The Greyhound bus station in downtown Albany.

A few of you emailed after a recent story noting that Capitalize Albany, the city's economic development arm, purchased the grimy downtown bus station for $1.7 million.

That's quite a sum for a building that is nobody's idea of lovely. The price is even more eye-popping when you read that an affiliate of hedge-fund giant Alden Global Capital paid $590,000 for the property early in 2023.

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"The 167 percent return on investment suggests that Alden Global might be descended from both Edward Low and George Washington Plunkitt," wrote a reader from Albany, forcing me to Google his references.

Well, it will surprise nobody to learn that hedge funds know how to make money, while governments (and associated entities) know how to spend it. And if you've been to the bus station, you know Capitalize Albany overpaid. But as I've

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