title: The Life of Pablo

text: The release onto other streaming platforms, along with West's claims that the album would remain a permanent Tidal "exclusive" prompted a lawsuit to be filed on April 18, 2016 by law firm Edelson PC. It was filed against West and Jay-Z, who was involved as the owner of Tidal, with each of them being sued for $5 million. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of California resident Justin Baker-Rhett accusing them of false advertising. Seeking class-action status, the lawsuit claimed that Tidal and West never intended to have the album as a Tidal limited exclusive forever, but said so to boost Tidal's struggling subscriber growth; with the lawsuit claiming that Tidal's subscriber numbers tripled following the initial release of the album. The lawsuit also claimed that "Kanye has the power to send one tweet out into the world and get 2 million people to act on it" and suing West "is about holding him accountable when he abuses that power". In January 2019, it was reported the lawsuit had been settled with undisclosed terms; the class action lawsuit did not proceed.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: In August 2016, West embarked on the Saint Pablo Tour in support of "The Life of Pablo", two months after announcing it. The performances featured a floating platform, the first time West had used one. West postponed several dates in October following the Paris robbery of Kardashian. The remainder of the tour was canceled on November 21, 2016, following controversy over comments West made that week supporting president-elect Donald Trump and public criticism by other artists; fellow rapper Snoop Dogg spoke negatively of West's critical comments. West was admitted for psychiatric observation at the UCLA Medical Center later that month. Before its cancellation, the Saint Pablo Tour was set to run until December 2016.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: On February 11, 2016, West revealed the album's artwork, designed by Belgian artist Peter De Potter. De Potter's level of fame at the time was not as great as that of artists such as George Condo and Takashi Murakami, who had previously designed cover art for West. As De Potter had collaborated with fashion designer Raf Simons in the past, and West had cited him as an influence, there was much speculation that Simons was the reason the two became involved with each other. The artwork was described as a "post-modern cover" and it displays the album's title in all caps, as well as featuring a small family photo in the bottom corner. West shared another cover for "The Life of Pablo" on the same date with the phrase "which one" on it that was included on the notepad of the final track list, and a cropped photo of British model Sheniz Halil that shows her butt; this artwork was used for the official release. Kim Kardashian reportedly chose Halil for the artwork. After this information was revealed, Halil's Instagram popularity increased. In response to being selected, Halil said in an interview with the New York "Daily News" that she "couldn't be more flattered and honoured", thanking both West and Kardashian.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: By titling his album "The Life of Pablo", West confused people as to which Pablo he was referencing with the title. Pablo Escobar, Pablo Neruda, Pablo Picasso and a child named Pablo who famously shouted his support of West for president at the 2015 VMAs were viewed as potential people referenced in the album's title. MTV pointed to the title being in reference to Picasso, as West had said during a 2015 lecture at the University of Oxford that if he "was going to do art, fine art", then he would have aimed "to become Picasso or greater". By writing "Which one?" on his notepad, West hinted that he might not remember the meaning of the title he had chosen. West eventually revealed the meaning during an episode of the American talk show "Kocktails with Khloé" in April 2016. His sister-in-law Khloé Kardashian asked him, "Who the fuck is Pablo"? He replied the title was inspired by Escobar, Picasso and the Apostle Paul, since Paul translates into Pablo in Spanish. Writing for "The Guardian", Jonathan Jones drew an artistic comparison between West and Picasso, claiming that West's sampling of music, "reworking old songs" and "mixing it all up" is similar to the way in which Picasso "first put bits of the real world into modern art".


title: The Life of Pablo

text: "The Life of Pablo" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 35 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: Rob Sheffield dubbed it both a mess and masterpiece: "This is a messy album that feels like it was made that way on purpose." He elaborated, writing that "West just drops broken pieces of his psyche all over the album and challenges you to fit them together". Corbin Reiff opined that "The Life of Pablo" "feels far different from any of the tightly constructed, singular works of West's past", asserting instead that "as a beautiful, messy, mixed-up collection of 18 songs, it's a brilliant document". Writing for "The New York Times", Jon Caramanica said West "has perfected the art of aesthetic and intellectual bricolage, shape-shifting in real time and counting on listeners to keep up", concluding "this is Tumblr-as-album, the piecing together of divergent fragments to make a cohesive whole". In a highly positive review, Jayson Greene wrote that all of West's work is animated by "a madcap sense of humor", and claimed ""The Life of Pablo" has a freewheeling energy that is infectious and unique to his discography", finding that it manages to come across "as both his most labored-over and unfinished album, full of asterisks and corrections and footnotes". Robert Christgau of "Vice" found the record "wittingly casual and easy on the ears", writing that, "unlike "Yeezus", it won't top many 2016 lists—it's too blatantly imperfect, too flagrantly unfocused. But that's also its charm, and I prefer it". "Spin"s Greg Tate wrote that "even if Mr. West feels (for now, at least) that his best years as a rap superstar are behind him, there's still hella great beats roaming around that dazed and befuddling noggin per "The Life of Pablo" for dang sure" and described the album as "long on musical confidence and short on inspirational verses". He viewed the "plaintive vulnerability and alienation" expressed by West as at least seeming "cathartically crafted". Writing for "USA Today", Patrick Ryan claimed that even though the album "may not deliver on West's promise of being 'the album of the life', it's undeniably the work of one of music's most boundary-pushing artists and will give fans plenty to unpack".


title: The Life of Pablo

text: Ray Rahman was less enthusiastic, calling "The Life of Pablo" "an ambitious album that finds the rapper struggling to compact his many identities into one weird, uncomfortable, glorious whole". He elaborated, claiming that like West "himself, the album is emotional, explosive, unpredictable, and undeniably thrilling". Alexis Petridis expressed further criticism in "The Guardian", finding the album "at turns, rambling, chaotic, deeply underwhelming, impressively audacious, and completely infuriating", suggesting that it "appears to have had ideas thrown at it until it feels messy and incoherent", despite concluding that "when "The Life of Pablo" is good, it's very good indeed". Neil McCormick wrote, ""The Life of Pablo" is certainly rich in musical scope, chock a block with inspired ideas", but he felt the work to be "so self-involved it crosses over into self-delusion, marked by such a tangible absence of perspective and objectivity". In a mixed review, Greg Kot expressed the viewpoint that ""The Life of Pablo" sounds like a work in progress rather than a finished album", though he claimed that "West comes off as a man with hundreds of ideas in play all at once" who lacks any filter.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: "The Life of Pablo" appeared on several year-end lists of the best albums of 2016. "Dummy" ranked the album as the best of 2016, claiming that "it delivered some of the hugest musical moments of the year", noting elements of songs such as "Ultralight Beam" and "Pt. 2". Caramanica also named "The Life of Pablo" the best album of the year and called it: "A grand, caustic album about grace: finding it, praying for it, falling from it." "Time Out London" was among the three publications to list "The Life of Pablo" as the best album of 2016, writing that "the incredible, exciting and daring "The Life of Pablo" really does show Kanye as a restless, Jobs-esque genius, with a flair for convening talented people and getting exceptional work out of them".


title: The Life of Pablo

text: As well as ranking at number three on the "Pitchfork" Readers' Poll: Top 50 Albums of 2016, the album was voted fifth by readers for both the most underrated and most overrated album of the year. On the Top 50 Songs of 2016 poll, "Ultralight Beam" ranked at number one. "Real Friends" and "No More Parties in LA" also appeared on the list as the 13th and 16th best songs, respectively. In February 2016, "Inverse" named "The Life of Pablo" West's best album.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: At the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards, "The Life of Pablo" was nominated for Album of the Year. The album received a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards, ultimately losing to Chance the Rapper's third mixtape "Coloring Book". At the same ceremony, "Ultralight Beam" and "Famous" were both nominated in the categories of Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song. West's failure to win any awards gave him a streak of losing 16 Grammy nominations in a row. Despite "The Life of Pablo" being more successful in terms of Grammy nominations than "Yeezus", "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and West's fourth studio album "808s & Heartbreak" (2008), several publications viewed the lack of a nomination for Album of the Year as being a snub. Writing for "Bustle", Sam Rullo called West's lack of a nomination for the award "so disappointing", though he claimed that "the snub can't be deemed surprising, because it follows in a long tradition of the awards show shying away from his more experimental albums". Rullo also claimed that other tracks from "The Life of Pablo" should have been nominated in award categories as well as "Ultralight Beam" and "Famous". "The Life of Pablo" was nominated for Best Album at the 2017 "NME" Awards. At the 2016 Soul Train Music Awards, the album earned a nomination for Album of the Year.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: After being made available solely on Tidal, "The Life of Pablo" failed to chart initially because West declined to share the streaming numbers with Nielsen Music. The album was reportedly subject to over 500,000 illegal downloads within 24 hours of its release, becoming the most illegally downloaded album ever and causing a resurgence in the file sharing of music. Despite West asking Tidal to withhold streaming numbers for "The Life of Pablo" in February, the service revealed in March 2016 that the album was streamed over 250 million times within ten days of being released. In May 2018, the Norwegian newspaper "Dagens Næringsliv" published an investigative report that accused Tidal of manipulating Beyonce's "Lemonade" and Kanye West's "Life of Pablo" streaming numbers. The report claimed that "listener numbers on Tidal have been manipulated to the tune of several hundred million false plays"; the service denied the report.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: On April 9, 2016, "Billboard" reported that after "The Life of Pablo" had been released to services other than Tidal the album was set to debut atop the US "Billboard" 200 and had sold 90,000 album-equivalent units at the time. "The Life of Pablo" was a chart-topping debut, West's seventh consecutive number one studio album in the United States, selling 94,000 album-equivalent units. 28,000 of the album-equivalent units for "The Life of Pablo" were pure album sales, while the remaining 66,000 units were streaming equivalent albums that equated to over 99 million streams and accounted for 70% of the units. This stood as the first time an album had topped the "Billboard" 200 with the majority of the units coming from streaming equivalent albums, surpassing the previous benchmark of 44.6% set by Rihanna's eighth studio album "Anti" (2016). "The Life of Pablo"s 66,000 streaming equivalent albums stood as the second highest streaming sum behind the 67,000 by Canadian singer Justin Bieber's fourth studio album "Purpose" (2015).


