Carvings high on Albany buildings fascinate writer

Standing outside City Hall, Ruth Ann Smalley says, I call this the Hogwarts of Albany, because of the many strange and mythical creatures.

A freelance writer and former professor in the English department at The College of Saint Rose, Smalley, who lives in Albany, became interested in the carvings six years ago, when a colleague suggested they work together on a walking-tour book.

There's a strong sense of wonder about the human place in the natural world.

[...] there's a sense that the natural world is not always straightforward, that things morph and change, and can take unexpected turns.

[...] these grotesques, made up of parts of multiple creatures, such as bird bodies with cat heads, or dog heads on serpent bodies, or human-like heads on bird bodies with reptilian toes.