throughout the City, many of them outside of those more commercially active areas.
Metroland, the alternative newsweekly of the Capital Region, generally provides a focal point for previewing, reviewing and interviewing independent local artists and performers.
The Albany Symphony Orchestra [
6], Capital Repertory Theatre [
7] and Albany Insitute of History and Art [
8] provide outlets for locally composed, created and curated works, as well as traveling exhibitions and shows. The recently renovated Palace Theatre and the
The Egg provide mid-sized forums for music, theatre and spoken word performances. The Pepsi Arena (which will be renamed the Times Union Center in 2007) serves as the city's largest musical venue for nationally and internationally prominent bands, as well as trade shows, sporting events and other large-scale community gatherings. The New York State Museum [
9] is a major cultural draw, focusing on fine arts, natural history, and New York's economic, political and social histories. Additionally, there are several small, private art galleries and antiquarian book shops in Albany, mainly clustered around Lark Street between Washington Avenue and Madison Avenue. Albany also has two independent film theatres, as well as performing and fine arts venues associated with the
University at Albany and
College of St. Rose.
Sports
*
University at Albany: Currently plays at the Division I level in all of its sports, though for most of its history it was a Division III school, with a brief stay at the Division II level in the late 1990s. The football team is a member of the Division I-AA
Northeast Conference, while all other sports teams play as members of the
America East Conference. In 2006,
Albany became the first
SUNY affiliated school to send a team to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. The men's Lacrosse team has also played in its NCAA Division I Championship Tournament, the first University at Albany team to do so. Albany has hosted the
New York Giants summer training camp since 1996.
* Nearby
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in
Troy and
Union College in
Schenectady both play at the Division I level for men's and women's ice hockey, while the rest of their programs are
Division III. (RPI offers scholarships for its men's team under a special dispensation granted by the NCAA to certain Division III schools with significant historic presence in a particular sport; Union is a non-scholarship Division I hockey program).
*
Siena College, located in the Albany suburb of
Loudonville, also plays at the Division I level in all sports, although it discontinued its Division I-AA football program in 2003. It is a member of the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for most sports, with field hockey playing as a member of the
Northeast Conference.
Minor league professional teams
*
Albany River Rats (
AHL affiliate of the
Carolina Hurricanes and
Colorado Avalanche, was an affiliate of the
New Jersey Devils until 2006)
*
Albany Conquest (
af2 arena football)
*
Albany Patroons (
CBA basketball)
*
Tri-City Valley Cats (
New York-Penn League "short A" baseball, affiliate of the
Houston Astros based in nearby Troy.)
Defunct professional teams
*
Albany Alleycats were a semipro soccer team that competed in the
United Soccer Leagues from 1995 to 1999
*
Albany Firebirds Were a team in the
Arena Football League starting in 1990. The team won the
Arena Bowl in 1999, but moved to
Indianapolis, Indiana after the 2000 season. The Firebirds folded in late 2004.
*
Albany Attack entered the
National Lacrosse League as an expansion team prior to the 1999-2000 season. The Attack played four years in Albany, with by far the most successful the 2001-2002 season, when they made the league championship game. However, due to attendance problems, after the following season, the Attack moved to
San Jose, California and became the
San Jose Stealth.
*
Albany-Colonie Yankees (
Eastern League baseball, AA affiliate of the
New York Yankees from 1985 to 1994, playing host to several key players of the parent club's eventual late-1990s dominance.)
**Albany A's/Albany-Colonie A's (Eastern League affiliate of the
Oakland Athletics in 1983 and 1984, superseded by the Albany-Colonie Yankees.)
*
Capital District Islanders (
American Hockey League, forerunner to Albany River Rats when affiliated with the
New York Islanders.)
*
Albany Choppers (
International Hockey League, 1990-1991 season, folded February 1991)
*
Albany Patroons/Capital Region Pontiacs (original version from 1982 to 1993 was a dominant team in the league and a starting point for notable
NBA coaches Phil Jackson and George Karl moved to
Hartford, Connecticut, then folded before being revived in 2005.)
*
Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs, played at
Heritage Park in nearby Colonie beginning in 1995. Won the
Northern League championship in
1999, but folded after the
2002 season due to financial difficulties.
