Pastures Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Pastures Historic District is a residential neighborhood located south of downtown
Albany
, New York, United States. Its 17 acres (6.9 ha) include all or part of a 13-block
area.
It was originally an area set aside as communal pasture
by Albany's city council in the late 17th century and deeded to the Dutch Reformed Church
. As the city began to grow following its designation as New York's state capital a century later, it was subdivided into building lots
, some of which were developed
with small rowhouses. Many open areas remain today, and the houses have not been significantly altered. In 1972 the city designated it as a historic district
and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. All but two buildings in the district are considered historic.
One of Albany's busiest neighborhoods in the 19th century, the area fell into decline
during the third quarter of the 20th as citizens left the city for the suburb
s. Instead of the wholesale demolition
of that era's urban renewal
programs, the city government attempted to preserve
and revitalize the area,
evacuating the residents for years and demolishing some properties, a move that has been criticized as destroying the neighborhood as a standard urban renewal
project would have. A recent mortgage fraud
scandal has affected the neighborhood also, but it has once again become a diverse, fully occupied neighborhood.
over the Hudson River
into Empire State Plaza
, the modernist complex that houses New York's state government offices. The area is almost flat, rising minimally away from the river, in contrast to the Mansion Historic District
, which rises up the slope to the west.
The district boundary is described as Madison Avenue on the north, South Ferry Street on the south, Dongan and Green streets on the east and South Pearl Street (NY 32
) on the west. Bleeker, Franklin, Herkimer, John, South Lansing and Westerlo between South Pearl and Green are within the district. The actual boundary was not clarified by the city and state until 12 years after the district was listed, and does not follow those streets completely, excluding some more modern properties and areas where demolitions took place.
As defined in 1984, no property that actually fronts on South Pearl is within the district. All the properties along the south side of Madison are included, as are those on the west side of Green. Just south of Herkimer the three properties on the east side of Green are within the boundary, and then one block south of South Lansing it takes in the rows on the east side again as well as the north side of Westerlo.
The entire block with the now-closed St. John's Roman Catholic Church is included, and the boundary follows Dongan to the South Ferry corner, where it turns west to follow that street. As at the northern end, all properties along the north side of South Ferry are within the district. It excludes the lot at the corner of South Pearl and follows the rear lines of houses on South Ferry to Franklin Street, leaving out not only the newer buildings along South Pearl but the parking lot
s behind them as well. It follows the property lines along Westerlo west of Franklin to include the houses on both sides of that street, then returns to Franklin again.
All the houses on both sides of Herkimer between Franklin and South Pearl are within the boundary. The parking lot that was once the western block of Bleeker is outside the district, and then the boundary returns to the rear lot lines along Madison.
There are 112 buildings in this 17-acre (7 ha) area. Only two are not considered contributing properties
to the district's historic character. Many of the buildings are rowhouses in the Federal and Greek Revival
styles
. They do not fully cover their lots
, leaving a considerable amount of open space
in the district. Some of it is taken up by off-street parking, some of it is left undeveloped as lawns and parks, and a tennis court
has been built on John Street between Franklin and Green (complemented by two others just outside the district).
The only non-residential properties are three institutions: the former St. John's Church, its school and a synagogue. School No. 15, the only educational building in the district, burned down
in 1979, during the city's attempts to revitalize the neighborhood.
who founded what became Albany in the mid-16th century set aside this land, outside the city's stockade
, as common pasture. In 1687, the year after Albany became an English colonial city and received its charter, the city council donated the land to the Dutch Reformed Church
. The land remained in the church's hands, used as pasture
, for almost a century.
What is today South Pearl Street was the only route to, or through, the area. It was a path used to take cattle to graze
and was known as "Cow Street" occasionally for that reason. Modest homes were built along it north of the stockade after the death of the original landowner in 1766. When George Washington
supposedly used it to visit the Schuyler Mansion
in 1783, the street became Washington Street.
After the Revolutionary War
and independence, the city urged the church to subdivide the land into building-sized lots
and sell them for development. This took place slowly, mainly along the main streets. The early settlers of the area, the city's first growth outside of its stockade, were mostly wealthy families who built in the Federal style popular in the early republic.
founder Dudley Walsh. Citizens of more modest means also settled in the Pastures. There were homes of tradesmen, craftsmen and free
African American
s as well.
In the next two decades, stone yards were opened at several locations in the future district. Middle-class citizens continued settling there, joined by carpenters and builders who bought several lots at once, put up a row, lived in one unit and rented out the others. The houses they built, many of which survive on South Ferry between Franklin and Green, introduced the third story, gable
d roof and dormer windows to the neighborhood. Joseph C. Yates
lived at 96 Madison while he served as governor.
