Some construction workers digging up the sidewalk in front of 28 W. 40th Street, just south of Bryant Park, have uncovered some curious brickwork.
A sharp-eyed reader was strolling by and took the above photo, which clearly shows an ancient brick archway. Not what you usually find when you did up the sidewalk. I have no idea what the significance of the find is. Maybe nothing. Maybe just an old arched ceiling of some bygone basement. But, being so close to the New York Public Library and Bryant Park, it could be more than that. Things that have occupied the Library-Park area over the last 200 years: A potter's field; a huge distributing reservoir serving the Croton Aqueduct; the famous Crystal Palace exhibition of the 1850s.
Actually this IS kind of what you usually find when you dig in NYC. A friend used to do some work for the state as an anthropologist. They have to keep track of all construction where finds might occur. Delays construction, but it's really interesting the things that turn up.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I love to see what you find!
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