under ny, earlier...

Ave D Candy Store, East Village, NYC

Ave D Candy Store is a classic Lower East Side ‪#‎candy‬ store. We love its ‪#‎handmade‬ ‪#‎sign‬ which was placed over the classic ‪#‎vintage‬ chasing lights ‪#‎signage‬. ‪

Storefront: A Historic East Village Food Tour with James & Karla Murray for Untapped cities

Please join us on Sunday, August 21st at 12pm as we lead a Storefront: A Historic East Village Food Tour for Untapped Cities @untappedcities. On this walking and tasting tour of some of our favorite East Village food establishments, you can discover the food, history, and diverse culture of our neighborhood while tasting delicious specialties from at least 6 different tasting stops. On this tour you will learn about the diverse German, Italian, Jewish and Ukrainian history of the East Village and try some fresh homemade mozzarella, drink an authentic New York City egg cream or have a freshly roasted cup of ‪#‎coffee‬ from Porto Rico ☕️, taste a hot Ukrainian potato pierogi with toppings, sample a freshly baked Jewish sugar cookie, enjoy an authentic New York hot dog 🌭 and tropical drink and taste a freshly baked cannoli. Enough food will be sampled so that for most people lunch afterwards is not needed. Tickets for this tour are $40 (food included) and can be purchased at: http://untappedcities.com/storefront-a-historic-east-village-food-tour-with-james-karla-murray/

Walter's Hardware Co. In Astoria, Queens was founded in 1922 by Marty Walters.

When we took this photo in 2006 for our book "Store Front:The Disappearing Face of New York" we also interviewed the owner and got a tour of the original interior including the rolling wooden ladders that were necessary to reach the upper cabinets and shelves 🔧🔨🔩that ran the length of the store. The store even had the distinctive smell of a #hardware store, which the owner explained to us "is produced by a co-mingling of odors from fertilizer and oil among others."

K&J, Idizbogam, Brussels

Carousel Bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Carousel Bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has a #storefront designed to attract attention with its red and white stripes. We can't think of a better way to highlight the intricate and beautiful selection of wedding and birthday #cake 🎂they have in their windows! Photo of Carousel 🎪 🎠 Bakery from 2001 taken with 35mm film appears in our book "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York."

Rainbow, Lightning after the storm, East Village, NYC

Lightning over the East Village, NYC, just now... ‪

Same Day Shoe Repair in Midtown Manhattan

Williams Candy🍭 in Coney Island was founded in 1936.

They specialize in homemade candy apples and also sell cotton candy, pop corn, caramel corn and ice cream 🍦In the summer the store sells up to 4,000 #candy apples a week. This photo which appears in our book "Store Front:The Disappearing Face of New York" was taken in 2001. We love the #vintage #sign with the missing letters "C" and "O" on the "CARAMEL CORN".

Rooftop Downtown NYC

Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream in the Lower East Side.

This #icecream 🍦🍨shop with its unique selection of flavors was founded by Nicholas Morgenstern and is also unusual because the ice creams are all egg-free. Popular flavors include a black-colored Coconut Ash ice cream that takes its distinctive hue from coconut ash, a form of activated charcoal. The Coconut Ash flavor also has coconut flakes, coconut cream and coconut milk as its main ingredients and according to Nicholas, they sell up to 500 servings a day, starting at $4.50 for a single scoop. (In this photo over half of the people outside the store are eating the #coconutash flavor and will have a black-stained tongue after they finish!) Other flavors include Banana Curry, Green Tea Pistachio, Salt & Pepper Pinenut, Cardamom Lemon Jam, Black Ass Licorice, and Szechuan Peppercorn Chocolate.

Candy Land in Borough Park, Brooklyn

Candy Land in Borough Park, Brooklyn was named after the popular board game, which debuted in 1949. There is no strategy involved in Candy Land and only simple directions need to be followed.The game requires no reading and only minimal counting skills making it suitable for young children. The board game is currently published by Hasbro (originally produced by Milton Bradley) and sells about one million copies per year.

