Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan plans to end her time in City Hall at the close of 2025 after weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, defending the city’s pride amid a viral moment and being a point of contact for state lawmakers looking for the perspective of a New York mayor.
Sheehan’s office is in the shadow of the state Capitol and from public safety to infrastructure, she can point to her streets to explain how state policies are or aren’t working. She hadn’t meant to serve this long in the first place, but the pandemic and the resulting recovery the city needed to undertake had a part to play in that decision.
Sheehan invited City & State to her office for a chat as she prepares to leave office, but she made it clear that she won’t disappear completely. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.…