ALBANY: 50 Shades of Overcast

[kznyc2k]

I like my hometown, it's a very nice place. But I also like the sun, especially after having spent so much time in sunny parts of the country (California, I'm lookin' at you). I'm someone who naturally feels tired no matter how much or little I sleep/eat/work out and getting a strong dose of Vitamin D is the best remedy I've found thus far. That and whisky. Lots of whisky. It's sun in liquid form, dontchaknow.

Anyway my first couple days home for the holidays had enough sun (and historic warmth!) to all but forget about Upstate NY's tendencies, but then of course days three through five had to give us nothing but the heavy, hovering grays that make me say eff moving back there any time soon. My family is just across the Hudson River from downtown in Rennselaer County, and as such most of the shots I took are from over there, where the best skyline views in town are. There's also loads of overlooked areas to explore...no crazy UrBAn EXpLOrAtIOn relics, but neglected areas nonetheless.

Day 1 was Christmas Eve day, aka the day that gave us balmy 66 degree weather























My dad worked at this Amtrak station for 27 years

















Day 2, Christmas Day, was cooler but sunnier, and I managed to sneak out for an hour and get a good haul of pics















































Day Three took me to Peebles Island State Park, where you can walk around in N A T U R E. Oppressive skies also make their inevitable entrance

















And on my last day I waited for it to start raining before I went out shooting (a few of the shots are blurry cuz of water on the lens...sorry about that!). It was also the Sunday after Christmas, and as such the whole city felt deserted, and I somehow ended up in the bleakest of industrial places. I guess the weather drew me to them.


































































































What a happy cheery fun time place

[eschaton]

Nice, but I'm a bit surprised you concentrated only on the grit. I was expecting to see some shots of the intact old urban neighborhoods like Center Square.

[kznyc2k]

^ Yeah, I'm a bit surprised by all the grit too...it was never my intention to be so dour.

I've covered the more usual spots a lot in the past, but somehow I'd never fully explored Rensselaer's waterfront even though my parents live just up the hill in East Greenbush. I was just following one of my guiding mantras--don't take the same path/try something different--and my instincts took me to the down and dirty. Go figure!

EDIT for additional thoughts: I think I was drawn to these grittier places perhaps because I've been living in NYC for a year, where every day there's a media piece lamenting how gentrified the city has become and how there's so few "urban wilds" left, AND what few urban wilds that are left have been covered by every blog and media outlet to the point where there's little to no sense of urban discovery any more. Without a doubt I love those kind of forlorn places and I suppose this was me trying to get my fix since NYC has nothing but cold-pressed juice bars on offer these days. By contrast Albany feels nearly off the grid, and lots of the pieces of land I walked felt like they hadn't seen a human presence in quite some time. I like that

[plinko]

Love this thread. So much different than what we normally see of Albany. Moody and impressive. The skyline against the river is quite a bit more dramatic than I recall seeing.

[mrnyc]

nice work here --- no doubt william kennedy would approve of this thread!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kennedy_(author)

[MolsonExport]

Glorious grit in many of the photos.

[Danny]

I´ve liked this tour! Thanks for sharing.

Albany looks good, even on the grey and foggy days. Very good photos!

Happy New Year and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

[ColDayMan]

A criminally underrated city. Thanks for this.

[Siberia_6]

Knowing Albany, you captured exactly what Albany is and that's a great thing indeed!! Thank you for the great photo's!

[mSeattle]

I concur that this is an underrated city. Thanks for taking pictures and sharing.

[Matthew]

One of the best threads I've seen on the forum. I could look at this over and over. I also have some family in that area, but haven't visited in several years.

[Echoes]

Fantastic work!

[kznyc2k]

Originally Posted by Matthew

One of the best threads I've seen on the forum. I could look at this over and over. I also have some family in that area, but haven't visited in several years.

Wow, thank you! Those are some kind words and they're much appreciated

[wanderer34]

I've never personally visited Albany. I have been to Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. I was outside of the periphery in 2006 working in some fair. I do remember visiting Stewart's, which to me is the Wawa of Upstate NY. But the Albany that you just showed looks very industrial and gritty, kind of like how Trenton looks. I'd love to see more neighborhood shots of the city, just for a beauty perspective!!!

[Wheelingman04]

One of the best Albany threads ever!! I could see myself living there any day.

[boden]

Great stuff!

[IMBY]

Haven't been there since the early 80's, love those government buildings built under Nelson Rockefeller's governorship! He was the biggest spending Republican Governor if there ever was one. When he came to power he promised to open up a new university every year of his 15 year reign, and while the economy was tanking badly in the early 70's he pushed ahead with his $2 billion Capital government project, and damn the torpedoes!

[Ex-Ithacan]

Sorry I missed this before, but fun to see it now. Albany is such an urban rascal. Very gritilicious stuff in there too. Thanks.