I found this confusing pairing of signage on the northbound leg of Hamilton Avenue at Henry Street a few years ago. Apparently the Department of Transportation must have heard from…

ROLANDO Pujol, the indefatigable finder of ancient NYC objects at The Retrologist, recently located this ancient vinyl sign (formerly with neon tubing) for Barney’s Ladies’ Shoes on 82nd Street off…

THE family-run Albanese Meats & Poultry, in business in Little Italy since 1923 and currently at #238 Elizabeth Street between Prince and East Houston, features what appears to be a…

ONGOING renovations at the Long Island Rail Road Woodside complex (it was last re-done between 1995 and 1998 and requires an overhaul) have revealed a “To Shea Stadium” sign at…

EXTENDING from Vandervoort Avenue just north of Metropolitan Avenue are a pair of odd dead ends that I would daresay would stump even the most died-in-the-wool Brooklyn street expert. Rewe Street,…

My affinity for stolid brick buildings, whether factories or dwellings, has been stated repeatedly in FNY. Greenpoint is one of those Brooklyn neighborhoods that is changing rapidly, with glassy residential…

A panel sidewalk sign for the Paramount Fish Market was revealed in late 2022 at #300 Knickerbocker Avenue between Suydam and Hart Streets when an awning sign for a thrift…

AMELIA Opdyke “Oppy” Jones was a cartoonist who drew a slew of subway posters that gently and humorously called attention to the shortcomings of subway riders in the manners department.…

As a rule, painted signs that have been around for several years mark businesses that have long since departed, but in today’s case we have two painted signs close to…

WHEN The Retrologist‘s Rolando Pujol posted this photo of a shop called “Hot Bagels” I recognized it immediately, as I had passed it for many years while slouching down 86th…

THE central Queens neighborhood Fresh Meadows, known best for the eponymously-named extensive residential community centered at 188th Street and the Long Island Expressway that was constructed there between 1946 and 1949…

I have written before about Beverly Road in Brooklyn, which runs from Kensington all the way east through Flatbush to the border of Brownsville, since the city really can’t decide…