Ghost Signs

Old signs, usually painted, often vestiges of businesses long forgotten.

1/18/2009 08:57 AM Virgin Megastore, Times Square

1/24/2009 08:35 AM Circuit City, Lincoln Square

9/13/2009 04:03 PM Baar and Beards, Top Hit, Ladies Scarves and Accessories, 15 West 37th Street

11/20/2009 02:58 PM Fletcher's Castoria, Richmond Terrace at Clinton Ave, Staten Island

9/2/2009 11:20 AM The Kemwel Building, 12th Street at Greenwich Ave

5/2/2010 08:54 AM Fabrice Yahhyaoui, Times Square

5/14/2010 05:21 PM Corrugated Boxes, Wooster Street at Spring St

5/14/2010 06:31 PM Ricker and Co, 224 Canal

8/5/2010 11:52 AM Wexler's Jewelers, 215 West 34th St

8/5/2010 12:23 PM Maid-Rite Dress Co., 47 West 29th St

8/5/2010 12:23 PM Maid-Rite Dress Co.

12/29/2008 03:57 PM 8th Ave Garment District

12/12/2008 02:51 PM Fischer and Co. - 2291 2nd Ave

12/12/2008 02:51 PM Fischer and Co. - 2291 2nd Ave

12/13/2008 09:41 AM 42nd St at B'way

12/13/2008 09:41 AM 42nd St at B'way

11/3/2008 10:36 AM Eckelberg - 8th Ave at 55th St

11/3/2008 10:36 AM Eckelberg - 8th Ave at 55th St

5/2/2008 03:08 PM Regent Hotel - 29th Street at 8th Avenue

5/2/2008 03:08 PM Regent Hotel - 29th Street at 8th Avenue

12/12/2008 01:56 PM 125 Mart - 125th St, Harlem

5/14/2008 11:59 AM Rush Limbaugh, the Television Show - Times Square

5/14/2008 01:45 PM Glory Days (closed on opening night) - Rockefeller Center

7/16/2008 04:45 PM Tobey's Liquor Store - New Lots Avenue BMT Station

7/18/2008 01:48 PM Ice Plant - Brook Ave., The Bronx

7/18/2008 02:02 PM The Good Guys Warehouse - Brook Ave., The Bronx

7/19/2008 08:35 AM The Police, Last Concert Ever - Columbus Circle

7/29/2008 04:18 PM Shoes repaired while you wait - 95th St/Ft. Hamilton BMT Station

7/29/2008 04:18 PM 95th St/Ft. Hamilton BMT Station

7/29/2008 04:19 PM 95th St/Ft. Hamilton BMT Station

7/29/2008 05:48 PM Planters Nuts - Seneca at Palmetto, Brooklyn

1/25/2008 06:30 PM Bank teller window, Borough Hall subway station, Brooklyn

1/25/2008 06:30 PM Bank teller window, Borough Hall subway station, Brooklyn

6/8/2007 07:08 PM 31 Great Jones (built 1870) Jos. Scott Tkgn. Corp. Stables

6/8/2007 07:08 PM 33 Great Jones (built 1870) Beinecke & Co's. Stables

9/6/2006 04:29 PM 424 Broadway Printing, Stationery, Greeting Cards

10/16/2007 05:45 PM West 76th St @ Amsterdam Gold Medal Flour

10/26/2007 04:45 PM William St. @ Maiden Lane 1970s-era mural

10/26/2007 04:50 PM Gold Street Excelsior Power Co. Bldg. (1888 AD) NYC's oldest remaining power plant bldg, converted to condos in 1979

11/4/2007 04:00 PM 3 West 57th St Phillips Auctioneers

11/9/2007 03:08 PM Fulton St. @ Elm (Brooklyn) Majestic Hotel Sign singles $3, doubles $5, Majestic 5-8385

