Letters From D-CONE

A 2002 plan to convert Newburgh, NY's Kreisel's Furniture building to the Sunset nightclub never materialized.

I call them D-CONEs, “Depressed Cities Of the Northeast.” You know them by their telltale signs: hanging baskets of purple petunias in a downtown where there are more stores vacant than occupied; a desolate pedestrian mall, configured in the 1970s or 80s, which was supposed to bring foot traffic to Main St. (Could this be why the pedestrian mall-ification of Manhattan gives me the creeps?); a “revitalized waterfront” or other large budget project which never became the tourist-magnet it was projected to be; a designated “historic district,” branded with tasteful banners and serif type.

The largest employers are usually healthcare and social services. And you don’t have to look very far to find a dialysis center and a furniture rental.

Smaller cities such as Lewiston, Maine (36,000), and Gloversville, NY have managed to attract enough post-college 20 and 30-somethings, to support a food coop and arts events. Larger cities like Utica, New York, whose population has shrunk down to 62,000 from a high of 102,000 in 1930, feel beyond hope. Almost everything about them, from the “Job Fair” banners to the obesity rate of the population is heartbreakingly sad.

What these cities lack in economic health, they make up for in typographic abundance. Having missed out on the transformative development more tech-oriented metro centers experienced, these cities now stand as urban palimpsests. The remains of multi-era commercial signage record their every stage of deindustrialization and decline.

The wrecking ball will swing one day, no doubt, so make that detour to a D-CONE near you. Take photos, have a meal at a local eatery, and try to buy something. You might even be inspired to invest in some cheap real estate. 

The cities plotted above, and pictured below, are here simply because I happened to pass through them during the last few years. The chart's six cities with no state designation are in New York. I’ve included Bethesda and Detroit as reference points for the extremes on the spectrum of employment and income.

Gloversville, New York

Utica, New York

Springfield, Massachusetts

Lewiston, Maine

Yonkers, New York

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Newburgh, New York

Albany, New York

I'm so curious about this calligraphic signage. I might have to go back to Albany and investigate.

Poughkeepsie, New York

Newark, New Jersey

"Letters From Newark" ran in 2013

All photos by L. Eckstein, with occasional street view images from Google.

Naval Gazing in Annapolis

Gilded footballs from every victory against Army are enshrined behind glass, including the one from the first confrontation in 1890.

I recently visited Annapolis to attend Tableau Software's Tapestry conference on data visualization. I’ll post details about the conference when the links to the presentations are in place.

I had some time before my scheduled return to New York, so I grabbed a tour of the U.S. Naval Academy.

First stop was Lejeune Hall where we got to size up the 33’ platform, off which every midshipman must jump in order to graduate.

Above, you can see half of the Olympic-size swimming pool. The other half lies beyond the moveable bulkhead at the far end.

What might be mistaken for Marimekko carpeting, is the floor of the wrestling room.

Campus architecture is dominated by the Beaux-Arts style of Ernest Flagg. In addition to Dahlgren Hall, below (2), and the Naval Academy Chapel, he designed Bancroft Hall which houses all midshipmen and is the largest dormitory in the world.

Bancroft Hall on a frigid Annapolis morning.

The entire second floor of the naval museum in Prebel Hall is devoted to ship models. Displayed on the first floor is the original flag from the Battle of Lake Erie bearing the "dying command" of Captain James Lawrence, "Don't Give Up The Ship." 

Beneath the Naval Academy Chapel, lie the remains of John Paul Jones in a massive, ornate marble sarcophagus. Above ground, in addition to a sumptuous Tiffany window, there are water and sea-themed stained glass windows representing passages from both the old and new testaments.

The many antique shops along the charming streets of historic Annapolis abound with Naval Academy memorabilia.