As building continued into the late 1830s and 1840s, houses reflected an austere Greek Revival
style. They were mostly brick laid in Flemish bond primarily, with running and American bond appearing more. Plain pilaster
s flanked the recessed entrances, with little ornament
on the front facades. Newer roofing materials and methods made flat roofs possible. Some frame stores, most since demolished, were constructed in the neighborhood.
The years before, during and after the Civil War
were the last for large-scale building within the Pastures. The neighborhood was getting built up, such that a school was built, and other, newer areas of the city were available. Most new rowhouses replaced earlier frame buildings, with 51–55 Westerlo Street the only significant new grouping. Mixed-use development
began to appear, with new houses having commercial space on the first story and living space above. Ornate storefronts survive at 79 South Ferry and 104 Madison. Older houses also saw their facades updated with timely decorations like bracketed
cornices, metal lintels and ornate friezes. Third stories were added to some flat-roofed buildings.
There are a few scattered houses from around the district postdating this period. The ornate brickwork at 77 Westerlo, dating to 1886, stands out in its neighborhood. On the other extreme, the austerity of 68 and 70 Westerlo reflects vernacular
applications of early 20th century styles. The greatest change to the district in this period was the conversion of some residences on Madison west of Franklin into stores.
and synagogue
were built in the district. The Gothic Revival stone towers of St. John's, at 140 Green Street, began looming over the district in 1903, along with its neighboring school. The brick Beth El Jacob following in 1907 at 76 Herkimer Street. The neighborhood was complete now.
Pastures' storefronts became known for their jazz
bars, and as Albany's red-light district
, in the early 20th century. In 1940, 76 Westerlo Street became the youngest contributing property in the future historic district. During the war years, the Pastures remained a thriving, socioeconomiclly and ethnically diverse neighborhood.
In the 1950s, suburb
anization began, and affluent Albanians began leaving. The construction of Empire State Plaza
during the 1960s displaced more residents, and the city's central areas, including the Pastures began showing signs of urban decay
. Late in the decade, the city's new Historic Resources Commission designated the area the Pastures Preservation District and got it listed on the Register in 1972.
Having recognized the area's historic character and importance, the city had big plans for the area. The Democratic
political machine
of Daniel P. O'Connell
mostly eschewed the federal Title I funds for the massive urban renewal
programs of the era, since they wanted to retain control of patronage
. With what money they did have, they chose a plan that would, they hoped, "revitalize" the neighborhood and preserve what had been recognized as special about it. They moved residents out, temporarily they hoped, while selected decrepit buildings were demolished and new ones built in sympathetic styles. Nearly half of all the buildings in the district were demolished, the rest "mothballed" without heating.
While the neighborhood was vacant, the city sought a developer willing to take on the whole area. Individuals who approached with plans to buy and restore
one or two houses at a time, and live there when finished, were turned away while the buildings remained empty and decayed further, some of them succumbing to arson
, including the school.
By 1980 the city reduced its expectations and looked only for developers for whole blocks, not the neighborhood. Half of the finished units would have to rented to low-income families. Eventually the Pastures was repopulated, but to some critics the damage to both its human and architectural character had been done. "The real place ceased to exist when its last resident was trundled off to a distant housing project", urbanist Roberta Brandes Gratz wrote a quarter-century later. She calls the Pastures project "a vivid example of the inappropriateness of Historic Preservation as The Answer". Some of the buildings have, she notes, been incorrectly restored and "the area looks more like a sanitized suburban enclave ... than an urban neighborhood".
affordable housing
, and small businesses had moved into the area. 96 Madison is now a bed and breakfast
. Residents like its walkability
and proximity to downtown
, with one even comparing it to Greenwich Village
.
The neighborhood seemed to be getting over its recent past when another redevelopment-related setback occurred. At the beginning of the century, Aaron Dare, former head of the Northeast New York chapter of the Urban League, began filing falsified mortgage
applications for a variety of Albany properties, including Historic Pastures Village Apartments, through his company, Emerge Real Properties. He and his co-conspirators made it appear that they had the capital to borrow from the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) to buy the properties. After the closing
, he failed to repay the loans and they quickly went into default
, forcing HUD to foreclose
. He was eventually investigated and arrested. In 2006 he pled guilty to various charges of conspiracy
and fraud
. Two years later he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay almost $2 million in restitution
to his victims.
