Monday, February 26, 2018

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts 🍩 in Savannah, Georgia

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts 🍩 in Savannah, Georgia has a #vintage oversize #neonsign that has been in place since at least 1968. The @krispykreme #doughnut company was founded in 1937 in Winston, North Carolina and began to expand in the Southeast in the 1950s including an early store in Savannah. We could not determine whether this #signage is from the store built in the 1950s but the current Krispy Kreme Store at this location, according to public records was built in 1968. If any #KrispyKreme fans know more about this gorgeous #neonsign please let us know! And yes, we had some fresh donuts 🍩 while we were there!


Saturday, February 24, 2018

Circo’s Pastry Shop in Bushwick, Brooklyn has been in business since 1945

This Italian 🇮🇹  #bakery has been using the same original family recipes brought over from Sicily by the current owner, Nino Pierdipino. When we took this #analog photo in 2004 for our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” Nino’s son (and 2nd generation owner), Anthony told us that the @circospastryshop #neon #signage is original and was covered by mesh for safety reasons in the 1970s. It has now been uncovered and restored to working condition.

Circo's and 15 other of our #storefront photos are part of the new exhibition “The Business of Brooklyn” at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s @brooklynhistory location at Pierrepoint Street in Brooklyn Heights.


Thursday, February 22, 2018

Richard’s Barber Shop in Crown Heights, Brooklyn

 We absolutely love the combination of the #handpainted signage in the window and the #stenciled scissors ✂️, comb, razor, pick, and hairbrush on the roll gate and the letter “P” falling off the main #signage.

This #analog photo from 2004 which appears in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” and 15 other of our #storefront photos are part of the new exhibition “The Business of Brooklyn” at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s @brooklynhistory location at Pierrepoint Street in Brooklyn Heights. The exhibition opens this Friday, February 23rd.


Sunday, February 18, 2018

Hudson. Installation fun over at Art Wynwood.

Fabien Castanier Gallery with artist Mark Jenkins' work just now...




Happy 🎉 Chinese New Year!

 2018 is the year of the dog and to celebrate we are posting Papaya Dog in Midtown. They are a friendly competitor/copy of the original Papaya King 👑 which specializes in hot dogs and papaya and fruit drinks. We love ❤️ their frantic array of #signage trying to draw you in. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Lunar New Year!


Saturday, February 17, 2018

Hudson. With K, Adam Vargas & Antonio over at Wynwood Walls, Miami last night

Anyone who wanted a copy of Store Front mini and found it sold out please contact us! Thanks again to all who stopped by...


Friday, February 16, 2018

Murray’s Sturgeon Shop has been in business since 1946. It was founded by Murray Bernstein, who passed away in 2000. To hear more about this #momandpop store please join us for a book signing and conversation with us TODAY, Friday, February 16th from 4:30-6 pm at the Wynwood Walls Shop in front of the Okuda Wall at @wynwoodwallsofficial located at 2520 NW 2nd Avenue near NW 26th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami.

Admission is FREE and books will be available for purchase including copies of our newly released “Store Front II-A History Preserved”. This photo of Murray’s Sturgeon 🐟 Shop from 2010 appears in our book “Store Front II-A History Preserved which will be available for purchase at the Wynwood Walls Shop along with copies of our other books “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” and “Broken Windows-Graffiti NYC”.


Thursday, February 15, 2018

Our book "Store Front II- A History Preserved" and the photo we took the of Kaufman's Army & Navy storefront makes a cameo in a new video

Our book "Store Front II- A History Preserved" and the photo we took of Kaufman's Army & Navy storefront makes a cameo in a new video that takes a look into this historic shop and the interesting military surplus that it specializes in.

Our book also includes a full interview with owner Jim Korn.

Watch the full video here: https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/alpha-industries-military-surplus-new-york-city/


Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Photography from our visit to designer Sebastian Errazuriz's South Bronx studio for 6sqft...

