New York Governor Kathy Hochul Announces Demolition Of Long-Standing ‘Eyesore’ Central Warehouse In Albany

Forbes Breaking News

At a press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) ordered the demolition of Albany’s Central Warehouse.

Transcript

00:00The chairwoman of the Albany County Legislature, Joanne Cunningham, has joined us.

00:05Joanne. Kevin O'Connor, CEO of Advance County Albany, Albany County Alliance.

00:12Thank you for being here and supporting us. Joanne Perzelli, the CEO of Gramercy.

00:18Those people over there, they're gonna make this magic happen. And my partners

00:23in the state legislature, Senator Pat Fahey, Assemblymember McDonald and

00:29Assemblymember Romero. Thank you all for being here today.

00:33You know, you drive into downtown, coming on the 787, you see the skyline of

00:41America's oldest chartered city. It's really a dazzling array of beautiful

00:46buildings. If you take a look closely, there's a rich history. It tells our

00:50story. And the elegant clock tower on top of City Hall, the pump station, which looks

00:56fantastic. And of course, my favorite building, our state capitol. And then you've

01:01got the iconic Empire State Plaza, regardless of what you think of that.

01:08And we have the majestic Hudson River flowing here. So at night, you see the

01:13lights sparkling off. It is really quite a stunning view when you come into this

01:18city. And of course, basking in all this beauty, you come around this area and you're

01:24like, look what else we have here. And this building built almost exactly 100 years ago,

01:34has deteriorated, declined, and really been a mocking structure to this entire

01:39community since 1990. Thirty-five years this community has had to endure this

01:46eyesore. And I'm sure actually someone who was a baby back then would be heading

01:54toward middle age and realizing, like, this will probably be here until I die. Well, it

01:59is not going to be here much longer because we're going to get this done. One day I was

02:04driving by, and I was like, I am so sick and tired of looking at that building. It

02:10is not worthy of the great city of Albany. And I called up none other than my

02:15budget director, Blake Washington. I said, Blake, how much is it going to cost to take

02:19that damn building down? And of course, he gave me a number, about 10 million. Of

02:25course, it's up to almost 12 million, 11.7. But let's begin to tear down this

02:31building starting here today. No more false starts, no more false attempts, no

02:37more broken promises. So the crews are going to start. Now, of course, because I'm,

02:42you know, me, I'm like, okay, let me push my hand on the detonator and just blow it up,

02:48right? Because I've done that before. That's a lot of fun. The buildings come

02:51crumbling down. It's great. It's like, why can't we do that? Asbestos. The building is

02:57filled with asbestos. So it's much more complicated. These people over here from

03:02Gramsci want to do it safely. But they'll start the work today. And so finally, this

03:08notorious ISO will be demolished. And again, as you know, I care, I treasure this

03:13community. It's been my home for over a decade. You know, you look at what we're

03:18doing, you know, knocking down this warehouse is just, I believe, the only thing

03:22holding back our full potential. And it's about removing a symbol of decay and

03:29something I think has damaged the psychology of this community for too

03:32long. You know, the people of this city, the people who work in the city, people

03:36love this city, deserve so much better than what they've had to witness for so

03:39long. So, so here's what we're doing. This project, but also, how about the $400

03:46million to transform downtown Albany? I'll also point this out. A lot of people a few

03:58years ago were upset about something called the Buffalo Billion. Okay, a little

04:02jealousy, right? Do you know that since I've been governor almost four years ago,

04:07actually on the 24th, it's the 24th, 24th, who's counting? I am. The 24th of

04:14August, I will have been governor for four years. In that four-year time, I didn't

04:19want applause for that. In four years, my administration has invested $4 billion

04:26in Albany. Transformational projects, ways we can reconnect communities and

04:33neighborhoods, revive shuttered storefronts, and also just see the great

04:39potential of this beautiful waterfront. We are going to do something that is so

04:44magnificent. So, so my view is just to say, I love this community. I'm proud of

