Triumphal

The picture above is a Roman-style triumphal arch across Fifth Avenue, but not the one associated with today’s holiday. That’s the short-lived Dewey arch at Madison Square, put up in honor of victory in the Spanish-American War. In what I assume was unintentional irony, the arch was constructed of “staff” (a form of exterior plaster made with cement and gypsum) and fell apart within months of being built.

Here’s the Washington Arch, built of actual stone, about a mile to the south: