In this 1871 Harper’s Weekly illustration, Charles S. Reinhart illustrates New York’s “march of improvement,” a term used to describe the city’s northward push up the island. The expression conveyed optimism about the benefits of a new, modern cityscape. Reinhart’s allegorical scene takes place somewhere in “upper New York,” where men are taking down an old tree and a farmhouse erected in the celebrated year of 1776. The future of the area can be seen at left, where a pair of three-story row houses are under construction. As the old Revolutionary-era New York disappears, the modern era arrives, represented by an omnibus full of people. The mass of people in the foreground represent the complex bustle of the modern city as well-dressed women, street urchins, and laborers mix in the congested space, ready to spill into the sparse, green pastures behind. No one seems concerned by the destruction of the 1776 house, except for an older man with a top hat and cane who gestures to the scene while facing stern, smartly dressed men, representing speculators, investors, and developers. While some may identify with the older man and feel a tinge of nostalgia in seeing the destruction of a Revolutionary building, the “march of improvement” displays no such reverence. As the author of the accompanying article explains, “this is one of the inevitable consequences of progress and improvement. Comfort, cleanliness, and convenience are of more importance to society than the merely picturesque.” AR