Albany MycoWorks

10/05/2025

Five years and seven months later, I revisited that moment in a long-form article examining how businesses like Stop & Shop successfully implemented Governor Cuomo’s Plastic Bag Ban, which took effect on March 1, 2020. 👉 Read the full piece here:

On March 1, 2020, New Yorkers walked into grocery stores and saw a quiet revolution at the checkout counter: no more free plastic bags. Five years and seven months later, as New York Climate Week 2025 (Sept 21–28) unfolds, that moment remains one of the state’s boldest ecological legacies under ...

08/25/2025

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/great-green-race-how-us-democrats-talked-climate-change-casseus-bla0c

Once upon a recent time, the United States was getting ready to choose a new president. Before the big election, the Democratic Party held primaries, which are like tryouts where many people, more than twenty!, ask voters to pick who should lead the team.

08/25/2025

Central Warehouse — 1927 Cost vs. 2025 Replacement Cost
Original construction cost (1927): approximately $2.2–$3.0 million for ~400,000 sq ft across 11 stories with reinforced-concrete structure. Below shows 2025 equivalents using two approaches:
• CPI (general consumer prices)
• ENR Construction Cost Index (materials & labor for building)

• CPI-based estimate (2025): $41.8–$57.0 million
• ENR-based estimate (2025): $146.6–$200.0 million

Basis Low (Million $) High (Million $)
CPI (Consumer Prices) 41.8 57.0
ENR (Construction Index) 146.6 200.0
Note: CPI captures general inflation and tends to understate construction cost escalation. ENR’s index reflects labor and materials typical of building work and better approximates the true cost to recreate a heavy reinforced-concrete structure like the Central Warehouse in 2025.

08/25/2025

When nations gathered in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to launch the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, they pledged to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference” with the climate system. The vision was clear: build a common architecture to steer the world away from escalating harm.

08/24/2025

The State of New York proudly claims to be the leader in sustainability and climate-change mitigation. We spent about 4,400 metric tons of CO₂ to build the warehouse. Demolishing it and replacing it with new apartments or condos would add roughly 13,000 more metric tons of CO₂ to the atmosphere, equivalent to putting 2,826 cars on the road for a full year. The structure is solid: it has 4-foot-diameter concrete columns and 11-foot ceilings per floor. According to Len Tantillo of the Capital Waterway Group, who, with a team of civil engineers, city planners, and architects, studied the building, the structural skeleton is strong enough to support an additional floor.
We say we need to revitalize. We claim to champion sustainability and to fight climate change. There is only one conclusion to these statements: either we have been dishonest, or we have been misled.

08/24/2025

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fossil-fuels-wealth-climate-dilemma-odelin-casseus-0sl3c

U.S.

08/22/2025

What could 400,000 ft² become?
🌱 Mushroom Farm (coffee grounds → fresh food) 🤖 Makers’ Castle (robots, wood, art) 🔬 Science Playground (wind·water·sun labs) 🎶 Music + Market Hall (food, dance, fairs) 📱 iPhone Assembly 🔋 Battery Production 🏭 Advanced Manufacturing 🚛 Logistics Hub
Here’s an illustrative way to picture 400,000 square feet — a single “bar” sliced into uses. You can remix it any way your community prefers.

08/22/2025

https://youtu.be/fpSR5NAaZg0

A conceptual proposal for the implementation of an urban canal through downtown Albany, the capital city of New York State. A project of The Albany Waterway ...

08/22/2025

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-concrete-bank-how-albanys-central-warehouse-saves-odelin-casseus-8hckc

Once upon a time in Albany, there was a gentle giant called the Central Warehouse. People thought it was only old.

08/21/2025

Reindustrialization of America’s economy: The Central Warehouse could be New York’s entry point to billions in foreign investment

For more than sixty years, Albany’s Central Warehouse has been called an “eyesore.” Rising above the Amtrak tracks, it has been treated as a problem to get rid of, not an opportunity to build upon. But in 2025, the story needs to change. What has long symbolized neglect can become a symbol of renewal.

As part of his ‘America First’ agenda, President Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE to attract investment for U.S. reindustrialization. The White House later announced he secured trillions in Gulf commitments to bring manufacturing back home.

At the same time, Apple Agreed to invest $ 600 billion to boost American manufacturing. From microchips to AI, to smartphones and chip manufacturing, the message from Washington is clear: the future of our economy will be built in America. Cities and states that prepare now will be the ones to win new jobs, attract investors,

and strengthen their local economies. New York has every reason to lead this movement, and Albany can be right at the center of it.

The Central Warehouse is not a crumbling ruin to tear down. However, it is one of the most durable industrial buildings in the Capital Region. It offers 400,000 square feet of space across 11 stories, each with ceilings over 11 feet high. Its four-foot-thick concrete columns were built for heavy industrial use, and experts say the structure could even handle another floor on top. This building was engineered to last. Rather than spending millions to tear it down, we can repair and reuse it is faster, cheaper, and smarter.

So what could this space become? Imagine it as: A facility for assembling smartphones or other electronics. A production site for advanced batteries and renewable energy technology. A logistics and innovation hub serving the entire Northeast corridor. This is not wishful thinking; it is a strategy. We already have the size, the strength, and the location. What Albany needs is the vision to put it back to work.

Tearing down the Central Warehouse would waste money and erase history. Rebuilding from scratch would take years and cost far more than adapting what already exists. But revitalization would do the opposite: create hundreds of jobs in construction and manufacturing; Put the building back on the tax rolls, boosting the city’s budget. As the Mayor of Albany, Kathy Sheehan has declared Once:

“This update brings us closer to the revitalization of Central Warehouse, getting this building back on the tax rolls, and attracting further investment in the Warehouse District.”

Show investors that Albany is ready for growth and innovation. Albany does not need another empty lot. What it needs is bold leadership. The Central Warehouse is not just concrete; it is a possibility. If New York acts now, we can capture billions in federal reindustrialization funding, transform our capital city, and write a new story for this building once seen as a failure. The Central Warehouse should not be torn down. It should rise again as the beating heart of Albany’s industrial future.

08/21/2025

“From Eyesore to Engine of Growth”
For decades, Albany’s Central Warehouse has been seen as an eyesore. But in today’s economy, it could be something else entirely: an engine of American growth.
Why? Because the U.S. is bringing industries back home. From microchips to iPhones, the future of manufacturing is domestic.
And Albany already has a facility built to handle it:
• 400,000 sq ft of space
• 4-foot-thick reinforced concrete columns
• 11-foot ceilings per floor
• Structural strength to support even more floors
Instead of demolition costs, why not invest in modernization? Fewer repairs, faster timelines, and billions in potential returns for New York State.
Reindustrialization is not abstract—it starts with places like the Central Warehouse.
This isn’t a warehouse of the past. It’s a factory of the future.