When I passed what was the Rocco Restaurant on 181 Thompson Street a few years ago I found two-thirds of its iconic sign still lighting up. I can’t afford restaurants much, so I was unaware it had since become Carbone until I found this review in Eater that showed what had become of the sign.
What a mess! The sign was left intact and the “Wines-Liquors” section had been reilluminated, but all the neon for “Rocco Restaurant” had been torn out, new neon for Carbone had been installed, and the old words weren’t painted over but are still there as ghosts, as a homage, maybe?
Please… just paint it over…
7/17/15
1 comment
Probably a bit of an homage, and probably because nobody wanted to get the permit to repaint the sign, which was not covered on the permit to replace the neon.