Gnocco, East Village, NYC

Gnocco on East 10th Street near Avenue B in the East Village has been in business for over 21 years. It was founded by Pierluigi Palazzo and his wife, Rossella Tedesco and specializes in Northern Italian cuisine and is named for the fried dough puffs sold with prosciutto and salami on the streets of Modena, Italy 🇮🇹. 

We visited Gnocco for lunch and dined with our dog Hudson in their outdoor dining area opposite Tompkins Square Park but they also have a beautiful backyard garden 🪴 to dine in. We had their amazing Margherita Pizza cooked in their wood-fired oven and their Fresh Mozzarella Panini w/tomatoes, basil and pesto served with a side salad (swipe left for 2nd photo).  

• To watch our livestream visit to @gnoccony & other #momandpop shops in the neighborhood to help support them, please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/-8Gtuc75bsU

A-1 Record Shop East 6th Street, East Village, NYC

A-1 Record Shop on East 6th Street in the East Village stocks a very well curated selection of used #vinyl from a wide variety of genres including dance music, jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, disco, house and techno.  • 

To watch us and our dog Hudson cratedigging today at @a1recordshop & to see what we selected to help support this independently-owned #vinylrecords shop which was closed for over a year due to the pandemic, but recently reopened, please watch and subscribe to our channel (direct link below and in bio & IG story). 

• https://youtu.be/-8Gtuc75bsU

A very empty Rockefeller Center during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Not only did we photograph many recognizable places and neighborhoods which were totally devoid of both people and cars but we also took many, many hours of video footage. 

We just released our feature-length video highlighting our “Walking Manhattan During the Pandemic of 2020” on our YouTube channel. We would love for you to watch and leave feedback as it is a time in New York City’s history, which we believe is worth remembering. 

Link to watch: https://youtu.be/2sNMMMEmsOE

Public Fish Market, “The Oldest Fish Market in Harlem”.

People often ask us what criteria we use when deciding which #storefront in NYC to photograph and we always answer that “it has to have a certain look and feel”. Public Fish Market which we photographed in 2004 for our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” certainly had that “look and feel” with its timeworn #handpaintedsigns on both the facade and window complete with swimming fish 🐟 and also the mismatched chairs and wood baskets placed outside the shop. Let us know what some of your favorites hops in NYC are/were based on the appearance. 

#disappearingfaceofnewyork #harlemnyc #jamesandkarla #fishmarket #fishmonger #harlem #momandpopshop #signage #signagedesign #momandpopshops

A very empty Lower Manhattan during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Not only did we photograph many recognizable places and neighborhoods which were totally devoid of both people and cars but we also took many, many hours of video footage. 

We just released our feature-length video highlighting our “Walking Manhattan During the Pandemic of 2020” on our YouTube channel. 

We would love for you to watch and leave feedback as it is a time in New York City’s history, which we believe is worth remembering. 

Link to watch: https://youtu.be/2sNMMMEmsOE

“Walking Manhattan During the Pandemic of 2020” on our YouTube channel

It’s been nearly 16 months since we took this photo on the Park Avenue approach to Grand Central Terminal, highlighting just how empty NYC was during the height of the pandemic of 2020. Not only did we photograph many recognizable places and neighborhoods which were totally devoid of both people and cars but we also took many, many hours of video footage. 

We just released our feature-length video highlighting our “Walking Manhattan During the Pandemic of 2020” on our YouTube channel. We would love for you to watch and leave feedback as it is a time in New York City’s history, which we believe is worth remembering. 

Link to watch: https://youtu.be/2sNMMMEmsOE

Vito’s Slices & Ices, Hell's Kitchen, NYC

Vito’s Slices & Ices on the corner of 9th Avenue & 36th Street not only specializes in classic New York style pizza 🍕 but also makes delicious homemade Italian ices. @vitosnyc was founded in late 2019 by John Accardi who comes from a large family of #ItalianAmerican 🇮🇹 pizza makers.  

We visited Vito’s and spoke with John and watched as he prepared step-by-step two different flavors of his #homemade Italian ices, which were both amazing! We also tried his absolutely delicious pizza (which we deemed one of the best in all of New York City) including a Margherita and a Pepperoni Sicilian (swipe left for 3rd photo). 

• To watch our livestream visit to Vito’s Slices & Ices please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/cDbFm60gMjw

Mari Vanna, Flatiron, Manhattan

Mari Vanna on East 20th Street in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan is a plant & antique filled Russian restaurant which serves a variety of house-infused vodkas along with traditional Russian dishes including their Borscht (beet soup w/beef) and Vareniki (handmade potato-filled dumplings 🥟 w/ carmelized onions) . 

• Today we stopped at @marivannany to dine in their beautifully decorated outdoor dining area with our dog Hudson and had their absolutely delicious borscht & vareniki (swipe left for 2nd photo). 

To watch our livestream video, please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/4BOCXhRs0_0

Chelsea Papaya, Chelsea, NYC

Chelsea Papaya on the corner of 23rd Street & 7th Avenue is one of the many competitors which sprung up in New York City, selling the unique combination of an all beef hot dog 🌭 paired with a cold fresh papaya drink. This brainstorm idea was thought of by the founder of the original Papaya King, located on 86th Street in Third Avenue after returning from a trip to Cuba & opening up a tropical juice stand which also sold frankfurters, a popular German food from the Yorkville neighborhood. 

