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Excellent!!!
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Lizzie's post made me think of two other similar experiences. Living in NYC, I see that the beautiful old architecture is constantly under attack from the build it new, bigger modern army. To be sure, and thankfully, there is a preservation society that helps, but the battle is one where every loss diminishes the old architecture stock by one; whereas, every victory only holds the status quo for an indeterminate time.
The other thing that Lizzie made me think about are the old newsstands that were everywhere in NYC. Many were from the 30s and 40s, made of wood and in the iconic style that can be seen in movies from that era where the magazines and newspapers covered every space and the news vendor sat inside the stand on an elevated platform. Mayor Bloomberg decided he didn't like these and wanted everything new and sleek (like the "highway beautification" initiative Lizzie speaks of) and, over the course of the last several years, most have been torn down and replaced by these ascetic, look alike, angle-less stand of glass and chrome (ugly, characterless and generic).
Of course, the iconic one right outside our window was torn down and replaced. Early one Saturday morning, about a year ago, a backhoe, a dump truck and several workers showed up and, unceremoniously, the backhoe just started smashing the old stand down and the workers threw the pieces in the dump truck. Half a day later, it was gone. Then over the next several weeks, the new atrocity was put up in stages. Just writing this is painful as it is one of the worst architectural disasters I have seen and I had a front row seat to this one. Then again, this is a mayor who thinks he should (and did) dictate the maximum size cup or bottle that someone can buy a soda in. It's one thing to see the natural advancement of time and economics replace these buildings, but to pro-actively make it a city policy is disgraceful.
The best thing that could have happened to American aesthetics is for William Levitt to have been hit by a truck in 1945.
Here is an old Pure Oil Station that my friend Ernie restored to become his law office. Yes, he is locally known as Ernietheattorney. His library is located in what used to be the lift bay.
AF
That's the one in New Bern, isn't it, Atticus? Around the corner/down the street from the Tryon Palace?
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Rob
:eusa_clapThe best thing that could have happened to American aesthetics is for William Levitt to have been hit by a truck in 1945.