Downtown Albany Historic District
The Downtown Albany Historic District is a 19-block, area of Albany, New York, United States, centered around the junction of State and North and South Pearl streets . It is the oldest settled area of the city, originally planned and settled in the 17th century, and the nucleus of its later...
Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, New York, United States. Its 17 acres (6.9 ha) include all or part of a 13-block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
area.
It was originally an area set aside as communal pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
by Albany's city council in the late 17th century and deeded to the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. As the city began to grow following its designation as New York's state capital a century later, it was subdivided into building lots
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
, some of which were developed
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
with small rowhouses. Many open areas remain today, and the houses have not been significantly altered. In 1972 the city designated it as a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. All but two buildings in the district are considered historic.
One of Albany's busiest neighborhoods in the 19th century, the area fell into decline
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
during the third quarter of the 20th as citizens left the city for the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s. Instead of the wholesale demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
of that era's urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
programs, the city government attempted to preserve
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
and revitalize the area,
evacuating the residents for years and demolishing some properties, a move that has been criticized as destroying the neighborhood as a standard urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project would have. A recent mortgage fraud
Mortgage fraud
Mortgage fraud is crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to obtain a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained had the lender or borrower known the truth....
scandal has affected the neighborhood also, but it has once again become a diverse, fully occupied neighborhood.
Geography
The Pastures Historic District is located on the south side of the South Mall Expressway that leads traffic from the Dunn Memorial BridgeDunn Memorial Bridge
The Dunn Memorial Bridge, officially known as the Private Parker F. Dunn Memorial Bridge, carries US 9 and US 20 across the Hudson River between Albany, New York and Rensselaer, New York. Completed in 1967 to replace an earlier span bearing the same name, the highway bridge has a steel girder...
over the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
into Empire State Plaza
Empire State Plaza
The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York....
, the modernist complex that houses New York's state government offices. The area is almost flat, rising minimally away from the river, in contrast to the Mansion Historic District
Mansion Historic District
The Mansion Historic District, sometimes referred to as Mansion Hill, is located south of Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York, United States. It takes its name from the nearby New York State Executive Mansion, which overlooks it. It is a , 16-block area with almost 500 buildings...
, which rises up the slope to the west.
The district boundary is described as Madison Avenue on the north, South Ferry Street on the south, Dongan and Green streets on the east and South Pearl Street (NY 32
New York State Route 32
New York State Route 32 is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with few divided and no limited-access sections. From Harriman to Albany,...
) on the west. Bleeker, Franklin, Herkimer, John, South Lansing and Westerlo between South Pearl and Green are within the district. The actual boundary was not clarified by the city and state until 12 years after the district was listed, and does not follow those streets completely, excluding some more modern properties and areas where demolitions took place.
As defined in 1984, no property that actually fronts on South Pearl is within the district. All the properties along the south side of Madison are included, as are those on the west side of Green. Just south of Herkimer the three properties on the east side of Green are within the boundary, and then one block south of South Lansing it takes in the rows on the east side again as well as the north side of Westerlo.
The entire block with the now-closed St. John's Roman Catholic Church is included, and the boundary follows Dongan to the South Ferry corner, where it turns west to follow that street. As at the northern end, all properties along the north side of South Ferry are within the district. It excludes the lot at the corner of South Pearl and follows the rear lines of houses on South Ferry to Franklin Street, leaving out not only the newer buildings along South Pearl but the parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
s behind them as well. It follows the property lines along Westerlo west of Franklin to include the houses on both sides of that street, then returns to Franklin again.
All the houses on both sides of Herkimer between Franklin and South Pearl are within the boundary. The parking lot that was once the western block of Bleeker is outside the district, and then the boundary returns to the rear lot lines along Madison.
There are 112 buildings in this 17-acre (7 ha) area. Only two are not considered contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the district's historic character. Many of the buildings are rowhouses in the Federal and Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
styles
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
. They do not fully cover their lots
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
, leaving a considerable amount of open space
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
in the district. Some of it is taken up by off-street parking, some of it is left undeveloped as lawns and parks, and a tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
has been built on John Street between Franklin and Green (complemented by two others just outside the district).
The only non-residential properties are three institutions: the former St. John's Church, its school and a synagogue. School No. 15, the only educational building in the district, burned down
Structure fire
A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various residential buildings ranging from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartments and tower blocks, or various commercial buildings ranging from offices to shopping malls...
in 1979, during the city's attempts to revitalize the neighborhood.
