A recent demolition in Herald Square at Sixth Avenue and 32nd Street has given renewed prominence to these vintage signs on the side of the Jack's 99 Cent store. The building at the site once housed the S&A Stores, which promised your "money refunded within 25 days." That's quite a comforting thought while entering the store. The back story on the corner here.

By the way, a 47-story tower by Costas Kondylis has been scheduled to rise on this corner -- that what the story last April anyhow -- so get a good look at these signs while ye can.

-- Rolando Pujol

Ephemeral New York explores one of our Thanksgiving history obsessions. You see, once upon a time in neighborhoods around the city, Halloween really wasn't the season for going "trick or treating." It was Thanksgiving day! Kids would dress up and go around begging. These little ragamuffins would knock on your door and ask "Anything for Thanksgiving" in a kind of way that would make Fagin proud. The outings seemed to be confined to certain Brooklyn neighborhoods populated by European immigrants, but there were reports of the tradition thriving elsewhere in the city.

Photo courtesy of Victoria Belanger/flickr

Who needs "happy hour" when you can go to this party marking the tenth anniversary of Union Square Park's commemoration as a National Historic Landmark. The entire town's invited, so head to the south end of Union Square Park near the George Washington statue at 14th Street and Broadway. Festivities kick off at 5:45 p.m. See you there.

With the Duane Reade signage stripped, a sign for an old pet shop has resurfaced on Broadway in the mid 70s. (Photos by Rolando Pujol)

By Rolando Pujol

It's an unusual sight for a couple of reasons. For one, we're used to Duane Reades spreading and consuming every old drug store in their path, not closing.

But with this vast lot now cleared on 2150 Broadway between 75th and 76th streets on the Upper West Side, a couple of curious artifacts have surfaced. For one, you can see what looks like an old fireplace way in the back of the store. And right outside, an old sign has surfaced for a pet shop. These dog owners might see an irony in the site's long-ago occupant.

Anyone out there know more about this block's past?

What appears to be an old fireplace can be clearly seen inside the former Duane Reade.

Where Murray Hill meets Kips Bay, there is a corner where mid-century New York meets 2008.

For starters, the Clover Delicatessen, below, has been holding the fort on the southwestern corner of East 34th Street and Second Avenue since the late 1940s, and its neon sign is one of the finest you'll see on any street corner. But walk next door, and your travel through storefront time continues. This liquor shop offers a twofer. Sure, there's a great red liquor sign. But what really impresses us is the neon sign in the window. Notice the "LE" in the telephone number -- short, we imagine, for Lexington exchange -- happily preserved in neon. That means this sign must date, at the very latest, to the early and middle 1970s, by which time the use of exchange names was being phased out.

Interestingly, a few people to this day hang on tenaciously to their exchange name. It certainly adds poetry to the common phone number. You can join the club by figuring out what your exchange name might have been here. And then start giving out your cell number in this archaic format: KLondike5-5555.

People might think you've had one too many, but you'll know better.

-- Rolando Pujol

On the ever-so-genteel southwest corner of East 63rd Street and Park Avenue stands a nice tribute to the city's once ubiquitous "humpback" street signs. This style, aside from the obvious aesthetic considerations, is much more useful, too, requiring only one sign to give you the intersecting streets. Below, see how good it looks on a Bishop's Crook. Forgotten NY explains the humpback is coming back into vogue, here and there, but observes finding an authentic one in the wild is quite the challenge.

We've never stumbled onto one ourselves, but strangely, found a bunch of retired ones redeployed in South of the Border, the amusing tourist "stop" ("trap" is too harsh a word, since we rather enjoy the authentic mid-century vibe of the place) on I-95 on the border of the Carolinas. I'll share photos of these signs down the road.

-- Rolando Pujol

Robert Germino sells his political memorabilia at the corner of Bedford Ave. and N. 12th. St. in Williamsburg. Photo/Lauren Johnston.

Yesterday we met Bob Germino. The 71-year-old retiree has lived in the Williamsburg-Greenpoint area all his life and has a love for local politics - and the paraphernalia that goes with it.

In fact, in 1977, he ran for school board (District 14), and still keeps this campaign card in his wallet.

These days you'll find Germino at the corner of Bedford Ave. and N. 12th. in Williamsburg selling bits and pieces from his personal collection, including old magazine ads, photographs, and best - this large selection of old campaign buttons (we picked up a "Bella Abzug for Mayor" for $3).

He's also got "Ed Koch for Mayor," and "Re-elect Gerges" and "Stefanizzi in '82."

Stop by his corner for these bits of New York's political history, but also for his stories of the hot campaigns of yesteryear. Definitely worth some weekend loitering

One-by-one New York's icons are going up for sale -- the Chrysler Building, the Flatiron Building, the Plaza Hotel ... and now ... Tin Pan Alley? Wait, isn't that a street?

