Bribery is a crime.

[From the Naked City episode “Barefoot on a Bed of Coals,” May 29, 1963. Click for a larger view.]

That’s Dustin Hoffman, in the final episode of Naked City. It was Hoffman’s second appearance on the show, his third on television. What interests me more though is that sign to the left. It taunts the viewer — or at least this viewer, who knows New York City police stations only from outside — through episode after episode. In this final episode, it’s finally readable.


[From a second screenshot: “Bribery is a crime. A person who gives or offers a bribe to any employee of the City of New York, or an employee who takes or solicits a bribe, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for 10 years, or by a fine of $4000, or more, or both.”]

The line at the bottom of the sign? It must read “Click for a larger, blurrier view.”

There are now fifty-two Naked City posts in the Orange Crate Art archives. A full deck. But there’s one more to go.