in 1965. The commission included Wallace K. Harrison; Robert M. Doty; René d'Harnoncourt; Seymour H. Knox, II; and (after 1968) Dorothy Miller. Governor Rockefeller reviewed and approved each artwork. The Collection features modern artists who worked in New York State. In Rockefeller's words: "New York is the center of the contemporary movement in the (international) art world. ... [T]hese great artists should be represented in the state complex." Significantly, Rockefeller preferred modern art with no explicit social or political content: "I like strong, simple painting without a message". There are 92 works created between 1952 and 1973 by 63 artists. Of these, 16 pieces are site-specific commissions. Artistic styles range from Abstract Expressionism to Minimalism, Pop Art, and Op Art. Thus, the Collection is "an encyclopedia of abstraction as practiced in the sixties". Free guided tours for groups or individuals are available by appointment, and self-guided Acoustiguide tours are also available. Artworks Memorials The Empire State Plaza has at least 15 memorials of various types, built by the New York State Office of General Services. State memorials to World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War are here, as well as special memorials to women veterans, police, firefighters, crime victims, children, and missing persons. An illustrated and annotated self-guided tour brochure is available for download. Controversy The complex was the subject of significant controversy around the time of its construction. About 7,000 people were evicted under eminent domain, mostly from working-class and poorer sections of older Albany. The construction of the plaza occurred during the decline of Albany's downtown shopping district, and the massive displacement of population allegedly hastened the process. Numerous restaurants, specialty shops, two major department stores, and downtown's last movie theater had shuttered by the end of construction. The majority of the displaced residents had not owned cars, and they had shopped locally. The construction of the elevated plaza separated the largely residential neighborhoods surrounding Washington Park and points west, from the largely commercial streets between the State Capitol and the Hudson River. The plaza has also been criticized for the cost of its lavish architecture (marble and other imported stone are used throughout), its sheer size, and its period architecture. In a sharply critical 1976 The New York Times article, architectural reviewer Paul Goldberger described the complex as "a compendium of clichés of modern architecture". He further commented that "Ultimately, of course, one realizes