11/9/2007 03:09 PM Fulton St. @ Elm (Brooklyn) Majestic Hotel Sign

12/14/2007 02:56 PM 209 East 85th Street Musical Mutual Protective Union Vestigial facade of an AFM union hall demolished in 1966

9/14/2007 03:21 PM 44 Beaver Street Kerr Steamship Company

9/14/2007 03:21 PM 44 Beaver Street Kerr Steamship Company

9/14/2007 05:14 PM American Encaustic Tiling - 59th St. IRT Subway Station

9/14/2007 05:15 PM American Encaustic Tiling

8/24/2007 10:27 AM Rutgers Church (still active) - 72nd St at B'way

1998 J.A. Kean's Carriage Manufactory (J.A. Keal's?) - Broadway @ 47th street (Times Square)

2/21/2003 04:52 PM Postal zone mail chute sign - 166 West 75th Street

9/5/2007 06:19 PM M. Katz and Sons Fine Furniture - Essex Street

3/15/2005 09:54 AM Capital Budget Housing Program / Electra Construction Corporation - Inwood

5/13/2005 02:26 PM Adequately wired by Electra Construction Corporation - Inwood

7/19/2006 07:18 PM Coy Disbrow and Co. Inc. Paper - Christopher Street

9/6/2006 05:52 PM Hersh's Sacramental Malaga Wine - Orchard Street

9/6/2006 05:53 PM

9/6/2006 05:53 PM

9/6/2006 05:56 PM Gerber - East Houston Street

9/28/2006 05:45 PM Rooms 1-2-3, Steam Heat, Housekeeping, Hot and Cold Water - Eighth Avenue at 50th street

4/17/2007 01:49 PM Sheridan Square Motors Corp / Livingston Radiator - West 75th Street between Bwy and Amsterdam

4/17/2007 01:49 PM Sheridan Square Motors

10/3/2006 04:12 PM Scribners - 311 West 43rd Street

12/8/2006 11:40 AM Meritex Ribbons - 44th St @ 11th Ave

3/16/2007 01:58 PM Coca-Cola - West Broadway at Grand Street

6/14/2007 06:32 PM FM Ring Associates, 20 W. 47th St.

6/14/2007 06:07 PM Adams Real Estate - 48 W 37

6/14/2007 06:07 PM Adams Real Estate - 48 W 37

6/14/2007 07:24 PM Gordon Novelty, 933 B'way

7/27/2007 05:37 PM Hotel 1-2-3, 44th Street at 6th Avenue

7/27/2007 05:20 PM Millinery Center Synagogue

7/27/2007 05:21 PM Millinery Center Synagogue

8/14/2007 01:52 PM Charles Scribner's Sons, 5th Avenue at 48th St

8/14/2007 01:53 PM

Sylvan-Wellington Co.

In 1929, Alexander Wellington and Sylvan Levy formed the Sylvan Wellington Company on Canal Street to service household electrical goods. The firm remained in the family through successive generations. Sylvan Wellington relocated out of the city in 1997 to focus on industrial battery sales as the Wellington Battery Company. However, this ghost sign (which dates from the 1950s) remained behind as a reminder of the company's former presence here.

9/28/2006 03:37 PM Sylvan-Wellington Co. - Canal Street

Louis Zuflacht Smart Clothes

Relic at 154 Stanton (NE corner of Suffolk and Stanton) from the Lower East Side's day as the gateway to America for European Jewry.

9/6/2006 06:18 PM Louis Zuflacht

9/5/2007 06:22 PM Louis Zuflacht

9/6/2006 06:19 PM Louis Zuflacht

C.T. Wan and Co.

242 Fifth Avenue: A remarkably well preserved cast iron facade with an anachronistic, but not incongruous 1950s era sign for a long-forgotten merchant. The store had obviously been vacant for an extended period of time, begging the question of "Why?" Perhaps a complex estate issue, with the spirit of old Wan still slaving over a ledger and refusing to let go.

8/3/2006 06:53 PM C.T. Wan