Photography from our visit to the landmarked studios of the 144-year-old Art Students League of New York for 6sqft...

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/for-artists-by-artists-inside-the-landmarked-studios-of-the-144-year-old-art-students-league-of-new-york/

"The nonprofit has been located in the American Fine Arts Society Building at 215 West 57th Street since 1892. A designated New York City landmark, the French Renaissance-style building was designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh, the architect behind the Plaza Hotel and the Dakota. Ken Park, the director of marketing and communication for the League, recently gave 6sqft a behind-the-scenes tour of the historic building and shared some insight into this storied establishment."

Hudson. JAWS fun, down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, just now...

St. Mark’s Comics, East Village, NYC

St. Mark’s Comics, an East Village #comicbookStore located on St. Mark’s Place for the past 36 years just announced that it will be closing at the end of February. Mitch Cutler, the owner, said on Facebook, “We’ve been asked why. There are lots of obstacles to running a retail storefront in NYC; too many of them at once to fight, and after 36 pretty intense years, not enough left to fight them. We are forever grateful to our customers, who made it possible to pursue our passion for so long.” • We are saddened to hear this as many longtime businesses on this street have closed in recent years and our dog @hudsonpittienyc (as seen in this photo) always liked watching the street from his perch outside the shop.

Hudson. Out and about with Crome, Florida, just now...

Photography from our visit to Ed Hamilton & Debbie Martin's 220sqft Chelsea Hotel SRO apartment for 6sqft...

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/my-220sqft-debbie-and-ed-hamilton-have-made-it-work-for-24-years-in-a-chelsea-hotel-sro/

"Twenty-four years ago, when writer Ed Hamilton and his wife Debbie Martin moved into the Chelsea Hotel “everybody at the hotel was in the arts. There were always parties, and somebody was always having a show of some kind.” They’ve spent more than two decades in a 220-square-foot SRO room, and despite not having a kitchen and sharing a bathroom, they have loved every second of it. Where else could you live down the hall from Thomas Wolfe’s one-time home? Or share a bathroom with Dee Dee Ramone?"

In honor of #holocaustremembranceday yesterday we are highlighting Rabbi Eisenbach Religious Articles ✡️ in the Lower East Side.

 The Lower East Side of Manhattan was the first home to many Eastern European Jews and by 1910 they made up almost a quarter of the New York City’s population. Many of them moved into overcrowded tenements and initially set up pushcarts and tiny market stalls throughout the streets of the Lower East Side. After pushcarts were outlawed in 1939, the streets instead became lined with shops such as this one. #Analog photo from 2004 appears in our book, “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”.

Hudson. With homie Luigi over in Sistrunk, FLA, earlier...

Amy’s Bread shop on Bleecker Street has closed

Amy’s Bread shop on Bleecker Street has just recently closed due to an effort by the company to cut costs in an effort to keep their bread prices competitive. Amy Scherber founded her #breadbakery in Hell’s Kitchen in 1992 (our 2001 photo of the original location appears in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York”) and opened the Greenwich Village location later. This news is particularly sad 😢 because Bleecker Street has many empty storefronts due mainly to high rent blight. We hope this #storefront does not remain empty for years like Zito’s Italian bread bakery did after it closed in 2004.

Waldemar French Style Furs, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

When we took this #analog photo for our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” there was still a very large population of Polish immigrants living in the neighborhood. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, 80% of the area’s residents were Polish and many stores and restaurants catered to the population. Since 2005, when 175 blocks in the largely industrial area were rezoned to bring in new residential construction, the neighborhood has been undergoing gentrification due largely to a boom in construction.

Pan con Minuta last night over in Little Havana, Miami...

Late Morning, South Florida

Westsider Rare & Used Books, Upper West Side, Manhattan

Westsider Rare & Used Books has been in its present location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan since 1984. The owner, Dorian Thornley, recently announced last week that he would have to close his beloved #bookstore at the end of February due to slow sales in 2018. We are happy to announce that a local resident launched a GoFundMe campaign to save Westsider Books and in less than one week, it reached its $50,000 goal! Thornley now plans to keep his bookshop open for “as long as humanly possible.”

1973 Caprice Donk with 28 inch rims. Little Haiti, Miami, just now...

Magic Car Sound, Lauderhill, Fl

Joe’s Pizza of the Village 🇮🇹.

