Main Street, Poughkeepsie, in February of 2002. At the time this shell of a former pawn shop struck me as an acutely sad testiment to the downfall of Poughkeepsie and of urban life in North America in the latter half of the twentieth century. The sign was removed not long after I photographed it, as part of an ambitious move by the city to reclaim old downtown storefronts and prepare them for new use.