old Albany

No news here: Just a brief stop on the bike

Written April 20th, 2025 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 3 responses.

Wandering around old Albany on the bike without any goal in mind, I sometimes find myself in places that are so out of the way I have never paid them any attention before.

Posted in: Bicycling, Commentary, News
Tags: Albany canals, bicycling, Jackson Street, old Albany, railroad tracks, Swanson Park

What I see: This time, ducks in a ditch

Written June 18th, 2023 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 9 responses.

Albany’s Thurston Street Canal, if you can call it a canal, appears on this site from time to time. That’s because, well, I like it.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany east side, historic canal, old Albany, older neighborhood, Thurston Creek, Thurston Street, Thurston Street Canal

Parking lot hole, a mystery no more

Written January 12th, 2022 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 5 responses.

Drivers parking their cars in the city of Albany-owned lot behind 201 First Avenue W. noticed a hole in the pavement. Then the hole got bigger. What could it be?

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: 201 First Avenue W., downtown Albany, forgotten cisterns, mysterious hole, old Albany, old cisterns, parking lot off Water

Just wondering — why no crossing arms

Written October 21st, 2020 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 13 responses.

On a leisurely bike ride through old Albany the other day, I noticed something that wasn’t there. Where the Portland & Western Railroad crosses Sixth Avenue, there are no warning lights, bells or arms that come down when a train comes through.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: bike rides, crossing protections, Hackleman District, old Albany, PNWR, Portland & Western, railroad crossings, Railroads, Sixth Avenue, trains

East of Lyon: A remarkable comeback

Written January 16th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 14 responses.

On an evening stroll through central Albany east of Lyon Street, I took a few photos of houses that impressed me as restored, repainted, fixed up, or just showing signs that the owner or somebody has been taking good care of them.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Albany housing, east of Lyon, Hackleman District, historic districts, housing renovation, old Albany