title: The Life of Pablo

text: In its second week on the "Billboard" 200, "The Life of Pablo" descended three places to number four and pushed 47,000 album-equivalent units, experiencing a 50% decline from the first week's sales. The album dropped 95% in pure album sales, selling around 1,000 copies. The album ranked as the 27th most popular album of 2016 on the "Billboard" 200, while ranking at number 88 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for that year. On April 4, 2017, "The Life of Pablo" was certified platinum in the US by the RIAA for sales of one million album-equivalent units, 798,000 of which had been sold up to January 1. Though it had been confirmed that the RIAA do not break out the components of any certifications, West's label Def Jam confirmed the album was certified from streaming-only. This made it stand as the first streaming-only album to go platinum in the US and also gave West his eighth album to achieve an RIAA certification of platinum or higher. The album was certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA for selling two million album-equivalent units on February 27, 2020.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: "The Life of Pablo" debuted at number one on the Norwegian Albums Chart and remained on it for 62 weeks, giving West his first chart-topping solo album in Norway as well as his longest-charting album there. The album peaked at number two on the Swedish Albums chart, standing as West's highest charting album in Sweden and ultimately ranking as the 55th most popular album of 2016 on the chart. In Denmark, "The Life of Pablo" attained the same peak position on the Danish Albums chart. The album ranked as the 12th most popular album of 2016 on the chart. On November 12, 2018, "The Life of Pablo" was certified double platinum in Denmark by IFPI Danmark for shipments of 40,000 copies. The album debuted on the Finnish Albums (Top 50) chart at number 12 and climbed seven places to number five in its second week on the chart. On the Canadian Albums Chart, "The Life of Pablo" entered at number six and ranked as the 40th most popular album of 2016 on the chart. In the week of "Jesus Is King"s release in 2019, "The Life of Pablo" rose 93 places from number 159 to number 66 on the Canadian Albums chart, increasing in consumption units by 51%. The album reached number eight on the Dutch Album Top 100 and ranked as the 72nd most popular album on the chart in 2016. The same position was attained by "The Life of Pablo" on the Irish Albums Chart. On the UK Albums Chart, the album charted at number 30. It stood as West's eighth top 40 album in the UK and spent 47 weeks on the chart. "The Life of Pablo" was certified gold in the UK by the BPI on March 3, 2017, for sales of 100,000 album-equivalent units that were the results of streams, becoming the first album to ever do so in the country. Official Charts data reported that the 100,000 units required for being gold accounted to each song being streamed an average of 10.5 million times and that the album equivalent streams amounted to 100,316.


title: The Life of Pablo

text: The same week that "The Life of Pablo" debuted on the "Billboard" 200, 12 of the tracks appeared on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with "Famous" charting the highest at number 13. However, since the song had debuted on the chart a week prior, only 11 of the 12 tracks entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs that week; the entry of "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1" at number 14 stood as the highest debut. Eight of the tracks debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100, with "Famous" having the highest entry at number 34. The tracks appearing on the charts lead to West reaching a new peak of number three on the "Billboard" Artist 100, which was the first time he reached the top ten of the chart. On the UK Singles Chart, nine of the tracks charted upon the album's release, with "Famous" having the highest debut by opening at number 33.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City.


title: Albany, New York

text: The city is known for its architecture, commerce, culture, institutions of higher education, and rich history. It is the economic and cultural core of the Capital District of the State of New York, which comprises the Albany–Schenectady–Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area, including the nearby cities and suburbs of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. With an estimated population of 1.1 million in 2013, the Capital District is the third most populous metropolitan region in the state. As of 2020, Albany's population was 99,224.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Hudson River area was originally inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Mohican (Mahican), who called it "Pempotowwuthut-Muhhcanneuw". The area was settled by Dutch colonists who, in 1614, built Fort Nassau for fur trading and in 1624, built Fort Orange. In 1664, the English took over the Dutch settlements, renaming the city "Albany" in honor of the Duke of Albany, the future James II. The city was officially chartered in 1686 under English rule. It became the capital of New York in 1797 after the formation of the United States. Albany is one of the oldest surviving settlements of the original British thirteen colonies; no other city in the United States has been continuously chartered as long.


title: Albany, New York

text: In the late 18th century and throughout most of the 19th, Albany was a center of trade and transportation. The city lies toward the north end of the navigable Hudson River. It was the original eastern terminus of the Erie Canal, connecting to the Great Lakes, and was home to some of the earliest railroads in the world. In the 1920s a powerful political machine controlled by the Democratic Party arose in Albany. In the latter part of the 20th century, Albany's population shrank because of urban sprawl and suburbanization. In the 1990s, the New York State Legislature approved for the city a US$234 million building and renovation plan, which spurred redevelopment downtown. In the early 21st century, Albany's high-technology industry grew, with great strides in nanotechnology.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Hudson River area was originally inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Mohican (Mahican), who called it Pempotowwuthut-Muhhcanneuw, meaning "the fireplace of the Mohican nation". Based to the west along the Mohawk River, the Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk called it "Sche-negh-ta-da", "through the pine woods", referring to the path they took there. The Mohawk were one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, or "Haudenosaunee."


title: Albany, New York

text: According to Hendrick Aupaumut, the Mohicans came to the area from the north and the west. They settled along the Mahicannituck, which is now called the Hudson River, and called themselves the "Muh-he-con-neok", the "People of the Waters That Are Never Still". This name evolved to "Mohicans".


title: Albany, New York

text: The Mohawks were based in the Mohawk valley and noted for their fur trading and their access to trade between the Iroquois and other nations. The Mohawk became strong trading partners with the Dutch and English. It is likely that the Albany area was visited by European fur traders perhaps as early as 1540, but the extent and duration of those visits are unclear.


title: Albany, New York

text: Permanent European claims began when Englishman Henry Hudson, exploring for the Dutch East India Company on the "Half Moon" (), reached the area in 1609, claiming it for the United Netherlands. In 1614, Hendrick Christiaensen built Fort Nassau, a fur-trading post and the first documented European structure in present-day Albany. Commencement of the fur trade provoked hostility from the French colony in Canada and among the natives, all of whom vied to control the trade. In 1618, a flood ruined the fort on Castle Island, but it was rebuilt in 1624 as Fort Orange. Both forts were named in honor of the leading family of the Dutch Revolt, members of the House of Orange-Nassau. Fort Orange and the surrounding area were incorporated as the village of "Beverwijck" () in 1652, and the city of Albany in 1686. In these early decades of trade, the Dutch, Mohican, and Mohawk developed relations that reflected differences among their three cultures.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany is one of the oldest surviving European settlements from the original thirteen colonies and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States. When New Netherland was captured by the English in 1664, the name was changed from "Beverwijck" to "Albany" in honor of the Duke of Albany (later James II). Duke of Albany was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots. The name is ultimately derived from "Alba", the Gaelic name for Scotland. The Dutch briefly regained Albany in August 1673 and renamed the city "Willemstadt"; the English took permanent possession with the Treaty of Westminster (1674). On November 1, 1683, the Province of New York was split into counties, with Albany County being the largest. At that time the county included all of present New York State north of Dutchess and Ulster Counties in addition to present-day Bennington County, Vermont, theoretically stretching west to the Pacific Ocean; Albany became the county seat. Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by provincial Governor Thomas Dongan on July 22, 1686. The Dongan Charter was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Dongan created Albany as a strip of land wide and long. Over the years Albany would lose much of the land to the west and annex land to the north and south. At this point, Albany had a population of about 500 people.


title: Albany, New York

text: In 1754, representatives of seven British North American colonies met in the "Stadt Huys", Albany's city hall, for the Albany Congress; Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania presented the Albany Plan of Union there, which was the first formal proposal to unite the colonies. Although it was never adopted by Parliament, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution. The same year, the French and Indian War, the fourth in a series of wars dating back to 1689, began. It ended in 1763 with French defeat, resolving a situation that had been a constant threat to Albany and held back its growth. In 1775, with the colonies in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the "Stadt Huys" became home to the Albany Committee of Correspondence (the political arm of the local revolutionary movement), which took over operation of Albany's government and eventually expanded its power to control all of Albany County. Tories and prisoners of war were often jailed in the "Stadt Huys" alongside common criminals. In 1776, Albany native Philip Livingston signed the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.


title: Albany, New York

text: During and after the Revolutionary War, Albany County saw a great increase in real estate transactions. After Horatio Gates defeated John Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777, the upper Hudson Valley was generally at peace as the war raged on elsewhere. Prosperity was soon seen all over Upstate New York. Migrants from Vermont and Connecticut began flowing in, noting the advantages of living on the Hudson and trading at Albany, while being only a few days' sail from New York City. Albany reported a population of 3,498 in the first national census in 1790, an increase of almost 700% since its chartering.


