Visiting Albany

New York’s capital of Albany is located in the eastern part of the state along the Hudson River. Albany itself has a population of around 100,000, which would make it a respectable-sized capital in many states. By New York standards though, it feels relatively small, and some people have even given it the nickname “Smallbany.”

Above is the New York State Capitol, one of the most distinctive capitol buildings I’ve seen in the country. Its design is so different from the more typical domed capitols that I actually had to double-check on my phone to make sure I was looking at the right building.

Above are two photos of downtown Albany near the capitol building. The city began as part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, with early settlements including Fort Nassau and Fort Orange. After the English took control of the region in the 1600s, the settlement eventually became known as Albany.

I visited on a Sunday, which made downtown feel strangely quiet. A lot of businesses were closed and some streets felt nearly deserted.

Empire State Plaza

The most recognizable part of Albany is probably Empire State Plaza, the large government complex surrounding the capitol. The area contains monuments, memorials, open plazas, reflecting pools, and some of the city’s most unusual modern buildings.

Above is a memorial on the left and the famous performing arts center known as The Egg on the right. I regret not getting a better photo of The Egg because its strange rounded shape is much more obvious from farther away.

The plaza feels enormous when you’re walking around it. The reflecting pool, parks, government towers, and open spaces give downtown Albany a very different appearance from what I expected from such a relatively small city.

These were two other buildings that caught my attention while exploring Albany. The city has a mix of older architecture and much more modern government and university buildings, so even a random walk through downtown gives you plenty of variety.

Albany also has a surprising number of parks and green spaces. Unfortunately, the weather during my visit was cold and gloomy, so most of them were nearly empty. I briefly got some blue sky, but the clouds quickly returned and I was getting rained on not long afterward.

These last two photos show another statue I came across in the city and one of Albany’s bridges. My visit was fairly short, but Albany ended up being more interesting than I expected, especially around the capitol and Empire State Plaza.