{"id":620,"date":"2019-09-12T18:11:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T22:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/steveandmarleneontheroad.com\/?p=620"},"modified":"2023-05-15T17:07:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T21:07:50","slug":"september-12-2019-trip-3-day-10-albany-new-york-the-empire-state-plaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steveandmarleneontheroad.com\/?p=620","title":{"rendered":"September 12, 2019 : Trip 3, Day 11 – Albany, New York, The Empire State Plaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today we visited the Empire State Plaza. While the plaza and the capitol is an amazing complex, the tour reminded me of part of the reason we moved from New York. The plaza was built between 1965 and 1976. It cost over two billion dollars. The Empire State Plaza was built adjacent to the New York State Capitol. The Capitol was completed in 1899 at a cost of $25,000,000. Converting those numbers to today’s dollars means it would cost about twelve billion dollars for the entire complex. New York government loves to overspend the money of the citizens of New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Below is a picture of the Empire State Plaza from the Capitol Building. The large building on the left is Corning Tower. The short building in the distance is the State Museum. The plaza extends about a third of a mile from the Museum to the capitol. It is about 1.3 miles to walk the outer perimeter of the entire complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our first stop on the tour was the Observation Deck of the Corning Tower. The Capitol is the centerpiece of the first picture from the Corning Tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This second picture from the Corning Tower shows the Hudson River going north. You can see the Adirondack Mountains that are about 50 miles away<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The easiest way to travel between buildings in the Plaza is on the underground concourse. The concourse runs from the Capitol to the State Museum. It is over a quarter mile long. It includes access to all the buildings, shops, restaurants, and parking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After we left the Observation Deck, we walked the concourse to get to the State Museum. The Museum covers New York State History from very early times through today. From the early times, there is a display of a long house and the layout of an early village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another large section of the museum covers life in the Adirondacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is another area that addresses the fall of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. It includes many artifacts from that day as well as videos of the events of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our final stop for the day was the State Capitol. It is a very large structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is built like money did not matter. No matter where you look, everything is done lavishly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the Senate Chamber as seen from the gallery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ceiling of the Senate Chamber is carved wood. You can see here a portion of the entire ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This picture shows the detail that is repeated in each of the squares in the entire ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are three main staircases within the Capitol. This is the staircase for the Senate’s end of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The center staircase is referred to as the million dollar staircase. That is because it cost one million dollars to build the staircase in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the lobby outside of the Assembly chamber. This is where the lobbyists wait during assembly sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Assembly Chamber is not quite as ornate as the Senate Chamber. This was not the original intent. The contract for the work was for the ceiling to be an oaken structure. A clever contractor determined that the word “oaken” meant it should look like oak, not be made of oak. So while he was paid to install oak, he instead installed some wood and some paper mache that was treated to look like oak. When this was discovered after the work was completed, the contractor was sued by the legislature. The contractor won the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an ultimate irony, the lesser construction may have saved the entire capitol building. In 1911, there was a fire in the building near the Assembly chamber. When the fire reached the Assembly chamber, the paper mache ceiling collapsed on the fire in the room and put out that part of the fire. Firemen were able to contain the rest of the blaze. Some have said that a true oak ceiling would have spread the fire rather than putting it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Empire Plaza really does dominate the Albany skyline, both by day and by night. This is in part because the plaza is well lit to be visible all night long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People often ask what our favorite capitol visit has been. After visiting the capitol in New York, it is clear that this is the most lavish and ornate complex we have seen. However, that does not necessarily mean it is a favorite. Sometimes over the top is just too much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we visited the Empire State Plaza. While the plaza and the capitol is an amazing complex, the tour reminded me of part of the reason we moved from New York. The plaza was built between 1965 and 1976. It cost over two billion dollars. The Empire State Plaza was built adjacent to the New 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