Albany (New York)

Albany is the capital of New York. Albany is an interesting showcase of several centuries' worth of architectural styles, including the modernistic Empire State Plaza.

Understand
It is home to just under 100,000 residents (2020), most of New York State's key government offices, seven colleges and universities, and is the seat of Albany County.

Before the first European settlement by the Dutch in 1614, Albany and its surroundings were home to the Iroquois Five Nations group of indigenous Americans. Albany is the longest continually chartered city in the United States, the original eastern terminus of the Erie Canal, and was a center for the smuggling of alcohol from Canada during the U.S. Prohibition.

Writer and journalist William Kennedy, an Albany native, uses the city and its history as the setting for most of his novels, plays and nonfiction books.

Tourist information

 * Explore Albany website

By train

 * See Rensselaer for details about train services.

By car

 * Interstate 90 (I-90), the strip of highway that crosses the upper United States, cuts right through the north side of Albany. There are many exits into Albany from I-90, and a lovely view of the skyline between exits 6 and 7. It connects to Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania to the west and Springfield, Massachusetts and Boston to the east.
 * Interstate 87 (I-87), which connects New York City and Montreal, intersects with I-90 in Albany. South of Albany, I-87 is a toll road called the Thruway. North of Albany, it is a toll-free highway known locally as the Northway which leads through Montréal (as Québec's autoroute 15) into the Laurentian Mountains. It connects to Montréal and New York.
 * Taconic Parkway This 4-lane, rural limited-access highway winds from the Bronx River Parkway and NY-22 in Westchester County up to Interstate 90 near the Massachusetts Border. It can be a pleasant road to travel on to Albany, since there are no trucks or toll plazas.
 * Interstate 88 (I-88), which connects Albany to Binghamton, Scranton, Elmira, and Jamestown, intersects with I-90 in Schenectady, just west of Albany.

Get around
Getting around Albany and the Capital Region entirely depends on where you are staying and what you want to see. If you plan on spending most of your time within the city of Albany, most downtown sights are within walking distance of each other.

By car
Most residents and visitors get around by car. By the standards of larger cities, traffic is light and traffic jams are rare. Finding parking in some neighborhoods, particularly the Center Square area around Lark Street, can be a challenge.

By taxi
Taxi cabs in Albany are not metered and go by a zone fare within the city limits. Some places are geographically not in the city limits but still may be referred to as "Albany" such as Colonie Center which is in the town of Colonie and Crossgates Mall which is in the town of Guilderland. This may at times leave you open to getting ripped off by the driver. It's best to call the company and ask for the fare prior to getting into the cab.



See
Albany is an architectural haven, from historic buildings to newly built high-rise skyscrapers to churches and temples, Albany has got it all for architectural buffs out there.

Sports


Albany has one professional sports team, the Tri-City ValleyCats (baseball). The city has lost its teams in arena football, basketball, and ice hockey.



The city also boasts an NCAA Division I athletic program:

Theatre


There are also the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy and the Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady

Buy


In the suburbs surrounding Albany, particularly on the drive down Central Ave toward Schenectady, you can find a strip mall wherever you go with chain stores like Target and Marshalls. Some of the larger ones are Westgate Plaza, Northway Mall, and Mohawk Commons which used to be an indoor mall (Mohawk Mall)

Eat
Downtown area

New Scotland and Pine Hills area



Colonie, Westmere and Latham areas

Drink
Albany's bar scene is alive and well and, due to crackdowns with ID checks, the face of local nightlife has changed a lot. Make sure you have your license, passport or ID handy.

SUNY Albany is no longer considered the #1 party school in the United States, but between its 11,000 students and the College of Saint Rose, you will meet lots of sloppy and belligerent 18- to 21-year-olds on a typical night out. Muggers and other opportunists capitalize on vulnerable drinkers, so avoid Washington Park after dark.

The most popular and concentrated place to barhop is probably Lark Street, where more than a dozen bars from cocktail lounges and dives are crowded between Ontario Street and Central Avenue. Good bets include:

Pearl Street is another good place to go out. Closer to the large state offices, these bars draw a large after-work crowd, and after the Thursday afternoon waterfront concerts in the summer - Alive at 5 - the streets are cordoned off, made pedestrian-only, and overflow with revelers.

Some places of interest:

For the College Crowd:

Sleep
Downtown area New Scotland and Pine Hills area

Colonie, Westmere and Latham areas

Stay safe
Like most cities, Albany has blighted areas with crime problems. Use precautions that one would use in any big city. The areas between Washington Ave. and New Scotland Ave. are generally safe to walk, especially east of Lark Street. However, there have been physical assaults near the SUNY Albany downtown campus. Arbor Hill near Henry Johnson Blvd. is known as one of the most dangerous areas, though it holds no particular interest to travelers. Occasional muggings and armed robberies have been known to happen to drunk suburbanites on Lark, Madison and other bar streets.

Radio
Radio stations serving the Albany area include:


 *  News/Talk : WAMC 1400 AM/90.3 FM (NPR), WGY 810 AM/103.1 FM (conservative)

Television
Television stations serving Albany include:


 * WRGB Channel 6: CBS.
 * WTEN Channel 10: ABC.
 * WNYT Channel 13: NBC.
 * WMHT Channel 17: PBS.

Go next
The Albany metro area, the Capital District, has many more attractions.
 * The city of Troy offers well-preserved 19th-century architecture (making it a location for period films) and fine antique shopping downtown.
 * About a 20 minute drive north of Albany is Watervliet and the military arsenal museum.
 * The Cohoes Falls are the second-largest in the state (a distant second to Niagara Falls, but impressive nonetheless).
 * The area in and around the city of Saratoga Springs (about 40 minutes north of Albany) features wonderful shops, restaurants and bars, a national park (about 15 miles from Saratoga proper) at the site of the Battle of Saratoga (the turning point of the Revolutionary War), a lovely state park with a mud and mineral bath spa run by the state, a par 29 and two championship 18 hole courses as well a stately restaurant.
 * Just across the river is Rensselaer.
 * Visitors to the Albany area should consider day trips to destinations in the Berkshires of western Mass., including Tanglewood, Mass MoCA, and the Clark Art Institute.
 * The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
 * Adirondack mountains.
 * Catskill mountains.
 * Several state parks are within easy driving distance, among them Thacher State Park. A scenic 30-minute drive west on route 85, it tops an escarpment and has great views of the city and several beautiful hiking trails, including a lower trail which winds and turns near the bottom of the escarpment and actually goes behind two waterfalls. Spring is the best time to view these falls due to the thaw and increased water volume. Steep inclines and rocky paths on the lower trail could challenge less robust hikers.
 * Albany is at one end of the very scenic, and historically important, Erie Canal which runs all the way to Buffalo.

With its impressive industrial heritage, Albany is a part of the American Industry Tour between Boston and Chicago.