The Majesty Of the 10 Tallest Buildings in Upstate New York

When this writer was 13 years old I saw my first skyscraper.  It was in Albany.  It was a magnificent tower jutting up from the cityscape.  I couldn't believe it.

It was the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building.  It is still on this list of the ten tallest buildings in Upstate New York, but my how things have changed.

The Albany that I knew when I went to college there in 1967 was far different than the city of today.  The Empire State Plaza was still a gleam in "Rocky's eye," and there were no soaring towers yet at the State University of New York campus.  In fact, the Alfred E. Smith building was the tallest building in the city.  I loved it.

Albany was my first city.  I was from a small rural village in Delaware County, and my college was in downtown Albany.  So, long before GPS ever came along I used the Smith building as my directional landmark; my compass if you will.  As long as I could see the Smith building (which was everywhere in Albany) I was able find my way around my first city.

This gallery looks at the ten tallest buildings in Upstate New York, today.  Here you will see Art Deco confections, gleaming modern cloud touchers, a casino hotel tower with 600 rooms in it, and a whole lot more.

They are all majestic and quite beautiful, but I will have to admit.  I will always have a soft spot in my heart for my first skyscraper, the Alfred in Smith Building in Albany in 1967.