New York Neon' captures fading art

Besides its tall skyscrapers, nothing screams "New York City" more than bright neon lights.While neon signs are not unique to New York, at one point they proliferated in tens of thousands of storefronts throughout the city. And just like Broadway, which they are often associated with, neon signs became an iconic part of the city's landscape by the middle of the twentieth century.

But a changing landscape is unfolding and an increasing number of neon clock are disappearing. Six years ago, architectural conservator Thomas Rinaldi started documenting New York's historic neon signs."Old neon signs had caught my attention for many years, but around this time they began to disappear at such a rate that I felt a real sense of urgency to photograph them before they vanished forever," Rinaldi said.

The result is the book "New York Neon," a visual tour of the remaining exposed-tube neon signs in the five boroughs of New York City. Most of the 200 signs featured in the book are early- and mid-20th century examples, manufactured before 1970.