title: Albany, New York

text: On November 17, 1793, a large fire broke out, destroying 26 homes on Broadway, Maiden Lane, James Street, and State Street. The fire originated at a stable belonging to Leonard Gansevoort and was suspected to be arson set by enslaved people. Three were arrested and charged with arson: Pompey, a man enslaved by Matthew Visscher; Dinah, a 14-year-old girl enslaved by Volkert P. Douw; and Bet, a 12-year-old girl enslaved by Philip S. Van Rensselaer. On January 6, 1794, the three were tried and sentenced to death. For reasons unknown, Governor George Clinton issued a temporary stay of execution, but Dinah and Bet were executed by hanging on March 14, and Pompey on April 11, 1794.


title: Albany, New York

text: In 1797, the state capital of New York was moved permanently to Albany. From statehood to this date, the Legislature had frequently moved the state capital between Albany, Kingston, Hurley, Poughkeepsie, and the city of New York. Albany is the tenth-oldest state capital in the United States, but is the second-oldest city that is a state capital, after Santa Fe, New Mexico.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany has been a center of transportation for much of its history. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Albany saw development of the turnpike and by 1815, Albany was the turnpike center of the state. Simeon De Witt developed a grid block system in 1794, and renamed streets that had honored British royalty, using names of birds and mammals instead. This grid was intersected by the major arterials coming out of Albany, which cut through the city at unexpected angles. The construction of the turnpike across the state, in conjunction with canal and railroad systems, made Albany the hub of transportation for pioneers going to Buffalo and the Michigan Territory in the early- and mid-19th century.


title: Albany, New York

text: In 1807, Robert Fulton initiated a steamboat line from New York to Albany, the first successful enterprise of its kind anywhere in the world. By 1810, with 10,763 people, Albany was the tenth-largest urban place in the nation. The town and village north of Albany known as "the Colonie" was annexed in 1815. In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed, forming a continuous water route from the Great Lakes to New York City. Unlike the current Barge Canal, which ends at nearby Waterford, the original Erie Canal ended at Albany; Lock 1 was north of Colonie Street. The Canal emptied into a man-made lagoon called the Albany Basin, which was Albany's main port from 1825 until the Port of Albany-Rensselaer opened in 1932. In 1829, while working as a professor at the Albany Academy, Joseph Henry, widely regarded as "the foremost American scientist of the 19th century", built the first electric motor. Three years later, he discovered electromagnetic self-induction (the SI unit for which is now the henry). He went on to be the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In the 1830 and 1840 censuses, Albany was ranked as the ninth-largest urban place in the nation; it dropped back to tenth in 1850. This was the last time the city was one of the top ten largest urban places in the nation.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany also has significant history with rail transport, as the location of two major regional railroad headquarters. The Delaware and Hudson Railway was headquartered in Albany at what is now the SUNY System Administration Building. In 1853, Erastus Corning, a noted industrialist and Albany's mayor from 1834 to 1837, consolidated ten railroads stretching from Albany to Buffalo into the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR), headquartered in Albany until Cornelius Vanderbilt moved it to New York City in 1867. One of the ten companies that formed the NYCRR was the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, which was the first railroad in the state and the first successful steam railroad running regularly scheduled service in the country.


title: Albany, New York

text: While the key to Albany's economic prosperity in the 19th century was transportation, industry and business also played a role. Largely thanks to the city's Dutch and German roots, beer was one of its biggest commodities. Beverwyck Brewery, originally known as Quinn and Nolan (Nolan being mayor of Albany 1878–1883), was the last remaining brewer from that time when it closed in 1972. The city's location at the east end of the Erie Canal gave it unparalleled access to both raw products and a captive customer base in the west. Albany was known for its publishing houses, and to some extent, still is. Albany was second only to Boston in the number of books produced for most of the 19th century. Iron foundries in both the north and south ends of the city attracted thousands of immigrants to the city for industrial jobs. To this day, one can see many intricate wrought-iron details that were constructed in those years on what are now historic buildings. The iron industry waned by the 1890s due to increased costs associated with a newly unionized workforce and the opening of mines in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany's other major exports during the 18th and 19th centuries were furs, wheat, meat, and lumber. By 1865, there were almost 4,000 saw mills in the Albany area and the Albany Lumber District was the largest lumber market in the nation. The city was also home to a number of banks. The Bank of Albany (1792–1861) was the second chartered bank in New York. The city was the original home of the Albank (founded in 1820 as the Albany Savings Bank), KeyBank (founded in 1825 as the Commercial Bank of Albany), and Norstar Bank (founded as the State Bank of Albany in 1803). American Express was founded in Albany in 1850 as an express mail business. In 1871, the northwestern portion of Albany—west from Magazine Street—was annexed to the neighboring town of Guilderland after the town of Watervliet refused annexation of the territory. In return for this loss, portions of Bethlehem and Watervliet were added to Albany. Part of the land annexed to Guilderland was ceded back to Albany in 1910, setting up the current western border.


title: Albany, New York

text: The train carrying the body of slain President Abraham Lincoln came through Albany on the way to Illinois and some claim the ghostly image of that train remains.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany opened one of the first commercial airports in the world, and the first municipal airport in the United States, in 1908. Originally on a polo field on Loudon Road, it moved to Westerlo Island in 1909 and remained there until 1928. The Albany Municipal Airport—jointly owned by the city and county—was moved to its current location in Colonie in 1928. By 1916 Albany's northern and southern borders reached their modern courses; Westerlo Island, to the south, became the second-to-last annexation, which occurred in 1926.


title: Albany, New York

text: Erastus Corning 2nd, arguably Albany's most notable mayor (and great-grandson of the former mayor of the same name), was elected in 1941. Although he was one of the longest-serving mayors of any city in United States history (1942 until his death in 1983), one historian describes Corning's tenure as "long on years, short on accomplishments." Grondahl cited Corning's preference for maintaining the status quo as a factor that held back potential progress during his tenure. While Corning brought stability to the office of mayor, it is said even those who admire him greatly cannot come up with a sizable list of "major concrete Corning achievements." Corning is given credit for saving—albeit somewhat unintentionally—much of Albany's historic architecture.


title: Albany, New York

text: During the 1950s and 1960s, a time when federal aid for urban renewal was plentiful, Albany did not have growth in its economy or infrastructure. It lost more than 20 percent of its population during the Corning years, as people moved to newer housing in the suburbs, followed by most of the downtown businesses moving there as well. While cities across the country grappled with similar issues, the problems were magnified in Albany: interference from the Democratic political machine hindered progress considerably. In 1960, the mayor sold the city's stake in the airport to the county, citing budget issues. It was known from then on as Albany County Airport until a massive upgrade and modernization project between 1996 and 1998, when it was rechristened Albany International Airport.


title: Albany, New York

text: Governor Nelson Rockefeller (1959–1973) (R) tried to stimulate the city with new monumental architecture and large, government-sponsored building projects; he drove construction of the Empire State Plaza, SUNY Albany's uptown campus, and much of the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus. Albany County Republican Chairman Joseph C. Frangella once quipped, "Governor Rockefeller was the best mayor Albany ever had." Corning, although opposed to the project, was responsible for negotiating the payment plan for the Empire State Plaza. Rockefeller did not want to be limited by the Legislature's power of the purse, so Corning devised a plan to have the county pay for the construction and have the state sign a lease-ownership agreement. The state paid off the bonds until 2004. It was Rockefeller's only viable option, and he agreed. Due to the clout Corning gained from the situation, he gained inclusion of the State Museum, a convention center, and a restaurant, back in the plans—ideas which Rockefeller had originally vetoed. The county gained $35 million in fees and the city received $13 million for lost tax revenue. Having the state offices in the city enabled it to keep good jobs and retain middle-class residents.


title: Albany, New York

text: Another major project of the 1960s and 1970s was the construction of Interstate 787 and the South Mall Arterial. Construction began in the early 1960s. One of the project's main results was separating the city from the Hudson River, its source of development. Writer Paul Grondahl has described Corning as shortsighted with respect to use of the waterfront. In Grondahl's view, the Mayor could have used his influence to move I-787 away from the Hudson. A proposed Mid-Crosstown Arterial never came to fruition. In 1967, the hamlet of Karlsfeld was the last annexation by the city, taken from the Town of Bethlehem.


title: Albany, New York

text: When Corning died in 1983, Thomas Whalen assumed the mayorship and was reelected twice. He encouraged redevelopment of historic structures and helped attract federal dollars earmarked for that purpose. What Corning had saved from destruction, Whalen refurbished for continued and new uses. The Mayor's Office of Special Events was created in an effort to increase the number of festivals and artistic events in the city, including a year-long "Dongan Charter" tricentennial celebration in 1986. Whalen is credited for an "unparalleled cycle of commercial investment and development" in Albany due to his "aggressive business development programs".


title: Albany, New York

text: Prior to the recession of the 1990s, downtown Albany was home to four Fortune 500 companies. After the death of Corning and the retirement of Congressman Sam Stratton, the political environment changed. Long-term office holders became rare in the 1980s. Local media began following the drama surrounding county politics (specifically that of the newly created county executive position); the loss of Corning (and eventually the machine) led to a lack of interest in city politics. The election of Gerald Jennings was a surprise, and he served as Mayor from 1994 until his retirement at the end of 2013. His tenure essentially ended the political machine that had been in place since the 1920s.


title: Albany, New York

text: During the 1990s, the State Legislature approved the $234 million "Albany Plan", "a building and renovation project [that] was the most ambitious building project to affect the area since the Rockefeller era." Under the Albany Plan, renovation and new building projects were initiated around the downtown area. Many state workers were relocated from the Harriman State Office Campus to downtown, helping its retail businesses and vitality.


