Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Kips Bay, Asser Levy Place Between 23rd and 25th Streets


Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

As promised. Enlarge this photo and look at what's incised above the arches:

Free Public Baths …………..City of New York.

I know I claimed that this is not documentary photography, but I think I've broken that rule now and again. This is definitely documentary. I just had to show you what the City of New York built for people who lived in tenements without running water. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that they built it that way because that was their sense of what public buildings should look like. Whereas, now . . .

The door on the left is for men and the door on the right for women. Or was. I entered through the door for men since it was the open one and found myself in a large open room. It's a community space now with a gym and a swimming pool.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I clicked but could not see the inscription. Anyway, amazing building. Thanks for showing this (are you sure these buildings are in New York?). I assume this is one of the city pools.

Getting back into the blog-responding mode (takes a little while to reve up).

Anonymous said...

What a wonderous place! I had no idea something like that still existed.

There is a school on, I think, 16th Street, built by the Catholic Church which has separate entrances for boys and girls - or so it is marked. Interesting.

hbs