Blue Eyes

Writing found on the sidewalk near the corner of Washington Avenue and Dove Street. Maybe it's a tribute to someone's girlfriend or, maybe, Frank Sinatra.

Coal Cover

This metal disk is set into an older flag of sidewalk just outside the famous Jack's Oyster House on lower State Street. The name McKinney was the first thing that caught my eye since I enjoying spotting examples of his cast iron architectural elements on old facades around Albany. But, since it's far too small to be a manhole cover, I couldn't quite place what this was...at first. Recently, I realized I'd seen similar examples in Manhattan...coal covers. These iron caps covered sidewalk hatches through which coal was delivered to basements in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some coal hatches were designed to double as vault lights.

Point The Way

Embedded in the sidewalk just outside Albany's City Hall at the corner of Eagle and Corning Place, are two arrows. One points north, the other (shown above) points south.

I don't know why the compass arrows were placed in the sidewalk or when, but they've obviously been there for many years. I had noticed the north-pointing arrow a long time ago, but actually never noticed the south one until I went to take these photos.

(Apologies for the long unannounced hiatus from this blog. I had to take more time off that expected to take care of a business projects. But, as of today, the blog is officially back.)