Abandoned Power Plant, NY

Graflex 1949 Pacemaker Speed Graphic 4x5" camera.

The Pacemaker Speed Graphic was manufactured from 1947-1970 and features a coated lens, a focal plane shutter and a Kalart rangefinder mounted on the side. Most Pacemakers including ours, have the Graflok back, where the focusing panel is both spring loaded and removable. The body release is switchable, and works both front and rear shutters. There is both a Peep Sight eyepiece mounted at the top rear center of the camera back and a Front Finder Frame mounted to the lens front standard. There is also an Optical View finder and Fold-down Infinity Stops. Man Ray, Berenice Abbott and Weegee all used a Graflex camera at one point in their career. We were lucky enough to find this beauty at a thrift store in NYC.

Under the LES, NYC

Casa Oliveira has been operating as a liquor store in Greenwich Village since 1934 after Prohibition ended.

The overhanging #neonsign was installed in 1935 but the #neon on the facade was installed in 1950 when the store was renamed Casa Oliveira after the owner Fred Oliveira purchased the business. It was originally called A. Rossano Wines & Liquors. The present owner told us about the extensive history this #wine 🍷and #liquor 🍸store has including that it operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition. Photo and full interview with the owner appear in our book "New York Nights".

La Parisienne Restaurant, NYC

La Parisienne is a second-generation family owned business that opened in 1950. The owner told us that his father founded the ‪#‎restaurant‬ "after having worked in the same location when it was just a small ‪#‎Greek‬ coffee shop. He renamed it La Parisienne in 1964 because he just liked the name. The menu was never ‪#‎French‬, but typical American fare." The gorgeous ‪#‎neon‬ sign with its unique ‪#‎font‬ is original from 1964. Photo and full interview with owner Jimmy Papageorge appear in our book "New York Nights".

Underground

New York

In honor of ‪#‎NationalFrenchFryDay‬ 🍟 yesterday we are posting Pommes Frites located on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village.

Pommes Frites recently opened this location after being located on Second Avenue in the East Village for many years but forced out of business when the building they were located in was destroyed by the gas explosion and fire in March, 2015. We are happy that this iconic late-night Belgian ‪#‎fries‬ store was able to relocate after suffering such a tragedy. Their authentic ‪#‎Belgian‬ fries are fried twice and served in European paper cones with a variety of sauces including ketchup, mayonnaise, vinegar, curry sauce or peanut satay sauce. ‪

Large-format Limited Edition Archival prints from our books "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York", "New York Nights" and "Store Front II- A History Preserved" are available

Shown above are Zig Zag Records 41 x 52 inch and Katy's Candy Store 41 x 41 inch framed in white wood letterbox frame. Please contact us for more information on editions, prices and sizes available: jandk@jamesandkarlamurray.com

Casino

Mr. Figaro Unisex Hairstyling in Sheepshead Bay was established in 1977 by Jerry May aka Mr. Figaro.

Mr. May was born in Russia in 1927 into a family of barbers and not only learned to cut #hair but also to sing #opera at a young age. He told us that he "took the name Mr. Figaro after the original singing #barber from Rossini's 1816 comic opera." We love the #handpainted #signage 💈✂️as well as all of the photos of Mr. Figaro and his customers in the windows. Photo from 2009 and full interview with Mr. Figaro and his protege Sal "Cutz" appear in our book "Store Front II- A History Preserved."

Manhattanhenge NYC 07.11.16, Earlier...

Emey's Bike Shop in the Gramercy neighborhood has a facade made of zinc, which dates back to the early 1900s.

The owner, Emey Hoffman, told us that, "the building was originally a barn on Peter Stuyvesant's farm and that Time Magazine's initial headquarters were once located at this address." We love its #handpainted #signage! Photo and full interview with Emey appears in our book "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York".

Painters at Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

This spiky controversial sculpture made of curved steel-ribbed walls, rising 160 feet is part of the recently opened $4 billion transportation hub connecting the Path trains and the subway lines in the downtown Financial district of Manhattan.

