Photos Found in the Shoebox

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Standing grandly in Central Park for over 130 years, Cleopatra’s Needle isn’t just any monument; it’s the oldest outdoor relic in New York and a staggering testament to 3,500 years of history that stretches back to ancient Egypt. Originally crafted in Heliopolis to pay homage to Pharaoh Thutmose III’s 30-year dominion, this colossal obelisk towers at 69 feet and tips the scales at roughly 200 tons. After being toppled and buried, it was dragged to Alexandria by none other than Caesar Augustus, earning its illustrious nickname. The U.S. snagged this ancient marvel as a gift in 1879, and moving it to New York? Now that was a dramatic display of engineering prowess. It took a relentless 19 days to position this beast, and on January 22, 1881, it was finally placed in Central Park, where it defiantly remains to this day, daring anyone to forget the power it once represented.

On a Roll Buddies in the East Village Green Grocer East Village Chinatown Early Evening Old School Chinatown Eli Buk of Eponymous Rare Antiques Shop Spring Street SoHo. Elli Buk pictured in 1980 holding forth at his eponymous antique shop at 151 Spring Street in Soho. Just east of West Broadway and a neighbor to the once fabulous Spring Street Natural Restaurant. Mr. Buk’s was a unique collection of turn of the century and earlier mechanical and scientific instruments, photographica, electrical medical healing devices, a so much more; a surprising assortment of strange and fascinating rarities from a time which was way past and unfamiliar to most. If you hadn’t visited the second floor loft space shop, you may remember the small shop window on the street with ever changing still life displays of totally unrelated things which [to me] elicited stories and psychic prodding. Here is a link to a catalog of Elli Buk’s wondrous collection. Little Friend Riding in Style in the Village. Coop...