City of Albany Department of General Services

Are you ready for the next step in your career?! We are looking for dedicated people to ! Stop by on Tuesday to see what we have to offer!

Please read this notice from our partners at the Water Department.

🚨 Important Announcement 🚨 Harmful Alge Blooms 🐕

The City of Albany is advising caution regarding harmful algae blooms in Washington Park Lake. HAB's can produce Cyanotoxins which are substances produced by certain types of algae that can be very harmful for people and animals.

Please take note of the following:

1. If the water appears green and has a paint or pea soup-like appearance, assume it's unsafe.
2. No fishing or swimming for dogs in the lake until further notice.
3. If you or your pet come into contact with the water, rinse with clean water immediately.
4. Report any symptoms related to exposure to the health department.

Stay safe, stay informed! For more info, visit https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/bluegreenalgae/


Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan Albany Common Council Albany Councilmember Gabriella A. Romero Lark Hall Albany Med Health System City of Albany Department of Recreation City of Albany Department of General Services Washington Park Conservancy Washington Park Farmers Market Playhouse Stage Co. Steve Caporizzo Steve Caporizzo's Pet Connection NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Albany Composts will be tabling at the Farmer’s Market in Washington Park every Saturday from July 20th through October 5th!

The markets are from 10:00am to 2:00pm and a great place to find local venders and learn about composting!

We will have:

• Information about the Albany Composts program. With personnel on-site to answer questions about the program and composting in general.

• Drop-off bins for City of Albany residents to drop-off their household kitchen scraps.

• Earth machine (composter) demonstrations.

• Kitchen scrap bins for those who have signed up for the drop-off version of the composting program and have yet to receive their bin.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Attention Albany Residents:

Despite the forecast, we have not seen significant rainfall in Albany in over a week.

This extreme heat and lack of precipitation can be stressful for people, but it is especially stressful for new and recently planted trees.

If there is a tree that was recently planted near your home, please consider watering it if you can.

The best time is in the evening, so that the tree has the whole night to absorb all the water it can before it evaporates in the sun/heat of the day.

One thorough soaking with 10-20 gallons of water once or twice a week is better than light watering every day. Over-watering is rarely a problem in the summer.

We invite you to the initial public meeting for the Central Avenue Reconstruction Project on Thursday, July 18th from 6-8 PM at the STEAM Garden (279 Central Avenue).

Hosted by the The City of Albany, Central Ave BID and presented by CHA, this meeting will discuss the federally-funded street resurfacing and sidewalk reconstruction project from Henry Johnson Blvd to Allen Street.

Your input is vital in creating a safer, more beautiful neighborhood!

Today is the day! Our drop it and swap it event is going on until 4pm today at Metropolitan Church!

Can’t make it today? Don’t worry there are more events planned this summer. Visit http://www.albanynyrecycles.com/drop-it-swap-it/ to learn more.

Join us this Saturday, June 29th, from 12 PM to 4 PM for our "Drop it Swap it" event at Metropolitan Baptist Church!

Date: Saturday, June 29, 2024
Time: 12 PM - 4 PM
Location: Metropolitan Baptist Church, 105 2nd St, Albany, NY 12210

This is your chance to clear out your gently used items and find some new treasures.

Drop It - Swap It is a free community event where the public is invited to bring clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, housewares, games, books, & toys that you no longer need, and take home something new to you, for free!

For more details, check out our website: https://albanynyrecycles.com/drop-it-swap-it/

Attention Albany Residents:

DGS Crews are diligently working through the storm damage from last night. Our crews are addressing the reports by order of severity.

We will be working to clear the city of downed trees, large tree limbs and various storm debris in streets and parks over the next few days.

If you notice a limb blocking a street or sidewalk from accessibility, please call us at (518) 427-7480.

For smaller, less severe, storm debris please leave it where it is, and we will work to get to it as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Attention Albany Residents:

The forecast calls for the year’s first heatwave this week, with heat indexes approaching 100 degrees. Not only will this extreme heat be stressful for people, but it will stress new and recently planted trees.

If there is a tree that was recently planted near your home, please consider watering it if you can. The best time is in the evening, so that the tree has the whole night to absorb all the water it can before it evaporates in the sun/heat of the day.

One thorough soaking with 10-20 gallons of water once or twice a week is better than light watering every day. Over-watering is rarely a problem in the summer.

The results are in! Thank you to everybody who voted for the 2024 People's Choice Tulip and to those who took the time to stop by and appreciate these tulips in person.

We also would like to extend a special thank you to our hardworking crews and volunteers that made this a possibility.