04:49this community, but I want every single person who ever comes here, and especially

04:52if it's your first time coming, you'll never have to look at this horrible

04:55building again. It's days are numbered and it starts right now. Let's get it done,

05:00everybody. Congratulations. Let me bring up the driver of this change, our County

05:04Executive Dan McCoy. Governor, thank you for your partnership. Thank you for the

05:11vision you have, not just for Albany County and the Capital District, for the whole

05:15state of New York. And I'm glad you highlighted because, you know, $4 billion,

05:19$4 billion into Albany alone. The $400 million, I'd love to stay here and say,

05:24yes. I met with the governor two years ago, talked her into it, had nothing to do

05:28with me. All right? I don't think it had nothing to do with anyone other than the

05:31governor's vision of looking at the city saying, we got to fix it. We got to do

05:37some extraordinary stuff and I got to fix this, I'll say, damn museum that's been

05:41the same way as a kid when I ran around there, causing problems. And, you know,

05:45and it is today. And you need to reimagine. To put $400 million in downtown Albany,

05:51$200 million for projects, just that's enough, right? And how do you sit there and

05:56say, well, we got this eyesore? And I think the mayor would have to agree.

06:00Rensselaer looks at our skyline. They got a beautiful skyline to look at, right?

06:04Except for this. So we're going to help Steve McLaughlin him out, knock this down

06:07and have people say, I should move downtown Albany and I shouldn't be

06:11across the river. I should be on this side of the river and looking over there.

06:15But it is a beautiful downtown city to look at, except for this central warehouse.

06:2011 stories, 400,000 square feet, and it's a cursed project until the governor got on board.

06:27And Kevin O'Connell and the scene, we were talking about this and our Advanced County Alliance,

06:31and we're like, this project is so cursed. Why the heck did we take this on?

06:35It's just one stumbling block after another. And the governor comes up, all right,

06:38we'll get your 10 million. Then like everything else in life, it comes back,

06:42and we're like, we need a little extra money. And she said, no problem.

06:47But I want to make sure that we're going to get this done right.

06:50We're going to get through this and it's going to get done.

06:53And the $3 million that Albany County put up. And I want to thank the chairwoman,

06:58our extraordinary chairwoman, deputy chairwoman, Wanda Willingham, whose district this is.

07:03So Wanda, thank you, who you've been a pit bull on this, arguing with me all the time,

07:07making sure that there's going to be input and it's going down. So thank you. And yes, thank you.

07:16Dustin Reed is here. But I do want to thank our state legislature, Gabriella Fahey,

07:20and McDonald for always being a good partner and helping us get there. And the mayor too.

07:26Thank you. But at the end of the day, it's about end results. And you know, I'll say this,

07:31this governor, she's been here four years. It feels like 40 years because of work she's done,

07:37the stuff she's accomplished, not just here. As I go around the state, when I was president of ISAC,

07:42and they're like, no one's ever happy in government. We always want everything. And they're like, yeah,

07:47but she did this, or she did that, or she did this project. And I'm sitting there going, all right,

07:53are we mad at the governor? Or are we going to like say nice things? And they're like, well,

07:58I don't know. And I'm torn because she's always doing great, extraordinary projects and understands

08:03better because she started in county government. She started from our side of the house.

08:08I always say this, I would love to argue with her, but it's like, you can't, you can't say,

08:12Governor, you don't understand what we go through. And she just laughs at us. Yes, I do.

08:18And they always say primaries are healthy. I go, BS. This governor deserves another term,

08:24deserves to continue to carry on what she has done for the state of New York,

08:29and what she's doing here for the capital region, showcasing the capital state of New York,

08:34taking pride in it and saying, look, we're going to put the pride back in here.

08:38We're going to make this place stand, and we're going to make it look like a capital should look

08:42for the great state of New York. Thank you, Governor.

08:44Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

08:49Now I get the pleasure. Driver, start your engine.

08:54I need all of your help to start the countdown. Five, four, three, two, one. Let's get to work.

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