This picture of the old post office in New York City is so beautiful and grand, it demands admiration.

With a little music by Fréhel for you to enjoy!

This is the view of the post office, looking north from Broadway and Park Row. The building, which opened in 1880, was in the French baroque architectural style, or Second Empire.

New York City Municipal Archives

Government buildings were once beautiful.  Many of them have been replaced with more modern styles like brutalism.

FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover building (brutalist architecture)

It brings to mind a philosophical question: does living in a beautiful place create beauty in life?

In other words, if all other things are equal, if you looked out your front window every day and saw the view on the left, would you have a better or worse life than if you saw the view on the right? Or would there be no difference at all?

Photos: BoredPanda.com on the left; CNtraveler.com on the right

And… stay tuned! I”m working on a really good true crime story I will post in the next few days!