We've learned that five buildings on W. 28th Street in Manhattan have been put on the block for $44 million. The street was home to George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and other great American songwriters. A listing on a real estate Web site, Loopnet, recommends that the buildings be torn down and a high-rise take their place, the AP reports.

Is NOTHING un-sellable in this real estate-crazed town? What's next to go? How about that parcel of 843 acres of prime, undeveloped land right in the heart of Manhattan?

The facade of the building at 38 W. 34th St. was cleaned up, but is still no stunner. Click on images to expand. Below, the storefront itself has a sleek look. (Photos by Rolando Pujol)

Not that long ago, the facade of 38 W. 34th St. was one of the most bizarre in the city. It was covered in corrugated metal, had roughly cut windows and displayed bizarre signage for a mysterious "Dr. Locke" and "Foot Saver." We recently noted its destruction, and the news that Fossil would be opening an accessories shop in the building, and now we have an update.

The Fossil shop is set to open at noon Monday, according to employees who were busy polishing up the store today, and the facade, well, you can judge for yourself. The lower half is sleek, with stone accents. But the top looks like a cleaned-up version of the old facade, which disappointed us. We were expecting something a little different. Maybe it's not the ugliest facade in the city anymore, but it's certainly not in the running for the prettiest.

-- Rolando Pujol

Mimma's in Yorkville was a solid spot for a slice. (Photo by Emily Hulme)

On my way to work this morning, I noticed this sad sight: My favorite neighborhood pizzeria -- Mimma's, on 84th Street and Second Avenue -- is now the future home of another Two Boots.

Now, I know people like Two Boots, and I myself have enjoyed a slice from time to time. But it's a very particular taste, and we already have a gourmet pizza shop in the neighborhood: Pintaile's. Sometimes you're just in the mood for a slice's slice, and that's what Mimma's excelled at. Also, they were open late, making them a perfect post-bar stop on the way home.

Mimma's was nothing fancy, but they had a good sauce and served simple pizza done right. You will be missed. RIP Mimma's ... long live Two Boots.

-- Emily Hulme

Do you know the story of this Bronx building? Urbanite wants to know. (Photos by Jefferson Siegel)

In the Bronx, at 436 Westchester Ave. near Bergen Avenue., just blocks from the area known as The Hub, sits this small two-story building. In faded letters one can read "N Y Post Office Station R"

The ground floor appears to be empty; the second floor is occupied by "John's Gym" where boxing is offered for women. Several women wearing boxing gloves were observed running around an empty lot across the street one day, obviously part of their training.

Does anyone know the history of this building? Or, to be more specific, about its post office days?

-- Jefferson Siegel

This jingle for the defunct Hotel Seville on Madison Avenue is happy and peppy and bursting with love. (For you non-Odd Couple fans, the reference is explained here.) The jingle sold the tri-state area on the Hotel Seville for years, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece that by the time this commercial aired in the early 1980s had definitely seen better days. Today, it's the swanky Carlton, and the Hotel Seville jingle is just a memory. Thank goodness for YouTube! And thanks again to the contributions of retroluvr.

There is speculation that this commercial gave the Milford Plaza the inspiration for its classic commercial, the Lullabuy of Broadway, which ran constantly in the 1980s, vanished, and briefly returned after 9/11. Click here for that commercial, and you be the judge.

And while we're on hotel jingles, a lost art if there ever was one, listen to Tony Randall perform a rousing rendition here of the jingle for the old Prince George Hotel, via the WCBS 88 nostalgia Web site.

-- Rolando Pujol

Click on photos to enlarge. (Historical images courtesy of Joe Kinney)

Well before the New Yorker was home to the Tick Tock Diner, the hotel hosted several interesting eateries.

They included the swanky Manhattan Room, as well as one with which we have become intrigued: Lamp Post Corner, at West 34th Street and Eighth Avenue, where you can find Tick Tock today.

Check out the fantastic ephemera of the vanished restaurants courtesy of hotel archivist Joe Kinney, who has put together an impressive collection of the hotel's memorabilia. How could you not want to eat at these places? Some enterprising restaurateur would be wise to bring back this retro iconography.

Lamp Post Corner seems to capitalize on that mid-century nostalgia for turn-of-the-century America, and its handlebar mustaches (find a pair below!), gas lamps, barbershop quartets, and old-fashioned ice-cream parlors. What a fun place this must have been.

Lamp Post was actually part of a national chain, whose locations included the great El Rancho Hotel & Motel in Gallup, N.M. When we stayed there during a road trip through the Southwest 10 years ago, Lamp Post Corner, alas, was as much a part of history as the "Gay '90s" vibe it sought to recapture. But you can always pop in for a bite of nostalgia on this corner of the Web.

