Breuckelen mosaic. Craig Nelson, 2012.

Have you ever looked up and seen that massive 1920’s skyscraper looming over Atlantic Avenue and the new Barclay’s Center? Yes, the really phallic one. Well, if you ever wondered what the inside looks like, I recently snapped a few shots. Before it became one of the coolest event rooms in the city  hosting the likes of the Brooklyn Flea and Brooklyn Pour (official name: Skylight One Hanson), it was a good old-fashioned bank lobby. But not like the boring lobbies of the modern era — this is a massive, breathtaking space complete with Romanesque columns, mosaics, and 63-foot tall vaulted ceilings. If all banks still had class and elegance like this, waiting in line for a roll of quarters to do the laundry wouldn’t be so bad.