Having watched six of eight discs of Ric Burn’s epic PBS “New York” documentary, I’m beginning to see New York as a city of sunlight and shadow, one that may be darker more than it is light. Sure, it’s arguably the greatest city in the world. But so much history has been paved over, knocked down, built upon, covered up. When taking photographs on the Triangle Shirtwaist fire the other day, it struck me how John Wilson of 84 Chrystie Street (who died one hundred years ago in that fire) didn’t even have the building he lived in as a normative place. The city changes, the people forget.
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