title: Albany, New York

text: Fortune 500 companies with offices in Albany include American Express, J.P. Morgan and Chase, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, International Paper, and Key Bank.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany is about north of New York City on the Hudson River. It has a total area of , of which is land and (1.8%) is water. The city is bordered on the north by the town of Colonie (along with the village of Menands), on the west by the town of Guilderland, and on the south by the town of Bethlehem. The Hudson River represents the city's eastern border. Patroon Creek, near the northern border, and the Normans Kill, along the southern border, are the two major streams in the city. The former Foxes Creek, Beaver Kill, and Rutten Kill were diverted underground in the 19th century. There are four lakes within city limits: Buckingham Lake; Rensselaer Lake at the mouth of the Patroon Creek; Tivoli Lake, which was formed as a reservoir and once connected to the Patroon Creek; and Washington Park Lake, which was formed by damming the Beaver Kill.


title: Albany, New York

text: The highest natural point in Albany is a USGS benchmark near the Loudonville Reservoir off Birch Hill Road, at above sea level. The lowest point is sea level at the Hudson River (the average water elevation is ), which is still technically an estuary at Albany and is affected by the Atlantic tide. The interior of Albany consists of rolling hills which were once part of the Albany Pine Bush, an area of pitch pine and scrub oak, and has arid, sandy soil that is a remnant of the ancient Lake Albany. Due to development, the Pine Bush has shrunk from an original today. A preserve was set up by the State Legislature in 1988 and is on the city's western edge, spilling into Guilderland and Colonie; it is the only sizable inland pine barrens sand dune ecosystem in the United States, and is home to many endangered species, including the Karner Blue butterfly.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany is in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Dfa), and features cold, snowy winters, and hot, humid summers; the city experiences four distinct seasons. Albany is in plant hardiness zone 6a near downtown and along the shore of the Hudson and 5b at its western end. Albany receives of precipitation per year, with 138 days of at least of precipitation each year. Snowfall is significant, totaling per season, but with less accumulation than the lake effect areas to the north and west, as it is farther from Lake Ontario. However, Albany is close enough to the Atlantic coast to receive heavy snow from Nor'easters and the city occasionally receives Alberta clippers. Winters can be very cold with fluctuating conditions; temperatures drop to or below on nine nights per annum. Summers in Albany can contain stretches of excessive heat and humidity, with temperatures of or hotter on nine days per year. Record temperature extremes range from , on January 19, 1971, to on July 4, 1911.


title: Albany, New York

text: New York has an effective statewide crime rate of 385/100,000 people . Albany's violent crime rate is nearly on a par with Rochester (1028 violent crimes/100,000 population vs 968/100,000 in Rochester) and much lower than Buffalo at 1514/100,000. By comparison, New York City's violent crime rate was 639/100,000 in 2013.


title: Albany, New York

text: The neighborhoods of Albany include Arbor Hill; Center Square, "[an] eclectic mix of residential and commercial [buildings], including bars, night clubs, restaurants, and stores"; Pine Hills; and the South End.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany has more than 60 public parks and recreation areas. Washington Park was organized as the Middle Public Square in 1806. Its current location has been public property since the "Dongan Charter" of 1686 gave the city title to all property not privately owned. Washington Park was designed by John Bogart and John Cuyler in 1870, and opened for public use the following year. The original lake house, designed by Frederick W. Brown, was added in 1876. The park had previously been used as a cemetery; its graves were moved to Albany Rural Cemetery. Washington Park is a popular place to exercise and play sports; skate during the winter; people-watch during Tulip Fest; and attend plays at the amphitheater during the summer.


title: Albany, New York

text: Other parks in Albany include Lincoln Park, Buckingham Park, the Corning Preserve, and the Pine Bush. Lincoln Park, southwest of the Empire State Plaza, was organized in 1886 and was originally known as Beaver Park. Today, the park has a pool that is open during the summer months. Buckingham Lake Park is between Manning Boulevard and Route 85 in the Buckingham Pond neighborhood; it contains a pond with fountains, a footpath, a playground, and picnic tables. The Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve has an 800-seat amphitheatre that hosts events in non-winter months, most notably the "Alive at 5" summer concert series. The Preserve's visitors center details the ecology of the Hudson River and the local environment. The park has a bike trail and boat launch and was effectively separated from downtown by Interstate 787 until the opening of the Hudson River Way in 2002.


title: Albany, New York

text: Other public parks include Westland Hill Park, Hoffman Park, Beverwyck Park, and Liberty Park, today a small circular grassy patch in downtown on Hudson Avenue, which is Albany's oldest park. Ridgefield Park is home to the clay courts of the Albany Tennis Club, one of the oldest tennis clubs in the United States. The municipal golf course, New Course at Albany, was constructed in 1929 as the Albany Municipal Golf Course, later renamed the Capital Hills at Albany, and remodeled in 1991.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Empire State Plaza, a collection of state agency office buildings, dominates almost any view of Albany. Built between 1965 and 1978 at the hand of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and architect Wallace Harrison, the complex is a powerful example of late American modern architecture and remains a controversial building project both for displacing city residents and for its architectural style. The most recognizable aspect of the complex is the Erastus Corning Tower, the tallest building in New York outside of New York City. Juxtaposed at the north end of the Plaza is the 19th-century New York State Capitol, the seat of the New York State Legislature and the home of the Governor's office.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany's initial architecture incorporated many Dutch influences, followed soon after by those of the English. Quackenbush House, a Dutch Colonial brick mansion, was built c. 1736; Schuyler Mansion, a Georgian-style mansion, was built in 1765; and the oldest building in Albany is the 1728 Van Ostrande-Radliff House at 48 Hudson Avenue. Albany's housing varies greatly, with mostly row houses in the older sections of town, closer to the river. Housing type quickly changes as one travels westward, beginning with two-family homes of the late 19th century, and one-family homes built after World War II in the western end of the city.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany City Hall, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, was opened in 1883. The New York State Capitol was opened in 1899 (after 32 years of construction) at a cost of $25 million, making it the most expensive government building at the time. Albany's Union Station, a major Beaux-Arts design, was under construction at the same time; it opened in 1900. In 1912, the Beaux-Arts styled New York State Department of Education Building opened on Washington Avenue near the Capitol. It has a classical exterior, which features a block-long white marble colonnade. The 1920s brought the Art Deco movement, which is illustrated by the Home Savings Bank Building (1927) on North Pearl Street and the Alfred E. Smith Building (1930) on South Swan Street, two of Albany's tallest high-rises.


title: Albany, New York

text: Architecture from the 1960s and 1970s is well represented in the city, especially at the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus (1950s and 1960s) and on the uptown campus of the University at Albany (1962–1971). The state office campus was planned in the 1950s by governor W. Averell Harriman to offer more parking and easier access for state employees. The uptown SUNY campus was built in the 1960s under Governor Rockefeller on the site of the city-owned Albany Country Club. Straying from the popular open campus layout, SUNY Albany has a centralized building layout with administrative and classroom buildings at center surrounded by four student housing towers. The design called for much use of concrete and glass, and the style has slender, round-topped columns and pillars reminiscent of those at Lincoln Center in New York City.


title: Albany, New York

text: Downtown has seen a revival in recent decades, often considered to have begun with Norstar Bank's renovation of the former Union Station as its corporate headquarters in 1986. The "Times Union" Center (TU Center) was originally slated for suburban Colonie, but was instead built downtown and opened in 1990. Other development in downtown includes the construction of the State Dormitory Authority headquarters at 515 Broadway (1998); the State Department of Environmental Conservation building, with its iconic green dome, at 625 Broadway (2001); the State Comptroller headquarters on State Street (2001); the Hudson River Way (2002), a pedestrian bridge connecting Broadway to the Corning Preserve; and 677 Broadway (2005), "the first privately owned downtown office building in a generation".


title: Albany, New York

text: Historically, Albany's population has been mixed. First dominated by Mohican and Mohawk, then Dutch and Germans, it was overtaken by the English in the early 19th century. Irish immigrants soon outnumbered most other ethnicities by the mid-19th century, and were followed by Italians and Poles. In the mid-to-late 20th century, the African-American population increased with thousands of people from the rural South, as part of the Great Migration. As historian (and Albany Assemblyman) John McEneny puts it,


title: Albany, New York

text: Until after the Revolution, Albany's population consisted mostly of ethnic Dutch descendants. Settlers migrating from New England tipped the balance toward British ethnicity in the early 19th century. Jobs on the turnpikes, canals, and railroads attracted floods of Irish immigrants in the early 19th century, especially in the 1840s during the Great Famine, solidifying the city's Irish base. Albany elected its first Irish Catholic mayor (Michael Nolan) two years before Boston did. Polish and Italian immigrants began arriving in Albany in the wave of immigration in the latter part of the 19th century. Their numbers were smaller than in many other eastern cities mainly because most had found manufacturing jobs at General Electric in Schenectady. The Jewish community had been established early, with Sephardic Jewish members as part of the Beverwijck community. Its population rose during the late 19th century, when many Ashkenazi Jews immigrated from eastern Europe. In that period, there was also an influx of Chinese and east Asian immigrants, who settled in the downtown section of the city. Many of their descendants have since moved to suburban areas. Immigration plummeted after the Immigration Act of 1924.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany was also a destination of internal migration, as many African Americans moved north in their Great Migration from the rural South before and after World War I to fill industrial positions and find new opportunities. In the early years, African-Americans lived together with Italians, Jews and other immigrants in the South End, where housing was older and less expensive. The black community has grown as a proportion of the population since then; African-Americans made up three percent of the city's population in 1950, six percent in 1960, 12 percent in 1970, and 30 percent in 2010. The change in proportion is related mostly to middle-class white families moving to the suburbs and black families remaining within city limits during the same time period.


