At the corner of Varick and Bell, the bakery sign still paints its loaf with three ridiculous rays of yellow. Six commuters looked up before nine, each one pausing longer than traffic allowed. That fraction is the whole argument: a city can be legible without becoming obedient.
Ornament is a public courtesy
Last winter I photographed hand-lettered awnings, bus placards, and municipal notices from the river market to the library steps. The useful ones kept a curve, a joke, and a red flourish where a ruler would have surrendered.