Someone occasionally notices that most of Manhattan has little open space to create picturesque vistas. Or to put it another way, it’s difficult to get decent pictures of a lot of buildings here because there’s so much stuff in the way. There’s also stuff in the background, which is one reason that people resort to shameless fakery to show off whatever it is they want you to look at.
First up, a circa 1910 view the monument at Columbus Circle, just a bit overwhelmed by the Tichenor-Grand Riding School in the background.
The school, on the northeast corner of Broadway and 61st Street, wasn’t even that big – 75 feet wide and 7 stories tall – but compared to the slender monument, it was huge. It was also fairly short-lived, while the monument is still there, with different large buildings in the background.
Next, Trinity Church in 1910, looking east from Trinity Place towards Broadway and Wall Street:
The church is not as badly overshadowed as the monument, but it draws your eye less than the Manhattan Life Building on the right (with, as a result of the manipulation required to turn a detailed black & white photo into a low-res colored postcard, a weird artifact floating in midair above it), the Union Trust Company with its big red hip roof in the middle, and the United Bank Building on the left with the top of the Gillender Building peeking over it.
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