Cohoes City Hall flag always flies

Cohoes

High above City Hall flies a huge Stars and Stripes that's buffeted by the rain and tattered by strong winds as it waves 24 hours a day.

Once every 90 days, a new flag is hoisted to replace the fraying 15-foot-by-18-foot U.S. flag.

Wednesday, a crew of five roofers from Quality Roofing and Remodeling climbed the five stories of the Cohoes City Hall bell tower to open a hatch to gain access to the 40-foot flagpole atop the bell tower's peaked roof.

It took two hours and 10 minutes to lower the frayed ensign and raise a new banner up the flagpole.

Lines, which the wind had wrapped around the tall pole, had to be untangled and the flag had to be guided past metal roofing that the wind had pulled up.

"It's easier to put up. And it's tougher to take down," said City Public Works Commissioner Ken Radliff, who knows the struggles of raising and lowering the flag above the tower, which was built in 1896.

Radliff said Wednesday's 130-minute flag exercise was pretty average in terms of time.

"Definitely a daunting challenge," Steve Valigorsky of Quality Roofing said before leading his team up the narrow stairs that ascend through the tower.

The trip to the top begins with climbing a winding staircase to City Hall's attic. Then it requires walking along the attic gangways into the tower. From there, it's a climb up steep stairs that are really ladders. Along the way to the top, Radliff points out, a Meneely bell hangs.

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Cohoes City Hall flag always flies