Mayor Kathy Sheehan and David Galin, her chief of staff. The mayor and Galin tweeted and retweeted more than 20 times about Chris Churchill’s column about Albany.
ALBANY — It’s safe to say that Kathy Sheehan didn’t like my column about Albany’s string of bad news.
The mayor was complaining about it on X, formerly Twitter, before the column was even published. She was annoyed by the very premise, apparently, and also that we didn’t speak after I contacted her chief of staff, David Galin, to request an interview.
“The caption of Chris’ email — ‘Bad news and more bad news’ — spells out his perspective, so I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to hear directly from me,” Sheehan tweeted Monday evening, assuming she manages her social media accounts.
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Actually, I wanted to hear directly from the mayor, which is why I reached out. But by the time I learned Sheehan was willing and available to talk, a rarity, I was up against my (admittedly early) mid-afternoon deadline. It was too late to include her thoughts on what, to me at least, feels like a difficult time for the city.
I reached out to talk again on Tuesday, and also Wednesday, but was told by Galin in an email that the administration would “communicate the facts and the mayor’s perspective on these topics through other avenues.”
One of those avenues was X. By my last count, the mayor and Galin tweeted and retweeted more than 20 times about the column, expressing that the state of Albany is far rosier than I suggested.
“Chris from Menands remains obsessed with trashing Albany and is, no surprise, out of touch with reality,” Galin wrote. “Some portray their feelings as facts but leaders don’t wring their hands and fearmonger — they communicate the facts and act.”
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Chris from Menands. Turns out, living a mile beyond the city limits is a disqualifying offense, a person’s address is determinative and Albany is an island.
Obsessed with trashing Albany. Yes, that’s right. I spend every waking breath conjuring ways to trash a city key to my career and family. Makes perfect sense.
Out of touch with reality. Could be. Reality is in some sense an abstract concept based on individual perceptions and interpretations. Maybe I’m living in a dream world of my creation. Then again, maybe the mayor is.
I don’t think it’s delusional to believe Albany is going through a hard stretch.
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I mean, The College of Saint Rose will close for good in months, leaving a hole in Pine Hills and more than 650 people without their jobs. The city, enduring a string of unusually violent years, broke a record for homicides in 2023 and is on pace to break the record in 2024. Operators of prominent businesses, including the Madison and Spectrum theaters, are throwing in the towel.
As I said in Tuesday’s column, all that bad news and more could prove part of a transitional period. Businesses and industries churn and change hands. And yes, there’s reason for optimism about a new and perhaps better operator at the Spectrum.
Cities can reinvent themselves. Albany is not the only city struggling post-pandemic, and not every problem is the fault of City Hall.
But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I pretended everything was going great. Nor would I be doing the city any favors. If Albany is at a crossroads, then we had darn well better acknowledge it.
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For what it’s worth, I didn’t hear from a single reader who disagreed with the premise of the column, although one contended that “Troy and Schenectady are showing the same cracks.” I’m not the only person worried about the state of the city, which is hardly surprising.
Yet on X, Sheehan’s team was downplaying worries. While the violence is unacceptable, Galin noted, “84% of the homicides in 2023 were interpersonal disputes.” Oh, well, in that case.
Also, “Mayor Sheehan has participated in multiple discussions with leadership at the College of Saint Rose about the future of the campus,” Galin wrote, and “Albany is investing tens of millions in a new Albany West Community Center, Albany South Recreation Center and Lincoln Park Pool.”
Galin also retweeted a message from Brian Shea, a former Sheehan operations director who left for a job in Rye, down in coastal Westchester County. He doesn’t live in Albany, but somehow his opinion still counts.
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“I was in Albany last weekend for a visit,” Shea wrote. “Had some great food, good beer, visited Lark St. shops and a packed Madison Theater. Hit the park for a bit too. Didn’t encounter any doom or gloom.”
I stand corrected. Everything is fine. There is no reason for concern.
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