Requiem for New York City's Tower Records

A walk through Central Park is always one of the great pleasures of being in New York. The other day, though, I took a walk through the park with a difference a walk that took me from the past to the future.

For many years, I've shopped at the huge Tower Records store just around the corner from Lincoln Center. The choice of music is amazing. I've spent more money on CDs there than in any other record store anywhere, not least because a favorable exchange rate makes a visit so irresistible.

I went to the store again on my recent visit to New York. But it will be the last time. Tower Records is going out of business. It has failed to adjust to Internet sales and Web downloading. Visiting the dying store is now a poignant affair. The shelves are all but empty, and a handful of shoppers sifts through the remaining stock looking for a few final bargains.