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Jan 05, 2024

Grondahl: The Dutch came, saw and were smitten by Nipper

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Mayor Kathy Sheehan shows off a Nipper sculpture painted in a Dutch motif that she bought at an arts fundraiser and now keeps in her Arbor Hill home, to the delight of her young granddaughter.

Historian and former state Assemblyman Jack McEneny tells lively stories of his time in the Assembly chamber on a Capitol tour he led for the group from the Netherlands.

Hubert Bruls, mayor of Albany's Dutch sister city, Nijmegen, is a huge Elvis Presley fan and after his first visit to Albany for the 75th Tulip Festival last week is now enamored of Nipper.

Mayor Hubert Bruls was thrilled to see the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, one of his American heroes, at the state Capitol.

Maeve McEneny, daughter of the former Assemblyman and a tour guide with Discover Albany, leads a tour of downtown Albany for the Nijmegen contingent.

ALBANY — The delegation from Albany's Dutch sister city, Nijmegen, got the royal treatment during the 75th annual Tulip Festival last week.

They sipped bubbly at Champagne in the Park. Observed the ritual scrubbing of State Street. Danced at the Tulip Ball. Gave speeches at Mayor Kathy Sheehan's garden party. And stayed in rooms at the Fort Orange Club.

As the visitors from the Netherlands were shuttled across the city's hybrid minivan by Dennis Gaffney, the city's communications coordinator, an iconic sight on the skyline stopped them in their tracks.

"Nipper!" the quartet from the Netherlands gleefully exclaimed.

They held cellphones aloft and craned their necks skyward to take in the full canine glory of the 28-foot-tall, four-ton, steel-and-fiberglass statue anchored atop a warehouse on North Broadway. Nipper is at once a beloved landmark, Albany's top roadside attraction and the muse of creatives, social media feeds and the popular local music and arts website Nippertown.

Our tour guide on Sunday morning was Maeve McEneny Johnson, community engagement manager at the county's tourism arm, Discover Albany. She inherited a vast reservoir of Albany history and the gift of gab from her father, Jack McEneny, eminent local historian and former state Assemblyman. He gave the group a first-rate Capitol tour on Friday.

His daughter shared a cherished childhood memory involving Nipper. Each time her father drove his kids past the dog statue looming over Broadway, he surreptitiously hit the windshield washer button, flicked on the wipers and gave a faux scolding as if the statue had come to life and lifted its leg over the McEneny vehicle: "Oh, Nipper! Bad dog!" the father intoned in a stern voice. The routine never failed to elicit squeals of delight from his kids.

Albany is a lot like that story, full of heart, familial connections and authenticity. It never tries to be something it is not. Spending time with the quartet from Nijmegen, I saw Albany with fresh eyes and a new perspective. They helped me view the glass as half-full.

It is easy to get down on Albany, whose name is synonymous with state government corruption and dysfunction. It is hard to look past the rising terror of gun violence, ignore the blight of way too many derelict houses with the dreaded red X; or try to wish away a looming sense of lawlessness that permeates broken blocks of despair and poverty.

There was no effort to detour the city's minivan away from the hard truths of Albany's woes. There was no replay of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands’ infamous 1959 visit to Albany. Gov. Nelson Rockefeller expressed embarrassment at the shabby condition of the South End neighborhood surrounding the Executive Mansion viewed by his royal visitor on a driving tour in his open convertible. That set in motion razing of 98 acres in the heart of the city by the state's power of eminent domain to make way for Rocky's Empire State Plaza.

This Dutch contingent caused no such epic urban disruption. Nijmegen's 57-year-old Mayor Hubert Bruls, however, a rotund and ebullient burgomaster (his official title), declared that his omelet at the Gateway Diner left a caloric impression.

"That omelet will stick with me all day," he said, patting his substantial belly.

What caught Bruls’ attention during McEneny's tour was the fact that Nipper arrived at his perch at 991 Broadway in 1958, transported by rail in five sections from a fabricator in Chicago. It served as a lofty advertisement for the new home of RTA, an appliance distributor specializing in products of RCA. At this, Brul's ears perked up, not unlike the curious dog who listened to a gramophone and heard "his master's voice" — a potent logo for RCA.

"Even Elvis recorded on RCA," Bruls interjected.

I’ve been to Nijmegen a couple times and met Mayor Bruls at his office in city hall. I was surprised to see the wall behind his desk dominated by a large portrait of Elvis Presley. A smaller portrait of Holland's actual monarch, Willem-Alexander, was displayed less prominently.

"There's only one King," Bruls told me. I liked this guy's sense of humor right off the rip. He's a huge Elvis fan and has been mayor since 2012. His position is appointed, up for renewal every six years.

This first visit by Nijmegen's mayor was engineered by Anja Adriaans, a dynamo who has come to Albany 11 times for historic research and as an effusive ambassador for the organization she founded: Friendship Albany-Nijmegen, or FAN for short. She has curated exhibits, cultural exchanges and various historical programs between the two cities.

The sister city connection is borne of history's darkest days. Nijmegen was occupied by the Nazis during World War II. Bombing and heavy fighting killed 2,200 and injured 5,500 civilians, and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings. In September 1944 the 82nd Airborne Division liberated Nijmegen, with 48 American paratroopers killed recapturing the city's central bridge from German troops.

In 1947, Albany residents donated 300 tons of humanitarian supplies — including medicine, clothing and building materials — and shipped them to Nijmegen to help rebuild the devastated city. The Dutch sent crates of tulips to Albany in gratitude. The bulbs were planted in Washington Park and Tulip Festival, the city's public annual event, was created. The good vibes continue.

"I was very impressed by Albany and am grateful for the hospitality we received," Bruls said. "I hope we can continue to develop this association."

"It's more similar to Nijmegen than I imagined," said Teddy Vrijmoet, director of the Lindenberg Cultuurhuis, a not-for-profit that brings the arts to underserved communities. She noted that Nijmegen and the Netherlands are undergoing a racial reckoning over a long history of colonialism and enslavement.

She and Adriaan's husband, Walter Hamers, retired head of Nijmegen's largest public housing organization, are officers in the fledgling Orange Wonder Club. Its aim is to create meaningful social projects and collaborations between the two cities. It takes its name from Albany's official tulip, chosen by Queen Wilhelmina for the first Tulip Festival. Albany residents were encouraged to plant tulips around their homes and the citywide tradition took root.

"A lot of people still don't know this history," said Cheryle Webber, president of the Dutch Settlers Society of Albany, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. It was founded in 1924 by Mildred Van Wie Patterson. She led dozens of folks in decorating cars and marching in the city's tricentennial parade that marked the 300th anniversary of the creation of Dutch-operated Fort Orange in 1624. They decided to form a society.

"This has always been about friendship," Adriaans said. "It is a people-to-people exchange from the heart."

Sheehan gave Bruls a Nipper ornament as both mayors posed before a statue of Nipper decorated in a Dutch motif that Sheehan purchased at a fundraiser.

"Don't worry. I’m not running for mayor of Albany," Bruls said with a laugh.

"Don't worry. Neither am I," said Sheehan, who has announced she will not seek a fourth term.

Paul Grondahl is the Opalka Endowed Director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at [email protected]