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October 1907. "New York, N.Y. -- Carnegie Hall, West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
A renovation appears to have started in August of 2021, based on the scaffolding. Still up as of May of this year. But here is an image of it from 2019, just prior to all hell breaking loose --
It's one of the best known place jokes, along with that river in Egypt, "Denial".
Surprisingly, it seems of relatively late vintage: the first recorded instance was by Bennett Cerf in 1953. (Carnegie Hall itself dates from 1891.) Nevertheless, the joke has been attributed to Jack Benny, Borscht Belt comedians, and a slew of musicians-getting-out-of-a-taxi, including Jascha Heifetz, Arthur Rubinstein, and Mischa Elmann.
Carnegie Hall sells it on a refrigerator magnet. (I bought one, just in case I need a reminder.) But how do you get to the Carnegie Hall Gift Shop?
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