Three on the right, one on the left with his cane in the air, seems they knew the photo was being taken.

The view from the tower must have been a special treat -

Like this

https://www.loc.gov/resource/stereo.1s06658/

Looking at the roofs, there's a lot of wash on the line.

Chimneys and smoke. And three hatted gents on the observation deck of the tower.

The interesting history of the Produce Exchange building can be found at this blog.

I am always fascinated by the fact of how long commercial sailing ships kept sticking around.

Judging from this photo one would assume that sails still accounted for the bulk of all commercial maritime traffic at the time. A lot more merchies with masts and sails in sight than merchies with those (relatively) newfangled steam engines.

Well, coal cost money, wind was free, and labor was cheap, I guess.

Although the dominance of labor-intensive commercial sailing vessels may seem paradoxical in a scene dating from so late in the Age of Steam, the fact is that, during most of the 19th century, steamships were not efficient enough to cross oceans without having to devote a large portion of their capacities to the carrying of their own coal for fuel. Sailing ships, which had made significant gains in speed during this period, remained competitive on certain freight routes until the eve of the First World War.

was replaced by 2 Broadway, a glass box erected in 1958/59. 2 Broadway served as a backdrop for Billy Wilder's 1960 film The Apartment. I took this photo of 2 Broadway as I emerged out of the Bowling Green subway station back in May 2015.

Can you imagine the sounds? When my grandfather was telling me about arriving in NY harbor from Croatia in 1914 he said that one boat; "toot, toot!" and the next boat answers "Toot! toot!" Hundreds of boats blowing warnings and intentions to other boats.