104th Street/Lexington Avenue 1990

This photograph, taken by Madoka Takagi, captures a mural at 104th Street and Lexington Avenue. Note the Puerto Rican flag boldly painted, a symbol of cultural identity and resistance. Flags, as visual emblems of national pride and unity, have been used since antiquity. Think of Roman standards leading legions into battle, their symbolic power to rally troops akin to how this flag galvanizes a community. Consider how the layered graffiti and advertisements beneath the flag represent the palimpsest of urban life, with each layer telling a story of change and continuity. This urban stratification reminds us of the cyclical nature of history, where new narratives are constantly superimposed onto the old, creating a complex tapestry of collective memory. The very act of memorializing figures in a mural—only to have them become part of the city's underbelly—suggests a powerful, if subconscious, tension between permanence and transience.