Trask Avenue

For people in the windows game Manhattan is a Utopia, a capitalist’s fantasy born of silica and bolstered by architects. Think of all the installs, replacements, custom orders, and repairs waiting for the deft hand of a talented glazier. Hundreds, thousands, millions! Hell, one lousy building renovation could transform a struggling business. If you happen to wash windows for a living, work is plentiful enough to keep you swimming in Windex for decades. Sure, the competition is fierce and job sites are sometimes a bit dicey, but damn, if you can schmooze your way past the doormen and the local 32BJ-SEIU you will find an overflowing buffet of cracks and soot dripping with cash and promise.

Alas, for the rest of us the care and feeding of this translucent paradise does not help our bank accounts. It does, however, provide an abundance of opportunities to experience cool, new versions of Rear Window on a daily basis, if only in our imagination. When you see countless crystalline squares and rectangles how can you not wonder what goes on behind them? This is especially true with photos of the Manhattan skyline from a certain distance. If you look closely you can kinda sorta peer into these private spaces, but not really. You wonder, “What is going on in all those apartments and offices?” Well, the answer is quite simple: whatever you want.