Christo & Jean Claude in NYC again?; Louis Lozowick murals

No, they're not at it again, but, by the looks of the 33rd Street main Post Office, you would think this place would be swarming with European tourists taking snaps of the joint.

I was taking snaps inside the building and looking mighty suspicious, too. Couldn't help myself. Turns out that there are two large murals tucked away in the north and south entrances of the building painted by the renowned lithographer, Louis Lozowick (American, b. Ludvinovka, Russia, 1892 - 1973).


Entitled "Manhattan Skyline," the murals, painted on canvas mounted to the walls, soar some 18 feet above NYC's oblivious patrons scurrying to drop off their tax returns, holiday packages and whatnot. Finished in 1935, the bottom of the south entrance mural was practically ruined when some postmaster general in all his infinite wisdom decided that this was the best place to install a large, bronze memorial to the fallen of WWI. I can only imagine what kind of ship, whose plume of smoke rises from behind the memorial, was churning up the harbor toward Manhattan...