Timeline
The Early Days
1959
Governor Rockefeller directs a study of the Executive Branch to find ways to improve efficiency. The Proposed Reorganization of the Executive Branch of New York State Government, also known as the "Ronan Report," is submitted to the Legislature. The report suggests creating The Office of General Services to provide essential central "housekeeping" services.
March 1960
Legislation establishing a new agency, the Office of General Services, passes in the state legislature.
October 1, 1960
OGS is officially established and begins operations in a small office at the Capitol with General C.V.R. Schuyler as its first commissioner. Its mission is to incorporate several service functions of many state agencies.
1961
OGS assumes responsibility of parking in Downtown Albany.
March 1962
The first guided tour departs from the State Street Lobby of New York’s historic State Capitol. In just five years, more than a quarter of a million Capitol visitors benefit from OGS tours.
January 1963
OGS takes over the South Mall project, later known as the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, and establishes the South Mall Coordinator office to centralize construction management.
December 1964
General Schuyler opens the OGS Computer Center, the first centralized computer operation in New York State government. At the start, the center functions as an information retrieval system for state agencies to help research past legislation and draft new legislation.
1964
The OGS Laboratory, operated under the former OGS Bureau of Standards and Quality Control, tests all items purchased by the state of New York. Skilled technicians ensure items like food, cleaning chemicals, clothing, and building materials, match up to descriptions and expectations before the state awards contracts.
1964
An agency-wide newsletter, the OGS Searchlight, is born to keep employees informed of the agency’s accomplishments.
April 1965
The OGS-operated State Garage at the State Office Campus opens. The home for 200 fleet cars is equipped with the “most modern machines available in the automotive field” – 74,000 square feet of service and repair bays, a car wash, a body and paint shop, and general mechanic stalls. For the grand opening, General Schuyler rides into the garage on President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 Packard – a vehicle still used in official ceremonies in 2020.
June 1965
Governor Rockefeller presides over the cornerstone ceremony of South Mall.
1965
The Plaza Art Commission begins amassing paintings and sculptures for South Mall. It will take seven years to commission and collect 42 paintings, 47 sculptures, and three textile works to build the Plaza Art Collection. Today, visitors can still view the collection throughout the indoor and outdoor spaces at the Empire State Plaza.
September 1967
The Division of Architecture becomes the Public Buildings Design and Construction Group (D&C), joining Building Operations, Administrative Services, and Standards and Purchase to become the fourth main group within OGS. The transfer brings the full responsibility for planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of state public buildings under one agency’s control for the first time in New York State’s history.
December 1967
The Surplus Real Property Management unit is added to OGS. Staffed by nine employees, it is responsible for all state-owned lands declared surplus by other agencies and for underwater lands beneath state-owned waterways.
October 1968
New York Network goes on-air after several years of development. While under the SUNY umbrella, OGS is integral in the development of the network, the first statewide network to connect independent educational TV stations. In the 2010s, it will morph to create the OGS Media Services Center.