LINK: https://www.6sqft.com/designer-sebastian-errazuriz-opens-up-his-south-bronx-studio-full-of-functional-art-and-furniture/

"Sebastian Errazuriz is a Chilean-born artist, designer, and activist but over the years, he’s grown his multidisciplinary studio to incorporate everything from virtual reality to activism. But nothing he does is cookie-cutter. His cabinets undulate and mimic kaleidoscopes; his public art makes social commentary on issues from Wall Street and capitalism to Chile’s politicide; and he’s created sculptures that mix a boat with a coffin and a crystal chandelier with taxidermy birds. Sebastian likens his ability to work in these mediums separately but together to how he can speak both English and Spanish but also Spanglish. “It’s the freedom to incorporate words that do not exist in one particular language but that enrich communication with someone else that I really enjoy within the boundaries of art and design,” he explains."


Tuesday, February 13, 2018

A federal judge has ruled that real estate developer Jerry Wolkoff must pay $6.7 million to 21 graffiti artists whose artwork, painted on the exterior of #5Pointz in Long Island City, Queens was whitewashed without notification in 2013.

The judge wrote in an opinion that the owner acted willfully when he destroyed their art, thereby violating the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA), which gives artists limited rights over paintings they no longer own. The final ruling set a huge precedent for the protection of graffiti art, as a visual art form of recognized stature. We applaud this ruling as we have personally documented graffiti art in New York City since 1996 and discovered that the graffiti we were photographing disappeared quickly and was often painted over by rivals or "buffed' by the City.

It was amazing to us that the artists would take the time and energy to create these works of art only to have them disappear days later. This was what prompted us to try and contact the artists themselves and find out the story behind their art. We completed and published our first book on the subject "Broken Windows: Graffiti NYC" in 2002. We have always hoped that our photographs and interviews with the artists will help preserve this vibrant artistic movement and bring awareness to the importance of creating art for art's sake.

For more of our photography from #5POINTZ: https://www.facebook.com/pg/brokenwindowsgraffitinyc/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2052224778136202

To hear more about our connection with the art form of graffiti and how we first became interested in documenting storefronts and the #disappearingfaceofnewyork please join us for a book signing and conversation with us this Friday, February 16th from 4:30-6 pm at the Wynwood Walls Shop in front of the Okuda Wall at @wynwoodwallsofficial located at 2520 NW 2nd Avenue near NW 26th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami. Admission is FREE and books will be available for purchase including copies of our newly released “Store Front II-A History Preserved” as well as copies of our #nyc #graffitiart book “Broken Windows: Graffiti NYC”.



Monday, February 12, 2018

Stop by Wynwood Walls this Friday...

We're having a "STORE FRONT II: A History Preserved" book signing at the Wynwood Walls Shop located inside Wynwood Walls Friday

Stop by Friday Feb. 16th 4:30 to 6:00 pm
520 NW 2nd Ave (near NW 25th Street),
Wynwood Arts District, Miami.

Also we'll have copies of our graffiti books "Broken Windows: Graffiti NYC" and "Miami Graffiti" available.

About Wynwood Walls: http://www.thewynwoodwalls.com/overview


Sunday, February 11, 2018

USA Cocktail Lounge

To celebrate the start of the #winterolympics for 2018 and to root for #teamUSA 🇺🇸 ...


Saturday, February 10, 2018

Roseate Spoonbill. Pretty far out in the Everglades, FL, just now...

Very common in parts of the southeast until the 1860s, spoonbills were virtually eliminated from the United States as a side-effect of the destruction of wader colonies by plume hunters. Began to re-colonize Texas and Florida early in 20th century. Still uncommon and local, vulnerable to degradation of feeding and nesting habitats.


Friday, February 9, 2018

Hudson. We're having a "STORE FRONT II: A History Preserved" book signing at the Wynwood Walls Shop located inside Wynwood Walls next Friday!

