The inscriptions “GLICo” on the wall took me back to 1931 and a meeting of insurance executives.
I was actually at the HfS BluePrint event in the Great Room at the W Union Square which has in the last decade lovingly restored the 1911 HQ of the Guardian Life Insurance Co.
A bit later I found myself on the elevated tracks of the LRT Sixth Avenue line peering into the holiday decorations of the Simpson, Crawford, Simpson store. In reality I was sitting in the lobby of the magnificent Infor HQ at 641 Avenue of the Americas.
In the holiday mood from the train ride I walked down to Rockefeller Center to watch the lighted Christmas tree. While General Electric was helping roll out power around the country, the tree in 1931 used conventional light. In reality, I was watching the new generation LED and other dazzle that decorates the tree in 2013.
New York does many things right – and it takes care of its old structures as well as any other city in the world.
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