I was looking at a picture of the Hotel Knickerbocker earlier this evening, and it occured to me that all kinds of crimes and scandals must have occurred within its elegant walls. This picture oozes intrigue. If you were destined to be murdered, it couldn’t happen in a more swell place.

It made me think of the Avett Brothers’ song If I get Murdered in the City.

The Hotel Knickerbocker is situated in Times Square. The Beaux-Arts building was completed in 1904 and this photograph was taken in 1909. The building is still there! It’s been on a journey since the day this picture was taken having been, at different times, a garment showroom, office space, and the home of Newsweek magazine. Today it is again a hotel.

LOC