In attendance were Governor Mario Cuomo, Mayor Whalen, Norstar Bancorp President Peter Kiernan, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy.

[4] Less than a year after the park's official opening the statue was defaced with the removal of the Native American's earring and the bending of his feather headdress.

Credit for the vandalism was taken by a woman claiming to be representing the "Albany Tea Party", protesting property assessment increases.

[6] It consisted of a video tape of Mayor Thomas Whalen III and the chairman of the Tricentennial Committee,[2] a book written by two 8th grade students about their daily life at Philip Livingston Middle School, a model of the Empire State Plaza constructed by students at Catholic Central High School in Troy, New York, along with various objects suggested by a write-in competition.

[9] In 2005 a bronze statue of Albany's 73rd mayor Thomas Whalen III (served 1983-93) and his golden retriever named Finn McCool was installed in the park.

[14] The Downtown Albany Business Improvement District (BID) hosts a Garden Party fundraiser in the park in connection with the annual Sculpture in the Streets event.