Sunday, August 07, 2016

State Street

Well, it's not That Great Street, but it's Albany's main route up from the river to the capitol. It's mostly lined with office buildings and banks. Shopping has long since moved out to the suburbs. There are a couple of hotels, a church, and some eating establishments, too.

Looking west up State Street from the plaza of the old D&H Building, now the SUNY Administration building. The gray building on the right is Albany's old post office and federal building, now part of the SUNY complex.

This is the street where, every spring during the Tulip Festival, young women in colonial Dutch attire ceremonially sweep the dirt and grime from the pavement. The local news programs eat it up, of course. Um, the ceremony, that is, not the dirt and grime.

A closer look up State Street toward the capitol.

The street is very steep as it climbs up toward the capitol. Back in the day, electric streetcars climbed up. The tracks are long gone, as are the streetcars, replaced by conventional buses. I would love to have known downtown back then, with streetcars, department stores (W. M. Whitney and Myers' were the two big ones), and the hotels, night clubs, and bars of the day.

5 comments:

  1. Good photos- they bring back good memories. SF and NOLA are about the only places I've been that have street cars. They are fun to ride.

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  2. A little bit of "downtown back then" on State Street is still alive - "Jack's Oyster House" - home to politicians and deal makers. Scoring a table in this overcrowded, pricey, smoke-filled restaurant was worth every dollar you spent. The kitchen was presided over by a fabulous chef and formally attired waiters served his creations. They kept a keen eye on you and were right there to light your cigarette just as you were putting it between your lips. Still run by the same family but quality and atmosphere have changed. But they are still here.

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  3. the stree looks interesting. The post office was in a great house

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  4. evelyn, today's modern streetcars (LRT systems) are more separated from street traffic than the old style streetcars, with actual stations. Speed is important these days!

    paul, I ate at Jack's in 2012. It's certainly not smoke-filled any more!

    gosia, it's in a different place, now. But I'm glad the building is still there.

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