Welcome to state’s barricaded and unwelcoming Capitol
CAlbany are to go for a walk? Let’s start at West Capitol Park, which should be a lovely spot in the early spring, given the architectural wonders that surround it. But, oh shucks, the park is a rat’s maze of ugly barricades blocking access to its paths and charms.
Let’s go instead to the east Capitol steps, which should provide a grand view of State Street and downtown Albany. But what’s this? More barricades, and chain-link fencing, too?
“No Trespassing,” command some of the red signs attached to the fencing.
“Danger. Do Not Enter,” say others.
“Staircase closed due to structural instability.”
Well, OK. Maybe we should just head over to Empire State Plaza.
To get there, we’ll need to cross State Street. Be careful not to trip on one of the many potholes, but there’s little need to fret about traffic. The street has been closed since January, with unlovely concrete barriers placed on either end of the block.
But what’s this blocking access to the plaza? More barricades?!
They’re easy enough to evade, but, hmm … the plaza itself also is riddled with fences and gates that put vast sections of the supposed promenade off-limits. They block access to most of the grand staircase at the New York State Museum. They even block access to the exit stairways leading to Madison Avenue. How do we get out of here?!
Since this has already been a depressing walk, I won’t ask you to stroll with me over to the Executive Mansion.
But if you did, you’d discover that the public sidewalk in front of the Eagle Street house remains blocked and closed, as it was for at least much of last year.
Taking it all in, you might assume a barricade mogul had donated a handsome sum to Andrew Cuomo’s reelection fund. You might think “Noli Entrare” — Latin for “Keep Out” — had been chosen as the state’s new motto.
What in the name of Nelson Rockefeller is going on?
Well, a spokesman for the state’s Office of General Services said the barricades in West Capitol Park are to keep people off the grass. Joseph Brill also said the plaza is generally closed to the public in the winter, expect for the skating rink.
“Polished marble and other stone surfaces on the ground and on steps can quickly become slipping hazards during the winter,” Brill said in an email. “Keeping the plaza closed saves taxpayer dollars, as we are not using the time and resources necessary to clear snow and melt ice on most of this massive complex.”
I’m all for saving taxpayer money, but it’s absurd that one of Albany’s grandest public spaces is supposedly closed — plenty of people walk there anyway — for the long upstate winter and into the spring. If it is so impractical to keep the plaza open, that’s one more reason it never should have been built.
Meanwhile, the sea of barricades to keep people off the grass is not only extreme but ineffective. In fact, I was all but forced to trample on the grass when a gate unexpectedly blocked a walkway.
State Police declined to say much about the closing of State Street and the Mansion sidewalk, allowing only that the closures are due to a security concern they haven’t specified. State Street was closed off in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6. And what does Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan say? Both, after all, are city property.
Spokesman Dave Galin said the state asked that the roadway be closed temporarily because of unspecified “threats” and said the city was recently told that “some of those threats continue to exist.” The city understands the sidewalk closure, Galin added, to be about protecting the wall alongside the mansion from graffiti.
I call baloney on that one, especially since the mansion is already wellguarded. Can any Albany homeowner victimized by graffiti suddenly declare the public sidewalk closed?
The real reason for the sidewalk shutdown, we can presume, is to prevent protests there, which is likely why repairing the steps at the east of the Capitol never seems to be a priority, year after year. This governor, we know, does not appreciate dissent.
Really, it’s easy to see the inhospitable, barricaded Capitol as a metaphor for a paranoid administration that views the citizenry suspiciously and is so willing to hide even the most essential public data.
No, we won’t tell you how many nursing home residents died of COVID -19. And stay off the sidewalk!
One last thing: Galin said the city is planning to relocate food trucks to the newly closed State Street and will consider whether the roadway would be suitable as a permanently closed pedestrian plaza.
That’s not a bad idea. Doing so might make State Street and the Capitol more appealing.
But there’s an obvious downside. The state would need more barricades.