• In our latest YouTube livestream video, we visit Chelsea Papaya & an artisanal farmstand/charcuterie inside the Chelsea Market, to get a hot dog from each in a battle for the best hot dog in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. 

• To find out which hot dog 🌭 won our battle, please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

•Full livestream video: https://youtu.be/9VstzMGbwv0

Bleecker Bob’s Records, Greenwich Village, NYC

Today July 17th is #recordstoreday and in honor of celebrating independent #recordstores across the world, we are highlighting the departed but not forgotten Bleecker Bob’s Records which was founded by Bob Plotnick (R.I.P.) in 1967. 

This iconic NYC shop, was one of the first places in the late 1970s to sell albums by #punk bands. Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s guitarist and Frank Zappa both occasionally tended the register back in the day.  This photo from 2011 and our interview appears in our book “New York Nights”. 

If you would like to purchase a print of Bleecker Bob’s we have them available starting at $99 for an 11x14 inch archival signed print & $8 shipping to anywhere in the USA $107 total Venmo to Karla-Murray

Hudson visits Beverly for some Spark Pretty fun.

Spark Pretty on East 9th Street in the East Village specializes in #vintageclothing, toys & accessories from the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. This unique shop was founded by Amanda Dolan and her friend Meaghan Colby after they met working as stylists for fashion designer Betsy Johnson and discovered they both loved thrifting, 80s and 90s nostalgia and scouring estate sales & flea markets. 

• Yesterday, we visited and spoke with @Amanda Dolan at her shop @sparkpretty as she explained how she curates the shop and shows us many of its fabulous items for sale, including rock and roll t-shirts, custom-designed vintage jean jackets, caftans, accessories & toys including Barbies and trolls! 

To watch our livestream video visit to Spark Pretty (there is a Part 1 & 2) please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/nkbTZPZKH2I

Hudson. Crown collection fun, TriBeCa, NYC, earlier...

 

The Washington Square Hotel, Greenwich Village, NYC

The Washington Square Hotel, located diagonally opposite Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, opened as Hotel Earle in 1902 as a small 8-story residential hotel and later expanded to the larger property it is today. 

@wshotelnyc has had many famous guests over the years including a young Ernest Hemingway, Bo Didley, The Rolling Stones (who used the hotel as their home base during their first U.S. tour in 1964) and Bob Dylan who stayed at the hotel in 1961 and again in 1964 when he shared room 305 with Joan Baez. 

• We recently visited the hotel and toured its lobby, restaurant and many of its rooms, including one similar to Bob Dylan’s room and the gorgeous Penthouse rooms which have breathtaking skyline views both north towards the Empire State Building and west towards Hudson Yards. 

To watch our video visit, please subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/au2TrSCoa_o

Junior’s, the iconic restaurant known for New York’s best cheesecake, was founded in 1950 by Harry Rosen on the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb Avenue.

Yesterday we visited its Times Square location on 45th Street to have some of their cheesecake as it recently reopened after being closed for over a year due to the pandemic. (2nd photo of 45th Street bakery). 

• To see if we agree with the family-owned restaurant’s claim that @juniorscheesecake has New York’s best #cheesecake, please watch our livestream video and subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/ywNvRXXVSH4

Trash & Vaudeville, the iconic punk & rock and roll clothing shop, in the East Village, NYC.

Trash & Vaudeville, the iconic punk & rock and roll clothing shop, was founded by Ray Goodman in 1975 on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. @trashandvaudeville has clothed many musicians including members of the @ramones , @the_clash Debbie Harry of Blondie @blondieofficial and even Bruce Springsteen @springsteen. 

T&V was forced to move and relocate after a huge rent increase in 2016 to East 7th Street after 40 years in business, but thankfully it still has the same funky vibe and look with two stories, apparel upstairs and shoes downstairs. 

• Yesterday we visited Trash & Vaudeville during our livestream thunderstorm walk to help support small independently-owned businesses in the neighborhood. (2nd photo of our dog Hudson shopping at the store). 

To see their amazing selection including their own in-house clothing label @trippnyc please watch and subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

Full video: https://youtu.be/4d9q051rIlo

Alphabet Scoop, East Village, NYC

We visited with our dog Hudson, Alphabet Scoop on East 11th street to try some of their delicious homemade flavors of ice cream. Alphabet Scoop is not just an ordinary ice cream shop, it is a nonprofit through Father’s Heart Ministries program, mentoring the neighborhood youths through a job training program whose mission, like their ice cream, is sweet and simple, “Changing Lives one Scoop at a Time”. 

We had two of Alphabet Scoop top selling flavors, Cookie Dough (on left in photo) and Razzle Dazzle (top photo) which is comprised of White Chocolate Ice Cream Swirled with Rich Raspberry Topping and Mini Chocolate Raspberry Truffles. Both were extra extra good and one of the best things was speaking with Robbie and one of his mentors, Tegan (bottom photo) about their mission and how they created these delicious flavors. 

