Window Shopping on Bleecker

Old buildings with original brickwork can be found with relative ease in New York City. If you're lucky, you'll see an original cornice, lintels and door. But to spy original windows—wooden frames, small panes of blass, hinges and locks—is a rare wonder indeed.

Bleecker Street between Sixth and Seventh is a fine street for such window shopping. Along the north side of the street are several low-slung, brick building sporting windows so old and authentic-looking, one has to imagine that, if they're not original, they are very, very ancient.

The building featured above has some of my favorite windows, elegant, tall and narrow, and all the better for actually swinging out. From the looks of the plywood, however, it sadly doesn't seem like anything's going on inside.