Editing Menands, New York (section)

===Amusement===
In the mid-late 19th and early 20th centuries, Menands was a popular destination for entertainment and amusement. Pleasure Island and Park Island (constructed in 1866) had trotting tracks and various entertainment venues.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bi-centennial history of Albany, N.Y. from 1609 to 1886|publisher=W.W. Munsell and Company|access-date=December 24, 2009|author=George Rogers Howell and Jonathan Tenney|year=1886|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWkJAQAAIAAJ&q=pleasure+island+albany&pg=PA945|page=945}}</ref> In 1884, the Island Park Association leased the race course, Island Park, directly north of Pleasure Island. It was considered one of the fastest and safest in the nation.<ref>{{Cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/citytroyanditsv00weisgoog/page/n195 179]|url=https://archive.org/details/citytroyanditsv00weisgoog|quote=pleasure island albany.|author=Arthur James Weise|publisher=Edward Green|title=The city of Troy and its vicinity|year=1886|access-date=December 24, 2009}}</ref>

Among the festivities and activities at Pleasure Island were a two-mile (3&nbsp;km) bicycle race, a sack race, barrel race, swimming exhibition, trotter race, and fireworks.<ref name=TU2003>{{cite news|title=Decades later, Pleasure Island resurfaces|newspaper=Albany Times Union|date=September 16, 2003|access-date=December 24, 2009|author=Paul Grondahl|url=http://www.colonie.org/historian/altro/tu_article.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224083041/http://www.colonie.org/historian/altro/tu_article.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2012}}</ref> In 1907 [[Al-Tro Island Park]] renovated Pleasure Island, Al-Tro was named for being halfway between Albany and Troy, and the park's manager boasted of surpassing [[Coney Island]]. The park had a {{convert|900|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} and {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} boardwalk, with amusements on each side. About halfway down the boardwalk was an amphitheater that could seat 4000, it was one of the largest in the state.<ref>{{cite web|title=Al-Tro Island Park in readiness for the public|publisher=The Sunday Record|date=June 30, 1985|access-date=December 24, 2009|url=http://www.colonie.org/historian/altro/record_article.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205165740/http://www.colonie.org/historian/altro/record_article.pdf|archive-date=February 5, 2012}}</ref> At the time Al-Tro Park was considered the finest pleasure resort in northern New York.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Motorman and Conductor|volume=13|issue=3|access-date=December 24, 2009|year=1905|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0go9AAAAIAAJ&q=al+tro+park&pg=RA3-PA21}}</ref> In the early 1920s Al-Tro closed and the concept was used in the late 1920s by nearby Mid-City Park, an amusement park along Broadway on the other side away from the river, it had a roller coaster, merry-go-round, roller skating rink, and swimming pool; it too would close after a few decades.<ref name=TU2003/> It was replaced by the current Mid-City Shopping Center.

Baseball was also a popular entertainment venue in Menands bringing in spectators from across the region. Chadwick Park was home to the [[Albany Senators (minor league baseball)|Albany Senators]] who played in the [[New York State League]], [[Eastern League (baseball, 1916-32)|Eastern League]], [[International League]], [[New York–Pennsylvania League (1923–37)|New York–Pennsylvania League]], and the modern [[Eastern League (1938–2020)|Eastern League]]. {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} On May 30, 1924, the Senators played a [[Doubleheader (baseball)|double header]] at [[home field|home]] against the [[Pittsfield Hillies]], the first game lasted 9 innings but the second game went for 20, it is still one of the longest double headers by number of innings in professional baseball.<ref>{{cite web|title=Appendix 7: Chronological listing of all doubleheader marathons of 26 or more innings, as well as listing by innings and evolution of records|access-date=December 24, 2009|url=http://www.sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/Lowry_LongestGames_AppendixSeven.pdf|publisher=The Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref> In 1928 Chadwick Park was rebuilt, in 1929 it was renamed Hawkins Stadium,<ref name=Timeline/> and in 1930 [[General Electric]] installed lights for night games.<ref>{{cite book|title=Albany Revisited|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-jsdfgEP0ZIC&q=chadwick+park+albany&pg=PA87|author=Don Rittner|year=2008|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-5652-9}}</ref>

It was at Hawkins Stadium that the [[New York Yankees]] played the Albany Senators in 1931 before a crowd of 6,300; [[Babe Ruth]] hit two [[home run]]s.<ref name=Timeline>{{cite web|title=David Pietrusza's Capital Region Baseball Timeline Part III: 1931-1950|author=David Pietrusza|access-date=December 24, 2009|url=http://www.davidpietrusza.com/capital-reg-baseball-3.html}}</ref> The Senators folded in 1959. It too was demolished to make way for the Mid-City Shopping Center and a department type store, which would eventually close and be replaced by the New York State Office of Workers Compensation Board. From June 12, 1947, to September 2, 1963, Empire Raceways was a popular entertainment venue. It was a quarter mile paved oval track and was located close enough to the Hudson River that spectators would sit on the Troy-Menands Bridge and watch the races for free. The location would later become the site of a [[Two Guys Department Stores|Two Guys Department Store]] and Interstate 787.<ref>{{cite web|title=Empire Raceways|publisher=North American Motorsports/Krusty Motorsports|url=http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/NY/Menands.html|access-date=December 25, 2009}}</ref>

Two Guys was just one of the retail locations in Menands that made Menands a shopping destination for the surrounding area. In addition to Two Guys there was a [[F. W. Woolworth Company|Woolworth]], [[Montgomery Wards]], several grocery stores, and various other shops along Broadway. The Two Guys location on Broadway, located next to the Troy-Menands Bridge, was one of only two in the area, the other being in downtown [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Another retail landmark in Menands was the Montgomery Ward Retail Store and Warehouse built in 1929, it was one of nine similar buildings built in the 1920s,<ref name=Monkey>{{cite news|title=Old landmark has new lease on life|newspaper=Albany Business Review|date=December 17, 2004|access-date=December 25, 2009|url=http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2004/12/20/story1.html|author=Robin Wood}}</ref> and one of four that still remain. {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} The building had its own railroad spur that allowed boxcars to be unloaded inside, making delivery of goods to the building easier.<ref name=Monkey/> Montgomery Wards left the building in the early 1980s. Today the building is office space, mostly geared towards state agencies.<ref name=Monkey/> Woolworth was located at the Mid-City Shopping Center, it closed in 1997.<ref>{{cite news|title=Woolworth to close all US stores|newspaper=Albany Times Union|author=Rachel Beck|date=July 18, 1997|access-date=December 25, 2009|url=http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5873976}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>