History
The Pastures was made available for development not long after American independence, but took a while to become a popular building location. Three-quarters of its buildings were constructed between 1815 and 1855. Some were later demolished during the 1970s.17th and 18th centuries
The Dutch colonistsDutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
who founded what became Albany in the mid-16th century set aside this land, outside the city's stockade
Stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
, as common pasture. In 1687, the year after Albany became an English colonial city and received its charter, the city council donated the land to the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. The land remained in the church's hands, used as pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
, for almost a century.
What is today South Pearl Street was the only route to, or through, the area. It was a path used to take cattle to graze
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
and was known as "Cow Street" occasionally for that reason. Modest homes were built along it north of the stockade after the death of the original landowner in 1766. When George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
supposedly used it to visit the Schuyler Mansion
Schuyler Mansion
Schuyler Mansion is a historic house at 32 Catherine Street in Albany, New York, United States. The brick mansion is now a museum and an official National Historic Landmark. It was constructed from 1761 to 1762 for Philip Schuyler, later a general in the Continental Army and early U.S. Senator,...
in 1783, the street became Washington Street.
After the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and independence, the city urged the church to subdivide the land into building-sized lots
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
and sell them for development. This took place slowly, mainly along the main streets. The early settlers of the area, the city's first growth outside of its stockade, were mostly wealthy families who built in the Federal style popular in the early republic.
19th century
Spencer Stafford, a successful merchant, built 100 Madison Avenue in 1808. It remains the oldest building in the district and one of the oldest in the city. The nearby house at 96 Madison, built three years later, was considered the most elegant private home in the city at that time. Four of the six houses on the row next to it at 82–94 Madison, built after another three years, in 1814, were owned by Union CollegeUnion College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
founder Dudley Walsh. Citizens of more modest means also settled in the Pastures. There were homes of tradesmen, craftsmen and free
Free Negro
A free Negro or free black is the term used prior to the abolition of slavery in the United States to describe African Americans who were not slaves. Almost all African Americans came to the United States as slaves, but from the earliest days of American slavery, slaveholders set men and women free...
African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s as well.
In the next two decades, stone yards were opened at several locations in the future district. Middle-class citizens continued settling there, joined by carpenters and builders who bought several lots at once, put up a row, lived in one unit and rented out the others. The houses they built, many of which survive on South Ferry between Franklin and Green, introduced the third story, gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof and dormer windows to the neighborhood. Joseph C. Yates
Joseph C. Yates
Joseph Christopher Yates was an American lawyer, politician. statesman, and founding trustee of Union College.-History:...
lived at 96 Madison while he served as governor.
As building continued into the late 1830s and 1840s, houses reflected an austere Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style. They were mostly brick laid in Flemish bond primarily, with running and American bond appearing more. Plain pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s flanked the recessed entrances, with little ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
on the front facades. Newer roofing materials and methods made flat roofs possible. Some frame stores, most since demolished, were constructed in the neighborhood.
The years before, during and after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
were the last for large-scale building within the Pastures. The neighborhood was getting built up, such that a school was built, and other, newer areas of the city were available. Most new rowhouses replaced earlier frame buildings, with 51–55 Westerlo Street the only significant new grouping. Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
began to appear, with new houses having commercial space on the first story and living space above. Ornate storefronts survive at 79 South Ferry and 104 Madison. Older houses also saw their facades updated with timely decorations like bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
cornices, metal lintels and ornate friezes. Third stories were added to some flat-roofed buildings.
There are a few scattered houses from around the district postdating this period. The ornate brickwork at 77 Westerlo, dating to 1886, stands out in its neighborhood. On the other extreme, the austerity of 68 and 70 Westerlo reflects vernacular
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
applications of early 20th century styles. The greatest change to the district in this period was the conversion of some residences on Madison west of Franklin into stores.
20th century
In the first decade of the new century, a Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
were built in the district. The Gothic Revival stone towers of St. John's, at 140 Green Street, began looming over the district in 1903, along with its neighboring school. The brick Beth El Jacob following in 1907 at 76 Herkimer Street. The neighborhood was complete now.
Pastures' storefronts became known for their jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bars, and as Albany's red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
, in the early 20th century. In 1940, 76 Westerlo Street became the youngest contributing property in the future historic district. During the war years, the Pastures remained a thriving, socioeconomiclly and ethnically diverse neighborhood.
In the 1950s, suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
anization began, and affluent Albanians began leaving. The construction of Empire State Plaza
Empire State Plaza
The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York....
during the 1960s displaced more residents, and the city's central areas, including the Pastures began showing signs of urban decay
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
. Late in the decade, the city's new Historic Resources Commission designated the area the Pastures Preservation District and got it listed on the Register in 1972.
