The Day the Market Crashed

This beautiful example of 1920's Art Deco architecture provides one of the most distinctive features of Rochester's skyline.  The most noteworthy feature of the building are its four 42 foot high, 12,000 pound aluminum wings, but the whole building is a study in the art deco style and grand optimism of the roaring 20's. 

It was designed by the architecture firm of  Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker, who are famous for many distinctive buildings in New York City, including the impressive Bank of New York Building at #1 Wall Street.

It has always been used mainly as a bank or finance building throughout it's history.  Ironically, the cornerstone of the building was laid the day the stock market crashed, October 29, 1929, marking the beginning of the Great Depression.

The best way to view this building is to approach it running over the Broad Street Bridge (mentioned in a previous post).  I was able to capture it a sunrise on an amazingly warm November morning.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Going Downtown? Take the Subway!

Well, you could from the late 1920's until the 1950's, anyway.  Like many other Rochester civic projects, ie: The Fast Ferry, poor planning and a lack of demand doomed our little subway system.  Rochester was actually the smallest city to put a subway system into operation, and many artifacts of it remain if you look for them.  The Broad Street brdge in the picture above actually is a very unique design which had cars, trucks and pedestrians on the top level, and subway cars on the second level.  Before the subway, the bridge carried the Erie Canal over the Genesee River.

The abandoned subway system has become a haven for the homeless, since the tunnels and stations were never fully closed off or filled in.  It has become a place of dark legends, and a destination for brave adventurers.  One interesting account of an excursion into the subway can be found here.  I've never been brave enough to attempt going down there...