| Super Signage |
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| NEW YORK: OTHER NYC |
| Playland (gone) Brooklyn |
Wonder Wheel Brooklyn |
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Playland was an amusement center in Coney Island next to the (now razed) Thunderbolt Roller Coaster. I believe this building during the restoration of the Parachute Jump and the construction of the Brooklyn Cyclones KeySpan Park (baseball stadium) in 2001.
The Wonder Wheel in Coney Island is a 150' tall ferris wheel which was built in 1920. I'm not sure when these signs were erected. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. |
| Nathan's Famous Brooklyn |
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| Nathan's Famous has been big on signage ever since it opened its first hot dog stand in 1916. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| Hinsch's Brooklyn |
Penmanship sign [gone] Brooklyn |
Estates Pharmacy Queens |
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Hinsch's is an old-fashioned luncheonette and ice cream parlor in the Bay Ridge section. I believe it has been here since the 1940s. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.
The Penmanship sign was located in Boerum Hill and was painted in 1997. It was a faux billboard created by Jerry Johnson of Orange Outdoor Advertising. Johnson painted satiric, retro-style paintings on this wall annually for about 15 years. Previous signs poked fun at subjects including: oleo margarine, electric companies, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, plates, the power of cash and Ebbets Field. Sadly, this "ad" was painted over in 2003 (with red paint) and probably marks the end of the series. The Estates Pharmacy signage and façade look to be from the 1930s or so. |
| Film Center Café Manhattan |
Dublin House Bar Manhattan |
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The Film Center Café is located across the street from the Film Center Building which was built in 1928 in the Art Deco style. The Café looks like it is from the 1930s or 1940s. For more, see their website.
The Dublin House Bar opened in 1933. It features one of the few old, large scale (and still working) neon signs left in Manhattan. For more, see this website. |
| Block Drug Manhattan |
Jade Mountain Restaurant Manhattan |
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Block Drug was established in 1885. Their neon sign is still lit at night. For more, see this website.
The Jade Mountain Restaurant features some nice old channel, neon signage as well as a tiny tile overhang. |
| Bright Food Shop Manhattan |
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| The Bright Food Shop is a Mexican/Asian restaurant in Chelsea. The former coffee shop dates from 1938 and retains its original, mostly functioning neon signage. For more, see this website. |
| Gringer's Appliances Manhattan |
United Rentals Manhattan |
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Gringer's Appliances opened in 1918 on the Lower East Side. The sign is obviously from much later.
The United Rentals' 3-D tractor trailer billboard was built in 1958. The sign advertised for Yale Trucks until the 1970s when the company went bankrupt. When United Rentals took over the building in 2003, it restored the sign complete with headlights and sequential wheel lights that make them appear to be spinning. |
| Colony Music Center Manhattan |
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| Colony Music Center, just off Times Square, opened in 1948. The sign appears to be original. For more, see their website. |
| National Debt Clock Manhattan |
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| The National Debt Clock, near Times Square, was built in 1989. The billboard measures 11’ x 26’. When the clock was first plugged in, the figure rose by $13,000 per second. In the mid-1990s, the debt rose so fast it crashed the computer. In 2000, the clock started ticking in the opposite direction and the clock was covered because it was felt it was sending the wrong message. Sure enough, the national debt started going up again and the clock was restarted. In 2004, the sign will be moving, probably a block north, since the building it was installed on is being demolished. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| Yahoo billboard (gone) Manhattan |
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| This Yahoo billboard was on Houston Street in SoHo. It went up in the late 1990s and disappeared around 2003. There seems to still be a nearly identical one in San Francisco, CA as of 2005 and there may be/have been others. I don't know if any are still left or new ones are going up. For more, see this website. The SoHo and TriBeCa neighborhoods don't have laws controlling outdoor advertising and have a startling number of full-sized, modern billboards. |
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More NYC Signs:
City Island Lobster House (Bronx) Kentile Floors (Brooklyn) Pepsi (Manhattan) [gone] Pepsi sign (Queens): 1, 2, 3, 4 Silvercup sign (Queens) [recycled] Swingline Staplers sign (Queens) [gone] various: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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