The men at work and rest on Park Avenue South

The apartment building at 55 Park Avenue South looks like a typical expensive and elegant pre-war residence.

So why did the developer put these carved images of men on the facade?

One is reading, one is thinking with a broom in his hand. One looks like he’s tying a string around a small package.

And the man with what looks like a pail? I don’t have any idea what he is doing. But I like him.