This is the New York Times Building shown with its signature façade made of ladder-like ceramic tubes that wraps the building. Its designer the world renowned architect Renzo Piano called these screen of rods “suncoats” as opposed to "raincoats.” He who has been named the “master of light and lighting” having demonstrated that with his work with the Morgan Library in New York and the great Centre Pompidou in Paris, an ugly monstrosity to some but is a fascinating museum of modern art. Piano’s building designs show how he uses the light coming through the roof or the sides of a building to dramatically create space.
In the name of security, many of these rods have been removed from the New York Times Building last summer after a third climber scaled the building and used them as ladder for ascent. How fun unless you have fear of heights like me!
Whether that’s the end of it for those rods, no one is certain. But for the iconic New York Times, the future of the printed edition is also challenged. With global economies tumbling down, the prospects do not look good for the paper. And with the proliferation of bloggers and news analysts, as competitive as it is even at the best of times, the future of print journalism is at stake.
Is it going to be the end of the Times? If it is, then it would be a misfortune for those of us who remember looking forward to the 3-inch thick, 3-pounder Sunday edition. For some of us who still prefer the look and feel of the hard copy, the digital version is not the same. No more tear sheets, no more recipes to cut out and stash away in a folder. Yeah, yeah, I used to work in the information industry where we pushed for a paperless work environment, but in my heart I sometimes crave for some of that printed paper. I guess only a few of us can honestly say we can walk the walk.
Here are two of the local giveaway tabloids - the daily Metro New York and AM New York, definitely not substitutes for the prestigious New York Times. If nothing else these papers certainly can capture the harried subway rider's fleeting attention once shoved in their hands. Well, they serve as a quick source for the schedule of local activities and fulfill our need to be on top of the local news without spending a penny.
I guess if we are resorting to the tabloids for our source of information, we must really have fallen on hard times. That is a pity.
