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Albany Attractions: Empire State Plaza Between Eagle and Swan Streets, at Madison and State Downtown Albany 518-474-2418 Mon-Fri 9am-3:45pm, Sat-Sun 10am-3:45pm Admission free In 1959, Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza cost over a billion dollars to build amid much controversy about the cost and the removal of large numbers of low-income houses. 92 modern sculptures are dotted around its long Reflecting Pool and the Empire Center at the Egg, an arts center, and a visual prelude to the ornate Legislative and Justice Buildings. The Corning Tower is a 42-story skyscraper with a panoramic view. Rockefeller resolved to build "the most spectacularly beautiful seat of government in the world" after a visit from Princess Beatrix of Holland through the rundown capital left him feeling ashamed of Albany's slums. The Egg Empire State Plaza Downtown Albany Call for exact dates and times of performances Admission charged The Egg is a world-class performing arts complex that presents music, theatre, dance, family programming and special events. Architecturally, The Egg is without precedent. From a distance it seems as much a sculpture as a building. Though it appears to sit on the main platform, the stem that holds The Egg actually goes down through six stories deep into the Earth. The Egg keeps its shape by wearing a girdle - a heavily reinforced concrete beam that was poured along with the rest of the shell. This beam helps transmit The Egg's weight onto the supporting pedestal and gives the structure an ageless durability that belies its nickname. Cherry Hill 523 South Pearl Street at First Avenue Downtown 518-434-4791 Tuesday-Saturday 10AM - 3pm, Sunday 1pm - 3pm Admission charged Philip and Mary Van Renssaeler built this 1787 home, which was the seat of several generations of their family; Miss Emily Rankin, the last surviving family member, died here in 1963. The kitchen is equipped with different eras of ovens and stoves; the colonial-era oven was kept for bread baking. New York State Capitol Building State Street North end of Empire State Plaza 518-474-2418 Mon-Fri 9am - 3:45pm; Sat-Sun 10am - 3:45pm; hourly tours Admission free The state capital's showpiece is a chateau that took over three architects, three decades, and 20 million dollars to finish. The Capitol is four hundred feet long and three hundred feet wide, and five stories tall with a full basement and attic. Frederick Law Olmstead, Thomas Fuller, and Henry Hudson Richardson all contributed to the building, which holds a Senate Chamber and Assembly Chamber for the state, culminating in the Million Dollar Staircase with its 300 hand carved faces, many of which are portrayals of the famous men of history, all by Italian craftsmen. The Capitol houses the Executive Offices of the Governor or the State of New York, the New York State Assembly, and the New York State Senate. These three offices comprise the major decision making power of the state of New York. New York State Executive Mansion 138 Eagle Street Downtown 518-473-7521 Thursday afternoons only, call for appointment. Admission free Every successive governor from Teddy Roosevelt to FDR and Al Smith has left their personal traces: a gym, a pool, a porch, even a zoo in the case of the pet-loving Smith. It was built as a private home in 1856 and was taken over by the state in 1877. The mansion is open to the public, but only by appointed tour. New York State Museum Empire State Plaza Downtown 518-474-5877 Open daily 10am-5pm Admission free, Carousel free, donations accepted. Anchoring the southern end of Empire State Plaza is the state's largest and oldest museum. With three and a half acres of exhibits, the free museum is an inexpensive and interesting way to spend an afternoon. Two recent additions are the widely publicized exhibit of items tied to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Memorabilia include a destroyed fire engine, 10-ton steel columns from the World Trade Center, pieces of the hijacked airplanes, a piece of the fence erected around Ground Zero, and expressions of sympathy and poetry. The other addition to the museum is a full-size carousel, which was installed in the museum's new 25,000-square-foot Terrace Gallery. The carousel once was located in a New York State amusement park, and now is the centerpiece of a fourth-floor exhibit on popular entertainment. The carousel's 36 horses, two deer and two donkeys have already accommodated 300,000 riders. Discovery Place is a fun place designed for children. The museum also has a shop, a cafe, and a bookstore. Schuyler Mansion 32 Catherine Street Elizabeth 518-434-0834 Apr-Oct, Wed-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 1-5pm Admission free The Schuyler Mansion is an historic site built on a hillside overlooking the Hudson Valley by Albany's patriot leader, General Philip Schuyler, the military hero honored by Webster for being "second only to Washington." Schuyler was stripped of his honors and demoted after he ordered the retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, although he was later reinstated. The Schuyler mansion was familiar to all the early revolutionary leaders from Colonel Aaron Burr to George Washington and Benedict Arnold, and after the Saratoga defeat of the British, Schuyler's daughter married Alexander Hamilton here. Albany Urban Cultural Park Visitor Center 25 Quackenbush Square at Clinton and Broadway Downtown Albany 518-434-5123 Admission charged for trolley bus tours and audio-cassette guided tours. Guided tours: June-Sep Sat at 11:30am. Trolley bus tours: July-Sep Thu-Fri at 2pm Architectural tours are popular in Albany, and this is the place to pick up a copy of every brochure or handout or book on the subject. Eight self-guided tours can be found in their literature. Albany Institute of History and Art 125 Washington Avenue Two blocks north of Capitol 518-463-4478 Wed-Sun noon-5pm Admission charged A display of the city's earliest Dutch portraitists and the Hudson River painters now housed in a pretty Beaux Arts building, the 1791-founded Albany Institute is probably the oldest art collection in the country. Albany's fine Dutch silver, ceramics, pewter and locally made chairs and tables are also on show here. |