Ice & Fuel

Old metal sign on the wall of the old City Ice & Fuel Company at the corner of Park Avenue and Swan Street. I've previously written about an unwelcome "additive" of sorts that was found in ice from this facility decades ago in a post about the building's distinctive red tubes.

Underwater Work

The inner workings of the fountains on the Empire State Plaza's main platform are ready for spring. These pipes and valves are responsible for the fountain's towering artificial geysers. Two of the reflecting pools are already filled. This one, the southernmost, is still empty.

Send Off

A sign on the long-vacant Trailways terminal on Division Street.

Capitol Faces

It might sound a little cliched to say it, but the New York State Capitol is most definitely a showcase of the stone carver's art. Both inside and out, the building features scores of stone faces. Some are portraits of figures from the State's history, others were left to the whims of the carvers. This handsome male face, surrounded by hammers and a carpenter's square, can be found just above the south side of the Goblin Passage.

Wise Owls

A crown of owls on one of the intricate lamp posts flanking the west entrance to the old State Education Building on Washington Avenue. The lamps are fabulously detailed with the Zodiac and other celestial symbols and, fittingly, these striking owls.

A Bookish Fellow

A bespectacled reader carved on the ornate old Albany Evening News building (now part of the State University Plaza) to glance down at Broadway.

The Empty Bottle

An old-fashioned glass bottle sits alone on a bit of exposed brick in this trompe l'oeil mural under the overpass on Broadway at Orange Street.

More on the mural: Lost Glasses