title: Albany, New York

text: Since 2007, the number of Burmese refugees to Albany has increased. The Burmese refugee community consists mostly of persons of Karen ethnicity. An estimated 5,000 Burmese refugees reside in Albany .


title: Albany, New York

text: With a 2013 Census-estimated population of 1.1 million, the Capital District is the third-most populous metropolitan region in the state. As of April 1, 2020, Albany's population is 99,224.


title: Albany, New York

text: As of the 2010 census, Albany's population density was 4,572.7 per square mile (1,779.2/km). There were 46,362 housing units at an average density of 2,166.4 per square mile (842.9/km); 5,205 of these units (11.2%) were vacant. The racial makeup of the city residents was 52.3% white; 27% black or African American; 0.06% Native American or Native Alaskan; 7.4% Asian; 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; .06% from other races; and 3.6% from two or more races. A total of 9.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 52.0% of the population in 2010, compared to 87.0% in 1970.


title: Albany, New York

text: As of 2010, 20.0% of Albany's population was under the age of 18, 19.3% was aged 18 to 24, 29.2% was aged 25 to 44, 18.1% was aged 45 to 64, and 13.4% was aged 65 years or older. The median age was 31.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males. Some 81.3% of the population had completed high school or earned an equivalency diploma.


title: Albany, New York

text: As of the 2000 census, the top five ancestry groups in the city were African American (27%), Irish (18.1%), Italian (12.4%), German (10.4%), and English (5.2%); (33.1%) of the population reported "other ancestries". Albany is home to a Triqui language-speaking community of Mexican-Americans.


title: Albany, New York

text: There were 40,709 households in Albany in 2000, out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.8% were non-families. 41.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.95.


title: Albany, New York

text: The median income for a household in the city in 2000 was $, and the median income for a family was $ (male, year-round worker) and $ (female, year-round worker). The per capita income for the city was $. About 16.0% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over. The rate of reported violent crimes for 2008 (1,095 incidents per 100,000 residents) were more than double the rate for similarly sized US cities. Reported property crimes (4,669 incidents per 100,000 residents) were somewhat lower.


title: Albany, New York

text: Demographically speaking, the population of Albany and the Capital District mirrors the characteristics of the United States consumer population as a whole better than any other major municipality in the country. According to a 2004 study conducted by the Acxiom Corporation, Albany and its environs are the top-ranked standard test market for new business and retail products. Albany, Rochester, and Syracuse all scored within the top five.


title: Albany, New York

text: According to the 2020 American Community Survey, the Latino population was: 4.57% Puerto Rican, 1.45% Dominican, .84% Ecuadorian, .77% Mexican, .69% Salvadoran, .22% Cuban.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany's geographic situation—roughly equidistant from New York City to the south and Montreal to the north — makes it a convenient stop for nationally touring artists and acts. The Palace Theatre and The Egg are mid-sized forums for music, theater, and spoken-word performances; the Capital Repertory Theatre is smaller. The TU Center is the city's largest musical venue for nationally and internationally prominent bands. It also hosts trade shows, sporting events, and other large gatherings. Some people praise the cultural contributions of Albany and the greater Capital District; others suggest that the city has a "cultural identity crisis" due to its widespread geography, which requires a car to reach most of what the area has to offer, a necessity not seen in larger and more densely populated metropolitan areas such as New York and Boston.


title: Albany, New York

text: In recent years, the city's government has invested resources to cultivate venues and neighborhoods that attract after-hours business. Madison Avenue, Pearl Street, Delaware Avenue and Lark Street are the most active entertainment areas in the city. Many restaurants, clubs, and bars have opened since the mid-1990s, revitalizing areas that had once been abandoned and reclaiming old row houses, businesses, and a pump station. Bars are concentrated in three areas: about two blocks on Park Street, downtown; along Lark Street, home to smaller bars, which fit the neighborhood's artistic and eclectic style; and Western and Madison Avenues, in midtown, centered on the College of Saint Rose and SUNY Albany's downtown campus and drawing younger people. Much of the bar restaurant scene features classic Irish Pubs.


title: Albany, New York

text: Last call in Albany is 4:00 a.m. nightly. New York law sets that time as last call statewide; although counties may set an earlier time, municipalities may not. More than half of the state's counties have an earlier closing time; Albany County, like all counties in the Capital District, does not.


title: Albany, New York

text: "Alive at 5" is a free, weekly concert series held downtown during the summer on Thursdays; with 10 concerts in 2010, total attendance was roughly 100,000. The Tulip Festival is set in Washington Park and celebrates the city's Dutch heritage, which began with Pinkster Festival, an African-Dutch Celebration. This traditional Albany event marks the beginning of spring as thousands of tulips bloom in the park in early May; attendance to the Tulip Festival in 2010 was approximately 80,000. Another large festival in Albany is the Capital Pride Parade and Festival, a major gay pride event held each June, attended by an estimated 30,000 spectators annually from across Upstate New York.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Price Chopper Fabulous Fourth and Fireworks Festival at the Empire State Plaza celebrates Independence Day with musical performances and the region's largest fireworks display. Freihofer's Run for Women is a 5-kilometer run through the city that draws more than 4,000 participants from across the country; it is an annual event that began in 1978.The Albany Chefs' Food & Wine Festival: Wine & Dine for the Arts is an annual Festival that hosts more than 3500 people over 3 days. The Festival showcases more than 70 Regional Chefs & Restaurants, 250 Global Wines & Spirits, a NYS Craft Beer Pavilion, 4 competitions (The Signature Chef Invitational, Rising Star Chef, Barista Albany and Battle of the Bartenders) and one Grand Gala Reception, Dinner & Auction featuring 10 f Albany's Iconic Chefs. The Albany Chefs' Food & Wine Festival donates all net proceeds to deserving Albany Arts Organizations and is held the Thursday-Saturday preceding Martin Luther King Weekend. Smaller events include the African American Family Day Arts Festival each August at the Empire State Plaza; the Latin Fest, held each August at the Corning Preserve; the Albany Jazz Festival, an annual end-of-summer event held at the Corning Preserve; and Lark Fest, a music and art festival held each fall.


title: Albany, New York

text: Because of Albany's historical and political significance, the city has numerous museums, historical buildings, and historic districts. Albany is home to the New York State Museum, the New York State Library and the New York State Archives; all three facilities are in the Cultural Education Center at the south end of Empire State Plaza and are free to the public. The USS "Slater" (DE-766), a decommissioned World War II destroyer escort that was restored in 1998, is a museum ship docked in the Hudson River at Quay Street. It is the only ship of its kind still afloat. The Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center, at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Broadway at Quackenbush Square, hosts a museum, gift shop, and the Henry Hudson Planetarium. In early 2012, the Irish American Heritage Museum opened in downtown Albany. The museum is home to exhibits highlighting the contributions of the Irish people in America.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Albany Institute of History and Art, on Washington Avenue near the Center Square Neighborhood and State Capitol, is "dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley region." The museum's most notable permanent exhibits include an extensive collection of paintings by the Hudson River School and an exhibit on Ancient Egypt featuring the institute's "Albany Mummies."


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany is home to 57 listings on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and five National Historic Landmarks. The Ten Broeck Mansion, a 1797 Federal-style mansion (later renovated in the Greek-Revival style) built for Abraham Ten Broeck (mayor of Albany 1779–1783 and 1796–1798) is a historic house museum and the headquarters of the Albany County Historical Association; it was added to the NRHP in 1971. Later known as "Arbor Hill", it gave the current neighborhood its name.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany has been the subject, inspiration, or location for many written and cinematic works. Many non-fiction works have been written on the city. One of the city's more notable claims to fame is "Ironweed" (1983), the 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Albany native William Kennedy. "Ironweed" was the third in a series of books by Kennedy known as the "Albany Cycle". The elusive author Trevanian also grew up in Albany and wrote "The Crazyladies of Pearl Street" (2005), about a North Albany neighborhood along Pearl Street. The book is considered a semi-autobiographical memoir.


title: Albany, New York

text: In 1987, the film version of "Ironweed" premiered at the Palace Theatre. The movie starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, each of whom were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances; much of the filming was done on location in Albany. Most recently the downtown area was the site of filming for the action-thriller "Salt", starring Angelina Jolie, and the action-comedy "The Other Guys", starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.


title: Albany, New York

text: Authors Herman Melville and Henry James lived with their families in Albany when young, before their careers. James identified his character Isabel Archer, the heroine of his novel "The Portrait of a Lady", as being from Albany. Gregory Maguire, author of "" (adapted for the Broadway hit "Wicked"), grew up in North Albany and graduated from SUNY Albany.


title: Albany, New York

text: The City School District of Albany (CSDA) operates the city's public school system, which consists of 17 schools and learning centers; in addition, there are 7 charter schools, including Green Tech Charter High School, and Albany Leadership High School. In the 2015–2016 school year, over 9,000 students were enrolled in the public school system. The district had an average class size of 18, an 81-percent graduation rate, and a 5-percent dropout rate. The district's 2010–11 budget is $202.8 million. Although considered by the state to be one of the lowest-achieving high schools in New York, Albany High was listed as the nation's 976th best high school in a 2010 "Newsweek/Washington Post" report. Albany also has a number of private schools, including the coed Bishop Maginn High School and Albany Free School; the all-boys Albany Academy; and the all-girls Academy of the Holy Names and Albany Academy for Girls.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany has a prominent history in higher education and was ranked third in a "Forbes" survey called "The Best Places with the Best Education" in 2005; it ranked top on "Forbes"' "IQ Campuses" list as part of its 150 Cheap Places to Live series in 2006. The Albany Medical College (private), today part of Albany Medical Center, was founded in 1838. Albany Law School (private) is the oldest law school in New York and the fourth-oldest in the country; it was opened in 1851. President William McKinley was an alumnus. The Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (private) is the second-oldest pharmacy school in New York and the fifteenth-oldest in the United States.


