Thursday, November 29, 2018

Pop-Up coming! Carnegie Delicatessen, which became famous for its enormous pastrami sandwiches, opened in 1937 but sadly closed on New Year’s Eve in 2016 after 79 years in business.

But for those who have been missing this Midtown Jewish #delicatessen it just recently was announced that there will be a pop-up location on Lafayette Street from December 1-8th to promote season 2 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Everything on their limited menu will be 99 cents or less and all proceeds benefit the Lower East Side Girls Club @girlsclubny, a wonderful organization which we have supported and done photo talks for. Our night photo of Carnegie Delicatessen from 2010 appears in our book “New York Nights”.


Tuesday, November 27, 2018

To celebrate the upcoming holidays and cyber-week we are offering mounted and framed 11x14 inch signed prints of many of our favorite storefronts for $125 (regularly $150) including free shipping in the continental U.S.

Each individual #storefront is printed on Kodak Professional Endura Luster paper and signed by us on the bottom right underneath the image and is mounted and framed in a white letterbox style frame with UV glass. Prints are also available unframed for $99 including shipping. Please DM or email us at jandkphoto@att.net and payment is via PayPal or Venmo to @Karla-Murray.



Monday, November 26, 2018

Sam’s Restaurant & Pizzeria in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn was founded in 1930 by the Migliaccio family

Their specialty is their pizza 🍕 and sausage and meatball heroes cooked in the same brick oven as the pizza. We absolutely love this old #storefront with its #handpainted “STEAKS and CHOPS” #signage.

#Analog photo from 2004 appears in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”.


Saturday, November 24, 2018

Today is “Small Business Saturday” and we hope that everyone helps promote the independent retailers and other small businesses that make each neighborhood in New York City unique by shopping 🛒 in them today.

In honor of #shopsmall and #loveyourlocal we are offering TODAY this 16 x 20 inch signed poster printed on Kodak Professional Endura Luster paper for $30 including shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S. We are also offering signed 11 x 14 inch "Store Front" prints for the holidays. All of the Kodak Professional Endura Luster prints shown are $99 with free shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S. Please DM or email us at jandkphoto@att.net to order with Paypal or Venmo to @Karla-Murray.




Monday, November 19, 2018

FAO Schwarz, the iconic toy store’s flagship Fifth Avenue location

FAO Schwarz is the oldest toy store in the United States and was founded by German immigrant, Frederick Otto Schwarz and his two older brothers in 1894. The shop’s Fifth Avenue flagship store opened in 1986 and its famous grand piano 🎹 was featured in the 1988 movie “Big” with Tom Hanks. This location closed in 2015 due to rising rents but FAO Schwarz has just now reopened (with the grand piano) in Rockefeller Center, just a few short blocks away. We love that you can see the reflection of the Plaza Hotel located across the street, in the massive windows.



Sunday, November 18, 2018

Two Boots, Greenwich Village, NYC

Two Boots, which is named for the geographical shapes of Italy 🇮🇹 and Louisiana, was founded by two partners (Doris Kornish & Phil Hartman) and specialized in Cajun-Italian cooking.  The original location in the East Village opened in 1987 and became popular for its cornmeal crust pizza 🍕. The @twobootspizza location on 7th Avenue at West 11th Street (seen in our photo) opened in 1995 but since the beginning of November has sadly been closed for non-payment of taxes. We are not sure 🤔if it will reopen but have always loved the restaurant’s colorful #signage and the fact that each location uniquely features the work of local artists.


Saturday, November 17, 2018

Franklin Deli Market on Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY

This #bodega sadly closed its doors after over 20 years in business after fighting a vacate notice and trying to renegotiate their lease since 2016. The owners, Dennis and Yvette Camacho are trying to find a new home for their #deli but the rent prices in Greenpoint are prohibitively high.


Thursday, November 15, 2018

Rush Hour, Columbus Circle, NYC, just now...

#snow #firstsnow #snowvember #snowday #snowinnyc #noreaster #snownyc


As soon as we heard that Amazon @amazon is building one of its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens our thoughts immediately went to the Court Square Diner.

Court Square Diner, which is open 24 hours a day, was founded in 1946 and has only had 3 owners. We love its chrome and red exterior, which went beautifully with the red #vintage Karmann Ghia parked outside. We hope the influx of new people working at Amazon will help increase business at the #diner but we are not sure how many will actually dine there.


Hospital, NYC, earlier...


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Hudson. Tennis ball dispenser fun, over at Wild One, SoHo, NYC, just now...


To see more photos of the historic pastry shop Veniero's including lots of in progress baking shots and delicious finished pastries, cookies 🍪 cheesecakes 🍰and other specialties please visit:

https://www.6sqft.com/cannoli-cheesecake-and-an-east-village-icon-see-history-in-action-at-125-year-old-venieros-pastry/ 

An East Village institution, Veniero’s Pasticceria is a family-owned and operated Italian pastry shop that was established by Italian immigrant Antonio Veniero in 1894. Veniero, who lived with his family next door, started the business as a candy shop. He then started serving Italian espresso and biscotti and by the 1920s, he had brought in master bakers from Sicily to run the kitchen.  A century later, Veniero’s @venierospastry is still family-owned and is celebrating its 125th anniversary next year. We had the chance to tour the caffé and bakery for @6sqft with Robert Zerilli, the fourth-generation current owner and great-nephew of founder Antonio Veniero. Today, Veniero’s serves more than 150 desserts, from traditional Italian butter cookies and cannolis (swipe left for photos) to some more modern offerings such as red velvet cake and oreo cheesecake.


Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Photography from our visit to East Village Icon Veniero's & interview with owner Robert Zerilli for 6sqft...

Full story: https://www.6sqft.com/cannoli-cheesecake-and-an-east-village-icon-see-history-in-action-at-125-year-old-venieros-pastry/

"We had the chance to tour the caffé and bakery with Robert Zerilli, the fourth-generation current owner and great-nephew of founder Antonio Veniero. Today, Veniero’s serves more than 150 desserts, from traditional Italian butter cookies and cannolis to some more modern offerings such as red velvet cake and oreo cheesecake. Ahead, go behind the scenes to see how all these tasty treats are made, tour the historic interiors, and learn all about Veniero’s history from Robert."


In the series finale of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, the CNN show focused on places in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Fab 5 Freddy spoke to Anthony @anthonybourdain about one of his favorite restaurants, El Castillod e Jagua. The restaurant which has been in business for over 40 years is named after the Jagua Fortress on the south side of Cienfuegos in in Cuba 🇨🇺 and specializes in authentic Cuban cuisine with many seafood 🦐🐟, beef 🥩, chicken 🐓 rice and soup 🍲 dishes. @fab5freddy told Anthony that “This is one of the places, like Keith Haring and I would love to come here, Jean-Michel Basquiat would join us, and we would have good meals here on the regular and it was consistently good.”

We agree that the food is consistently good and we also always love 💗 a restaurant that has “CHOPS” listed on its #signage!


Monday, November 12, 2018

In honor of Veteran's Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I which killed 10 million men in fighting that involved 32 countries around the globe 🌎, we are posting Kaufman's Army & Navy in Hell's Kitchen. Kaufman's was founded in 1938 and is one of the oldest military supply stores in the U.S. 🇺🇸 and the oldest in NYC.

We love their #handpainted #signage which the owner told us was commissioned by his mother during the height of the Vietnam War. Photo and full interview with 3rd generation owner appear in book "Store Front II-A History Preserved". Thank you all who have served and to those on active duty! 🇺🇸


Friday, November 9, 2018

Star Decorators on Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn.

When we first saw this #storefront we knew we had to document it as it definitely had seen a few decorating trends come and go, but was still holding on. #Analog photo from 2005 appears in our book, “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”.


Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Photography from our visit to Queens' Loew's Valencia with Untapped Cities Insiders! for 6sqft:

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/behind-the-scenes-at-queens-loews-valencia-once-the-most-successful-wonder-theatre-in-nyc/

"The majestic Loew’s Valencia Theatre opened on Saturday, January 12, 1929, as the first, largest, and most famous of the five flagship Loew’s “Wonder” Theatres established in the New York City area from 1929-30. All of the grand movie palaces were built by Marcus Loew of the Loew’s Theatres chain to establish the firm as a leader in film exhibition and to simultaneously serve as a fantastical yet affordable escape for people of all classes from the tedium and anxieties of their daily lives. The Valencia most definitely did not show away from this fantastical approach, with its Spanish/Mexican Baroque architecture, gilded ornamentation, rich jewel-tone colors, and elaborate carvings."


Rainy Autumn Night, Union Square, NYC, last night...


Monday, November 5, 2018

Hudson. Rainy day fun over at Ted's Fine Clothing, Lower East Side, NYC, earlier...

Ted's was a stop on our photo shoot with Deb Martin of Downtown Magazine NYC. We were featured in their 10th Anniversary Fall 2018 issue on a journey down Orchard Street as we explore the many independently-owned stores with Editor in Chief Deb Martin. Stops included Jimmy Webb's rock and roll boutique I Need More, Ted's Formal Wear, Regina's Grocery, and Cafe Katja.

Pick up a copy and see the 3 page wide gatefold!




Pastosa Ravioli in the Grasmere neighborhood of Staten Island, NY

Pastosa Ravioli in the Grasmere neighborhood of Staten Island was founded by Anthony Ajello over 25 years ago. The main store and manufacturing location in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn has been in business since 1962. When we interviewed Anthony for our “Store Front” book, he told us “I came up with the name Pastosa for the store because in Italian “pastosa” means honesty and integrity. So to me “Pastosa” also equals tasty because my business takes pride in their honesty and integrity and that makes for tasty products.

Full panoramic photo (this one is cropped) from 2005 and interview from Anthony Ajello, the founder appears in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”.


Sunday, November 4, 2018

Cafe De La Esquina on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was housed in a 1952 stainless steel Mountain View Diner car.

Before becoming the Brooklyn outpost of La Esquina it was the location of the Wythe Diner from 1968-1988, and Relish from 1997-2010. We loved its original stainless steel #vintage decor including backsplash and counter swivel stool seating (swipe left for interior photo).

Sadly Cafe De La Esquina has recently closed to make way for a new 6-story building with 10 apartments and retail space on the ground floor. We are not sure if the #diner will be demolished or if someone is interested in moving the structure to a different location (as what occurred when the stainless steel Cheyenne Diner in Manhattan closed a number of years ago). If anyone has any info on what is to become of the actual diner please let us know.