Well done. Thanks for the memories...I can still hear the steel pile drivers....my 3rd floor bedroom window in Renss overlooked Albany. 18 yrs of my early years were spent watching Rocky Plaza being built.
You all probably dont give a damn but does anybody know a trick to log back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost the account password. I would love any tricks you can offer me
@Alberto Cason Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm in the hacking process atm. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
I was born in the 1960's & remember the destruction of the neighborhood. I grew up on 37 Morton Ave which was the PROJECTS. I would love to see more videos on the aerial footage of Albany in the 60's
The way planners treated the downtowns in many of these old American cities is criminal. This plaza is an atrocity. I-787 is an atrocity. The way society allows some people to be treated is an atrocity.
I've seen the Empire Plaza hundreds of times when I lived in Columbia Co, but I never really knew its history. It's disgusting what Rocky did, not only for the $2 billion it cost but to the people who were displaced.
At the time they wanted to put a road thru a populated nearby suburb(just a 2 lane divided highway) and they fought tooth and nail so the area won't be impacted. The people who lived there also had influence, many were state officials.
It was the time of Robert Moses and his mis-informed style of splitting everything in a city by race through his favorite wall. A highway. This whole theory has been seen as a reason for so many of the problems. The Black Americans do not do well in tall apartment buildings that replaced the neighborhoods. Nobody can meet their neighbors when there is no front stoop. According to local author William Kennedy (O'Albany) the plaza displaced bawdy houses, skid row bars, and miscreant housing. I was not alive so I dont know if this was true or not. The city needed the activity but the method might have not been the best.
This is where my family spent its first years in America, and I spent the first years of my life. It is a dim memory for me, but this I know for sure: my mother, who spoke only Greek, had friends in this neighborhood. When we were displaced, in the neighborhood where we ended up, my mother didn't make another friend for the rest of her life. I am coming to realize that this displacement was a tragedy for us.
This was terrible, they took away two of my grandfather's home on Hamiton Street and my Italian friends. I was born there till age 6. I enjoyed my Italian friends, and I am black. Those are now just memories.
Although Corning was Albany's long time mayor he was not the leader of the city's democratic political machine- Dan O'Connell was. He ruled Albany for 56 years under three different mayors.
Albany is not alone, careless haphazard urban renewal ruined countless older northern US cities of all sizes. Hartford, New Haven, and Boston are the other older US cities that were completely disrupted and altered by haphazard, careless urban renewal.
I've been to this plaza since I was in gradeschool in the 70s. If pushed to decide I would say it was a mistake. The place is just sterile. Its not built to human scale. Its usually vast and empty. Its more a monument than a plaza. It probably impressed the architects' egos when looking at it as a table top model, but actually walking the thing is a pretty empty experience.
i remember hearing those piledrivers. but rocky did damage to albany. he tore up all those neighborhoods for the south mall. and what's more he cut the city off from the riverfront to build 787 which goes nowhere. he did not get on with corning and his attitude was eff albany.
Perhaps the plaza and tower should all come DOWN..maybe all of it should be destroyed and re developed back to what it originally was. The families would maybe enjoy to see it
It boggles my mind how many cities demolished their downtowns so they could put in parking lots. Look at some GOP strong states like Texas and what they did in say Fort Worth. So called slum clearance. What it really was was cutting your own throat to stop a bloody nose. Had the country not spent trillions on free roads and taxed gasoline more we may have saved more of our history. NYC and some other east coast cities didn't fair well either during those years. But at least NYC had a subway system built before the auto changed everything. Newer cities in Texas or California are now playing catch up building light rail. Which isn't great if they run in city traffic. Anyhow. Nice info here.
Thank you for this. My dad worked across the Plaza site and always appreciated what it did for us and all the workers for many years.
Great work putting this video together, thank you for posting this!
Well done. Thanks for the memories...I can still hear the steel pile drivers....my 3rd floor bedroom window in Renss overlooked Albany. 18 yrs of my early years were spent watching Rocky Plaza being built.
You all probably dont give a damn but does anybody know a trick to log back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid lost the account password. I would love any tricks you can offer me
@Marcellus Eli instablaster ;)
@Alberto Cason Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm in the hacking process atm.
Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Alberto Cason it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thanks so much you saved my ass :D
@Marcellus Eli happy to help :D
I was born in the 1960's & remember the destruction of the neighborhood. I grew up on 37 Morton Ave which was the PROJECTS. I would love to see more videos on the aerial footage of Albany in the 60's
A lot of families and businesses were displaced..yes it’s a beautiful part of downtown yet at what cost to those who were squeezed out..
Great Post Arielle. Interesting how things "just" move along
The way planners treated the downtowns in many of these old American cities is criminal. This plaza is an atrocity. I-787 is an atrocity. The way society allows some people to be treated is an atrocity.
But boy is it worth it. Stunning architecture. Still looks like a vision of the future, even today
Wow. Thank you for this video.
everyone responsible for this tragedy should get 30 years in prison
I've seen the Empire Plaza hundreds of times when I lived in Columbia Co, but I never really knew its history. It's disgusting what Rocky did, not only for the $2 billion it cost but to the people who were displaced.
At the time they wanted to put a road thru a populated nearby suburb(just a 2 lane divided highway) and they fought tooth and nail so the area won't be impacted. The people who lived there also had influence, many were state officials.
It was the time of Robert Moses and his mis-informed style of splitting everything in a city by race through his favorite wall. A highway. This whole theory has been seen as a reason for so many of the problems. The Black Americans do not do well in tall apartment buildings that replaced the neighborhoods. Nobody can meet their neighbors when there is no front stoop. According to local author William Kennedy (O'Albany) the plaza displaced bawdy houses, skid row bars, and miscreant housing. I was not alive so I dont know if this was true or not. The city needed the activity but the method might have not been the best.
This is where my family spent its first years in America, and I spent the first years of my life. It is a dim memory for me, but this I know for sure: my mother, who spoke only Greek, had friends in this neighborhood. When we were displaced, in the neighborhood where we ended up, my mother didn't make another friend for the rest of her life. I am coming to realize that this displacement was a tragedy for us.
It’s called the United States of America not the United States for America ...
What’s the difference ?
This was terrible, they took away two of my grandfather's home on Hamiton Street and my Italian friends. I was born there till age 6. I enjoyed my Italian friends, and I am black. Those are now just memories.
Although Corning was Albany's long time mayor he was not the leader of the city's democratic political machine- Dan O'Connell was. He ruled Albany for 56 years under three different mayors.
Albany is not alone, careless haphazard urban renewal ruined countless older northern US cities of all sizes. Hartford, New Haven, and Boston are the other older US cities that were completely disrupted and altered by haphazard, careless urban renewal.
I've been to this plaza since I was in gradeschool in the 70s. If pushed to decide I would say it was a mistake. The place is just sterile. Its not built to human scale. Its usually vast and empty. Its more a monument than a plaza. It probably impressed the architects' egos when looking at it as a table top model, but actually walking the thing is a pretty empty experience.
i remember hearing those piledrivers. but rocky did damage to albany. he tore up all those neighborhoods for the south mall. and what's more he cut the city off from the riverfront to build 787 which goes nowhere. he did not get on with corning and his attitude was eff albany.
I love the plaza. However it's definitely not utilized well
Yes. Thank you. It helps me appreciate my life and how sick humans are. SICK
Perhaps the plaza and tower should all come DOWN..maybe all of it should be destroyed and re developed back to what it originally was. The families would maybe enjoy to see it
What a tragedy..
It boggles my mind how many cities demolished their downtowns so they could put in parking lots. Look at some GOP strong states like Texas and what they did in say Fort Worth. So called slum clearance. What it really was was cutting your own throat to stop a bloody nose. Had the country not spent trillions on free roads and taxed gasoline more we may have saved more of our history. NYC and some other east coast cities didn't fair well either during those years. But at least NYC had a subway system built before the auto changed everything. Newer cities in Texas or California are now playing catch up building light rail. Which isn't great if they run in city traffic. Anyhow. Nice info here.
I am truly sorry for the people who lived in that area. However, you now see the benefits
What benefits they destroyed the economy just to put up a government facility that could’ve gone anywhere
what benefits? tens of thousands of people abandoned the city and lost businesses