Saturday, March 31, 2018

The Pickle Guys, Lower East Side, NYC

The Pickle Guys on Grand Street in the Lower East Side has specialized in a wide variety of traditionally cured, kosher pickles for over 15 years. Leading up to Passover for 2 weeks every year they also bring their operation outside and grind horseradish from freshly peeled roots. Seen in this photo is owner Alan Kaufman grinding the horseradish in a brave fashion with no protective gas mask 😷 on. Wishing everyone who celebrates #Passover a happy holiday! Also wanted to shout out to @noblesigns for the beautiful #signage you created for the Pickle Guys!


Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Hudson.

Helping out with Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park Blue Swinging Car #8's pre-season installation, out on Coney Island, Brooklyn, NYC, last week...


Tuesday, March 27, 2018

World Wide Foto, Miami, FL.

Not only do we love ❤️ camera πŸ“· stores that carry #vintage cameras as well as film, chemicals and other supplies but we also are a sucker for a #storefront with a great sign like this one with its #script #lettering (it used to contain #neon) and big green camera.


Monday, March 26, 2018

Lee’s Art Shop on West 57th Street was in business for more than six decades before it closed in 2016

The entire building, which the founders of Lee’s, Gilbert and Ruth Steinberg, purchased in the 1990s was sold by their two children after the couple passed away. Most of the decades-old #momandpop stores we have documented have closed due to high rent increases but in this case, that was not the reason. The two Steinberg children who ran the popular art supply store 🎨 πŸ‘©‍🎨 reported that one of the reasons they decided to close the business is that online business sites undercut their market and they weren’t able to match (Amazon’s) their prices. We were so sad to see this shop as well as our local Lower East Side Shop, Pearl Paint close.


Sunday, March 25, 2018

Hudson. Over with "The Last Three," Astor Place, NYC, just now...

The Last Three is the world's tallest rhino sculpture which was created by @gillieandmarcart. It depicts the world's last three remaining Northern Rhino's but less than one week (on March 20, 2018) after the sculpture's unveiling, the world lost Sudan, the world's last male northern white rhino. He leaves behind his daughter, Najin and his granddaughter, Fatu. #astorplace #EastVillage #northernwhiterhino #goodbyerhinos #gillieandmarc #goodbyeSudan


Friday, March 16, 2018

‘Store Front’ artists to host free photography and oral history workshops about mom-and-pops via @6sqft

Full article LINK: https://www.6sqft.com/store-front-artists-to-host-free-photography-and-oral-history-workshops-about-mom-and-pops/

"Since publishing “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York,” a photo documentation of iconic mom-and-pops, 10 years ago, photographers James and Karla Murray have become household names around NYC. And they now are letting New Yorkers in on their tricks of the trade in an upcoming two-part workshop in partnership with the Neighborhood Preservation Center. “Capturing the Faces and Voices of Manhattan’s Neighborhood Storefronts” is a “photography and oral history workshop of the cultural significance of mom-and-pop stores and the impact they have on the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.” Participants will not only learn photography skills but how to record oral histories and use these tools for “public awareness and advocacy.”


Thursday, March 15, 2018

Joe Junior Restaurant, Gramercy Park, NYC

Joe Junior Restaurant in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan is not really a restaurant as it #signage proclaims but a bona fide greasy spoon πŸ₯„ #diner. We have been getting their amazing hamburger deluxe πŸ”πŸŸ for years and that is why we are highlighting this spot for our diner week with @daspots! According to our counterman, Lucas they make them using fresh beef chuck which is delivered daily and sell over 100 hamburgers a day! We also love ❤️ this diner’s classic #sign (notice that steak & chops are advertised) and its 70s Formica counter with stool seating and its wood paneling.


Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Karla & Hudson. WNET Channel 13's Naeem Douglas in the house, just now...

Naeem Douglas for  Thirteen WNET's New York MetroFocus with Karla & Hudson...


This week we are celebrating the diverse diners that exist in NYC with @daspots on our instagram @jamesandkarla!

To kick things off, we are posting 3 Star Diner in the Upper East Side ⭐️⭐️⭐️! This #diner is very reasonably priced for the neighborhood (1462 First Ave at 76th Street) and is also open 24 hours. We are particularly fond of having breakfast 🍳 at night, especially when shooting long exposures in the evening, like this photo taken after the sun went down πŸŒ†.





https://www.instagram.com/daspots/



Monday, March 12, 2018

Raul Candy Store 🍭in the East Village has been in business since 1979.

We love its #handpainted #signage and also appreciate that the owner really cares about the children in the neighborhood and has always tried to keep his prices low. When we interviewed him in 2003 he told us that “I’ve always tried to keep the neighborhood kids away from drugs.” Full interview with Raul appear in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York.”


Hudson. Midtown fun, NYC, just now...


Tuesday, March 6, 2018

We are very sad 😒 to report that Herb Glaser of Glaser’s Bake Shop in the Upper East Side is retiring and will close his family’s #bakery on July 1, 2018.

LINK: https://www.6sqft.com/116-year-old-yorkville-bakery-glasers-announces-summer-closing/

Glaser's Bake Shop @glasersbakeshop in Yorkville has been in business since 1902. It was founded by John Glaser, a German immigrant, who originally specialized in baking breads but later on added cookies πŸͺ cakes 🍰 pies and other sweets. They are known for their delicious black-and-white cookies and their Bavarian pastries and brownies. To read more about this bakery’s history and see more photos from our visit with @6sqft please go to: https://www.6sqft.com/where-i-work-glasers-german-bakery-has-been-satisfying-yorkvilles-sweet-tooth-for-115-years/


Saturday, March 3, 2018

In honor of the anniversary of Lou Reed’s birthday yesterday...

In honor of the anniversary of Lou Reed’s birthday (he was born on March, 2, 1945) we are posting one of his favorite #pizza places, Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitano in Coney Island. Totonno’s was founded in 1924 by Antonio “Totonno” Pero and is known for its coal-fired pizza sold only by the pie, never just a slice πŸ•. Lou Reed immortalized Totonno’s in his song “Egg Cream” with the lyrics “So the next time you’re in Brooklyn, please say hello for me at Totonno’s for pizza and ice cream at Al and Shirley’s”. Photo from 2009 and interview with owner, Cookie appear in our book “Store Front II-A History Preserved”. Many thanks to @pauliegee123 for reminding us of Lou Reed’s birthday πŸŽ‚ today and his strong connection to Totonno’s πŸ•.




Thursday, March 1, 2018

Hudson. Roadside fun, South Carolina.


To everyone who celebrates Purim, Moishe’s Bake Shop in the East Village...

 To everyone who celebrates Purim, Moishe’s Bake Shop in the East Village is a perfect place to buy hamentaschen for the holiday as well as freshly baked challah bread, rye bread 🍞 and other delicious cookies including New York’s famous black & whites, rugelach and babka. Moishe’s has been in business since the late 1970s and this #analog photo from the early 2000s is especially meaningfully to us because it shows the #storefront with its original #signage and windows. After the East Village gas explosion and fire that destroyed 3 buildings directly across the street, Moishe’s was forced to replace its original #sign and windows.


Huge thank you The Lo-Down NY for breaking the news about our upcoming installation!

LINK: http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2018/02/james-karla-murrays-homage-to-shuttered-mom-and-pop-stores-coming-to-seward-park.html

"The Lower East Side-based photographers, James & Karla Murray, are bringing a new installation to Seward Park this coming summer as part of a citywide public art program. It’s a structure paying homage to four mom-and-pop businesses that have vanished from the neighborhood."

#UNIQLOParkExpressions #artintheparks @nycparks @UNIQLO