Editing Albany, New York (section)

==Parks and recreation==
[[File:Washington Park Playhouse.jpg|thumb|left|The 1929 [[Washington Park Historic District (Albany, New York)|Washington Park Lake House]] replaced a wooden lake house built in 1876.<ref name="waite158159">Waite (1993), pp. 158–159</ref>|alt=An orange-red mission-style building is seen on the banks of a lake, surrounded by trees.]]
Albany has more than 60 public parks and recreation areas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Park Maintenance |publisher=City of Albany, New York |url=http://www.albanyny.gov/Government/Departments/GeneralServices/Beautification/ParkMaintenance.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614234804/http://www.albanyny.gov/Government/Departments/GeneralServices/Beautification/ParkMaintenance.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 14, 2008 |access-date=July 4, 2010 }}</ref> [[Washington Park Historic District (Albany, New York)|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,<ref name="waite155">Waite (1993), p. 155</ref> 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 Festival (Albany, New York)|Tulip Fest]]; and attend plays at the amphitheater during the summer.<ref name="waite155" /><ref name="howell517518">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bicentennialhis00howegoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/bicentennialhis00howegoog/page/n373 517]|title=Bi-centennial History of Albany|publisher=W. W. Munsell & Company|last1=Howell|first1=George Rogers|last2=Tenney|first2=Jonathan|year=1886}}</ref><ref name="washparknom">{{cite web |title=Washington Park Historic District |last=Brooke |first=Cornelia E. |publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] |date=May 1972 |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=485 |access-date=June 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012174912/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=485 |archive-date=October 12, 2012  }}</ref><ref name="washparkcon">{{cite web |title=Chronological History of Washington Park |publisher=Washington Park Conservancy |access-date=June 1, 2010 |url=http://www.washingtonparkconservancy.org/Park_History.htm}}</ref>
[[File:Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza.jpg|thumb|Empire State Plaza]]
[[File:Lincoln Park Albany.jpg|thumb|[[Lincoln Park (Albany)|Lincoln Park]] is flanked on the north by the [[Empire State Plaza]].|alt=A green space with trees and rolling lawns is flanked by tall, modern-style buildings in the background on a sunny day.]]
Other parks in Albany include [[Lincoln Park (Albany, New York)|Lincoln Park]], Buckingham Park, the Corning Preserve, the Albany Skyway and the Pine Bush. Lincoln Park, southwest of the Empire State Plaza, was organized in 1886 and was originally known as Beaver Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lincoln Park |publisher=Washington Park Conservancy |access-date=June 3, 2010 |url=http://www.washingtonparkconservancy.org/Lincoln_Park.htm}}</ref> Today, the park has a pool that is open during the summer months. [[Buckingham Lake|Buckingham Lake Park]] is between Manning Boulevard and [[New York State Route 85|Route 85]] in the Buckingham Pond neighborhood; it contains a pond with fountains, a footpath, a playground, and picnic tables.<ref>{{cite news |title=Buckingham Pond, Albany |author=Lisi, Michael |publisher=Hearst Newspapers |work=Times Union (Albany) |date=July 22, 2007 |url=http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6469313 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 6, 2010 |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430030047/http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6469313 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="corningpreserve">{{cite web |title=Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve |publisher=City of Albany, New York |access-date=July 4, 2010 |url=http://www.albany.org/pages/listings/show_listingDetail.asp?ent_id=422&mem_id=Yes&sort=Attractions&hd=Attractions&showSub=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007013325/http://www.albany.org/pages/listings/show_listingDetail.asp?ent_id=422&mem_id=Yes&sort=Attractions&hd=Attractions&showSub=|archive-date=October 7, 2006}}</ref> The park has a bike trail and boat launch<ref name="corningpreserve" /> and was effectively separated from downtown by [[Interstate 787]] until the opening of the [[Hudson River Way]] in 2002.<ref name="hudsonriverway" />

Other public parks include Westland Hill Park, Hoffman Park, Beverwyck Park,<ref>{{cite web |title=Playgrounds and Recreational Facilities |publisher=City of Albany Recreation Office |url=http://www.albanyny.gov/_files/Recreation_facilities.pdf |access-date=July 4, 2010 |year=2010 |archive-date=October 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026185440/http://albanyny.gov/_files/Recreation_facilities.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Liberty Park, today a small circular grassy patch in downtown on Hudson Avenue, which is Albany's oldest park.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Patroon's Garden and Liberty Park, Albany, New York |last=Huey |first=Paul R |publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation |year=2002 |oclc=77589030 |location=[[Waterford, New York|Waterford]]}}</ref> Ridgefield Park is home to the clay courts of the Albany Tennis Club, one of the oldest tennis clubs in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Abukhalaf|first1=Jackie|title=Albany Tennis Club in full swing|url=http://blog.timesunion.com/pinehills/albany-tennis-club-in-full-swing/3927/|website=Times Union|date=May 6, 2011|access-date=November 17, 2016|archive-date=November 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118041250/http://blog.timesunion.com/pinehills/albany-tennis-club-in-full-swing/3927/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Billygoats">{{cite book |last=Bryant |first=Eric |title=Bogies and Billygoats: A History of the Albany Municipal Golf Course |page=6 |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSy8BTBTYWwC |isbn=9780595264506 |publisher=Writer's Club Press}}</ref>