Every city neighborhood has its share of fascinating figures and faces carved into buildings.
But the ones staring out from the 19th century tenements of Chelsea have got to be some of the oddest.
On some blocks, it seems like every other residence has a few—like this woman at left, on 21st Street off Seventh Avenue, with vacant eyes and fruit around her neck.
This mustached man (top right) peers down from a doorway on 22nd Street off Seventh Avenue.
The grayish-blue head (at right) is also from the same stretch of 22nd Street. His wide eyes and open mouth give the impression that he’s frozen in fear.
I love the helmet-clad soldier who looks to at his head-scarfed partner across the facade of a 22nd Street building. They’ve been meeting each other’s eyes for probably a century.
Tags: art nouveau, Chelsea tenements, faces carved into tenements, figures carved into building facades, New York street, New York tenements, West 22nd Street
Ephemeral New York 
June 15, 2011 at 3:42 pm |
I love all the carvings on the beautiful old buildings. They give those buildings a character that isn’t to be found in modern… crap.
The mustachioed man seems kind of sad, to me. Maybe it’s the downcast angle of the eyes.
June 17, 2011 at 4:08 am |
[…] Ephemeral New York sees the strange and scary faces of Chelsea. […]