*
New York Kick (
American Indoor Soccer Association) the team split time between Albany and
Glens Falls, New York so the team choose to be named after the state.
Pepsi Arena
The
Pepsi Arena (originally named the Knickerbocker Arena when it opened in 1990) is a major regional athletic venue located in downtown Albany. It has a seating capacity of up to 17,500 for sporting events. The Siena College Men's Baskbetball team plays its home games here, and the Arena is also home to the
Albany River Rats (AHL) and
Albany Conquest (af2). The Pepsi Arena has hosted NCAA Division I hockey and basketball postseason tournaments, among many other sporting events. In May 2006, naming rights were sold to the
Times Union, and the arena will become the Times Union Center in 2007.
*Colleges and universities in Albany include
Albany College of Pharmacy;
Albany Law School;
Albany Medical College;
College of Saint Rose;
Excelsior College;
Maria College of Albany;
Sage College of Albany; and the
University at Albany, part of the
State University of New York system.
Siena College is located two miles north of the downtown area in
Loudonville. The
University at Albany Uptown Campus, sandwiched between Washington and Western Avenues in the western part of the City is the second largest poured concrete structure in the world after
The Pentagon.
*
Albany City School District.
*
Albany Free School – founded in 1969 by Mary Leue, is the oldest inner-city independent alternative school in the United States.
*
The Albany Academy – founded 1813, alumni include scientist
Joseph Henry and
Supreme Court Associate Justice Rufus Wheeler Peckham;
Herman Melville attended The Albany Academy, but did not graduate.
*
Albany Academy for Girls – the oldest independent day school for girls in the United States.
*
Doane Stuart School – the area's only co-educational independent school and the only known merger of Catholic and Protestant schools in the United States.
*
Christian Brothers Academy – founded in Albany in 1859 by the Brothers of Christian Schools, now located in the nearby town of
Colonie.
See also the
list of high schools.
:''Main Article:
Media in Albany, New YorkThe
Albany Times Union is Albany's primary daily paper and the only one based close to the City; its headquarters have been located in nearby
Colonie since the 1970s, when Mayor
Erastus Corning 2nd blocked the expansion of the paper's longtime headquarters on Sheridan Street in Albany by refusing to sell a slim parcel of public land required by the paper to expand their presses. The newspaper celebrated its 150th year of publishing in 2006. Serving Albany to a lesser degree are the
Daily Gazette and
Troy Record.
Metroland is the most notable alternative newsweekly in the area, publishing each Thursday, while The Business Review (nee Capital District Business Review) is a business weekly published each Friday.
In terms of broadcast media, Albany is considered a medium market (
Arbitron market 64 in radio,
Nielsen market 55 in television), however the market has several traits which set it apart. The pionnering influence of
General Electric in nearby Schenectady directly contributed to the area emerging as the birthplace of station-based television (
WRGB) and one of the earliest FM radio stations (today's
WRVE), in addition to a powerful 50,000 watt AM station (
WGY). Also, in the early 2000s the greater Albany market was considered to have the highest concentration of
FM stations east of the Mississippi.
The Albany Metro area has affiliates of many of the major television networks including
WRGB-
CBS,
WTEN-
ABC,
WNYT-
NBC,
WXXA-
FOX,
WMHT-
PBS,
WCWN-
CW,
WNYA-
MyNet, and
WYPX-
i. In addition, the area has a cable-only news channel,
Capital News 9, which features local news 24/7. On the radio side, the Capital Region has two News/Talk radio stations,
WGY and
WROW. Both feature a mixture of local and syndicated programming. There are also 2 Sports Talk stations,
WOFX, which features some
FOX Sports Radio programming, local programming, and Play-by-Play, and
WTMM, an affiliate of
ESPN Radio. In addition,
WAMC, which runs Northeast Public Radio, is an
NPR affiliate which serves the Albany area.
Albany has four
sister cities, as designated by
Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
["Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)." Retrieved June 3, 2006.]*
Nassau,
Bahamas*
Nijmegen,
Netherlands*
Quebec City,
Québec*
Tula,
Russia
*
Official City Government Website*
Welcome to Albany (official tourist information website)*
Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce*
Albany City Court - Traffic*
Albany City Criminal Court*
The Hidden City*
PBS report on the State Capitol
