Discover Old New York

Saturday, June 2, 2012

I photographed this building for my book project, "Looking Up at New York". It is located on 12th Street between 5th and 6th avenues, and is one of my favorites buildings in all of New York. It is the New School for Social Service designed by Joseph Urban and built in 1931. It has a very Bauhaus, Art Deco look to it with the lateral brick work stripes. In the 1930's this became home to the "intellegentia" who were fleeing the Nazis in the prelude to WWII.

This blog started with need for aerobic exercise. I began taking long walks in the city. Following a limited number of routes and seeing the same store fronts every time out, I turned my gaze elsewhere -- and eventually up.

I discovered a city I never knew existed. Many of the buildings, which were hidden by rather banal store fronts at ground level, displayed a sculptural beauty when you looked up.

Doing some research on the buildings, and adding my camera to the walks resulted in this photo project. My initial intent was solely for personal pleasure but that quickly morphed into this blog, and perhaps some future photo books on aspects of old New York.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do taking them.

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Saturday, June 2, 2012