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"New
York in the Golden Age" by Paul McGehee. A twilight view looking north
along Broadway in New York City in 1955. The sights and sounds of NYC
in the Golden Age...the honking of the taxi horns, the latest headlines
being shouted from the corner newsstands, sounds of the sidewalk loaded
with people night and day. Smells, wonderful smells from the hot dog
vendors cooking at their pushcarts. The lights twinkling in the
buildings as the sun sets, beginning to turn on one by one until the
whole city is a sparkling jewel at night...the city that never sleeps.
The Big Apple. This was the New York City of yesteryear. A canyon of
skyscrapers, buildings taller than man had ever dreamed buildings could
be. The Singer Building in this scene, headquarters of the Singer
Manufacturing Company, was finished in 1907 and was one of Manhattan's
first...and at 612' was the tallest building in the world for a while
in those boom years of new architectural style and steel-frame
construction methods. The Singer Company dated back to the 1850's and
was best known for manufacturing sewing machines which were used
throughout the world. The grand headquarters on Broadway was actually a
small complex of buildings built over several years, culminating in the
construction of the impressive tower. The Singer Tower was
officially opened to the public on May 1, 1908 and became the symbol of
Manhattan, ablaze with electric lights against the night sky. The Tower
proudly stood alongside of the other giants of NYC as years went by,
but after 60 years was vacated by the Singer Company and sold. The new
owners, United States Steel, chose to raze the beautiful old building
and replace it with a new, larger office structure. As the trend in
Manhattan at the time was to tear just about anything down whether it
was historic or not, the New York City Landmarks Preservation
Commission was formed in 1965 in hopes of stemming the tide of
destruction. But, the Singer Building narrowly missed the cut of
achieving 'landmark status' in the eyes of some in the local
government...and she was torn down in 1967, to be replaced by One
Liberty Plaza. And yes, after a life spanning six decades, the Singer
Building entered the record books one last time, as the tallest
structure ever to have been demolished. New York City was changing yet
again, moving into the 1970's with new challenges and triumphs ahead,
embodied by another building still mostly on the drawing board at the
time, the twin towers of the World Trade Center. But, with the
demolition of the Singer Building, it was the end of that old,
original, first era of skyscrapers...and the end of the Golden Age.
"New York in the Golden Age" is faithfully
reproduced as an archival-quality print from McGehee's original color
pencil and acrylic artwork, each hand-signed by the artist.
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