• To watch our visit to this amazing ice cream 🍨 shop and to hear more about its mission to help teens in the community, please watch & subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video:  https://youtu.be/4d9q051rIlo

Caffe Capri in Williamsburg, Brooklyn had the best iced coffee we have ever had!

It was so strong and flavorful! There was nothing better on a hot day (like it was today in NYC) to cool you off. 

Sadly this lovely family-owned #coffeeshop closed in 2015 after being in business since 1974. 

We included this photo in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” and also interviewed Joe (the co-owner with his sister Sarah) and asked him why their iced coffee was so delicious and he told us the secret was that he made ice cubes using espresso, not water…so that when the ice cubes melted, they would not water down the coffee. What a brilliant idea! 

#disappearingfaceofnewyork #jamesandkarla #coffee #coffeetime #coffeelover #coffeelovers #coffeelife #italian #italianstyle #storefront #williamsburgbrooklyn

Vegetable Garden on Bleecker Street closed in 2005 after being in business since 1974.

It was the last of the green grocers which remained in the neighborhood and was owned by John & Abel, who not only carefully hand-selected the items they sold but also knew all of their regular customers by name and warmly greeted them every day. 

We took this 35mm film photo in 2001 as part of a panorama of the entire block stretching from Leroy to Carmine Streets, which appears in our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” and only 1 of the original businesses remains in business in its original location, Rocco’s Pasticceria. Joe’s Pizza which had been located right next door to Vegetable Garden on the corner of Bleecker & Carmine was forced to move after a similar rent increase by the landlord around the corner to Carmine Street, where it thankfully remains today. 

#jamesandkarla #vegetablegarden #disappearingfaceofnewyork #vegetables #fruit #storefront #greengrocer #greengrocer #greengrocers #westvillage #westvillagenyc #westvillagelife

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

We can’t thank all of our supporters enough for watching our livestream of the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks last night which we streamed from a rooftop in the East Village of Manhattan with views of all 5 barges setting off the fireworks on the East River and views of the NYC skyline including the Empire State Building which also simultaneously lit off fireworks 🎇. 

We want to give a special shout-out to our moderators Stephanie Stearns and Michelle French McGraw who did an amazing job trying to keep up with our busy live chat. We never expected so many people to join us and watch…next time we will certainly enable slow mode in the chat! 

For our Silver & higher Patreon members & YouTube members at the Extra Extra Good tier & higher, we will also be posting behind-the-scenes photos and another fireworks display we caught from our window at 12:45 AM …hours after the Macy’s show had ended. The City stayed awake last night!! 

Here’s the link to watch the replay: https://youtu.be/GLrMwAmqsnA

Milon and Panna II (2nd floor restaurants) along with Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant

Milon and Panna II (2nd floor restaurants) along with Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant (ground floor restaurant) at 93 First Avenue near East 6th Street have had an interesting relationship with one another, competing for customers in a friendly way and in a “battle for the brightest lights”. 

Sadly, Milon was forced to close after being in business since 1982, due to the pandemic in March 2020 and never reopened, eliminating one of the affordable #Indianfood competitors. The good news is that earlier this year, the owners of Panna II, took over the lease for Milon and are now running both restaurants, sharing the same waiters and staff. 

• Last evening we visited Milon aka @pannaiirestaurant to help support this Indian restaurant as it has been struggling to survive since reopening as there are so few tourists dining in the area compared to pre-pandemic. 

To watch our livestream meal 🥘: https://youtu.be/VrlijJ4q2EE

Cinema Village, a gorgeous independently-owned theater in Greenwich Village which was built in 1963 in the shell of an old firehouse has just reopened after being closed for well over a year due the pandemic.

This gorgeous theater which underwent a renovation in 2000 to provide three screens showcases many unknown and upcoming filmmakers. This week to mark @cinemavillage reopening Abel Ferrara selected the films to be shown including the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Happy Life and The Conformist. 

We couldn’t be happier to see the lights at one of New York’s #cinematreasures lit again! 

#independentfilm #independentfilmmaker #independentfilmmakers #theatre #independentfilmmaking #cinema #independenttheatre #cinematography #allinnyc #supportlocalbusiness #supportlocal #supportsmallbusiness

Tompkins Square Bagel the clear winner!

Today on our YouTube livestream, we held a bagel battle and compared an “Everything Bagel” from @tompkinssquarebagels to two other highly-rated #bagel shops in the neighborhood (2nd photo of Tompkins Square “Everything Bagel” in the center vs. the ones we purchased from two other shops). 

To see why we chose Tompkins Square Bagel as the clear winner 🏆 of our battle, please watch & subscribe to our JamesandKarla YouTube channel, see direct link below & in bio and IG story. 

• Full video: https://youtu.be/xv7G8AXFfQI

Tompkins Square Bagels on Avenue A in the East Village was founded by Christopher Pugliese in 2011 and specializes in classic New York-style bagels 🥯 which are hand-rolled, boiled, and baked on wood planks and also have over 20 different flavors of homemade cream cheese.