Albany, NY

I had never been to downtown Albany, capital of New York, the state I happened to be born in. It was a mixed bag. On the plus side there was some fine old architecture, and I learned of some distant family connections to this town. On the down side, the place felt a bit sketchy, depressingly class-polarized and full of smokers - the problem with New York State in a nutshell! Above, the capital building. Below, the SUNY building.