APD Puts Emphasis on Safety in Student-Heavy Pine Hills Neighborhood Amid $400 Million Redevelopment Effort
By Enrique Samano | October 26, 2026
The State of New York is giving the city of Albany a much-needed facelift. “Championing Albany’s Potential” is a $400+ million state-led revitalization program to improve the city’s urban core by 2035. Up to $120 million has been allocated for redevelopment and public spaces, 40 million to triple the downtown residential base, and much more.
According to Governor Kathy Hochul’s Official Website, the Albany Police Department (APD) received $1.5 million toward local public safety to improve concerns. This is in addition to $2.5 million for law enforcement technology, $2.4 million for Gun Involved Violence Elimination and $2 million for SNUG Street Outreach programs, which are all part of a total $19.5 million state public safety commitment.
“We’re not increasing the number of people that will work for us,” said Brendan Cox, Chief of Police for the Albany Police Department. “We’re going to change position titles, we changed how much somebody is getting paid, and we gave them more responsibility.”
Just weeks after the killing of a 15-year-old boy on Hudson Avenue and Partridge Street in the student-heavy Pine Hills neighborhood during UAlbany’s Homecoming weekend, an emphasis has been put on the area by the police department. They hope to deter students, and many non-students who go into the neighborhood and cause violence.
However, some concerns have grown among the community regarding some of the safety measures, as police officers are often seen carrying pellet guns, and riding on horses during busy weekend nights in the neighborhood which is known for its large gatherings.
“I think there's always going to be a balance, right? We have to make sure that we ensure everybody's rights, that we keep things orderly and that we don't use excessive force,” said Cox. “But I think people have to understand that when there's 5,000 people on the street, people have to listen to what's being said to them, and people have to disperse an orderly fashion. Sometimes there might be a smaller group of people that aren't dispersing an orderly fashion and that creates problems for other people. So I think that's where personal responsibility also has to come into place. And people have to realize that when it's 2 a.m. and there's 5,000 people on the street, it might be a good time to go home.”
In order to create a safer and more prosperous city, fixing the safety issues that lie in a college town are imperative to that goal.
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