Green Street Bridge Mural

I have yet to see anyone while they're working on this mural, but it's coming along. The theme for the mural is "Building Bridges of Understanding," according this article in WoMag from August 9th.

Through the "Community Task Force on Bias and Hate Crimes," the painting is being funded by the city's Human Rights Commission.

That WoMag article included a great picture from the 1950's, back when paint was much cheaper and the whole bridge was covered with paint, outside, under, around and through.

It's interesting to notice that there's no McGrath Boulevard on the right, but rather a glimpse of the storefronts that went right up to the bridge.

I remember when it looked like that.

Ah... pictures like these push me into the wayback machine...

Those were the days before the malls, when the only place to do any serious shopping was downtown. Almost everybody took the bus back then. Even most people who owned cars took the bus downtown. Why spend half your time looking for a parking space, and then spend the coin on parking when it cost the same to take the bus? Buses went by every fifteen or twenty minutes, pretty much no matter where you lived.

The bus tokens had a hole in the middle, in the shape of a heart. It stood for the city's "brand" back then... "The Heart of the Commonwealth".

Everything's different now.

Don't let anybody fool ya, though... Lincoln Plaza fired the first shot that ended up killing downtown. After all, why take the bus when you can park for free?