“Amsterdam Ave”

Not Arabic Calligraphy

When I first saw this out of the corner of my eye, I thought it might be Arabic calligraphy. In fact it’s only the glue pattern from where a plaque was removed from (or fell off) the wall.

New luxury apartments, the full length of the block from Amsterdam Avenue to Morningside Drive, have gone up on the North side of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, eroding still further its once imposing dominance of the neighborhood. Seen from this angle, the verticals almost make it look like the new buildings were designed to sit comfortably alongside the Cathedral but a wider view proves they were not.

The image has not actually been converted to black & white from its native color, although I did reduce the “vibrance” of the colors in Lightroom.