Monday, March 29, 2010

47's Painted Food

I don't walk on East First Street very often, so it surprised me when, on a recent stroll, I found it has turned into an arm of the Hamptons, filled with precious cafes decorated with distressed wood, shabby-chic benches, and fresh flowers; along with a smattering of gleaming condo buildings.



One new addition is 47 East First. Grieve wrote about it here and when I walked by the Open House, I saw smiling, fresh-faced young couples moseying in and out, inquiring about the marble baths, granite kitchens, etc.

But something, I noticed, was missing. Namely, the painted food of Market Purveyor, Co., Inc., a wholesale meat distributor that used to be, I later realized, in #47.



It still exists in the ghost of Google Maps (above). And in these photos I took over a year ago, knowing these painted sausages and chickens would not last much longer.



I like painted food on storefronts. Especially crudely painted food. It's a dying art. And these rare examples are now gone.

6 comments:

Laura Goggin Photography said...

You ought to walk down that block at night - it's truly awful, especially on a weekend. Screaming, howling drunk crowds galore.

Jeremiah Moss said...

weird. it used to be just a quiet, nothing street. and then--bam! as if another town dropped down on it from space.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

There also used to be a cool wooden carving of Malcolm X in a lot on the south side of the street, towards 2nd Ave. It had gone all mossy and green, then disappeared some time over the last couple of years.

Anonymous said...

Nice post ... it's a shame what's happened to that great street, home further down the road to the beloved Mars bar. I see that one of the city's most notorious landlords, 9300 Realty, has their rental banner flying in your photo. Goodness knows how many lower-income folks they've kicked out of apartments in order to do shoddy renovations and to boost the rent over $2000/month.

Anonymous said...

oh no i loved that mural. since i work not far away from there, i actually walk down 1st street often. but with the bad weather lately have been indoors more and missed al these developments.. i thought i could always count on seeing that mural. isn't there an interesting little window across the street from this? it's someone's private apartment, but i think it has like plants, a little boat figure? i have to go back and check! it didn't seem yuppie, like, it seemed old school. there are some holdouts around this 'hood of people's private apt window displays.
-stef

Anonymous said...

Ah...what every neighborhood needs custom cup cakes at five dollars a pop...