New York State A to Z: E is for Egg, Empire State Plaza and the Egg

The Egg is a very unusual building that sits on northeast corner of the Empire State Plaza in Albany, the Capital of New York State. It was designed by Wallace Harrison and built between 1966 and 1978 under engineer Peter A. Steinborn. Shaped like a real egg, the Fox affiliate, WXXA-TV, advertised their airing of The Simpsons with a billboard showing a giant Homer Simpson reaching for The Egg and saying, “Mmm… concrete egg..."

It is deceiving in its appearance. I remember one of my first memories of the Egg was my brothers' high school graduation. In this particular high school, graduating classes could be as high as 300 to 400 so it's no small venue.

It is also the site of many performances in the past from Arlo Guthrie to John Prine, Henry Rollins, the Zucchini Brothers, Emmylou Harris, the New York City Ballet, Perú Negro, Demetri Martin, They Might Be Giants, Porcupine Tree and Hot Tuna. It's a medium size space for such performers but very intimate at the same time. Albany is known for their appreciation of good entertainment and their warm reception, so the stars seem to like performing there.

The base that keeps the Egg standing actually goes down through six stories deep into the Earth. The construction was shaped in a way to reinforce the oblong structure. A heavily reinforced concrete beam that was poured along with the rest of the shell keeps the Egg's weight evenly distributed onto the supporting pedestal and gives it its durability. Though it looks fragile, its much more durable than its namesake. In other words, its not going to end up on the floor of the plaza with a yoke in the middle and someone saying "Oh, darn it...that was my last egg"

Here are some pictures I took on a cold lunch hour. The people that were leaving the Egg for lunch were from what I surmised, lawyers from the New York City area up for a class or convention. I was amused that they were struck by the Plaza. I heard one say "Boy, Nelson Rockefeller really knew what he was doing when he constructed this place." If you live in Albany, any compliment you can get from a New York City guy is one that is few and far between and very proudly accepted and appreciated.

Next is a picture of the rest of the plaza. The four agency buildings and the Corning Tower hold many state agencies. The genesis of the plaza can be traced back to Governor Nelson Rockefeller's embarrassment of the condition of Albany when the Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands visited for a celebration of the area's Dutch history. Riding with the princess through a section of the city known by the locals as "the Gut," Rockefeller was embarrassed and later said, "there's no question that the city did not look as I think the Princess thought it was going to" The seed was planted and this was the result.

Although a great accomplishment in the long run, many old neighborhoods were destroyed in the making, including the house where my mother grew up. Families had to relocate as they saw their houses being acquired by eminent domain and subsequently demolished.

My favorite Nelson Rockefeller quote, and I may not get this exactly right, came when a little girl came up to him during a public appearance and asked "What is it like to be rich?" and he replied "It's great, what is it like to be good looking"

Here is a view from the Egg over the highway system that runs along the Hudson River. This area has been busy as of late as they were filming the movie "Salt" with Angelina Jolie here. Some restrictions on movie shooting in Manhattan have forced the production companies to look for alternative sites. We've had a few movies here already this year and a few more lined up. When you see the movie "Salt", and you see highway chase scenes, don't be fooled. That is Albany, not NYC!