The fact that this is free should encourage everyone to come here! I have easily paid 20 bucks for views like this in other cities! I graduated in the Egg structure and it was neat to see it from this high up. The mountains in the distance are so gorgeous and made me remember why I chose to go to college here. A lovely experience that I would say is a must do if you are ever in downtown Albany! read more

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My wife and I brought our Chinese exchange friend here for the view of Albany. We were the only ones up there for much of the time, and it was quiet and peaceful. While it was a gloomy February day, the views were still pretty good. Since I am familiar with the area, it was fun to look around and spot areas I know from the higher vantage point. For those who don't know Albany, they had nice picture boards pointing out the major sites in the area. However, since they were only in English (and not Chinese) they were of limited value to our friend. We did our best to help her out. One downside is that to gain access from the indoor concourse level you either need to take an elevator to the plaza level, or take an escalator. Because we had a baby stroller they helped us with the first elevator ride up. On the way down, though, they not only acknowledged that we had a stroller but instead asked us to "deal with the escalator." I believe they were short-staffed at the desk, but this was really annoying. Thankfully, a we made it down without incident (or lawsuit). At least it is free. read more

Now that you are in New York's capital, why not see it from the tallest building in the city. Best of all it's FREE to go to the 42nd floor observatory. If you come here on a sunny day, you can really see a lot of Albany and it's surroundings. I personally love viewing the Empire State Plaza from above. Go to the other side of the observation deck and you can see the governor's mansion. This is a GREAT place to take out of town visitors since there isn't a TON to do in Albany. Two things to keep in mind: 1. Hours are limited, at my time of visit it was only open M-F, 10-4. Kind of a bummer that this isn't open on the weekends, I think it used to be, but it has to do with state funding. 2. If the weather outside is horrible and cloudy you won't be able to see much. If you are visiting Albany, I'd also suggest a quick visit to the free state museum where you can also ride the carousel. Stroll up to Lark Street for a meal or beverage too! If it's nice out wander through Washington Park. read more

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this observation deck is pretty nice. i do wish they had a deck where you can go outside and photograph the view. but the inside view is still nice anyway. its free to go up to the 42nd floor. read more

I highly recommend visiting Corning Tower if you are in Albany. You can see really picturesque views of the city from the observation deck level of the building. There are also interesting art installations in the lobby. There's a Louise Nevelson piece there (she's one of my favorite artists, so I was excited). Best thing - these attractions are FREE. So check it out if you find yourself in New York State's capital. read more

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My family and I were down in the capital area and my husband saw this big building. His reaction was "I want to go to the top and look out. I bet there are amazing views." He was really just planning to pick a floor and go look out windows. Turns out they have a observation deck just for people like him! Clearly the rest of the floors are filled with businesses and such, but the top floor was all we cared about. There is a special elevator just for the observation deck. There were some indications you had to show ID, but nobody ever asked us - I guess we don't look like trouble makers. The viewing is free and pretty great. The windows were not ideal for taking pictures out of, but that was ok as you could still see clearly. They have some of the telescopes that are a quarter each to focus in on places. The view is not 360, but still pretty good. By many of the windows there is a map of the area you're looking at with points of interest highlighted. It was neat to be able to tell what you're looking at and not feeling out of the loop. I'd definitely suggest you pop in here one time that you're in the area! read more

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Oh this mid-century brutalist architecture...I love it! This building was built along with the rest of Empire State Plaza and it fits in the environment well. Easy to see from a long distance. I went in and enjoyed the wide, tall windows in the lobby as well as the artwork. Took the express elevator up to the 42nd floor to enjoy the view. Thoroughly saw a lot of the Hudson River and a bit of Albany. Unfortunately it does not wrap all the way around and I wasn't able to see much more of Albany. That's my only negative thing to say though. Worth a visit since it is free! read more

Its free, almost a 360 view of Albany w helpful signs pointing out places of interest. There isn't much to see in downtown when u ask the locals except make sure to get the view here and take a tour of the capitol, go to ny state museum, and possibly go to the art and history museum( not free). We strolled in Washington Park which is mostly a green space w a murky looking lake and a theatre. Check for summer events there. read more

If you're over by the Empire State Plaza or NYS Museum -- wherever -- stop by and check this out if it's open. It's a very quick, but interesting, experience. The elevator in the Corning Plaza goes directly to the observation deck (and quickly). There are multiple spots to peer out over Albany and enjoy the view. There are also binoculars up there, but I didn't use them. My date and I made a fairly quick round but found it highly enjoyable. I noticed some people were truly lounging, just drinking in the view, and I could respect that too. It's a neat, free add-on activity if you're in the area. read more

