New York’s Secret Signatures

Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Today we’ll look at hidden signatures in places you might not expect people to scribble their names. We’ll also get details on Senator Robert Menendez’s decision to resign in the wake of his conviction on corruption charges.

This is not about the many things in New York that are hidden in plain sight. This is about things that are just plain hidden — little secrets that are understood only by those who know they are there.

Specifically, signatures — the unseen John Hancocks of the people who made something or built something.

For generations, the workers at the Steinway & Sons factory in Astoria, Queens, signed the pianos in places not even a virtuoso could find — until the managers said, No more.

And construction workers have a long history of signing a beam that is put in place forever — a tradition that extends well beyond New York and usually includes people who designed or financed the building, or are the reason it is being built. Former President Barack Obama signed such a beam at the topping-out ceremony for his presidential center in Chicago last month. His signature won’t be visible in the ceiling of the room where the beam is going, which a spokeswoman described as “an intricately designed, angled affair.”