September 2, 2026

ABOVE: View of the Central Warehouse looking east to the Livingston Ave Bridge (Image from Google Earth)

The Albany Times-Union has reported that the infamous Central Warehouse – which overshadows the Hudson Line just west of the Livingston Ave Bridge – may finally come down next year after Albany County received permits from Amtrak to continue demolition.

On July 29th, 2022, Amtrak service was temporarily suspended after chunks of the building's crumbling concrete walls began to fall, landing near the tracks below. The closure disrupted the inaugural run of the Ethan Allen Express service extension to Burlington, VT. The next day after the city made emergency repairs, Amtrak service resumed.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy confirmed that the once state-of-the-art shipping and cold storage facility, served by its own rail siding, is scheduled to be demolished by next June – just before its 100th anniversary.

The massive eleven story, 400,000 square foot building – with three-foot-thick concrete walls and extensive insulation – was abandoned in the early 1990s. Its interior was looted of copper piping, with a massive fire starting on October 22, 2010 – that lasted for days. Various attempts at redevelopment failed, with a final foreclosure in 2022, the county taking control of the property.

Last year, McCoy and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the start of asbestos abatement and subsequent demolition of the warehouse. The demolition project had stalled however in February when Amtrak failed to respond to requests for two permits to remove a trestle connecting their mainline to the warehouse, and another for erecting scaffolding next to the railroad.

McCoy said his office called U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s office for assistance. “I don’t know if it had anything to do with it or not, but three hours later we got a permit to remove the trestle,” he said.

The county was told that the second permit to install scaffolding would be coming shortly within a week. It will then take about two months to put up scaffolding, and another six months to slowly tear down the massive building.

ALBANY TIMES-UNION | Albany's Central Warehouse may finally come down on 100th anniversary

WMAC NE PUBLIC RADIO | Demo of Albany warehouse that has become eyesore set to begin

WIKIPEDIA | Central Warehouse (Albany, New York)