DIME BANK, Bath Beach

by Kevin Walsh

I took a 5-mile walk from Coney Island through Bath Beach to the 18th Avenue station on the D elevated the other day, and I didn’t get a whole lot of usable photos, mainly because this is so well-worn a territory for me that like Alexander the Great there was not much left to conquer. Really, I was out because the day was A-1 gorgeous for April and a week of rain was promised. I walked up 86th Street and only squeezed off a few shots from the camera. I pretty much said what I wanted to say about this stretch of 86th way back in December 2011 when I recounted a summertime outing here that, inexplicably, became the most commented-on page in FNY history with over 450 posts and counting.

Today, I was drawn again to the Chase bank at 19th Avenue. Older banks around town are impressive and FNY correspondent Gary Fonville has posted extensively on these structures.

At first I was stumped about what bank this present-day Chase was, but look closely and you will sometimes see identifying marks. Former Dime Bank buildings are sometimes identified by representations of the Liberty dime issued from 1916-1945, sometimes called the Mercury dime since Liberty is wearing a winged cap like the Roman messenger god did. The back of the Liberty Dime is an unquestionably Roman symbol: bundles of sticks surrounding an axe called the “fasces,” symbolizing governmental authority.

The clock still works, a minor miracle, while I discovered the construction date way down by the sidewalk.

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4/6/22

3 comments

Peter April 7, 2022 - 7:33 am

Lousy year to open a bank. Like opening a restaurant in January or February 2020.

Reply
chris April 7, 2022 - 5:03 pm

That IS a miracle that clock still works.They usually cant be
bothered to fix them when they break.
The Fasces,as in Fascism. Mussolini and Franco both used it.
Hitler however, took a pass,He already had the Swastika.

Reply
Bill April 8, 2022 - 10:12 pm

You know, if you have long legs and a small posterior you can still sit comfortably on that corner above the 1929, despite their spiked bum-deflecting fence. I can’t believe they put that there. Did they really have such a problem with “loungers” sitting there?

Reply

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