Q: Why is the view so spectacular from the top of Corning Tower? A: Because you don't have to look at Corning Tower. Yes, this crown of the disastrous brainchild of Gov. Rockefeller of the worst part of the modernist impulse is a tall building that must've seemed cool and futuristic at the time but which has aged very, very badly. So....there's an observation deck, of sorts, on top, well, not nearly on top, but three stories down from the top, of the largest building north of New York City. It's free, although you will likely have to pay to park, and it's only open 10-4 on weekdays and not on holidays, so it's hard to get into the place. The views are obstructed in three ways. First, there's absolutely no view to the west - the side of the building holds the service shafts for the elevator. Secondly, there are cornices and subroofs blocking about half the views to the north and south, close to the west elevators. And finally, the windows were not designed for viewing - so you really have to sort of lean out into each window well to see, and then it's hard to see more than about 80 degrees of horizon at best from each one, and less on the obstructed cornice-roof sections. The classic pay-binoculars spread around the edges, for 25 cents for a minute and some seconds of viewing, consequently only let you pan around for small portions of the horizon. I guess the next item would be, what is it that you see from up here you couldn't see otherwise? On a crystal clear winter day like today, with snow on the ground, we saw from the Adirondack foothills to the Catskills in the South, the Berkshires in the east, a nice stretch of the Hudson (but no Mohawk). You're high enough up and there's enough definition you can detect the curvature of the earth (take a straight edge with you if you have a child, so you can prove to them the world is round). You get a very good sense of the river valley topography that made Albany the transportation nexus that established it as a trading city, and also the limitations around its edges that kept it from becoming a truly large metropolitan area. You get some nice views of some landmarks, for better (Albany City Hall) or worse (the rest of the wretched Empire Plaza). The view of Troy is pretty decent, and it's far easier to pick out neighborhoods of Albany (Mansion, Cherry Hill) from the air than it is from the ground. There is plenty of space as far as observation decks go, good benches to sit down on on the inside that give you decent views, and the guard didn't hassle the kids when they stood on the window wells. We spotted one gentleman who had just brought up a book to read while sitting in one of the wells. The interpretive signage shows you currently landmarks nicely, although they don't go into any geological detail, which is a pity, and they don't identify oddities on the horizon that piqued our curiosity (the giant steam plume to the south - nuclear cooling tower? - the huge cisterns or drain pits just below us, that look like nothing other than circular walls from ground level, etc.) and they also didn't have a map overlay, which is usually fairly standard for scenic overlooks. It's definitely worth a trip, especially for anybody new to town or for kids to get a sense of place, but it's not really in the world class observation deck category (you'd have to go Windows on the World - I miss it - Chrysler Building, top of the Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower, London Eye, etc. for that level). And because it's free and there's no waiting, if you *do* happen to figure out how to get there during their extremely limited hours having braved the Concourse of the Corning Tower, by all means enjoy the hassle free experience. The easiest way to get there is to park on the periphery, over by the Executive Mansion or at a lot or a metered space, to into the New York State Museum, and go down underneath the concourse. Elevator 14 is automatic and goes only to the observation deck and back. What else is there to do in Corning Tower? Jack and Squat. We happened upon some school concerts today, which were fun, or you can join the hordes of state workers and have lunch at McDonalds or the reasonable if pedestrian Plaza Food Court. There are other dining options that are state-workers-only here and there about the building. The Concourse does have a smattering of monumental Rockefeller-era modern art, and I'm saying this as a fan and a former Art History student, it's really fourth-rate. If you're a coffee person: there's Green Mountain Coffee at a kiosk on the Concourse, and they have the usually sub-Starbucks Starbucks blend at the Plaza Food Court. You can probably sneak your lunch to the observation deck if you're not blatant about it. I'd suggest combining it with a visit to the State Museum, and/or with skating at the free outdoor rink in-season, or if you happen to be going to an event at the Egg or TU Center at a compatible time (which seems unlikely) going early. read more

I like the views from the Corning Tower. They are just spectacular. Not only can you see the sights of most of Albany, but also some of the surrounding bigger city of Troy and Rensselaer County as well as a lot of other cities.(Knowing this view is free with a photo-ID verification, makes this doubly good.) I'm not too proud of it's other facts. The windows were a bit dirty, but, being so high up, I take the fact that it's too high for window washers to "climb" to get up to the top of the tower to clean them. For their intended purpose, however, it works. Also, the observation deck isn't the only thing in this tower. There are also other privatized governmental-based business also existing inside the 2 towers. read more

Corning Tower Observation Deck - Corning Tower - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Albany, New York

WHY can't you look west? Who would design a 180 degree observation deck with a huge wall that blocks out views of Washington Park, Center Square, the Helderberg Mountains, and pretty the entire region except downtown and Rensselaer County? I wish the old open-air, 360-degree deck on the Smith Building wouldn't have closed, as I bet it would have been a better view. Everything else about Corning is nice, although the emptiness is a little depressing after having been to the big touristy observation decks in NYC, Boston, and Chicago. read more

One of the only exiting things to do in Albany. Always empty and nothing much going on. The view from the observation deck is nice though even if it is opened only on weekdays in between work hours so I'm not sure when they expect tourists to go there (not that there ever have been any more than 2 or 3). read more

Corning Tower Observation Deck - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Albany, New York

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I was alittile bit disappointed that this place closed on the weekends... I did glimpse what the inside of the first floor looked like...there was statues in every corner of the first floor ...the way the building shaped looked cool as well the area around the Corning tower is actually pretty amazing and peacefully there's water ponds ...park ...the egg ...other cool looking buildings and amazing view behind the Corning tower right outside... There's lot of benches outside for people to enjoy the peace and quite... Lovely for a nice spring/summer stroll..even though I didn't get to go inside to see what it looked like and go to the top to see the views ...the building outside is just as nice :) read more

Do NOT attempt to book a party in this space!! The coordinator is impossible to get in touch with, has very vague answers to direct questions, and does not follow up. This is the second year in a row that I have attempted to arrange a corporate event only to be left hanging and scrambling for an alternative option at the last minute. The first time I gave them the benefit of the doubt. This time I ought to have known better, and now I do. The idea may be beautiful, but the terrible customer/client services is not worth your time. SKIP IT. read more