Empire State Plaza

Empire State Plaza
Aerial view, looking eastward to the Hudson River
Alternative names	Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza
General information
Architectural style	Modernist, Brutalist, International
Location	Albany, New York
Address	Between Madison Avenue and State Street, and Swan Street and Eagle Street
Coordinates	42°39′01″N 73°45′35″W / 42.650347°N 73.759688°W / 42.650347; -73.759688Coordinates: 42°39′01″N 73°45′35″W / 42.650347°N 73.759688°W / 42.650347; -73.759688
Current tenants	Various government agencies of the State of New York, New York State Museum
Construction started	1959
Completed	1976
Renovated	2001
Cost	$2 Bn
Owner	State of New York
Height	44 stories, 589 feet (180 m)
Technical details
Structural system	Reinforced concrete
Floor count	6-story platform; 44-story tower
Design and construction
Architect	Wallace Harrison
Architecture firm	Harrison & Abramovitz
Renovating team
Architect	Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates

The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as the Empire State Plaza, and less formally as the South Mall) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York.

The complex was built between 1965 and 1976 at an estimated total cost of $2 billion. It houses several departments of the New York State administration and is integrated with the New York State Capitol, completed in 1899, which houses the state legislature. Among the offices located at the plaza are the Department of Health and the Biggs Laboratory of the Wadsworth Center.

The plaza was the idea of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who was inspired to create the new government complex after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands visited Albany for a celebration of the area's Dutch history. Riding with the princess through a section of the city known colloquially as "the Gut", Rockefeller was embarrassed. He later said, "there's no question that the city did not look as I think the Princess thought it was going to".

Rockefeller conceived the basic design of the complex with architect Wallace Harrison in flight aboard the governor's private plane. Rockefeller doodled his ideas in pen on the back of a postcard, and Harrison revised them. They used the vast scope and style of Brasilia, Versailles and Chandigarh as models. The massive scale was designed to be appreciated from across the Hudson River, as the dominant feature of the Albany skyline.

Paying for the construction of the plaza was a major problem, since a bond issue for an Albany project would almost certainly have been disapproved by the statewide electorate. Despite the displacement of thousands of loyal political voters, Albany Mayor Erastus Corning worked with Rockefeller to engineer a funding scheme that utilized Albany County bonds instead of state bonds. During repayment, the state guaranteed the principal and interest payments in the form of rent for a plaza that was officially county property. Ownership was then to be transferred to the state in exchange for regular payments in lieu of taxes. Control of the bond issues gave Corning and party boss Daniel P. O'Connell influence when dealing with the Republican governor. The bonds were paid in 2001 and the state assumed ownership, though it required years to do the paperwork to change title.