Arcade games were popular in the US from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s. However, as video based game controls made the transition from 2D to 3D graphics, arcades lost their appeal for many.
Photographer Thomas Schultz documented some arcades gathering dust somewhere in Arizona.
Note: This is the last regular post on this blog for the next several months. We will be posting once every few weeks till regular updates resume. Still, you can follow us on twitter and like us on facebook for your weekly deserted places dose.
The Domino Sugar Refinery in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City used to be the largest sugar refinery in the world when it was constructed in 1882. Ships would deliver sugar cane from all over the world and half of US more than half of the sugar consumed in the entire country was refined in this Brooklyn factory. The business was so successful that in May 1896 the factory's owner, American Sugar, became one of the original twelve companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The refinery's long history also includes one of the longest labor strikes in New York City's history when in 200o, 250 workers went on strike for twenty months protesting wages and working conditions.
After 148 years of operation, the refinery closed in 2004 and 225 workers were laid off. Since then, the 11-acre site has been purchased by private corporations twice in order to be redeveloped. The latest plan includes a mix of creative office space, market-rate and affordable housing, neighborhood retail, and community facilities. The demolition of the factory's structures began in fall of 2014.
It has been called 'one of the most beautiful subway stations in the world', but today it's one of New York subway's ghost stations. City Hall station opened in 1904 and served as the southern terminal of the "Manhattan Main Line", the subway's first line. Designed by Rafael Guastavino, it is an usually elegant station and unique among New York's first subway stations. The platform and mezzanine feature Guastavino tile, skylights, colored glass tilework and brass chandeliers.
During the following decades, New York subway saw an increase in passenger numbers which meant longer trains and longer platforms had to be used. As the City Hall station's platform was built on a tight curve, it would have been difficult to be lengthened. Moreover, City Hall was never an important station and it was close to the far busier Brooklyn Bridge station. The station closed on December 31, 1945. It served 600 passengers on that day.
Today, the tracks going through the station are part of the turning loop which is being used by 6 trains. Passengers who remain on the trains as they go around the loop, can see the station's platform even though trains no longer stop there. Since the mid '90s there have been many occasions when this very unique station opens to the public for tours.