Having recognized the area's historic character and importance, the city had big plans for the area. The Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
of Daniel P. O'Connell
Daniel P. O'Connell
Daniel Patrick O'Connell was the leader of the Democratic Party political machine in Albany County, New York, from about 1919 until his death....
mostly eschewed the federal Title I funds for the massive urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
programs of the era, since they wanted to retain control of patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
. With what money they did have, they chose a plan that would, they hoped, "revitalize" the neighborhood and preserve what had been recognized as special about it. They moved residents out, temporarily they hoped, while selected decrepit buildings were demolished and new ones built in sympathetic styles. Nearly half of all the buildings in the district were demolished, the rest "mothballed" without heating.
While the neighborhood was vacant, the city sought a developer willing to take on the whole area. Individuals who approached with plans to buy and restore
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
one or two houses at a time, and live there when finished, were turned away while the buildings remained empty and decayed further, some of them succumbing to arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, including the school.
By 1980 the city reduced its expectations and looked only for developers for whole blocks, not the neighborhood. Half of the finished units would have to rented to low-income families. Eventually the Pastures was repopulated, but to some critics the damage to both its human and architectural character had been done. "The real place ceased to exist when its last resident was trundled off to a distant housing project", urbanist Roberta Brandes Gratz wrote a quarter-century later. She calls the Pastures project "a vivid example of the inappropriateness of Historic Preservation as The Answer". Some of the buildings have, she notes, been incorrectly restored and "the area looks more like a sanitized suburban enclave ... than an urban neighborhood".
21st century
By the early 21st century the neighborhood had fully repopulated again, and the city's planning commissioner noted the "mix of incomes and occupations that we strive for in our city neighborhoods." Many units had been set aside as Section 8Section 8 (housing)
Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 , as repeatedly amended, authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of approximately 3.1 million low-income households...
affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
, and small businesses had moved into the area. 96 Madison is now a bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
. Residents like its walkability
Walkability
Walkability is a measure of how friendly an area is to walking. Walkability has many health, environmental, and economic benefits. Factors influencing walkability include the presence or absence and quality of footpaths, sidewalks or other pedestrian right-of-ways, traffic and road conditions,...
and proximity to downtown
Downtown Albany Historic District
The Downtown Albany Historic District is a 19-block, area of Albany, New York, United States, centered around the junction of State and North and South Pearl streets . It is the oldest settled area of the city, originally planned and settled in the 17th century, and the nucleus of its later...
, with one even comparing it to Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
.
The neighborhood seemed to be getting over its recent past when another redevelopment-related setback occurred. At the beginning of the century, Aaron Dare, former head of the Northeast New York chapter of the Urban League, began filing falsified mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
applications for a variety of Albany properties, including Historic Pastures Village Apartments, through his company, Emerge Real Properties. He and his co-conspirators made it appear that they had the capital to borrow from the Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
(HUD) to buy the properties. After the closing
Closing (real estate)
Closing is the final step in executing a real estate transaction.The closing date is set during the negotiation phase, and is usually several weeks after the offer is formally accepted. On the closing date, the parties consummate the purchase contract, and ownership of the property is transferred...
, he failed to repay the loans and they quickly went into default
Default (finance)
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the debtor is either...
, forcing HUD to foreclose
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
. He was eventually investigated and arrested. In 2006 he pled guilty to various charges of conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
and fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
. Two years later he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay almost $2 million in restitution
Restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
to his victims.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Albany, New YorkNational Register of Historic Places listings in Albany, New YorkThe National Register of Historic Places listings in Albany, New York represent the history of Albany from the Dutch colonial era, through the British colonial era, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and World War II, in addition to various periods of immigration into New York's...
- History of Albany, New YorkHistory of Albany, New YorkThe history of Albany, New York, begins with the first interaction with native Indian tribes that originally inhabited the area. The area was originally inhabited by Algonquian Indian tribes, namely the Mohican and the Iroquois....
Further reading
- Alexandra Maria Biedul-Kornilowicz (1980), The Albany Pastures, Cornell University PressCornell University PressThe Cornell University Press, established in 1869 but inactive from 1884 to 1930, was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States.A division of Cornell University, it is housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage....
- Rev. E.P. Rogers (1858), A Historical Discourse on the Reformed Prot. Dutch Church of Albany, Board of Publications of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church.
- Jack McEneny (1981), Albany, capital city on the Hudson: an illustrated history, Windsor Publication.