Albany, New York, is a city in the United States.
Albany ( [ ˈɔːlbəni ] ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Albany County . The population of the City of Albany was 97,856 according to the 2010 census . Albany is one of the first cities in the world to have installed public water mains , sewer lines , natural gas lines and electricity , infrastructure and utilities that attracted and supported substantial new industry to the city and surrounding area during the 19th century . In the 20th century , the city opened one of the first commercial airports in the world , the precursor of today 's Albany International Airport . The city 's skyline changed in the 1960s and 1970s with the construction of office towers around the Empire State Plaza and at the uptown campus of SUNY Albany , mainly under the direction of Governor Nelson Rockefeller . While Albany experienced a decline in its population due to urban sprawl and suburbanization , many of its historic neighborhoods were saved from destruction through the policies of Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd , the longest-serving mayor of any city in the United States . The city has rebounded from the urban decline of the 1970s and 1980s , with noticeable development taking place in the city 's downtown and midtown neighborhoods . Albany won the All-America City Award in both 1991 and 2009 .