Earlier this month, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office released details of a $200 million conceptual plan to revitalize Albany. Included in the 88-page “Downtown Albany Strategy” was a rendering of an excavated and reopened section of the city’s former Erie Canal lock. A group of local residents advocating for a waterway running parallel to the Hudson River say that rendering shows their plan has made a splash.
Len Tantillo helped form Albany Waterway Inc. — a group that includes local thought and business leaders advocating for the creation of a canal.
According to Tantillo and the group, the first and most feasible step in the project would be to reopen the Erie Canal’s original Lock 1 in Albany’s Warehouse District.
The idea has already drawn the attention of multiple local politicians, including Mayor Dorcey Applyrs and County Executive Dan McCoy.
Now, according to Tantillo, a concept rendering included in the $200 million plan released Feb. 13 shows that the idea has, at least, in some regard, piqued Gov. Kathy Hochul’s interest.
The rendering in the plan shows the canal under Interstate-787 excavated and reopened.
“I see this as acceptance of the idea. Now, how far along it goes, that awaits to be seen,” Tantillo said.
The governor’s office did not directly confirm or deny whether the rendering shows the governor’s interest or support in creating the waterway that Tantillo’s group has been advocating for.
In a statement, Kristin Devoe, a spokesperson for the governor, wrote: “We look forward to reviewing projects that create opportunities to bring downtown Albany’s waterfront to the forefront of the capital city for both residents, businesses and visitors.”
But Tantillo isn’t the only one who thinks the rendering hints at whether the governor is considering the proposition.
Democratic State Sen. Pat Fahy, of the 46th District, has been supportive of a canal way in Albany — Tantillo and his partner BJ Costello have appeared on her podcast to discuss the idea.
“I think it is one of the absolute highlights of the entire proposal, or the entire plan, or strategy that they issued,” Fahy said.
Fahy has for years worked to reclaim the waterfront and revamp I-787.
“We want to take out as much as possible or take down as much as possible, we want to go over it with green space and parkland and under it with the canal. So, to see this in black and white and to see the photos with it labeled where the original Lock 1 of the Erie Canal was is just one of the highlights, absolute highlights of the program,” Fahy said.
She agrees with Tantillo that the rendering is a sign of the governor’s leanings.
“I don’t think we would get this in there had it not been,” Fahy said.
But opening Lock 1 of the Erie Canal is just the first step in actualizing a new waterway in the state capital. According to the plan Tantillo’s group is pushing, another entrance would have to be built to the south in the courtyard of the SUNY System Administration Building.
And once that’s all said and done, each entrance would have to be connected by a stretch of water running along Broadway.
Tantillo says that since the first part of the plan seems to have garnered interest from the governor, the group is turning its attention toward further developing the SUNY Administration Building entrance.
“Now that’s not as far along, in terms of expressions of support from the governor’s office but we do know that it’s feasible, we do know you can build it and we do know what the costs are,” Tantillo said.
A study led by CHA Consulting and backed by the Albany County Legislature found that the entrances and marinas in them would cost $362 million. That figure does not account for connecting the entrances.
