Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building
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Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building
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West elevation and central tower, 2011
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| Location | The Plaza on State St., Albany, New York |
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| Coordinates | 42°38′53″N 73°45′0″W / 42.64806°N 73.75000°WCoordinates: 42°38′53″N 73°45′0″W / 42.64806°N 73.75000°W |
| Built | 1914 |
| Architect | Marcus T. Reynolds |
| Part of | Downtown Albany Historic District (#80002579) |
| NRHP reference # | 72000813 |
| Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
The SUNY System Administration Building, formerly the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Building, is a public office building located at the intersection of Broadway and State Street in downtown Albany, New York. Locally the building and land it sits on is referred to as State University Plaza, or the D&H Plaza; prior to the construction of the Empire State Plaza it was simply "The Plaza". It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building. In 1980, when the Downtown Albany Historic District was listed on the Register, it was included as a contributing property.
The central tower is thirteen stories high and is capped by an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) working weathervane that is a replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon. The State University of New York is centrally administered from this location. The southern tower's four top floors at one point were the official residence of the Chancellor of SUNY.
State Street looking east as it did prior to the Plaza.
Broadway looking south, the Plaza would soon be on the left
The building and the land it sits on itself has a varied history. The building sits at the foot of State Street along Broadway, in the oldest part of the city. It was here that several of Albany's earliest city halls sat, along with the New York State Legislature in the 18th century. The Albany Plan of Union in 1754, presided over by Ben Franklin, was held here. This land was once along the Hudson River's banks, over time being infilled, including in 1911 as part of the construction of the Plaza. The city of Albany purchased and consolidated the land ownership that allowed the D&H to build the building and the city to have a park in front surrounded by a street that acted as a loop for the trolleys running on State Street. Public access was allowed to the Hudson River through the central tower and by way of an underground tunnel to the other side of the D&H tracks. The design by Marcus T. Reynolds was based on the Nieuwerk annex of the Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium.
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