Deli Delite, NYC

Deli Delite has a great #vintage and somewhat battered #sign. We love how the #lettering is jauntily placed. Interestingly, the word delicatessen has its origins in New York City as a name was needed for food stores that sell specialties including cured meats, pickled vegetables, flavored sodas, and seeded breads. The first #deli in New York City opened during the mid 1800s and offered selections from Germany and Central Europe. By the early 1900s there were more than 60 #delicatessens on the Lower East Side alone that specialized in Eastern European #Jewish cuisine.

On day three of the heat wave we are experiencing in New York City, we are posting People's Pops, which sells both handmade fruit-flavored ice pops and shaved ice.

Their #pops are made from the best #fruit sourced from #nyc green markets using seasonally inspired flavors including apple rose water and rhubarb cardamom. Their shaved ice is hand-shaved from a 75 lb. block of crystal-clear ice and flavored with only fruit, herbs and cane sugar. @rachaelray says that People's Pops are "my favorite food on a stick". This photo was their old East Village location which unfortunately closed but the @peoplespops business is still thriving in Park Slope, Brooklyn and in the Chelsea Market and on the High Line as well as in locations in the weekend Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg locales. We not only loved their ice pops but also their chalkboard #storefront and their #handpainted #signage and the wooden Popsicle stick sign!

Circo's Pastry Shop is a family-owned #bakery that has been in business since 1945.

According to the 2nd-generation owner, the #storefront is original and the #vintage #neonsign was covered in mesh in the 1970s because its #neon tubes were constantly being broken by kids in the neighborhood throwing rocks and bottles at it. Luckily, they have now removed the mesh covering the neon and it has been restored to its former glory. Their most popular item is their Cannoli a la Siciliana, which we can say firsthand is absolutely delicious! Photo from 2004 and full interview with the owner appear in our book, "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York."

A.Blank Office Furniture in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan

This vintage overhanging #neonsign from the 1950s was recently uncovered as it had been hidden by a newer plastic face advertising a pizzeria that had occupied the space for the last decade. We couldn't find out much about this old furniture store although it claims to have been in business since 1899. The #storefront is presently being renovated again (for a new restaurant) and it is unclear whether the #signage will be removed entirely or covered up again! If the #neon sign is taken down, the new owners as per New York City law will NOT be able to install such a large overhanging #sign again since it violates the newer laws stipulating that signage cannot overhang more than 18 inches from the facade.

Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks over the East River of Lower Manhattan

We were lucky to get this photo despite the rain and low clouds of the ‪#‎happy4th‬ ‪#‎fireworks‬ this year. We love how the red colors shown brightly through the smoke and clouds and how you can see people enjoying the show from their rooftop. We hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!

July 4th, Nathan's Famous in Coney Island is holding its annual hotdog eating contest!

This iconic #frankfurter store opened 100 years ago as a small 5-foot long counter selling #hotdogs for a nickel. Nathan and Ida Handwerker, #Polish immigrants, started the business insisting on selling quality specially spiced franks which came in natural casings and freshly fried potatoes. This weekend, this original location will sell an estimated 26,000 hot dogs! Photo and full text on the history of this #storefront appear in our book "New York Nights". This photo really highlights the glorious #vintage #neon signs Nathan's has as it just had finished raining and the glow of the #neon signs are reflected in the puddles on the sidewalk.

Fourth of July Weekend , NYC, earlier...

Sunset over the East Village, NYC, earlier...

@sonnygindi of @vibes - ‪#‎theabsentgeneration‬ ‪#‎atthethird_‬ @salomonfaye Bowery

Jade Fountain on Delancey Street in the Lower East Side

Jade Fountain on Delancey Street in the Lower East Side claims that it is "As Old As Hills" as it opened in 1920 but because of Prohibition laws that were in effect it is not likely. This #liquor store was forced to close in 2014 to make way for the mega $1.1 billion development called "Essex Crossing" which will contain luxury hi-rise condos as well as some "affordable housing". It seems doubtful that a graffiti-covered bullet-proof plexiglass enclosed liquor and #wine store will open in the ground floor retail space of the new glass towers. #storefront #disappearingfaceofnewyork