The Center Of New York State And Albany Government

I was taking a driving tour of downtown Albany and parked my car so that I could walk around and get a closer look at things. In a pocket park across from the Albany City Hall I spotted yet another man-on-a-park-bench statue. This one, though, was identified. Mr. Swyer was a local builder, developer and patron of the arts. The statue is designed so that people can sit with him on the park bench. But I was alone and had no one to take my picture with him. I did see a photo on the internet showing someone else sitting there and it was clear that they had to avoid leaning back because Mr. Swyer's hat would have poked them in the back. An unforeseen design flaw, I suppose:

And from the statue looking back across the road toward the Capitol Building:

Hey, another statue! This one was the famous Philip Schuyler, an Albany native, General in the American Revolution and United States Senator from New York:

As I rounded the corner, I peeked down a side street:

Five large buildings from four different eras. Those two modern buildings in the center are part of the Empire State Plaza and of course that's the Capitol on the right:

I could see some of the ornate stonework on the Albany City Hall:

Looking from the City Hall and Capitol toward Madison Avenue. That's the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the distance, down in the lower left of the picture. It sits right next to the New York State Museum (not visible in this photo). The cathedral is being restored also. I haven't been inside but have seen photos. It's very ornate and beautiful:

But this walking/driving tour had gone on far longer than I'd originally intended. So I walked back to my little red car which was by then parked on State Street. It was time for me to give my old feet a rest:

Another shot down State Street reveals the D & H Building at the end of it:

And as I drove away, I took one more picture of a side street: