Through The Arcade

Looking into the hardly used, but still elegant Arcade at the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane.

The Corner of Maiden and Pearl

The building at the corner of North Pearl Street and Maiden Lane (which now houses a busy Bruegger's Bagels) has rows of these very elegant cast iron lintels, as does the adjacent building on North Pearl. From a distance, they give the appearance of brownstone elements.

This building can be spotted in scenes from the movie The Other Guys.

Rows of Ghosts

A building full of bricked-over "ghost" windows at the corner of Maiden Lane. The first floor of this building used to house a shoe repair shop, but has been vacant for some time.

Patterns In Wood

Gorgeous woodwork in a Maiden Lane storefront.

Texture

Close-up of a wall along Maiden Lane. The texture of the wall - pebbles set into some sort of mortar - reminds me of the Gum Wall at Seattle's Pike Place Market...only less colorful.

The Mummy

An abandoned, withered plant sits in an empty storefront in the old Arcade Building at the corner of Maiden Lane and James Streets.

Old Maiden Lane

Tucked high on the wall of a building at the corner of James Street is a small old street sign for Maiden Lane. The sign - which is about the size of a brick and appears to be cut from white stone - is one of two I've found so far. There is a similar sign mounted on the wall of a house at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Ten Broeck Street.

From Maiden Lane to Corning Place

The little stretch of street running up from the Crown Plaza Hotel, past the imposing bulk of the Masonic Temple, and along the south side of City Hall is now called Corning Place as a tribute to the late Mayor Erastus Corning who is also memorialized in a tiny park, a riverfront preserve, and a soaring tower.

Previously, this was part of Maiden Lane. The Lane is one of Albany's older streets, being one of the originals inside the 17th-century stockade. Today, it runs from the modern Corning Preserve uphill, through what is now the Crown Plaza, and alongside City Hall to Eagle Street.

Parts of lower Maiden Lane - below North Pearl - are narrow, paved with stone, and still populated with small businesses, mostly eateries.

Years ago, the whole of Maiden Lane was a mix of businesses and residences. This lovely brick building with its old-fashioned storefront now housing some sort of office stands opposite Corning Park and gives a hint of what the Lane might have looked like in the past.

Colors

Early in this blog, I mentioned that I'm really fond of the details one finds on older buildings, even simple utilitarian structures often surprise me with them.

This strip of tile is one of two pairs flanking two narrow windows on either side of an entrance to a building at Maiden Lane and James Street.

The decorations caught my eye this afternoon because they combine blue with two of my favorite colors, green and purple and, while I'm not much of a make-up wearer, I suddenly have the urge to visit the local Sephora!

Pizza Memories

As far as I can recall, my very first taste of pizza came here at Jonathan's when I was quite small.

Two other pizza shops stand out in my early memories - Jack's American Pie on Delaware Avenue and Mr. B's in Colonie Center. Both Jack's American Pie (with its window full of jade plants) and Mr. B's (with its hard orange booths and little coin-operated jukeboxes at each table) are long gone now.

Jonathan's is still here on North Pearl near Maiden Lane, though there is a For Sale sign in the window. I don't eat downtown often, but still stop at Jonathan's for a slice or two every now and then. The interior has changed a little, but it's still the dark-paneled familiar shop where I had my first slice of hot, cheesy pepperoni pizza.

And it's still crowded with downtown office workers at lunch time.