The Howard Johnson’s at 46th and Broadway in Manhattan is apparently doomed. I don’t know quite how to feel about this. Show me this picture and I know exactly on the planet where to go to see it in person. It’s like 8845 Highsmith Lane, or the Eiffel Tower, or De Rokerij on Singel in Amsterdam: It is a faraway point on the face of the globe that I have seen and have a vivid visual memory of.

The problem with the Howard Johnson’s on 46th, I suppose, is that I only have a vivid visual memory of it because I have walked past it so many times. No, I have never eaten at the Howard Johnson’s at 46th and Broadway. Should I have? I suppose I missed my chance.