After I was quite a ways away from where I took the shot I realized I had not readjusted my focus from my previous shot, and knew it would probably be a little fuzzy (which it is). Also, I look at this shot and maybe reevaluate my bitching and moaning about people who bitch and moan about how the city is changing (as if it ever stopped changing) and how things ain't what they used to be.
I have a sentimental attachment to this place, one that goes back to my childhood. I think it may be one of the few places left in the city that I can say I knew as a little boy. Mind you, I grew up in Jersey so that's saying something. But my father and grandfather worked around the corner for many years, and I have fond memories of spending the day at the shop (as we called it). No, we didn't have Cup & Saucer lunches every day, but I think even then, we all liked that it was there. I'm sure it was the coffee spot, or if you needed a quick something to get you through the day, it was always there, as it's there today, with the same sign that's been hanging over Canal for ages.
Will it always be there? No. Will I be sad to find out if and when it closes (even though I haven't eaten anything from there in 20 years)? Maybe a little. Maybe sad is too strong a word. Wistful? Either way, it's a connection to my past, to days spent in the city with Dad, walking around with him or my grandfather or even my grandmother who would take the bus down from the Bronx every so often, and one of the few landmarks that remains from those days spent with people who have since died (except my father, he's still going strong. Well, he's still going, at least).
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