Talkin' East Village Neon (and Other Neon News)

If you missed my last neon walking tour, I'm happy to report that I'll be leading another one on Friday evening, August 15th.  This tour will be led under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society and the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative.  Tickets are $20 ($15 for MAS members).  Click here to save a spot.  





Katz's, Gringer's, and Russ & Daughters will be stops on my August 15th Neon Walking Tour.

We'll wind our way through the East Village, home to a dense concentration of great old signs including Block Drugs, Veniero Pasticceria, DeRobertis Pastry Shop, Russ & Daughters, Gringer Appliances, the Orpheum Theatre (one of the oldest neon signs anywhere), and of course Katz's Delicatessen.  I will rattle off some observations on the origins and significance of the signs as we pause to admire them.  Attendees will wow their friends for the rest of the summer with a newfound breadth of cocktail party trivia.

NEW YORK NEON IN THE NEWS:

• "Neon Signs Are Dying, But Our Appreciation Isn't" - a story by Christina Zdanowicz at CNN Online, featuring quotes from yours truly. 

IN OTHER NEON NEWS: 

First, the Bad News: 

• Jack's 99-cent World has finally ditched the old Willoughby's Camera sign on West 32nd Street.  For about 20 years after Willoughby's moved out, this was one of my favorite relics in Midtown.  A massive new LED sign has taken its place.

• Via Paul Signs' Instagram feed: in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, another great neon relic has bit the dust - no more Liquor Store neon at DeKalb and Adelphi.  DNA info reports that the storefront's current occupant, restaurant Colonia Verde, is looking to have the sign restored.  Buildings Department records suggest it had been in place since 1939.


Colonia Verde's lost relic sign at 219 DeKalb Ave. in Brooklyn. (Paul Signs / Instagram)

• From JVNY and Project Neon (and a million other places): Third Avenue in Manhattan is now a little less colorful with the loss of Rodeo Bar and its lovely retro vertical sign.  

• "Took care o'that" - Here's what's left of Kentile:


Kentile Stump. (T. Rinaldi)

• And, in East Midtown, the bell has finally tolled for the Subway Inn, a survivor no more.  A closing date has been set at August 15th, but if experience is any teacher, I wouldn't wait around to pay my last respects.  Write-ups in Grub Street, Gothamist and the New York Times.

143 E60th Street, Manhattan, February 2006.  Vertical sign installed 1950; Fascia sign c. 1955, probably by Serota Sign Corp.  (T. Rinaldi)

Next, the Weird News: 

• Via James and Karla Murray, eyeglass retailer Warby Parker has taken over the former Lascoff's Pharmacy space on the Upper East Side.  The building and the storefront have been fairly heavily manhandled, but Lascoff's neon sign, in place since 1931, is still there, bizarrely denuded of some of its lettering since Lascoff's abruptly shuttered two years ago.  Could Warby Parker perhaps cleverly re-letter the sign and make it look a little less weird?  Please? 


(James and Karla Murray)

Moving on to the Good News: 

• Let There Be Neon has completed its latest neon restoration, for the Tepee - a spectacular roadside relic in Cherry Valley, NY.
• And finally, for your viewing pleasure, a scene from Dallas' neon heyday, via Shorpy.