Superior Ink

Before it was demolished in '07 to make way for yet another condostrosity, Superior Ink stood tall and proud on West Street, its humble facade a solid reminder of the working class folk that once populated the West Village.  Now I suppose it wasn't a particularly beautiful building as architecture goes, but I think it says a lot about American values, from an era when we actually manufactured things, and the economy was strong.  Superior Ink is still alive and well out in Jersey, it's still one of the largest commercial ink suppliers in the USA.  But I miss its big, bold former home on my Hudson River walks.       

Treehouse in the Park

Madison Square Park, 23rd Street...

Girl in Glass

At Merkin Hall, Upper West Side 

Absolutely No Drugs or Hanging Out

Raul's Candy Store at 13th and Avenue A will not stand any misbehavior. 
You understand what I am telling you here? !
Read Spanish? The ills of MaryJane and the like as well as terrorism are all barred at Raul's. 

Getting Hungry?

Signs of Yesteryear

Chelsea. 

Near Varrick. 

Varrick.

Midtown. 

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Fancy a Bath?

11th Street Public Bath, 538 East 11th St. This elaborate Beaux-Arts style bathhouse, located between avenues A and B, was completed in 1906 to alleviate sanitary problems in the City’s tenements, few of which had baths or showers. The limestone-clad structure was meant to stand out as an example of civic pride. It was used as a public bath until the 1950s, and purchased in 1995 by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Eddie Adams and converted into a fashion and corporate photography studio. It was also used as a location shot for the film, Ragtime. 

Girls will be Girls?

What is this ad on the corner of West 4th and Bowery (aka Cooper Square) trying to sell us? Water? Illicit behavior? What do you think?  

Cold and Sunny

Lafayette and Bleecker

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs ?

New York is full of signs: Old advertising, weird messages, insider jokes, cryptic tales. I have no idea what some of these mean. This for instance. "Hollywood Advertising" in midtown?

Self explanatory. MacDougal and King.  

East Village ad for illegal firearms?

Bowery's infamous Pray for Pills. The 80s lives... 

Here's Wishing You A Wonderful Year

Join Me!

At the Ear Inn....

or McGovern's..

Or we can break into the Long Island Restaurant...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Goodbye P&G

Located on Amsterdam near 75th on the Upper West Side, P&G Cafe is quintessential old New York. But it's going down soon, reports the New York Times, moving a few blocks away with none of its 1940s charm intact.  "The future P&G is three times as large as the old 860-square-foot bar. A rusticated structural wall will be an ornament, instead of the kitschy Austrian castle and forest fantasy mural signed in 1943 by a rye-drinking artist who executed the scene to pay his bar tab. “'I’ll feel out the new place,' said Patrick Duffy, a stagehand who has been a regular for more than a decade. 'But we don’t know if the new place is for us--we’re old school.'” Thanks to Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

Beautiful bar tab mural...

Barkeep, I'll have a Dewars...straight...

The mural extends well above the barroom floor...

But soon the P&G will be no more....

Coney Island Pt. II

Nathan's Famous

Astroland, slated for demolition

Cyclone

Stillwell Avenue, Coney Island

Visiting Coney Island, Pt. 1

Brooklyn's Coney Island is an amusement park (one of the nation's first) that reached its peak in the early 20th century. Though located on the Atlantic Ocean, it declined in popularity after World War II and endured years of neglect (I prefer to call this “beautiful blight”) though fun seekers still visit year round.  Like so much of New York, Coney is currently under threat, with many rides, architectural gems and memories slated to fall to developer's greed and a general lack of imagination among the populace (who needs "amusement" when you've got iPods and videogames?).  Luckily, landmark status protects several rides.  A walk through Coney on a Saturday afternoon is a study in Russian accents;  immigrant-filled Brighton Beach is right down Stillwell Avenue.  

Serious Thrills...

How "Swee" it is! The Cyclone rollercoaster, completely constructed of wood. 

1940's hotel rooms anyone?

The famous, spooky parachute jump surrounded by fog.   

Drinking Again

To quote the Sinatra song. At the Blarney Cove, East 14th Street...

King of Kings, Lord of Lords

Houston Street Nativity

They waited and waited...
Some brought gifts..
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.