Attribution
Various streets in the outer boroughs used to be roads for long-distance (as defined in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries)
Journal
Our work with old buildings has us studying a lot of different topics in addition to structural engineering – for example, architecture, history, and historic preservation – and we like sharing stories about what we’ve found.
Fooled Ya
The east side of Broadway, just above Houston Street: On the right, an obviously modern building. On the left, a
Unexpected Beauty
A random two-story commercial building in Queens, with a big chimney for its boiler flue: Closer: It took amazingly little
The Name Is A Hint
A name that you don’t hear used much anymore is “The Great White Way” for the showy part of Broadway,
We Can Do It Too
I’ve been mining the digital collections of the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress for over ten
Not Famous, But Practical
The New York Times, like every newspaper in the city founded before 1900, started downtown. After renting space for its
Soft Focus
The combination of scaffold and netting makes it look like the picture is slightly out of focus. This is Building
The Astor Building 8
March 1902 saw the gradual completion of the mansard roof framing and the masonry facades of the St. Regis Hotel,
Spiralling
You get the best geometric views from old fashioned stairs with wells. Fans of Escher and Piranesi, unite.
Suburban Development
A chunk of what is now called east Midtown, in 1867: This was officially part of the city, but the
Hidden In Plain Sight
I don’t think I’ve used this picture before. When we say New York’s “Pennsylvania Station was demolished in the 1960s”
A Belated Personal Anniversary
I really intended to post this when it was the correct week (I don’t remember the day)…four weeks ago…but in
Appropriate In Some Circumstances
I read Rain Noe’s article “An Architectural-Scale Kintsugi Project” with some interest. Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery
A Ghost Of A Ghost
I’m mildly surprised that I’ve only written about two of the ghost subway stations – Worth Street and the famous
The Astor Building 7
The beginning of 1902 saw the frame of the St. Regis Hotel, temporarily called “the Astor Building,” reach its full
Before The Storm
So, it’s raining all day. And it rained all day yesterday. But the sky looked really pretty on Friday just
Another Time
In honor of the nor’easter that yesterday, today, and tomorrow will give NYC about 2 inches of rain, here’s a
Refreshment Concession
Central Park has always had various forms of food concessions, ranging from high to low. Most people are aware of
Very Small Scale
A lesson that structural engineers learn early on is to keep load paths as simple as possible, within the context
The Thought That Counts
From 2020, a random photo I took of a 1931 garage on Lafayette Street: In case you’re wondering, it looked