Despite its name, this #pizzeria is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn and was opened by a former Joe’s Pizza of Greenwich Village employee. #Pizza maker Victor Zaro worked for the famous Joe’s pizzeria 🍕 for nearly 15 years before opening his own pizzeria in 2004. Pino Pozzuoli Sr. (the owner of Joe’s which has been in business since 1975) was not happy when he found out that Zaro opened his own shop and years later filed a lawsuit when Zaro changed the logo on his #storefront to mirror the one Joe’s has on his Carmine Street Shop. Just recently Judge Cohan ruled that his newer #signage was too similar and that Zaro had to change it but could keep using the name “Joe’s Pizza of the Village” because it had been used for so long and uses “generic” words. The ruling was: “Plaintiff does not have exclusive use over “Famous” or “of the Village”. These are generic enough terms so that plaintiff may not bar defendants from continuing to use that they have employed for over a decade.”

• Our photo was taken in 2010 before Zaro changed his signage to mimic Joe’s Carmine Street location and we wonder if he had only kept this #fontastic sign if all this litigation could have been avoided.

Sander’s Kosher Bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been in business since 1959.

This Jewish Bakery specializes in homemade challah bread, rugelach and hamantaschen made with a shortbread-like dough and filled with a creamy chocolate filling or blueberry jam. We not only love their cookies but also their #fontastic sign with the clever use of the letter “B” to fit the word Kosher inside.

Miracles Take Out, Liberty City, Miami.

A $1.75 "flop" drink & $1.50 conch fritters fried to order over at the almost 50 year old walk up.

Hinsch’s Confectionery on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn was founded by Herman Hinsch in 1948.

The Logue family operated Hinsch’s from 1962 to 2011, serving homemade ice cream 🍨 and chocolates and sandwiches. Sadly the Logue family closed the business after the landlord raised the rent to $10,000 a month from $7,500. Within a few months of closing, the space was taken over and rebranded into Mike Hinsch’s and in 2015 turned into a Stewarts’s franchise. The gorgeous #neonsign and a vertical blade sign (not seen in this photo) were removed.

Photo from 2009 and interview with 2nd-generation owner John Logue appears in our book “New York Nights.”

Hudson. Pretending to crush really huge red cup fun over in the Design District, Miami, just now...

#foundinmiami #atMDD

Vacant Delicatessen, Brooklyn

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced this past Wednesday his support for a tax on vacant storefronts. He called the vacant #storefront “a blight on neighborhoods.” We couldn’t agree more as many landlords choose to let their storefronts sit empty for months and sometimes years rather than rent them at a lower rate. We are not sure if this legislation will pass but we believe it is definitely a good start in helping preserve the fabric of our neighborhoods. Let us know what you think!

Pete’s Shoe Repair 👞 in Queens.

In the past decade, we have noticed quite a number of shoe repair shops in New York City have closed. We wondered if it was mostly due to high rent increases, but a few shoemakers have told us “that business has declined because many people now purchase cheap “throw away” shoes made of plastic and don’t need or want to spend money on repairing them as they can just buy a new pair.”

King's Tropicana Bar, Miami, Florida.

Photography from our visit to writer, artist, and event producer Emma Orlow’s Bed-Stuy apartment for 6sqft...

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/my-500sqft-writer-and-food-artist-emma-orlow-fills-her-bushwick-pad-with-jell-o-prints-and-70s-kitsch/

"For most of us, our homes represent our personality generally, but for NYC native Emma Orlow, her Bed-Stuy apartment is a decorative translation of everything she loves and does. Part events producer, Emma has curated her space with yellow, bright orange, and lime green furniture and accessories, along with a mix of vintage mementos (her mom’s old NYC matchbook collection adorns one wall), stylish accessories (she counts among her favorite things a set of rainbow Massimo Vignelli mugs), and kitschy ’70s-era objects (see her retro Candy Land game). Emma also works as a food writer and artist working with food, another passion that can be seen throughout her home, from the JELL-O risographs to her beloved Japanese miniature food erasers."

Empty playground. Winter 2019 over at “Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S.”, our Public Art Installation inside Seward Park, Lower East Side, NYC.

We installed an 8 foot high x 12 foot wide x 8 foot deep rectangular wood-frame sculpture consisting of near life-size photographs of four mom-and-pop neighborhood stores of the Lower East Side, most of which are no longer in business and have sadly disappeared from the streetscape.  Each of these four shops; a bodega, a coffee shop/luncheonette, a delicatessen, and a newsstand represent small businesses that were common in the Lower East Side and helped bring the community together through people’s daily interactions. When viewing the near life-size photographs one can get a visceral sense of the impact of these losses on the community and on those who once depended on the shops that are now gone. The installation is an artistic intervention and a plea for recognition of the unique and irreplaceable contribution made to New York by small, often family-owned businesses. These neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.

