The twin dumbbell tenement buildings appear on the #vinyl album cover for the famous Led Zeppelin album "Physical Graffiti”

The twin dumbbell tenement buildings spanning 96-98 St. are significant because they also appear on the #vinyl album cover for the famous Led Zeppelin album "Physical Graffiti”! 

The outer sleeve of the #LedZeppelin album released on February 24, 1975 (today marks the anniversary of the release date) was designed by Peter Corriston with die cut windows on the building revealing the letters spelling out the album name “PHYSICAL GRAFFITI”. Peter specifically chose these buildings because they were symmetrical with interesting details and would fit the square album cover. 

 • • • • #jamesandkarla #architectural #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity #vinyladdict #vinylcollector #vinyloftheday #vinyljunkie #vinyljunkies #ledzeppelinfans

R&R Self Service was a classic bodega in Brooklyn, NY

We have photographed so many great examples of shops with vintage privilege signs and this one with its timeworn facade is definitely a favorite of ours. R&R Self Service was a classic bodega in Brooklyn which not only had a wonderful Coca-Cola privilege sign but also had a great set of multi-colored chaser lights along the trim of its metal awning. 

Sadly “R&R Self Service” Deli Grocery closed in 2012 when the building was sold to a developer who modernized and expanded the storefront and the apartments above it. Our 35mm film photo of R&R appears on our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”. 

• • • • • #jamesandkarla #bodega #delicatessen #americana #disappearingfaceofnewyork #storefront #bodegas #momandpopshop #momandpopshops

Tony’s Luncheonette ,Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

We are continuing our weekly highlight of the many fabulous storefronts which we have photographed over the years which have privilege signs. Tony’s Luncheonette located on New Utrecht Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn had a great Coca-Cola privilege sign with green porcelain enamel lettering. 

When we photographed Tony’s in 2005 for our book, “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” we also interviewed the owner, Anthonio Lombardo, who  told us that he had purchased the coffee shop in 1972 and that the interior including its circular wrap-around lunch counter was original and was installed in the 1950s. Sadly, this old-school gem closed in 2013 and we are not sure what happened to the gorgeous signage. 

• • • • • #storefront #jamesandkarla #disappearingfaceofnewyork #luncheonette #coffeeshop #bensonhurst #momandpopshop #momandpopshops #cocacola

Luncheonette, Queens, NY

Lately we have been highlighting on our feed luncheonettes, newsstands and delis which have privilege signs and wanted to share another New York City gem which has a gorgeous Coca-Cola privilege sign. We photographed this luncheonette in Queens in the early 2000s with our 35mm Canon EOS Elan 7e (almost all of our storefront photos which appear in our “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” book and the outtakes from the book were all taken using that film camera).  

• “Privilege Signs” are an industry term for the promotional signs installed by large corporations such as Coca-Cola and the Optimo Cigar Company. They were popular in the 1930s through 1960s and received their name because store owners were given the “privilege” of completing the signs with their own copy. Large companies benefited from the signs because they were an easy way of weaving a marketing campaign right into a building’s façade. The signs were not only given free to store owners, but they also brought people into the store with instant brand recognition. 

• • • • #luncheonette #cocacola #filmisnotdead #jamesandkarla #disappearingfaceofnewyork #film #filmphotography #signage #analogphotography #storefront #momandpopshop #americana #momandpopshops

Cash & Carry Food Market was founded in 1959 by the Cruz family in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

We interviewed the owner Santiago Cruz for our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” who told us that their privilege sign was given to them by the Coca-Cola company when they first opened but when his brother sold the business and the entire building it was located in to his cousin with a verbal agreement to keep the business and building in the family, his cousin didn’t keep his end of the deal and sold the building. Sadly, that was the end of the privilege sign as Santos was forced to relocate the shop in 2005 when the new owners of the building increased his rent to a point that it became unaffordable. 

It pains us to hear stories like this as another piece of history of the neighborhood is lost to greed. • • • • • 

#jamesandkarla #cashandcarry #disappearingfaceofnewyork #delicatessen #deli #foodmarket #foodmarkets #bodega #bodegas #sunsetpark #sunsetparkbrooklyn

Nick’s Luncheonette, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Remembering the long departed Nick’s Luncheonette in Williamsburg, Brooklyn taken pre-gentrification but after the Coca-Cola logo signage was removed from the privilege sign. 

