THEN

Richard Haas painted this marvelous but now fading mural in 2006. Financed by the developer of The Cielo apartments, which it faces on 83rd Street, the mural depicts a mechanical clock, with images of mounted New York police officers rather than medieval soldiers. It recalls the kinds of elaborate clocks one sees in German town squares, as well as the Eastern European immigrants who flocked to Yorkville in the late 19th and early 20th century. Though attention is often given to the four-story mechanism that rises near the corner, don’t miss the hooded, Yoda-like gargoyles and other painted trompe l’oeil features that enliven the base.