St. Vincent Ferrer Church

I've featured images from this church before . . . St. Vincent Ferrer on the upper East Side, Third Ave. at 65th St. Although I'm not Catholic and don't subscribe to their unique form of Marian veneration, I do like this statue of Mary. There are always flowers tucked into her hands and this little garden offers a quiet little respite from the noise of Third Avenue. As for the autumn wreath adorning one of the side doors of the church, one can't help but notice the incongruity between the wreath and the fallout shelter sign.

There's a similar sign outside my office, directing people to the basement for - ostensibly - protection. Did civil defense "experts" honestly think such spaces would offer any real protection in the event of nuclear holocaust. I suspect that they were meant more as visible symbols of reassurance to calm a nervous public, rather than as actual safe havens. (And I have no idea about the canine symbolism in that last image. It's not ringing any bells in terms of Catholic iconography. Perhaps Franciscan?)