• • • • • • #disappearingfaceofnewyork #jamesandkarla #luncheonette #williamsburgbrooklyn #storefront #dinersdriveinsanddives

Brooklyn Heights deli/newsstand

This Brooklyn Heights deli/newsstand is long gone (we photographed it using our trusty 35mm Canon camera over 20 years ago) but it is a favorite of ours as it brings us right back to the days when people still purchased and read #newspapers on a daily basis. 

We love how the piles of newspapers on the bottom shelf were held in place by a long piece of plywood and also love the small sliding window the #storefront has where people would place change on the ledge to pay for a newspaper they grabbed.  

• • • • • • #disappearingfaceofnewyork #jamesandkarla #newsstand #newspaper #deli #delicatessen #brooklynheights

Royal Castle, Liberty City, Miami

Royal Castle was established in 1938 by a William Singer. This Liberty City location in Miami opened in 1958 when it was one of more than 150 Royal Castles in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. 

This independently-owned burger & breakfast spot is the very last one remaining and we visited it yesterday during our livestream YouTube video to not only help support it during #blackhistorymonth but to see its original interior(swipe left ⬅️for 2nd photo of the Formica counter and stools) and had their classic combo of a burger 🍔 and fries 🍟 (swipe left ⬅️ for 3rd photo). 

• To hear more about this #vintage burger shop (#burgers cost only 15 cents when they opened) and its fascinating history including its relationship to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, please watch and subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel (direct link in bio and Instagram story). • 

https://youtu.be/XVXUAVKr5lA

#newstand, New York City

We were saddened to hear the recent news that even more print magazines have decided to stop publishing their print edition and have gone digital only. The ripple-down effect of this news is not only that many people in the print industry have lost their jobs but that an independently run #newstand like this one has less magazines and papers 🗞 to sell and instead has to rely on sales from candy 🍭 and other small items as  a little-known city regulation caps the price of items sold by newsstands at $10 before taxes, keeping cellphone chargers, earbuds, tourist guidebooks, sunglasses and other oft-requested items out of reach for passers-by.  • • • • • #print #analog #newspaper #newpapers #magazine #jamesandkarla #subwaynewsstand #disappearingfaceofnewyork #subway

The historic Spanish restaurant El Quijote

The historic Spanish restaurant El Quijote, located in the Hotel Chelsea reopens this week after being closed since 2018 as the hotel was undergoing renovation (swipe left for 2nd photo of the bar area while the restaurant was closed showing its gorgeous vintage cash register). 

El Quijote was first opened in 1930 and purchased by Manuel Ramirez in 1978 and although it’s located inside the landmarked Chelsea Hotel (only the hotel’s exterior with its Queen Anne architecture is landmarked and cannot be altered), it has its own entrance. The restaurant with new owners and chef de cuisine,has now been reduced in size and will no longer serve the massive portions of paella 🥘 and pitchers of sangria. 

We will certainly miss the old El Quijote and Joseph Ramirez, the 2nd-generation owner who we interviewed in 2010 for our book “New York Nights” and told us so many great stories about the restaurant & its history (Patti Smith, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were regulars) and also how his father came up with the idea for the restaurant’s daily double of two lobsters 🦞, salad and a side of vegetables or rice. 

• • • • • #disappearingfaceofnewyork #jamesandkarla #spanishfood #paella #paellavalenciana #chelseahotel #chelsea

#NationalPizzaDay today! Paololuigi's Pizza, Miami

It’s #NationalPizzaDay today and we are celebrating by highlighting a hidden gem independently-owned pizzeria in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Paololuigi. @pauloluigitogo was founded by New Yorker Paul Shalaj who has been making #pizza since 1973. 

When he relocated to Miami he brought with him his years of experience as well as a recipe for his dough passed down to him through generations. 

We had his amazing Margherita pie which not only is made using his brick oven but uses only the freshest ingredients and also is a massive 18 inches and costs only $19.50!  (Swipe left for 2nd photo of Paul and our pizza-loving dog Hudson and our friend @yolyfortichskincare with our delicious pizza).  

