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Albany NY Attractions
Albany has just a handful of must-see sights, including two excellent museums and the State Capitol building, almost all conveniently located downtown. The best idea is probably to start at the unmistakable Empire State Plaza, where several of the top sights are located.
7 Results
- Landmark
Empire State Plaza
This dramatic public plaza is Albany's most distinctive urban feature. Its official name is Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller State Plaza, after the man who undertook the massive project in 1962 (it wasn't finished until 1978). Rockefeller envisioned a kind of starkly modern Brasilia in… - Historic Site
Historic Cherry Hill
This stately home, a big yellow clapboard Georgian Colonial that once looked over gentle lands to the edge of the Hudson River, is today in the middle of a bad neighborhood and the din of the highway. But no matter, it still presents an interesting history lesson, told through the… - Landmark
Hudson River Way
This cool pedestrian bridge connects downtown to Corning Preserve Park on the banks of the Hudson. It is lined with 30 trompe l'oeil paintings on lampposts that depict the city's history and heritage, from prehistoric times and early Dutch merchants to the present. There are also two… - Landmark
New York State Capitol
This impressive building, seat of New York State government since the 1880s and a jarring contrast with the starkly modern Empire Plaza and agency buildings that rise around it, was the first massive and problematic project in the area. It took more than three decades (beginning at… - Landmark
New York State Executive Mansion
The Governor's Mansion, built in 1856 as a banker's home, was totally remodeled in the 1860s. The first governor to live (and rent) here was in 1875; in 1877 the state purchased it, and it was given its third major makeover in 1885, to its current Queen Anne style. Famous inhabitants… - Historic Site
Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site
This large, English-style 1762 estate, the home of Philip Schuyler, one of the first four generals under Washington during the first 2 years of the Revolutionary War, is more interesting for what it represents than what there actually is to see. The house is only partially restored,… - Historic Site
Shaker Heritage Society
America's first Shaker settlement, the 1776 Watervliet Church Community, retains its 1848 Meeting House and seven other buildings. The Shakers (the United Society of Believers), an early American religious group, were known for their remarkable craftsmanship as well as their…
Albany NY Shopping
Farmers' Markets
The largest weekly market in the area is the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market (www.troymarket.org), held Saturday from 9am to 1pm at Riverfront Park in Troy. (In winter, the market moves to Uncle Sam Atrium, at Broadway and 3rd sts.) You'll find meat, dairy, produce, and flower vendors, as well as potters, vintners, and local producers of soap, cheese, honey, wine, yarns, and possibly the best homemade pesto on the planet, from Woodstock-based Buddha Pesto. Goold Orchards, 1297 Brookview Station Rd., Castleton (tel. 518/732-7317), south of Albany on Route 9J along the Hudson, features an apple orchard, farm store, cider mill, and bake shop. It offers pick-your-own apples, strawberries, and pumpkins in season, as well as an apple festival in October and a corn maze. City versions of farmers' markets in town are Wallenberg Park, Clinton Avenue and North Pearl (Mon 10am-1pm); SUNY Plaza, corner of Broadway and State (Thurs 11am-2pm); and Empire State Plaza (Wed and Fri 11am-2pm).
Albany NY Nightlife
The Egg, Empire State Plaza Concourse Level (tel. 518/473-1845; www.theegg.org), is the funky spherical half-egg on the plaza; its two theaters inside are nearly as cool as the exterior. It hosts a diverse range of entertainment, from the modern dance of Mark Morris and classical music to comedy, theater, international performers including Cesária Évora, and the guitar riffs of rock bands like Cheap Trick. The Palace Performing Arts Center, 19 Clinton Ave. (tel. 518/465-3664; www.palacealbany.com), is a gorgeously restored, grand 1931 movie theater that now hosts top-level talent, including pop concerts (such as Billy Joel and Sum 41), comedy (Jerry Seinfeld), and the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Berkshire Ballet. It also handles a number of children's theater performances during the school year. The Pepsi Arena, 51 S. Pearl St. (tel. 518/487-2000; www.pepsiarena.com), is the big place in town for large rock and country-music concerts in addition to sporting events. The Capital Repertory Theatre, 111 N. Pearl St. (tel. 518/462-4531; www.capitalrep.org), features Broadway and Off-Broadway touring musicals and dramatic theater. Outside of town, the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, 7 State St., Troy (tel. 518/273-0038; www.troymusichall.org), a wonderfully preserved concert hall in a former 1823 bank, hosts some of the area's best jazz concerts as well as chamber music and other performances; there's almost always something interesting scheduled, and it's just 8 miles from downtown Albany. Its heritage includes performances by such musical eminences as Ella Fitzgerald and Yo-Yo Ma.
Bars and pubs worth visiting include Wolff's Biergarten, 895 Broadway (tel. 518/427-2461) in North Albany (also known as the Warehouse District, Albany's best impersonation of NYC's Meat-Packing District), a modern and stylish take on a German beer garden that's housed in an old firehouse (they have a great selection of German, Belgian and Czech beers); Albany Pump Station, 19 Quackenbush Sq. (tel. 518/447-9000), a brewpub within a historic pump station; Riverfront Bar & Grill, Corning Riverfront Park (tel. 518/426-4738), which you can access by crossing the Hudson River Way pedestrian bridge; and the Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave. (tel. 518/465-9079), with a large dance floor and DJs spinning tunes. Movie theaters include Hoyt's at Crossgates Mall (tel. 518/452-6440) and Spectrum 7 Theaters, 290 Delaware Ave. (tel. 518/449-8995).