title: Albany, New York

text: The New York State Normal School, one of the oldest teachers colleges in the United States, opened in 1844; it was later known as the State Teachers College. It eventually evolved into the University at Albany, also known as SUNY Albany (public), which inherited the Normal School's original downtown campus on Western Avenue. The center of the campus moved to its current Uptown Campus in the west end of the city in 1970. SUNY Albany is a unit of the State University of New York and one of only four university centers in the system. Other colleges and universities in Albany include Empire State College, The College of Saint Rose, Excelsior College, Maria College, Mildred Elley, and Sage College of Albany. Nearby Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) fills the community college niche in the Albany-Troy area. The effect of the campuses on the city's population is substantial: Combining the student bodies of all the aforementioned campuses (except HVCC) results in 63,149 students, or almost 70 percent of the 2008 estimate of Albany's permanent population.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany's economy, along with that of the Capital District in general, is heavily dependent on government, health care, education, and more recently, technology. Because of these typically steady economic bases, the local economy has been relatively immune to national economic recessions in the past. More than 25 percent of the city's population works in government-related positions. Albany's estimated daytime population is more than 162,000. Companies based in Albany include Trans World Entertainment, AMRI Global and Clough Harbour. Albany has the fourth highest amount of lawyers in its employment pool (7.5 lawyers per 1,000 jobs) compared to the rest of the nation, behind Washington, D.C., Trenton, New Jersey, and New York City, respectively.


title: Albany, New York

text: Since the 2000s, the economy of Albany and the surrounding Capital District has been redirected toward a high technology focus. Tech Valley is a marketing name for the eastern part of New York State, encompassing Albany, the Capital District, and the Hudson Valley. Originated in 1998 to promote the greater Albany area as a high-tech competitor to regions such as Silicon Valley and Boston, it has since grown to represent the counties in the Capital District and extending to 19 counties from IBM's Westchester County plants in the south to the Canada–US border in the north. The area's high technology ecosystem is supported by technologically focused academic institutions including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute. Tech Valley encompasses 19 counties straddling both sides of the Adirondack Northway and the New York Thruway, and with heavy state taxpayer subsidy, has experienced significant growth in the computer hardware side of the high-technology industry, with great strides in the nanotechnology sector, digital electronics design, and water- and electricity-dependent integrated microchip circuit manufacturing.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany has a Strong mayor-council form of government, which functions under the Dongan Charter, which was granted by colonial governor Thomas Dongan in 1686 when Albany was incorporated as a city. A revised charter was adopted by referendum in 1998, but was legally reckoned as an amendment to the Dongan Charter. This gives Albany the distinction of having the oldest active city charter in the United States and "arguably the longest-running instrument of municipal government in the Western Hemisphere." The mayor, who is elected every four years, heads the executive branch of city government. The current mayor, Kathy Sheehan, was first elected in 2013. She replaced former mayor Gerald Jennings who was mayor for 20 years from 1994 to 2013. The Common Council represents the legislative branch of city government and is made up of fifteen council members (each elected from one ward) and an at-large Common Council President. The current president is Corey Ellis; he began his term in January 2018.


title: Albany, New York

text: While Albany has its own city government, it has also been the seat of Albany County since the county's formation in 1683 and the capital of New York since 1797. As such, the city is home to all branches of the county and state governments, as well as its own. Albany City Hall sits on Eagle Street, opposite the State Capitol, and the Albany County Office Building is on State Street. The state government has offices scattered throughout the city.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany is in the 20th Congressional district, represented by Paul Tonko (D) in the United States House of Representatives. The city is represented by Chuck Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in the United States Senate. On the state level, the city is in the 44th district in the New York Senate, represented by Neil Breslin (D). In the New York Assembly, western Albany is in the 109th district, represented by Patricia Fahy (D) while downtown and eastern Albany are in the 108th district, represented by John T. McDonald III (D). As the seat of Albany County, the city is the location of the county's courts including Family Court, County Court, Surrogate Court, Supreme Court, and New York Court of Appeals. Albany is the site of a federal courthouse that houses the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany's politics have been dominated by the Democratic Party since the 1920s; Daniel (Uncle Dan) O'Connell established a political machine in the city with the election of William Stormont Hackett as mayor in 1922. Prior to that, William Barnes Jr. had set up a Republican machine in the 1890s. Barnes' success is attributed to the fact that he owned two newspapers in Albany and that he was the grandson of Thurlow Weed, the influential newspaper publisher and political boss. O'Connell's organization overcame Barnes' in 1922 and survived well into the 1980s (even after his death), as the machine put forth candidates for whom the electorate dutifully voted. In many instances, votes were outright bought; it was not uncommon for the machine to "buy poor folks' loyalty and trust with a fiver".


title: Albany, New York

text: Gerald Jennings' upset in the 1993 Democratic mayoral primary over Harold Joyce, who had the Democratic Party's formal endorsement and had only recently been its county chairman, is often cited as the end of the O'Connell era in Albany. In the early 21st century, Albany continued to be dominated by the Democratic Party. Democratic Party enrollment in the city was 38,862 in 2009, while Republican enrollment was 3,487. As of 2022, every elected city position had been held by a Democrat since 1931.


title: Albany, New York

text: Like most cities of comparable age and size, Albany has well-established Orthodox Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish communities. Albany is home to the oldest Christian congregation in Upstate New York and the Mother Churches of two Christian dioceses. , eight churches or religious buildings in the city were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of which—St. Peter's Episcopal Church on State Street—is a National Historic Landmark. Established in 1642, the congregation of the First Church in Albany (Reformed), also known as the North Dutch Church (lon North Pearl Street), is the second-oldest Reformed Church in America. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Eagle Street and Madison Avenue, built 1852) is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, led by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, and the Cathedral of All Saints (South Swan Street and Elk Street, built 1888) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. As of 2010, the city was home to eleven Catholic churches and six Episcopal churches. Despite its history of Christendom, the Albany metropolitan area was found to be among the most post-Christian cities in the United States in a 2019 study by the Barna Group.


title: Albany, New York

text: A significant Jewish presence has existed in Albany as early as 1658. As of 2010, Albany is home to two Conservative synagogues, a Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue, an Orthodox synagogue, and two Reform synagogues. Albany is also home to one of the few Karaite synagogues outside Israel. As of 2008, the total membership in Albany's synagogues was estimated at 12,000-13,000, with half the members residing outside the city. Since the early 2000s, there has been an increase in Orthodox Jews moving to Albany from the New York Metro area, largely due to cheaper housing prices and closer walking proximity to synagogues.


title: Albany, New York

text: There is a sizable Islamic community in Albany and its surrounding suburbs with at least four major mosques in the region. While there has been a relatively small presence of Muslims for several decades, the population has significantly increased since around 2010 with the arrival of hundreds of refugees from countries such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.


title: Albany, New York

text: Exact numbers on religious denominations in Albany are not readily available. Demographic statistics in the United States depend heavily on the United States Census Bureau, which cannot ask about religious affiliation as part of its decennial census. It does compile some national and statewide religious statistics, but these are not representative of a city the size of Albany. One report from 2000 offers religious affiliations for Albany County. According to the data, 59.2% of Albany County residents identified as Christian: 47% are Roman Catholic, 8.4% are mainline Protestants, 2.7% are Evangelical Protestants, and 1.1% are Eastern or Oriental Orthodox Christians. Residents who practice Judaism make up 4.2% of the population and Muslims represent 0.2%.


title: Albany, New York

text: The "Times Union" is Albany's primary daily newspaper and the only one based close to the city; its headquarters moved from within city limits to suburban Colonie in the 1960s after a dispute with Mayor Corning over land needed for expansion. Its circulation totals about 73,000 on weekdays and 143,000 on Sundays. Serving Albany to a lesser degree are "The Daily Gazette", based in Schenectady, and "The Record", of Troy. "Metroland" is the alternative newsweekly in the area, publishing each Thursday, while "The Business Review" is a business weekly published each Friday. The "Legislative Gazette", another weekly newspaper, focuses exclusively on issues related to the Legislature and the state government.


title: Albany, New York

text: As of 2010, the Albany-Schenectady-Troy media market is the 63rd-largest in the country in terms of radio and the 57th-largest in terms of television audiences. It is a broadcast market with historical significance. The pioneering influence of General Electric in Schenectady directly contributed to the area emerging as the birthplace of station-based television with WRGB; the station was also the first affiliate of NBC. In 1947, the region was home to the first independently owned and operated commercial FM radio station in the United States: W47A. WGY was the second commercial radio station in New York and the twelfth in the nation. The Capital District is home to ABC affiliate WTEN 10, CBS affiliate WRGB 6 (also operating CW affiliate WCWN 45), Fox affiliate WXXA 23, NBC affiliate WNYT 13 (also operating MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYA 51), and PBS member station WMHT 17. Charter Communications hosts Spectrum News Capital Region, the area's only local 24-hour news channel. The area has numerous radio stations.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Northway (Interstate 87 north of the New York State Thruway) connects Albany by car to Canada at Champlain; Autoroute 15 continues into Quebec, linking Albany to Montreal. Interstate 90 connects Albany to both Buffalo and Boston, via the New York State Thruway and the Massachusetts Turnpike respectively, both of which use I-90 (the NYS Thruway partially, the Massachusetts Turnpike fully). South of Albany, I-87 becomes part of the Thruway and ends at Interstate 278 in the Bronx. Albany is at the crossroad of I-87 and I-90, creating a junction between Buffalo, Boston, Montreal, and New York. Interstate 787 links Albany to Watervliet, Colonie, and Menands. By way of Route 7, I-787 connects to the Northway.


