It took more than 30 years to complete this grand building (1867–99), which incorporates elaborate carvings, interesting architectural elements, and eclectic styles. The 45-minute guided tour highlights the ornate Great Western Staircase (aka the Million Dollar Staircase)—which took 13 years and 600 stone carvers to complete—and, right over it, a 3,000-square-foot skylight that had been covered...
This impressive building, seat of New York State government since the 1880s and a jarring contrast with the starkly modern Empire Plaza and agency buildings that rise around it, was the first massive and problematic project in the area. It took more than three decades (beginning at the end of the 19th c.) and five architects to build, and cost more than $25 million, making it the most expensive...