Brooklyn, errrr, Beukelen.

This weekend Open House New York let us take a peek inside some of the private places in New York under the guise of arcitectural review.

We were astonished.
That's Pat and Chris, my aunt and uncle, astonished.

We got to go inside the Williamsburg Savings Bank at One Hansen Place.

An amazing place. A cathedral with a gold-inlaid mosaic to mythogize the founding of Brooklyn. Ok, as the dutch say, Beuklen.

Now, I love the convenience of online banking, but I realized as I poured over the incredible stone and iron detailing, my banking fees give nothing back to me. It used to be that your fees paid for these incredible structures, and the jobs of your neighbors. Today, I'm lucky if Citibank tosses me a flash animation every once in a while.

Things sure have changed here in Beukelen.