We constructed our wood-frame sculpture inside Seward Park, with lumber and plywood and covered it with our near life-size storefront photographs printed on dibond by Unique Copy Center and Unique Visuals NY, an aluminum composite material that is weather, UV, freeze and heat-resistant and will also have a graffiti-resistant laminate applied, as the installation is up for an entire year from July 2018 through July 2019. We are very grateful that we received a public art grant from New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and UNIQLO USA for this project. #uniqloparkexpressions #artintheparks #momandpopsles

Photography from our visit to Brooklyn's Dime Savings Bank for 6sqft...

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/from-brooklyns-biggest-bank-to-its-tallest-building-behind-the-scenes-at-the-dime-savings-bank/

"After the bank closed in 2002, the landmark still stood in all its former glory, operating as a special event space. Three years ago, JDS Development filed plans to build Brooklyn’s tallest tower adjacent to Dime, incorporating its Beaux-Arts interior as retail space for the project. And with work now underway, 6sqft recently got a behind-the-scenes tour of Dime Savings Bank with Open House New York."

Lunch. Over at Chez Line, Little Haiti, Miami, just now...

Hudson. Esperando los pinchos, Miami, Florida, justo ahora...

Continental, which has been in business in the East Village for 27 years has sadly closed to make way for a new 7-story building

 Many musicians including the Ramones, Iggy Pop and Guns N’ Roses played at this venue, but since 2006 the bar stopped hosting live music and instead pushed cheap no-frills drinks 🍸 including “5 Shots of Anything $10”.

Photography from our visit to architecture and design firm CRÈME for 6sqft...

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/where-i-work-jun-aizakis-architecture-and-design-firm-creme-gets-creative-in-williamsburg/

"Japan native Jun Aizaki started Brooklyn-based CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design 14 years ago when both the design and architecture firm’s Williamsburg location and their portfolio were much different. Today, with more than 15 employees, CRÈME has become a leader in hip restaurant design (think Redfarm, L’Amico, and Mr. Purple), along with more innovative product design such as gourd cups and indigo-dyed furniture."

Galerie Des Elegants Shoes - Repairs, Shine, Die, Stitching, Luggage Repair, Little Haiti, Miami, Florida

We are sad to report that Hank’s Saloon In Boerum Hill, Brooklyn closed

We are sad to report that Hank’s Saloon In Boerum Hill, Brooklyn closed just a few days ago at the end of December as the building they were located is being torn down to make way for new condos which are being built on the site.

The GOOD news is that they will be reopening upstairs from Hill Country Barbecue @hillcountrybbq at 345 Adams Street near Borough Hall. They will have their own entrance, and a great new stage and sound🎵 system! We are so happy that despite the bad news that there is a silver lining to this story.

Winter 2019 over at “Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S.”, our Public Art Installation inside Seward Park, Lower East Side, NYC.

 We installed an 8 foot high x 12 foot wide x 8 foot deep rectangular wood-frame sculpture consisting of near life-size photographs of four mom-and-pop neighborhood stores of the Lower East Side, most of which are no longer in business and have sadly disappeared from the streetscape.  Each of these four shops; a bodega, a coffee shop/luncheonette, a delicatessen, and a newsstand represent small businesses that were common in the Lower East Side and helped bring the community together through people’s daily interactions. When viewing the near life-size photographs one can get a visceral sense of the impact of these losses on the community and on those who once depended on the shops that are now gone. The installation is an artistic intervention and a plea for recognition of the unique and irreplaceable contribution made to New York by small, often family-owned businesses. These neighborhood stores help set the pulse, life, and texture of their communities.

We constructed our wood-frame sculpture inside Seward Park, with lumber and plywood and covered it with our near life-size storefront photographs printed on dibond by Unique Copy Center and Unique Visuals NY, an aluminum composite material that is weather, UV, freeze and heat-resistant and will also have a graffiti-resistant laminate applied, as the installation is up for an entire year from July 2018 through July 2019. We are very grateful that we received a public art grant from New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and UNIQLO USA for this project.

#uniqloparkexpressions #artintheparks #momandpopsles

This is our top nine most popular photos we posted over on our instagram @jamesandkarla in 2018

This is our top nine most popular photos we posted over on our instagram @jamesandkarla in 2018 with over 499.1 K likes on 365 posts and includes many of our favorite storefronts from NYC and a lighting ⚡️storm we captured from our apartment in the East Village. We can’t thank all of our friends and followers enough for the love 💕 and support and really appreciate all of the wonderful comments we have received. We wish everyone a very happy New Year 🎆 and look forward to continue connecting with everyone in 2019!