I have been paying more attention to the shingle signs that are found outside doctors’ offices, because some of them are old indeed and have been in place for a long time. Take this sign, for Dr. N. Shevell and W. Sciales, MD, at Oak Avenue and 163rd Street. First, I wish I could go to a doctors’ office in a beautiful building like this; when I happened by in late June it was at peak foliage and June was busting out all over.
Note that only one side of the sign looks like that. The other side featured three names in the Clarendon font, mounted on a wood post with a decorative mastarm with scrollwork. Here’s where the mystery comes in, at least for me. Seeing the name “N. Shevell” reminded me that Paul McCartney’s wife is named Nancy Shevell. Information on the internets is somewhat sketchy. I gather that she is from New Jersey and worked in her father’s business. She worked her way onto the Metropolitan Transit Authority board, which means she voted to raise subway fares on several occasions.
That brings me to the sign. The doctor’s name in Flushing is indeed Nancy Shevell, but for me the mystery is that she was married to Dr. John Sciales way back in 1956. That would make both of them quite elderly indeed if they were still running a practice in Flushing in 2024. I imagine the “W. Sciales” on the sign is an offspring who joined the practice, as indeed may be the J. Sciales and N. Shevell on the signs. As to the relationship between Mrs. McCartney and the Flushing Nancy Shevell, I’m in the dark, if it exists at all. And I’m not going to call the office with those kind of questions.
If anyone can clear up the identity of the doctors at the practice and their connection to Paul McCartney, Comments are open. I can say that Mrs. McCartney can count the late Barbara Walters as a cousin.
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8/19/24