-- Rolando Pujol

Photo by Rolando Pujol

Remnants of an old FDNY safety campaign survive on Tier Street on City Island. These haunting stickers were pasted to the side of fire alarm call boxes, and years of weather and sun have taken their toll. But you can still make out a large "Stop" sign, and the wording "False Alarms Cause Death." The image of a firefighter, flames behind him as he carries a baby, is eerie.

It's a powerfully effective campaign, made even more so by the sticker's derelict state.

-- Rolando Pujol

This diner at 357 West St. was manufactured by the famed Kullman Diner company, possibly in the late 1940s. (Photo by Tiffany L. Clark). More photos [HERE]

It was once called the Lost Diner, and now, the name truly fits.

The 1940s chrome diner in Greenwich Village sits abandoned, its glass door broken and its interior filled with trash.

But what is lost may have been found again. Preservationist Michael Perlman, who has already rescued the Cheyenne and Moondance diners in Manhattan from sure obliteration, tells Urbanite that he has submitted a proposal to owner Peter Moore Associates to preserve the diner and bring it back to its former glory. In fact, the Moondance is set to reopen next month in Wyoming.

The eatery, at 357 West St., has been known over the years as Terminal Diner and Lunchbox Food, and was most recently Rib, a North Carolina-style barbeque joint.

But that establishment closed in 2006, and the building has since fallen into disrepair. Perlman says he and Peter Moore Associates, which bought the property in 2006, will further discuss his proposal in October. He says that it would be more affordable to renovate the space than to demolish it. The owner could not be reached for comment.

Perlman said a metal tag bearing the name of the famous Kullman Diner manufacturer still hangs above the door. It’s details like that that Perlman wants to preserve as much as possible.

"Diners are becoming an endangered species, especially in the tri-state area,” Perlman said. “They definitely don't manufacture them like they used to. And diners are the ultimate public institution; they were places where people from various classes would mingle side by side."

-- Megan Stride

amNY photo galleries

Great NYC diners, past and present

Remembering the Munson Diner

From the collection of Joe Kinney

We wanted to share a fascinating letter we received about our story Friday on the New Yorker Hotel. The writer, Ruth Lennon, grew up and still lives in the neighborhood, and during her childhood in the 1930s and the 1940s, the hotel was, among other things, a fun place to play with her friends. Thanks, Ruth, for sharing your memories with us:

Dear Mr. Pujol,

Thank you for such an interesting article on the Hotel New Yorker. I along with some of my close friends were born back in the 1930's and were raised on West 35th Street between 9th and Dyer Avenues. We had many places to play in the area, as street kids growing up, one place being the elevator that went from below ground in the 34th street and 8th avenue subway directly up one flight to the Hotel New Yorker.

The elevator stopped in the vestibule of the side entrance of the hotel that is next to Manhattan Center, now known as Hammerstein Ballroom, and would discharge passengers for the hotel including a few of us neighborhood kids. I remember when the Shriner conventions would come to town and stay and party at the Hotel New Yorker. We had torch light parades with many celebrities during the second World War that would parade by the Hotel New Yorker.

I still live in the neighborhood and was delighted to watch as the New Yorker was spiffed up and the sign on the top of the hotel restored. Thank Mr. Kinney for helping restore some good memories for a few of us from the old neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Ruth Lennon

Images from the collection of Joe Kinney. Check out our photo galleries HERE , HERE, and HERE and check out Lauren Johnston's great video tour of the hotel with Joe Kinney.

The maze of tunnels under New York includes one you probably never heard of. It lies 30 feet below the intersection of West 34th Street and Eighth Avenue and links the New Yorker Hotel to Penn Station.

This tunnel is no utilitarian slouch: It's sheathed in sumptuous Art Deco tile and long-empty glass sign displays that promoted Duke Ellington shows to travelers being whisked through the passage by bellhops. You'd say, "Take me to the New Yorker and you wouldn’t have to go outside,” Joe Kinney, the hotel's engineer and historian, said during a recent tour of the hotel.

Indeed, the New Yorker's historic spirit is filling all of its corridors again, as a room-by-room renovation draws toward completion, powered by the strong Art Deco genes that gave it life almost 80 years ago. But for many of those years, the hotel had lost touch with its history. It closed in 1972 and was purchased by the Unification Church. In 1994, it reopened under its original name, but only now is it truly reclaiming its lost history and pride of place among the city's hotels.

It's easy to see how Kinney, 57, who joined the staff in 1996, became captivated by its history, and how he was able to sell senior management on the idea that the hotel's future lay in its past. The striking pyramidical, set-backed tower was financed and built before the Wall Street crash of 1929, and opened into a sobered-up world on Jan. 2, 1930, with the Great Depression already under way.

