Simple Pleasures: Fleur-de-lis Finials

If one looks past the filth and squalor of our modern metropolis, one can still glimpse long-forgotten architectural treasures from a bygone civilization. Amid the teeming cobblestones of SoHo, I came upon an old wrought-iron gate on Crosby Street, crowned with fleur-de-lis finials—an ancient symbol of the House of Bourbon.