WALDORF ASTORIA

Two hotels, again. The corner tower on the left was the original Waldorf, built in 1893 by William Waldorf Astor. The rest of the building was the Astoria, built in 1895-7 by a hated relative who struck a deal with William: they would connect their hotels, but the passageway could be resealed if the truce ever soured. It was not. The hotel was ripped down to build the Empire State Building - not a bad trade, I suppose.

To the right - an ancient fob from the original Waldorf-Astoria, which I picked up in an antique store. Nice to see that the tradtion of stealing keys from hotels is a long and honored one.