The ground floor of this building at Manahttan and Driggs in Greenpoint used to be an auto repair shop that sold Matchless shock absorbers, and displayed a lighted sign. When the repair shop left and a bar moved in, they ironically called themselves Matchless, since the sign was there, and they let it stay there.
I like the way the building has just been left to gradually deteriorate ironically, and the guy slouching outside has an ironic beard and watch cap.
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Looks like that last remaining chunk of the pediment is about to fall (ironically) on the loitering hipster.
I think the name of the shop was “Matchless”, since the picture of the shock appears to be a Monroe (picture is too small to see). Of notice is the MV insignia on the wall of the garage to the left. MV is MV Agusta, which is sort of the Ferrari of motorcycles. They won many road racing championships in the 50’s – 70’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if the shop had once been a motorcycle repair shop. Matchless is a brand of English motorcycles also known for roadracing.
I haven’t been to this bar in about four years or so, but it’s actually a pretty decent haunt. Sure, it has more than its share of douchebags and hipsters (many of whom are both) by sheer merit of its location, but it was my impression that the bar itself was not pretentious, only the clientele.
This was a run-of-the-mill auto parts shop. I patronized the place for years; and, its name wasn’t Matchless. The place was taken over by a bunch of guys who repaired motorcycles; but, that was in the late 1990s, after the auto parts store closed. That’s why there’s an “MV” painted on the wall of what was the storage room, not a garage.