Presentation boards are arranged inside a South End elementary school gymnasium. The boards ask attendees about different aspects of a plan to convert an empty lot into an intercity bus terminal. But on many of the boards, residents have attached Post-it notes with the same three words: No Bus Station.
Residents in the neighborhood are pushing back against a proposal that would develop the site, which was once home to a McDonald’s and then a nonprofit grocery store, into a bus terminal.
Arica Grimes, a resident walking around the boards, said the setup did not allow for a public forum.
"Of course, you want community involvement now at the end," said Grimes. "But you can't speak to anyone or get answers. Go around and put a sticky.”
In February, the county announced plans to develop the former McDonald’s on South Pearl Street into an intercity bus terminal. The plan faces pushback from many residents who believe the community was not brought into the process early enough.
Advance Albany County Alliance, a local development corporation overseeing the project, is budgeting $5 million to $7 million for the terminal. The corporation has applied for up to another $7 million from Empire State Development and Albany County.
This week, the Albany County Legislature was set to vote on providing $1.5 million to the corporation for the project. But the county Legislature tabled the vote Monday after receiving pushback from residents.
Back in the school gymnasium, Jeremy Smith, senior vice president of real estate at the alliance, is talking to residents. He said he is pleased with the turnout.
“We reached out to community leaders to help to create public involvement for this. It is very, very important to have that for this project," said Smith. "I do believe that there are people out here that are here specifically for these purposes, but people that are out here that have a lot of questions about how this became a bus station. There's a lot of reasons for folks to be here, regardless of what brought them in. I'm very excited that they're here.”
However, many residents at the meeting voiced their disapproval. They spoke of how increased traffic and fumes from buses would impact children and seniors.
For many, the input session came too late and ignored the bigger question: Should the intercity bus station be built at all?
Akira Marshall, a homeowner in the area, said she is not satisfied with the project’s outreach process.
"If you really want to know what the people are thinking, go door to door. This notion that you're hiring outside entities to collect information and thinking you're going to get unbiased responses. Yeah, I don't agree with that idea," said Marshall. "It hasn't worked in the past. We've talked about people being pushed out over and over again, and they're still recycling the same idea."
Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said the project is a necessity for downtown Albany. In a statement regarding community pushback, he said the terminal plans now address concerns by enlisting a sheriff’s presence at the terminal and pushing buses underneath bridges.
He wrote the project is, “part of a larger vision that will transform the neighborhood, with this investment, into what will be a gem of a gateway instead of a humiliating eyesore.”
Dannielle Hille, a county legislator who represents the South End, has been a vocal opponent of the station. Standing inside the gymnasium, she told residents the fight to stop the terminal was far from over.
"What I want residents to know is that their voices count, that they continue to try to do these things because they don't think that we can speak up for ourselves; that's not true," said Hille. "And we all know that."
The $1.5 million funding proposal has been sent back to the county’s Audit and Finance Committee for reconsideration. The committee is set to meet on June 25.
