The Alfred E. Smith Building, known officially as the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building and sometimes called simply the Smith Building, is a structure located in downtown

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

across the street from the

New York State Capitol The New York State Capitol, the seat of the Government of New York State, New York state government, is located in Albany, New York, Albany, the List of U.S. state capitals, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The seat o ...

and

One Commerce Plaza One Commerce Plaza, also known as the Twin Towers, is an office building located at 99 Washington Avenue in downtown Albany, New York. At 20 floors and , it is the thirteenth tallest structure in Albany. Although it is a privately owned office to ...

. The building's namesake, Alfred Emmanuel Smith, was a four-term

governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

's nomination for the 1928 presidential election. The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

skyscraper has 34 stories and at 388 feet (118 m) is Albany's second tallest structure (after the

Erastus Corning Tower The Erastus Corning Tower, also known as the Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd Tower or simply the Corning Tower, is a skyscraper located in downtown Albany, New York. Completed in 1973 and sided with Vermont Pearl marble and glass, the state office buil ...

). Completed in 1928, it houses offices of the New York State government. Built originally with an observation deck on the 31st floor, the open-air deck was closed in 1976 when the 42nd floor enclosed Corning Tower Observation Deck was opened. An extensive renovation of the building began in 2002. This modernization, which cost at least $103 million, is now finished. Prior to reconstruction, the building was home to the state

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

's Office. With the renovation complete, the new tenants include the

New York State Department of Civil Service The New York State Civil Service Commission is a New York state government bodyCivil Service Law § 5. "There shall continue to be in the state government a department of civil service. The head of the department shall be the president of the sta ...

, Department of State,

New York State Banking Department The New York State Banking Department was created by the New York Legislature on April 15, 1851, with a chief officer to be known as the Superintendent. The New York State Banking Department was the oldest bank regulatory agency in the United States ...

New York State Liquor Authority Alcohol laws of New York (or commonly Alcohol Beverage Control Law) are a set of laws specific to manufacturing, purchasing, serving, selling, and consuming alcohol in the state of New York. Combined with federal and local laws, as well as vendor ...

, and Division of the Budget. The Alfred E. Smith Building has several distinctive features. These include the engraving of the names of all 62 New York State counties around the street-level facade and an Art Deco lobby with a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

depicting famous New Yorkers. A

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

connects the building to the Capitol. The skyscraper is constructed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, and has views of Albany and the nearby landscape.

Gallery

File:AfredESmithBldgNW.jpg, View of the northwest façade File:CountiesonAESBuilding.JPG, Each

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

is inscribed in the building

References

Notes Sources
Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
at

Emporis Buildings Emporis GmbH was a real estate data mining company that was headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. On 12 Sept ...

*"Modernizing a landmark is a taxing task: Smith building renovation requires an eye for detail along with lots of cash." Elizabeth Benjamin. '' Times Union''. November 6, 2005. *"DeWolff websit

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Albany, New York Skyscrapers in Albany, New York Government buildings completed in 1928 Art Deco skyscrapers Art Deco architecture in New York (state) 1928 establishments in New York (state) Skyscraper office buildings in New York (state)

Gallery

See also

References

External links