That lovely gold lettering (WOOLENS! TAILORS' TRIMMINGS!) has been scraped from the windows and washed away. And Lichtenstein's sign, along with Singer Woolens, has been covered with black paint.
photo: BoweryBoogie
55 Delancey, it turns out, has a rather sordid recent history, according to Chinatown advocacy group CAAAV, which reports that when this and another building were bought in 2001, the new landlords "evicted almost half of the original tenants" and earned themselves "more than 500 HPD (Department of Housing Preservation and Development) violations." CAAAV reports in a follow up that the tenants got together to fight the new landlord and won. (More at Metro.)
Apparently, Lichtenstein & Co. had already moved on--up to 95 Delancey, where you can still find them. I went in last fall just to check out the experience of being in a tailor supply shop.
I bought a pea-coat button and an ancient set of Clik-Tite snap fasteners that look like they probably came over from the old Lichtenstein's (love that packaging design). Wish the signage had come too.
Hey, Jeremiah, today's AMNY http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-cityliving0508,0,7702223.story
ReplyDeletesays that "Flatbush is ready for discovery by the masses." It certainly didn't feel devoid of masses when I was growing up there! Quite the contrary.