Cornerstones of New York

I say, this is a cool little Flikr site. It was recently brought to my attention by its creator, who posted a comment on a recent item.

It's just cornerstones. Pictures of cornerstones. Some old, some not so old. Every other building has one, it seems. Isn't that an appealingly sentimental notion? No matter how crass or worthless the building, it has a cornerstone, signifying the pride of whoever erected it. Imagine setting a cornerstone that reads "Erected 2005"? I mean, who cares? We all remember 2005. We know what it was. Nothing special. But in 50 years, people will gawk: "Wow. 2005."

Many of the cornerstones remind us of politicians long out of power. LBJ. Ford. Pataki. (Uh. Was he really our governor?) Sad. All temporary. Their names on building don't make them any more impressive. Churches, of course, always lay a cornerstone. Why? What do mortal years matters, when the afterlife awaits? Those cornerstones seem like an admission of doubt. Most don't date before 1900. We're such a young city when it comes down to it.

I've post a few nice ones here. I like the bold examples. It's all about font, folks.