Here’s a piece of New York history in the most literal sense. I was photographing a person outside of the Waldorf Astoria when I heard a man calling to me in Italian. I looked up and saw this guy, striking a pose against some scaffolding. He was part of a crew doing renovations on the facade of the hotel. 

“That hotel is so nice,” he told me, “that every brick has Waldorf printed on it. It’s absolutely amazing. Let me show you.” He climbed a ladder, and came down with one of the old bricks of stone he had removed from the building. Sure enough, it said “Waldorf Grays.”

The modern Waldorf was built in 1931. You can almost imagine the owner of the rock quarry adding that little touch to impress his very important client.