I thought I’d do a couple posts with a local and personal slant for a change.   Some of you might think that I make a living doing this roadside thing.  Far from true! I only make a couple hundred bucks per year from donations & magazines/books using my photos.  So until the Travel Channel offers me a reality show, or Diet Coke or Chevrolet become sponsors, I’ll be toughing it out here in NYC, putting in 60-hour weeks to pay for these big roadtrips.

Here are a couple buildings that have been part of  my daily life for many years.  This is one of my favorites that I pass every day on my walk to the subway to work.   Known as the Montauk Club, it was built in 1891 in the Venetian Gothic style.  It was inspired by the Ca’ d’Oro in Venice.  The building is used a lot for movie shoots and weddings. 

terra cotta details with Montauk Indians & European settlers:

cast iron fences:

I’ve worked in this building in Manhattan for about 14 years now.  The building at the left with the “Credit Suisse” nameplate is actually a separate building.  My building is the Art Deco one on the right.  It has a stunted look because it was never finished.  There were plans for 100 stories but then the Depression happened and they just capped the building off at 29 floors. 

Lots of nice exterior details:

including several of these still functioning bronze & glass lamps which must be about five feet tall:

It was originally Metropolitan Life’s North Building and there is still a skywalk connecting the two buildings.  I don’t believe the skywalk is used any more:

I’d love to take some lobby photos but I’m sure the guards would tackle me.  I can only find one interior photo on-line which doesn’t show much but you get the idea:  loads of marble, oil portraits, and high ceilings. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37896716@N00/191148893/

From the 20th floor, here’s a view of the Met Life Building and its clock.  There are clocks on all four sides of the building.  The modern building to the left was completed last year:

And here’s my desk — for the day anyway.  We are moved around where needed like little document processing soldiers.  When asked what I do for a living, the simplest answer is “fancy typing”.  I know nothing about technical computer stuff — but I can do just about anything in Word, Excel or Powerpoint.