Store Front. The Disappearing Face of New York

This is a visual tour so saturated with realism you can smell the knishesneatly displayed in the window of the Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a visualtour comprised of hundreds of images of unique 19th and 20th century retailgraphics and neon signs still in use and inspiring us to purchase to thisvery day. But for how long? Are New York City's local merchants a dyingbreed or an enduring group of diehards hell bent on retaining thetraditions of a glorious past? According to Jim and Karla Murray the influxof big box retailers and chain stores pose a serious threat to these humbleinstitutions, and neighborhood modernization and the anonymity it bringsare replacing the unique appearance and character of what were onceincredibly colourful streets. Store Front: The Disappearing Face of NewYork is a visual guide to New York City's timeworn storefronts, acollection of powerful images that capture the neighborhood spirit,familiarity, comfort and warmth that these shops once embodied. Almost allof these businesses are a reflection of New York's early immigrantpopulation, a wild mix of Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Poles, EasternEuropeans and later Hispanics and Chinese. The variety is immense fromManhattan's Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery and Katz's Delicatessen to theJackson Heights Florist in Queens, Court Street Pastry in Brooklyn, D.D'Auria and Sons Pork Store in the Bronx and the De Luca General Store onStaten Island. And as the Murray's stunning, large format photographs makepatently clear, the face of New York is etched in their facades.