A block of Second Avenue in downtown Albany will look kind of bare pretty soon. Nine street trees there have become too big, and the city is cutting them down.
No surprise here: A proposal to redevelop the former Wells Fargo branch downtown will need financial help from CARA, the Albany urban renewal program. And the CARA board appears ready to give it, though no specific dollar amount has yet been asked.
That’s a fine-looking head of cattle, and one of these days it will overlook Second Avenue in downtown Albany the way its predecessor did a century ago.
Wonder how long this telephone wire box at Washington Street and Seventh Avenue has looked like this. And whether it’s a sign of the times, or something else.
There’s a plan afoot to turn at least one downtown Albany alley into a place for outdoor dining. The city council heard about it Wednesday from Lise Grato, executive director of the Albany Downtown Association.
Several members of the Central Albany Revitalization Area advisory board want the urban renewal agency to give financial support to restoring the former St. Francis hotel and adjacent Rhodes building. But after Wednesday’s meeting of the board, just how much the agency would pay was still unclear.
The St. Francis project: Taking a look
From the fourth floor of the old St. Francis Hotel, you have a fine view of downtown Albany and beyond. You could see even farther from the roof.
Tags: CARA, downtown Albany, downtown revival, Flinn Block, Historic buildings, historic hotels, Marc Manley, St. Francis, urban renewal