Somehow I find myself within what they are calling the new Brooklyn
Who would have a thought that a suburb of Albany known as the birthplace of Uncle Sam would have so much potential?
Just when I thought I was just gonna get out of the car for 5 minutes, no gonna need longer time than that, matter of fact gonna have to come back again.
Best place to start is Monument Square
It is actually a soldiers and sailors monument to honor those from Rensselaer County who served.
Next up is an aluminum statue of Uncle Sam. Most famously known for meatpacking for the army during the War of 1812. It was a war strangely enough against the Canadians, the borders would have looked vastly different based on the outcomes of this war.
Lots of fascinating Art Decos abound. Most notable is Market Block, a three-story flat-iron shaped commercial block. It consists of an independent book store and the offices of WB Games specialized in the creation of video games.
As you walk around cannot help but notice the art on the streets.
Below is a hopscotch chalk art:
Then there is this below which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising that fueled the fire for a global LGBTQ movement
Don’t you love it when you find something of a bygone era trying to find new life while preserving some aspects of the past. Below is the Trojan Hotel which used to be a hotel and bar. Plan by new owners is to reopen a pub on 1st floor, tap room in the basement and upper two floors of the front building as apartment space for themselves. And what used to be hotel rooms will become self storage for Troy’s growing downtown apartment population.
The time was short and it was already late. I would love to come back when I have more time and earlier too when most of the shops are open.
Other fun facts about Troy NY
- Farmers’ market held every Saturday which draws upwards of 15,000 visitors.
- Home to Burden Ironworks among the four largest bell-makers in the world. It is there that the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia was forged.
- Food hall named River Street Market occupying in the Hedley Park Place building once home to collar manufacturing companies. Troy itself is nicknamed “The Collar City,” for having invented the detachable collar in 1825
- Amongst its storied diverse architecture, has many prominent Brownstones immediately south of downtown, you might swear you’d been transported to a quieter version of Cobble Hill.
