In the 1930’s and 1940’s, as telephone numbers began to increase in digits, “telephone exchanges” were introduced to make it all a bit easier to remember. The first two digits of a phone number were referred by a word incorporating their related letters – for example, PEnnsylvania 6-5000 would mean to dial PE6-5000, or 736-5000….
I was walking around Morningside Heights the other day when I passed by this interesting courtyard at 521 West 111th Street. I went in to take some pictures… …and I noticed this odd sign to the the left of the front door. At first, I didn’t think much of it. But the more I considered…
If you go to the brownstone at 52 East 80th Street between Madison & Park… …you’ll see the decapitated limestone head of a Greco-Roman goddess in the front yard next to some trash barrels (gives you some perspective on its size). What does this sculpture have to do with New York’s incredible Ziegfeld Theater? This…
There are only four outdoor phone booths left in Manhattan – and they’re all on West End Avenue. That’s it: four. This one is at 101st Street: This is at the corner of 100th Street: This tree-shrouded booth can be found at the corner of 90th Street. Finally, this is at 66th Street. And that’s…
One of my favorite buildings in Morningside Heights is the Britannia at 527 West 110th Street. The building, built in 1909, is divided into two wings and features two rows of fantastic gargoyles below the second floor balconies: What makes this building particularly great is how low the gargoyles are to the ground. At only…
One of the most beautiful and pleasant places in the city is the campus of Columbia University. It is simply incredible that such a place exists in the tightly packed metropolis that is Manhattan, and I never pass up a chance to visit. Located in the center of campus is the statue of Alma Mater…
Quick one for today: I was eating lunch in my car at 113th & Riverside when I noticed an interesting sign on this beautiful apartment building: Next to the gate on the right side of the building is this sign: “Servants & Tradesmens Entrance,” complete with one of those great old-fashioned directional hand illustrations. Servants?…
For those that have never been, Bethesda Terrace in the middle of Central Park is one of the most beautiful spots in New York. A two-tiered plaza leads to an incredible fountain and a lake beyond, in which people row boats around. The area is lush with foliage, and on a warm, blue-sky summer day…
I was waiting forever in heavy traffic on Norfolk Street to turn onto the Williamsburg Bridge when I noticed this sign. It seems pretty old (I’m sure that crossed circle was once red), and the more I thought about it, the more I decided that it has to be the most abstract official traffic sign…
I came out of the Chrysler Building yesterday and noticed a number of people staring at the ugly, uninteresting glass-curtain building across the street and taking pictures. Thus, I had to stop and stare too…but why were we all staring? For a second, I thought someone might be jumping or something. As this proved not…