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ALBANY, N.Y. -- Two historic buildings in downtown Albany were torn down after the city deems them a safety threat. Both are in the Broadway-Livingston Historic District and date all the way back to the 1870s.

The buildings have been vacant for years and the city's crackdown on blight prompted a recent inspection.

The Historic Albany Foundation insisted the building could be saved and city engineers actually worked with the foundation to find a buyer well into the afternoon. But in the end, engineers believed the structural integrity was compromised.

“Everybody was after the City of Albany to do better code enforcement. So now they are and believe me, Historic Albany is running after buildings right now, because there's just so much distress on the buildings,” said Susan Holland of the Historic Albany Foundation.

Historic Albany will host a meeting Tuesday evening to discuss its Land Bank proposal, under which vacant, historic buildings could be assembled under a non-profit and rehabbed in order to avoid future demolitions.