Follow this link to learn more about the top 3 from this year's voting:

In honor of Earth Day today, over 15 community cleanups were held around the city of Albany this past weekend. We were honored to support these cleanups by donating tools, compost, woodchips and coordinating the cleanup of debris. A special thank you to all the community organizations who took time to help cleanup Albany this weekend.

We would like to extend a special thank you to the volunteers from the New York State Arborist’s (NYSA) for the tree work they did this past Thursday in Washington Park. Many NYSA members will be back in Washington Park on Saturday, June 22 as volunteers and competitors in the 2024 New York State Tree Climbing Championships.

Attention Albany Residents:

Our compost facility is officially open as of today! The hours for the compost facility are:

Monday-Friday 8:00am to 12:00 pm; 12:30 pm-2:30 pm.

Yard-waste pick-up will resume today as well, if you have yard-waste please use bio-degradable bags and leave them curb side on your regular pick-up day.

As a reminder, any branches are to be trimmed to

Every year out employees go through a plowing refresher course. This year we set up a practice course in our compost facility, where plow drivers get to practice. ❄️❄️❄️

Last night some of our staff had the opportunity see the Albany Institute of History & Art 's new exhibit "The Time Capsule: What We Found Under Philip Schuyler" with Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. We are proud to be a part of uncovering this small slice of history.

Attention Albany Residents, our compost facility will be closing to the public this Friday, November 17th, 2023. Lawn bag pickup will continue as normal until the first significant snowfall.

Thanks to the City of Albany will be able to maintain our mature trees for the first time in a generation. This investment will drastically improve the health and resilience of our urban forest for generations to come.

We look forward to seeing you later at 200 Henry Johnson Boulevard for the City of Albany Department of Neighborhood Services Trunk or Treat Event! The event starts at 4PM and will conclude at 6.

The Department of General Services installed a memorial plaque in Academy Park yesterday next to an Eastern Redbud Tree. This tree was sponsored by friends and family and planted under the City’s Adopt-A-Tree Program. For more information on this program please follow the link: https://www.adoptatreealbany.com/.

As a reminder, our Paper Shredding Event at Washington Park is beginning shortly! The event will begin at 4 and conclude at 7. Please use the Madison Avenue entrance to the park if you plan on attending. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you here!

Reminder:Tonight, Wednesday October 11th, at 6:30pm is the Brevator Street Improvement Project Public Meeting at All Saint Catholic Academy. To learn more about the project visit: https://www.albanyny.gov/2177/Brevator-Street-Improvement-Project

🚧 Attention Albany Residents 🚧

Final Course Paving for New Scotland Avenue between Manning Boulevard and O’Neil Road scheduled to begin tonight, October 10th at 7pm.

Night work will continue throughout the week with this section of paving estimated to be complete no later than Saturday October 14th, at 6AM.

Lane Shifts and intersection closures are expected to occur during the final course paving operations.

Improvements include:
• Street milling and street re-paving
• Restriping and resigning of the roadway, including installation of bike lanes
• Partial curb and sidewalk replacement (where necessary)
• Replacement of existing curb ramps to ensure ADA compliance and add detectable warning units (where necessary)
• Install curb bump-outs at the intersections of Crescent Dr., Euclid Ave., Buckingham Dr., and Lenox Ave.
• A Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) to assist pedestrians crossing New Scotland Avenue between Halsdorf Street and Maria College
• Traffic signal improvements

Attention Albany Residents

We will soon begin collecting gator-bags that were attached to the newly planted street trees.

If you would like to remove and store the gator-bag for use next year, you have until October 15th to do so.

If not, feel free to leave the bag attached and we will collect it.

Due to heavy rains and winds expected for the area on Saturday, the Paper Shredding & Book Recycling event scheduled for Saturday, October 7, 2023, in Washington Park has been postponed. The event will now be held on Thursday, October 26, 2023, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the same location. Information about the event can be found at www.albanyrecycles.com.

Attention: Road Construction Updates

🚧 New Scotland Avenue: Milling will begin tonight, Wednesday September 27th. Paving will happen in about a weeks time.
🚧 Henry Johnson Boulevard: Paving will begin tomorrow night, Thursday September 28th.

To learn more about these projects visit: https://albanyny.gov/298/Projects

While in the midst of this immense heat wave most grass and trees are showing signs of drought stress. If you have a new or recently planted tree around your home, please consider watering it. We have crews out watering, but with the ground so dry, it is impossible to over water, so you don’t have to worry about that.

Happy Labor Day from all of us at DGS!

Working on the sanitation crew can often be a thankless job. Today was an exception to that rule. Residents surprised our staff by dropping off a delicious meal for our sanitation crews.