| Albany |
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Population 
93 539 in city and 1 148 403 in metro Area  55.45 km² (21.41 mi²) Altitude 45 m (148 ft) |
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About
Albany
Albany has been the capital of New York since 1797. It is also one of the oldest cities in the United States, dating back to 1624 with the founding of Fort Orange by Dutch settlers. The British took over in 1664, renaming it Albany in honor of the Duke of York and Albany. In 1754, Benjamin Franklin presented his Plan of Union to the Albany Congress, the first formal proposal to unite the American Colonies. Located on the Hudson River 150 miles from the Atlantic, Albany is at a natural crossroads for land and water travel. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which enters the Hudson just north of the city, caused rapid growth of Albany as a center of. industry, shipping, and transportation. Currently over half of the city's employment is with federal, state, or local governments, a fact reflected in the large number of buildings housing government offices.
Downtown Albany’s high-rises cluster along State Street, anchored by the former Delaware and Hudson Building to the east and the State Capitol and the
Alfred E. Smith State Office Building to the west. The commercial corridor continues around East Capitol Park westward along Washington and Central Avenues. South of the Capitol is the immense Empire State Plaza, perhaps unique in North America for its monumental scale and unity of design. At the western edge of the city is another monumental example of 1960’s urbanism, the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), which extends into neighboring 
Guilderland.Metro Cities
Amsterdam, Cohoes, Colonie, Glens Falls, Gloversville, Greenwich, Guilderland, Hudson Falls, Menands, Niskayuna, Pattersonville-Rotterdam Junction, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Scotia, Selkirk, Town of Amsterdam, Town of Colonie, Troy, Voorheesville, Watervliet