STRANGE to say it but I’ve seen the massive Silvercup sign in Long Island City more often from the rear than from the front. This shot is from an eastbound #7 train between the Court Square and Queensboro Plaza stations. and there’s a premier view of the illuminated neon sign of the former baker from the west end of the Queensboro platform. Most people who ride the #7 train get a good look at the illuminated Silvercup Studios sign as the train inches past it before arriving at the Queensboro Plaza station. Currently it’s a TV production studio where many popular shows of the past few years have been filmed, like Person of Interest, Elementary and famously, The Sopranos.
Before all that, though, Silvercup baked bread in this location between 22nd and 23rd north of 43rd Avenue. “When you came across this bridge, you could smell bread, twenty-four hours a day.” These words were spoken by Astoria’s own Christopher Walken. The bridge is the Queensboro Bridge, and the smell… well, it emanated from the old Silvercup Bakery at 42-25 21st Street in Long Island City. [boromag]
Walken would know — his family operated Walken’s Bakery for many years. Gordon Bakeries sold bread under the Silvercup moniker and built this building which originally had 4 grain silos in the 1920s. Silvercup was sold until a 1975 strike forced the company to fold. The sound stages moved in in 1983, while Silvercup joined Bond, Taystee and other names in the NYC bread graveyard.
I actually got this photo around 8:30 AM in 2018. I was on my way home from a 12 AM to 8 AM shift job I had with Summit Financial in Midtown.
Also see: Taystee Bread in Flushing
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1/30/26