New York at Night

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What better way to close the year than with a celebration of those beloved establishments, some gone and some still here, that give the city its character? I close the door on 2012 in the Metropolitan section of the Times with “Elegy in Neon,” a short piece on the latest tombstone from James and Karla Murray. (Don’t miss the accompanying slideshow.) As I write: “You can trace your personal geography in these pages. Here’s the reformed speakeasy where you first spied that dark-eyed beauty, the old standby where they still know your order, the dim-sum parlor that served your grandparents and is still there for your children.”

A few other favorites from the year gone by:
Still Here: The Once and Future Library (Metropolis)
A Brief History of the Microwave (Icon)
Letter to a Critic Departed (Design Observer)
The New Barnes (Architectural Review)
Memories of Architecture’s Lost Visionaries (Design Observer)