Decay By The Tracks

Lately, I've become a bit fascinated by cast iron facades on older buildings. So, when I visited Silver Fox Salvage and the venerable Miss Albany Diner (both of which places I highly recommend) over the weekend, I also went a bit out of my way to photograph this vacant building.

This decaying structure is a raised block which overlooks Broadway near an mposing trestle that carries trains towards the former Central Warehouse and the Livingston Avenue Bridge. A gazetteer of local businesses from the 1870s lists this address as a grain dealer.

It's been vacant for as long as I can remember and has a very grim, spooky air about it. The slim cast iron columns with their elegant Corinthian capitals only add to the sense of ruin.

And, in a morbid postscript, last year, the body of a murdered man was dumped in this sad old relic of North Albany.