ALBANY —Broad Street resident Bill Stevens sat Tuesday looking at the large mound of bricks — what’s left of three vacant buildings — having made peace with the block being rid of the crumbling structures.

“Would you put good money in a bad car?” Stevens said. “It’s not worth it.”

Last week the city demolished 60, 62 and 64 Broad St. after a routine inspection by the Albany Fire Department revealed shifting and other structural damage that made the buildings a safety hazard and prompted the emergency demolition.

Then on Monday, 26 Quail St. was taken down after an engineer determined its condition was a public safety threat.

For those living around the structures, reducing buildings to rubble often comes as a relief from the eyesore and possible safety hazards. Others express concern that the city jumps the gun on some demolitions, and they say the culture of tearing problem structures down rather than seeking alternatives pervades City Hall.

The numbers suggest this as well: Of the 64 emergency actions taken on buildings so far this year, only seven structures have been stabilized. Fourteen were demolished because of fires, and the remaining 43 were leveled based on an engineer’s report advising demolition was necessary because of safety concerns, according to figures provided Tuesday by the Department of Building and Regulatory Compliance.

Demolition rather than stabilization has been a longstanding practice in city administrations, and former Albany Historic Foundation board President Nancy Burton said the recent demolitions are “eerily reminiscent” of the administration’s practices under Mayors Erastus Corning 2nd and Jerry Jennings.

“What we’re seeing now is something that defies logic,” she said. “Things are speeding up.”

Mayor Kathy Sheehan said the buildings that have been leveled were deteriorating for decades.

"It's absolutely incorrect to suggest that the buildings being demolished could be stabilized. The reason they're being torn down is because they're beyond a point where they can be stabilized," she said.

Historic Albany Executive Director Susan Holland wants to see a change in attitude so that people first think, “How can we save this building?” rather than “When can we take it down?”

"Think about the built environment – that’s what makes Albany unique,” Holland said. “They have the power to stop (demolitions) and re-evaluate the process.”

Sheehan said she supports preserving the built infrastructure, but the issue goes beyond a building itself. Neighborhoods where most demolitions occur face significant challenges, including poverty and public safety, she said.

"We allow these decaying buildings to sit in these neighborhoods and become agents of trouble," Sheehan said. "I think we've got to put ourselves in the shoes of people who are living next to a building and waking up every morning wondering if today is the day that building is going to collapse."

The number of emergency demolitions more than doubled last year compared to 40 buildings in 2015, with the city razing more than 100 buildings, prompting an audit by then-City Auditor Leif Engstrom. The audit stressed city officials should use their powers to stabilize vacant buildings rather than opting to demolish and use demolition as a last resort.

Many of the emergency demolitions have been advised by one engineer, a potential rush to judgment that preservationists say could be addressed through offering a pool of engineers to call on.

Sheehan said the city works with three different engineering firms, but must rely on the one that will come when needed.

Buildings Director Robert Magee said while the department is open to the process of stabilization, there are many barriers to making it happen.

“You’re using taxpayer dollars to repair the property of someone who is not taking care of it,” he said. “They’re often more dangerous, and increases the liability on the city and everyone involved.”

Magee said the city has been more proactive when it comes to investigating buildings, through increasing the number of inspections on red ‘X’ placarded buildings, the sign to first responders that the building is unsafe to enter, while also taking a step back to assess the severity of the situation.

“We’re supposed to take a step back, and decide whether, or not, a demolition is what we want to do,” he said, which has prompted city officials to issue more unfit-unsafe citations to hopefully encourage property owners to address issues. “We’re trying to get the owner involved to make the right decision.”

Magee said the city has issued 518 unfit-unsafe citations so far this year, compared to 332 during the same time last year.

The city's new neighborhood stabilization coordinator, Samuel Wells, started recently and will offer advice on how to preserve vacant buildings going forward, and the buildings department has hired a paralegal to help find property owners and weed through the legal process to get owners to take care of their buildings.

Historic Albany wants to see a process that truly takes into consideration alternatives, goes through the Historic Resources Commission for demolition approval and considers the impact on adjacent properties and the community at large.

“They aren’t taking a step back and saying, 'This has value,'” Holland said. "It’s how people should be treating a historic city.”

On Broad Street, Stevens feels the razed buildings had aged long past the state where rehabilitating the structures would’ve made sense.

“Maybe 15-20 years ago they could have been stabilized,” he said. “Most of it (now) should be green space.”