We Make Money Not Art points to the newest aesthetically-pleasing security installations by Rogers Marvel Architects (RMA) in lower Manhattan - including the bronze retractable bollards in the Financial District and the security benches that act as both furniture and illumination at the World Financial Center. What's a bollard, you ask? Automatic Bollard Systems has the answer:

"The Retractable Bollard is a post (diameter 12 inches) made of concrete, stainless steel, aluminum, cast iron or other durable material, that creates an above ground obstacle, limiting vehicle access to a specific location that is reserved for pedestrians most of the time. This post can be lowered when passage is authorized, by any type of access control device (RF, card, key, etc.), or at any time in case of an emergency. When in the lowered position, the top is flush with the pavement or asphalt, and completely hidden."

So, the next time you're walking around the city and one of your colleagues mentions the "post" or the "barrier" or the "obstruction" in front of a fortified building, kindly correct them: "No, silly, that's a bollard."

(photo credit: We Make Money Not Art)