![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s2pSVgVDtaPukThe-JK1T6Ex96tfwD65t8yQRXNdzcjBYwB4bqzN8bXbM9pvf5FzN5Gqutgs8HlqCp4-wYZXv4LN8HiRGHfpFFYedTzBCwy1X3yGuV3lg3iskeSgf8c43E469eP0MBY/s200/sb7_observationdeck.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA1kKcaTlu4qCNuIBBplWs0ysbIvjoHsc5P6p7WyGHK2W2ZOR_NE_lTGOd3Ms8KRqq_uyp1zzzd3TythFkOo4jdBQaEmxFSRzRy0wMy-eOOe0CjUBoHLAB-sFBQ4ugI65SiEs-iRtkt4/s200/sb5_gotham.jpg)
In the year that all the banks went down, one stood still, or moved just enough to allude to its steady decline in the memory of this city.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__Y7GyrgEwN4Ul7wkVuQpshuVDeMNGNwxOOVcyPuNzKIZ0ysJ-Lbj6gi9m2mf7bYnXZdH5BSSkPmOLpc4QsVNbmw7dvosHP563ImT3lEbFt2_kyeHMyhbvTiR5Bo4wf-NcXzYTcVDXHA/s200/sb8_foggy.jpg)
This lone haunted sentinel called the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, once filled with dentists, as if written into a Lethem novel, is being transformed as we wake and dream into luxury lofts, so as to defy and deny history, not to claim it or pretend it isn't past.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0tez7iqxArSskvb2vvd05B-GsLLeJosnFR2L9Q7GCRsuuf9qApMSwlDJ9z7K-7_hugEtj-cY_SB8qBrXdu_7ibLWK3WhsEzIq7EceYIsfHSMeIbqAhp0XsgEvCPACCDJPDtq1fbAvBmo/s200/sb4_disembodied.jpg)
Once a fancy hall of money exchange, a dependable time piece, a choice venue for taking in a city panorama. Still the tallest building in the Broken Land, but not for long (when it becomes dwarfed by Ratner's Gehryization of this roiling borough's central corridor).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfq-U3jyTZnzIsAqto5PQac6yWfBN4w57qQ1aLITgA1UtvloX4LzVHusLJCO4iM2yjkRGLdpknRqI2Ije6gwYAL4OhuZmUviZDPXogAy0WNrAf45G986shYJ27QE7ocmVOTJSEiuQioMo/s200/sb6_stalinsteeth.jpg)
For many years this building was my lanky friend rising up from Flatbush, out of the fog, a needed compass for wandering eyes and thoughts.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDpbA0SVG-ZfT3XyMsP8fKb-ZQR6jOb9bLtH9eZ53XjplrLbmVXtXQMiGQHKqx6Gt3yhG_OIU-6i0Y6iDEbjp7to7yMJ-u_BnmkDYhv3RnBYMaWDMCIuiBGR_Ox2H6ZVeED-3Gdbwmfi0/s200/sb1_28days.jpg)
As it fills up with luxurious consumers of the urban luxury lifestyle, this lonely muse will offer up its nostalgia in tamer, watered-down bursts, like a shaved ice held in my hand a few moments too long, on a hot city day.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcb9j1RH0kvWvRMjYQa9NdjI6yhbAmWbCrfjITBgslsmz3pECl3A9xYOrugpsuL4B3R2xgxWdJPQAM8D3cNTN2NrwJek8ymTSx8gYaezGeErU2bMykuq6Xye-VuUd7v-OzVQS0fwdeHZU/s200/DSC_8820small.jpg)
See inside the building on Nathan Kensinger's amazing blog, which inspired me to say a few things on this subject.
1 comment:
Truly beautiful words and photos, Kristin.
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