What can be said about this obscure little private, one block alley which lies between Duane and Thomas Streets, parallel to Church Street and Broadway in lower Manhattan? Not much at all. Would I recommend visiting it? - no, not unless, like myself, you like to visit alleys. Are there any interesting tidbits or stories? - none that I could find. Trimble Place is very uninteresting, drab, with no outstanding features or businesses, very little history other than it was named in 1874 for George Trimble, a 19th century merchant, director of New York Hospital and an officer of the Public School Society. The most interesting things about the alley are the buildings that surround it like the controversial 52 story residential tower next door and the bizarre 550 foot, monolithic, windowless AT&T Long Lines Building at 33 Thomas Street. There are actually many small alleys like this in lower Manhattan - Mosco Street, Florence Place, Benson Street, Ryders Alley, Mill Lane, Mechanics Alley and Jersey Street - click here. And in the Village there are several which are residential and much more bucolic and historic in nature such as Grove Court, MacDougal Alley and Washington Mews. Unlike most of Manhattan, the mayhem of small streets and alleys in downtown is due their creation prior to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which established an orthogonal grid north of 14th Street. I find the very TRULY nondescript interesting just for that reason - it's not easy being that featureless, like the tract housing of Levittown NY or luggage areas at the airport. But there is always hope that Trimble Place may have its day. Look at what happened to Seinfeld, a show reputedly about nothing ...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
No Local Color
What can be said about this obscure little private, one block alley which lies between Duane and Thomas Streets, parallel to Church Street and Broadway in lower Manhattan? Not much at all. Would I recommend visiting it? - no, not unless, like myself, you like to visit alleys. Are there any interesting tidbits or stories? - none that I could find. Trimble Place is very uninteresting, drab, with no outstanding features or businesses, very little history other than it was named in 1874 for George Trimble, a 19th century merchant, director of New York Hospital and an officer of the Public School Society. The most interesting things about the alley are the buildings that surround it like the controversial 52 story residential tower next door and the bizarre 550 foot, monolithic, windowless AT&T Long Lines Building at 33 Thomas Street. There are actually many small alleys like this in lower Manhattan - Mosco Street, Florence Place, Benson Street, Ryders Alley, Mill Lane, Mechanics Alley and Jersey Street - click here. And in the Village there are several which are residential and much more bucolic and historic in nature such as Grove Court, MacDougal Alley and Washington Mews. Unlike most of Manhattan, the mayhem of small streets and alleys in downtown is due their creation prior to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which established an orthogonal grid north of 14th Street. I find the very TRULY nondescript interesting just for that reason - it's not easy being that featureless, like the tract housing of Levittown NY or luggage areas at the airport. But there is always hope that Trimble Place may have its day. Look at what happened to Seinfeld, a show reputedly about nothing ...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Même cette petite allée sombre est intéressante Brian !
Those small obscure alleys named after people who were once famous are fascinating in and of themselves. I like the treatment of the black and white with the green sign. Gives that November rainy day feeling...
Interesting shot, Brian. I agree that the black and white with the green street sign is great contrast!
Interesting to see the two security cameras in lower left....must be something noteworthy happening the odd time!!
Greg - there are police/detective buildings nearby and the AT&T building across the street. Perhaps that explains it.
Well, there was a whole lot of interesting facts in your post about nothing. ;) You made it shine and the b&w with the touch of green was the prefect choice for it. Loved this creative post.
Post a Comment