This is a visual tour so saturated with realism you can smell the knishes neatly displayed in the window of the Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a visual tour comprised of hundreds of images of unique 19th and 20th century retail graphics and neon signs still in use and inspiring us to purchase to this very day. But for how long?
Are New York City s local merchants a dying breed or an enduring group of diehards hell bent on retaining the traditions of a glorious past? According to Jim and Karla Murray the influx of big box retailers and chain stores pose a serious threat to these humble institutions, and neighborhood modernization and the anonymity it brings are replacing the unique appearance and character of what were once incredibly colourful streets.
Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York is a visual guide to New York City s timeworn storefronts, a collection of powerful images that capture the neighborhood spirit, familiarity, comfort and warmth that these shops once embodied. Almost all of these businesses are a reflection of New York s early immigrant population, a wild mix of Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Poles, Eastern Europeans and later Hispanics and Chinese.
The variety is immense from Manhattan's Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery and Katz s Delicatessen to the Jackson Heights Florist in Queens, Court Street Pastry in Brooklyn, D. D'Auria and Sons Pork Store in the Bronx and the De Luca General Store on Staten Island. And as the Murray s stunning, large format photographs make patently clear, the face of New York is etched in their facades.
While documenting graffiti art, professional photographers James and Karla Murray noticed that the city's neighborhoods were changing quickly and many traditional storefronts were disappearing all together. The recognition of this change inspired this book dedicated to documenting storefronts. The Murrays have captured the details of New York's "mom and pop" stores including neon and hand-painted signs, old doors, peeling paint, aging steel, and the items hanging in the front windows. The text accompanying each image mentions the year the store opened and often includes detailed remembrances of the stores' histories obtained through interviews with managers or owners. Images in the book are grouped by borough and neighborhood. Each section is accompanied by a clear map outlining the area and a short description of the cultural heritage of each neighborhood. The book includes four foldout sections of panoramic photos capturing entire city blocks, so that the storefronts may be seen within the context of the locale. The book documents this subject with such deeply fascinating detail, it will be of interest to many patrons, including people who never intend to visit New York City. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.
—Valerie Nye
Anonymous
Posted Fri Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
This is a visual tour so saturated with realism you can smell the knishes neatly displayed in the window of the Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a visual tour comprised of hundreds of images of unique 19th and 20th century retail graphics and neon signs still in use and inspiring us to purchase to this very day. But for how long?
Are New York City s local merchants a dying breed or an enduring group of diehards hell bent on retaining the traditions of a glorious past? According to ...