Stop by next Friday Feb. 16th
4:30 to 6:00 pm
520 NW 2nd Ave (near NW 25th Street),
Wynwood Arts District, Miami.

Also we'll have copies of our graffiti books "Broken Windows: Graffiti NYC" and "Miami Graffiti" available.

About Wynwood Walls: http://www.thewynwoodwalls.com/overview




Thursday, February 8, 2018

"STORE FRONT II: A History Preserved" book signing at the Wynwood Walls Shop located inside Wynwood Walls

Friday Feb. 16th 4:30 to 6:00 pm
520 NW 2nd Ave (near NW 25th Street),
Wynwood Arts District, Miami.

Also we'll have copies of our graffiti books "Broken Windows: Graffiti NYC" and "Miami Graffiti" available.


Wednesday, February 7, 2018

We are sad to report that the Hudson Diner in the West Village closed.

The past year was particularly hard for diners as many closed including our favorite Cup & Saucer on the Lower East Side. Many owners that we have interviewed over the years have told us that #Diners in particular often operate on very low profit margins because their menus are so extensive (so they have to purchase lots of staples and ingredients which go into making all that they offer. So when landlords raise their rent, they often can’t absorb the increase.


Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Hudson. "STORE FRONT II: A History Preserved" book signing and MEET & GREET at the Wynwood Walls Shop

"STORE FRONT II: A History Preserved" book signing and MEET & GREET over at
Wynwood Walls Shop
Friday Feb. 16th
4 to 6 pm 2
520 NW 2nd Ave (near NW 25th Street),
Wynwood Arts District, Miami.

Pick up a copy of our latest book STORE FRONT II mini edition & meet us, get your book signed, take a selfie with, or just pet our pittie Hudson! Also we'll have copies of our graffiti books "Broken Windows: Graffiti NYC" and "Miami Graffiti".


Sunday, February 4, 2018

Molino Roja Bar in Little Havana, Miami.

This infamous #divebar aka Red Windmill Bar, owned by Luis Rodriguez has a very shady past as it was the site of attempted murders and was frequented by drug smugglers and crooked police officers 👮‍ in the 1980s #MiamiVice era. We love its #handpainted sign and overhanging #signage that once had chaser lights trimming it.


Saturday, February 3, 2018

Red Hook Bait & Tackle, Brooklyn, NYC

The popular #divebar on Van Brunt Street closed on January 27, 2018 after a farewell party and chili cook-off. The owner, Barry O’Meara was forced to close the bar after 14 years in business due to the area’s “different financial demographics” and the fact that he was faced with a rent hike. We loved its #handpainted #signage and are sure that it will be missed.



Thursday, February 1, 2018

Photography from our visit to Pouch Designs Co​'s Bushwick studio for 6sqft​...

LINK: https://www.6sqft.com/where-i-work-weaving-and-dying-indoor-hammocks-with-bushwick-design-collective-pouch/

Picture yourself lounging in a hammock. Perhaps you’re a kid on summer break in the backyard or on a trip to the islands relaxing on a beach. Wherever this vision takes you, it’s that weightless, carefree feeling that probably comes to mind, which is the sensation that Bushwick-based design collective Pouch is trying to recreate inside the home with their handmade hammocks. According to founder and design director Robert Ramirez, the company believes the feeling of being on vacation should be incorporated into everyday life and that their product provides “a moment of retreat and relaxation amid the craze of city life.”



Wishing Ray Alvarez, the owner of Ray’s Candy Store, a very happy 85th birthday 🎂!

This East Village institution located directly across the street from Tompkins Square Park has been in business 24 hours a day since 1974. When we took this photo and interviewed Ray for our book “Store Front II-A History Preserved” he told us that “I was working behind the counter when there was the tent ⛺️ city at the park and even stayed open during the famous riot in 1988 and many of the protesters were my regulars.” Ray and @rayscandystore definitely has seen the neighborhood surrounding it change dramatically and we are happy to report that it is still going strong 💪!