It’s not every day you see three stories of lettering on the street-facing levels of a building. Hunter College is part of the City University, so the Emerson quote – “We are of different opinions at different hours, but we always may be said to be at heart on the side of truth.” – is certainly appropriate. Street trees are generally a good thing, but these are unfortunately placed.
The vast majority of lettering on buildings is advertising of one form or another: the name of the building, as at the RCA/GE Building at Rockefeller Center, actual ads, as at so many lot-line-wall murals, or the name of a show at theaters. So It’s almost shocking to see lettering solely for the sake of making a statement, as you see here. There are a few other examples in the city, such as the motto at the old post office, but we could use more.