• To see our livestream YouTube video as we talk with Paul about his restaurant and share our Margherita pizza with @hudsonpittienyc please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• https://youtu.be/UX8zQ-q1zL8

Remedy Diner on East Houston Street in the Lower East Side aglow at night.

This family-owned diner, which has been in business since 2007, not only has beautiful #neonsigns along its facade that cast a nice red glow on the surrounding street but also has multiple lights along its #storefront that also give it warmth and character as it is open 24 hours a day! 

• • • • • #jamesandkarla #neon #neonsignage #diner #dinersdriveinsanddives #diners #lowereastsidenyc #nycdining #dinerfood #neonporn #neonvibes

Richard’s Barber Shop💈of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

When we photographed this Nostrand Avenue #barbershop in 2004 for our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”, one of the things that immediately caught our eye was the letter “P” dangling off the signage. 

That same detail on our photo must have caught Steven Spielberg’s eyes or at least the set designers, when planning to film the remake of the 1961 movie musical “West Side Story” in Paterson, New Jersey as they actually recreated the #signage for scenes in the film outside a real working barbershop 💈. We are not sure if the “recreated” signage still exists today but definitely know that Richard’s Barber Shop does not as it closed just a few years after we took this 35mm film photo. 

 • • • • • jamesandkarla #barberlife #barber #disappearingfaceofnewyork #barberworld #barberlifestyle #crownheightsbrooklyn #barbershop #barberlife #barberlove #barberworld #barbershopconnect #barbernation #barberlifestyle #barbergrind

Normandie Bake Shop in Brooklyn was founded over 42 years ago.

This family-owned bakery known for its amazing strawberry shortcake 🍰 and other traditional classics including Charlotte Russe, moved to Monmouth County New Jersey, but we had to photograph its shuttered #storefront as we admired its vintage sign. We only wish they had taken this fabulous sign with them when relocating and restored it with its original neon. We are not sure what happened to this sign as our photo was taken over 10 years ago, but hope that whomever rented the space preserved it. 

“Metropolitan Stationery”, Brooklyn, NYC

We absolutely love when a “new” small business, which takes over an existing #storefront space leaves the original #signage from the departed tenant. In this case, a deli on Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn kept the “Metropolitan Stationery” signage which we loved as we have a soft spot for stationery stores as we still write handwritten letters and cards to send to our channel supporters and friends.  

If you know of a small business which has incorporated existing signage please let us know as we would love to photograph it if we have not already discovered it on our travels. 

• • • • • • #disappearingfaceofnewyork #stationery #jamesandkarla #supportlocal #supportsmall #supportlocalbusiness

B&H Kosher Dairy Restaurant, NYC

B&H Kosher Dairy Restaurant on 2nd Avenue near St Mark’s Place during the snowstorm. 

@bandhdairy was founded in 1938 by Abie Bergson and Jack Heller, when Second Avenue from 14th Street to Houston Street was considered “The Jewish Rialto” due to the large numbers of Yiddish theaters along the Avenue. 

The current owners of B&H are husband-and-wife team Aleksandra (Ola) and Fawzy Abdelwahed. Fawzy purchased the restaurant in 2003, and Ola joined him two years later. Both of them are immigrants (Ola a Catholic from Poland and Fawzy a Muslim from Egypt), who not only embrace the neighborhood’s diversity but still offer the same classic Jewish kosher comfort food including latkes, knishes, borscht, blintzes, pierogi, tuna sandwiches and homemade challah bread 🍞. 

 #storefront #jamesandkarla #jewish #challahbread #eastvillagenyc #jewishfood #kosher #kosherfood #kosherfoodie #blintzes #pierogi

MINETTA TAVERN, NYC

MINETTA TAVERN during the snowstorm. 

Minetta Tavern on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village was established in 1937 and was named after the Minetta Brook, a small stream that ran southwest from 23rd Street to the Hudson River. 

The original owner, Eddie Sieveri became known as Eddie Minetta because he owned the restaurant for so many years. @minettatavernny became a famous dining spot for beatniks, celebrities and literary luminaries including Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Eugene O’ Neill, E.E. Cummings, Dylan Thomas and Joe Gould. 

• • • • • #jamesandkarla #storefront #nycsnow #nycsnowstorm #snow #minettatavern #tavern