Time marches on and, along with it, go our methods of its measure: the New York Times reports that the last mechanical parking meter in NYC was decommissioned yesterday. I’m a sucker for clocks of all kinds, and still have the guts of a Washington, D.C. parking meter I found lying on the sidewalk dented and victim-like. It’s primary function now is as a doorstop, but I occasionally drop a quarter in (it slides through and falls out of the bottom) just to turn the knob and hear the klacking, ticking sound of the gears and springs inside.

Although the mechanical meter is disappearing, I was heartened to read that NYC is merely removing the innards from the iron casings and replacing them with digital components, thus allowing the meter to retain its signature aesthetic. I can recall my first encounter with the computerized kiosks now found in some U.S. cities. Yeah, sure … there’s more room on the sidewalk, you can pay with a credit card, etc. But for me, the visual experience of the parking meter’s repeating form stretching down the sidewalks and straight lines of the city is one that defines the urban landscape. I’d hate to see it go forever.

Image: Omaha, Nebraska, November 1938 by John Vachon, for the Farm Security Administration