title: Albany, New York

text: With the closure of Union Station on Broadway, area passenger-rail service is provided by Amtrak at the Albany-Rensselaer station across the river in Rensselaer. In 2009, the station saw more than 720,000 passengers, making it Amtrak's second-busiest in New York, behind New York's Penn Station. Amtrak provides service south to New York City; north to Montreal, and Rutland (Vermont); west to Niagara Falls, Toronto and Chicago; and east to Boston.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany's major airport is Albany International Airport in Colonie. Major airline service to Albany includes service by: American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and United Airlines; Million Air is the local fixed-base operator. In 2010, Albany had the highest average airfare in New York, though the per-mile cost on its busiest routes was second-lowest in the state.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) provides bus service throughout Albany and the surrounding area, including Schenectady, Troy, and Saratoga Springs. The city was once served by an urban streetcar service maintained by the United Traction Company. As in many American cities, after the advent of the automobile, light rail services declined in Albany and were replaced by bus and taxi services. Greyhound Lines, Trailways, Peter Pan, Short Line, Vermont Translines, and Yankee Trails buses all serve a downtown terminal. Brown Coach provides commuter service. Low-cost curbside bus service from the SUNY Albany campus and the Rensselaer station is also provided by Megabus, with direct service to New York City.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany, long an important Hudson River port, today serves domestic and international ships and barges through the Port of Albany-Rensselaer, on both sides of the river. The port has the largest mobile harbor crane in the state of New York. The New York State Barge Canal, the ultimate successor of the Erie Canal, is in use today, largely by tourist and private boats.


title: Albany, New York

text: Albany has no major league professional sports teams, and minor league teams typically have low support.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Albany Devils were a minor league ice hockey team that moved to the city for the 2010–11 season. They played in the American Hockey League and were affiliated with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. The Devils replaced the Albany River Rats, who played in the Capital Region from 1990 to 2010, when they relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Albany Devils moved to Binghamton, New York in 2017.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Times Union Center has previously hosted arena football teams including the Albany Firebirds in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1990 to 2000 and then a team originally known as the Albany Conquest and later the Firebirds in the af2, the AFL's developmental league, from 2002 to 2009. The Albany Empire played in the AFL from 2018 through the 2019 season when the league folded. A new Albany Empire was relaunched in the National Arena League for the 2021 season.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Tri-City ValleyCats short season minor league baseball team have played at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium on the Hudson Valley Community College campus in North Greenbush since 2002. Prior to the ValleyCats' arrival, the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs (1995–2002) played at Heritage Park in Colonie; due to financial pressures, and facing impending competition from the ValleyCats, the franchise folded in 2002.


title: Albany, New York

text: The Albany Legends (International Basketball League), played in the Washington Avenue Armory from 2010 to 2014 before moving to Schenectady. The Albany Patroons have played at the Armory on and off since 1982 and currently play in The Basketball League.


title: Albany, New York

text: With the large number of local colleges and universities around Albany, college sports are popular. The University at Albany's Great Danes play at the Division I level in all sports. The football team is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association while all other sports teams play as members of the America East Conference. In 2006, UAlbany became the first SUNY-affiliated school to send a team to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The Siena Saints saw a rise in popularity after their men's basketball team made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2008, 2009, and 2010. All 18 Saints teams are Division I and play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Although Siena's campus is in nearby Colonie, the men's basketball team plays at the Times Union Center.


title: Albany, New York

text: On February 23, 2021, it was announced that the National Lacrosse League (NLL) would return to the city with the relocation of the New England Black Wolves. The team was named the Albany FireWolves on April 15, 2021. This is the second NLL team to be based in the area; the first, the Albany Attack, played in the city from 2000 to 2003.


title: Albany, New York

text: The city of Nijmegen, Netherlands connected with Albany following World War II. With the help of the Catholic university in Albany, the Catholic University of Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) rebuilt its partly destroyed library, with over 50,000 books being donated to the Dutch university. To show its gratitude for post-war assistance, the city sent Albany 50,000 tulip bulbs in 1948; this act led to the establishment of the annual Tulip Festival. Most of the other connections were made in the 1980s during Mayor Whalen's term in office as part of his cultural expansion program.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series consists predominantly of platform games, but also includes spin-offs in the kart racing and party game genres. The series was originally produced by Universal Interactive, which later became known as Vivendi Games; in 2007, Vivendi merged with Activision, which currently owns and publishes the franchise.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: The games are mostly set on the fictitious Wumpa Islands, an archipelago situated to the south of Australia where humans and mutant animals co-exist, although other locations are common. The protagonist of the series is a genetically enhanced bandicoot named Crash, whose quiet life on the Wumpa Islands is often interrupted by the games' main antagonist, Doctor Neo Cortex, who created Crash and wants him dead as he is a failed experiment. In most games, Crash must defeat Cortex and foil his plans for world domination.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: After presenting "Way of the Warrior" to Mark Cerny of Universal Interactive, Naughty Dog was signed on to the company for three additional games. In August 1994, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin began their move from Boston, Massachusetts to Los Angeles, California. During the trip, Gavin and Rubin decided to create a 3D action-platform game, taking inspiration from 16-bit-era games such as "Donkey Kong Country", "Mario" and "Sonic". Because the player would be forced to constantly look at the character's backside, the game was jokingly code-named "Sonic's Ass Game". The basic technology for the game and the "Crash Bandicoot" series as a whole was created somewhere near Gary, Indiana. The rough game theory was designed near Colorado, Indiana. Soon afterward, Gavin and Rubin discarded their previous game design for "Al O. Saurus and Dinestein", a side-scrolling video game based on time travel and scientists genetically merged with dinosaurs. After moving into the Universal Interactive backlot, Gavin and Rubin met with Mark Cerny, discussed the design of the game and made an agreement to go into production. In September 1994, Gavin and Rubin decided to develop their new game for the PlayStation, after which Rubin began character design. In November 1994, Naughty Dog hired Dave Baggett, their first employee and a friend of Gavin's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Together, Gavin and Baggett created the development tool "Game Oriented Object LISP" (GOOL), which would be used to create the characters and gameplay of the game. In January 1995, Rubin became concerned about the programmer-to-artist ratio and hired Bob Rafei and Taylor Kurosaki as additional artists.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Needing a lead character for the game, Naughty Dog recruited American Exitus artists Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson and met with them weekly to create the characters and environments of the game, eventually creating a character named "Willy the Wombat". The marketing director of Universal Interactive insisted that the character be named "Wez", "Wuzzles" or "Wizzy the Wombat". On creating the levels for the game, Zembillas and Pearson first sketched each environment, designing and creating additional individual elements later. They aimed for an organic, overgrown look to the game and worked to completely avoid straight lines and 90-degree corners. A Naughty Dog artist sketched every single background object in the game before it was modeled. The artists were tasked with making the best use of textures and reducing the amount of geometry. Dark and light elements were juxtaposed to create visual interest and separate geometry. The Naughty Dog artists would squint when sketching, texturing and playing the levels to make sure they could be played by light value alone. Correct use of color was an important goal for Naughty Dog's artists; for example, mutually accentuating colors were chosen as the theme for the "Lost City" and "Sunset Vista" levels. The interior of Doctor Neo Cortex's castle was designed to reflect Cortex's twisted mind.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: After the main character's creation, the team went into three months of developing the game. The game first became functional in April 1995 and became playable in June 1995. The first 3 levels in the game were completed by August 1995. However, they were judged to be too difficult to appear so early in the game and were moved to the game's power plant area. Artist Charlotte Francis joined Naughty Dog at around this time. In September 1995, a videotape of "Crash Bandicoot" was shown to Sony Computer Entertainment behind closed doors. While playing the game during development, Rubin realized that there were many empty areas in the game due to the PlayStation's inability to process numerous on-screen enemy characters at the same time. Additionally, players were solving the game's puzzles too fast. Rubin soon came up with the idea of a box and putting various symbols on the sides to create puzzles. Breaking these boxes would serve to fill in the boring parts of the levels and give the player additional puzzles. The first "crate" was placed in the game in January 1996, and would become the primary gameplay element of the series. Willy the Wombat's destruction of the crates would eventually lead him to be renamed "Crash Bandicoot". In March 1996, Sony agreed to publish "Crash Bandicoot", which went into the alpha stage in April 1996. "Crash Bandicoot" was first shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 1996.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Development of "Cortex Strikes Back" began in October 1996. For the game, Andy Gavin created a new engine and scripting language named "Game Oriented Object LISP 2" (GOOL 2) that was three times faster than the previous game's engine, could handle ten times the animation frames and twice the polygon count. The jungle levels were originally to have featured ground fog, but this was abandoned when magazines and the public began to heavily criticize other developers for using fog to hide polygon count. Sunlight and depth accentuation was experimented with for these levels. Wanting to have some "dirty" locations in the game, Naughty Dog worked in the sewer levels and added color contrast to the levels to show depth and break up the repetitive monotony of the endless sewer pipes. A flat plane z-buffer was created for the game; because the water surfaces and mud in the jungle had to be a flat plane and be exactly flat on the Y-axis, there could be no waves and the subdividing plane could not be at an odd angle. The effect only worked on objects in the foreground and was only used on Crash, some enemies and a few boxes at the same time. The soundtrack of "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" was provided by Mutato Muzika (consisting of Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell), while the sound effects were created by Universal Sound Studios (consisting of Mike Gollom, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears). The characters were designed by Charles Zembillas of American Exitus, Incorporated. Clancy Brown provided the voice of Doctor Neo Cortex, while Brendan O'Brien voiced the dual role of Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nitrus Brio and Vicki Winters voiced Coco Bandicoot. The game was unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia in June 1997 to a positive response from the game industry. The game went into the alpha stage in August 1997. Around that time, Dan Arey, the lead designer of "", joined Naughty Dog and streamlined the level design.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Like the first, the second game was a commercial success, green-lighting a third game. Production of "Crash Bandicoot: Warped" began in January 1998, with Naughty Dog given only 10½ months to complete the game. Programmers Andy Gavin, Stephen White and Greg Omi created three new gameplay engines for the game. Two of the three new engines were three-dimensional in nature and were created for the airplane and jet-ski levels; the third new engine was created for the motorcycle levels in the style of a driving simulator. The new engines combined make up a third of the game, while the other two-thirds of the game consist of the tweaked engine used in the previous games. Jason Rubin explained that the "classic" engine and game style was preserved due to the success of the previous two games and went on to say that "were we to abandon that style of gameplay, that would mean that we would be abandoning a significant proportion of gamers out there". An arbitrary plane z-buffer was created for the jet-ski and flooded Egyptian hallway levels of the game. To create a completely fluid feel for the water on these levels, an environment map that reflects the sky was fitted onto the surface of the water. A real shadow was given to the Crash character at the request of the Sony Computer Entertainment America producers, who were "sick of that little discus that's following him around." To create an "arcade" experience in the airplane levels and to differentiate them from flight simulators, the enemy planes were programmed to come out in front of the player and give the player ample time to shoot them before they turn around and shoot the player rather than come up behind the player and hit them from behind. The Relic system was introduced to give players a reason to return to the game after it has been completed.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Also in 1998, Tiger Electronics released a series called "99X", each containing a black and white video game as opposed to the LCD games they were commonly known for. These were handhelds fitted with a dot-matrix screen, allowing for a wide variety of backgrounds and gameplay for a single game. Although running a software program stored in ROM, the systems were dedicated consoles, similar to the plug-and-play TV games of the 2000s decade. A Crash Bandicoot game, simply titled "Crash Bandicoot", was released as part of this series. Despite its name and being a platformer like its predecessors, it is not an adaptation of nor bears any relation to the 1996 game, instead featuring a plot of its own involving Crash retrieving treasure from a mansion haunted by a ghost named Mr. Crumb and his cronies. This was the first handheld game to be released in the series, as well as the first to include a multiplayer mode.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: While initially Naughty Dog was only signed on to make three games, "Crash Team Racing" was a possible "Crash 3" as it started out in production after "Crash 2" and the game which was finished first in production would be released first. However, Naughty Dog had already gotten far into the project and decided to finish it and release it. David Baggett produced the game's soundtrack, with Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell of Mutato Muzika composing the music. Sound effects were created by Mike Gollum, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears of Universal Sound Studios. This marked the end of Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot games.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: With the release of "Crash Bash", Universal Interactive's publishing deal with SCE had ended. Crash's prominent status within the video game community prompted the company to make Crash a multiplatform series, giving the series to Mark Cerny and Vicarious Visions to develop two separate but connected games.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: "" was originally to be designed by Cerny and published by Sony. After a falling-out between Universal and the two entities, developer Traveller's Tales was forced to alter the game from a free-roaming title to a standard "Crash" title. Traveller's Tales had to begin development of the game from scratch and were given only twelve months to complete it. The game received mixed reviews but made the Greatest Hits lineup due to strong sales.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: The following year, Universal would have Vicarious Visions release their first Crash Bandicoot game, a handheld exclusive called "" was developed by Vicarious Visions and released to favourable reviews. The game would be noted for being extremely similar to Naughty Dog's "". This would warrant a sequel, "", which would also be met to similar reception. During this time a subsidy of Traveller's Tales—Traveller's Tales Oxford Studio were developing a new Crash game for console. This game was to be "Crash Nitro Kart" but due to unknown circumstances Universal moved development of "Crash Nitro Kart" over to Vicarious Visions. Traveller's Tales Oxford Studio then moved on to their next project, "Crash Bandicoot Evolution".


