@mattblaze Oh. MIB HQ :-)
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Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 32mm/4.0 lens (@ f/7.1), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 64), Cambo WRS 1250 camera, shifted vertically -5mm, horizontally -15mm. Cropped a bit.This humble and functional, yet handsome, art deco structure is the easternmost of three ventilation towers for the Lincoln Tunnel and was completed with its first tube in 1937. The facade was refurbished about ten years ago. It also hosts a large array of cellular telephone base station antennas.
The Lincoln Tunnel, opened in 1937, is a multi-tube automobile tunnel that connects midtown Manhattan with Weehawken, NJ under the Hudson (North) river. To provide fresh air and remove dangerous car exhaust, three ventilation towers (two in Manhattan and one in NJ) exchange the air in the tunnels approximately every 90 seconds.Infrastructure is heroic.I didn't notice the "Camera Use Prohibited" sign until it was too late. I guess their secret is out now.
@mattblaze Can they actually prohibit you photographing it from across the street?
Manhattan boasts six large ventilation towers serving the four automobile tunnels that cross the Hudson and East Rivers: two each for the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, and one each for the Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn Battery Tunnels. All sport an industrial art deco design reflecting their early/mid 20th century construction. Their large scale and lack of windows lends them an air of mystery; the exterior of the Battery Tunnel building was used as the secret HQ in the Men in Black films.
There are also ventilation structures for the various railroad and subway tunnels that cross the NYC rivers, but their smaller size makes them less prominent. (The electric trains that use these tunnels don't produce exhaust that has to be as aggressively vented as in an automotive tunnel).Let me just mention that photographing buildings from across the major avenues during the day in midtown Manhattan is like playing a video game in "extreme hardcore" mode.
@mattblaze I love it when people take the time to make infrastructure beautiful
@mattblaze God DAMN there is something so satisfying about these orthogonal presentations. Gorgeous.
@mattblaze I used to work near this. I basically intuited what it’s for but never actually looked it up. I’m glad someone else thinks it looks notable. Industrial art deco is right.
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