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There Goes the Skyline

There Goes the Skyline

Unlike Vegas, Tokyo, or–dare we offend our brehtren?–LA, much of the Manhattan skyline remains signage free. In fact, outside of Times Square, they’re all but illegal. One exception is 444 Madison Avenue, long-home to New York magazine. Well, the the publication moved headquarters in 2007, and part of the deal included the icon sign atop the building.

Not literally, of course. Basically, whoever moved in after had lease to the rooftop space as well. Burberry won out, and as the video above shows, the skyline looks a might bit different for it. There was even a party to celebrate the “occasion” last night, with the mayor declaring it Burberry Day.

Which is kind of the problem. Is this really the direction we should be headed, with much of the city seems to be increasingly crass and comodified. Sure, the old sign was an advert, too, but one as much for the glitzy city the magazine stood for as anything else. Hell, most people probably didn’t even recognize or appreciate its its provenance. It was just another symbol of all that is great and bombastic about this town. Instead, another one of the city’s luminous lights goes out.

(Then again, maybe we’re just sentimentalists reading to far into everything. After all, it was a Newsweek sign before its more recent incarnation.)


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