The 43-story hotel boasted many extremes when it opened: It was the biggest, the tallest, the one with the largest switchboard, the largest kitchen, the largest private power plant. Today, its massive LED sign is a skyline fixture and is possibly the largest of its kind anywhere.

You hear of the ice follies at the Terrace Room, of visits by actor Mickey Rooney and band leader Benny Goodman, and of Nikola Tesla, the electrical genius whose obsession with numbers and his love for pigeons still draw the curious to the hotel, where he spent his final years.

The New Yorker Hotel's historically minded renovation comes at a time when the future of its former swing-era arch enemy, the Hotel Pennsylvania, has been in question, and during a time when the wrecking ball has been tearing down old New York with abandon.

The hotel’s rebirth is due in no small part to Kinney's curiosity and cheer-leading for the hotel's history.

“I feel very happy that I was able to push the Art Deconess of the hotel and that the architects took that into consideration," Kinney said, speaking of the work of the firm Stonehill & Taylor. "They did a great job.”

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

Jefferson Siegel sends along this photo of one of New York's hardiest historical survivors: telephone company manhole covers. They offer glimpses into phone-company history. Above, enjoy the pre-1969 Bell logo, as found in Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn. Designer Saul Bass cleaned up that logo with the modernist one you see at left, which Verizon still uses on pay phones, hard hats and trucks.

As Jefferson points out, it's been 23 years since the dissolution of Ma Bell -- the original AT&T and its local phone companies. Its descendants are still in our midst, with AT&T (which is really SBC with Ma Bell's name) and Verizon (nee Bell Atlantic, Nynex and New York Telephone.)

Click here for a little New York Telephone history, as told through, of all things, a rusty utility cart we ran into earlier this year.

-- Rolando Pujol

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

As you leave the downtown No. 6 train at the Astor Place station, just to the right of the stairs is a bricked-over archway. Above it are the words "Clinton Hall."

According to forgotten ny, Clinton Hall was the building just above, at 13 Astor Place. It was home to the Astor Place Opera House in the early 1800s. The building then housed the Mercantile Library of New York from 1855 to 1932. The building was torn down in 1890 and a new, 11-story Clinton Hall rose to house the library.

It is believed the doorway, which dates to 1904, was bricked up in the 1940s. The building, which housed the beloved Astor Riveria Coffee Shop (now a Starbucks) in its ground floor, was converted to condos in 1995.

-- Jefferson Siegel

This sign greets you at the museum's front desk. (Photos by Rolando Pujol)

If you've never been to the City Reliquary, then you're missing one of Gotham's gems. It's a Williamsburg storefront museum that's home to all kinds of New Yorkiana. It's the one place in the city where you can find everything from a salvaged sign for the Second Avenue Deli, to World's Fair memorabilia, to peep-show tokens and subway-station paint "specimens" that display generations of color layers. And that's just a sample of what awaits you.


Memorabilia from the 1939-40 World's Fair. Find your own Trylon and Perisphere salt-and-pepper shakers on eBay here.

The reliquary is a compelling reminder that we live in one of the most interesting cities on earth, and it opens your eyes to the history and curiosities -- urban archaeology, as we call it -- that practically every block contains, your own home included.

We're happy to see this sign found a safe and caring home.

It's well worth a visit, and equally worthy of your financial support. Thursday night at 7, you'll have a chance to do both, as the reliquary hosts a Summer Benefit Party. Among the offerings: a chance to win a date with a reliquarian! Click here for more details.

-- Rolando Pujol

A folk-art portrait of Jackie Robinson is surrounding by seltzer bottles and a can of Piels, a good drinking beer if there ever was one.

We happen to own a Redbird subway grab, but we never thought of mounting it on the wall thusly. We love it.

Part of the exterior awning, done in a style common to neighborhood bodegas.

Just a slice of the impressive collection of Statue of Liberty memorabilia.

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

Now I'm getting worried. Yesterday I walked by the Cup & Saucer lunch counter on Canal & Eldridge; many of the windows in the building it occupies, as well as the building next door, are being boarded up.

Hope it's not an ominous portent of things to come.

The restaurant was still open.

-- Jefferson Siegel

Classic signs in Greenpoint; click on images for greater detail. (Photos by Rolando Pujol)

First off, thanks to all of you who have submitted signs to our ever growing collection. These signs are disappearing every day from our streets, and we're happy to provide a space for their digital preservation.

Here's a selection of signs we'll be adding to the collection. We snapped these last weekend in Greenpoint, mostly on Manhattan Avenue. If you like mom-and-pop New York, Greenpoint still has plenty of it. And check out fellow blogger David Freedlander's recent tour of the hood.

-- Rolando Pujol