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: "Crash Bandicoot Evolution" was set to create a new form of gameplay for Crash, with the game planned to be a platformer/RPG with many different elements planned for the game; it eventually became "Crash Twinsanity". Although Traveller's Tales planned on creating a Crash Bandicoot game titled "Cortex Chaos" and a sequel to "Crash Twinsanity", Universal never picked up the games, effectively cancelling them. Vicarious Visions's fourth and final game was "" for the Game Boy Advance, a crossover with the "Spyro" franchise and companion game to "Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy".


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Although "Cortex Chaos" and the sequel to "Crash Twinsanity" were cancelled, Traveller's Tales was nonetheless commissioned to develop one final Crash Bandicoot game. It was to be a kart racing game titled "Crash Clash Racing". However, Traveller's Tales was taken off the project as it was given to Radical Entertainment. The new studio proceeded to change the project into an entirely new game, keeping only two core ideas, clashing and fusion. The game marked the first game published under Universal's Sierra Entertainment brand, and the first game to use Radical's Titanium Engine, receiving the title "Crash Tag Team Racing".


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: The following year "Crash Boom Bang!" was released on July 20, 2006. This was the first Crash game to be developed by a Japanese video game studio called Dimps. This was also the first game to exclusively feature a Japanese voice cast in all regional versions of the game.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Development on "Crash of the Titans", Radical's second title, began after the completion of "Crash Tag Team Racing". The graphics of the Wii version of the game was one of Radical Entertainment's main focuses in the game's development, with Radical stating that the Wii has "a lot of horsepower under the hood" and expressing their desire to make full use of it. They also considered implementing a feature to connect the Wii to DS during gameplay, but stopped due to technical issues and time limitations. The Xbox 360 version got a few extra months of development time to improve its graphics before setting a final release date.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: While the game was being developed, the title's main character, Crash Bandicoot, became the new mascot of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "School and Youth" programs in an effort to promote the battle against blood cancer. In a bid to further promote the game, a Hummer was painted with imagery from the game and displayed at the Annual Balloon Fiesta in Bristol, United Kingdom. A "Monster Edition" of the game was released exclusively in Europe on October 12, 2007 for the PlayStation 2. This special edition of the game features "Making-of" videos, water-on tattoos, game hints, a cheat code list, and the game's E3 and theatrical trailers in multiple languages. Due to its "mild cartoon violence and language", the game received a PG rating from the BBFC.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: Development on "", Radical's third and final Crash title, began immediately after the completion of "Crash of the Titans". The idea of preserving a Titan for later use came from the play testing sessions of "Crash of the Titans", in which the testers were found to be reluctant to leave the Titans behind after an epic battle was won. Fans of the series were also a source of inspiration for "Crash: Mind over Mutant", having such wishes as a free-roaming environment, Coco Bandicoot being a playable character and the return of the character Doctor Nitrus Brio. Full camera control was considered for the game, but was rejected for graphical reasons and to avoid having to insert a split-screen view in the cooperation mode. Online gameplay was also considered as a feature in the finished game, but was omitted due to the brief development schedule. Coco Bandicoot as a playable character was omitted from the PlayStation 2 version of the game due to her distinct animations taking up much of the console's memory. The Wii version of "Crash: Mind over Mutant" was created first, with the graphics scaled up for the Xbox 360, and scaled down for the PlayStation 2.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: In 2010, rumors appeared that Radical Entertainment was developing a fourth "Crash Bandicoot" title, under the name "Crash Landed", but due to large layoffs in the studio, the game was cancelled with all remaining developers put to work on "Prototype 2". The DS edition of this game would be in development by Renegade Kid for approximately two weeks before similarly being cancelled by Activision. High Impact Games was developing a reboot of "Crash Team Racing" for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii, but the game was cancelled by Activision before the initial prototype. Several ideas for the game eventually made it into "DreamWorks Super Star Kartz".


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: On a Kotaku interview with then-Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg regarding the future of the "Crash" series, he said, "I don't have anything official to announce, but I can speak as an individual, I love "Crash Bandicoot". Those were some of my favorite video games growing up. And I would love to find a way to bring him back, if we could." Andy Gavin, co-creator of Crash Bandicoot, has said that he would love to see a HD version of the marsupial's first four games, or even a full-blown reboot. Jason Rubin, co-creator of Crash Bandicoot, said he was hopeful that Activision would "bring Crash back to their glory days and that the character is still very dear to fans between 18–49 years". A new design of Crash Bandicoot was spotted in a photo from the Vicarious Visions's studio, raising rumors that a new game might have been in development, though this was later confirmed to be concept art from a previous Crash Bandicoot cancelled game.


title: Crash Bandicoot

text: In June 2013, co-creator Andy Gavin suggested ways to revitalize the series. "Crash needs a total reboot. There's an opportunity to reset the history, and go back to his creation story and the original conflict with Cortex. In that context, you could reprise classic "Crash" 1 and 2's settings and villains. It would make sense to use a more modern, free-roaming style. I would concentrate on "Looney Tunes"-esque animation and really addictive action. That's what we did with the original "Crash", and there's no reason it couldn't be done today. Given the current "Crash" games, people forget that he was once cool. Our Crash had a certain whimsical edge to him. Sure, it was goofy—but it wasn't dumb.".